Regina had never known a morning like this.
Every morning of her whole life, she'd found herself alone. But today, there was a warm body pressed against her side, an arm across her, blonde curls glittering in the sunlight from the window.
She reveled in it for a minute, closing her eyes again, before reality set in. She gingerly moved Tinkerbell's arm from around her and got out of bed slowly so not to wake her. Even though she really needed to wake her and get her out of there.
But the former fairy was smiling in her sleep, and Regina stood by the side of the bed for a moment and just watched her, a similar smile gracing her own face. So this was what it was like to have a true friend. Regina had ruined Tinkerbell's life, and yet here she was. And while her presence in the castle might not have been by choice, her presence in Regina's bed certainly was.
If Tink was going to help her find happiness, Regina decided, she was going to do the same for the blonde. Freedom was beyond her ability to grant, but she could give Tinkerbell everything else. Wealth, influence, a husband…
Everything she herself had and hated, Regina realized.
No, she would do what Tink had asked the night before. She would live. She would try to be happy. As she stood there, watching the fairy's doll-like features react to whatever wonderful dream she was having, Regina felt almost happy.
But happiness never lasted, and when Regina looked up from Tink's sleeping form, she locked eyes with a servant. She was the one who'd seen Regina on the night of Tink's arrival, a young, diminutive redhead who immediately dropped into a curtsey.
Regina stormed around the bed to face her. "You! What's your name?"
"Anya, Your Majesty," the girl said softly. "I'm terribly sorry for disturbing you."
"Anya," Regina repeated. "If word of what you saw this morning gets out, I will destroy you."
The girl seemed meek, but Regina was surprised to see that she did not seem shaken by this threat. "I would never speak against my queen's wishes," she said simply. "I am your loyal subject."
"If that's true, you're the only one," Regina said with a roll of her eyes. But something about this girl seemed alarmingly sincere.
"I know how rumors can distort the truth all too well." Anya lowered her eyes. "In my home village, I was disgraced due to vicious rumors about me."
Regina knew better than to trust this girl, but maybe Tinkerbell had softened her up. "If you prove to be as loyal as you say, there may be a place for you among my personal servants." As much as Regina was disliked, serving any member of the royal family was considered an honor among the servants, a step up from the sorts of menial tasks she assumed Anya was doing now. "Fetch my breakfast, and once my guest awakes you will escort her discreetly to her chambers."
Anya dipped into another curtsey, and while the gesture was formal, she glanced up at Regina with a smile. Regina watched her leave, torn between worry and a kind of fondness for the servant. But she shrugged both off and returned to her place in bed.
Tinkerbell was almost certain she was dreaming when she woke. She wasn't in her own room with its dark, drab furniture. The canopy above was a creamy white, as were the sheets. It couldn't be, it made no sense.
Regina was sitting next to her, journal resting on her knees, writing something. She looked in Tink's direction as the blonde sat up and almost smiled. But she quickly put her book aside, obviously not wanting it to be read.
"I didn't mean to disturb you," Tink said, gesturing towards the journal, but Regina made no mood to take it up again. Instead, the young queen took a cup of tea from the breakfast tray resting at the end of the bed and sipped it delicately.
Tink took an apple, in the distinctive red of Regina's prized tree, earning a genuine smile this time. "You're not disturbing me," Regina said. "I asked you to stay."
"Just because you enjoy my company when I'm unconscious doesn't mean that you still want me around when I'm awake." Tink bit into the fruit, immediately understanding just why Regina was so proud of her tree. Delicious.
The smile was lasting longer than any Tink had ever seen from the queen. "You're much less tiresome than most of the people here."
"Well, if that isn't almost a compliment." Tink noticed an unexpected hint of pink rising on Regina's face. These human bodies were so strange and inconvenient, the way they revealed secrets. The former fairy's heart was pounding as it so often did in Regina's presence, and she was certain that she was just as pink, if not more.
But without the vulnerability of being human, Regina would be entirely closed off from view.
"What do you plan to do today?" the blonde asked. She badly wanted to ask Regina to sit for her. While the king and princess were away, Tink was tempted to paint Regina instead, to create an image that could be given a place of honor with Eva and Snow.
"I'm going to the stables," Regina said as she finished her tea. She studied Tink silently for a moment. "I suppose you could come along."
It was a beautiful day, and Regina forgot herself for a minute and enjoyed it. Just like old times, with the sun on her face and a pasture so wide that she almost couldn't see the fence keeping her in. She took another sugar cube from her pocket and offered it to Rocinante, smiling at the warm, wet tickle of his lips.
"I'm sorry I haven't been visiting," she said, keeping close to the horse that had once been her only friend. "You know how it gets."
But Rocinante didn't know. He nudged Regina's shoulder hard, as if to ask why she kept her feet on the ground. Why she wasn't the girl he'd always known. Regina wished there was some way she could explain everything that had changed. Daniel vanishing, the move to the big, busy royal stable, their rides together getting scarcer and scarcer until Regina stopped riding at all.
"I'm sorry," she said again. "I should have sold you to someone who could make you happy." Rocinante nudged the side of her face that time, and Regina reached up to stroke his neck. "I know, I know."
"That's a big animal." The voice came from behind her, but Regina knew well that there was only one person who would come looking for her. And the distinctive accent cleared up any remaining mystery.
"Aren't fairies supposed to be friends to the animals?" Regina asked, turning to see Tinkerbell coming through the grass, arms full.
"Terrible fairy, remember?" Tink set down her things, spreading out a blanket to sit on. She had her sketchbook, too, and a basket that Regina assumed held lunch or something of the sort.
"Well, Rocinante may be big, but he's terribly sweet." Before Tink could sit, Regina motioned for her to come closer. "Rocinante, this is Tinkerbell."
But Tink just stared at Regina without looking towards the horse. "I haven't heard anyone say my real name since I've been here."
"I suppose not." Regina arched an eyebrow. "Tindra? How did you come up with that?"
"I didn't have much time. And I quite possibly had a concussion." She shrugged. "You don't like it?"
"It doesn't suit you as well." Regina slipped Rocinante another sugar cube, and Tink wrinkled her nose in disgust as the horse ate from the queen's palm. "Besides, it's what Snow and Leopold call you. I like how your real name is just for us."
Tink's look and smile were suddenly so much more intense, and Regina turned towards Rocinante. She shouldn't have said that. Shouldn't have given Tinkerbell hope, because whatever the former fairy wanted, it was surely something Regina couldn't give. She had nothing of her own.
Tink broke the silence before it could grow uncomfortable. "Are you going to ride?"
Rocinante huffed as if he understood and wanted to ask the same question. Regina just cringed. "I can't ride anymore," she said, not meeting the eyes of either horse or fairy. "I'm not allowed."
"He really has taken everything from you," Tinkerbell mused, and Regina turned to face her with teary eyes. No one had ever said that to her before. No one had cared enough to realize just how much she'd lost.
Regina took a step forward and wrapped her arms around Tink's waist. The blonde's arms closed around her, one hand on her back and the other in Regina's hair. She gently eased Regina's head down to her shoulder.
After a moment, Rocinante wandered a short way off to graze and give them space.