A/N- again, thank you to everyone who followed/favorited this, your support means the world to me. I apologize for the delay; I'm back on classes which means less free time to edit my stories or write anything for that matter. I also apologize for the mistakes that I'm sure I didn't notice when reading this five times in a roll. For the guest reviewer who asked if Zelena and Robin will end up together I just want to remind you that, as it says in the summary, this is a Wicked Outlaw story, and I explained my motives in the author's note of chapter one :) Without any further, there you have chapter three. We're coming close to the end. I hope you guys read it and enjoy it, xoxo

I'M DOING EVERYTHING I CAN

Regina is in her kitchen finishing dinner. She's humming an old Guns N Roses song that was playing at the Sheriff Station when she went there to drop a book Henry needed for school work. She scolded Emma and David for listening to music at work but they objected that it was a classic and she needed to live a little. Those two were so much alike that it scared her sometimes, and annoyed her to no end.

After the whole ordeal with Zelena a little while ago, David had handed over to Emma the sheriff position (the bails bond market was weak to non-existent in Storybrooke) and of course she had hired him as deputy again, so now the Sheriff Station was a Charming domain once more. Not that it was a bad thing; Regina actually enjoyed spending time with the two dorks, and enjoyed even more the chance to suffocate them with paper work. Old habits die hard.

Regina has a pretty smooth routine. She makes breakfast and goes to work; sometimes she stops by the school to see Henry and catch up with Mary Margaret. At noon she comes home and makes lunch, going back to City Hall afterwards. At the end of work hours she comes home, sometimes stopping by the Sheriff Station or the Charming loft to see baby Neal, then she makes dinner and talks to Henry on the phone before going to bed. That's it. It almost seemed like she lived alone.

But she didn't; Zelena was there. And some days she would come down the stairs and eat with Regina, being all polite and even making small talk. At the weekends, when Henry is over, she would be more participative (though more due to Henry's insistence than her own will), and it almost looked like they could have a normal relationship. But most days, especially without Henry, Zelena would at all costs avoid bumping into Regina at the house. It irritated Regina because if her sister had accepted the second chance, she might as well try a little harder, right? But at the same time she knew how hard it is to suddenly have to socialize with people whom you nurtured strong feelings of hatred and revenge towards, so she couldn't pressure Zelena either. It was just frustrating as hell.

The sound of throat clearing snaps the former queen out of deep thoughts.

"Can I help with anything?"

Regina turns to the entrance of the kitchen to see Zelena standing there with her hands clasped together. She has a confident pose that contrasts with the sheepish look in her eyes.

Well, this is new.

"You wish to help me with dinner?" Regina asks after a few seconds of contemplation.

Zelena seems about to make a retort but thinks twice. "Yes", she answers simply.

Regina hesitates for a moment, still unsure about what could possibly be her sister's endgame here, but then decides to give her a vote of confidence. "Very well", she says maneuvering her hand with a welcome gesture, "You can be in charge of the salad".

Zelena enters the kitchen looking vaguely annoyed. "Don't trust me with something more substantial?"

Regina sighs; of course she would come armed. "It's already almost finished. And I'm making a recipe that only I know, it's best not to get out of track here"

Zelena proceeds to chop the vegetables. "Is it something Mother taught you?" she asks a little tense, like she is curious about it but at the same time she doesn't want to know the answer.

Regina huffs. "Mother didn't care enough to teach me anything" the brunette replies, not looking up from the saucepan she was stirring. "Only that love is weakness, and she was very wrong about that"

There's a moment of silence. "Do you really think so?" Zelena breaks it, "That love isn't a weakness?"

The former queen glances at her. "Already forgot how I defeated you with light magic?" she says teasingly, trying to make a point without triggering a rage reaction.

Zelena just stands there in silence; the only sounds in the kitchen are the bubbling from the pot and the knife chopping vegetables.

Regina sighs. Well, apparently they were doing that.

"Look, for a very long time I believed what Mother said", she starts, "so I put up walls to protect me, to not let anyone in. And it worked, I was safe. But I was also alone". Zelena looks at her with this. "Power wasn't enough, victory wasn't enough. Life is meaningless if you don't have anyone to share the good and the bad. I learned that the hard way, it was a bumpy road and still is, but ultimately I think I made it", she finishes turning to the other woman with a small smile.

Zelena turns her attention back to the vegetables. "How did you do it?" she asks after a minute of silence. "How did you let go of the anger?"

"I didn't. It's still there", Regina replies. "But every day I wake up and I think about my family, about my Henry, and I push all the darkness to a corner of my heart. And every time the bad inside threatens to surface I close my eyes and think about a happy moment with my son, or even with Emma and the two idiots, then I take a deep breath and everything is fine", she then looks directly at her sister, hoping the words can reach her heart and leave an effect there. "It may be just a small win, but it means everything to me and the people who care about me, who believe in me. And I feel like a hero"

Zelena looks at her, but doesn't hold her gaze. "Good for you" she huffs and turns back to the vegetables.

"And for you, if you tried", Regina only says.

"I can't", the red-headed says back, "I don't have your tools".

"What do you mean?"

Zelena sighs frustrated, and looks up to the kitchen ceiling while venting. "I don't have this feeling of belonging you seem to have with the Charmings and Henry, and don't say that we're all a family because we're not, I certainly don't feel like I have a family. I don't have anything to hold on to"

Regina nods. She's a little hurt that the other woman still refuses to accept them as her family after the efforts they made, but she would be lying if she said that she doesn't understand how her sister felt. "Alright, I understand. It took a while for me to accept them as my family, I don't judge you for not accepting us so fast either" she gives way. "But what about your previous family?"

"My father? Please, he was the one who put me on this anger track in the first place", Zelena says while going back to chopping, with a little more force now.

"I wasn't referring to him. I was talking about Glinda, and the sisterhood of witches from Oz"

Zelena stops at this, turning back to Regina. "How do you know about that?"

"I did my research too", the former queen smirks.

"Then you know that things didn't end up well with them either", the other woman looks away.

"Yes, but I also know there were some good times", the brunette says. "When Snow met Glinda back in the Enchanted Forest she said that you two were friends once, I'm sure you have good memories from that time"

"I don't like to think about it", the red-headed murmurs.

"Why?"

Zelena sighs and turns to Regina with a firm look. "Because I will always remember how they replaced me like I was nothing"

Regina stares back at her for a while, and there's so much she wanted to say. She wanted to say that she understands; when Henry rejected her and chose Emma she had felt the exact same way. She wanted to say that she has to let it go, she has to push away the bad times. She wanted to say that she's unique and can't be replaced. She wanted to say that everything is going to be okay now, and that no one will ever take her place again. She even wanted to cross the space between them and hug her big sister, and say for the uptenth time that they are a family.

But she knows it's too soon, and Zelena won't understand and won't take it well. She knows her sister still holds a huge grudge towards her and pushing this will only drive them further away. And that irritates her. How are they supposed to have a heart to heart and solve their issues if her sister runs away from any touchy-feely aspect of the conversation?

"You see things too horizontally, Zelena", Regina says, incapable to mask her annoyance. "You can't just pick what side of a situation you want and then judge people like that was all they ever did"

"And wasn't that what you did with Snow White?" the other bites back.

Regina hesitates. Touché. "Yes, well, see what I meant when I said I was a lot like you?" she gives way, softening her tone. "But I improved, so I'm certain you can do it too"

Now it's Zelena turn to hesitate. "I'm just tired", she admits with a sigh. "I want to change; I want to give this family thing a chance. But I am so bloody tired of trying this hard and still feel as crappy as I do"

"I know exactly how that feels" Regina says and their eyes meet, understanding on deep brown and sorrow on bright blue. "And it's going to be like that for awhile, just so you know", she adds, to what Zelena grimaces. "But it's worth it. Just don't give up yet. By the end of the line you'll find your happy ending", she finishes, encouraging smile on her lips.

"Did you?" the red-headed asks and the brunette frowns in confusion. "Find your happy ending?" she elaborates.

Regina didn't know how to answer that. Truthfully, she didn't know if she had found her happy ending. Obviously she wasn't miserable, this was actually the happiest she had been in a long time. Life's good now. But there was this feeling she couldn't shake that something is missing. She wanted to say yes to her sister's question, but she couldn't deny that she felt like she wasn't there yet, at the happy ending. So she gave the best answer she could come up with.

"I have my son. I have a family, not the one I wanted, but the one I needed. Be a part of the unCharming family can be actually charming sometimes", she muses, then looks directly at the other woman with a smile. "And I have my sister, my last blood relative alive, and someone I can identify with. I have everything"

"Everything?" Zelena asks unbelieving. "What about a partner? A significant other? Is there someone I don't know about?"

Regina rolls her eyes. "No, I don't have anyone like that, neither have I needed it"

"Maybe not, but that still means you don't have everything", the other woman teases.

"Well, I have everything I need to be happy", the brunette says flatly.

"And you don't need a lover?"

"No"

"Not even to satisfy your physical desires?"

That makes Regina stop and stare at her sister with a half shocked half annoyed look. Zelena just shrugs but she seems to be fighting a laugh.

"I am not discussing my sex life with you", Regina states with the firmest tone she can despite her amusement.

"Why not? I'm your big sister, that's what we do", Zelena offers nonchalantly.

And their eyes meet again, now full of smiles. So this is what is like to have a real sister? This teasing and camaraderie? They can totally get used to this.

Regina is laughing lightly when she answers "I'm doing fine on my own, thank you".

"Oh my, I didn't need that picture in my head", Zelena replies with a disgusted face.

The former queen looks at her puzzled, and then the double meaning of her statement hits her hard. "Damn it Zelena!" she scowls while blushing.

And then Zelena just bursts into laughter. It's such a beautiful sound. Of course Regina had heard her laughing before, but those laughs were mean, superficial, and often at the expense of other people's suffering. Not this time, though; this laugh was genuine, ordinary, and so full of heart. The brunette couldn't help but laugh along.

After a round of laughter, Regina put the talk back on track. "And what about your physical desires, how are you satisfying them?"

"I'm not, at least not since I got here", Zelena says and both of them go back to their tasks, still giggling. "I think your drought it's longer than mine, though"

"And yours will probably end before mine too", Regina replies.

"How so?"

"Well, there is a certain former thief and currently handyman that's been talking about you lately", the brunette explains with a knowing smirk.

Zelena's head snaps at this. "Robin?" she asks and Regina nods. "What is he saying about me?"

"That you seem really changed, and you are very amiable and nice to talk"

Zelena snorts. "He did not say that"

"He did" Regina insists, glancing at her.

"Please don't lie to me to make me feel better, that's just evil", Zelena says back, smirking at her own pun.

"So that makes you feel better?" Regina catches her sister's slip. "His opinion is important to you?"

Zelena turns to her in shock, a blushing in her cheeks. "That's not what I said! And it doesn't matter because you're lying!"

"I am not! You can ask Henry, he was with me", Regina insists and the other woman looks away. "Robin said that you two talk sometimes when he's working on the fence, and he told Henry you were very excited about the books. I asked him if you were causing any trouble and he said it was quite the opposite, that you were being a wonderful host"

"He said that?" Zelena asks in a tone barely above a whisper, still without looking up to her sister.

"Yes", Regina answers grinning; something was going on there. "What do you two talk about?"

Zelena shrugs. "I don't know, stuff", she says as nonchalantly as she can, which it's not convincing at all since she still won't meet her sister's eyes and the blushing descended to her neck.

And then was too obvious to ignore. "Oh my god, you have a crush on him!" Regina says cheerfully.

"No I do not", Zelena says immediately scurrying to the fridge to put away the remaining of the vegetables.

"Yes you do!" Regina says while following the woman with her gaze.

"I do not! Shut up", the red-headed moves to the sink to wash the knife and recipients she used, still not turning to the brunette.

Regina rolls her eyes at her sister's stubbornness. Must run in the family. "You have to talk to him", she says turning off the stove and licking the spoon to taste the saucepan content.

"Now that's just the stupidest thing I've ever heard"

"Seriously Zelena, talk to him! He might be interested too", Regina insists half hopeful half exasperated.

"No he won't. And I am not. End of discussion"

"Since when you're scared of going after what you want?" the former queen asks, now fully exasperated.

At this Zelena turns to her. "I could ask you the same thing!"

Regina turns fully to her with a frown. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Zelena throws her hands up, also exasperated. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe you should ask Miss Swan"

BOOM. The spoon Regina was using to stir the contents of the saucepan now lies on the kitchen floor, while she looks at the other woman with a half shocked half embarrassed expression. She would look very pale right now if not for the brutal blushing that went from her cheeks to her neck in seconds.

"Well, well. That's very revealing, you know", Zelena teases triumphantly.

Regina then moves to grab the spoon while clearing her throat. "There was grease in the spoon", she explains flustered, heading to the sink without even sparing a glance to Zelena's general area. "And I have no idea what are you talking about. Maybe you should stop saying nonsense and go set the table"

Zelena just shakes her head and beams widely. "Of course, sis"

And maybe, just maybe, this whole family thing can actually work.

tbc