It was four days later when Regina heard that unmistakable voice in the last place she would have expected. "So this is who you are."
Regina jumped at the words, spinning around to find Robin perched on the railing to her balcony. "How did you-?"
"You've seen me leap buildings and build houses in trees, you think I can't scale castle walls?" He leapt down into the room.
Regina didn't know what to say or do, but it didn't matter because Robin pulled out a scroll and started reading it.
"Robin Hood. Wanted for crimes against the crown, including thievery, disruption of trade, suspected kidnapping, attempted murder, and personal transgressions against the Queen." He let the scroll drop to his side. "That last bit wasn't on there before you left, and the bounty they had on me was three times lower."
Regina said nothing. She was a bit alarmed at the amount the bounty had been raised. She hadn't meant to cause him harm, but she hadn't been thinking of the consequences when she had named him to the King. She'd just been upset.
"I sold those crystals you tossed aside that night when we first met," said Robin, pacing. "You said they were fake, but even fake crystals can be worth a lot of money if expertly crafted." He stopped moving and turned to look at her. "The money I got for them - they weren't fake."
Regina waited with baited breath. Robin bowed deeply and raised his head to say, "Your majesty."
Regina could do nothing but stare at him. What was there to say, really?
"Why didn't you tell me?" he said, straightening.
"I didn't think you'd give a second thought to a married woman, let alone the Queen," she told him honestly.
"Do you love him?" asked Robin.
It took Regina a moment to realize what he was talking about. "No. He doesn't even love me. I'm just a nursemaid for his daughter."
Robin looked relieved. He started pacing again. Then he stopped and raised the wanted poster. "Why did you do this?" he asked.
"I was angry," she said, emotion flooding her voice. She had been stupid, very stupid. She knew that now, but she couldn't undo the damage.
"Angry?" he said. "Do you realize what you've done? Not just to me but to everyone? Do you realize how much harder it's going to be now? How many people are going to be looking?"
Regina crossed her arms and turned her face from him. She didn't need a lecture. She already understood the damage. She'd nearly driven herself sick over it the past few days, rarely leaving her room, refusing meals. She knew exactly how much she'd ruined, not just for him but his cause as well.
He sighed. "What has your anger ever gotten you?" he asked.
"It's helped me survive," she said, though lately anger just seemed to wear herself out. There was no one left to be angry at but herself.
The look on his face was so much gentler than she would have expected. "Don't you want to do more than just survive?"
Regina didn't answer. She honestly didn't know what she wanted. She was just tired.
"You know if you'd told us you were Queen, we would have taken you back. Why didn't you say anything?"
"Because I didn't want to go back," she admitted. "I was happy there."
"Then why did you leave?"
"Marian," she said simply.
"Marian?" said Robin, sounding exasperated. "Regina-"
"Save your excuses!" she yelled. "I saw it!"
"Saw what?"
"There was . . . I had a . . ." It was her turn to sigh. "I used magic," she admitted. "To see the future. I saw you and Marian together."
Robin looked confused. "That's not possible."
"It is," she told him. "It was one of the three possible futures I saw."
Robin stepped over to her. "And did one of the other possible futures include you and I?"
"It did," she admitted. "But . . ." She turned away from him because she didn't want him to notice the difficulty she was having keeping her emotions in.
Robin put his hands on her arms. "Regina," he said softly. "I want to tell you something my father told me once. He said there is no such thing as one true love for each of us. In reality, everyone has many someones they can love truly and deeply. And in this way, no one ever has to be alone, and everyone can find their happy ending."
"It sounds too good to be true," she said.
"Don't you want to believe it?" he asked.
It sounded nice and easy, but . . . "If anyone can be with anyone," she said. "Then what's the point?"
"It doesn't matter who we are able to end up with," he explained. "What matters is who we choose to love."
It sounded like a wonderful concept. And Regina was all the more inclined with the warmth of his hands on her arms and the tickle of his breath on her ear. But she was still flabbergasted as to why he had sought her out after everything. "Why did you come here?"
"I had to see you," he said.
"After everything I've done?"
"Regina," he explained, spinning her around. "I don't think you understand how crazy I am about you."
"Why?" she asked. She was certain he had no reason to like her, let alone love her. "Why not Marian?"
He smiled. "While she is a kind and beautiful woman," He lifted Regina's chin so she was looking directly at him. "You are a fair beauty, and you have a fire," His grin grew wider. "That I find quite attractive."
She was unconvinced, and it must have shown on her face because he released her and started pacing again.
"If you need more reasons," he said. "I shall list them. You know where your interests lie, and you're not afraid to pursue them, even when others may judge them as inappropriate for a woman or a queen. You're willing to risk the truth when it is so much easier to believe the lie. You took a chance on that lonely man in that shady tavern. You sought out that bandit you swore you never wanted to see again. You've supported my endeavors when many who have our lot in life would have looked down upon my choices. And you dared to love when you had good reasons not to try again."
He stopped pacing and stepped over to her. "You're an incredibly intelligent and courageous woman, Regina. And I would be the happiest man alive to spend the rest of my life with you, even when you get cross with me just because that's the only way you know how to deal with what's bothering you."
Regina didn't know what to say. He seemed to have pegged her so perfectly and so beautifully. And yet, "I hurt you," she said.
"And you admit that," he said. "So let's learn from it and move on."
Could they move on from this? Was it possible the damage she'd caused wasn't irreparable? She wanted to believe so. She wanted the comfort of believing it was true.
She stepped forward into his arms. "I'm so sorry."
"It's all right," he told her, rubbing her back. "It will be all right."
"How do you know?"
"I believe it will."
She stepped back from him. How? How could he possibly have such faith and when she found it so hard? "You'd be better off with Marian," she said honestly. Marian wouldn't have done such horrible things to him.
He stepped toward her and gently laid his hands on her. "I don't want Marian," he said. "I want you."
Regina looked up into his face. She wanted to tell him he was a fool for believing in her, but the words would not come. The truth was that she wanted him too. It was hard for her to let go, but there could be no doubt in her mind that she wanted him.
"You see?" said Robin, smiling. "That right there," He cupped her cheek. "Is why I love you. That fire."
Her eyes lingered on his brown ones before she kissed him. She felt his arms slide around her and pull her closer. She brought her own hands up from his chest to wrap around one around his neck and ruffle his hair with the other.
But some part of her still refused to give in. They couldn't be together. She herself had made sure of that. If she let this continue, it would only end in heartache.
Regina tore herself away from him, turning to face the opposite direction.
But he took her hand. "Regina." He gently turned her back around. "I do not wish to add to your pain, only lesson it."
"We can't," she told him, tears threatening to break through.
"We can," he said.
"How can you know?"
"I have faith."
"I don't," she said, unable to stop a tear from falling.
He stepped closer to her. "You can borrow mine."
She shook her head. "We can't." More tears were flowing now. "I've ruined-"
"Hush," he said, kissing her temple. "Don't think such things."
He continued to kiss her face while she fought to keep back her tears. Eventually, she gave in to the comfort of his arms and found his lips with hers. She grabbed at his clothing, pulling him closer because she wanted to believe but she need help. He pressed her close till it was only clothing that separated their bodies from each other.
She paused in her pursuit of his lips only to remove the bow and quiver from around his shoulders. He struggled off his cloak and then took her into his arms again. She pushed his sleeves up his arms, desiring more contact with his skin. Eventually, after they'd lost themselves in several long passionate kisses, his fingers loosened the ribbons along her back that secured her bodice.
When their lips and fingers had removed all barriers from each other, emotional and otherwise, he took her fully into his arms and carried her to the bed.
Regina awoke wrapped in the warmth and comfort of Robin's arms. She turned over and kissed him on his nose. His eyes opened and he looked at her sleepily.
"Good morning," he said with a lazy smile.
"Good morning," she replied. She snuggled close to him, resting her head against his chest.
They were very slow about getting out of bed, and Regina asked the servant that usually came to her in the morning not to disturb her, as well as to bring up two servings of breakfast and to leave the tray at the door.
Once they were both well fed, Robin busied himself with getting dressed. Or at least, he tried. Regina kept tempting him away from the task with kisses and gentle caresses.
"We'll be here till nightfall if you keep this up," he said at one point after she had successfully tempted him for a third time and he had spun around from putting on the first of his boots to pin her beneath him.
"That's the point," she said.
He made a kind of groan in the back of his throat, like he would like nothing more than to stay.
"I never thought," he said when he was fully dress much later and rose from picking up his bow and quiver. "It would ever take hours to do something as simple as dressing myself."
Regina stepped forward and kissed him passionately. She didn't want him to go.
He caught her hand in his. "Come with me."
"I can't scale walls," she told him with a smile.
"Then meet me tonight," he said. "Grab whatever you can't bear to be without. Sneak out as you've done before. I'll meet you, and we'll head back to Sherwood together."
"It's too dangerous," she told him. "Head back to camp, and I'll meet you there."
"Tonight," he said.
"Tonight," she agreed.
He turned from her, but she pulled him back and kissed him again.
Eventually she relinquished her hold on him. "Be careful."
"I promise," he told her, and then he vanished from the balcony.
Regina let herself worry about him for a few moments before she pushed her thoughts aside and let the joy of the morning and the night before fill her. Tinker Bell had been right. It was a wonderful feeling. She didn't know why she had fought it for so long.
As he had suggested, she set herself to searching the room for anything she couldn't stand to part with. Once she had examined the entirety of the room, she came to realize there was nothing from the castle she wanted to keep. Instead, she grabbed a bag and started filling it with anything of value; silver and jewels.
She didn't think it would be too difficult for her to escape the castle. The guard had been increased, so she'd have to take a different way than she had gone before. But she knew enough about the paths through and out of the castle that she was confident getting to Robin wouldn't be a problem.
Her spirits were only dampened when she heard a knock on the door and it was Leopold's voice that came through. "Regina? Can we talk?"
"Yes," Regina replied, hurrying to stash the bag of goods behind the vanity. "Yes, come in."
Leopold entered and crossed the room to her. He placed his hands gently on her arms. "I know you've been so worried about that man coming for you again, and that's why I came straight here to tell you that you don't have to worry anymore. We've caught him."