No one had noticed she was gone.

Well, that wasn't quite true. The ladies who waited on her had gotten used to Regina's occasional disappearances, but they were discreet. And Rumple had noticed. If she had any doubt about that, it vanished when she found him waiting for her in her bedroom.

"You missed your lesson again, dearie," he told her.

Regina sighed. She had snuck back into the castle for the moment, but she didn't have long. Robin would wait at the stream for as long as he could after he traded the horse for the golden bird, but if she didn't show up, it would be too late. She needed to get rid of Rumple now.

"I was busy," she said, pushing past him.

"Well, you must have been," he said, gesturing to her simple attire. "Who are you supposed to be, the queen's chambermaid?"

Regina rolled her eyes. With a puff of purple smoke, the peasant's clothes were replaced by a white silk dress, the same one she had worn that night in the tavern. She walked up to the mirror and smiled at her reflection. Soon, this would all be over – the farce of a marriage, the royal life that she had never wanted in the first place, the darkness … well, it would take time, but she believed she could free herself from it.

"Go away, Rumple," she said, trying and failing to sound dismissive. "I don't have time for this."

He didn't listen, of course. She fidgeted anxiously, trying to figure out how to get away from him. Robin would be done with the king soon, and she had to be ready. But maybe that was the point. Rumple claimed to see the future. If that was true, then maybe he was here to make sure that she didn't ride away into the forest with Robin. Maybe he wanted to keep his pupil.

"You know nothing can bring back the stable boy," he said, interrupting her thoughts.

As if she didn't know that. As if she hadn't learned it in the most painful way possible.

"That love that you lost – nothing can replace it."

Regina hesitated. Was that really what she was doing? Trying to replace Daniel? She knew that he would want her to be happy, but if she let go of her pain over losing him, if she allowed herself to love again, did that mean she would lose what little she had left of him?

"Mother believed that love is weakness," she told him. "Do you believe that?"

"Well, of course it is," he said, as if it was obvious. "But emotion … emotion is power. You can do incredible things, if you just let yourself."

"Yes, you've told me that before," she said. "Why now?"

"I just think you could use a reminder, dearie," he said. "Wouldn't want you to do anything foolish and get your heart broken all over again."

His words sent chills down her spine, but when she turned to look at him with wide, frightened eyes, he had already disappeared.

Robin was half expecting a trick, but King Leopold kept his word. After he handed over the bird in its golden cage, he ordered the outlaw to leave and never return to his castle again. Robin smiled as he walked away. Now he had what he needed. He could rescue Little John and, hopefully, he could have a future with the beautiful, lonely queen who he had met in the tavern.

Well, if she decided to show up. He waited for her at the stream for what seemed like an eternity, knowing he didn't have much time. There was only one day left before King Midas would have Little John hanged, and no matter what he felt for Regina, he couldn't let his best friend die by waiting for her. Filled with disappointment, he turned away.

"Wait!" Regina's voice called out from behind him. He turned and saw her there, wearing the same white dress she had worn when they first mets, with an anxious expression on her face. She ran straight into his arms.

"What happened?" he asked.

"I almost couldn't get away," he said. "Rumple was there. He tried to talk me into staying, but this time I didn't listen."

Robin smiled at her, barely able to believe that she was actually here, in his arms. He leaned forward to kiss her, and she kissed him back, passionate and fierce. When they finally broke apart, she looked back at him with a gleam of … something … in her eyes that he hadn't seen there before. But then it was back to business.

"You have the bird?" she asked.

He nodded and gestured to it, sitting in its cage nearby.

"The king couldn't resist giving his daughter exactly what she wanted," he said. "Even if it meant giving up his most prized possession."

"See, I told you," said Regina. "It's a good thing we didn't try your plan. I told you it was no good trying to take the horse as well. There would be soldiers all over these woods looking for you if you did."

"Well, then, we'll have to wait to be chased by soldiers until he realizes what else I've taken," said Robin. When Regina raised her eyebrows, he added: "His wife."

Regina sighed. The expression on her face went dark, and when she spoke, her tone was bitter. "I doubt he'll even notice."

"I suppose we'll see," said Robin. "Are you ready?"

"Not really," Regina admitted. "But I'm as ready as I'll ever be. Let's get out of here."

"We should be almost there," Robin whispered. The two of them crept through the forest, careful not to make themselves conspicuous. "I told them to wait for me here … ah, yes, here it is."

Grinning, he pushed aside a low-hanging branch and led Regina by the hand into a clearing set up with tents and a campfire. A group of rugged young men were waiting.

"Robin!" one of them cried. "You made it!"

"We thought you'd been caught," said another.

"Well, I had," said Robin. "But I made it out safely, thanks to this lovely young lady. Everyone, I'd like you to meet Regina."

She felt nervous as they turned their attention to her, but she tried not to react. Not surprisingly, one of them recognized her.

"Aren't you … the Queen?"

"Not anymore," said Regina. It might not have technically been true, but technicalities hardly seemed to matter at the moment.

"Look what we've got," said Robin, holding up the bird in its cage. "I'll set out tonight to take it to Midas. There's still time to save Little John."

At that, the Merry Men let out a chuckle. A large man with a scruffy beard rose from the back of the group. He was the last person Regina would ever call "little", but when Robin saw him, his eyes lit up.

"Little John! How …?"

The big man shrugged. "I'm a Merry Man. You think I don't know how to break out of prison?"

"Well, this calls for celebration!" said Robin.

Later that night, as they sat around the campfire, singing and laughing, Regina curled up in Robin's arms.

"I'm glad I came," she whispered to him.

"Good," he murmured. "You'll be happy with us. I promise you that."

"I already am," she said. And without speaking another word, she leaned in closer and kissed him.

The next morning, Regina knelt beside the bird's cage, watching it carefully. The king wouldn't have been pleased to see her getting dirt on her white silk dress, and she cringed to think what Cora would do if she saw, but Regina forced those thoughts out of her mind. They weren't here. What they thought didn't matter anymore.

The bird looked back at her and blinked slowly. Regina smiled and reached out to stroke its solid gold feathers. Anyone else who tried that might have gotten their fingers pecked until they bled, as the king had learned when he tried to pluck one of its feathers a few months before, but the bird had let Regina touch it from the very first time she tried. Perhaps it knew she didn't mean it any harm, she thought, or perhaps it recognized a fellow captive.

With nimble fingers, Regina opened the latch to the bird's golden cage. She held out her hand, and the bird jumped onto her wrist, looking up at her cautiously. She had never thought birds' faces to be especially emotive, but she could swear she saw all the excitement and dread she was feeling herself in its eyes.

A few moments later, the bird took off from her wrist and fluttered up into the air. As she watched it go, Regina's own heart soared with it. For the first time ever, she actually felt free.

Days passed, and then weeks. They flew by as quickly as an arrow. Robin showed Regina a new world in the woods, more extraordinary than she had ever imagined, and little by little, the other Merry Men came to see her as one of them. She left behind the trappings of royalty entirely and didn't regret it one bit. A simple life with love and happiness was all she had ever wanted, and she had finally found it. There was still the threat of the king finding them, of course, but no one was more skilled at evading royal soldiers than Robin Hood. And one morning, when they woke up in each other's arms, she traced his lion tattoo and told him the story of how she had ended up in the tavern.

"You almost didn't go in," he commented.

"I was afraid," she admitted. "But I'm glad I did. It was so worth it."