This is just a little 'What if Snow and Charming didn't case the second Dark Curse' AU that wouldn't leave my brain. I'll just leave this here so I can go back to writing other things. Missing year, warning character death.
She's not sure how much more of this she can listen to. They've been spouting nonsense from the moment they stepped back through that godsforsaken door; muttering about light magic and talismans, The Savior and The Dark Curse.
"Are you out of your minds? Even if I believed this Glinda, which I don't, to cast the Dark Curse I have to destroy the heart of the thing I love most, which for me, is Henry." She roars at them, pacing anxiously in front of the fallen log Snow had settled on.
"There has to be another way to enact it." Snow suggests, panic rising in her voice as she rubs a hand anxiously over her swollen belly. .
"If there were, do you think I would have killed my own father?" She questions, arching one perfect eyebrow in challenge. Snow matches it with a shrug of her own before heaving a defeated sigh.
"What about a magic bean? If we had one we could open a portal. Or Jefferson's hat?" Charming offers, grasping at any possibilities he can think of.
"There are no more portals. Not for us. Not for anyone the curse brought back. When I undid the first curse, to escape Pan, to bring us here, it divided our realms. It placed a wall between them." She explains, calmly, as if she's talking to a child; that seems to be the only way to get information across to these two.
"So The Dark Curse is the only way." Snow whispers, eyes downcast.
"Haven't you been listening?! I. Can't. Cast it! The thing I love most is Henry, and he isn't here!" she waves her arms in exasperation. "And even if he was I wouldn't do it. I refuse."
"But is he Regina? Is he still the thing you love most?" Snow questions, eyes soft and open as she looks up at her former stepmother.
"Of course he is! He's my son! No amount of distance or time will ever change that." She fires back, chest clenching painfully as her mind swirls with thoughts of her Little Prince realms away.
"But what about your new family?" She asks cautiously.
She looks down at the princess for a moment, confusion coloring her brow. No. She can't be serious.
"What about Robin and Roland?" She starts, voice picking up speed as she rushes through her explanation, desperation driving her forward. "You love them, I know you do, no matter how hard to try to hide it from everyone. And they love you too." She finishes, panting for breath.
"How dare you." She growls, eyes narrow and menacing. "Stealing one True Love from me wasn't enough for you? Now you want to take Robin too?" She demands, voice rising, the pitch high and strained on the last question. Anger floods through her veins, squeezing her throat and clouding her vision.
"We can do it." David suddenly suggest, something like hope sparking behind his eyes as the tension immediately bleeds away. "You can cast it." He crouches down beside Snow, pulling her hands into his own, face split with a smile that doesn't quite meet his eyes.
"No. Our child needs you. I need you. We'll find another way, we always find another way." She babbles, eyes desperately flicking between her true love and her former stepmother, her voice dripping with hope and blind faith.
If only that were enough.
Snow stares up at her, eyes wide and innocent and she's suddenly transported back in time to a similar night long ago, full of whispered secrets and scraped knees, before all of the torment between them began. She looks so much like the child she rescued, the sweet princess she saved and raised against her will, but who she couldn't help loving despite all of the hate and grief tangled around them. She never could say no to those eyes.
"I think I know of another way. We should get back to the castle." And with that she turns and trudges back through the forest, not bothering to see if they follow.
It's hours later, the sun is starting to set painting the courtyard in brilliant shades of violet and magenta, ambers and hot pinks streaking across the sky. It's a beautiful night, at least she'll have that to hold on to. She stares into the cauldron, holding her hands above the bubbling liquid until her skin feels raw and scorched, the harsh smell invading her senses and bringing back memories of a curse cast in the name of vengeance that left the same tang of ash on her tongue, the same adrenaline rushing through her veins.
"There has to be another way to get back to Emma," a voice calls from behind her, pulling her out of her trance.
"No this is it. You know if there were I would have gone back to Henry. This is it...this sacrifice." She whispers, pulling a heart from the pouch looped around her wrist, looking down at the patches of shining red and swirling blackness dancing below its surface. "He'll be here soon. You should go." She sighs, slipping the heart back into its resting place, hidden and safe at least for now.
"Regina," she pauses, until the woman she has both admired and hated turns to face her. "I have always loved you." She stops, emotion clogging her throat.
"I know dear. And look at all the good it's done us." She smiles sadly at the girl who was once like her daughter before becoming her enemy, but is now something of a friend, something like family, before turning away.
She feels when he enters the courtyard long before she turns to see him. The same electric current tingling up her spine that always announces his presence. Spinning to face him she extends her hand, blinking back tears as he slides his fingers through hers and steps into her, resting his forehead against hers, breathing in the silence, prolonging the moment before their last goodbye.
"Are you ready?" She asks, leaning back to look him in the eye.
"Are you sure there is no other way?"
"Robin, we've been over this." She starts to rush into an explanation, but he can't hear it again; their conversation has been running through his brain all afternoon since she discussed it with him the first time, so he does the only thing he can think of to stop her. He brushes his lips against hers, tangling his hand in the loose curls at the nape of her neck. Under any other circumstance it would be soothing, a tender expression of affection, lips dragging back and forth languidly, tongues sliding and caressing, but they both know they are only delaying the inevitable.
"Robin, do you love me?" she asks, fingers curled desperately around the collar of his jacket as they break apart, eyes sparkling with tears she refuses to let fall.
"Yes. I do," he answers solemnly, lips bussing hers for a moment to reinforce his confession. "I love you Regina, more than I ever thought possible, but not enough to do this, not to do what you're asking."
She breathes out a broken laugh, watery and miserable, choked with the bitterness of the moment. He loves her, but of course he will always love his child more, she understands that better than anyone else. Pulling a small vial from the pocket of her gown she lifts it into the space between them, the liquid sloshing and shining in the dim light around them.
"You need to drink this." She chokes out, pressing the potion into his hand. "It's a forgetting potion, but it's only temporary. You'll forget Roland, just until after the spell is cast. He won't be a factor anymore so you'll be able to cast the curse."
"No Regina, I won't!" He cries, trying to force the vial back into her fingers, but she refuses to take it.
"This is the only way, we need Emma to defeat Zelena, and no one will miss the Evil Queen. It's better this way." She sighs, running her fingers along the stubble on his chin, memorizing every inch of his face with wandering fingertips and tear filled eyes. "Tell Henry I loved him, that I did this for him, for all of you."
"This won't be in vain, I promise you that." He releases her, removes the stopper from the bottle and swallows it down in one go. His eyes squeeze shut as the potion takes effect, the vial slipping from his grasp and shattering on the stones below.
"Robin?" She asks, grasping his chin until his eyes open, looking back at her filled with anguish.
"Yes, my love?" he questions, drawing her hand from his chin and pressing a kiss to her knuckles.
"Do you know what you have to do?" He nods, and she breathes a sigh of relief, pulling her heart from its place inside the bag.
"I have loved you from the first moment I saw you," he whispers, thumb rubbing along the apple of her cheek, swiping away her tears.
"And I will love you until my last," she vows.
"I love you, more than anything," he swears, eyes locked on hers, tears steadily streaming in silent trails down his face.
"And that's why you have to crush it." She presses her heart into his hand, then trails her fingers along his palm until they are loosely grasping his wrist; she guides his hand until it balanced over the edge of the cauldron before releasing her grip. "Don't say goodbye." she cups his cheek, idly running her thumb along the softness of his skin, while her other hand rests over his heart. "Just kiss me, and then let me go."
She sighs as his mouth fuses with hers, the salt of their tears clinging to their lips and tainting the kiss. It's only a moment, a soft exchange filled with regret, grief, love, and goodbye. She cries out, lips separating from his with an agonized sound as he crushes her heart, letting the dust fall from his palm into the waiting curse below. The moment the last of the dust leaves his shaking fingers he falls to his knees, pulling her lifeless body into his lap
A clap of thunder sounds, ringing through the air drowning out the sound of his sobs as Snow and Charming rush into the courtyard.
"It worked," Snow breathes, a mixture of shock and horror coloring her expression.
"Yes, it did." Robin chokes out from his place on the ground, eyes never leaving Regina's still face.
"You fools!" They suddenly hear from above, a strong burst of wind blowing against them as they look up to find Zelena sweeping in, landing gracefully in front of them. "You sacrificed your beloved for nothing," she sneers, "I needed her heart! She was the final ingredient and now you're ruined everything!"
"Then bring her back. There must be a way! Take my heart, it's strong enough for the both of us. Take mine and split it, give half of it to her." Robin begs. "Please, I'll give you anything you want."
"There is nothing you can give me archer, nothing as valuable as what you have already wasted. You'll just have to live with what you've done, knowing that her sacrifice meant nothing in the end and I will still destroy you all." With a flick of her wrist, her broom appears in her hand and she slides onto it, flying away into the night, a cackle spilling from her lips and echoing around them long after she's gone.
Thunder erupts as smoke billows from the cauldron, thick heavy clouds of it spilling over and expanding, swallowing everything in their path, sweeping them away to a land without magic, a world filled with story book characters who have nothing left to fear from the Evil Queen. Robin clutches her lifeless body, cradles it against his chest and cries into the face of the storm, the weight of what he's done crushing him from all sides as he feels his heart splinter in his chest, broken and crying out for the missing piece of his soul that just shattered into dust. Her final heroic act that now has no meaning at all.