A/N: Sorry this took so long! College. College is hard. This has been on my computer, almost done, for weeks, and me with no time to work on it. Like the last chapter, this one is kinda introspective, and I'm not sure I'm great at writing that, but I did the best I could. Enjoy!

Over the next few days, Robin gradually returns to his normal duties as Regina recovers her strength. A week after the king's return, she insists that she is well enough, that he must have other things that need doing, and he needn't hover over her. He agrees, somewhat reluctantly, that she has no further need of him in an extended capacity, and that he can return to simply bringing her meals and doing odd jobs for her.

"Thank you," she adds as he turns to leave, "for taking care of me. I confess, I still don't remember much of it. I hope I wasn't too much trouble," she says with a small smile.

"Oh… not really," he replies. "As I said, you were quite ill. I — everyone — was very worried for you for a few days. But you mostly slept through the fever. The most trouble was when you were calling out in your sleep."

"I was calling out in my sleep?" This was news to her. "What— what did I say?"

"You called out — fever will do that — you called out for your father, mostly. And your mother, though it sounded more as if you were yelling at her than for her. And someone else, once or twice. I did wonder about that. You called out for… Daniel?"

Regina looks stricken. Of course she would have called out for Daniel. She hasn't spoken of him since she was married, but he is always in her thoughts, in her heart.

Robin draws back at the look on her face. "I— I'm sorry if I've upset you, Regina, I—"

"No," she says softly. "No, it's alright. Daniel was… he was my fiancé."

Her fiancé? "You were engaged…? Before the king?"

"Yes," she says with a resigned sigh. "He's… he's dead."

"I'm so sorry, Regina."

"Yes, well, I'm sure you don't want to hear my sob story," she says dismissively, but her expression is wistful.

"If… if you need to talk about it, Regina, I'm willing to listen."

She was silent for a few moments, turning to face out the window, and he expected her to dismiss him.

But instead, she spoke. "He was… we were engaged. My mother, she didn't know. I was trying to figure out how to tell her. He wasn't… what she wanted for me. And when King Leopold proposed, she… she said yes. Daniel and I, we were going to run away, get married, start over. But she… my mother found out. And, he's dead. And it's my fault." It is, she realizes. She's been blaming the princess, but the person she truly blames is herself. "He died because he loved me. Because he loved me. The only love I'll ever have. And he's gone. Because of me."

This answers so many questions he had about her. A dead fiancé goes a long way toward explaining the sadness she carried around with her. And the loneliness. This Daniel, dead, and Regina married off to a king who does not love her.

She tries to compose herself, but it's all she can do to keep from dissolving into tears. "You— you should go," she says softly.

"Regina," he steps toward her, reaching out in a hollow gesture of comfort. "I—"

"Go," she says forcefully, and he reluctantly withdraws from her chambers.

Regina watches him leave the room. Why had she told him all of that? Why? He couldn't help her. No one could. She had decided not to tell him— not to tell anyone— even before she was married. She didn't want anyone feeling sorry for her. He just seemed so nice, so genuine. Like he truly wanted to hear her story. Like he wantedto help her, even though there was nothing he could do.

Still, she couldn't do this. She couldn't depend on him to help her with this. Couldn't depend on anyone. For anything. Because if she did, if she let herself need someone, and she lost them again, she would just go spiraling back into that misery and loneliness. She had to keep her distance.

She fights back tears as a fresh wave of grief sweeps over her. This is the first time she's spoken of Daniel since before her wedding. She hadn't expected to, hadn't wanted to. But Robin had asked. Even after she'd dismissed her grief, given him a way out, he'd wanted to talk to her about it. And she'd started telling him everything even before she realized she really did want to. She must trust him, she realizes. She had, of course, considered him a friend, but she must trust him a lot more than she had thought to have told him all of that.

It doesn't matter. Talking of Daniel only reminds her why she's putting herself through this, learning magic. She needs to find a way to escape this castle, make her own life. Even alone— without Daniel, she'll always be alone, but… anything would be better than this.

The next day, she resumes her magic lessons with Rumplestiltskin. Robin spends the whole morning worrying that the imp will reveal his feelings for her. When he sees her at last, she's quieter than usual, none of the easy conversation he has become accustomed to, and he grows apprehensive that she has indeed been informed of his conversation with her mentor.

She hasn't said anything, however, and he would expect her to be more confrontational if she had been told. He has to know, can't ask outright, he tries asking leading questions about her lessons, and when she proves unwilling to answer, he asks about Rumplestiltskin: "How is he as a teacher? He seems… annoyingly vague."

And how would you know that?" she asks, surprised.

"I spoke to him. While you were ill. He came looking for you, and I was the only one here to inform him of your condition. He didn't mention it?" he asks, hopeful.

"No," she says, surprised, and he lets out a relieved breath. "Not a word. I wonder why. He can be annoyingly cryptic at times," she continues in response to his question, "but it's not like I have options if I want to learn magic."

"Good point," he replies absently, his relief quickly turning into worry as he leaves the room. Why hadn't the imp told her about their conversation? He doubted it was because he had recognized Robin's right to tell her of his feelings in his own time. The man had some agenda, Robin had no doubt. He had seemed far too interested in Robin's feelings for Regina to just let it be. But why he was interested… Robin had no idea.

Regina started when she heard the door close. She had been too lost in thought to say more than a few words to him. Her lesson had not gone well. She had taken a few steps back, it seemed, unable to do things that she had been successful at over her last few lessons. Rumplestiltskin had been quite irritated at her lack of progress, but she had insisted that she was just weak from her illness and that her abilities would return soon.

He had not believed that, insisting that she no longer possessed the anger that had powered her magic. She argued, of course, that she was still as angry as ever. But now… thinking about it, she wasn't sure.

Speaking about Daniel to Robin, even briefly, had forced her to examine her feelings in a way she hadn't since his death, and she found she no longer felt the intense loathing for Snow White that she had before. She disliked the girl, certainly, but… as she examined her feelings, she found that she no longer hated her blindly for her part in Daniel's death. She disliked Snow for her father's sake, for drawing his attention to Regina in the first place, but she didn't blame her for Daniel, not really. Not anymore.

She found that the blame for his death fell squarely on her own shoulders. Since speaking about Daniel, she realized that she blamed herself, far more than she had blamed Snow. If he hadn't loved her, if she hadn't convinced him to run away, he would still be alive. It was her fault, all of it. For loving him, for letting him love her.

It was a painful thought, and she shied away from it, turning her attention back to the problem of her magic. That anger, after all, isn't gone, it's just found a new target. But this hatred, this self-loathing, it doesn't power her magic as the anger at Snow had. Instead of being a powerful force she can channel to make the world conform to her needs, this anger builds up inside her, choking her. It doesn't work. And try as she might to channel her hatred for Snow, it is no longer powerful enough to enable her to do even a fraction of what she could do before.

And it scares her. The magic, that power, it was her only hope. The only chance she had at escaping this kingdom forever, at freedom. She needed to find that anger again, to reclaim her power.

"Is something wrong, Regina?" he asks concernedly, a few days later. "You haven't been… quite yourself lately."

Yes, she thinks, something is wrong. Her magic isn't working. And it is his fault, she thinks with a surge of bitterness. He had asked her about Daniel. He'd convinced her to talk about him for the first time since before her wedding, and now she couldn't summon up enough rage to perform anything but the simplest spells.

But that's unfair of her, blaming him. He has been nothing but kind to her since the day they met, and he doesn't deserve her ire. So, "No, no, I'm fine," is all she says, though it comes out a bit more harshly than she'd intended.

The following day, Rumplestiltskin called off her lessons. He declared that there was no point in continuing until she had recovered her power. They both knew she couldn't blame it on the illness anymore; she was completely recovered, had been for days.

She returns to her bedchamber, growing increasingly frustrated as she tries — and fails — to transport her hairbrush across the room into her hand. She didn't know how long she stayed like that, steeped in frustration, until Robin announced his arrival with her midday meal with a knock on the door.

She startles, not expecting his arrival, and in the time she takes to recover, he knocks again. When he knocks a third time, she manages a response, a little harsher than she'd intended.

"Yes, alright, come in already," she says, exiting her bedchamber.

He enters, giving her a careful smile.

"Hello, your majesty, I've brought your meal."

"Have you?" she says tartly, "I would never have guessed, considering you do so every day at this time."

His smile falters a little at her tone, but he holds her gaze, and asks, "Would you like some company today, Regina?"

She responds coldly, "I would not. Leave now. I will let you know if I require your assistance."

He is stunned for a moment, not at her words, which are polite enough, but at her cold tone, where she is usually so friendly with him. He wants to ask what's wrong, to help her with whatever it is, but she fixes him with a cold stare, and he nods in response.

"Very well, your majesty," he turns to leave. "Enjoy your meal."

He leaves the room, and she lets out a sigh of relief. It isn't fair of her, taking this out on him, she knows. But she just needed to let out her frustration. And… unfair as it was, some part of her blamed him for the loss of her abilities.

It is his fault, she thinks bitterly. If he hadn't brought up Daniel, if he hadn't… She clenches her fist around the hairbrush in anger.

Wait… she thinks. The hairbrush. She looks down at her hands, at the hairbrush. She must have summoned it from the other room. Her power… but, no, she can't. She'll find another way. Robin is the one good friendship she has in her life. She can't…

The next day, the queen apologizes for her irritability.

"It's alright," Robin says in response. "You're entitled to be in a bad mood once in a while."

"Still, it wasn't fair of me to take it out on you. I apologize."

"Apology accepted," he says, and that is the end of it.

Only it wasn't. Regina's irritability grows as her magic continues to elude her over the next several days.

In a fit of frustration, she tries once again to power her magic with anger aimed at Robin. It is not quite as powerful as it was before, but it is something.

She lies to herself, tells herself that she can do this, and maintain her friendship with him. He is wonderful, she reminds herself every time she sees him. Everything he has done for her, befriending her, taking care of her when she was ill… but the anger she uses to power her magic bleeds into their interactions. She becomes more short-tempered in general, and especially with him.

But this magic, it's her key to freedom. She can't bring herself to give it up, to stop using him as the target. She needs this, and if it came to a choice between her power and his friendship… this power will be her freedom, and with it she can have the life she's always wanted.

The queen is more and more irritable lately, and anything he does to help just seems to upset her more. He wants, desperately, to help her, to make her happy. But it seems he can't, and that weighs on him, as do the Dark One's words. He can't forget what the man said: 'She can't love you back…' It wouldn't matter to him, he wouldn't care, if only he could stay friends with her, bring even a little joy to her face. Even if he couldn't help hoping that one day she would feel the same for him, well, it was only natural.

But now… everything he does only seems to upset her more. Somehow, their easy friendship had fallen apart, and he didn't know how, or why, or what he could do to fix it, no matter how much he wanted to.

And so he was left with a very difficult decision to make. He had to leave. He didn't want to leave her, but she was so upset, all the time, and his presence only ever seemed to make it worse, no matter how much he tried to help. It wasn't good to be that upset all the time, and he reluctantly admitted that it would be best for her if he were no longer around.

And it would be better for him too, in the long run. He knew, no matter how hard it was for him to leave right now, it would be best. He was treading on thin ice as it was, with his feelings for her. She was a married woman, no matter how much she wished not to be, and he doubted her husband's indifference to her would continue if the man were to learn of the feelings Robin harbored for his wife.

He knew it would be best for him to forget about her, to find someone less unattainable to pursue. But in order to do that, he would have to fall out of love with the queen. And the only way to do that was to leave, to stay away from her until the feelings faded, until the image of her laughing face disappeared from behind his eyelids.

And so he does. Decision made, he packs up and leaves, leaving only a letter for his replacement to give to the queen, explaining he has left with no mention as to why. And, with a last look at the palace in which she resides, Robin walks away from the woman he loves.

The next day, someone else brings Regina's midday meal. The queen does a double take, startled, and asks "Where's Robin?"

"I — I don't know, your majesty," the nervous boy stammers in reply. "He — he left last night, real sudden. He left you a note," he adds, handing it to her. "We haven't got anybody to take over for him right now, so it's me for the next few days. Just 'till we get someone."

Regina barely hears him as she reads Robin's note. He doesn't give any real reason for leaving, just excuses. But she knows, oh, she knows.

It's her. He finally got fed up with how she's been acting and left. His friendship was the best thing she had in her life, and she has driven him away.

She should have known better, should have known she couldn't direct her anger at him to power her magic, and maintain her friendship with him.

But, really, she had known. She just hadn't cared. Hadn't thought it would matter if he hated her as long as she could use magic, find her freedom. But now… now he's gone, and she realizes just how important he was, how bereft she is without him. He has been a better friend than she thought she could have here, a better friend than she deserved. He's the person she's been closest to since Daniel's death, and he's gone, and it's all her fault. Her fault he's gone, her fault Daniel's dead, her own fault she's alone and miserable.

And if that is the case, she thinks as she feels all her anger drain away, leaving only the self loathing, if that is the case, then perhaps she deserves it after all.

A/N: I guess you all hate me now, huh? Sorry... but not really. He had to leave so she'd realize how much he meant to her. That's been my plan from the beginning.

Next chapter's a good one, though, I promise. And it should be up really soon, like, within the next few days, I hope.

Tell me what you think!