At some point before the sun came out, Regina had picked herself up off the floor and dragged herself back to bed. She crawled under the blankets, which still held the faint smell of forest, and drifted into a deep sleep.

In the morning, dressed impeccably as usual, Regina looked none the worse for wear. The only indication that things were not perfectly fine was her slight hesitation before leaving her bedroom. She took an extra few seconds to prepare herself, and then headed out. She had a lot to do this morning.

…

Robin Hood woke up with a headache. He tried to remember the previous night. All he could recall was having a drink with that thief Will Scarlett. Perhaps he had drunk more than he should have. His last memories were of telling Will about how he had met Marian, and of Will telling him about how much Marian had loved him.

Robin sat up suddenly, his headache subsiding quickly. (Perhaps he hadn't had too much to drink, then.)

Marian.

He had thought her dead for years. Then after arriving in this strange place, the home of Snow White and her Prince in the land without magic, Marian had come back to him. The town had defeated the Wicked Witch, but not before her time portal had been activated, saving Marian and returning her to him.

Soon after Marian's return, he had very nearly lost her again. She had been frozen by the Snow Queen. The details were unimportant (and somewhat fuzzy in his memory), but he somehow knew that she was not dead, would not die, and that she could be saved with an act of true love.

He had to go to her. He had once sworn he would walk through hell to be with her again. And now he had gotten her back. He rushed out of the tent, remembering that Little John had been watching Roland for the night. Robin told the nearest of his merry men to tell Little John that he had gone to the mayor's office.

As Robin ran, his thoughts swirled. He would kiss Marian, and his love would bring her back. Why hadn't he done so right away? He couldn't understand it. It should have been the first thing he tried. He had memories of looking for other ways to save her, but not of trying True Love's Kiss.

He ran through the town of Storybrooke, remembering how he had arrived here via Snow White's curse, to escape the Wicked Witch. But how had Snow White, as non-magical a person as there ever was, managed to enact the curse? And how had the curse been broken? For he knew it had been. He also knew that the Wicked Witch had been defeated, though he could not remember how that had happened either.

Robin pushed all those thoughts aside as he arrived at the office, feeling hopeful at the sight of Marian, frozen but alive. His heart ached for the woman before him. His wife, the mother of his son, and the love of his life. She had the purest heart he had ever known, and he was a better man for having known her.

Robin kneeled beside her, leaned forward and gently kissed his wife. A sudden warmth rushed through him, emanating from their joined lips. He pulled back, and Marian suddenly took a deep breath, opened her eyes and sat up. Robin laughed with joy, seeing Marian well again, her color restored and her eyes bright. She looked at him, confused, and asked, "Robin! What happened?"

Robin beamed. "You were frozen," he explained, taking her face in his hands. "There's a woman, the Snow Queen, she tried to kill you. But you're all right now. I saved you." He pressed his forehead to hers. "My love for you saved you."

Marian smiled at him softly. "You love me?" she asked.

Robin looked confused. "Of course I do. How could you ever doubt that?" Marian embraced him, and he pulled her up. "Where's Roland?" she asked.

Before he could answer, the door burst open and Little John walked in with Roland in tow. "Mama!" he cried, seeing Marian awake again. Marian fell to her knees and hugged her son.

Little John walked straight over to Robin and handed him a small box. "Here," he said.

Robin was confused again. That seemed to be happening a lot today. "What is this?" he asked, taking the box.

Little John looked surprised. "You left me a note to bring it here, along with Roland."

Robin was starting to feel like he lost his mind. He opened the box, and nearly dropped it when he saw what was inside. "John! Is this a heart? Whose is this?"

Now it was Little John's turn to be confused. "It's Marian's. I assumed you wanted to put it back."

"Marian's?" Robin sputtered, looking at his wife who, despite her apparent lack of a heart, seemed perfectly fine. "But she's… how can she… put it back?!"

Little John couldn't understand his friend's bewilderment, but tried to explain things as best he could. "Don't you remember? Regina took out her heart so it wouldn't freeze. Now that Marian is awake, I guess she can have it back."

Robin's eyes widened at the name Regina. Of course. The Evil Queen was known for ripping out people's hearts. He just never realized she did it while they were still alive. And now she had done it to his Marian.

The door burst open once more, and Emma walked in. She looked uncomfortable, hesitant, as her eyes swept over the room and settled on the box in Robin's hands. She headed straight for him with a determined look. "Good, you have it," she said, reaching for the box.

Robin pulled it away from her. "What do you intend to do with my wife's heart?"

Emma looked surprised, but recovered quickly, although she still didn't meet his eyes. "I was going to put it back. Unless you know how to do it?"

Robin couldn't think of any reason he shouldn't trust this woman. He knew little of her, but she was the daughter of Snow White, and the woman who brought Marian back to him. "You know how to remove people's hearts?" he asked her.

"Uh, no," Emma said, turning away from him. "But I know how to replace one. Regina sent me, she told me you would be here with the heart, and needed me to put it back."

Robin must have deemed her trustworthy, because the next thing she knew, she was holding the box containing Marian's heart. She walked over to Marian, still sitting on the floor with Roland in her lap. Marian looked up when Robin called Roland over to him. She stood up to face Emma, smiling at her. "Emma, it's so good to see you. I understand I've been through quite the ordeal."

Emma smiled uncomfortably. "Yes, well I'm afraid the ordeal isn't quite over yet. There's still the matter of this." Emma held the box up in front of her.

"What is that?" Marian seemed only mildly curious.

Emma opened the box and lifted the beating organ into her hand. "Well, it's your heart." Marian's eyes widened at the sight. "You see, when you were frozen, your heart had to be removed before the ice could reach it. To keep you alive."

Marian was shocked. "So you ripped my heart out? Like the evil queen does?"

Emma winced. "No, it wasn't like that. I mean I… She did it to… you know what? That's not important right now." Emma just wanted to get this over with. "What is important is that your heart goes back where it belongs," Emma said, opening the box. "So… may I?"

Emma gently held the heart out to Marian. Marian looked trustingly at Emma, nodding through the fear in her eyes. "Okay," Emma said. "This will hurt." She placed the heart in front of Marian's chest and quickly pushed it in.

Marian gasped, Emma released the heart and pulled her hand out. Marian straightened, and took a few breaths. Emma looked at her inquiringly. "How do you feel?"

Marian smiled. "Wonderful." She grabbed the hand that Emma still held between them. "Thank you, Emma. That's twice you've saved me from the Evil Queen."

Emma shifted uncomfortably. "Actually, the Evil Queen didn't do this to you. The Snow Queen did. And I didn't save you, Robin did. It was all him." Emma paused. "Well, you're safe now. I'll let you get back to your family," Emma said, and walked away.

As she stepped out of the room, she felt someone grab her arm. She turned and found herself facing a confused and worried-looking Little John. "John? What's wrong," she asked, concerned.

Little John glanced behind him to see Robin, holding Roland, smiling at Marian who stood in front of them. The quintessential happy family. John pulled Emma out of the room and closed the door behind him, turning to Emma. "What's going on with Robin? He didn't know anything about Marian's heart, even though he left me a note about it just this morning…"

Emma cut him off. "Actually, that note was from Regina. She called me over this morning to explain some things. Things that you should probably know, too." So Emma told John about the potion. She told him that Robin hadn't been able to save Marian because he had been conflicted, and so the potion had wiped all his memories of Regina. She told him there might be some gaps in Robin's knowledge, and asked John to fill him in where necessary. She ended by telling him that since Robin and Regina's relationship was known to others, including Marian, Robin would have to be told about it. "No details are needed, just that it happened. He'll believe you, if you're the one to tell him."

As he listened, John's face when from curiosity, to surprise, to acceptance. He had seen the struggle his best friend had been through, but he hadn't known how deep it went. John knew only something drastic would cause Robin to turn to magic, especially one that would alter his own mind. But for Marian, he would to anything.

John asked, "who else knows about this?"

"Nobody," Emma said. "Regina just wanted to make sure that Marian was revived, with her heart returned. And that Robin wouldn't be distressed."

John nodded, and reassured Emma that he would make sure to take care of them both. He slipped back into the room, closing the door behind him.

Left alone in the hallway, she let out a deep sigh. She lifted shaky hands to her face. That had been so much harder than she thought it would be. And now, she just wanted to get home. So she raised her hands and disappeared in a puff of purple smoke.

…

A/N: This chapter took a little longer to post because I was struggling with the latest episode. As usual, the show went in a different direction than I expected, but for once I'm happy about the result. And because of that, I almost abandoned this story. But, I think I finally figured out how to work around it, and the next chapter is almost written. The story isn't done yet…

Thanks again to all the readers, and please keep reviewing!