"Come with me," John said. He stood up and walked away from the campfire. Robin, noting the seriousness in his best friend's voice, followed him into the forest.

John had been trying for hours to choose the best way to relate all that had happened. He had two things he needed to tell Robin. The first was that Robin had lost some of his memories by drinking a magic potion. That would be easy enough; Robin could surely tell that there were gaps in his memory. It would be harder to convince Robin of the second matter, that the memories he lost concerned his relationship with a woman he only knew as the Evil Queen, and that he had needed to take the potion because his love for her prevented him from saving Marian.

First things first.

John continued facing forward as Robin fell into step beside him. "I want you to think about our time in this world," he said. "We've been here a few months now. We fought the Wicked Witch, and defeated her. Marian returned, and has been frozen for the past few weeks. Do you remember all of this?"

Robin thought back. Months? The time had certainly passed quickly. He supposed that was because they were preoccupied with the witch. Robin ran his hand through his hair. He tried to focus on the details, though they were fuzzy in his memory. "I remember arriving here with no memories of the past year. I remember the curse breaking, although I don't know how. I remember that we defeated the witch, although I don't know how. And I remember Marian being frozen. But she couldn't have been frozen that long, it seems only a few days since she collapsed." Robin stopped walking and grabbed Little John's arm. "John, what's going on? Did something happen to me?"

John turned and faced his friend. "It's alright, Robin. You're not going mad or anything. You've just lost some of your memories." Robin looked only mildly comforted. John continued walking and Robin followed his lead. "You took a potion to forget… certain selected memories of the past year."

Robin frowned. "Why would I do that?"

"Well, it was necessary. To save Marian, you had to forget…" Not yet, Little John thought. "...some of the things that happened since we met Snow White and the Storybrooke lot."

John waited for his friend to absorb that news. They walked quietly for a few minutes, Robin digesting this new information and John hoped his silence meant acceptance.

"So, I wasn't force to take this potion? I took it voluntarily?" Robin glanced at John. "You know how I feel about magic."

"Aye," John said, but was saved from further explanation as Robin continued to rationalize his own actions.

"Although, of course, for Marian I would do anything." Another minute passed before he continued. "Still, it seems strange. Marian was saved by True Love's Kiss. Why would I need a memory potion for that?"

John sighed. This was going to be the hard part. They had arrived at a small clearing, and John took a seat on a fallen log, waiting for Robin to sit beside him.

"Robin, you're going to find this hard to believe, but you know I would never lie to you." John waited until Robin nodded. "When Marian was frozen, they said the ice was acting as a barrier. That this curse couldn't be broken with True Love's Kiss."

Robin shook his head. "But that's wrong, the curse was broken. And I would have tried, at least."

John sighed. "You did try, Robin. You kissed her, as soon as she was cursed, but it didn't work."

"What? Why would True Love's Kiss work now but not have worked then?"

John turned to face Robin. "If it didn't work then, it could only because it wasn't True Love's Kiss."

Robin stared at John as the meaning of what he said dawned on him. "Are you saying I didn't love Marian? John, she is my wife! You know what she was to me, what I went through when I lost her!"

"I know, Robin," John reassured her.

"And then to have her back - it's the greatest blessing I could ever have hoped for!"

"I know, Robin."

"So how could my kiss not have been one of true love?"

John looked at him sadly. "Because you were in love with another."

Robin stood up suddenly and looked angrily at John. "How can you say such a thing?! Marian is the only woman I love, the only woman I've ever loved! Who could ever replace her?" Robin began walking back and forth across the clearing.

John continued patiently. "Your memory gaps probably start shortly after we arrived in this world, right?" Robin stopped pacing, crossed his arms and looked at John, nodding reluctantly. "You met a woman." Robin's eyes widened. "You were intrigued by her, and you two grew closer. You began to care for her, quite a bit actually."

Robin narrowed his eyes. "I am a married man, John, I would never - "

"Robin, she was dead. Marian was gone, you remember her being gone, don't you? For years." Robin relaxed and let John continue. "As I was saying, you cared for her. But when Marian came back, you stopped seeing her." Robin didn't react to this. Apparently he didn't see anything remarkable in this part of the tale. "You stopped seeing her, but you still had feelings for her. So when Marian was cursed, your heart was torn, and your kiss didn't work."

"That's why I was looking for other ways to save her," Robin said. John nodded. Robin dropped his hands and resumed his pacing. He wasn't saying anything, so John decided to continue.

"To save Marian, your heart needed to be focused only on her. So you took the potion to erase your memories, and your feelings. Apparently, it worked."

Robin walked back over to the log and sat down. John waited. There was one more detail that had been left out. He waited for Robin to ask, and finally he did. "Who was this other woman?"

John waited for Robin to meet his eyes. "It was Regina."

Robin looked at his friend in utter shock. "The Evil Queen?!" Before John could respond, Robin started laughing. A loud, hearty laugh that seemed so genuine it shocked John into silence.

"John. Really?" Robin said. "This is rather an elaborate prank, even for you. You're saying I was in love with the Evil Queen, so in love that I couldn't even save my wife? Do you realize how ridiculous that sounds?" Robin waited for his friend to confess everything and laugh along with him. John never could keep a straight face for long. But as John continued to look straight at him, Robin's smile faltered.

Robin couldn't believe what he had heard. He kept his voice low, but it was still frightening. "John, this is nonsense. How could I ever love the Evil Queen?"

John shook his head. He still considered Marian family, but since Robin had become involved with Regina, she wasn't the Evil Queen in his eyes anymore. John saw the way she was with Roland, and how happy Robin had been with her. Robin had no memory of his struggles, but John knew it all. It was John who had watched Roland during the nights Robin spent sleeplessly wandering through the forest. It was John who Robin trusted not to judge him when he confessed that he still had feelings for Regina. And it was John who knew that Regina was both the reason Robin's first attempt to wake Marian had not been successful, and the reason his second attempt had been. Robin had forgotten all that. So John reminded him.

"She isn't the Evil Queen anymore, Robin. She hasn't been in a long time. Now she's just Regina. She's the woman you've been seeing almost since we came to this place." Robin was shaking his head. "Marian was gone, Robin. She had been gone for years. And Regina was good for you. She made you happy, you and Roland. He loved her. And so did you."

"John, no! Nobody can change that much. She is evil!"

"She's not," John said, his voice becoming insistent. "She's good. I know you can't remember, but she was the one who defeated the Wicked Witch. She saved the whole town. And she was working harder than anyone to save Marian. You trusted her to save Marian when nobody else could." Robin was looking at John in complete disbelief. "She removed Marian's heart to protect it from the curse. She spent days, weeks even, searching for a cure. I understand you no longer have feelings for her, but she still deserves your gratitude."

Robin looked wordlessly forward for a long time.

John searched his friends face. "You're not saying anything. Did you hear everything I said? Do you understand? Do you believe me?"

Robin nodded slowly, his eyes wide. "I need to take a walk. Alone." He stood and walked off into the forest.

…

A/N: Okay! So, now Robin knows everything. What will happen next? Dun dun duuuuunnn!

Also, the chapters now have titles, along with the primary POV. This should help keep the story straight, as I have several more chapters planned.