"She can't have gone far," Mary Margaret said as she continued along Emma's trail on foot, Regina by her side.

Mary Margaret didn't wait long before attempting to resume their earlier conversation. Regina cut her off. "There's nothing left to tell." Regina didn't bother trying to hide the defeat in her voice as she pointed out that things not working out for her was to be expected.

Mary Margaret disagreed, pointing to herself and David as an example. She had thought they were over many times, but they had always found their way back to one another. Regina tried not to roll her eyes as Mary Margaret spewed on and on about hope. She had gotten used to the increasingly tolerable presence of her former nemesis in her life. It was almost encouraging to hear that she saw Regina making good choices, and believed that those choices would one day lead her to happiness. At least there was one person who believed that.

Regina was relieved when her phone rang, cutting the conversation short.

"Hello?" she answered.

"REGINA!" Little John yelled. Regina held the phone away from her ear.

"John, talking voice!" Regina yelled back at him, before bringing it back to her ear. John still hadn't completely grasped the concept of a phone. Regina had given him one, when he asked. She tried to teach Robin to use it, but he wasn't interested. John, however, was fascinated and eagerly followed Regina's simplified instructions. Privately, Regina believe John was really just intrigued by something so valuable also being so easy to steal.

John's voice came back, barely over a whisper, "Sorry, sorry. Can you hear me?"

"Yes, John, What is it?"

A few moments passed before John spoke again. "I… I'm sorry to be calling you. I tried to call Emma, but she wasn't answering. It's about Robin, and the potion she told me about."

Regina froze. She didn't relish talking about either Robin or the potion, but she realized how lucky she was. Had John managed to get through to Emma, the blonde would have had no idea what he was talking about. She really needed to speak to Emma asap to cover her tracks.

Regina said, "Of course. Is there something you need to know?"

John hesitated again. "Actually, I need your help at Granny's. Right away."

"Right now?" Regina asked, looking around. She started making excuses, secretly relieved at not having to deal with this right away. But as usual, Mary Margaret interfered at the worst possible time, telling her to go. Regina sighed, and told John she would meet him in front of the diner.

…

By the time Regina got there, John was waiting, nervously walking back and forth. When he saw her, he walked out to meet her. Before Regina could ask he said, "Granny called me. There was an incident. You better come inside."

Following John into the diner, Regina couldn't hide the surprise on her face. It looked like a tornado had blown through. A couple of Storybrooke folk were righting chairs and tables while Ruby swept up broken plates and splattered food.

Without addressing her question to anyone in particular, Regina asked, "what happened here?"

John walked around to face her before saying, "It was Robin."

Regina couldn't help taking a step back. "Robin?" she whispered, before regaining her composure. "I don't understand."

John shook his head. "Neither do I. Granny called me, she said Robin was fighting with someone and I needed to get here right away. By the time I did, Robin was gone, but this," John gestured at their surroundings, "was left behind."

Regina shook her head as she walked through the diner, shaking her head. "No, this can't be right. It's so unlike him."

"That's why I called you. I'm worried that this isn't him at all. Perhaps the potion did more than wipe his memories. John tilted his head, "Although, it's not completely unlike him." Regina spun around to face him. "It's unusual, but not unheard of. We've been in our share of bar fights in our days." John looked a little proud at that statement, until a glare from Regina caused him to lose the smirk and drop his eyes to the floor. He cleared his throat. "From what I understand, the man Robin fought with was Will Scarlett." John made a face, as though just mentioning the man's name left a bad taste in his mouth. "He's a common thief. He joined our band years ago, and tricked us into robbing the castle of a witch to steal a magic mirror. Then he ran off, leaving us in danger."

Regina considered this. "Well, I suppose it would make sense that Robin would be angry with him."

John shook his head. "But Robin forgave him. When Will disappeared and we realized what he had done, Robin said that Will was a lost soul. He said we had all been petty thieves at one point, and we could only hope that Will would one day find something greater than himself to fight for, as we had."

Regina wasn't so sure that those words meant what John thought they did. She walked further into the diner and took a seat at the end of the bar furthest from the door. She sat with her back against the counter. "Robin may not have meant what he said. I know a thing or two about holding a grudge toward someone you think has wronged you. And about only pretending to forgive them." Little John's story had brought her relief, thinking that it was only Robin Hood who had done this, and not the potion.

John wasn't convinced. "Perhaps that would explain Robin hitting Will, but not all this," John said, indicating the mess around them. "Losing his temper completely is not like him. And he would never cause this much damage and then just walk away."

"Speaking of damage, I assume someone else will be paying to fix all this." Granny walked out of the back room with a scowl on her face.

Regina turned to face the older woman across the counter. Granny's finances were the least of her worries right now. "I'm sure your insurance will cover the damage."

Granny leaned on the counter. "And if not, I assume you wouldn't mind finding room in the town budget for the repairs?"

Regina narrowed her eyes and was about to say that she was no longer the mayor and this was not her problem. Until the door opened behind her.

A chill ran through the air, raising the hair on the back of her neck. The door opening had obviously let in a cool breeze.

"Robin," Little John called behind her, walking toward the door.

With her back still towards the room, Regina said to Granny, "alright. Why don't you show me your insurance documents and I'll help you sort out what you need."

Granny looked somewhere between confused and suspicious, but wasn't about to turn down the offer. Without a word, she turned and headed to the back of the diner. Regina slipped off the stool and followed wordlessly behind.

…

The diner immediately got much quieter when Robin walked in. He did a quick survey of his surroundings - the waitress, Ruby, stood staring at him with a broom unmoving in her hands. There were others, too, all looking warily at him. And finally, John, calling his name and walking towards him. "We were worried about you," John said. "What happened here?"

Robin grimaced. "I'm afraid I got a tad out of control. This entire day has been quite a lot to handle. I had to take a walk to cool off." Robin looked around once again. Granny was nowhere to be seen, so he instead addressed himself to her granddaughter. "I apologize for the damage I caused. I offer my help in fixing anything I can, and paying to fix what I cannot." Robin gave her a cautious smile, looking decidedly ashamed for what he had done.

John felt all the tension leave his body. Robin was back. John had panicked when he received Granny's phone call (the panic having absolutely nothing to do with the loud bell noises emerging suddenly from his pocket). His earlier discussion with Robin had worried him. Robin had reacted so negatively to the news of his relationship with Regina that John wondered if the potion affected more than his memory, if perhaps the man before him wasn't quite Robin. This fight could have been a sign of that, but instead it was just a misunderstanding.

John stepped toward Robin and Ruby. "All the Merry Men will pitch in," he said, smiling at them both. "We'll have this place good as new in no time."

Ruby thanked them both, and said she and Granny would be happy to accept whatever help the men could offer. Robin then asked if he could speak to Granny, wanting to apologize personally. Ruby pointed him towards the back room.

…

Robin found the door to the back office Ruby had pointed out slightly ajar. He knocked on it, pushing the door further open. He found Granny, sitting behind a desk covered in papers, looking annoyed. Standing next to her, leaning over the papers, was a woman whose dark hair blocked her face from Robin's sight.

Granny looked up at the sound of the knock. She frowned and asked, "can I help you?"

Robin took that as an invitation and pushed the door the rest of the way open, stepping into the small room. "I came to apologize."

"For destroying my diner?" she said, gruffly.

Robin winced. "Yes. I'm sorry I lost my temper at that man. It's been a long time coming. I've already spoken to Ruby about fixing this. My men and I can be here first thing in the morning, repairing the damage. I assure you, we have the best intentions and will leave this place better than it was."

Granny didn't smile. But she looked at him with interest, and nodded her consent. "Very well," she said, walking around the desk towards him. She came right up to him and, despite her being a good deal shorter than him, he felt mildly intimidated. "Be here early. I'm popular with the morning crowd and you wouldn't want me losing any more business would you?"

Robin pressed his lips together to hold in a smile and shook his head. Granny nodded again, and walked out of the room. Robin let out a breath, before noticing that the other woman in the room was still leaning on her hands on the desk. He had barely noticed her, most likely since she hadn't moved a muscle the entire time he was there.

He looked at her curiously now. "Pardon my interruption, I didn't realize that Granny had company."

She looked up, and Robin could finally see her face. His eyes met hers immediately. He found he couldn't tear them away. She was staring at him, her face a mask. He said, coldly, "I especially didn't realize she kept the company of the Evil Queen."

She stood facing him. This was exactly how he had always imagined she would be. Strong, powerful, regal, and cold. For several minutes, they stood staring at one another, until finally she asked, "How is Marian?"

Robin kept his face expressionless. "My wife is well."

She flinched. For a moment, her mask slipped. For just a moment, a mess of emotions ran across her face, barely long enough to be noticed. But then the mask was back, and she nodded.

He stood for several more minutes, staring at her. For years, he had imagined running into the Evil Queen. He imagined she would be gleeful at the pain of others, or derisive towards him. But this woman showed nothing, except for that look. For that one moment, he had seen everything she was feeling. It seemed to him there was far too much in that look, too much to be felt and far too much to be understood by him. But there was one emotion that had broken through, in that brief moment. One thing she seemed to feel more than anything: pain.

She asked after Marian, he called her his wife, and she had felt pain. A realization suddenly hit Robin, so obvious he couldn't believe it only came to him now. John had said that they had been in a relationship, he and the queen. He had said that they grew close, that Robin loved her.

Until this moment, he hadn't realized that, more than likely, the queen had loved him, too.

Robin stepped closer to her, and her entire body twitched. "You gave me a potion, to forget you. We were in a relationship?" She looked him up and down, then nodded. "Did you love me?"

She couldn't have, though. If she had loved him, she wouldn't have made him a potion to forget her. Especially when the purpose of forgetting her was to get his wife back. She could admit it, admit she never loved him, and that would be that. He really expected a yes or no answer, but she didn't give one. She just looked away and, after a moment, walked around him to the door.

Without turning, he asked, "Why did you do it?" He heard her stop. "Why give me the potion?"

In a soft voice, she said, "are you angry?"

He turned to her. She stood in the doorway, her back to him, with her face turned just far enough for her to see him, if she raised her eyes. "Why would I be angry? I have everything I ever wanted."

She nodded, tight-lipped, then walked away.

…

A/N: See? A nice, long chapter this time, as a thank-you for your patience. It was getting so long, I almost cut it short and just posted the first half, but I couldn't do that to you, and also I couldn't stop writing. Also, I promise one more update before the next episode airs!

Omg you guys! Your reviews make me so so happy! Especially the long ones, where I can really get a sense of what you're thinking, and respond:

First of all, Robin is NOT crazy! He's had a hard day! Go easy on him.

To the guest who dreamed about my fic: that's amazing! And makes me feel strangely powerful… I really love that my story is getting into your head ;).

Also, I love to read your opinions on the characterizations because, while the story is mine, the characters are borrowed, so I try my best to do them justice. I'm trying really hard to get into Robin's head: what must it be like to wake up one day and be told that even though your long-lost love is back, you fell in love with someone else who just happens to be the one who killed your first love? It's a tough headspace to enter. I also believe that magic should follow a strict set of guidelines and, once explained, should be consistent. So I thought this particular potion would work in a very specific way, and I'm trying to ensure that it does.

Speaking of which, noticeably missing from my story thus far:

Disclaimer: The characters and the OUAT story do not belong to me. I just wrote this story.