A/N: The bolded and italicized words are quotes from the show and do not belong to me!
...
Regina: What do you see in me?
Robin: Hopefully the same thing you see in me… a second chance.
Of course, Regina thought. Robin fell in love with her because he believed in second chances. How could she have forgotten that? When she made the potion, she had been focused on the parts of Robin that would remain. She reassured herself with the knowledge that his code, his morality, would remain intact after forgetting her. That was the part of him that was fighting against his love for her, so she was sure he would be safe.
How could she have forgotten why he loved her? No, not forgotten. She had just suppressed those thoughts; she didn't really think about what he would be losing. Because he did love her. She knew he loved her, she didn't doubt that. She should have given more thought to what made him love her. But she hadn't thought much about it.
Even before Marian's return, it was hard to understand how Robin could fall in love with her. She could hardly believe that such a good man would care for her. Once Marian came back, he seemed to have even fewer reasons to want to be with her. And of course he chose to be with Marian, so Regina was convinced that there was very little attaching Robin to her.
But he did love her. And now, faced with all the changes in Robin's behavior over the last few days, Regina was forced to admit that a real part of Robin, even a good part of him, had loved her. And now that part was gone.
Regina reviewed Robin's behavior in her mind. The first out-of-character behavior she had heard of was when he fought with that man Will Scarlett. At the time, she thought nothing of it. She understood holding a grudge against someone who betrayed you. She didn't know exactly what Will had done, since Robin had never mentioned Will to her. Now that she thought about it, that was a clear indication that he hadn't been bothered enough by the man's behavior to hold such a grudge all this time. How could he be more angry now than he had been so many years ago, when the betrayal had actually happened? That fight should have been her first clue that something was wrong.
Then there was the issue of him kicking out the merry men, for increasingly benign reasons. Any minor misbehavior would result in the most severe punishment. Robin had often spoken proudly of his merry men. He once told Regina that his men came from all manner of backgrounds, but they each got a second chance with him. Regina couldn't believe she hadn't thought about that. The very thing that held his merry men together was lost. She had taken it from him.
And finally, there was Robin's behavior toward her. He called her the Evil Queen. He knew he would see her that way, but it was worse than when they had first met in the Enchanted Forest, or when they had first met in Storybrooke. Both times, he talked to her. He looked at her as a person. Now, he only saw a monster. He had lost his ability to see her as more than the awful things she had done in her past.
Regina felt lucky that only her hands were shaking - she felt completely out of control. She suddenly remembered Henry was in the room with her. She focused on controlling her breathing and tried to listen to what Henry was saying as he looked through the storybook.
"... complicated, but any curse can be broken. It says so in the storybook. I can ask Grandpa how he broke the memory curse after Grandma tried to - "
Regina cut him off, "Henry." He looked up at her. "I think you were right, about second chances. Robin told me once that his men each got a second chance when they joined the merry men. If he's kicking them out, he obviously doesn't believe in them anymore. We need to fix that."
Henry's face lit up. "So you're going to try to break the curse?!"
Regina shook her head. "No, Henry. I'm telling you, it won't work. We need to try something different."
Henry frowned. He looked unconvinced, but he dropped it. "Okay, then what do you suggest we do?"
Regina shrugged. "How do you get someone to believe something they don't think should be possible?"
Henry grinned. "I can do it. I got Emma to believe in magic, didn't I? Getting Robin Hood to believe in second chances should be easy compared to that."
Regina looked at her son. How did he get so smart? He was right, of course. Getting someone raised in this world to believe in magic was not an easy task, especially someone as stubborn and jaded as Emma Swan. But somehow, Henry had managed it. Regina looked down at her hands. They had stopped shaking. She felt relieved that they finally had a plan.
Regina nodded. "Okay, so how do we go about this? What's the next step in operation Outlaw Queen?"
Henry's grin was back. "Well, I had to show Emma the biggest examples of magic and True Love to get her to believe the storybook was real. If we want Robin to believe in second chances, we have to show him the biggest and best example of second chances." Henry looked at her expectantly, but she just waited for him to continue. His grin faded as he looked at her, exasperated. "You, mom. I meant you. You know what? Never mind, I got this."
Regina was a touched, but more confused. What did he have planned?
Henry took out his phone and stood up. "Actually, I'm supposed to have lunch with Emma. Is it alright if I go meet her and catch up with you later?"
Regina sighed. It was so hard sharing her son, but she knew it was best for him to have both his moms in his life. She nodded and Henry walked into the kitchen, dialing Emma's number on his phone.
…
Henry looked over his shoulder to make sure his mom was out of earshot before he let the call go through.
"Hey kid, what's up?"
"Hi, mom," Henry said. "I'm just at home with Regina. Are we still on for lunch?"
"Yeah sure, I'm at Granny's now. You wanna meet me here?" Her voice grew wary as she added, "maybe the three of us can have lunch together.
Excellent, things were falling into place. First, get Regina into town. But before Henry could try to set his devious plan into motion, he heard a familiar voice - a male voice, with a British accent that definitely did not belong to the dirty pirate. Henry could hear him quite distinctly - ordering food for one adult and one child. Henry smiled. Perfect. "Um, is that Robin next to you?"
"Yes, but don't worry, he's not staying. He's just picking up some things to go."
Henry frowned. That was no good. How was Robin supposed to fall in love with Regina if they never saw each other? He knew it could be done. Regina might not believe it, but any curse could be broken. For her sake, Henry would pretend he was just trying to get Robin to believe in second chances. But if Robin saw how much she had changed, he would definitely fall back in love with her. And then the curse would break when they kissed. Ew.
Henry shook his head and focused. "To go? Where?"
Emma paused for a moment before saying, "why? Are you up to something Henry? Because I'm pretty sure your mother would not appreciate your interference in her personal life."
Shoot. She was onto him. Whatever, he didn't bother denying it. "Mom, I know what I'm doing."
"Oh, yeah?" Emma said. "Does she know what you're planning?"
"Of course," Henry lied. Well, it was only partly a lie, because Regina did know he was working on their Operation, and this was a necessary step. She would be on board, he was sure. Just as soon as she was face to face with Robin. "Look, just ask him where he's going."
Emma sighed. "Hang on, Henry." Henry waited and listened as she spoke to Robin. Robin asked for a suggestion. Could this be more perfect?! It was like the whole world was on board with Operation Outlaw Queen.
"Mom! The lake! Tell him to go to the lake. Actually, tell him you'll take him there, and Regina and I will meet you there before lunch." Henry smiled, practically jumping out of his skin with excitement. He should seriously be a spy.
Emma repeated his suggestion to Robin, who agreed. "YES!" Henry couldn't stop himself from yelling.
Regina walked into the kitchen just then. "Henry, what's going on?"
Uh-oh. "Um, okay mom, I'll see you soon." Henry hung up quickly and smiled at Regina. "I'm meeting Emma by the lake. Walk me there?" Regina nodded and smiled. Henry smiled back, feeling the tiniest twinge of guilt at lying. But it was for her own good. She would thank him later.
…
A/N: So? Two chapters in two days. Not bad, huh?
I love the idea of devious Henry. In season one he was so sneaky and actually doing things. I miss that. So I made him more active.
To Fand09m and everyone else who asked for more Regina/Robin interaction: your wish is my command.
To lulu1613: Prepare to be blown away ;)
Spoilers: Next chapter will be much longer, from Robin's POV and it's called "Lake"