When the Charming family strolled into the Merry Men's camp, the party was in full swing. Two of the men were cooking, putting the food on plates to distribute as soon as it was ready. The dwarves had also been invited, and were gathering and distributing the prepared meal. Most people were around the campfire, but there were groups of two to three sitting on logs scattered throughout the trees.

When Robin spotted their arrival, he stood up from his seat by the fire and walked over to greet them. He asked them if it was their first time at the camp.

Henry said, "well I was here this morning for that archery lesson."

Mary Margaret said, "oh, is that right? You know I used to be quite good with a bow and arrow. I wouldn't mind getting a look at your setup."

Robin agreed to show her the archery range, and the two of them set off. Emma and Henry immediately headed for the food. David lifted baby Neal out of the stroller, but was soon accosted by a series of dwarves all claiming to be he baby's 'favorite uncle.' He eventually relented, keeping an eye out as Neal was likely to spend the rest of the night handed from one dwarf to the next.

David was about to head toward a small group of men he knew when he spotted Marian sitting on a bench alone, looking rather unhappy. He walked up to her and in a friendly voice asked to join her.

Marian smiled at him. "Of course. I heard you were coming for dinner. Where's the rest of the Charming clan."

"Oh, they're around here somewhere. You know how it is, things get hectic and your family gets away from you." Marian's smile faltered and David realized his mistake. "I just meant - "

"It's alright. So I guess you know about my marriage to Robin ending?" Marian asked gently.

David nodded. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be insensitive."

Marian nodded. "I know. The whole idea of divorce is so strange. Just another way this new world is so different. How am I supposed to get used to seeing a man who was my husband, but no longer is. How can my marriage be so bad we have to abandon it?"

"It's not about your marriage being bad. It just wasn't right. It doesn't have to be anyone's fault. Divorce may seem like an end, but it can actually free you from something you once thought was right, but just doesn't fit you anymore."

"Do you know anyone who has had a divorce?"

David smiled crookedly. "Well, there's me."

Marian turned to face him, her eyes wide with shock. "Prince Charming and Snow White are -"

David laughed. "No. No no, I meant Katherine." Marian looked puzzled. "As part of the first curse that brought us here, we all got new identities, and new lives. In mine, I was married to Katherine. But it never felt right. I had these memories of Katherine, of loving her. But it was a distant feeling, more like an echo. As though I used to love her, but I just didn't feel that way anymore. And I wanted to. She was my wife, and I knew she was a good woman. But being with her felt forced. It wasn't the life I wanted." Marian nodded, enthralled. That was how she had felt about Robin the past couple of days. He wasn't the man she fell in love with. She still cared for him, but being married to him no longer seemed right. Even before she was frozen, her marriage had felt like a thing of the past. David continued, "anyway, Katherine felt the same way. And once the curse was broken, it became clear why I felt the way I did. I loved someone else."

"I don't love anyone else, though," Marian said. She took a breath before asking, "do you think Robin…"

David put a hand on her arm. "It's not about that. Even if it wasn't for Mary Margaret, I wouldn't have stayed with Katherine. And she wouldn't have stayed with me, either. She knew I didn't love her, and she wanted someone who did. She deserved that." David smiled. "She found it, too. She had a true love who was waiting for her. After the curse broke, we signed some papers, because in this world we still were legally married. It all turned out for the best."

Marian smiled and looked away. For a while, she was silent, but it was a more peaceful silence than before. Finally, she admitted, "I'm still concerned about Roland."

This prompted David to once again look for Neal. Doc was holding him while Dopey made faces at him to make him laugh. Turning back to Marian, he asked, "what about Roland?"

"Well, he doesn't know me very well. I can't separate him and Robin. Robin's raised him practically his whole life. But I don't want to be away from him either. If Robin and I aren't together, how will Roland be with me?"

"Well," David said, "I suppose that will take time. You know, Emma might know more about that. We could ask her. Does she know about you and Robin…?" Marian nodded. David went to Emma, and sent her to Marian.

Emma walked over and sat on the log beside Marian. "Hi Marian. David said you wanted to ask me about something?"

Marian nodded. "We were just talking about Roland, and how he's going to get along with separated parents. When you met Henry, he can't have remembered you. How did you get him to be comfortable around you?"

"Well actually, he was always more comfortable than I was. He sought me out. And Henry was a lot older than Roland is. He kind of knew the whole situation before we ever met." Emma paused. "Okay, that was an entirely unhelpful answer. But maybe Henry has some ideas? After all, he would know what Roland's likely to be going through."

Emma looked back to where she had left Henry and waved him over. Emma explained the problem and asked if he had any suggestions for helping Roland be more comfortable around a mother he barely knew.

Henry thought for a minute. "Well, the only thing that will really help with that is time. You have to spend time with him, one on one. He's a friendly kid, I'm sure he'll warm up to you quickly. Why don't you take him tonight?"

"Take him?" Marian asked.

"Yeah. Have him spend the night with you. Go through his bedtime routine, tuck him in. Maybe read him a story. You become part of that, he'll get used to you in no time."

Emma nodded. "Actually, that's a great idea." Emma turned to Marian. "Has Roland ever spent the night without Robin?"

"I think so, although not with me."

Henry said, "maybe he has a favorite blanket he could bring with him or something. That would probably help."

Marian frowned. "Well, he did have that toy monkey, but it's gone missing."

Henry glanced quickly at Emma, giving her a look that Marian didn't understand. "I actually know where that toy came from. If you want, I can take Roland to get another one. It won't take long - I'll have him back in time for you to take him for the night. And in the meantime, I can talk to Roland about having parents who don't live together."

Marian, oblivious to the suspicious look Emma was shooting her son, nodded in agreement. "Let me just check with Robin to make sure he's alright with this."

Marian walked to where Robin was sitting with Roland near the fire. Emma, meanwhile, still had accusing eyes on Henry. "You didn't want to tell her how you're going to get Roland a new stuffed monkey?"

Henry smiled as innocently as he could. "He was promised a new monkey. I'm sure my mom would be happy to keep that promise." Emma raised her eyebrows at him. "What? I didn't lie. Anyway, Robin knows about the monkey. If he agrees to let Roland go, then what's the harm?"

Emma wasn't thrilled with the idea, but couldn't really offer a concrete objection. Instead, she stood up, threw an arm around Henry's shoulder, and steered him back to the campfire.

…

The third arrow landed between the first two, within two inches of the center of the target.

Robin let out a whistle. "Not bad," he said, and Mary Margaret smiled. "For a princess."

She scoffed. "I'll have you know, I spent some time as a bandit, too. I know my way around a forest."

"Yes, but you spent most of your life in the lap of luxury," Robin teased. You don't know the plight of a band of men on the run from a relentless sheriff."

"I was on the run from a relentless queen. Who had magic!" Mary Margaret paused, immediately regretting bringing up the subject. "I suppose we both have a range of experiences." She stepped back so Robin could take his turn.

Robin glanced at her before reaching for another arrow. "Does it make you uncomfortable to speak about the queen?"

Mary Margaret shook her head. "No. And I don't think of her as the queen, either." Robin let his arrow flight, his second dead-center shot. He stepped aside silently. "A lot of people see her as the mayor, but to me she's just Regina."

"Then you're one of the people who believe she's changed."

Mary Margaret paused in the middle of raising her bow and looked at Robin. "Is that so hard to believe?"

Robin nodded. "Yes, it is. People generally tend to be either heroes or villains. You're one or the other."

"And you believe Regina is a villain." Robin didn't respond. "Are you a villain?" she asked.

"Of course not," Robin said. "And neither are you. I've always known you as Snow White, a good and noble royal, beloved by her people and dedicated to their welfare. Do you think it would be any less surprising to find out that you were suddenly a villain?"

Mary Margaret considered it for a moment. "Well, I'm hardly perfect," she said. She raised her bow again and let her arrow fly. This time it landed dead center, touching his first. She stepped back. "If you did find out I was a villain, though, you wouldn't accept that?"

Robin shrugged. "Well, I'd find it hard to believe. A person who is good doesn't just change who they are for no reason."

"What if there is a reason?"

Robin looked at her. "What do you mean?"

"What if something happened, and it made me do bad things, make some wrong choices. Would I still be a hero?"

"But you haven't done bad things. You have always acted as a hero."

Mary Margaret shook her head. "Not always. I've done things I'm not proud of. Made choices that, looking back, I regret."

Now Robin shook his head. "No. You are a hero. You were one in the Enchanted Forest, and you are one now. The queen was a villain. There's no reason to believe she can change so drastically."

Mary Margaret smiled. "But she did. She changed when she became the Evil Queen." Now Robin looked confused. "Do you know how I met Regina?"

"She married your father," Robin said, stepping up to take his next shot.

"Yes, but I met her before my father did." Robin turned to focus entirely on Mary Margaret. "My father and I were riding through the forest when my horse suddenly took off. I was ten years old, and I was terrified. I could barely hold on and I was sure I would fall any second. But suddenly, there was a rider on a horse next to me." Mary Margaret smiled at the memory. "She pulled me off my horse lowered me to the ground. She saved my life. And then she told me I had to get back on a horse as soon as possible. I couldn't let my fears get to me."

When Mary Margaret looked up, Robin was staring at her, captivated. He said, "but how could she go from that to trying to kill you?"

Mary Margaret frowned. "It didn't happen all at once. You see, when I met Regina, she was in love. Her marriage to my father was her mother's idea. You never met Regina's mother - that woman truly was evil. She would never have approved of her daughter marrying a stable boy." Mary Margaret wondered if she was revealing too much of Regina's personal life to Robin, but she was sure it was information Regina would have already shared, before Robin lost his memories. Plus, if he was going to believe Regina should have a second chance, he had to know about the good in her. "Regina wanted to run away with the man she loved, and she trusted me to keep that information a secret. I didn't. And her mother killed him." Robin let out an audible gasp. "After losing him, Regina was forced into a marriage she didn't want. She also had to be around me all the time. She must have been reminded of him every day. And then she met Rumpelstiltskin. He knew all along that he needed her to cast his curse, to get him to this land. So he taught her magic. But he also manipulated her in every way possible. He kept her lonely so she would keep seeking him out and grow powerful enough to be able to cast the curse. And he kept her angry so she would grow cruel enough to be willing to cast the curse."

Robin was still staring at Mary Margaret, transfixed. She continued, "I'm not saying Regina is blameless. She did some horrible things, and made a lot of wrong choices. But that's not who she is, it's just what she's done. Well, some of the things she's done. If you're going to judge a person by their actions, you've at least got to look at all the things they've done. Since the curse broke, she's tried hard to be good. She's saved the town more than once. She's risked everything for Henry. Even back in the Enchanted Forest, when she had nothing to gain, she helped us fight the Wicked Witch. She's doing everything she can to be a hero."

Robin didn't say anything for a long time. Finally, he picked up his last arrow, pulled back on his bow and released. The arrow landed at the far edge, barely hitting the target. He stared at it for a moment before facing Mary Margaret. "Well, I guess you win," he said. He put their bows away and they walked in silence back toward the campfire.

…

A/N: Just to offer an explanation: The huge gap in updates came because my life became crazy-busy, but all in good ways. New job, moving across the country, settling into a new place. So I didn't have time to write.

When I finally did, I wrote the last chapter. But I was forcing myself to write, because I owed you all a new chapter. It didn't enjoy forcing myself, and I didn't like the chapter that resulted. So rather than keep forcing the writing I took my time. And now I've been inspired again! I'm much happier with this chapter. And the next one, which is almost finished.

Next chapter will feature some Robin/Regina interaction!

Please review!