Indeed she hasn't been alone for quite a while. Still, she had never realized how deeply she truly appreciated that. Not until now…
In reality, there had been several weeks since the day that her new curse engulfed them and transported them to the very familiar but somehow estranged landscape of what they once used to call home. Home… what a strange word. How much gravity and meaning do those four letters carry. And yet she couldn't associate this very private word with this place… A place where the most loved, intimate and precious part of her life was not by her side. A place lacking a young boy who meant more than he could ever imagine. A place that was destined to cast her into oblivion, for, in this place, she is nothing but a story. A myth. A fairy tale just not so fairy after all. A place where she is missing her son and her son has gone missing…
There had been several weeks since their group of foreigners intertwined their destinies with faces both known and unknown, creating a rather peculiar group of all kinds of colors and fabrics. Red, grey, blue, green, satin, lace, wool…
There had been several weeks since she had to make peace with the fact that what used to be her castle, was not hers any more. What used to be her land was hers no longer. She would be lying though, if she didn't admit that sharing her belongings as well as her life and her burdens with people willing to help didn't offer any solace. Cause it did. More than she could ever admit, having the Charmings with her, the last thread of connection between herself and Henry, enveloped her in a soothing and healing fog that made life a little easier and breathing a little less forced.
There had also been several weeks of council meetings which was exactly the reason why she currently found herself in such an arduous situation. Since the Wicked Witch hadn't made any move for quite some time, that had cast a feeling of unease to everyone thus proving necessary that this time it was up to them to act before something worse would come their way. So, during the aforementioned meeting it was decided that a scouting group would try and track down the Wicked Witch in an attempt to find her hiding place.
Agreeing upon the direction they would follow had most definitely not been an easy matter. All kinds of opinions were expressed, for some of them thought that it would be best to travel towards the North of the forest while others preferred a trip headed to the South. No matter what though, the thing that was most important, for Regina as well as Snow and Charming, was to secure first and foremost a maximum degree of safety. For those were lands that not many had set foot on, even back at the time when living here was the only life they knew. Sure, being accompanied by Robin and his Merry Men added a solid advantage to their mission, but still, those were lives no one wanted to jeopardize. So, since it was stated that following the road to the North would be less dangerous, that was the path they found themselves following.
The scouting party, as it was considered best, needn't consist of many members. Having already established that attracting as less attention as possible would be of the utmost importance, their assembly was composed by herself, the Charmings (though she wasn't sure that was a good idea what with Snow being pregnant and all), Red, Mulan, five of the Merry Men and their leader, who just kept being included to everything lately, causing her nerves to be on edge and her heart to beat a little that much faster. And that's how they found themselves horseback riding into the deepest parts of the Sherwood Forest...
It was strange, she thought, how a place like this, filled with so many heartbreaking memories, memories of loss and hatred and loneliness, could, at the same time, be such a wondrous sight to behold, such a beautiful place to spend your life. The sun had begun its decent and a variation of colors too extraordinary for words to describe had taken their rightful place on the velvety sky. Crimson, pink, orange and a few scattered silver linings of grey adorned every inch of the sky and she was left speechless by the magnificence of it all. You see, for as long as she could remember, she had always wanted to escape this place. Always imagined being somewhere else, far away, where her mother's expectations would be too far away to reach her, where she would be the person she wanted to be without feeling trapped and locked in a life that didn't feel like it was hers to live. She would lay on her bed in the evenings or she would stare at the endless sky while feeling the soft grass on her back and she would let her mind drift to distant places… Where she could be happy… Where she would be happy. Existing here, now, breathing the freshly poured rain upon the revived ground, the fragrance evading her senses, it was easy for her mind to take her back to a time she had tried to cast into oblivion, a time when she was less than what was expected of her, when she was someone she didn't recognize at all…
That string of thoughts kept her focus occupied hence rendering her unaware of the fact that their group had come to a halt. Apparently, while she was taking glimpses of her past, someone had suggested they stopped for the horses to be fed and also for themselves to stretch a bit and relax their sore muscles. Sitting on the saddle can be comfortable for so long…
Their newly welcomed peace lasted but a few moments.
Soon the air was filled with a screeching sound that caused her memory to take a dive into that very first day of their arrival, when she had found herself and Snow being attacked by a couple of "winged freaks", a small part of her sister's (undoubtedly peculiar-looking) army. Unfortunately, that was exactly where she found herself once more.
She had thought they were cautious. Keeping it quiet throughout their journey hadn't been just Regina's course of action. Obviously this place was affecting everyone more or less, one way or another… The only sound escorting them that of the trees rustling. The delicate movement of the branches offered more solace than any words and the wind occasionally picking up felt like a caress…
But still… evidently, even that hadn't been enough…
One moment she was discussing the possible hiding place of her so called sister with Snow and the following they were under attack by this absurdly looking flying army.
It only took a couple of seconds for total chaos to erupt, with their scouting group being seemingly assaulted from everywhere. It surely felt as if the skies had opened, raining monkeys down on them.
She watched as people frantically tried to escape, to save themselves and the ones they cared about, while one after the other started to disappear in the thick darkness of the forest.
And Regina just… stood there. Looking above. Unmoving . Unafraid. Unaccustomed to finding herself under such circumstances.
For a moment everything stood still. The noises of the world dissipated, while the warmth of the sun was lightly kissing her olive skin. The only existing sound the one her heart was producing. The only feeling she was experiencing the one of her blood pulsating inside her veins ..
She was the one that wicked sister of hers was after. Maybe it could end just like that. Nobody had to suffer because of her. Not anymore. It wasn't like the thought hadn't crossed her mind before. How her surrender would release everyone of the dread and fear that had consumed their lives. How it would release her. She wanted to be free. She wanted this heaviness that had taken a permanent place in her chest to be lifted. Her thoughts… her thoughts… How would she deal with those every day? So far it had been a struggle. Worrying too much. Feeling too much. Maybe… maybe… maybe that was the answer after all… what she didn't go through with before. Though this time Regina was certain that her fate wouldn't be a sleeping curse, an infinite middle. An infinite end would be more probable, coming from the hands of her dear sister.
It was then that she heard it… her name. Weak at first. Probably coming from afar. How could she know, though? She was so fixated in her thoughts that she couldn't notice anything or anyone.
Her name… almost like a whisper… almost like things long forgotten….
Maybe she was imagining this. Besides, who would risk their lives for her? Even the Charmings… They had a baby to take care of and she certainly wasn't going to make another innocent child grow without its parents . Of that she was certain.
But the sound only grew stronger. Came closer.
It was then that she saw him…him…
She didn't register nothing else but his eyes. So blue. So deep. So penetrating. Only a hair's breadth away… She didn't move. She just kept standing there. Kept looking at him, truly noticing him, for what honestly felt like the very first time. The hard lines of his face, the neatly trimmed stubble, the few wrinkles around his eyes. His eyes… God… She could feel herself getting lost in those blue depths, never wanting to resurface ever again. But there was something else there too. Except for the care and the warmth… was that… What was that?
It was then that she felt it. His hand grabbing her upper right arm, not painfully but strongly, supporting her, keeping her alive, and forcefully yanking her with him in the stillness of the forest.
She wasn't alone anymore. And that made all the difference…