Chapter 12

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Robin glanced up at the moon, thankful for its fullness; he had no problem navigating the waters. They had been on the river for awhile, initially they came to a very rough patch which in spite of the magical boat's smoothness, he still needed Regina's help to get through. When they were past it, she looked tired and he recommended she get some sleep while she could. Surprisingly she didn't argue, she must have been exhausted. He wondered if making such a vessel taxed her energy as well.

Now that she'd been asleep for a few hours, Robin couldn't deny himself the chance to watch her in such a rare moment: peaceful. She was so beautiful, and she knew it judging by some of the outlandish outfits she wore. But right now, lying so vulnerably in a boat illuminated by the moonlight, words escaped him. He'd give anything to see her like this more often, not the queen who tried to play the part of hated ruler but Regina, the woman who had a fondness for children and blushed when she received a very sincere compliment. Of course, it helped that she was silent.

Robin had to pause and rub his face. He was getting quite tired himself. They had made good time going down the river, they really weren't far from Rumple's castle now. He maneuvered the boat to a shallow spot and tied it in place. There were trees above and it helped camouflage them should anyone pass by. Securing the oars, Robin stretched out, pleased he could fit comfortably beneath the canopy. Perhaps he could convince the queen to give up royal life and become a ship builder. He chuckled at the mere thought.

He was awakened several hours later, not by daylight or a third party, but Regina herself.

"No! Please, mother, no. NOOO. DANIEL! DANIEL!"

She was tossing about so strongly Robin was surprised they hadn't fallen into the water. Immediately he grabbed her, pulling her up and trying to shake her awake. "Regina! REGINA! It's a dream! Wake up! It's okay, WAKE UP!"

Her eyes flew open and at the sight of him before her, she tried to push him away. "What happened? Where's-" She stopped at that. The confusion slipped away and she calmed down as she was becoming aware of her surroundings.

He could practically feel her heart hammering through her body. Without a second thought, he pulled her into his arms, quietly shushing her. She was shivering even though it wasn't cold. He hugged her and whispered into her hair everything was going to be alright. Her arms wrapped around him, momentarily he forgot he was trying to soothe her. He wasn't sure what was so startling, the hellish nightmare she had or the fact she was letting him be so close to her.

After a beat, he forced himself to pull away and look at her. She actually had the start of tears and he wished to just hug her again. Instead, he wiped her cheek, her breath on his face. "Are you okay?" He was shocked at how dry his voice sounded.

She didn't answer, just stared into his eyes. Now she was even lovelier than before. On impulse, he leaned in, allowing their lips to brush. She responded at first but when he leaned in again, she recovered her senses and pushed him away. Hard.

Robin grunted as he fell to the other side of the boat, her push dipping the boat in his direction but luckily not enough to send them into the water. Still, it was a hard shove, she must have used magic as it was hard to believe she had so much strength. "Get off me! How dare you!"

She was trying to stand up but it wasn't a good idea. She might have remembered their true relationship to each other, but obviously she'd forgotten they were on a boat that was not made for someone to jump up and try to stand so quickly. He floundered, grabbing hold of the roots of the tall trees they were under, hoping they might help stabilize them. "Please, Regina just calm down. We're going to-"

"IT'S YOUR MAJESTY!" Magical boat or not, the boat tipped over and they landed in the water. Luckily this was a shallow spot so the water only came to her waist, mid thighs on him. The cold water did nothing to cool off her anger, she immediately went for the shore and climbed up.

Sighing, Robin had no real choice but to follow her, though he grabbed his pack, bow and quiver. Once he was on land he noticed the boat began to shake and within seconds it disappeared. So much for going into the boat building business.

"I ought to turn you into a frog! How dare you try to take advantage-"

"Hold on!" He was going to be damned if he let her accuse him of such a thing. "It wasn't like that. You were having a nightmare, you were screaming so loud I'm surprised you didn't wake up the whole forest! When you did wake up you were scared and upset and crying-"

She got right in his face, "I don't cry!"

Robin knew there was no use to argue. Now she was again in his face and all he could think about was kissing her. She obviously sensed his desire as she jumped back a few feet. "Which way to the dark castle?"

"Which way to the dark castle," he repeated almost angry. Of course she was going to act like what just happened didn't happen. Why did he even bother? "Why it's that way, Milady!"

She started to remind him about proper titles again but eventually understood the futility, thus she harrumphed away. Robin followed shortly but he had no intention of letting what just happened go.

Regina wasn't sure how long they had been hiking, well, she was practically marching. She did recognize the area now, they weren't far from Rumple's castle. She was doing her best to stay ahead of Robin, she didn't want to face him, not after this morning.

She cringed, it had been a very long time since she had nightmares of Daniel's murder. This one was so strong it felt real. What made matters worse was she had to have it while traveling with the thief, the last person she wanted to know about her history. Why did fate have to be so cruel?

She could guess why the dream returned. She had done her best to ignore Robin's words from the day before: "It's unfair to expect a child to keep a secret when they are incapable of understanding the severity of the consequences." Her unconscious mind had other ideas it seemed. She had immediately flashed to Snow White, a young Snow White who had promised to keep her secret. It wasn't the same thing at all, but Regina was sure Robin wouldn't see it that way. Snow was much older than Roland, so it wasn't fair to say they were at the same level. Also, Snow White was a princess, she'd had additional education and training, she certainly well knew what a secret was.

"Your Majesty," he said it so softly she almost didn't hear him.

"What?" At least he was using the proper title.

She had half turned towards him and she saw he was offering her the water flask. "You need to drink. Don't dehydrate yourself."

She imagined calling up a storm cloud and letting it rain only on him but restrained herself. She knew how to take care of herself and didn't need a wanted fugitive taking care of her. Of course, now that he mentioned water, she was suddenly very thirsty. Extending her hand, she took the flask and drank.

"You could leave some for me, you know." She stopped and looked at him. He was smirking and damned if her heart didn't flip flop. She put the lid back on and tossed it at him. He grunted as she apparently threw it harder than she intended.

She started to walk again but you give a thief an inch, he will take a mile. "Who is Daniel? What happened to him?"

"You mention his name again, thief," she could hear the special tone of her voice, a mixture of bitterness, anger and ice she had perfected, that most men would be shaking at the sound. "…I will cut you in two. Do I make myself clear?"

He didn't back down. He didn't step back. He held his ground and kept eye contact. His blue eyes just piercing through hers. She glared back, but she wouldn't back down either. Maybe he got her to do things she never thought she was capable of anymore, but she vowed he would never know about Daniel. That was hers alone.

After a few minutes, he relented. "As you wish."

She slowly turned, realizing she was spent from the minor standoff. "Come on, we're almost there."

"Oh, I know." He remained behind her. Good, the way he was acting she half expected him to try to approach the dark castle while holding her hand. "Tell me, your Majesty, have you given thought to how we are going to get Rumplestiltskin to actually help us? Or were you relying on my pretty smile to do all the work?"

Before she could stop herself, she laughed. It was short and she cut it off immediately but she'd met kings with less arrogance than Robin Hood but for some reason it had the opposite effect on her than with them. Keeping her voice even, she said, "I have an idea."

"Really? Care to let me in on the plan?"

"No." She probably should. If he knew what she actually had of Rumple's, he'd be horrified, especially since he'd already met her. She didn't want to give Belle back to her mentor but if it came to that she had to be prepared. With Rumplestiltskin, you had to be prepared for anything.

Robin knew Regina had something up her sleeves to deal with the dark one, he just wished he knew what. He didn't like going in there without a plan, in fact, he wasn't entirely sure the imp wouldn't throw him in a cell like last time and resume torturing him. At the moment, he guessed Regina would join in.

As they approached the door, it swung open automatically. He glanced at Regina to see if she had done it but judging by the look on her face, she hadn't. "He knows we're here."

"Wonderful," Robin muttered as he followed her in. Regina seemed to know where to go as they went into the main dining hall. Rumple was standing practically at attention with a gleeful smile on his face. Robin really didn't expect him to be happy at all to see them, especially the man who managed to escape with one of his magical items. Perhaps she and Rumple had a really good relationship though?

"Well, well, well, look at what the queen drug in. You are keeping some surprising company these days, Regina."

She didn't take the bait. "You must know why we are here."

He practically skipped to them. Robin instantly put a hand on his dagger. Rumple noticed and giggled. "Please, that will be as much use for you as it was last time. May I remind you?"

"No," Robin still kept his hand on it. Rumple was right, he was no match for his magic but it still gave him some semblance of control. "I remember well enough."

He leaned up against the table. His full attention on Robin. "Tell me, how is your wife? Did she have a boy or girl?"

Now he was shocked. "What-how do you know-"

"Do you honestly think I didn't know where you took my wand? Or why you did?" He got up in Robin's face, he might have been smiling but his eyes revealed true outright hatred. "Isn't it amazing the things we do for true love?"

"Enough!" Regina said. Robin felt her pull him back and she got between them. "We don't have time for reminiscing."

Now in front of Regina he giggled. "Oh, but think of how interesting it would be! I'm really quite surprised at seeing you with a common thief."

It didn't bother him the insults that Rumple said, not about him. He didn't care what that imp thought of him. But he noticed Regina tensing up immediately. "He isn't a common-" she stopped, and changed tactics. "Look, you have to know that not a week ago, a giant orc army entered our realm. Who is leading them?"

"Why should I help you, dearie?" Rumple leaned into her and Robin started to get between them but Regina flung her hand out to show she had it under control.

"We can talk about that later. What I want is to go through your library. I imagine you've already investigated this and have a good idea of what is going on, but since you expect me to figure things out for myself-"

He snorted and leaned back. "You think you can figure this out? Please, you don't have the first inkling of where to look!"

"You never give me enough credit, you never did. If I had the same access to the same information as you, I probably would have gotten to it faster. Of course, it would just burn you up to think your student has surpassed you in-"

"Oh stop!" He folded his arms. "You aren't going to trick me into letting you into my library that easily."

She laughed. Robin watched as she pulled out a chair and sat herself down. It was almost fascinating to see them interacting like this. "I see, so you're not the least bit concerned about who is here and trying to jump on your turf."

"I can assure you I'm well aware of what is going on, and no I'm not the least bit concerned." He approached Regina and placed his hand on her shoulder. Robin's eyes narrowed, if he tried that she would scream and yell but the dark one was allowed such intimacy with her?

Angrily, Robin stepped up. "Really? You're so unconcerned that you're holed up here in the safety of your dark castle while dark elves and orcs are roaming free over the land?"

Rumple waved his hand at Robin practically dismissing him. "Is someone talking? Oh that's right, your common thief thinks just because he is the queen's new pet he can talk to me like we are equals."

"At least I was out there, fighting them, trying to stop them. The queen came and brought her army! Seems like you would have wanted in on the action too."

He now turned to Robin, "Wars don't concern me, archer."

Regina stood up, walking in between them again, but Robin hardly noticed. "No, I guess not, it's much easier to hide in the castle away from the action like the cow-"

Rumple hit him so hard he thought his back had broken when he hit the wall. Ropes came out of the wallpaper and wrapped him up, tightening that prevented breathing. He heard Regina shouting, but the pain was so severe he couldn't make out what she said before he blacked out.

So here was the near kiss! (Many of you had asked for it). Sooner or later they are going to be doing far more than that, don't you worry. This chapter turned out shorter than I thought but wound up putting way more in it, go figure. As usual, please review. I'm so flattered that many of you have taken to my writing style, it's probably not everyone's cup of tea. And just so y'all will know, I love writing the banter between this pair as well. :D