Hope you enjoyed that little glimpse into Rumple's life as Zelena's. Now back to our heroes, yes?
Regina knelt with a sigh on the floor just inside the door to the library. Cora's thrashing had caused many items to fall down and the room, which usually was neat and clean, looked like it had been the site of a recent and very local hurricane. Which, in a way, was what had happened, if you could count portals to the other side as local storm systems.
"Need a hand?"
She turned and saw Mary Margaret standing in the door, her face still not completely back to its normal colour.
"Shouldn't you be on bed rest?" Regina asked, frowning.
"Doctor Whale just left", Mary Margaret responded with a slight shrug. "He cleared me and the baby, and Catriona, though he had no idea why she had been partially affected as well. Apparently the human body has a surprising tolerance for ghost possession."
She walked into the room and grabbed the broom that Regina had leaned against the table.
"And he told me I have a tough placenta, which somehow came out creepy. May I?"
Regina studied her for a while before she gave a small nod, at which Mary Margaret started sweeping the shatters of glass into piles. A soft knock on the door caused them both to turn and Regina did not find herself surprised to see Arianne standing there.
"I just wanted to tell you that we're about to leave", she said with a hint of a smile. "Catriona's tired after her ordeal and it's all really confusing, so I guess we're in need of a good night's sleep."
"Yes, of course", Regina said and rose, managing a smile of her own. "Thanks for stopping by."
"Not sure if that was by choice", Arianne mused, "but still."
Her smile faltered somewhat and for a moment Regina thought the younger woman was about to give her a hug. If she did, she thought better of it and cleared her throat.
"We'll get through this, Regina", she assured her. "We'll stop Zelena. I know we will."
"It would really help us all to have that sort of belief", Regina said. Arianne smiled.
"I meant what I said yesterday. You have an ability to prove people wrong and that's exactly what you're going to do to her as well."
A call from Clarissa caused her to turn; her friends were already out through the door, just waiting for her to come. Arianne shot one last smile in the Mayor's direction before hurrying after them. Regina stood still for a few moments, staring at the now closed door, before once again kneeling down and putting a candleholder back in its place on one of the shelves.
"You want to talk about it?" Mary Margaret suddenly asked.
"What's there to talk about?" Regina replied, busying herself with the lamp Cora had knocked over upon her arrival in the room. "You officially have a less damaging relationship with my mother than I do, and you killed her."
She sat down on one of the chairs by the table, placing the lamp in front of her. It was as broken as her mentioned relationship with her maternal parent was.
"Well, at least we know, you and me", Mary Margaret said, "our history... more complicated than we thought."
Regina wondered if that was the understatement of the year; complicated did not seem to fit their history at all. Apparently her mother had been in love with Mary Margaret's father, engaged to him even, and then Mary Margaret's mother had gotten in the way; revealing that Cora was already pregnant and was only trying to marry a royal quickly so that she could pretend the child was legitimate.
"I know how much you looked up to Eva", she said, turning to look at the pregnant woman sweeping the floor. "I'm sorry you had to learn she had such darkness in her past."
Mary Margaret nodded and leaned the broom against the wall, before walking over to the table and sitting down as well.
"That wasn't the woman I knew", she sighed. "It makes me wonder what happened that changed her. I suppose I'll never know."
"Well", Regina said, "we can never know our past completely. If we had, I probably would not have spent so much time trying to kill you."
Mary Margaret turned towards her, looking amused for the first time that night.
"We would have found something to fight about", she pointed out, "I mean, I was such a brat."
Regina felt the corners of her mouth turning upwards.
"Your mother's child."
Mary Margaret chuckled slightly at that and Regina felt warm inside. This was how she had felt when the two of them had first met, when she had saved Snow White from falling off her careening horse. She had cared for her and then she had allowed darkness to poison their relationship due to Snow revealing to Cora that Regina wanted to run away with a stable boy.
"I think we've wasted our last day being hunted by the past", Mary Margaret now said. Regina forced a smile and gulped down the tears that threatened to burst out.
"Now we can focus on being haunted by our impending lack of a future."
"Zelena isn't going to win", Mary Margaret protested, "not with all of us united against her."
"Hope isn't easy when I know she holds my heart", Regina replied, her voice threatening to break.
"Which you'll get back", Mary Margaret assured, "stronger than ever; that's what it means to be the most resilient."
"That can be another one of her tricks, too."
"Regina", Mary Margaret said, sounding utterly serious, "I've seen what life's thrown at you and you still fight against the darkness every single day. Sooner or later, your heart will find its way to happiness."
Her happiness, Regina thought. This was the second time someone had brought it up today. All she could think about when she heard that word was that she had always run from it, because she did not feel that she deserved it. She had done it in the Enchanted Forest and she had done it here in Storybrooke and she would probably continue doing it for what little time she had left.
"That doesn't feel possible", she admitted, her voice not becoming stronger than a loud whisper. A tear spilled out of her right eye as she spoke, trailing down her cheek.
"But it is", Mary Margaret said and grasped her hand, holding it in both of hers. "I know you and you feel things deeply. With or without it you feel things with your whole soul. Don't let anything hold you back."
Another tear escaped from her eyes, this time from her left, but before she could respond to Mary Margaret's speech David knocked on the door.
"You ready to go?" he asked his wife. Regina quickly hid her face from him.
"Yeah, sure", Mary Margaret said and rose. Regina followed, wiping the tears away without David noticing it. Apparently Emma, Hook and Belle had already left and the Charmings were the only ones still in her house.
"Well", she said and smiled, "thank you for coming."
"Anytime, Regna", Mary Margaret said and actually embraced her. Regina returned the embrace and then gave David a brief smile before the couple disappeared out through the door. She made sure to lock it behind them before leaning against the wood. Happiness. She needed to find happiness, experience it, just one flicker of it before her days ended with Zelena using her heart for her own curse. Taking two long strides to the coat hanger she grabbed her white scarf and grey coat, not bothering to close it before she surrounded herself in purple smoke.
She ended up in the forest, surrounded by the smell of pine trees and the sound of a fire crackling nearby. She made her way towards it and hid among the trees, watching the man she had decided to seek out from afar. He was far from his camp, she realized, perhaps patrolling the woods to fight off possible monkey attacks, but something in his face told her otherwise. No, she realized, he had come out here to be alone. Her eyes trailed down his outstretched right arm, down to his hand, in which he held a stick that he poked around the fire with. On the wrist she saw the mark that had had him running from him twice; a black shield with a rearing lion. The man with the lion tattoo, Tinker Bell had called him all those years ago. The fairy had come to Regina's bedroom in the palace not long after her marriage to King Leopold, telling her that she had a second True Love out there. Using pixie dust to track him down the duo had been led to a tavern in a small village. The dust had surrounded a man with his back to the door, making it impossible for the two women to make out his face, but as he raised his tankard to have the barmaid fill it for him they had spotted the tattoo on his wrist. And she had run from him that day, not allowed herself to even consider a happy life with him by her side.
Then fate had brought them together here, or perhaps even in the Enchanted Forest, during the time none of them could remember. He had flirted with her, bantered, not been afraid to tease her. It was surprising and refreshing to meet such a man when all people ever said was that you were the image of evil; the Evil Queen. Their moment in the Witch's kitchen still caused warmth to soar through her and probably made her heart thump wildly wherever it was, but then the moment had been destroyed by her noticing the tattoo. And she had run; again.
Even now she considered running. He had not seen her, did not know that she was watching him, and no harm would be done by leaving right away. But she steeled herself, straightened her back and marched out towards him. His eyes spotted her at once, widening in surprise as he rose.
"My lady", he said as she came to a halt in front of him. She opened her mouth to speak, wanted to ask him to have that drink they had spoken of having, but he was faster.
"I'm sorry."
She closed her mouth in surprise. The times when people had said those words to her since she became the Queen were few; in fact she believed she could count the times on her fingers. He stepped closer, his blue eyes filled with sincere regret. He blamed himself, she realized, for what had happened that morning.
"I let you down", he continued. "Your heart was lost to Zelena on my watch, but I promise you; I will get it back."
All thoughts of sharing a friendly drink fled from her mind as she looked up into those deep, sincere eyes of his. Instinctively she instead reached up and grabbed the collar of his jacket, pulling him towards her and closing the distance between them by kissing him. She could feel him tense momentarily before his lips started to move against hers, slowly, tentatively. The feeling caused her to let go and take a step back, eyes widening. This was not what she had planned to do. In fact this was the most stupid idea she had ever done; kissing a man whom she had only known for a few days? Idiot! She wanted to hit herself with something but then her eyes met his gaze again. He had not moved since she broke the kiss, his lips were parted in surprise and his eyes wide for the same reason, but they seemed... hooded. There was desire in them.
Just when she had realized that he closed the distance between them again, causing her to gasp in surprise at the warmth this new kiss caused to sizzle through her veins. One of his hands went up into her hair while the other rested on her hip, pressing her against him. And in that moment she knew that Regina would never run from Robin Hood again. Ever.