Hi guys! As promised, the next update brought to you asap! A continued thank you to all for your kind and lovely comments! They mean more to me than you could ever imagine and inspire me so much to write more, I really appreciate it! So without further ado, please enjoy this new update and please keep the reviews coming!

"Ugh, we've been over this before," Regina says, wiping the crumbs off her lips with the back of her hand. "I already have someone, and I've been with him for about two years now."

Reya rolls her eyes. "That's because two years ago, the curse was cast. It made you forget who your real soulmate is, and then made you think that some random guy you met is the one you love. That's not right. It's supposed to be Robin."

"One, this 'random guy' is Steve. And that's not fair of you to make the assumption that I think he's the one I'm in love with. You know absolutely nothing about me or about us. Two, I can't believe I'm discussing my love life with a strange ten year old. And three, you don't even know Robin. So again, don't make assumptions." Regina pushes her half finished plate back before standing. "I'm done with this conversation."

Reya sighs, watching her mother as she trudges over to the refrigerator, grabs a carton of milk, unscrews the cap, and begins drinking straight from the container. She shakes her head. "I'm not making assumptions," she argues, "I'm just telling the truth."

"Well," Regina says, wiping her mouth again with the back of her hand, "Your version of the truth is truly twisted." She places the carton back in the refrigerator and shuts the door. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get ready for the market."

"The market?" Reya repeats, moving to follow as her mother turns and heads back towards the bedroom. She stands idly by the doorway as the older brunette pads around the room, gathering various articles of clothing strewn in disarray about her rather disorganized room. What ever happened to the neat freak of a refined queen Reya used to know? She is certainly not present as the young girl watches in awe at her mother's shamelessness. The woman grabs a bra off a pile of clothes on the end of her bed and presses it to her nose.

"What market?" she asks slowly.

Regina frowns. She turns around, back to Reya, to slip off her oversized t-shirt and slide on said bra. "The flea market. It's an annual summer thing in Chilmark."

"Wait, I thought we were in Menemsha."

Regina whirls around, raising her perfectly shaped eyebrow at the young brunette. "You seem to know oh so much about me and everything that's 'not right' about my life, yet you don't even know where you are?" She stares at the young girl appraisingly. "Menemsha is a fishing village located in the town of Chilmark, which is located on Martha's Vineyard, which is an island off the coast of Massachusetts—need I go on?"

Reya rolls her eyes, raising both her hands in surrender. "Okay, okay," she groans, "I get the point."

"Good."

"So what do you do at this flea market?"

"I sit in a very small, cramped, steaming hot tent and sell my paintings—you know—to make a living?"

Reya shrugs indifferently. "Oh," she replies, shaking her head. "So how long is that going to take?"

"Well, I set up at nine and break down from two to three."

The young brunette's eyes widen. "That's practically all day."

"All day," Regina replies, slipping on a red tank top before moving into the small closet in the very corner of her room. "Why so devastated? Did you have any plans?—not that I care…" She emerges in a pair of ripped shorts and black Dr. Marten boots.

"Well, I was going to find Robin and have you meet with him, remember?" Reya replies quietly. "But I guess this is going to be a challenge." A challenge in many more ways than this.

Regina laughs humorlessly, grabbing a brush and running it quickly through her locks. "I'm beginning to think you have a weird obsession with him, which is strange because I highly doubt you've ever met him in your entire life."

Reya shrugs, shaking her head. She glances down at her feet. "That's not true," she replies, "I know him well, just like how I do you. He's my father."

Regina's eyes widen. "Your father?" she chokes, "That's crazy. Because if you think he's your father and you think I'm your mother, that means that he and I—"

"Exactly!" Reya exclaims, nodding fervently, "You had me, but not in this realm. Not in this land. We all were a family before the curse…in a completely different place. The Enchanted Forest."

The older brunette's brows shoot up into her hairline. "So now this 'realm' has a name—a ridiculous one at that. Sounds like something out of a storybook."

"Well, technically you are characters from it…" Reya mumbles.

"What?"

"Nothing," the young brunette replies quickly upon deciding it best to reveal information judiciously, little by little, so as not to overwhelm.

"This story of yours is getting crazier and crazier," Regina muses. She brushes past Reya and strides down the hallway into the living room. "And I don't want any part of it."

"But you are part of it," Reya insists, "Mom, you have to listen to me."

"Stop calling me that!" Regina snaps, marching around the room, grabbing her paintings, and slipping them into large black trash bags for transportation. "I'm not your mother. Speaking of, you shouldn't even be in my house right now. I was just being nice because it was late last night. But I'm afraid, tonight, you're going to have to find a place to stay. I'm not doing this a second time."

"But where will I go? I can't check into a hotel. I'm ten. Plus, I can't afford it."

"Then maybe I should call social services."

"You wouldn't do that. I'm your daughter," Reya replies adamantly.

Regina glares at the young girl, her temper beginning to flare. "Watch me," she hisses as she swings the bags full of paintings over her shoulder.

Reya huffs frustratedly, watching as the older brunette treads past her, all the way down the hallway to the side door, and out to the driveway. She follows at a distance, frowning to herself as she struggles to find a way out of this situation. She should have known this would have been no easy feat. Of course the curse would have made this difficult for her to reunite her family. Her heart sinks deeper each pebble she idly kicks, her hands dug in her pockets.

Reya always knew her mother was stubborn. That was just one of the many things that served her well as queen. Regina's stubbornness, her natural ability to be strong and adamant in her decisions, gave her the means to rule with a strong hand. It was either her way or the highway. And as it was with her subjects, it was with her soulmate as well.

"Robin, we've been through this a thousand times. I'm not living in this dank place." The refined queen huffs, brushing past her peeved lover and marching back towards the castle. Both have just made the journey crossing realms (from the Wish Realm into the Enchanted Forest) not even a day ago. In desperate need to relax and burn off steam, they'd decided to begin settling into their new home with a nice stroll through the familiar woods. However, with the way conversation has turned, so much for a calm walk in the forest.

"Regina," Robin calls after her, hustling to follow from behind. Though the woman may wear six inch heeled boots, she sure can prove to be a challenge for him to keep up, especially when she is irritated. "This 'dank place' is my home," he retorts, shaking his head. "I don't understand why you are so opposed to the idea. The forest is a beautiful place to live. Don't you want to cuddle by the campfire and make love under the stars—"

"And bathe in the river, sleep on dirt, and howl with the wolves. No thank you. I'm a queen, Robin. I'm far more refined than that," Regina interrupts haughtily.

Robin raises a brow, finding it difficult to not feel offended. "You make it all sound so bad, like the way I live is comparable to that of an animal."

"I'm not saying that. I simply want to sleep in my feather bed in the comfort of my castle." Regina shakes her head. "Why settle for the forest when we have a beautiful fortress in which to live?"

"Because…" Robin sighs, shaking his head. He halts in his tracks, swallowing hard. "Because you are right. I'm not as refined as you, and I never will be. I can't be royalty. I don't know how. I don't deserve to live in a lavish castle."

Regina turns to meet her lover's distraught gaze and makes her way towards him swiftly. Suddenly, her heart becomes heavy with guilt at what she has said. "Robin," she says gently, taking his hands firmly, "I'm not asking you to be someone you're not. But I am asking that my soulmate join me in my own castle." Regina shakes her head. "It has been my dream, my happy ending, that the man I love lives with me happily ever after under the roof of the most important landmark of my power. I want to share that with you…and with the world. I want to show all of the Enchanted Forest who we are, that a new dynasty has come."

"I know, my love. But what about everything that I am? You say that you don't want to change me. But isn't putting me in your castle doing exactly that? Who will I be when I am there?"

Regina sighs, closing her eyes, heart growing even heavier at the prospect that perhaps they aren't as compatible as they first thought. She shakes her head. No. It must work. This is her chance. This is her second chance at a happy ending. The authors pen had sent her directly to Robin, to her soulmate for a reason. Their relationship has to work as their happiness depends on it. After all, doesn't love conquer all differences? The brunette queen opens her eyes to gaze into wide eyes as blue and as deep as the ocean itself. How can she deny them? How can she make it so that both may reap the benefits of who they are?

"What about we compromise?" Regina says slowly, biting her lip. She clears her throat and lifts her chin. "We can have the best of both worlds. I will assist you with your robberies, and I suppose, within that time we can huddle by the campfire and sleep under the stars. And in return, you will stay with me in my castle the rest of the time."

Robin's eyes widen, his jaw going slack at his lover's proposal. "But wouldn't that be asking you to be something you're not?"

"Perhaps," Regina replies, "But I need something exciting back in my life." She wiggles her brow playfully.

Slowly, a crooked smile begins to tilt the corners of Robin's lips upward as he considers this new option. He chuckles, shaking his head endearingly. "Isn't what you're offering more of a bargain, milady?"

"Call it what you like, but that's what I'm offering. It's the only thing I'm offering."

Regina watches as her thief lifts his gloved hand and presses two fingers to his lips, furrowing his brows in mock deliberation. "Hmm," he hums, stroking the stubble lining his chin, "I suppose I could use an accomplice."

"I suppose you do," his queen replies, a smile beginning to spread across her plump rouge lips.

"You can be my thief queen."

"I like the sound of that."

"Do you think you can handle it?"

"Please," Regina scoffs, "I can handle just about anything."

"I don't doubt it for a second." Robin grins. "And I suppose I could prove to be a bit of help within the castle walls as a consultant regarding crime in the kingdom. After all, only I know the mind of a thief."

Regina laughs. "A double life?" she gasps, "Robin Hood, do you dare?!"

"Of course, my love," Robin replies, giving her hands a squeeze, "So long as it's with you."

Yet even when in a disagreement, Regina, when stubborn, can listen and find a way of compromise when in both kind spirits and with the one she loves. Perhaps, Reya simply just needs to earn her cursed mother's favor in order to truly have her listen, trust, and believe all that she says. It's this, and perhaps evidence of what she believes is true that will hopefully send both Regina and Robin down the right path to breaking this curse. With this thought in mind, a plan slowly begins to hatch.

"Then maybe I'll get Robin to help me," Reya says, watching her mother load the bags of precious paintings into the back of her car.

"Perfect idea," Regina replies, rolling her eyes as she places the last of the paintings on top of the pile. "You can go and bother him. After all, he may need a little action in his boring fisherman's life."

"Mm," the young girl hums, "But…" She crosses her arms over her chest, stepping closer to the car. "I'll need a ride to get there," she adds craftily.

Regina snorts, slamming the trunk of her car closed. "You really think that I have any clue where Locksley lives?"

"No," Reya says, smirking widely, "But I do."

"How?"

"The same way I found you." The young brunette grasps the delicate silver chain hanging around her neck, holding its feather pendant up off her chest so that her mother can see. "With this."

Regina frowns, bending down to study what seems to be an ordinary pendant. She shakes her head cynically. "That's a necklace."

"I know." Reya simply shrugs. "But it's been enchanted just for this purpose—so that I can find you both even when the curse has been enacted."

The older brunette raises a brow, a skeptical expression written across her features. Yet, she decides that there's no point in resisting anymore when the young girl in front of her is so relentless about this foolishness.

"Okay." She plays along. "How is it enchanted?"

Reya lifts her chin. "Long story. But basically, the brighter it shines, the closer I am."

"That's quite the sketchy GPS…"

"I'm telling you it works."

"Yeah, but how—"

Reya's groan interrupts Regina's question. "Just believe it," she groans.

"I'll believe it when I see it," Regina states stubbornly. She crosses her arms, shifting her weight from one foot to the other as she leans on the side of the car. "Now why ask me to take you? I'm not stupid. I know you're doing it so that you can get me and Robin together to bring to life this silly fantasy of yours—which by the way is never going to happen."

The young brunette smirks. "Maybe…" she replies, her smirk growing even wider, "But also, why call a cab and spend more money—which I don't have—when I have you?"

"Fair point…" Regina mumbles. She sighs deeply, pressing her palm to her forehead and closing her eyes. When she opens her eyes once more, she still finds Reya staring up at her with the same expectant look as the night before. "Fine." She shakes her head. "Because of all this chitchat about enchanted necklaces, I don't have time to drop you off right now. So I guess we'll have to go after I'm done at the market. We'll pack up, get in the car, and drive to wherever the hell you believe his home is—and believe me, you better get the address right. Then, I'm leaving. I'm just dropping you off at his doorstep, and leaving. Nothing more from you, all right? I'm tired with these silly games. I'm dropping you off and nothing more."

Reya's grin turns triumphant as she listens to her mother's annoyed speech. This might just work. It most certainly won't all click today. But at least, now, she's got a start.

"All right," she returns, smirking slyly, "Nothing more."

If I haven't mentioned this already, which I don't think I have and I apologize, this story will most likely be a bit of a slow burn in terms of the cursed Regina and Robin getting to know one another. But don't worry, I hope to keep you all entertained with current events mixed in with those in the flashbacks, so there'll always be new things to learn and enjoy ;)

That being said, any predictions how cursed Regina and Robin's meeting will go? Surely there won't be 'nothing more'. So finally in this fourth chapter we will delve a little bit into cursed Robin's life and what became of him as a result of the spell cast.

Thanks for stopping by, don't forget to review! Stay tuned, more coming very soon!