Hook… I Will Always Find You

Chapter Seventeen

At last, Regina and Robin found her father's gravestone within a matter of minutes once they quickly returned to the cemetery after Cora had left them alone on the rock cliff's edge within the fiery pit. Knowing they were now under a heavier time crunch, the former Evil Queen pulled out the flask Emma gave her and unfastened the top. However, she froze as she was about to pour a few drops over Henry Sr.'s grave and Robin gently laid his hand over her shoulder to offer her the courage she needed to continue.

Regina looked over at the man she loved when the archer moved around to stand beside her and a tear slipped down her cheek while she fearfully whispered, "I don't… I don't think I can do this, Robin. He's here because of me. Because I killed him to cast a curse and it was all for nothing."

Robin took her hand in his own and then answered, "Your father loved you, Regina. You said so yourself. You also told me he always forgave you for everything you did once you became that woman you used to be. He'll forgive you now too. You'll see. If you don't do this now, you'll come to regret it. Just remember… I'm here with you. You can do this."

"Thank you," she sincerely replied when she raised her head and looked into his eyes again. "I'm really grateful you're here with me."

"I'm glad I'm here too," he responded assuredly. "For both you and for Killian."

Finally, Regina poured a few drops of the ale over her father's grave and after a few moments, Henry appeared before his daughter as she stared down at the ground in front of her while she struggled to keep herself from crying uncontrollably in shame of her actions so many years ago.

He looked at her sadly, though with a smile on his face while he stated softly, "Regina."

Upon hearing his voice again, she couldn't hold in her sobs any longer and still unable to look at him, she uttered shakily, "Daddy. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry."

"It's okay, dear," he answered gently when he immediately stepped forward and placed his hands on her shoulders, before he pulled his daughter into a hug as he embraced her tightly to comfort her like he always did while she was growing up. "It's okay. It's okay. It's okay."

"Is it?" she questioned while she continued to hold him like she was afraid he was going to disappear at any second. "Am I really forgiven?"

Henry ran his fingers through her long dark hair as he genuinely replied, "Of course. I love you no matter what. That's what fathers do."

The Queen pulled back then as she finally looked into his eyes and responded, "I'm not sure they do. I think you're very special. I don't understand how you can be so good."

"Oh, I'm not perfect," her father answered, then smiled at her again and tenderly wiped her tears away. "I have many regrets. I don't even know which one is keeping me in this place."

"Well, it doesn't matter," Regina replied to him strongly. "Your suffering will not get any worse. I'm going to see to it."

Henry Sr. shook his head in concern for his daughter while he strictly and proudly responded, "No, Regina. That's what I came to tell you. Your mother is using me to get you to leave. But I want you to stay. You've got a job to do… helping Snow White, your friends. They need you. They need your strength. You finally put vengeance aside to be a hero. I'm not gonna stand in the way of that."

She stared at him with fear as she retorted, "But Mother's going to send you someplace worse. I… I… I can't cause you pain again. Mother made her decision. We both know we can't change her mind. But she's given you a way out. Both of us."

"When you tore my heart out, it was driven by the worst motives," he answered her. "But if you stay, you spread hope. That's the best thing anyone can do. Let your old man see you doing the right thing. Then I truly will not have died in vain."

Henry Sr. smiled at her once more, but before Regina could say anymore to him, her father suddenly disappeared in a cloud of smoke. She tried calling out to him, but he didn't answer back, so Robin took her hand again and wrapped his arm around her until she pulled him into her arms as well.

"There was so much more I wanted to say to him," Regina whispered again as they tightly held onto each other. "I hoped to introduce him to you and to tell him about his grandson and namesake. Robin… I know I can't give into my mother's threats this time, but I also can't bear it if my father's going to suffer at all like Hook is suffering right now. What am I going to do?"

The archer pulled back from her so he could look into her eyes again, then replied, "We work together to fulfill your father's wish for you. You have regretted more than just killing him for over thirty years, Regina. You've regretted being unable to let go of your hate for Mary Margaret as he hoped you would before his death so he could have died proud of the beautiful woman you always were. He's proud of you now and he always will be, but don't you realize how much it will hurt him if Hook and the rest of our friends suffer because we weren't still here to help them to succeed? We will do whatever we can to protect your father too. Stay here. Don't allow your mother to win over you again."

The Queen smiled at the man she loved and leaned in to kiss him, then she lovingly responded, "Like I said before, I'm so grateful you were willing to come down here with me. I definitely wouldn't have been able to do any of this without you."

"Yes, you would have," Robin reassured her. "You've always been stronger than you've ever known."

"You're right," she then finally spoke with confidence in herself. "I am."