I apologise once again for the gap in-between chapters. I could give you all my excuses but its all the usual busy busy life! Anyway I shall try not to leave it so long next time in-between chapters and I do hope you enjoy this one!
Regina's eyes fluttered open, but soon closed once the bright light of the room hit her. She groaned a little and the thumping of a headache kicked in. Slowly she opened her eyes again and looked around her confused at the brightness. Having been in her vault for so long she really wasn't used to the harsh brightness of the sun. As she looked around she saw that she was in her bedroom, in her mansion and confusion hit her again. She tried to remember what had happened for her to end up here.
The last thing she remembered was being in her vault and fighting against the darkness that insisted she take revenge on her sister. She remembered hitting the wall, screaming in frustration and then everything after that is just black, literally black.
"Your awake…" Came a soft voice from the door but Regina still jumped. She looked over to see Robin stood by the door staring over at her. She opened her mouth about to speak but found her throat sore and her voice weak. Robin walked over to her and sat on the edge of the bed. He picked up a glass of water that was sat on her bedside table and leaned closer to her, an arm underneath her head to support her he lifted her slightly and placed the glass to her lips. "Drink…" He said softly and for once she did what he told her without arguing.
After a few sips Regina shook her head telling Robin she didn't want any more. He let her lie back down and he placed the glass back on the bedside table. "What happened? Why am I here?" Regina asked her voice still hoarse.
"You don't remember?" Robin questioned and Regina shook her head. "I guess the darkness must have won over you for a while. We found you in Zelena's cell, you had her held up by your magic. I think you were strangling her. "
Regina closed her eyes. She could feel tears forming in her eyes. She had let the darkness take over her. She had given into it. She had promised she wouldn't. She had said she would fight it. She had broken her promise to Henry. "I…I didn't mean to…"
"We know you didn't. You fought it Regina. You stopped it. You came back to us." Robin said placing his hand on Regina's cheek. "Henry helped you to come back to us."
"Henry saw me like that?" Regina asked worry in her eyes.
Robin nodded his head. "He knew that he would be the only one to get you back. Henry knew that no matter how dark you were that you would never hurt him. He gave you this." Robin said lifting the heart locket around her neck to show her.
Regina looked down and took it from Robin. "This…did this help to…bring me back?"
"Yes. Henry knew it would. It has the people you love the most and who love you the most. Your family. Henry thinks as long as you have that your fight against the darkness will be stronger. He is a smart boy. Takes after his mother." Robin explained with a smile.
Regina gave Robin a small smile but it soon faded. "Why did you bring me back here? It's dangerous for me to be here with you all."
"It's dangerous for you to be alone Regina." Robin said firmly. He was not going to let her go back into herself and push everyone away again. He would not let her be alone. They were going to fight this together. "You are not alone in this Regina. We are going to fight this together. You cannot and will not fight this alone."
"I don't want to hurt anyone." Regina sobbed tears falling down her face. Robin leaned down and lifted her into his arms, wrapping them around her in a protective manner. "Please…I can't lose any of you…"
"You're not going to lose us Regina." Robin soothed as he moved his hand up and down her back.
"I…I'm scared I might hurt you…I don't want to…but what if the darkness takes over and I can't control it…" Regina said tears still flowing down her face. She pulled away from Robin slightly and looked up at him. "I-I was staying away to protect you all."
"But you weren't protecting yourself were you? Regina you don't always have to do everything yourself. Accepting help doesn't make you weak." Robin said cupping her cheek in his hand. He then leaned down and brushed his lips against hers. Regina closed her eyes and fell into Robin, letting him wrap his arms around her and for the first time in a while she felt happy and protected. She felt safe and it was exactly what she needed.
She then pulled away and looked up at Robin. "You're making it harder for me to walk away." She sighed.
"Good." He replied and Regina smiled at him. "There it is. There is that beautiful smile I have missed so much."
Regina dipped her head and blushed a little. Her eyes landed on the locket and she placed her hand on it, picking it up with her fingers. "Do you think this locket really is helping lock the darkness away?" Regina wondered.
"Yes…because you have your family close to your heart." Robin said placing his hand over her heart.
Regina opened the locket and couldn't help but smile as she saw what pictures Henry had picked to put in the locket. The one of herself and Henry they were both laughing and Regina was kissing him on the cheek. She then looked to the one of herself, Robin and Roland. They were on the sofa, she was tickling Roland and Robin was laughing as they both watched Roland giggling and kicking fighting to get away but wanting it to continue. They were both pictures she loved and she couldn't believe Henry remembered she loved them. Were they enough to try and lock the darkness down? Were they enough to pull her back?
"Regina? Are you okay?" Robin asked.
"I-I think so…" Regina sighed. "You promise I won't hurt anyone?"
"Just hold onto your locket and the love you feel and I know that darkness will get locked down. We will find a way to help you Regina but you need to let us." Robin said.
Regina nodded and she looked up at Robin. "I will let you…" She replied and then leaned forward and brushed her lips against his.
After a little while Regina decided she was ready to go downstairs and face everyone else. As they walked out of the room and headed towards the stairs Regina grabbed onto Robin's hand and held on tightly. He leaned over and kissed the top of her head. "It's going to be fine okay." He said softly and then they headed down the stairs.
They walked through to the living room and Robin stood behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Look who's awake." He said and everyone looked up giving Regina a smile.
"Mom. Are you okay?" Henry asked as he jumped up from the sofa and ran over to Regina wrapping his arms around her middle and hugging her tightly.
Regina rested her head on top of Henry's and hugged him back. "Yes I'm okay Henry. I hear you helped me out…Thank you." Regina said pulling away slightly. "Thank you to you all and…well…I'm sorry for…" Regina trailed off and sighed.
"It's okay mom. We know you didn't mean for it to happen. It's not your fault." Henry said quickly.
Regina smiled at him. "I may not have really meant what I did but…well I guess a part of me did mean it…" Regina said. "A part of me wanted to do that to Zelena."
"Well that makes sense Regina. The darkness needed something to feed off it needed something to work on and convince you turning back to the darkness was the answer. It manipulated you…" Mary-Margaret said.
"I let it. I should have been stronger." Regina sighed.
"You shut yourself away from everyone Regina no one blames you for not feeling strong enough to fight against the darkness." Emma added in. "You can't expect to be able to fight this on your own Regina. You don't have to shut yourself away and be alone anymore. You have us to help you, you just have to let us in."
Regina could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. She found herself getting so emotional and she knew it was because she had barely slept in the last few days and fighting against the darkness had drained her. "I would like to let you all in…I-I could use some help…" Regina said quietly trying to keep in the tears.
Robin stepped towards Regina and placed a hand on her shoulder. She turned her head slightly to look at Robin. "Then you have our help Regina. We will all stand by you no matter what.." Robin said. He then leaned over and placed a soft kiss to the side of her head.
"Yea mom. We will help you through this. With us you can beat this. You can get rid of the darkness again, I know you can." Henry said with a smile on his face.
Regina smiled down at Henry. He really knew how to make her feel better. "Thank you sweetheart." Regina said as she cupped his cheek with her hand.
"Okay…well shall we go and get something to eat? How about Grannies?" David asked stuffing his hands into the pockets of his jeans.
"Oh I-I'm not sure about that…I don't think I should…" Regina started but Robin soon cut her off.
"Regina I think we should. You can do this." Robin said squeezing her shoulder gently and looking down into her deep brown eyes. "You can do this." He repeated.
Regina sighed and she ran her fingers through her hair. She looked back down at Henry, her little boy that was not so little anymore. He was nearly the same height as her and she knew he would be towering over her very soon. Henry gave her a smile and he pulled out of her arms but reached down and took hold of her hand. "Robin's right mom. You can do it." Henry said and that was all the confirmation Regina needed to know perhaps she could go out to the diner and have dinner with her family and friends.
"Okay." She said with a sigh. "I guess I can. But first I think I should get changed. I'm not going out looking like this." Regina said giving a small smile.
Robin let out a small laugh and he kissed the side of her head. "There's the Regina I know."
As Regina entered Grannies with Robin, Henry, Emma and the Charmings she instantly felt nervous. She bit her lip as she felt all eyes turn to her and she stepped back slightly and hid behind Robin a little. Robin took her hand in his and gave it a comforting squeeze. He leaned over and whispered into her ear. "It's okay. You can do this."
Regina nodded and she let Robin guide her over to one of the booths. Everyone sat down and Robin pulled over a couple more chairs and he pulled one out for Regina to sit down. She gave him a smile and sat down and he sat down beside her. He took hold of her hand underneath the table again hoping to make her more comfortable and he could see how nervous she was about being here with everyone staring at her. Regina sighed and ran her fingers through her hair and everyone looked up at her.
"You okay Regina?" Emma asked.
"I…I think I should go…I'm not sure I can do this.…" Regina stuttered out as she glanced around a little.
Emma looked around, as well as the Charmings and they noticed everyone staring. Mary-Margaret rolled her eyes at the noisy towns folk before turning her attention back to Regina. "Don't pay attention to them Regina. "
"It's hard to not pay attention when all eyes are on you." Regina sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. "I think I might just go." Regina said standing up from the table. She looked around and could see everyone was on edge once more when they were around her. Everyone was watching her to see if she was going to use her magic against them and she sighed once again. She had thought she had proved to them that she was not that person any more but maybe none of them had believed in her in the first place.
"No mom don't go…" Henry said reaching over and grabbing a hold of Regina's wrist. "Please…You can do this. No one will start anything with you and you won't do anything to anyone. We will make sure of it. You can do this." Henry said with pleading eyes.
Regina looked down at Henry and then glanced to the others at the table. All she wanted was to go back to how things were before she got this darkness back into her. She wanted to go back to the Regina who was redeeming herself not the Regina who had now become the dark one. She looked down into Henry's pleading eyes once more before nodding her head and sitting back down. She could do it. For Henry she could do anything.