Chapter 3

AN: Yeet, thank you guys so much for the follows and reviews, pretty please keep it up, it's so encouraging! I'm enjoying writing this so much, it makes me feel better to keep Robin and OQ alive in my own way, I hope you guys feel hope for them through this too, that's why I'm writing it! Anyways, thanks for the support, share with everyone ya know! Love y'all!

"You went to Rumplestiltskin for help?!" Emma exclaimed.

"Why didn't you tell us first?" Charming asked, seemingly dumbfounded.

"Mom… You could've talked to me about this…" Henry trailed off, appearing to be genuinely hurt that Regina had not confided her plans in him.

Regina exhaled in exasperation at this multitude of unfriendly reactions. She decided to address Henry first, as she could never truly be annoyed with him. She walked over to him, and took both his hands in hers, staring earnestly into his offended, brown
eyes.

"Henry, I didn't speak to you about this prior to talking to your grandfather because, firstly, it didn't become an idea until this morning after you'd left for school. And secondly, I know you want to be there for me, and I can't express to you how much
your support means to me, but I will never be able to talk with you honestly about my emotional pain," Regina explained to him. Henry opened his mouth to contradict her, but Regina continued: "It's not that I don't trust you, or don't value your opinion
and input, it's just that… You're my son, and I value your emotional wellbeing much more than my own, and I could never burden you that way. The last thing I want is for you to be focusing on my problems. It is my job, and my greatest joy in life,
to take care of and protect you. From everything. Please try to understand."

Henry smiled at his mother lovingly, feeling very special at how much she clearly loved him and valued his happiness.

"I understand," he said, smiling softly. Regina and Henry briefly embraced, before she turned to address Emma and Charming in a much less affectionate manner.

"And the two of you… with all due respect, get over yourselves. This isn't about either of you, this is about Robin Hood. And me," she said fiercely. Charming raised his eyebrows, surprised at being put in his place in such a way. To his right, Regina
saw Snow fighting to suppress laughter at her two family members being chastised so harshly.

"Alright fine, but seriously, Regina, Rumplestiltskin?" Emma pressed, seemingly baffled at Regina's chosen confidante. Regina was similarly confused as to why Emma was so fixated on this point. Obviously Rumple wasn't her first choice, it wasn't
like there were all that many people with unlimited magical knowledge in the world.

"Yes, Emma, because Rumplestiltskin obviously would be my go-to guy for emotional support! It certainly has nothing to do with the fact that he knows everything concerning magic," Regina snapped at Emma. Emma opened her mouth to retort, before Rumplestiltskin
interjected.

"As lovely as it is to be in the company of such beloved family and friends all lovingly singing my praises, could we put this love fest on hold so that I can disclose the information that I came to share with Regina?" Rumple, who had been leaning
casually against the counter throughout this argument, snarked.

"Yes. Sorry. Please share," Regina said forcefully, closing the forum for discussion. Everyone was silent.

"Well, clearly the information you sought was surprisingly easy to obtain, as I'm here approximately eight hours earlier than anticipated. Zeus' location is wonderfully logical. He's simply on Mount Olympus with the other Gods and Goddesses," Rumple explained.
Regina raised her eyebrows, feeling slightly annoyed with the simplicity of this information. She could have guessed that herself and spared herself having to bring Rumplestiltskin into the matter at all.

"Mount Olympus? That's a real place?" Emma asked confusedly. Regina rolled her eyes, momentarily trying to tally up in her mind how many times she had heard Emma ask that question.

"Ms. Swan, do you think you'll ever be able to fight the urge to ask that question?" Rumple asked her pointedly. Emma rolled her eyes. Regina briefly appreciated being in the company of someone with a wit on par with hers.

"Yeah, I guess you'd think I would know by now… Still, I'm not sure I understand why Zeus' location is relevant," Emma stated, looking back and forth between Rumple and Regina. It was obvious that everyone else in the room, other than Snow and Rumple,
was wondering the exact same thing.

"He's the only other living entity with knowledge concerning the olympian crystal," Rumple replied simply. That put it in perspective for everyone. Regina felt five sets of eyes burning into her as they all began to understand why she needed information
about Zeus' whereabouts. She flushed slightly, feeling extremely uncomfortable with everyone being made aware of just how extremely vulnerable and desperate she was feeling.

"You're trying to find out if there's a way to bring Robin back," Charming said conclusively, clearly thinking aloud. Regina didn't want to respond to this blatant stating of the obvious. She could sense the disapproval radiating from both Charming and
Emma, but only Emma was brave enough to verbalize it.

"Regina… I'm truly sorry to have to be the one to say this, but you saw him die… You know what happened…" Emma trailed off hesitantly, knowing that she was absolutely playing with fire here. Regina's eyes snapped up from the ground she had been intently
staring at to meet Emma's ferociously.

"Really, are you sure I was there for that? It's not as though the memory of Robin stepping in front of that crystal to save me, his soul being ripped from his body and disappearing into thin air in front of me, and holding his dead body in my
arms, is permanently branded into my mind!" Regina practically shouted, infuriated at Emma's complete lack of compassion and common sense. She really did have that Charming family trait of stating the obvious at precisely the wrong moments.

Emma looked away, knowing she had been out of line. Nevertheless, she spoke again.

"Regina, I know, I'm sorry, that was insensitive. I just meant…. I just mean that I think this seems horribly counterproductive to helping you move on, and-" Emma tried to explain herself. Regina cut her off furiously.

"Quite frankly, Emma, considering the fact that I just spent the last month of my life in the Underworld helping you extract Hook from the deepest pits of hell, and that that is the reason we encountered Hades in the first place, the least you
can do here is be supportive," Regina said coldly, cleanly shutting Emma down.

Regina had no doubt in her mind that she was right, and everyone else was out of line for questioning her. She realized that she was actually quite angry at this complete lack of support. It's not like she hadn't made sacrifices for these people before,
and it's not like Robin hadn't done everything in his power to help them when he could. He deserved their help, and honestly, so did she. And she knew it.

Emma, along with everyone else, was silent for a good few seconds, as the sheer accuracy of Regina's words set in. Regina could see in Emma's face that she had seriously struck a nerve.

"You're… so right, Regina. I'm so sorry. What can we do to help?" Emma said finally, staring earnestly at Regina.

"I'm not sure there's much to help with, quite frankly," Rumple said, speaking again for the first time in a few minutes. Regina's voice caught in her throat, terrified at what he meant by that. Was he saying there was nothing that could be done?

"What do you mean by that?" Snow asked Rumple confusedly, which was good because Regina found herself momentarily incapable of speaking.

"I mean that a mortal can't just waltz up to Mount Olympus, and demand answers about their most revered weapon…" Rumple scoffed, raising his eyebrows. Regina pondered that for a moment.

"But… There is a way?" she asked slowly, trying to slice through his cryptic words.

"Yes. But I don't have the answers for you yet. Belle is insisting that I find them, so I will update you when I have them," Rumple said, much more politely than Regina was accustomed to. With that comment, he surprised them all by simply disappearing
in a puff of his trademark red smoke.

—-

Regina was standing outside on her upstairs balcony, staring out aimlessly into Storybrook. The viciously chilled wind nipped at her skin, leaving her face raw and exposed. The cold was invigorating to her, however, and she liked the way it was clearing
her mind.

Regina felt that the past week had sort of been like a dream for her, hazy and slow moving and just overall unfamiliar. She felt like it hadn't been real, she had spent pretty much of all of it submerged in such an intense cloud of emotional turmoil and
numbness that she had almost lost touch with reality. But standing on this balcony in the freezing nighttime air, she could feel her senses clearing and she felt very alive.

Regina wondered, however, if this temporary clarity was stemming from the fact that she now felt like there might be some slight hope for Robin. Even though she was yet to receive any sort of real confirmation that there was anything to negate Hades'
words about the crystal, the notion of just merely having a lead to pursue was almost resuscitating her. This resuscitation was short lived, however, as Regina then made the mistake of thinking about what would happen if nothing came from this lead…

She thought back to the first night after Robin died. Of course she had refused to let anyone see it, or comfort her, but she had spent the entire night sobbing hopelessly in her bedroom. She felt as though someone had punched a hole through her chest,
and her whole body ached, like all of her vital organs had been violently ripped from her. She remembered the way all the oxygen in the room seemed to be evading her as she desperately gasped for air in the midst of her unrelenting sobs. She couldn't
stop picturing the way Robin had taken the bolt for her, without any hesitation at all, and how horrible it was to see his body paralyzed in a blue flash as his soul was ripped away and destroyed. The way his immobilized soul had momentarily reached
out to hers… And before she could grab onto his hand to desperately try and keep him with her, he had disappeared. She pictured herself cradling his dead body in her arms… His handsome face peacefully resting, his strong body rendered frozen forever,
involuntary tears slipping uncontrollably down her face as she held him. Regina didn't think she would ever be able to efface these memories from her mind, no matter how hard she tried.

As she considered this absolutely agonizing memory, Regina suddenly realized that a very small, very petty part of her felt angry at Robin for this. She had ordered him not to sacrifice himself for her, and he had done it anyways. If he
had just let Hades kill her, like she'd asked, she wouldn't be living with this horrible pain and emptiness. She would just be dead. She would have died knowing that when her time arrived, she had everything she'd ever wanted. A man she loved deeply,
and who returned her love. A son she adored, who equally cherished her. Friends she had grown to love, who accepted her for her darkness and, even more so, her light. She had a family. Regina considered painfully that for a very brief time… she'd
had it all. And she hadn't even been able to appreciate it. Her and Robin could hardly find time to even think about their future, between all of Storybrook's invasions, all the curses, her insane sister, and the general misfortunes of her friends.
She'd had everything she'd ever wanted, and she hadn't even had time to realize it, before it had all been brutally ripped away from her.

If nothing came from this lead, Regina had no remote idea how she would continue on. As she tried to picture herself moving forward with her life, and just falling back into an everyday routine… her entire mind kept going blank. She could picture nothing.
This uncertainty terrified her. Most likely because, deep down, she knew there was not a future for her anymore. Not without Robin.

Much to her frustration, she realized that the only thing that could possibly comfort her right now was the sound of Robin's voice. Most recently she had been working diligently to try and block out her memories of him, of his face, of their time together.
She found that it allowed her to exist in a much more manageable state of numbness, which allowed her to interact better with others and present a more believable facade of calmness and peace to the public. However, right now, just for a moment, she
realized that she needed to think of him. She needed him to calm her down, even if it was just through a memory, as he had always been able to do. Even their smallest moments were exactly what she needed…

"You're going to wear out the masonry if you keep pacing," Robin chided lightly, as Regina anxiously paced back and forth across the room, considering the situation from all possible negative angles.(Robin, meanwhile, considered Reginafrom all angles.)Robin's voice distracted her for a moment.

"I'm sure David and Mary Margaret are fine," Robin added soothingly. Although he was off the mark on what she was worried about, she relaxed just knowing that he was concerned about her.

"You think I'm worried about them? Those two could outlive a cockroach," Regina said, rolling her eyes and shaking her head. The ghost of a smile formed on Robin's mouth, as he fought the urge to laugh at her sarcasm. He rarely expressed his adoration of this specific trait of hers, but he was infinitely charmed by her constant wittiness and strong exterior.

"I want to know how their test went… I get antsy when I don't know who I should hate," Regina continued, looking over at Robin again, who was casually leaning against the fire place as he watched her walking back and forth.

Robin knew it was completely the wrong time to be fixating on how utterly beautiful Regina was, but he found himself incapable of thinking about anything else. As she paced back and forth in her very form fitting red dress, her dark hair spilling over her shoulders… He literally could not take his eyes off of her, nor could he stop thinking about all the things he would have preferred to be doing with her…

Regina knew it was completely the wrong time to be considering how unbearably handsome Robin looked, with his back easily resting against the wall. Of course, she was antsy at the current situation in Camelot, but she found herself momentarily… Distracted by Robin. Even she couldn't be strong and focused all the time… She considered how satisfying it would be to just press him against that wall and…-

Of course, Snow and Charming chose that exact moment to enter the room.

—-

"Did the plan work?" Robin's accented voice called to her across the small space of forest between them.

"That depends… Is it still here?" Regina asked anxiously.

"Right where you left it," Robin replied immediately, reaching down to retrieve it for her. Regina heaved a sigh of relief. But she wasn't truly surprised. She just… knew that Robin Hood was the only person who could have kept her heart safe. A quiet yet very prominent voice in her mind kept assuring her that Robin was exactly who she needed to trust.

"Then it worked," Regina breathed happily, as she watched Robin digging up her heart.

"I just needed to find the one thing I had that Zelena didn't," Regina continued mindlessly, thinking aloud.

"And what exactly was that?" Robin questioned curiously, extending his arm containing her heart out to her. As he held out his hand, Regina was again frozen in fear at the clear lion tattoo on his wrist. Her heart seemed to stop, her voice caught in her throat, and she felt momentarily completely paralyzed. Of course, she had already seen the tattoo. Obviously it wasn't a fear of body ink that spurred her to this level of terror, it was what the body ink entailed… She knew what really scared her wasn't even what she knew about the tattoo… It was how she felt about it. She could feel it in her entire being, every fiber of her body was telling her that it really was him. She knew it in the way she was drawn to him. In the way she was attracted to him. In the way that voice continually promised her he was trustworthy. She could feel that he really was the one she was destined to be with.

"Our heartless mother," Regina responded after a moment, finally finding her momentarily hindered voice, just as Robin placed her heart back in her hand. Robin looked slightly disturbed by these words, which was understandable as most people might be slightly bothered by the idea of casually ripping out hearts and walking around without them.

Regina elected to move the conversation along so that Robin didn't have to think about that too much.

"My sister was right about something. She said I don't always realize what I have right in front of me," Regina said thoughtfully, chuckling lightly as Robin stood up again. He was considerably taller than her, yet not dauntingly so, she noticed (not for the first time). She liked it.

"What's that?" Robin asked her, staring earnestly into her eyes. Much to her chagrin, Regina again found herself temporarily helpless, as she was completely entranced by the way Robin was looking at her. Her mind went blank for a brief second as she stared into his clear blue eyes, before she was able to regain her composure.

"Just that I didn't always appreciate things," She replied quickly, staring back at Robin, who was still heavily gazing at her. He was looking at her as though he was taking everything about her face into his mind, like he was memorizing it. This scared her. But even more so… she loved it.

She found herself taking his hand in hers and pressing the bag containing her heart back into his.

"Would you mind holding onto this for a bit longer?" she asked breathlessly, looking into his eyes still. Robin appeared floored by this question.

"You're really going to entrust something so valuable to a common thief like me?" Robin asked her doubtfully. Regina was horrified to realize that the only thing she wanted to respond with was how she couldn't imagine giving her heart to anyone else.

"You can't steal something that's been given to you," she replied softly, leaning in a bit closer and smiling at him. He immediately reciprocated her smile, which made her stomach drop in the most amazing way possible.

Regina forced herself to turn away, and begin to walk off.

"You still owe me that drink!" Robin called after her. Regina's heart fluttered uncontrollably.

"Yes, I suppose I do."

—

"Regina?" Emma suddenly was calling out from behind her. Regina forced herself to snap out of her blissful memories, opening her eyes again. This might have been for the best, the sheer force of Robin's absence in everything but her memories
was definitely beginning to take hold of her again.

"Good evening, Ms. Swan. Isn't it past your bedtime?" Regina responded dryly, not bothering to turn around and look at her. There was no real need to be looking at Emma, Regina was quite familiar with her mannerisms and responses to sarcasm at this point.
Emma walked up beside Regina on the balcony.

"Listen, I'm sorry if I'm interrupting you-" Emma began, before Regina cut her off.

"Aren't you always?" Regina asked, smirking, but her words weren't malicious. Emma sighed, and let out a small laugh in spite of herself.

"I just… I wanted to apologize. Really, truly apologize. What you said earlier… You were right. And I know that I can't take it back, or change the past, but I want you to know that I would if I could. I never should have brought you all into my problem,
it was selfish, and I had no right. And the fact that I had the audacity to question you for trying to get Robin back after what I just got back from doing-" Emma babbled on, before Regina stopped her.

"Emma, stop. Yes, what I said earlier is true, and I won't say I'm sorry for saying it, but I am sorry that it's causing you to take the weight of this onto your shoulders. You are not responsible for Robin's…" Regina trailed off, suddenly finding herself
unable to say aloud that Robin was dead. This was new, seeing as she hadn't had any trouble admitting this fact up to this point. But she now couldn't stand to say it aloud, it was as though stating it as a fact undermined her newfound hope. And that
was definitely something she was not ready for.

"Regina… please try not to hate me for saying this, but I really do understand how you feel," Emma said softly. Regina did expect to hate Emma for saying this, but she also realized that Emma actually was quite possibly the only person in her life who
could somewhat relate to losing the love of her life.

"That's true. However, I have difficultly mustering any interest in your advice, seeing as you can go home to your handless wonder anytime you want," Regina replied simply. Emma sighed.

"I know. I know it's not fair, and that you don't deserve this. And that's why I'm here right now. I came up here to tell you that I am going to help you do everything you can to get Robin back. I can't live with myself if I don't, I can't stand
looking at you and seeing you this way," Emma said firmly, as though nothing Regina said would change her mind. This was probably true, honestly, Emma was about as stubborn as Regina. Regina, however, found herself most interested in the last thing
Emma had said.

"And what way am I looking, Ms. Swan?" Regina asked, looking straight ahead rather than at Emma.

"Depressed. Empty. Broken," Emma replied quietly. Regina was disappointed to find out that she was not hiding her grief as well as she'd initially thought.

"I'm sorry my grief is distressing to you," Regina said bitterly, attempting to distance herself from Emma's compassion and retreat back into her shell of numbness. Emma sighed again.

"Regina… I am going to hate myself for saying this if we don't get Robin back, but I'm going to risk it, because I believe that there has to be a way. Regina, you and Robin deserve to be together, nobody could ever be what he was for you. The way you
two were together, there wasn't anybody who didn't know it. The world is… worse off without the two of you in it," Emma said gently. Regina was quite perplexed by the way Emma was so clearly expressing her feelings right now, as Emma was usually as
guarded with her emotions as Regina was.

"Please stop, Emma. I appreciate your sudden sentiment, I really do, but considering that I probably won't ever see Robin again, it really is not helpful to tell me how perfect for one another we were. As if I don't know…" Regina said, suddenly seized
by another wave of pain. She knew it was time for her to be alone again, if she stayed much longer, Emma's sympathy was going to break down her wall of strength, she would cry, and she would rather throw herself off the balcony than that happen. Obviously,
Emma also inherited the keen ability to break down Regina's walls from her mother.

"I appreciate your help. I promise to fill you all in as soon as Rumplestiltskin tells me what to do. Goodnight, Ms. Swan," Regina said conclusively, leaving Emma alone on the balcony and retreating into her bedroom.