Chapter 18 Let's face it
Roxanne was starting to regret volunteering to keep an eye on Ruby. It wasn't long from when they left the evil kingdom that Ruby started to whine over Regina again. She understood the pain and suffering that Ruby was going through but having to hear about it was getting to her. Maybe it was because of own personal interest in the woman. She knew she felt strongly for Ruby, she was not sure if it was love or just loyalty to the clan that was tugging at her heart.
Instead of going back to granny and the rest of the clan, Roxanne found herself following Ruby to a big o tree in the middle of nowhere.
"This was her favorite place to be at…" Roxanne looked confused for a second before realization dawned on her that Ruby was talking about Regina again.
"Listen, I know the pain and suffering you are going through right now. But I will be the bad guy for saying this, but Regina belongs with the Charming's now. She made her decision!" Roxanne decided to explain.
Ruby ignored what was said and closed her eyes and tried to imagine all the moments her and Regina has together under this tree. She could feel the love pouring out of the tree as she touched its rough texture.
She sniffed the air; nightfall was approaching soon; she had one more place in mind she wanted to visit before she made her decision. Ruby turned around to face Roxanne and looked straight into her eyes.
"If you help me one more time, I promise I will go back with you. I just need to clear some things up before I make my final decision" Roxanne thought it through and then nodded her head in agreement.
It was not long before Ruby and Roxanne made it to the Charming's Kingdom. 'Damn it all, so many guards here. I can't make the same mistake as last time.' Ruby thought to herself as she contemplated about how they were going to make their way around.
"Don't worry, I got you." Spoke Roxanne after noticing the look on Ruby's face. "I know exactly where she is" Roxanne said as she made her way through the crowd that was patiently waiting in the front of the castle for the newlyweds to make an appearance.
"I assume you been here before" Ruby tried to confirm as she followed the other woman around through the alleys, nooks, and crooks around the castle in order to get to Regina.
"You could say that….I knew you were going to try to see her again, so I made sure to figure out a path for us to take" Roxanne said as she shot a sly smile towards Ruby. Ruby ignored the smile and pushed past Roxanne.
"You got to be kidding me!" Ruby exclaimed out loud when she found herself right in front of Emma's room.
"Shhhhh! Keep your voice down!" Roxanne whispered harshly to Ruby as she looked around to see if they caught anyone's attention.
"You are going to pay for this Emma!" Ruby whispered to herself ignoring Roxanne as she pried open the door and made her way in.
Ruby was closing the door behind them when she heard Regina speak without turning around to see who was at the door, "Emma…..I will be down shortly, please leave me alone for a while."
"First name bases already, I see." Ruby said as she kept her eyes on Regina, who was fixing her earrings and the moment the words left Ruby's lips, Regina quickly dropped her hands at her side and stared in the mirror in front of her to see Ruby walking up behind her.
She felt a sinking feeling in her gut, she ordered her body to turn around and face Ruby to make sure that it was really her but for some reason she found herself frozen to that damn spot. Regina couldn't help but stay looking through the mirror as Ruby literally was no standing so close to her, touching her back with her front body.
Ruby pulled down her red hood from her head and stared right into Regina's eyes through the mirror as she brought her hands up to take hold of both of Regina's shoulders, keeping her still.
The touch of Ruby's hands on her shoulders was what assured that indeed it was Ruby that was staring at in the mirror. She finally tried to turn around to face her but left Ruby's hands grip her shoulder harder, preventing her from turning around.
"Sshh, I just wanted to come here and see for myself if I was right or wrong about you, Regina" Ruby whispered in her ear as she leaned onto her right shoulder.
Regina abruptly broke out of the hold and turned to face Ruby with tears now running down her face.
"How dare you?" Regina questioned as she took few steps back colliding with the dresser behind her. Before she could fall to the ground, she felt Ruby engulf her in an embrace.
"Let go of me!" Regina spoke out loud as she pushed Ruby off of her, causing Ruby to stumble back, fortunately for Ruby, Roxanne was there to catch her. It was at that time that Regina noticed the other woman in the room with them.
"I see you brought company" Regina said with spite in her tone. Ruby composed herself quickly and glared at Roxanne.
"And I see you finally made your choice" Ruby said the obvious with a unpleasant growl as she looked Regina up and down in her wedding gown. "I had no choice in this" Regina retorted back with shame in her tone. "You knew that I told you this was going to happen…" Regina stated as she looked away from Ruby, unable to meet the hurt in her eyes.
"You should leave, Ruby" Regina said before turning away, unable to bear seeing the other woman leave her again.
Ruby looked at the turned back of Regina and thought that it would be best to leave things be but decided otherwise. "Roxanne, can you give us a moment…" Roxanne nodded, "Don't take long, I'll keep watch" Ruby nodded in agreement.
Regina turned around when she heard the door close behind them again. She met Ruby's eyes this time not sure what she was seeing. This whole thing was a mess, she is already married off to someone she doesn't love and now she was facing the one person she wanted to spend her entire life with. She didn't know what to do.
"We can still run away together, Regina. Run away with me" Ruby shared as hope ignited in her heart again.
"Emma told me you were dead." Regina inquired. "What happened Ruby? Why didn't you come see me that night when I waited for you, waited for us to have our happy ending?"
Ruby shook her head and started to pace back and forth. "That doesn't matter anymore, Regina. Just come with me now, we can still have our happy ending!"
Ruby closed the gap between them and cupped Regina's crying face in her hands as she stared into those deep brown eyes. "Just come with me, please" Ruby begged.
"I can't! I am now vowed to Emma" Regina spoke with shame in her voice as she put distance between them again. She noticed the hurt in Ruby's eyes at her action and felt her own heart break into pieces again.
"Just leave, please. If the guards find you here again…..I ….can't go through that again, Ruby." Regina couldn't help but breakdown thinking about what happened the last time.
"I will leave for now but remember this Regina, I will be back." Ruby spoke with certainty as she looked at the broken state of Regina in front of her. She leaned down to grab Regina by her shoulders and picked her up from the floor.
Ruby couldn't help but pull Regina closer to her even more, their bodies touching so closely, both couldn't deny the longing they had for each other. It wasn't long before they were embracing each other so tightly.
"It's not possible for me to forget you and I won't let you forget me" was the last thing Regina heard before she was left alone all over again.