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Damn the outlaw. If she had known saving his son meant she would never get a moment alone, then maybe she wouldn’t have done it. All she wanted was to sneak into her castle, remove the boundary spell, and finally be able to take away her suffering. But instead she had him following her every move into the castle, insisting it was for her safety; as if he could do anything to protect her anyways.
She poured in the ingredients for her curse into the vial, as she had learned long ago. It had been a while since she had made one, and she had never thought she would see the day where she would make one for herself.
She had it all planned out. She would tell the thief that he needed to remain outside for his own safety, and she would go in, prick her finger, and fall fast asleep in the crypt she had intended for her mother to lay in. It would be poetic for her to lay there, forgotten by all. She knew that she wouldn’t be waking up from the spell. The only one who had the power was Henry, and he didn’t even know who she was. This way, she wouldn’t have to deal with the pain every day, knowing what the loss meant to her. Henry was the only thing she had left. She had lost her father for her selfishness, and her mother never truly cared for her anyways.
And it wasn’t as if anyone would be missing her anyways. She was all alone in this realm. Snow and Charming would save the day, they would continue on with their happy ending. But her? There was no such thing as ‘Happy Ever After’s for villains.
She sensed the arrow pointed at her. Rolling her eyes, she turned to see what the petty thief could possibly want. He interested her in a sense, where she wanted to know about him. But if he thought he would be able to stop her, he was wrong.
“What are you doing?” she asked him impatiently, without turning to look at him. She didn’t really care for what he was trying to attempt; no doubt trying to be noble.
“You’re preforming magic, and I know it’s not for the witch. What is it?” He asked her suspiciously, arrow still pointed at her head.
She rolled her eyes, “It’s a sleeping curse.”
“Like the one you used on Snow White,” he stated, simply.
“Yes. I didn’t make that one, but I’ve learned how to,” she said softly.
“Who are you planning on using it on?” he asked her, his eyes narrowing, un-trustfully.
“No one you’ll miss,” she said, her voice struggling not to crack. “No one anyone will miss. I can guarantee that much.”
He lowered his arrow slowly. “You’re going to use it on yourself, aren’t you?”
“Yes. But don’t you worry; I’ll take down the enchantment on the castle first before I do. That way our precious heroes will be here to save the day.”
“This is about your son, isn’t it? I’ve lost people too! I lost my wife, but I found something else worth fighting for. You will too,” he said urgently, trying to prompt her to stop. Not that he could, she was basically done.
“That’s where you’re wrong,” she said. “While you still have your son, I’ve already lost everything.”
He made a motion to approach her, but she placed a temporary holding spell over him. It would wear off in ten minutes; long enough for her to take down the shield and prick her finger. She picked up the needle, and began walking out of the room.
“Regina, don’t do this! Regina!” she heard him yell out from the previous room.
It was done; the shield was dissolved. It had more resistance than she thought it would, however it was her shield after all. There was no way it wouldn’t still revert to her control when she began to take it down. This castle may have been temporarily taken over, but it did still respond to her, just as it had since Leopold’s death.
She knew that the army was probably on their way in. The castle told her that much. She wished them all the best of luck, even though she doubted they would care. She didn’t blame them all for their inability to accept her. It would be better this way.
She sat down on a bench, ready to prick her finger. She had placed an enchantment on it to carry her to the crypt after she had been put under. She wanted the last thing she remembered to be in the room that had given her comfort for years.
She held up the needle and stared at it, with one prick, it would all be gone. She held her finger above it, and began to prick herself with it.
An arrow flew by and knocked the needle out of her hand. It seemed as if the Outlaw had gotten free after all.
“You’re too late,” she said softly. “It’s done.”
He ran over to where she lay on the bench, and took her up in his arms, “Regina, you can’t. Not yet!”
Her eyes saw a tattoo on his arm. “What a strange marking. A lion. A fairy told me once that I was destined with someone who had a similar marking a long time ago. Maybe one day I will. Goodbye, Outlaw. If not in this life, maybe I’ll see you in the next.”
He looked at her frantically, but her eyes began to close. She saw nothing but darkness. She waited to be transported to the burning room as so many before her claimed to have been to, but it didn’t come. Maybe this was her prison to serve as a form of atonement for all her crimes. Maybe this is how she would spend the rest of her days, with no body by herself to torment her.
Well wouldn’t this be pleasant.
She didn’t know how long she remained there. It could have been hours, years, or millennia. Time always had a way of passing differently in strange places, such as in-between realms. All she knew was that she was suddenly being pulled out from it.
Her eyes opened as she started at Robin, who was above her, holding her body. What the hell? No one should have been able to have woken her up.
She widened her eyes in shock as she stared at his tattoo, as she remembered the last thing she said before she went under.
“I heard what you said about the fairy. There are rumours of fairies helping you find your True Love, so I gave it a shot,” he said, sounding slightly stunned himself.
She struggled to get out of his grasp. “Why couldn’t you just let me be? I wanted to go into that curse. I don’t want this life. Why couldn’t you just let me be happy?”
“Because you wouldn’t have been, Regina. You were trying to find a way out; a way to stop the pain, just like you did when you attempted to bury your heart,” he said as he stared at her. “You and I are two sides of the same coin. You may try to deny it, but it’s true.”
“I don’t owe you anything!” she snapped at him. “I don’t know what you think this is, but it isn’t happening; not with me!”
“Didn’t you hear, it’s ‘True Love’” he said, as he airily said the last part. “Look, I didn’t expect it either, okay? I didn’t expect to love anyone after my wife died. I didn’t want to. She was my one and my only. Yet somehow fate put us in each other’s path. Now I don’t know what this is, but I know it confuses the hell out of me.”
He made a move to get closer to her, but she didn’t stop him this time. He backed her into a pillar, and left mere inches between the two of them.
“All I know is that you fascinate me, Regina. Deny it all you want, but I know you feel the same. No one is saying we need to be Snow and David about this. Hell, I would be worried if you tried.”
She smiled slightly at his comment, before turning it back into her scowl.
“Just down write me off yet, okay? Let’s figure this out together. We can continue to deny it though, if you’d like. But either way, you’re not going under again; just remember I have a way to wake you up if you try. Now, shall we return back to help the others in regaining your castle?”
He reached his hand out to her.
She stared at it, unsure if she should grab it or not. She had run away once from love in an attempt to protect herself. But the only thing she did was end up hurting. Now she was given a choice. Did she want to love again? Wasn’t first loves all you got? Snow and David only had each other. But Emma didn’t…her and Neal were as different as could be. Even if the Saviour couldn’t see it yet, she knew that Hook was her happy ending.
She loved Daniel though. Would it be dishonouring him if she moved on?
“I think they would be happy,” the thief said as he looked at her. “My wife, and whoever it was that you loved. They would be happy that we’re moving on and trying to be happy as well.”
In a split second, she grabbed his hand. She didn’t know what it was that made her, but something compelled her to take a chance. After all, she didn’t have anything left to lose. Maybe now, she would get another shot at a happy ending.