(A/N a big thank you to spiralnebulaM31 for reading this for me and for being so wonderfully encouraging.)

"Wait, what?!"

Regina didn't need to turn around to know that the thief was giving her an incredulous look. With her back to him she rolled her eyes and busied herself with putting away the ingredients for her sleeping curse. Her mind raced with questions; who was this witch? Had Cora honestly had another daughter and never mentioned it? It was impossible, and even if by some miracle it was true, the witch should be grateful for getting away from Cora, escaping to Oz sounded like a dream come true. But the loudest question in her mind repeated constantly: how was she going to destroy this woman?

She was so lost in thought Regina didn't notice Robin's incessant babbling behind her.

"- I mean you can't be serious, you can't live your life just to end someone else's-"

"That," Regina interrupted, closing her box of ingredients, "is just more proof that you don't know me as well as you think you do." She turned to him, and her dark cold eyes locked onto his blue ones. She had expected to see judgement and loathing, the way everyone looked at the Evil Queen. But no, the way he looked at her was far from that, his eyes were full of understanding and – could it be, caring? No, of course not. No one cared for her. Not anymore.

"I spent the majority of my life living to destroy every person that got in my way." She spat venomously, "Why would now be any different?" She expected him to recoil from her words, but surprising her he stood his ground, his face softening more so than she thought possible. How could one man, an outlaw at that, offer so much emotion through his eyes?

"The Evil Queen may be able to live for destruction, but I know Regina can't," he said, risking a step closer to her. "I may not have known you long, but I have seen the truth in your heart as you risked your life to help our group, as you saved my son's life. You can throw it away as self destruction all you want but I can see that there is more love in your heart than you know what to do with."

Her eyes widened at his words, and for a moment she felt a flicker of rage inside her at his bluntness. But as she stared into his eyes, so blue and so full of hope, she felt as if she were deflating. All thoughts of her sister were gone, all feelings of anger and hatred replaced by curiosity and confusion. Why was he doing this? Why was he saying these things? The way he looked at her made something in her chest contract, though it was different than the constant ache of missing Henry. This felt like a tug on her heart that released warmth into her cheeks, and she had to look away in hopes he wouldn't notice her blushing.

"Your arrogance is getting the best of you, don't fool yourself into believing you know me." Her voice was firm but held none of the bitter undertone it had before. She felt too light, her anger forgotten so much so that she felt she might float away. "Destroying that witch is necessary if she plans on continuing her attacks. I don't plan on being grabbed by another flying monkey in my own castle."

"Speaking of the witch, what exactly happened? I assume you found her, or rather she found you. What came of your sleeping curse?"

"Your WHAT?!" A shrill voice came from the doorway, startling them both. As she looked across the room at her step-daughter and a few of the members of her army, Regina became suddenly aware of how close she and Robin were standing, a mere foot of space between them. When did she get so close to him? She stepped back and cleared her throat, paying no attention to Snow and Charming's bewildered faces in her bedroom doorway.

"It's about time you showed up, the shield's only been down for ages." She turned away from the crowd and grabbed the box of ingredients sitting on her desk, moving to hide it in her closet before returning to her place at her vanity, occupying herself with tidying. Apparently the witch was not an organized person.

"I knew she'd be up to no good," one of the dwarves quipped, though Regina had no idea which one, "lead the queen right to her castle so that she can poison us all!"

"You were supposed to lower the shield and meet us in the courtyard so that we could take on the witch together," Charming stated, stepping in front of his wife. "Would you like to explain how a sleeping curse fits into that plan?"

"Get of your high horse, Charming," Regina snapped back, "I lowered the shield like I said I would. And the sleeping curse is gone, so tell your munchkins to relax."

"Did you think you could just solve the problem yourself?" Charming pushed her, "Put the witch to sleep before anyone else got here? Or did you return to your castle only to become the Evil Queen again?"

At that Regina froze in her tracks, and she felt a flicker of magic at her finger tips begging to be released. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Snow put her hand on Charming's arm to pull him back. As the room fell silent, waiting for her response, she looked up at herself in her vanity's mirror. In this realm, in this room, in these clothes, it was too much, and she couldn't work up enough venom in her voice to prove her point. So she turned her head slightly and said meekly, "Did it ever occur to you that I never stopped being the Evil Queen?"

The crowd didn't move, clearly shocked by Regina's lack of an outburst. Robin shifted uncomfortably beside Regina before he turned to the Charmings and said, "I hate to break up a tender family moment, but where is my son?"

"He's with Little John," Red responded quickly, "I can take you to him." Robin moved towards the young girl, not without looking back at Regina before he left the room, and the rest of the crowd followed suit. Regina finally turned away from her vanity, looking at Snow and Charming. She glanced around the room, not wanting to make eye contact. She was unsure whether or not she wanted to confess the truth behind her plan to sneak into the castle, and anger at being discovered bubbled inside her.

"Regina?" Snow asked hesitantly. The young woman looked like she was holding back her worst fears, which she probably was, but projecting all of her hope. Regina could only imagine what was running through the girl's head. Charming on the other hand looked anything but impressed. "Cut the crap Regina," he started, "why the hell do you need a sleeping -"

"IT WAS FOR ME, ALRIGHT?" Regina screamed. She felt the familiar flare in her chest and heat at her fingertips as she stared Charming into the ground. Both Snow and Charming expressed their surprise, and as realization hit her, Snow exhaled loudly and took a small step forward as a slightly audible "Regina…." fell from her mouth.

"I just - I can't…. I just couldn't live without him." Regina confessed, feeling her chest contracting and tears stinging her eyes. She let her body relax and inhaled deeply. She had gone that whole time without the pain, and as it crashed over her again she felt riddled with guilt. How could she have forgotten about Henry? "I thought it would be easier. That I could just wake up if he ever found me."

Snow quickly closed the distance between them and took Regina's hand. Regina jumped at the sudden contact and met Snow's eyes. "I can't tell you how glad I am that you didn't do it," the younger woman admitted after a moment, her eyes shining at Regina.

"What?" Regina replied, not hiding her confusion. Her mind quickly reeled through everything that she shared with this young woman, all of the pain felt between them, and did not believe what she had heard. By all means, it seemed fair for Regina to experience what she condemned her stepdaughter to all those years ago.

"After everything we've been through," Snow said, "after all the pain we've both suffered, I never wished for you to experience that. The sleeping curse, I mean." She too seemed lost in thought, remembering everything that led up to Regina's infamous poisoned apple. "It's terrible, as terrible as you told me it would be. Nothing but regrets and pain constantly. I wasn't even under the curse long; I can't imagine what it would be like if Henry never-" she cut herself off as Regina's grip on her hands tightened involuntarily. "If he took long to find you," she corrected.

Regina listened in awe. Of course she knew the curse was terrible, that was why she chose it. But it couldn't possibly be worse than the hell she was living through right now. "But why?" she asked, "I did everything I could to destroy you, how could you not want me to suffer as you did?"

Snow's expression softened, looking at her as if Regina should already know the answer. "Because you were already suffering. I may have wished for a lot of terrible things to happen to the Evil Queen, but not to you, Regina."

She barely had time to process what Snow had just said before Charming interrupted their moment, "Snow, the rest of our people should be arriving and someone should really be down there to help them." With a quick nod of understanding Snow squeezed Regina's hands, offered her a subtle smile, and left behind her husband, leaving Regina alone for the first time in weeks.

She stood in place for a few moments, still dazed from what Snow had said. That woman was so infuriatingly forgiving; how years of violence had made her so kind Regina would never know. She took in her room once more and, deciding to remove her travelling gear, made her way to her bed, trying to remember what exactly was out of place in the mess caused by her wicked sister. As she lowered herself onto the bed to remove her boots she noticed something most certainly not hers leaning against the side of her vanity.

A simple yet sturdy quiver half filled with arrows.

That damn thief.