At long last, we are here. This is it folks the last chapter. Thanks for reading and reviewing and following and putting this fic on your faves! I enjoyed it immensely so I hope you have too.

For the last time, ENJOY! 💕💕💕

Chapter Fifteen

She is still pissed at him. He sees it in the way her shoulders square when she turns her back, and that stubborn set of her jaw when he tells them that he's ready to go, having made sure that Roland is safely tucked away in his bedrooms, his best men taking turns in guarding his door. He sees the way her mouth quirks to the side and sees the way she rolls her eyes as though he's greatly inconvenienced them. He knows it's an act, she had been right there with him by Roland's bedroom door, placing a protective spell on it (along with the inside and all of the windows), to only allow John, Tuck, and Allan to come inside.

She'd said that she'd have gone and given the Princess Snow the same permission, but the pregnant monarch had insisted to go along, to her increased ire.

She would never allow anyone to say it to her face, and she would never allow herself to believe it, but she cares, she cares so much, his Regina, and it makes him only love her more. But even more, it makes him worry about her, because he is not entirely sure what she would sacrifice just for these people, or for him (though he knows it, her life, that's what, because he knows she still blames herself for whatever fresh hell her sister is about to put them through).

He watches her now, as she walks to Rumple's castle, sashaying inside like she owns the place, and it does not escape him that she's done this before—sashay here and talk to the Dark One, after all, she had been once his student, and she seems to know the place like the back of her hand.

What she does not know, however, are the traps in this stupid castle, designed for intruders—which she had never been in this place. He is under the impression that she had an open invitation to come barging in, despite the Dark one himself. So when Robin sees his girlfriend? Partner? Er—well, Regina, when he sees Regina reach out to open the door that no doubt will lead her to the deeper part of the castle, as well take out her hand and blow her into smithereens without thinking about it, he acts fast. He takes his bow and pulls the string back faster than he ever has, and the arrow wheezes past her shoulder, right to the door, which blows and explodes into flames.

She turns to him, her capes flowing about her, and she's every bit the Queen that she is, down to the displeased frown on her lips and the very, very angry set of her brows.

"That arrow almost took off my head," she tells him in a tone that merits no room for doubt: she's not entirely happy about this, if at all. And he will get it later.

He fights her with the calm he barely feels, only lets sarcasm flow from his tongue in small, very small, drops. "And that door, almost took of your arm," he tells her, and your whole body, he thinks but doesn't say. Instead, he says, "Where I come from, a simple thank you would suffice."

She harrumphs, and turns her icy glare to him ten fold. "Where you come from, people bathe in the rivers and use pinecone for money," she snaps, and he would've laughed out loud at the statement. Damn, she's good. But he knows it would only irritate her further. So he only looks at her, unbothered by the blatant display of annoyance in her face.

Well.

It takes a while, but they do find the dark one. He's as helpful as ever, of course, and spins them into madness themselves, when instead of answering, he gives them another riddle to solve. Of course, no matter how much he hates to admit it, his traveling companions do have brains, as they manage to come to the conclusion that it's Glinda the good the imp is talking about, and that she's somewhere in the woods—god knows how that happened.

They ruminate, all of them, and think of who should go to the edge of the Dark Forest. He volunteers, naturally, he's the best tracker in this bunch of ragtags and misfits, anyway, but Regina vetoes that almost as quickly as he springs it.

She's already decided that she's going along, damn it to hell, of course, and the princess and the prince have both decided that this is to be their mission, because it's their people and their kid. Regina tells them, almost dismissively, that a large party travelling and traversing down the Edge of the Dark Forest does not at all seem inconspicuous, and they have all the members they need for this mini search party.

She doesn't even let him say anything, as only a second later, she's directing Snow and David to go one way, and the rest of the group another way. She's determined and nonplussed by the indignation that comes from him about this ridiculous idea.

Why does she think that she's safe without numbers?

Better conspicuous than risk her getting hurt because as much as he respects the prince and the princess, they'd be pretty much useless at helping and saving Regina if she needs it. She doesn't allow him to argue though, and only pulls him to the side while the others are busy to place a kiss against his lips. It's long, passionate, and almost bruising in its intensity, but it's sweet and longing too, and he holds on to her, pulls her closer into his embrace, tighter, even tighter when she snakes her arms around his neck.

"I love you, Robin," she murmurs against his lips, and it's almost a shock to him everytime he hears her say it. It fills him to the brim with love for her, and gives him hope.

"You come back to me, Regina," he tells her without uncertainty. "You come back to me and our son.." She stiffens in his arms, and he almost curses himself for saying it aloud, that he's been thinking of Roland as theirs, and is hoping that once he meets her Henry, he'd be given a chance to love him as much as a father would, that Regina would allow him.

He is about to take it back, when she smiles—a dazzling one that would and could almost blind him, if only it doesn't seem like such a good sign.

"I'll come back to you and Roland, Robin," she promises. "After all, I promised our son I will."

He smiles at her then, mirrors the same blinding smile she has on her lips, and it's a moment—that one moment he knows he will look back to when times get rough and he needs something to pull him through. He tucks it in his memories and files it away for later, and then he's kissing her once more and pulling her close, before sliding his hands from her shoulder to her hands, holding on tight and squeezing. He kisses her forehead and wishes her goodluck one more time, before they part.

…

Regina chews on her lips as she watches Snow and David talk.

It's a hard decision, she knows, knows it all too well, because she has been her before, and though she might have hated them in the past, had been her mortal enemy for so long, she still doesn't wish this on them…especially not now.

She watches Snow's eyes fill with tears as she discusses their next plan of action with Charming. Dread fills her, the same way it has when the two of them came out of the damn door and frantically explained to her that they needed Emma, the savior.

Of course, they do, that's what she is for, after all, but there is one hitch to that plan, and that Emma is in the Land without Magic with Henry, and how are they going to make it there?

The solution had been simple for the uncharmings, but the process isn't so for Regina.

Naturally, the only way is the dark curse.

And yes, it's simple. One plus one equals two kinda simple, really. The thing is they need to sacrifice someone, someone they love the most to enact the curse, which puts her out of the running, because to Snow, the one she loves most is Henry, and she is not about to correct her if it means not harming Robin and Roland. In some way, anyway, it's the truth. As much as she loves Robin, she loves Henry in a different way, and Roland…well, she loves Roland equally, but she's not about to sacrifice him like some lamb. She's going to put her foot down on that.

So, it had been the two of them, thing 1 and thing 2, who will be casting the curse. Though, neither of them really could decide on who will.

In the end, it is Snow who will cast the curse, and Charming will sacrifice himself. It's noble of him, truly, it is, and Regina cannot find it in herself to say anything—not even a scathing comment, which she never has a short supply of when it comes to those two.

She almost closes her eyes when she reaches for Charming's heart and pulls it out his chest. He falls to the floor with a thud, and in the next second, Snow is holding him against her chest, causing a tear to drop from her eyelid.

It's a whirlwind after that, Zelena comes swooping in, looking ridiculous in her boomstick and throws something inside the cauldron, and then Snow has this brilliant idea of splitting her heart to save Charming, which works—surprisingly, and Regina feels herself reeling, like she's not sure what's next, and it's true she doesn't.

So she does the one thing she knows best: she runs, runs into the arms of the very same man who can make it all better.

She finds him in Roland's quarters, rocking their son back and forth, in what seems to be a soothing manner. The boy is looking at his father with wide eyes, and they're wet with tears, as Robin tries to calm him.

"Robin? Roland?" she says in a whisper, almost afraid of breaking the moment, but she needs them, now more than ever. They both look up at her, and then Roland is squirming, wanting to be put down. When Robin puts him down, Roland runs straight to her, and she catches him, lifting him in her arms and cuddling.

"Majesty, I'm scared," he tells her, and she knows that, of course, she is too.

"I know baby," she tells him as she rocks him bck and forth. Robin stands and walks over to them. He pulls her close and drops kisses against her hair.

It seems like he knows exactly what she needs right now, and that's him. Right now, all she needs is him.

"We'll be okay," he tells her as he leads them to the bed. Once seated, he pulls his family close, and Regina cuddles further into him, wanting to wrap herself around the safety he offers. "I love you, okay?"

She nods and looks up at him as she cards her fingers through Roland's curls. "I love you too," she murmurs as he drops a kiss against her lips.

They're still kissing, holding on to their son, when the green smoke engulfed them.

Regina has her eyes closed, praying, hoping that no matter what, nothing goes wrong.

When she opens her eyes, she's alone in bed. And when she looks around, surprise and dread fills her.

She is back in Storybrooke, only she doesn't remember how.

Fin