As promissed, here we have a little sneak peek of Red's next chapter. The chapter itself is already quite long, 22 pages so far, but I still have a big chunk to write. I have to admit it's been really difficult to write this chapter, it's been choppy and I've had my fair share of ups and downs with this text. But hopefully it will be out next month. For now, enjoy a little bit of feels from our favorite couple .
“I’m sick of this Regina.” he whispered, his voice tight as the pain wore off, “Tell me what is going on.” His hand moved up her arm as he raised his face to look at her. There were still a few dark spots dancing in his vision. Nevertheless his hand continued to move and reached her chest, “Regina-”
Hollow
There was nothing there.
Robin frowned as he pressed his hand a little harder on the spot where her heart was supposed to be. It was not. He knew that, he could feel it in his bones, he could feel it’s absence. Regina had taught him only the day before how to remove a heart, how to feel for it, how to tap into the magic he didn’t even know he had within to traverse skin and bone to reach for the organ.
It was not there.
“Regina, where is your heart?”
“I-” she tried.
Robin felt a cold rush run up spine.
In her rage to kill Snow White, had she…?
He couldn’t even think of it…
Had she traded away her heart?
“What have you done?” His other hand found the side of her face. “Please tell me you did not deal away your heart in order to kill Snow White.” His annoyance with her, completely forgotten.
“Robin, I-”
The uncertainty in her eyes spoke louder than words. Without even thinking he kneeled down to pick up his own heart that lay on the floor. When his fingers made contact with the organ, Robin felt an intense energy and a sudden warmth in his entire being. He breathed in and out and felt the knot on his chest unclench, soften even. The energy that emanated from the heart was great and Robin had to wonder…
Maybe it is strong for the two of them…
He stood like a bolt of lightning and asked, “Can we use mine for the both of us?”
He knew it was crazy and impossible to split a heart in two. It was a silly idea, he expected her to laugh at his lack of magical knowledge or roll her eyes in annoyance. However, Robin was not expecting for her to break down in tears and collapse against him. The awkward angle and the fact that he was still holding his heart in his hand only allowed him to soften their descent to the ground. Robin felt his heart throb in his hand as she snaked her arms around his neck and wept, both of them now sitting on the cold, marble floor.
He waited a beat before he spoke, trying to reassure her, “Regina-” he whispered in her ear, “Don’t worry, we will get it back.” His hand caressed her head gently as she wept.
It took her a minute to stop shaking, as her crying subsided and she finally drew back to look at him. She sat on her heels and Robin waited for her to speak or explain what had happened, but she didn’t say anything.
Instead, Regina looked down at her lap and created a cloud of grey smoke there with her magic. When it dissipated, Robin found himself staring at a twin box of the one that had housed his heart. He looked back at her, holding his own heart in his hand, as he waited for her next move.
She opened the box and Robin sighed in relief upon seeing her darkened heart inside it. Relief was quickly substituted by confusion as he looked back at his own heart and realised that the golden threads on her heart mirrored his own.
The markings completed each other, starting in one heart and finishing in the other when placed beside each other. He felt the energy pulsating from his heart get more intense the closer it got to her heart.
“This is your heart.”
“It is.”
“I-” he stammed, “It has been quite a long time since I’ve seen my heart last.” he swallowed, “But I do recall, it did not have these markings-” he ran a finger down a thread of gold in his own heart and then followed its path until it continued on Regina’s heart.
“That is true-” she swallowed dryly.
“And I am guessing it has something to do with my tattoo-”
“It does-”
Robin could tell it was a difficult subject for her to talk about so he lifted her gaze by placing two fingers under her chin.
“Regina, it’s just me.” he caressed her cheek, “You don’t have to be afraid.”
“I met you years ago-” she blurted out and Robin could not help but feel surprised at that information.
“I doubt I would ever forget meeting you,” he smiled back at her.
“We didn’t exactly meet-” Regina started again, “I saw you, years ago. I was already Queen but I was miserable. I was the Queen of nothing, I felt so trapped and alone, I was still mourning Daniel’s death. One night I couldn’t bear it any longer, I was utterly depressed and lonely, and although I had started learning how to wield magic, it did very little to lift my spirits.”
Robin remembered the memories she had shown him and realised how difficult it was for her to speak of that time. He took her free hand in his, encouraging her to continue.
“I threw myself off my balcony that night. I wanted to die. I wanted it to end.” he squeezed her hand reassuring her. “But I was saved by the most unlikely of creatures-” she let out a huff of amusement. “A fairy.”
“A fairy? But you hate fairies with a passion!” Robin interjected.
“She was a different sort of fairy. A fairy who did not abide by Blue's every order. She actually saved me in spite of Blue’s orders, if it were up to that blue bug I would have been long dead. The fairy, Tinkerbell, wanted to help me, she thought I still had the chance of being happy. She was quite sly, that Tinkerbell. She stole some fairy dust from Blue’s stores and managed to enchant it in order to guide me to my new happiness.”
“And what did you find?” Robin was hanging on her every word.
“A simple tavern, in a simple village. The magic dust took me there and showed me my soulmate.” Robin grasped her hand tighter, feeling a knot form inside his chest. “He had his back to me, his whole form glowed with green magic. All I had to do was enter the tavern and go to him. But I was too afraid, too hung up in my own depression and anger. I was a coward. I never went inside that bar. I went back to my awful life, out of fear.”
Robin felt his heart thumping in his hand and the cold burning sensation of dread spread across his chest. He was afraid to ask, “So you have a soulmate out there?”
It took her all of three seconds to answer him, but in all that time Robin was sure he would have had a heart attack were his heart inside his chest, where it was supposed to be.
There was someone else.
Gods, he was so stupid.
She was letting him go as nicely as she could muster because she had found her soulmate.
Someone destined to be with her.
His heart was still whole in his hand, but it felt as if it was in pieces.
“I do-” Regina smiled, which Robin found rather cruel of her, “I never saw his face.” She took his left wrist in her hand, her smile growing a little wider, “But I did see his tattoo.”
Robin had to blink twice as he looked down at his own tattoo and then back at her. The smile she wore on her lips could light up a thousand Suns, it captivated him so much his heart skipped a beat in his hand. He opened his mouth to speak but no sound came out, he didn’t know what to say besides one thing he never thought he’d be voicing once again in this lifetime.
I love you
“It was me?” he could hardly get the words out, afraid it might not be true.
Regina’s fingers danced around his wrist, tracing the lines of the tattoo, “Yes.” Her voice was a little croaky.
Robin let out a heavy breath he hadn’t realised he had been holding, relief flooding his chest as he bit his lower lip in expectation. He blindly placed his own heart next to Regina’s heart inside the box, sat on his heels and took both her hands in his, “Soulmates, then?”
Regina mimicked him, raising to her knees while still holding his hands “Have been all along-”
Her words were cut short by Robin’s lips.
Soulmates
Robin was quick to discover that he could not go on another second without kissing her.
Regina
His Regina
His soulmate
It felt as if it had been three years since they last kissed, although it had been mere 24 hours. So much had happened in such a small space of time, their kiss felt familiar, warm, wonderful, as always, but now Robin could physically feel the golden threads of connection that united them.
She sighed against his lips, snaking her arms around his neck and kissing him back. His hands were at the base and center of her back pulling her as close as he could to him, which was a difficult feat since her dress was huge.
Nevertheless Robin had never felt happier in his entire life. He wanted to kiss her forever, he wanted to have her in his arms until the end of his days.
They were soul mates.
Meant for each other.
He loved her.
The notion of having a soulmate at all was still alien to him and yet it made so much sense, their strange likenesses, dark humor, depth. Down deep inside he had known it all along, not the fact per say, but he had felt that their connection was something special, something out of the ordinary. He had known their union was meant to be, a strange force had always pulled him to her, now he knew what it was.
Regina moaned against him as they kissed, her long nails dragging up and down his neck and scalp, sending shivers down his spine. She deepened the kiss as she moved her hips against him in a dance that he knew only too well. Robin was happy to respond with the same intensity, kneading her waist and wishing she wasn’t wearing a hooped dress which limited the reach of his wandering hands.
Robin broke the kiss and started tracing wet open mouthed kisses down the column of her throat. He opened his eyes slightly and looked down at the delicious path ahead that led to her bosom, that dress was indeed very nicely cut-
The ending to season 4 made me almost want to cry the way Riley just figured out her feelings and Danny got mad at her; and for Robin! The way she acts makes me hate her.
