The one she thought was lost

Chapter 30: Moving on

It had been a week since she'd woken up and Regina had no idea what to do with herself. Robin was gone and she had no idea where he was. She supposed she she could find him through her mirror, but something kept her from doing it. He probably didn't want her to find him anyway, he left for a reason and that reason was her.
Regina sighed and closed her eyes. She had to stop thinking about the man, it was driving her crazy.
"Damn you, Robin", she whispered to herself.
She opened her eyes again and stood up, walking towards her closet. She chose one of her darker dresses and used her magic to change herself.
She made her way to her vanity and sat down, looking at her reflection.
Though she loved every second she'd spend with her daughter the last few days, Regina was worried about Daniella. She had litterally spent every waking moment by her side and even though she loved it, it wasn't like her. Daniella had always been a little distant, even without realising it. A result of the life she had lived, Regina assumed. She would have to have a little talk with Daniella about that.
Suddenly someone knocked on her door and Regina sighed before turning towards it.
"Come in", she yelled and smiled at the sight of her daughter. She walked towards Daniella and wrapped her in a hug.
"You okay?", she asked carefully.
Daniella raised her head, looking at her mother with a guarded look in her eyes, one that Regina hated seeing. She knew her dauther had been through a lot, though she didn't know the extent of Daniella's suffering and it killed her to know that she hadn't been able to shield her little girl from all of it.
"I... I don't know", Daniella admitted quietly. She avoided her mother's concerned gaze, looking at the ground instead. "I just...ever since I was little, I've always been alone, nobody cared about me. I didn't have many friends, didn't get along with a lot of kids at the orphanage.  And once I got out of there, the lonelyness just got worse, I was alone all the time and Agatha didn't care about me either. After I ran away there, things got a little better. I didn't live in fear and I could do what I wanted to do, but I was still lonely. I avoided people as much as possible, didn't talk anyone unless I needed to, the only times I did talk to people was when I  got into the towns because I needed food or shelter."
Regina looked at her daughter with a pained look, wishing that she could make Daniella's pain go away, but knowing she couldn't.
"Things got better after Robin found me." Regina's heart squeezed painfully at the mention of the archer's name, but kept her mask on her face, not wanting to show her pain.
"I finally had something that resembled a home, where I felt I could be happy. And I knew he cared about me, that most of the Merry Men cared about me, so I figured I'd just go with it. And I loved every second I spent at the camp, I treasure every memory I have with Roland, but somehow it felt like it wasn't enough. I had this feeling I was missing something", Daniella said quietly.
Regina looked at her daughter. The love she felt for the girl overwhelming her for a moment and she pulled Daniella in a hug once again.
Ever since her mother had told her her little girl had died, there had always been a little piece missing, an emptiness in her heart that even Henry coudln't fill. And when she found out Daniella was her daughter and that she was alive, that emptiness had been filled once again. And even though her son wasn't with her, she was glad her daughter was.
"Whatever happens, you're never going to lose me. I'd rather die than getting seperated again", she whispered in Daniella's ear.

"Oh, so touching."
Regina's eyes snapped towards the voice and her body tensed as she realised Zelena had come to pay her a visit. She squeezed Daniella tighter for a second before whispering: "Go, use your magic and get out of here."
When Daniella stayed where she was, she cursed her daughter's stubborness and whispered a forcefull 'now' in her ear.

Daniella hesitated for a second before listening to her mother. She waved her hand and concentrated on Granny.
Her mother's eyes were the last thing she saw before the purple smoke took her away.

Regina let out a small sigh of relief when her daughter finally listened to her and got out of the room. 'At least she's safe', she thought and she turned around again to face her sister, a sneer forming on her face as she saw Zelena's gleeful grin.
"Well, this is an unpleasant surprise", Regina said calmly, though her blood was boiling. The witch just couldn't seem to leave her alone.
"Just paying my sister and my niece a little visit, it's a pity though that Daniella had to go", Zelena said back," I would have loved to spent some time with her. See how she is after I kidnapped her."
Regina's body tensed up at the dangerous glint in her sister's eyes, not trusting her in the slightest.
"What do you want, Zelena?", she sneered, "You got nothing better to do then annoy people? Or do you need some company because you are lonely? Because, come on, who would want to spent time with you?"
Regina knew it wasn't smart to anger Zelena, but she just couldn't help it. She concentrated on her magic as she saw Zelena's grin morf into a scowl and couldn't help but feel a little satisfied at being able to draw a reaction out of her.
The scowl didn't last long, however and Zelena was grinning at her a second later.

"How's the Outlaw", Zelena asked her, smiling wider when she saw Regina tense up again,"I heard he's living in the woods now, I thought you liked having him here?"
Zelena tangled her head to the side, studying Regina carefully. She wasn't stupid, she knew Regina had strong magic, especially when it came to protecting the ones she cared about. She was just testing the waters, see how far she could go before her sister snapped and the Evil Queen came out to play.
She was disappointed however when Regina schooled her features and didn't react.

Her blood was boiling and it took everything she had not to attack her poor excuse of a sister. She wasn't stupid, she knew her sister was trying to lure her out, trying to get a reaction out of her and she wasn't planning on giving her sister that satisfaction.

"It's a pity that you don't want him, he's one handsome man. I imagine he's one hell of a kisser, but you already know that, don't you", Zelena asked teasingly," Perhaps you would like to see what he's been up to the last few days. Mayble he's met someone."
Regina got the sinking feeling Zelena knew something she didn't and that she wouldn't like it, but before she had the chance to ask about it, Zelena had waved her hand and had taken them to Robin't cabin.

Robin didn't know how he'd been able to survive these last few days. Staying away from Regina had been dificult when he was at the castle and he'd hoped it would be a little easier when he left. Except, it wasn't. Though there weren't any constant reminders of Regina, he kept seeing her face everytime he closed his eyes.
'Damn it, Regina', he yelled at her,' get out of my head!'
No matter how much he kept repeating those words, his mind wouldn't listen. He kept seeing her and everytime he did, his heart squeezed painfully in his chest.
Though spending time with Roland helped. His little boy had always been able to cheer him up when he needed it and this time it was no different. Except it was, Roland cared about Regina too and missed her.
He kept asked about her and when they were going to see her again, Robin had lied everytime he did. Because he couldn't break his son's heart.
And somewhere in his heart, Robin had hoped that Regina would wake up and come for him.
But it had been a week and she didn't come. The hope he had faded away day after day until he stopped hoping all together. Then he began to worry. What if she wasn't awake yet? That would explain why she didn't come, right?
'Wake up, you idiot! She doesn't want to see you! She made that perfectly clear', a voice in his head told him. And he listened to that voice. He kept pushing away his thoughts about her and tried moving on with his life, like the way it was before he met her. And he supposed Linda helped with that.
They'd met a few days after he had moved to the cabin with Roland. She had appoached him and had started talking to him.  She'd made him smile and more importantly, she made Roland smile. Though Regina was still constantly on his mind, Linda's friendship helped a little bit.
Today had been okay. Linda had come over for a few hours and had kept Roland occupied while he went to do their laundry in the river a few miles further. When he got back Roland was in bed, taking a nap and Linda was cooking lunch.
"Hey", Robin greeted her," I hope watching Roland wasn't too much trouble?" He put down the stack of clothes and grabbed a few plates, putting on the table.
Linda smiled and shook her head. "No, Roland was a perfectly good boy and has good manners,  you've raised him well", she complemented and Robin smile sadly to himself, remembering all the time Regina corrected Roland when he ate with his hands or spoke with his mouth full. He hadn't been the only one to teach him those manners, but Linda didn't need to know that.
"Thank you", he replied, forcing his voice to sound normal, but it sounded fake even to his own ears. Linda didn't seem to notice though, and that was good.
She put the lid on the pan and turned around smiling at him. "How are you doing?", she asked him while taking a step closer to him.
He had told her about Regina, though without mentioning her name, and she had decided she needed to help him through it. Though he knew that there was no way to get over Regina, the woman had left an impression on his heart and he was unable to forget her, even if he wanted to. So he lied.
"I'm fine." It didn't work though and Linda gave him a pointed look, but he was used to Regina's glares, so this was nothing.
"Really, I am", he told her, forcing out a smile. Linda seemed to decide to let it go and Robin nearly let out a sigh of relief.
"Well", she started as she came closer,"just so you know, that woman was stupid to reject you. You are an amazing man, Robin Hood."
She was standing right in front of him now, and he let her do it. What did he have to loose? Regina had surely already forgotten about him, so why not take this chance?
Linda tilted her face, pulled him in for a kiss and all Robin could think about was how wrong it felt. But he let her do it, not noticing the two women who were watching outside.
One with a victorious glint in her eyes and a full grin on her face. The other had tears in her eyes, threatening to fall as she fought the pain that was starting to consume her, wishing she had taken her chance.