The Evil Queen's daughter.

Chapter 13

She'd done it again. She'd pushed away another child to the point at which they'd never want to speak to her again. She put her hand to her mouth, realising the complications of what she'd done. The queen had watched as Nila and Rose rode off into the distance, now they were just tiny figures in the big landscape. No bigger than a grain of sand.

No matter how much it pained her to admit it, the girl was right. About everything. About Daniel, about Robin, but most importantly about herself. She was her own worst enemy. But how could she make up for what she'd said? Regina thought it best to empathise with the girl, imagining how her younger self would have reacted. She'd most likely have gone to her room and cried, waiting for her fathers' knock at her door. Or her older self would've gone down to the stables: maybe to take a ride up to firefly hill, to admire the view. Or to spend time with Daniel. Damn it, she was thinking about Daniel again.

Regina tried to push her ex to the very back of her mind as she rode into the distance. She already felt guilty enough without bringing her mess of a love life into it.

Unfortunately, the sunset seemed to have beat her to it, and the sky was growing darker by the minute. She wasn't worried about getting lost, no - she knew these woods like the back of her hand. Just past the next bridge was where she'd lost her first tooth. She was seven at the time, and remembered being extremely excited when the tooth fairy had paid her a visit later on that evening. But while she had lost her tooth, she had gained both two silvers and a permanent scar on the right hand of her upper lip. At the time, Regina had thought it made her look strong, as if she could get through anything. Her mother, however, had not not been impressed at all and so the young girl had been punished dearly for her clumsiness.

Her heart ached a little, as she remembered her childhood. While it had not exactly been the best, she remembered feeling safe. Tucked up in her bed at night, while her father read her a bedtime story and her mother would 'cast a spell so the monsters couldn't hurt her.' A smile appeared on her face briefly, before she remembered her reasons for being out here, alone. She had messed up - again.

By the time she arrived at the stables, it was long past sunset and Nila seemed to be gone. Rose was safely tied up in her stall, feasting on some hay the palace guards had left out. Regina sighed before hanging up her saddle. Her shoulders tensed, she could feel that she wasn't alone. It certainly wasn't Nila, as she was used to the girl's presence now. No - this was somebody else. She cleared her throat before conjuring a fireball in her hand; this was Daniel's stable! How dare someone else be here?

She turned around and extinguished the fire when she saw who it was.

"We have to stop meeting like this." He said, raising his eyebrows as he removed his jacket. Regina sighed. "Robin. What are you doing here?"

"Well, my excuse was that I was looking for my daughter." He began.

This time, it was the queen's turn to raise her eyebrows. "So what was the real reason?" She asked. He stepped closer towards her. Regina felt her heartbeat speed up dramatically. "Isn't it obvious?" He asked, "I was looking for you."

Before the queen could say anything, she felt his lips crash against hers. She relaxed into them as the man ran his fingers through her hair, kissing her passionately. Regina had no idea what had caused this; the last time she'd seen the outlaw she'd told him that she didn't have feelings for him. This was obviously a lie, but the queen wasn't going to admit this. Just as he moved his hands down to her waist, she pulled away. Although she wanted to seem as if she despised that kiss, Regina was desperate to feel his lips on hers again.

"What was that?" She asked, still shocked.

"Just wanted to see if you were telling the truth. And by my judgments, I'd say you thoroughly enjoyed that kiss." Regina scoffed, a small smile forming on her face. "Then I'd say you've let your feelings cloud your judgments. I don't have feelings for you." She replied, removing his hand from her waist.

As Regina walked away, she heard his voice behind her "Tinkerbell told me." She froze. "That I'm your soulmate." He continued as the queen turned around slowly. "She showed me the book, told me about that night in the tavern." Regina's breaths became shaky. Robin walked towards her. "And of course I know that although the universe thinks we're meant to be together - it may not always be right." The queen nodded, as if in agreement. She wasn't. She loved him so much. "So just tell me. Don't think, just tell me. Do you feel the same way for me as I do you?" Regina felt the tears forming in her eyes. She wanted to say something, but she could barely bring herself to speak. Her brain was telling her it was a bad idea, that she'd get hurt once again. That no one could ever love her. But her heart, well...

What would Nila tell her to do now? What would Henry tell her to do? She smiled, he'd tell her to go for it - to take a leap of faith. Just as Nila had told her earlier. She'd made up her mind. She wasn't going to stand in front of her happiness any more. She was going to get her happily ever after.

"Yes." She replied, simply. "Yes I do."

* Author's note - I lied. Sorry. Nila and her mother didn't exactly kiss and make up in this chapter.. but Robin and Regina certainly did 😂 Again, thanks for reading and make sure to leave a vote and a comment below! Love you all ❤️ Sarah xx