Cursed Hearts

Run

His body awoke with a start, a world of complete darkness around him. Although they all had warm blankets preventing the cold from disturbing their sleep, the brutal image of his wife lying motionless in his arms sent terrifying shocks through his system. He glanced up at the pitch blackness around him; it was all around him, not an end in sight. The sound of his exasperated breath was only making things worse- spending another second alone with his thoughts seemed absolutely detrimental. So Robin removed the blankets and braved the cold, careful not to wake Caroline or Zelena. He noted how unsettled the woman seemed in her sleep.

Quietly making his way through the freezing forest, he followed the faint sound of the stream they had set up camp close to. Once he got there, Robin cupped his hands and took in the frigid water- it immediately helped him forget about all the terrible things he was feeling inside.

Through the silence abruptly came a faint and familiar voice, one that startled the man nearly to death. He instantly detected that it was Emma's voice, but he had no idea where it was coming from. Maybe he was going mad.

"Robin, look down!" He heard the voice say. Doing so, he was shocked to see the image of his friend peering up at him from the water. He hoped their voices didn't carry over to the Wicked Witch.

"Oh my god- the looking glass?" He whispered down to her rippling reflection.

"Yeah- I've been trying to contact you all night, wasn't sure if you'd be around. You're alone, right?"

He nodded, though she could barely see him.

"Good. There's something really important you need to know about Zelena," she began, sounding urgent.

"Were you able to find Regina? Is she alright?"

"We're still working on finding a spell to bring her back," Emma sighed, "but her vitals are okay. Roland is okay too, a little shaken up- I really have to tell you about Zelena."

He prepared himself for the worst, the lump in his throat still annoyingly present. "What is it?"

Emma took a deep breath. "She's Regina's half sister. And she has this... deep rooted vengeance towards her. She wants to go back in time and make sure that Regina never exists- that means Caroline too."

All the air seemed to vanish from around him. Just when he thought things were already well past dismal, they got worse. They always had to get worse. His daughter's life was threatened in the hands of the Ice Queen, and the alternative was her never have living at all. Robin decided right then- enough was enough. He was taking his family back.

"Thank you for telling me, Emma, I really should be going now. I'm getting my daughter away from this crazy woman as fast as possible."

"She has very powerful magic, please be careful- don't do anything rash."

"Tell my son that I'm thinking about him every day I'm trapped here- thanks for taking care of him."

He then took off back towards their camp, remaining quiet as he did so. When he once again saw Zelena sleeping just feet away from his child, anger threatened to boil over within him. It all made perfect sense; the woman dug her claws into Caroline, gaining her friendship so she could easily steal her magic and erase her from history. The thought was absolutely sickening- she had no soul.

His days as a thief gave him the instinct to be utterly silent as he moved closer to the woman, leaning in ever so slowly as her emerald necklace remained the center of his view. Robin honestly had no clue if his vapid idea would work as he thought it would, but in that moment the man had absolutely no room to be hesitant. His hand lunged towards the necklace; it snapped off her neck and was clutched firmly in his palm.

Zelena instantly awoke, her eyes widening in sudden despair when she saw the necklace. He then knew that he was right.

She rose to a stand with a jolt of adrenaline, fury now replacing the fear. "Robin! What the hell is wrong with you?"

Caroline was now awake, sitting up in complete confusion.

"You're powerless, aren't you?" Robin taunted through gritted teeth, "now you're back to nothing. I'm taking back the control here, something I should've done two days ago."

"Robin, you really don't want to do this-"

"Would you care to tell my daughter the truth, or should I?"

"What's going on?" The girl asked fearfully, attempting to shake the sleep from her eyes. She had never seen her father so angry.

"Oh come on Zelena, don't be shy. If you we are so utterly willing to hand her over to another witch and forget about her, breaking her heart right now shouldn't be a problem."

Caroline couldn't find it within her to move, even to draw breath. Her eyes met Zelena's, stark blue, seeing a slur of emotions trapped within them. "What is he saying?"

The man was right, it should have been easy to tell her everything right there, then formulate a plan to get the girl back in her clutches, along with her magic. But she couldn't bear to see the loss of innocence that came with betrayal. Sadly, that part was already in motion.

"Getting my happiness means you no longer exist." Zelena finally spoke, accepting that all was lost, "your mother is my little sister. I want the life she had, so I don't have to spend every waking moment despising there fact that I got nothing in life."

The air only became colder between them.

"She... put your mother under a spell, before we came here. Her soul is trapped somewhere far away."

That's when Caroline found the energy to scramble to her feet; she couldn't bear to look at that awful woman for another second as her mind struggled to process what had just been said.

"Where did you take her?" She asked, her voice fragile yet biting.

"I-I don't know," she replied slowly, "it's somewhere personalized to her inner fears. She's still alive, though-"

"How could you be such a mean person?!" She demanded, the tears beginning to form, "I thought you were my friend!"

Zelena struggled to find words. Nothing she could say would make a difference. "I am your friend- I meant everything I said back in Storybrooke."

"A good person wouldn't want to steal someone's life and make it theirs." Caroline countered, turning to give her dad a pleading look. She wanted to be anywhere but there. "Having a new life won't even make you happy."

Robin put his hands protectively on her shoulders, still gripping the necklace tight. "We're going to find a way back home- don't even think about following us."

The two of them started walking away from Zelena, leaving her desperate and fuming. "How the hell do you plan on doing that?" She called after them, "you need my magic!"

Robin turned around and gave her a smug look. "You're not the only one with magic. Enjoy your Ice Queen."

She watched them quickly disappear into the blackness of the night, the cold accelerating in their absence.

"She's looking for Caroline!" Zelena shouted towards the nothingness, "she isn't safe!"

Silence was her only response.