We Can Love Again

Light at the End of the Tunnel

This was the opposite of a welcome back party. They were all yelling harsh words towards her, with spiteful fires blazing in their eyes as she entered the village. Regina could barely walk on her own two feet; she felt so faint she thought she would give out at any moment. And the worst part of it all was the fact that her two kids were right behind her; they were seeing the side of her she never wanted them to see, the part of her she thought was buried forever.

The entire center square of the village was swarming with people, all clawing their way towards their former queen. Regina was pushing them away from her with what little strength she had- it was like they had entered a war zone.

Alan kept shoving her forward. They were slowly advancing towards a large storage building. Regina never thought she could experience pain like this- the villagers' obscene words screamed at her with surprising force that cut through her like glass.

"You're nothing but a stupid bitch!"

"I'll kill you with my own bare hands!"

"You don't deserve to be alive!"

Her eyes stung with tears. She would rather have been beaten more by Alan than have to endure all  of this.

And then she saw a familiar face in the sea of angry villagers- the old woman she had just spoken to earlier that day. Their eyes met for only a second, but Regina could see she was extremely apologetic for her.

They finally got to the opening of the warehouse after what seemed like forever. There were still people grabbing her hair and her clothes as the three men delivering them struggled to force the door closed behind them. Regina held onto Roland and Henry tightly as their vision transformed into absolute blackness. The harsh banging on the door crashed through the uncomfortable silence. Alan blindly swiped the nearby windowsill for a box of matches, striking it against the wood of the door and creating a blazing ball of light that he put into a glass lamp.

"Follow me." He said in monotone, starting off down one of the hallways. Regina no longer had the will to say anything in return; she ached to know if Robin was alright or not. Roland kept his hands anchored around her waist, refusing to let go.

They walked in silence until the six of them reached a closed door, the sunlight from a broken window barely reaching them.

Alan turned towards his two men. "Get the two other rooms cleared up. Until then we'll have to put the three of them with him."

They nodded and walked off. Before Regina could ask any questions, Alan opened the door and shoved the three of them through it, giving them all a satisfied look before slamming the door closed.

Regina fell flat on her stomach, tasting dirt in her mouth. In that moment she felt completely broken; she lost the will to move on, just for a second. Then she heard a voice she recognized.

"Regina? Is that you?"

She lifted her head up, disbelief in her eyes. "Robin?"

The room was so dimly lit she could barely see him. But she could recognize her man with arrows any day. Robin wrapped his arms around her as she let out a small cry into his shoulder.

"What happened? What did they do to you?" He asked, his heart sinking when he saw Henry and Roland were dragged into all the mayhem. Regina didn't know what to say. When she didn't answer, Robin tilted her chin up lightly and examined her face. His expression quickly darkened; her perfect olive skin was smudged with dark purple bruises and dried blood.

"I'll kill him." Robin growled, tightening his grip on her, as well as their two children.

"They didn't hurt us daddy," Roland said softly, "Henry promised they wouldn't hurt me."