Outlaw Queen One Shots

Love Again

**A/N: This one is shorter than usual. Sorry about that. But I just felt that if I’d made it any longer, it would be too drawn out. This one just wanted to be short, lol. Enjoy!

Two years.

It had been two years since his death. Some days, her heart still stung with the pain of loss. Others, it was easier to deal with.

But it had been two years.

And now, here she was. Standing in the street in the middle of January, the cold air biting at her face, the wind ripping through her hair as its fingers grabbed at her jacket.

She wanted to get in out of the cold. But she wasn’t sure that she could.

She stood just outside the restaurant, tapping the toe of her high-heeled boots against the sidewalk, mind spinning faster than the wind.

She wanted to go back in and make things right, but she couldn’t get herself to move. She could barely even fathom what had just happened.

Had it really happened?

Or was it just imaginary?

Judging from her sweaty palms, the butterflies taking over her stomach, and the way the world seemed to tilt, it was real.

She leaned against a lamp post as two words filled her mind. Two words that were spoken two years ago just before the cancer took him, took her Daniel from her.

Love again.

He wanted her to move on, wanted her to be happy. Wanted her to find someone to love and cherish her the way he had. And she had. Or she thought she had, but she may have just screwed that up, just like every other relationship she’d had since Daniel’s death.

They’d been together for nine months. The longest of any of her relationships post-Daniel. That was her life now: Daniel and Post-Daniel.

He’d shown her more love and care than any man ever had, surpassing even Daniel.

No one had ever managed that.

It was their nine month anniversary tonight. He had taken her out to eat, treated her to her favorite restaurant like any gentleman would, surprised her with a bouquet of bright red roses. And then he had…

He had…

He had said those three words that had scared Regina for the longest time. I love you.

But what scared her more than that was that she thought she might love him, too. There was just one thing holding her back.

Daniel.

But he wanted this for her. He had told her to be happy, to find someone else.

Love again.

And that’s what she was doing, wasn’t it? Honoring his wishes? She had found someone who had made her happy, who filled her with light and joy and… Love. And he loved her, too. For once in her life, she finally knew exactly what she wanted.

And that was the man she left sitting at their table in the restaurant.

She took a deep breath, closed her eyes.

“Thank you, Daniel, for watching over me. But I’ve found someone to take over,” she whispered.

She turned and strode back into the restaurant, returning to their table. She was surprised to see him still standing there. She’d assumed he’d have left, or sat back down at the least.

She walked up to him, stopping barely a foot away from him. She took his hands, pursed her lips for a moment.

“I’m sorry I left like that. That was rude of me, and I hope you can forgive me,” she said genuinely.

“Of course I can, Regina! I l—,” he stopped short, afraid to scared her off again.

But instead she smiled.

“Go on. Finish your sentence.”

He hesitated.

“I love you…”

“Good, because I love you, too, Robin Locksley.”

She pulled him into a searing kiss, gripping the collar of his jacket as his arms wrapped around her waist to hold her close.

Love again.

She wasn’t holding back.

She was taking that advice to heart.

She was loving again.