We Can Love Again

New Directions

Rumple didn't want to be pegged as a bad guy. All he wanted was his magic back, nothing else. He didn't know when he recruited Alan that he would end up hurting her, that was all his choice. He didn't want Robin to be angry with him either; the dark one figured he didn't realize that everything was to happen for a reason. Of all things, Rumple was certainly a man of his word.

"What, come to gloat?" Robin muttered, catching the man in the corner of his eye. He had been on the road for almost three weeks- he wasn't in the mood.

"Just came by to see how you were doing," Rumple said simply, noting how tired the man seemed. His shoulders were hunched and his head was aimed down at the dirt ground.

"Remind me why you can't do this yourself again?" Robin asked bluntly, clearly ignoring his question.

"I am forbidden, I couldn't if I tried. Believe me or not, there are higher forces out there than me."

He didn't.

"So you send me on this journey, take my family away, and give me a random piece of paper, expecting me to know what to do with it?"

The dark one gave him an irritable look. "You still haven't figured it out? I thought you would have by now."

Robin rolled his eyes. "And to top it off you're making me sound like a complete idiot. So tell me, how is this supposed to help?"

There was a thin moment of silence between them.

"Try looking harder."

It was an absurd idea; how could one look at a crumpled piece of paper with pencil written words even harder than he already had? But then Robin remembered how she had smiled, blushed, and even laughed at his words as he wrote them down. He remembered the amount of love that soared across their bedroom, all that potential finally letting go as she realized that he would do anything for her...

Robin saw Rumple's expression change- he looked satisfied with himself. Wondering what he was interested in, Robin bent his head down and gave the paper an attempted 'harder look'.

But he didn't need to. The paper was glowing. The words gleamed with a golden hue, giving his face an unnatural shine.

"What's this?" His eyes, once full of fury and hopelessness, now reflected an excited flame, almost like a child's.

Rumple gave him a smug look- if he didn't know any better, Robin would say he even saw the faint start of a smile on the man's face.

"True love is a very powerful thing."

Robin had to stare at the paper for what seemed like an eternity; it didn't seem real at all.

"It'll guide you in the direction you need to go," he instructed him, "no matter what anyone else says, the paper is always right."

It was exactly what he needed- a boost, a sign that he was going to return to his family. The abrupt ending to the conversation between Regina and him had left Robin discouraged; he knew they were okay, but he also knew they needed him there. Regina wanted to tell him something, too. He couldn't help but wonder what it was.

Then, a cocky smile spread on his face as he began putting things into place. He felt stupid for not seeing things so clearly before.

"You need me to do this for you so you can get back to Storybrooke, don't you?"

He said, knowing he was right as soon as he read his expression. "There's someone there, someone you can't get to without this replenished magic- right?"