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Tinkerbell had seen the pain in her friend’s eyes for weeks. No one was blind to it, but they all knew there was nothing they could do. Regina had obtained guardianship of Roland and the baby, who still didn’t have a name. Before she was put back in the asylum, Zelena had suggested naming her after Robin, but that just didn’t feel right. She was trying to put on a brave face, but that pain, it was so clear.
She was supposed to be Regina’s fairy godmother, at least she considered herself an unofficial one. It was up to her to make sure that Regina and Robin got their happy endings. How was this anywhere close to being theirs?
“There is a way,” Nova admitted to her friend one day over drinks. “A fairy that guides soulmates to one another, has the power to reunite them if death departs them.”
“That sounds almost too good to be true, what’s the price?” Tinkerbell asked.
“Your powers. Doing something like this, it would take up just about all the pixie dust a fairy had left. It’s why Blue wouldn’t do it for Snow when she was put under her sleeping curse.”
Tinkerbell reflected on Nova’s words. She had the possibility to reunite soulmates, bring two children’s father back into their lives. It would only cost her the magic that she had fought years for.
Regina had been the one to help her fight for it, she was willing to go to bat with Blue to help her. In the end, it had been Tink’s selfless actions that brought it back. This time, it would be permanent. There would be no pixie dust left in her, no magic. She could no longer help people. However, in doing so, it would be helping the two people that she vowed to do that for the most.
In Storybrooke, there was no need for magic. Life was good, she had everything she could ever want, including a budding romance with August Booth. If she could have a start at a happy ending, why couldn’t Regina?
Regina was sitting in the nursery, gently rocking the baby in her arms. She was a perfect mixture of both of her parents. The blue eyes that she clearly inherited from them both, with wisps of light blonde hair. She had Robin’s nose and the chin that all the Mills women seemed to have. If Henry had been perfect when she adopted him, this baby and Roland were close seconds. She loved them, with all of her heart.
It wasn’t supposed to be the way it was, though. She and Robin had discussed what they were going to do. Regina knew she wasn’t the baby’s mother, but she would raise her like she was her own, just as she would Roland. They were supposed to do it together, their blended family of five. She had been a single parent with Henry for so long, she didn’t expect to do it again with Robin’s children.
Yet there they were. Roland and Henry were asleep in bed, both still getting over the pain. Robin may not have been the latter’s father, but he had still formed a special bond with him. Robin had proved to want to do all to protect the young boy, as if he was his own. They were a family, things were happy.
Snow suddenly walked straight into the nursery. Regina looked up in surprise. “Snow, what are you…”
“There’s something at the mayor’s office. I’ll listen out for the kids, you just go. Someone thinks there was a break in.”
Regina instantly got up and put the baby into her arms, poofing herself to the office. Raising a fireball, little by little she walked to the source of the noise. She gasped at the sight in front of her.
Robin.
He was in the exact same spot he had been when he had been killed, wearing the same outfit. He looked up at Regina, his eyes wide. Slowly, she lowered the fireball, feeling as if she had gotten the wind knocked out of her.
“Robin,” she whispered. “Is this…is this really you?”
“Yes.”
“But Hades…”
“I don’t know what happened. I remember dying, but everything after that…it was dark…”
Regina walked closer to him and slowly touched his face. It was real, it was Robin. Her Robin. She wrapped her arms around his neck, resting her forehead against his own. His lips brushed against her own.
“I never thought I’d see you again, I was so afraid…” She whispered. “I hadn’t felt so vulnerable since Daniel.”
“I know, but clearly, someone is looking out for us.”
They headed back to the house. Snow was in disbelief as she hugged Robin tightly, welcoming him back. Soon, he was able to hold his daughter once again. As they were fussing over her, Regina noticed a letter on the dresser. She picked it up and scanned the neat cursive.
Regina,
Fairies have the sole mission of bringing happiness to the world, to do good. From the moment I met you, I knew I had to do the same for you. I found a way to bring Robin back, but it came at the cost of me losing my magic. I knew you would try to talk me out of it, but the truth is, I’ve realized I don’t need to be a fairy to do good. I used the last of my pixie dust to bring two lost souls back together. I am getting my own happy ending, it’s time for yours.
-Tinkerbell
Regina gasped and brought the letter over to Robin, who looked up from the baby long enough to look it over. He let out a deep breath, wrapping an arm around Regina’s waist.
“I think I have a name for little Peanut now,” he said. “Isabella.” A perfect take on Tinkerbell, the perfect name for his little girl.