(no subject)

She hadn't meant to be gone long, hadn't even kept track of time, really, once she found the heart. But it was Henry's gentle prompting that she'd been gone too long for just getting food now, and Robin would worry. Regina countered that he needed to get to his father's, which was where he'd been going when Henry intercepted her, and now she was making her way back to the apartment, food in one hand, box in the other.

The box with the heart. A heart she'd taken long before anyone bothered to see any good in her. Taken long before she cared. There was a voice that sounded like her mother, repeating over and over again.

You've been too bad for too long.

She had the proof that she was a villain in her hands, and there was nothing to be done about it. No sugar coating the facts.

Opening the apartment door, Regina stepped inside and put the food down before holding the box tightly, almost protectively against her body. And she had no idea what to tell Robin that would make it okay that she had this heart and a hundred others back home. Leaning against the wall, she took a deep breath and tried to prepare herself, though for what, she wasn't sure.

How much could he learn about her past and still love her? That was the question she was afraid of.