A Broken Family (1)
A/N: For day two/Tuesday of OQ Prompt Party Week 2018!! Based on prompt 15: "Roland and Robyn meet for the first time"
I'm 100% sure this doesn't fit into canon at all since I haven't watched season 6 or 7, but I came up with my own sort of backstory for Robyn (and Roland too i guess) so I just wrote.
--
Robyn aimed her bow, pulling back slowly. Just as she was ready to shoot, a twig snapped, and the deer she'd been aiming at ran off. Robyn immediately spun around to face where the noise had come from. She found herself pointing her arrow directly at a cloaked figure, probably a man and definitely taller than she was.
"Who are you?!" Robyn demanded.
"...Who are you?" Came the response.
"I asked you first."
"...Lower your bow."
For some reason, Robyn did as she was told. She put the arrow back in her quiver and waited, looking at the man expectantly. The man lowered his hood so she could see his face. He almost looked familiar, but Robyn had no idea why. "I'm Roland Hood, leader of the Merry Men."
Robyn smiled shrewdly. No wonder he looked familiar "Robyn Mills," she held out her hand for a handshake, "daughter of Robin Hood."
Roland's eyes widened. He shook Robyn's hand without really registering what he was even doing. This was his half-sister? The one he knew relatively nothing about? What was she doing in the Enchanted Forest?
"You must be the half-brother I've heard so much about!" Robyn exclaimed. "Oh 'Roland, he was so cute and such a well-behaved boy'. 'He didn't deserve everything he had to go through'. You know she regrets letting you go, don't you?"
Roland just looked at Robyn, clearly confused.
"Regina," Robyn clarified. "Your... almost-mother, if I remember correctly."
Roland bit the inside of his cheek, trying to keep his face emotionless. "Regina? Haven't heard that name in years."
Robyn stepped closer to him. "You're lying."
"No."
"Yes. I know lying, Roland. I was raised by half of Storybrooke. I know about a lot of things; archery, magic, true love, sword fighting, andlying . Also math. In fact, I'm probably smarter than you are. Tell me, how do you find the derivative of x-squared?" Robyn had begun slowly circling around Roland now, simply observing his reactions to her words. Roland just looked at her.
"It's 2x. Not gonna tell you how I got that, though. Anyways, when was the last time you heard from Regina? Because clearly you have heard from her. ...I haven't heard from her in a while myself."
"Something tells me you regret that decision."
Robyn stopped walking.
"I think you probably ran away from her, or just from Storybrooke, and that's why you're here. But you regret it, when it comes to Regina. And now you feel like there's a rift between you, so you don't bother trying to go back." When Robyn didn't respond, Roland knew he was at least mostly right. "I do know some things."
Robyn mulled over what to say next for several seconds before finally responding with, "Fine."
Roland changed his stance just a bit, but it was enough for Robyn to notice. He no longer looked as if he was challenging her, but rather, as if he had accepted her and might just be willing to help. "The last time I saw Regina was in Storybrooke, before she sent me back here with the Merry Men. However, I have had several run-ins with the Queen."
Robyn raised an eyebrow. "'The Queen'?"
"Regina's dark side. Except, she's not fully dark anymore. She rules over the civilized parts of the Enchanted Forest now, but not here in Sherwood. There's no ruler here; just the trees and my Merry Men and I. Usually."
"How come Regina never told me she had another half living here?"
Roland pursed his lips. He knew exactly why, but he wasn't sure Robyn was ready for the information. "I... don't know."
"You do!"
Robyn and Roland seemed to have gone back to challenging each other now, not daring to look away, seeing who would break first.
It felt like several minute before Roland finally gave in. "She doesn't rule alone."
"So, what, she's got some prince running around to all the villages for her?"
Roland sighed. "Not quite. She's got a husband, yes, but he's, ah, from a different universe. A parallel universe, if you will."
Robyn still didn't seem to pick up on what Roland meant.
"I'm not sure of the entire story myself, but from what I heard, Regina - the Regina you know - traveled to a parallel universe in search of Emma Swan - the real Emma. She found Emma and was able to bring her back, but she got a little more than she'd bargained for. She found... someone else she'd lost, but... the parallel version of him."
Robyn's eyes widened. He couldn't possibly mean--
"Our father."
"Our... dad?" Robyn said, trying to wrap her mind around what Roland was telling her. "There's a version of him that's still alive?"
Roland nodded. "Regina probably didn't want to subject you or him to the pain of meeting because he doesn't know about you, doesn't know that his parallel self had any kids besides me. And he's not the same. He's got the same face, same lion tattoo, but... he's different than the Robin Hood I remember." Roland wasn't sure how to read the emotions on Robyn's face. She might have been sad or upset or confused or all three.
"Where do they live?" she finally asked.
"The Evil Queen's old castle; it was the only palace still standing after the two Dark Curses."
"How far?"
Roland was hesitant to give Robyn the information. "...Not very. I can take you to it if you let me come with you to see them."
"What about your Merry Men?"
"They'll be fine without me for a few days."
"...Okay," Robyn agreed.
--
Robyn almost stopped breathing when she and Roland came into the clearing and the castle came fully into view. She'd seen illustrations of it in the storybook, but it was so much different seeing it in person.
"Here we are," Roland said. He turned to face Robyn. "You know this Robin isn't our dad."
Robyn nodded. "I know. I just... I want to be able to see him, even if it's not really him. I spent my whole life hearing stories of my dad and how wonderful he was, but I've only ever seen a few old photographs and storybook illustrations." Robyn took a deep breath. "Do we knock, or--?"
The doors swung open and a guard marched out of the castle. "Do you have an appointment?" he asked once he was standing across from Roland and Robyn.
"The Queen told me I didn't need to make an appointment to see her," Roland answered. "I'm Roland Hood."
The guard nodded. "Very well. Who is she?" he gestured towards Robyn.
"My, uh... my plus one?"
The guard didn't seem to approve of Roland's answer, but he didn't say anything besides, "Follow me." Robyn glanced over at Roland before following him and the guard into the castle. Her heart was racing, and she felt like it was possible she might faint before she even made it to the Queen and the parallel version of her dad.
"Stay here," the guard told Roland and Robyn once they were in what looked to be a living room. "I will inform the Queen and King that you're here." The guard walked off down a hallway, leaving Roland and Robyn alone.
"You okay?" Roland asked.
Robyn nodded. "I-- I think so. I don't know. I'm kinda scared now. What if this was a bad idea? What if--" Robyn didn't get a chance to finish rambling because a pair of high heels clicking against the floor interrupted her. Both Roland and Robyn looked over to see the Queen striding towards them. The guard hadn't returned with her, but behind her was a man Robyn had only ever seen pictures of. Robyn wanted to run towards him, but she knew he didn't know her.
"Roland!" The Queen smiled. "It's so good to see you again!" she brought Roland into a hug. Robin's look alike did the same. Then, they turned to look at Robyn.
"And who might you be?" Robin of Locksley asked.
Robyn had trouble finding her voice. "I..."
"This is Robyn," Roland introduced. Locksley looked confused, but the Queen knew who she was right away.
"Robyn?"
Robyn could only nod. She was trying hard not to cry, but she was pretty sure she was about to break down.
The Queen stepped towards her. "It's been so long... How... how's your mother?"
Robyn pursed her lips and shrugged. "I... she was fine last time I saw her, but that was a few years ago now. Same with Regina."
"Am I missing something?" Locksley asked.
The Queen took a deep breath and looked back at him. "This is Robyn... daughter of Robin Hood."
Locksley's eyes widened. "He had a daughter?"
The Queen nodded slowly. "We didn't... Robyn... she's got a rough story."
Robyn laughed bitterly. "You can say that again."
Locksley stepped closer to the girl. "How rough?"
"A 'misunderstanding' leading to my conception, and then my dad's soul being obliterated a few months after I was born. My aunt-slash-sort of mom sent my half-brother to live with the Merry Men and I didn't meet him until a day ago. She couldn't emotionally handle raising me herself for the first few years of my life, so she had my birth mom raise me until I was three. After that, I bounced between living with Regina, Mom, Emma and Hook, and the Charmings until I finally left for the Enchanted Forest. Probably not my brightest idea, but," Robyn shrugged, "I'm not exactly known for making good decisions. I guess I've just been running ever since."
"I never knew he had a daughter."
"I know." Robyn sighed and wiped a tear from her cheek. "I think it was probably for the best. No one deserves the burden of how I came into the world."
Locksley shook his head. "No. ...I'm sorry."
"You've got nothing to apologize for."
"I'm sorry I'm not him," Locksley continued. "I'm sorry I just look like him and this is the closest you can get to meeting your dad. You deserve to meet the real him after everything you've been through."
Robyn shrugged. "I put that idea out of my mind. Even seeing you is more than I thought would ever be possible."
Locksley pulled Robyn into a hug, and Robyn allowed herself to relax into it and hold onto him as if he were her real dad. "You're always welcome here if you need somewhere to stay," Locksley told her. "I may not be him, but I'll help you if you ever need anything, I promise. It's the least I can do to honor his memory."
"Thank you," was all Robyn could manage before the tears finally started pouring out of her eyes. There was no stopping them now, so she didn't bother trying.
After Robyn and Locksley finally separated, the Queen spoke. "If you don't have anywhere to be, there's someone I'd like you two to meet."
--
The door creaked open and a little girl who was about four looked up. "Mama! Papa!" she ran over to Locksley and latched her arms around his leg. She glanced at Roland and Riley suspiciously.
"Roland, Robyn, this is Faith. Our daughter." The Queen picked the little girl up. "Faith, this is Roland and Robyn. They're your brother and sister."
Faith tilted her head. "Really?"
Robyn nodded and smiled at the girl. "Really. Hello."
Faith waved shily before burying her head into the Queen's shoulder, her cheeks bright pink.
"I didn't realize you two had a daughter," Roland said. "I would have visited after she was born..."
"We know how hard it is on you to visit us," Locksley said. "We didn't want you to feel like you had to visit because of Faith."
Roland looked sad, for a moment, but covered it up quickly. "Now I've got like four years of birthday presents to make up! I'm going to have to find a village with a gift store." He looked at Robyn. "Do you know how hard that is?"
Robyn smiled - she couldn't stop herself. "You might have to go to Camelot. Or even Arendelle."
"I guess so. ...Do you want to come with me?"
Robyn was caught off guard by the question. "What?"
"Do you want to travel with me and the Merry Men? Despite what the name implies, they're not actually all men."
"Sure." Robyn wasn't exactly sure why she agreed, but she suspected it had to do with the fact that she was tired of feeling so alone. She had a sort of family now, and it felt different than what she'd had in Storybrooke. More permanent. But there was still something missing... "But I want to go back to Storybrooke first. I need to talk to my mom and Regina and apologize for leaving without much explanation."
"Why did you leave?" Roland asked.
"I think..." Robyn paused for a moment. "I think I was looking for something." She looked at the Queen, Faith, Locksley, and then Roland. "But I think I've found it now." She slung her arm over Roland's shoulder. "The half-brother I only heard stories about and the parents and sister I could never have. It sounds like a sad story, but I'm glad I got to meet all of you. I feel like I know more about myself now, like maybe I'm not destined to always make horrible choices because I was born into bad circumstances."
Locksley smiled at that. "Good is a choice, I can tell you that. And we might all be broken people, but at least we're trying to make the right choice."
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