A/N: Alright! Here we are at the epilogue! Thanks for sticking with this story, I've had so much fun writing it. As always please leave a review! Farewell!

10 Years Later…

On the day of her Storybrooke High 20-year class reunion Regina sat on the New York subway, more certain than ever that she'd made the right decision in not going. Her heart had stuttered when the invitation showed up in the mail two months prior. She'd held onto it for a full day, musing on whether or not to attend. It'd been years since she last stepped foot in Storybrooke, though a certain blue-eyed resident crossed her mind more often than not. In the end she'd tossed the invitation into the trash. The last reunion had been emotional enough. There was no need for a sequel.

The train pulled into the next station as she fiddled with her phone, silently debating whether it would make her a helicopter parent to call Henry for the third time that week. The doors slid open and people flooded into the car. A flash of blond hair bobbed through the sea of bodies and a little girl appeared in front of her, anxiously eyeing the empty seat where she'd sat her purse.

"Can I sit there?" she sheepishly asked.

Regina nodded, sliding over as she moved her briefcase to her lap. Silently, she wondered what a girl so young was doing by herself. However, the girl wasn't as alone as she appeared.

"Daddy, I found a seat!"

"Regina?"

Time slowed. It'd been ten years since she last heard it but she'd know that voice anywhere. When she looked up she was staring into the same pair of blue eyes that had made her heart flutter in high school. "Robin?"

He was older, grayer with the beginnings of worry lines starting to carve their way into his forehead but it was still Robin standing before her. And just like always, the simple sight of him took her breath away.

They must've looked like a pair of fools on the subway, staring at each other with their jaw dropped. After what feels like an eternity, a chuckle of disbelief falls from Robin's lips as he pulls them into a smile.

"Hi."

"Hi."

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This had been the last possible way Robin ever expected to end his day. It was after 5 p.m. and out of sheer happenstance he was on the subway with his seven-year-old daughter in his lap and his high school girlfriend in the seat next to him.

He tried to force the smile on his face to fade away, thinking about the moment two months ago when he'd found an invitation to their 20-year high school reunion in his mailbox. One look and he knew he wasn't going. Though a certain dark-haired classmate had crossed his mind, there was no way for him to make it work with his schedule. Ever since that moment, he hadn't been able to stop thinking about Regina. Where she was? How was she doing? If she thought of him?

He supposed it was his subconscious doing its best to prepare him for the moment she appeared in his life again.

They'd smiled at each other in shock when they realized who they were face to face with. His daughter, Margot, had pulled him into the seat next to Regina, the only corner of their triangle unphased by the palpable tension. Neither of them had spoken a word since. He can't tell if it's because they have too much or too little to say.

She still looks beautiful. Sneaking looks at her from the corner of his eye, he notices all the small things that have changed about her and they take his breath away. Her hair is longer now, falling down to meet her shoulder blades. He spots one, two, three strands of gray hair mingling with the black but he's sure there's more. Dressed in a black pantsuit and silk shirt, she has her briefcase set in her lap and he can see her fingers digging a little harder than necessary into its leather. This must be the professional version of her, he thinks. A far cry from the jeans and summer dresses he last saw her in.

There's only one stop until he and Margot reach their destination. He turns to her, knowing he has to say something.

"So… have you ever been to Hyperion Books?"

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God, she can't believe she's doing this. She's actually going to the bookstore with Robin and his daughter. She can't even believe that he has a daughter. Margot is her name, uttered ever so confidently with a firm handshake to boot. Blonde hair and blue eyes she is every bit Robin's daughter, painfully so.

She chatters on and on about the bookstore as they walk from the subway and Regina is grateful. As long as Margot's speaking, she can stay silent. Once they arrive at the shop, she can see why Margot and Robin are so taken with the place. Hundreds of small paper cranes were hung from the ceiling with wire and clouds with silver linings were painted on the light blue walls. It was like stepping into a bookshop in the sky.

"Well, this place is enchanting," Regina softly marvels, still taken with the paper cranes. Robin and Margot guide her to a charming, two-table cafe in the back corner of the store. She spies chocolate chip cookies on sale at the counter. Margot zeroes in on them as well, with her father already passing her a stack of crumpled ones.

Cookie in hand, she looks up at him. "Place?"

"Greece," Robin easily replies. "And I want to hear about the ruins, not just the beaches."

"Fine," she whines, with a roll of her eyes. And just like that she's off browsing through the stacks.

Regina raises an eyebrow at Robin as they settle at one of the cafe tables. "Greece?"

He smiles, sheepishly. "Travel books. She wants to take a trip after her eighteenth birthday. Figures ten years is just enough time to figure out where to go."

"That's sweet." She pauses for a moment, dropping her gaze to her hands. "So…"

"So…"

Sneaking shy looks at each other, they both softly chuckle. "Our 20th high school reunion," she breathes. "You didn't go."

"Neither did you."

She shook her head. "The invitation is rotting in my trash as we speak. Yours?"

"Resting in pieces after a fight with my shredder." He laughs at the shocked look in her eye. "The shredder was a birthday gift from Roland. I use it way more often than needed."

"What are the odds?" she wonders aloud. Her eyebrows pinch together in confusion and awe.

"I mean… you left Storybrooke?"

He nods. "I did. About 2 years ago, Roland got accepted to a science program at this ritzy private school in Newark. It's a great school and a good opportunity for him education wise so… how could I say no?"

She can't help it, she's stunned. It never once crossed her mind that Robin could actually leave Storybrooke. It was his home. Picturing him anywhere else hardly seemed possible. Let alone that he'd move so close to New York. "Must've been a culture shock for you."

He shrugs. "I'm adjusting to city life. It's harder to sleep at night with all the noise but we're all getting along okay." He pauses. "What about you? When'd you get here?"

"Five years ago," she confidently replied. It felt even further back now that he'd arrived. "I'd gotten a job offer at a firm in the city. Henry and I have loved it here ever since."

"And how is Henry?" he asked. "He's graduated by now, right?"

"He has. He is out of the house, enjoying his time in college… at Yale."

Robin whistles sharply at the slight bitterness in her tone. "So he chose not to be a Harvard man?"

She rolls her eyes, chuckling. "I would be hurt by it but he picked Yale because it is much closer to me. His words, not mine. And I am very proud of him."

"Still won't wear the Yale blue though, will you?

"Not a chance in hell," she mutters.

Robin's laughter rings through the cafe. A forgotten spot inside of her warms at the sound of it. His laugh hasn't changed. Not a bit.

"I can't believe it's been ten years since I last saw you," he says, subtly eyeing her hands. "You married yet?"

It's a question she's heard a million times over the last ten years, one that has never ceased to irritate her. However, for some reason - maybe that flirtatious smile or no-judgement tone of his - she finds that she doesn't mind it coming from Robin. Her voice goes soft as she answers him.

"Almost." She pauses, thinking back. "He wanted another child… I didn't."

Robin nodded understandingly but didn't press any further. She was grateful for that. It'd been years since that disappointment. No reason to dive into it again.

"What about you? Are you married?"

She'd noticed a distinct lack of a ring on the subway but given Margot, it was still a question worth asking. Unexpected relief rose in her chest when she saw him shake his head.

"Almost." He repeated. "I wanted that child" - he tilts his head toward Margot, who's still browsing the travel section - "... she didn't."

"Oh." Regina's lips gently parts. "So… Margot's mother…"

"Not a part of our lives. Never has been," he succinctly sums up. There's a little edge to his voice, signaling old pain and anger. "It's never bothered me and I'd say Margot doesn't mind either… but that might be a lie."

Regina nods, silently taking in all he says. A part of her aches for him, for Margot over what's clearly a complicated, painful situation. Another part of her hopes, perhaps more strongly than she should, for something that she thought she'd lost the chance at years ago.

"Robin Locksley…" She breathes his name. "I don't even know what to say."

Nervously licking his lips, he shifted in his chair to face her. "What if I said that's been ten years since the last time we talked… and I haven't stopped thinking of you since?"

Heat rose in her cheeks as she tried to stamp down the smile threatening to overtake her face. "I'd say there much more important things than can occupy space in your head than me."

"They're in there too." He shrugged. "Doesn't mean I didn't save a spot for you."

Her smiles wins out then, restrained and closed-lipped but present. For ten years she'd wondered if she was the only one thinking of them, of who they used to be and what they could've been. It's nice to know it wasn't just her.

"Do you believe in fate, Regina?"

She laughs, shaking her head. "No. I don't think I've believed in fate for a very long time."

"How about second chances then?"

"Robin…"

"It can't be a coincidence," he gently insists. "That I'm here and you're here, that we ran into each other on this day. I just can't believe the universe is that lazy."

Neither can she… but she can't believe it's that kind either. "It's been twenty years since we were together Robin. You don't even know me now."

"I know… but I'd like to." His blue eyes twinkled with hope and mischief. "Don't you want to know me, Regina Mills?"

Again, something deep inside her lights up, like the ghost of her teenage self reaching out for the shadow of his. She lets her eyes wander over his face, taking in every new crinkle, wrinkle and line, each one reminding her of how much time had passed and how many different things had changed. Was it worth wading through all those changes to hope one single thing stayed the same?

"I suppose… learning your coffee order wouldn't kill me," she reasons, unable to tear her eyes away from his.

Colombian with three sugars and cream. She orders one for him, a cup of green tea for her and for the next hour they sit together catching up, reminiscing and rediscovering each other. For Regina, the conversation could've lasted forever and it still would've been too short. A stab of disappointment ran through her when Margot finally returned, book in hand and ready to go. It's sharpness overwhelmed her. The last time she'd said goodbye to Robin it had been easy to let him go. She'd gotten what she needed and she'd thought it was the end but here he was, in front of her once again. Hopeful, handsome and reaching out to her for another chance.

How could she possibly say no?

As they stepped out onto the sidewalk into the warm city air - he and Margot headed in one direction and her in another - she pressed a business card into the palm of his head. It's true she didn't believe in fate anymore. But second chances? Perhaps they still existed.