A/N: I had a pro-winter finale story in my head, so I decided to write it down. It's like the 1000th one, but I'm very much a fan of the musical Wicked, so I thought I could use my knowledge of that musical to write a story about Once, and our beloved SwanQueen.

I already rated it M, so people who aren't shooting for an M-rated fanfic won't be disappointed when it gets a little hot under the belt ;)

Well, I really hope you enjoy this! :) Let me know what you think and what I can do better.

(note: I took the part where Hook knocks on the door at Emma's apartment one year later out, because it just doesn't fit)

Chapter I

Regina Mills woke up with a start. It took a few seconds till she realized she was in her own bed, in her own castle. She heard a soft snore breaking the silence. Robin Hood was lying next to her in her bed. They started dating only a few months after they had returned from Storybrooke. It wasn't really because she needed the company.

One of her interests was Tinkerbell. She wanted the pixie to believe in herself again. Years ago she had shown Regina that Robin Hood was her True Love, and she hadn't given it a chance back then. She hadn't cared about finding love; she had cared about destroying other people's love.

Later, when she had cast the curse, she had adopted Henry in a desperate attempt to find love. And finally she had. She had learned to love again. It was a different kind of love; the love between mother and child, but it was still love. And it had been enough for her. She hadn't found herself worthy enough of finding her True Love.

She was a villain. Villains didn't deserve a happy ending. It was only a year ago, when their ways split that Henry told her she wasn't a villain. At least, not anymore. She was his mom.

She clung to that statement as she had asked Robin Hood on a date. She needed to convince herself she deserved a happy ending. But would she ever be able to have her happy ending, if her son was on another realm?

She turned away from the still sleeping man. She had dreamed about Emma. Those dreams confused her more than she liked to admit, but she couldn't help having them. She had tried to make them go away by using potions, but none of them worked. Sometimes the blonde was just an insignificant part of her dream, like a supporter, but sometimes she'd dream about their last encounter. She didn't know what the dreams meant, and that annoyed her immoderately.

When Regina had decided she wouldn't fall asleep soon anyway, she rolled out of bed. She wrapped a robe around her body and strolled through the corridors of her castle. Once she had embraced the cold of her castle, but now it only made her shiver. It made her feel more alone than she had been before. She now knew there was someone out there that loved her, although he didn't know it right now. She had given him memories that told him otherwise; that told him she didn't even exist.

In his world, she was nothing more than a fairy tale.

She stopped to lean on the windowsill, looking outside. She watched the stars, and thought about everything that had happened since she had said goodbye to her son; since she had deemed herself never to see her son ever again. She opened the windows and let the fresh air wash over her face. She closed her eyes as she enjoyed the coldness. She wrapped her arms around herself to create the illusion that she warmed herself up.

It was only seconds later that she noticed someone had graced her with its presence. She opened her eyes and saw one of her only friends; at least, she considered Tinkerbell one of her friends.

"You don't look so happy, Regina." She said, breaking the silence that tainted the still early morning. "It's him, isn't it?"

This confused Regina. Did she mean Henry or Hood? Or did she mean both? Both were keeping her up at night, but both for different reasons. Henry, because she obviously missed her son. She had learned the way to solve problems wasn't to just erase the memory off your mind. She had learned you needed to cope with it; to give it a place.

"I don't love him.." The brunette whispered, averting her gaze out of the window again. When Tinkerbell didn't say a word, her eyes met the blonde's again. She was biting on her lip, as if she was hiding something. "Do you know something?"

"Well.." She started, but it was as if something was holding her back. She was hesitating.

"I won't get angry with you, dear." Regina reassured her. "Just tell me." If the tiny woman really knew something, she wanted to know. Did her heart just turn into ice after they had been sent back to the Enchanted Forest?

"When I showed you Robin Hood as your True Love.. You know, a very long time ago." She paused, as if she considered not telling what she was about to say. She decided to do so anyway, because she continued. "One year ago, in Storybrooke, when you gave Emma her happy ending.. You also gave her your happy ending. Emma didn't exist when I showed you Robin Hood. It is possible.. she may be your True Love now."

Regina didn't know what she had expected to hear from the pixie, but she didn't expect this. It did explain the dreams about the blonde. It might have been her mind telling her subconsciously that she cared more about her than she had thought initially.

But still. She wasn't able to love Emma, was she?

"Your face gets all soft when you think about her." Tinkerbell stated.

"It doesn't matter." Regina sighed, trying to focus on a willow standing next to the water a few yards away. "I won't ever be able to see her again." There was a burning sensation in the back of her throat, and it took her a lot of power to sound as calm as she usually did.

She missed her son like she had never missed anyone before. Her son was well and alive, but didn't even know of her existence. In his mind, he had never had her as a mother, and the thought of that was unbearable. The old Regina, the Evil Queen, would have terrorized all civilians of the Enchanted Forest, but something had changed.

Someone had changed her into someone else. Someone had helped her becoming a better person; and turned her into someone who could be selfless. Someone had taught her to believe in the power of love.

The Savior started it all. Emma made her change. For years she had been angry with the world, trying to avenge Daniel's death. Nothing had ever stopped her from being the Evil Queen; killing people, tearing families apart and eventually casting the curse, until Emma came to Storybrooke.

She had never realized it, until they stood at the border of Storybrooke, awaiting the breaking of the curse.

"Rumor has it the Wicked Witch is getting stronger." Tinkerbell said, ripping Regina out of her thoughts.

"I still have no idea how she managed to get to this realm." Regina chewed her cheek in frustration.

"But if she was able to travel from Oz to the Enchanted Forest.." Tinkerbell started.

"It should be possible for me to travel to Maine again. Or even better, Boston." Regina finished the pixie's notion. She was playing with the thought in her head for a few weeks now. If only she knew how the Wicked Witch, Elphaba, had managed to get to this realm. She had an idea, but she wasn't sure if the rumors were true.

If the rumors were true, Elphaba was in the possession of the Grimmerie. The Grimmerie was an age-old book, consisting of both the darkest and most powerful spells. With the Grimmerie, you could be the most powerful witch or wizard. Although, there was one condition: you needed to have mastered the language it was written in. Only those who were worthy enough to know the language, could read it.

Regina needed to get her hands on the Grimmerie. She doubted the Witch would give it herself, so she had to sneak into her castle in order to steal it. But she needed help doing so. She needed someone to distract the Witch and lure her away from the Grimmerie.

"Tink, I need your help."

"Did you really entice Hook into seducing the Wicked Witch?" Regina asked visibly astonished. "What.." She wanted to ask her what she had done to persuade him, but when she saw Tinkerbell's face flush bright red, she decided she didn't want to know and waved dismissively. "Never mind."

They watched Hook walking to the front door of Elphaba's castle from behind a tree. It wasn't really a castle; it was more like a castle shaped cabin, but it was too big to call it a cabin. Hook extended his hand to knock on the door.

"I should go." Regina whispered to Tinkerbell. "You are entirely sure the Grimmerie is in the back of the wooden structure?" She verified her information once more. When Tinkerbell nodded, Regina got onto her feet. "Tink?" She looked up into the brunette's eyes. "Thank you."

"Just make sure you find Emma." She smiled genuinely at Regina. "Now go, before your chance is gone."

While Regina was on her way to the back of the Wicked Witch's home, she thought about the gatherings the pixie and Regina had had the last few days. They had talked about the possibility of Elphaba attacking the people of the Enchanted Forest during Regina's absence. And since Regina was the only one likely to meet up with the green witch's powers, they would be in trouble if that was the case.

On the other hand, they had also concluded Regina wouldn't stand a chance, because her magic wasn't powerful enough to defeat Elphaba's magic. If they wanted to stand a chance against their enemy, they had to join forces again. Regina needed Emma. Together they would be strong enough.

Besides, she had sworn to Henry she wouldn't use magic out of malice again. She really wanted to be a better person for her son, although he didn't even remember she made the promise.

She had broken her promises in the past, but this time she really wanted to be a better person. She didn't regret casting the curse; destroying people's lives, because it had gotten her Henry. Unfortunately, it had also cost her everything she loved. She had had to give up Henry to the person who was supposed to be her arch enemy.

If she ever wanted to have Henry back, she needed to make amends; she needed to show the world she could be good.

Eventually, she reached the back window of a room she expected to be Elphaba's 'office'. When she looked through the window, she saw a small room with a desk in the corner, along with some book shelves. There was only one chair, next to the desk. It looked like someone had just occupied the room, but had left it in a hurry.

This had to be it.

She placed her hands on the downside of the window, and pushed upwards. To her surprise, it moved. She sighed in relief. Now she just had to find the Grimmerie and leave. Her intuition told her to walk to the desk instead of the bookshelves. She tried to walk as carefully as possible, not alarming the green-colored woman.

Her instinct was right. The Grimmerie lied open on the desk. As if fate had decided in her favor, there was a note next to it. The Witch had scribbled a word in the language Regina had mastered since her birth, and the rest was written in a language that was still a riddle to her.

Before she could even explore the piece of paper, she heard the door to the rest of the cabin open, so she did the first thing that came up in mind. She grasped the Grimmerie tightly, and murmured the words on the small piece of paper.

The last thing she saw was an angry and an astounded Elphaba, when a flash marked her disappearance.