"Gold. We need to talk." She spoke in a hushed voice after realising her abrupt entrance had caused all the customers to stare. She had planned on walking in covertly without creating a scene but the thought of telling him was making her so anxious and agitated that she didn't realise how hard she had slammed the door shut in a hurry to tell him. She had only found out herself not less than an hour ago, but she was unable to process the thought and decided it would be easier to process if Gold was there to discuss the matter with her.
She steadied her breath as she walked towards him. On his date with Belle, she thought as she eyed him; she couldn't bear to make look Belle in the eye after locking her up for 28 years. The guilt over what she did to Belle was too much for her to cope with right now; she needed to tell him!
"Do we?" he asked her connivingly keeping his attention solely on Belle.
"Yes, actually, we do." She sighed exasperatedly as she fidgeted nervously with her scarf. To say she was nervous was the understatement of the year! This could potentially ruin all the progress she's made with Henry, or finally, unite her and Gold.
He noticed her behaviour thinking of it as extremely out of character for her; she didn't so nervous. Never! Or at least she never showed it. In a way he was sort of proud; he taught her well. He had lost focus in her when his trail of thoughts was interrupted when he felt Belle kick him lightly and turned and saw Belle's expression morph from annoyed to concern as she stared at Regina. He was more shocked about her showing concern for the women who locked her away from society, from before the curse was even cast, to realise what had caused her to become this concerned in the first place. He swivelled around in the booth to find out what all the commotion was about; what he saw was NOT what he was expecting.
Regina was crying!
She wasn't crying like she had been when she let go of Daniel earlier that week. No. There was just an endless waterfall of tears falling down her blank and motionless face, only giving him a sad and desperate plea in her eyes. He knew it must be serious if she was crying in front of him! She NEVER showed weakness when she was in publ,c; or in any case for that matter. He knew he was about to get into a messy situation; more than usual if her expression was anything to go by.
"All right." He sighed closing his eyes. He waved his had to transport the tree to her vault. He knew that Regina disliked his pawnshop and would prefer to be in the comfort of her own space. He looked around to make sure they had all made it to the vault but saw that Belle was nowhere to be seen. He was about to ask Regina why, because he knew he had performed the spell correctly, when he heard her drop to the ground sobbing her heart out; now he was certain what was going on was going to turn everyone's world upside-down.
He knelt next to her and held her close trying to calm her down a bit. He wanted to ask her why belle didn't make it through with them, but he understood that right now he needed to make his priority Regina; he could sense that Belle was safe any way. His instinct was confirmed when he heard belle banging on the vault's door outside.
"Rumple! Rumple, are you in there?! Is Regina with you? What's going on? Let me in!" Belle screamed so the two inside could hear her. She knew that rumple wouldn't be in any danger. He was could handle Regina; though she had her doubts after seeing Regina. She didn't know how powerful Regina could be when in a state like this; it worried her slightly.
"Regina-Regina speak to me, tell me what's wrong? Please? I promise I won't hurt you because of it. I'll make you a deal, mmm? You tell me…and I won't harm you because of it. How does that sound?" he asked her with genuine concern in his voice. He was finally able to calm her after he made the offer. She nodded weakly and composed herself a bit to look him in the eye, getting up and out of his arms where he had been holding her tightly.
"I…. I put a protection spell around this vault…" she paused thinking, not knowing how exactly to explain it the right way.
"So?" He pushed.
"I used blood magic." She explained timidly hoping he would catch on; he didn't which surprised her. She continued, "I used blood magic to protect this vault since the curse broke. It's one of the only spells I could achieve without difficulty before you gave me mother's book. I know I cast it right; I'm certain of it. You managed to get through somehow, I couldn't understand what the hell was going on, so I looked did a bit of digging…." She trailed off not really wanting to finish what she was say.
"Regina? What did you find?!" He asked urgently, nervous about what her response would be.
"You-you're…...my…." She paused and inhaled deeply, "I'm your daughter!" she blurted out hurriedly.
He froze…
TBC?