"Tell me what happened."

The snarl on her face is one that Henry had never seen before – even when he took off that day from school to play at the play ground. Everyone is terrified; Mary Margaret has tears threatening her eyes and David is holding her back from running to grab her daughter.

Gold is up against the wall. Smirk ever-so wide upon his face. And Emma, snarling, face red with anger and her hands gripped so tightly on his jacket that the material was going to be forever ruined.

His head is slammed another time against the wall. Behind Emma, Mary Margaret whines and David pushes her head into his shoulder. Henry tries to run forward, but David grabs him with the shake of his head.

"Tell. Me."

"Why do you care so much, Dearie?" Gold questions, smirking before reaching up and slapping her hands away. Emma finally lets him go, lets him walk around to the opposite side of his counter. He slides his fingertips over the glass, looks up at Emma, and finally replies, "To know what happened, one must understand Regina."

Emma's heart crushes. Even her name, her face flashing in her mind, just causes her pain. She desperately wants to help, to hold Regina, tell her everything will be perfectly fine but she's lying there in the hospital, motionless, somehow still breathing even though she is barely alive.

She just wants to help. She wants to bring her back.

"Then help me." Emma states, crossing her arms and standing up stick straight. "Tell me, Gold."

She knew most of Regina's secrets. Well, maybe not all of them. All Emma knows of is how Regina was in the Enchanted Forest and how she was the moment she arrived in Storybrooke. She was cold, closed off with her arms always folded across her chest. And slowly, she became human.

Still, not many cut her a break besides her family: Mary Margaret, David, Henry…and Emma.

Emma tends to let things go more now than ever because Regina…she's special.

Gold is still smirking as he reaches into his cabinet and pulls out a small vial of berry colored liquid. He swirls it around in front of Emma's eyes and as she goes to grab it, he pulls it back.

"All magic -."

"Comes with a price. Spare me the speech, Gold. What does it do?"

"It's a spell. A strong one. Only one of a kind. Once opened, you whisper the name of the person you wish to be, and it takes you through their life bit, by bit. You feel what they felt, their emotional pain, their physical pain..."

Emma reaches forward and snags the vial away from his hand, sticking it in her pocket before heading through the door. She had to see Regina; make sure she is okay - still breathing. Dr. Wale is taking good care of her, I'm sure, she thinks, but I need to see for myself.

"How did you get here, dearie?" Gold calls. Emma's hand grips around the handle, and she looks down at it. How did I get here, she asks herself. How did I begin to care about Regina? With her head bowed, she shuts her eyes and recounts the look on Regina's face as she sat alone at Granny's diner with an empty pan that was once filled with lasagna. Her heart sinks and she bites her lip to fight back the glaze that is forming over her eyes. And her hand tightens, turns the handle and pulls the door open with the ding of the bell.

"It doesn't matter. I need to help her."

She had to get away. She lashed harder, going faster and stronger. The wind running it's fingers through her short hair and she flashed back to the times with her curly tendrils whipping around her face when she rode horseback. The stallion beneath her huffed, coming to a halt at the edge of the cliff.

Regina wasn't going to jump. It wasn't the answer to her problems. She had decided to skip borders and stay in the Forbidden Forest for a few hours. Or just until around dinner time when Henry may be at Granny's with Emma and The Two Idiots. She liked to randomly go there sometimes since he likes to grab a chocolate milkshake around lunch, or get dinner with Emma when she didn't feel like cooking. Emma would smile when she saw her, and Regina would smile back as she took her seat beside her. Sometimes Emma would pat her thigh or occasionally nudge her arm, but it went unnoticed by Henry who was normally too enticed by his story book.

Her relationship with Emma bloomed wonderfully, but Regina still felt like she had to get away. So that's why she came here, somewhere Emma couldn't directly get to without magic, to think and to be alone.

There wasn't much to think about, but when the wind blew gently and the stallion rested it's head on her shoulder, Regina had smiled and ran her fingertips over the soft animal.

"I missed being here," she spoke, resting her head on the horse. "I missed the view from here. Unfortunately the curse destroyed everything else…my home, Emma's home…"

With a huff from the horse once more, the brunette had laughed, "I know, should have thought that one through and told Gold. Coming here without a place to stay is kind of inconvenient. I should have at least…"

The stables. With the horses and the open field where she found Snow. That should have at least remained. But it held horrible memories and Regina did not want to face them. Not now and never again.

It was too much pain.

But Emma makes her forget about all of it: her past, her horrible past at that, and she makes her the girl she was before she turned into her mother. She was the woman before she lost David, before her innocence was lost and before she gave into the darkness of magic.

Regina smiled again and she remembered the night Emma had come over for dinner – the night it all started. Unfortunately it was due to too much wine and an overdose of red pepper flakes, but it was such a high that Regina would never forget. Emma's hands on her skin, her fingertips running through her hair and the squeaking of the leather couch. And it was the thrill of knowing that upstairs, her son was fast asleep in his childhood bedroom. They had to be quiet and with Regina's constant childhood giggles when Emma's lips brushed against her throat, the risk was higher.

Emma refused to acknowledge that night for quite some time. Months. But it happened again, with less and less wine each time and no magic. Those endless nights were perfect and the night Emma stayed, Regina woke up feeling protected and…whole.

The blonde was wrapped up in her arms, her tendrils sprawled across Regina's crisp, white sheets. A small smile spread across her lips, mumbling something incoherent before pulling the comforter over her face. Regina laughed at that quietly to herself, running her nails through Emma's hair, scratching her scalp gently because she knew she liked it. She still hadn't awaken by time Regina crawled out of the bed and made breakfast for herself, but by time the second round of pancakes was cooked, Emma was up and dragging her feet across the marble floor.

She was wearing the same thing she wore the day before – her signature jeans and tee shirt albeit the boots and leather jacket. Notably called "The Walk of Shame." Emma took a seat at the breakfast bar, her eyes watching Regina flip the pancakes like she was some sort of professional. She then remembered that Henry raved about Regina's blueberry pancakes and how he missed them on Sunday mornings. Emma tried to make them once, but the half cooked pancake ended up on the floor with a splat.

"You were fast asleep," Regina had said, still keeping an eye on the food. "I didn't want to wake you."

"You could have. I'm used to waking up early to walk Henry to school."

The final pancake made three and the plate was handed to Emma with a side of homemade blueberry syrup. Digging in with her fork, Emma paused, and looked up slowly.

"Is it not good..?"

"There's no apples in this, right?" She winked and Regina smirked, shaking her head.

"I think you slept enough last night. No magic needed."

"Yeah, I did."

"What are we, Emma?"

Emma had stopped mid-chew and looked up at Regina. She was stood there, in an oversized button down shirt that Emma assumed was Grahams, with her coffee to her lips and her eyes downcast. Regina seemed so scared, and raw, and almost too human to be "The Evil Queen" that the people of Storybrooke knew her to be. It was one of the first times Emma saw her with her guard down, and it was the first time Regina had ever seen Emma so hurt.

Regina, staring off to the land from the cliff, wondered why Emma was so hurt that morning. After all, the following day Emma barely spoke a word. That was the month that Emma never mentioned the morning but the two went back to sleepovers with too much wine. She drew a line in the dust that was beside her, swirls that waved further and further out. They were barely noticeable now since it was so dark out.

At that moment in time, Regina didn't want to go back to calling Emma "Miss Swan" and having Emma call her "Madame Mayor" (although it did have a nice ring to it in the bedroom). She wanted Emma by her side, holding her hand and occasionally have her wrap her arm around her at Granny's. She wanted her protection – Emma wielding her sword and swinging it at anyone who dare threaten her.

She wanted to move forward, but naturally, Emma was scared.

And that was the look of hurt in her eyes. It was the pain of the past bubbling up inside of her.

Regina rose to her feet, patting off her rear that was now covered with dust. She had no idea what time it was in Storybrooke but she knew by now that it was going to be late. Hopefully Emma wasn't worried…

Well, even if she was, she wouldn't show it.

Regina knew she cared but Emma was just a tough nut to crack.

She shooed the horse away and when the clacking of the heels finally dissipated, Regina had pulled the folded hat out of her pocket and twirled it into the night. And when she disappeared into the world of Storybrooke, she felt like part of her was missing.

At the moment Regina appeared on the other side, she heard her phone buzzing the familiar ringtone that Henry had set as a joke. It was the instrumental version of "The Cell Block Tango" which he had fallen in love with when he walked in on her and Emma watching Chicago.

Regina had a love for musicals.

She had dashed over to her phone after kicking the hat so it stopped spinning. It was Emma and Regina couldn't help but smile.

"Emma, hi." She had said, breathlessly. On the other line, Emma was walking behind her parents and her son, hiding the fact that she was talking to Regina. Regina could hear the heels of her boots clicking on the sidewalk.

"I was wondering if we could talk."

And that was the night that everything had started.