CHAPTER ONE

Searching the Forgotten


The adolescent took the magic bean from Hook and threw it down the swirling pool, clutching the small blanket as tightly as she could as she tried to focus her thoughts on the small town of Storybrooke. The teen closed her eyes, and jumped into the portal without a second thought.

Once the nauseous feeling dissipated, she used up almost all her strength to pull herself out of what seemed like a well. Her breathing was shallow, and each step she took made her weaker and weaker as gravity tried to force her down to the floor. Blood spewed out of her gaping wounds, soaking her shirt. The girl's broken bones made everything harder than it already was. Her eyes were beginning to lose its light. What used to be an intelligent, bright set of ocean-blue eyes were quickly turning into murky, lifeless ones.

She left a trail of blood in her wake as she desperately struggled to walk towards the blinding light ahead of her that led to the main road. She shut her eyes weakly and stopped for a second in order to regain her breath.

After the teen finally made her way out, she saw a blurry figure of a woman clothed in red approach her quickly. "Oh my gosh, are you okay?" Red asked, eyeing the blood that clothed the girl's body. "We need to take you to the hospital."

The girl shook her head as vigorously as she could and became unbalanced for a few seconds when she felt her head spin. She knew the concerned voice, but she couldn't fully recognize it with her head throbbing. "Regina, where?" she choked out.

Red stared at her with her eyebrows raised in concern. You're almost bleeding to death and you want to see the Evil Queen? All Red could do was point at the mansion on Mifflin Street, unable to stop gaping at the blood.

The girl gritted her teeth and painfully made her way towards the house. After a good 15 minutes, she finally arrived at the door of the mansion. She summoned the last of her strength to use her bloody hands to pound on the door, leaving red prints on the entrance. She kept pounding, ignoring the searing pain, ignoring the headache, ignoring the blood that covered almost her entire body.

Inside, Regina was starting to get annoyed by the repetitive pounding that refused to cease. She went downstairs and opened the door. Her anger slowly deteriorated into horror and concern.

The girl in front of her completely covered in blood. Everything from her hair to her feet were bloody, and it was hard for Regina to take in all at once. The teen couldn't stand the pain any longer and collapsed. Regina caught her just in time. She heard, faintly, the girl's voice. Regina bent down and brought her ears closer to her lips, trying to understand the girl's incoherent words.

"I'm your daughter," she mumbled before she finally let herself cave.

The stench of the girl's blood overwhelmed Regina, making her dizzy. She held the limp body in her arms, not knowing what to make of the information. She slowly let the words sink in, as thoughts bombarded her mind. It was only when the teen's body nearly slipped from her grasp that Regina remembered she was still holding her. She quickly carried her up the stairs and into her bedroom and laid her down carefully onto her sheets. Regina then hovered her hand above the girl's body, trying to find the cause of the injuries. She flinched every time she felt something broken: the ribs, the broken ankle, the broken arm, and the gaping hole near her stomach. Regina suddenly froze, knowing the only person who could cause this kind of pain. It was all too familiar to her. The blood slowly dripping out of you, torturing you until you learned your lesson.

Regina could hear the small whimpers the girl was making. All she could do was try to calm her down. "Shh, it'll stop in a minute."

Straight away, she started repairing the broken ribs, allowing the girl to breath more easily. Afterwards, she began to cure the broken and fractured bones in her arms and legs. Then she healed most of the adolescent's bloody wounds. The magic was draining Regina's energy, but she ignored the exhaustion washing over her body. She had to keep the girl alive if she wanted an explanation on the daughter situation.

After healing the girl, she got up from the bed and took a few steps backwards, observing her sleeping figure. The girl's breathing had improved, clearly steadier than before. Regina sighed from the stress of not knowing much about her 'daughter', and walked into the bathroom and took a towel, soaking it in water. She went back to the bedroom and, at first, hesitantly wiped the blood off her supposed daughter. For a moment Regina just looked at the girl's face, noting the similarities. The teen looked like Regina before evil corrupted her. Regina shook her head, rubbing a hand over her face. This cannot be my daughter.

Regina went back into the bathroom after a while and stared at her reflection in the mirror. No, I do not have a daughter, she told herself firmly. She splashed some cold water on her face, welcoming the icy feeling. Regina gripped the side of the sink in frustration as she was unable to keep the thought from repeating. I have a daughter, she thought as she stared at the sink. She sighed deeply.

After double checking that her 'daughter' was safe and soundly sleeping, she went to the only person who could've been responsible for her missing child. Regina didn't want to leave her daughter, but she convinced herself to exit the mansion. She headed towards the pawn shop, preparing to wear the stoic facade she always put on.

The bell chimed, and Mr. Gold stood behind the counter looking at the door as if he expected her to come sooner or later.

"Your Majesty. What a lovely surprise," Gold said sarcastically, a fake smile plastered on his face.

Regina ignored the greeting and jumped straight to the topic. "When my mother said the child I birthed died, was it true?" Regina asked, glaring at him.

Silence fell upon them. Gold, for once, didn't know how to answer.

"Out of all the people," Regina continued. "You should know what it feels to lose a child. So I'm going to ask again. Was my child alive?"

Gold hesitated. He did know the feeling of losing a child. "Yes," was the only thing he said.

Regina thought about it, slowly connecting the dots in her head. "Did my mother give her to you," she asked monotonously. The question didn't even sound like a question anymore. Inside, Regina's heart started beating faster. Gold nodded, mute.

Regina only had one more question for him. She took a deep breath, and summoned all her courage to ask, "Her...name...?"

He studied her for a moment. "Was Ebony," Gold said, finishing her sentence. "Before I took her, I wrapped her around the blanket you made. Cora gave her a name, but once your daughter grew up she realized that she didn't think the name suited her. After some time, she found the small blanket and kept the name sewn on it. The name you chose."

Regina's eyes began to fill with tears. Her daughter had chosen the name that she and Daniel chose.

Gold gave her a small smile. "Good luck."

Regina turned abruptly and left, heading back home.


She arrived back home soon after, and hurriedly went up to the bedroom, standing at the door frame as she watched her daughter sleep soundly.

She silently whispered to herself, "Ebony." Regina smiled, liking the name rolling off her tongue.

She took a look at her face and then arm. A piece of cloth peeking out underneath Ebony's body caught Regina's eye. She quickly pulled it from Ebony's body and what she saw jolted a rush of memories buried deep inside her. An ivory-colored blanket laid in Regina's hand, and she quickly turned the cotton blanket over a couple of times, trying to find the name sewn on the it. Regina finally found it after a couple of seconds of searching, and she traced the letters one by one carefully as if she were afraid it was going to come apart.

As if on cue, Ebony slowly began to stir. She opened her eyes but blearily shut them again for the coat of sleepiness was still upon her. Ebony opened her eyes once more when she noticed what was in her mother's hands. She bounced up from her lying position and grabbed the blanket, clutching it to her chest. Ebony felt a dull sense of pain course through her body, and she groaned, slowly lowering herself back onto the bed.

Regina's motherly instincts started to kick in, and she guided Ebony to lay back down by allowing her to put some of her weight on Regina's hand. "Your wounds are healed, but it'll take some time before the pain fully goes away."

Once Regina realized what she was doing, her hold on Ebony's back weakened. Ebony mumbled an apology for taking the blanket away from Regina, cheeks flushing in embarrassment.

"It's alright," Regina replied awkwardly. She couldn't stand the uncomfortable silence and said, "You have your father's eyes."

Ebony's eyes sparked with curiosity and a newfound interest. "My father?"

Regina smiled. "Ocean-blue eyes, just like his."


Author's Notes


We do not own Once Upon a Time.

This is a new idea Café and I wanted to write out. We welcome all reviews on your thoughts and opinions on this story and on Ebony. We hope you like our character. She was fun to create, and we hope you like her as much as we do.

-Skye