Chapter 1: Broken

"No! Daniel!"

Regina dropped to her knees as she knealed at the lifeless body of her love, holding him in her arms.

"I'm sorry Regina, but I did this for your own good". Cora said.

"What!?" Regina cried out, tears flooding down her face."How could killing the only person in my life that truly loves me be for my own good?!" she sobbed.

She gasped for air as she held Daniel, with tears falling freely down her face. It was Daniel's heart that Cora had ripped out and crushed, but at that moment Regina felt as if having her own heart torn out would be less painful than the way she felt now.

"Sweetheart….." Cora said stepping a little closer, the residue from Daniel's heart still fresh on her hands. "I know that this hurts you now. Believe me, it pains me to watch you in despair like this, but I have done what any good mother would do for their child. I saw you going down a path of destruction… and I did what I had to do to save you from it. You may not thank me for it now, but you will. When you become queen". Regina looked up, still holding Daniel's body.

" I don't want to be Queen! The only thing that i've ever wanted in my life is lying dead in my arms."

She looked back at Daniel and caressed his face with one hand, holding him close to her with the other. Regina couldn't even begin to think about what her mother had just said. Everything that she had ever wanted, ever loved, and ever hoped for in her future was now dead at the hands at the hands of her own mother. She wished that she could've gone with him. Daniel was her only hope of getting out of that place. He was the only person that saw someone beyond the future queen that her heartless mother was grooming her to be. No, when he looked at her, he just saw… Regina. Regina, the girl that loved to ride horses, and to run in the forrest, and to let her long hair flow in the wind. She had such a beautiful, free spirit… and Daniel had seen it. She had been so ready to give everything up that her mother was planning for her and run away with Daniel. Then she could be herself. She could finally be free, and for the first time in her life, she would be loved. Not for who people expected her to become, but for the woman she already was. But the possibility of that future was just destroyed. Closing her eyes and still sobbing, Regina rested her head on Daniel's chest and intertwined her fingers with his. She weakly opened her red eyes to look at her left had that was holding his. On it, was the ring that he had given her just moments before, when he promised her a future that would ultimately cost him his life. She closed her eyes again and sobbed even harder as she buried her face in his chest.

"Oh God Regina, pull yourself together." Cora snapped. "If only you could see your future as I do you wouldn't be lying here crying over some stable boy. Now I've allowed you long enough to grieve over this boy. Now get up and return with me to the castle. You have a big day coming up tomorrow. Tomorrow you'll pick out your wedding dress."

Regina suddenly felt rage in her heart towards her mother and shot her a look of anger.

"I am NOT marrying the king" she snapped as she turned back to Daniel.

Cora's blood boiled with anger as she watched her daughter blatantly disobey her, something that she had NEVER done before.

"Now enough of this!" Cora spat as she raised her hand and Daniel's body was ripped from Regina's arms and flew threw the air, crashing into a pile of hay. "Daniel!" Regina cried and she quickly got up to retrieve his body.

"NO, ENOUGH!" Cora yelled, outraged.

She quickly swiped her hand through the air and barrier was put up between Regina and the body of her true love. The despair that Regina felt was quickly turned into rage towards her mother as she crashed into the barrier that was put up. Before Regina could whip around to face her mother, Cora was already in front of her, standing so close that their noses were almost touching. She grabbed her daughter's arm, looking at her with rage and seriousness flickering in her eyes. Regina felt her mother's eyes burn straight through her, as they always did. Cora squinted her eyes and lowered her head.

"Now Regina, whether you like it or not, you are to become royalty in a couple of days. I will NOT have have you crying and sobbing over some stable boy." Cora said.

Cora flicked her wrist and a handkerchief appeared in her hand.

"Now… wipe those pathetic looking eyes and look the way a future queen is supposed to look".Cora glanced over Regina's shoulder at Daniel's body and winced in disgust."I can't believe you even considered such a life. You'll thank me for this later darling." Cora looked back at Regina with 'loving' eyes, looking for a response from her daughter, but she got none.

Regina's face was completely blank. She just stared at the hay stacks with a dazed look in here eyes. Regina's whole body felt numb.

"Regina, sweetheart…" Cora said gently.

Regina gave no response. Cora looked into Regina's eyes, but she saw nothing there. There were no more tears. No more emotions. Not even anger. There was simply…. nothing there. Here eyes appeared as lifeless as Daniel's. That was certainly fitting, for although Regina was still alive, inside, everything in her felt as if she was dead.

"Regina?"… Cora said calmly for the last time, trying not to loose her patience with her again.

She still got no response. Just a blank stare.

"REGINA!" Cora said sharply, this time roughly grabbing Regina's arm.

Regina shook as if she had been snapped out a hypnosis. She blinked, and then turned to face her mother, this time, with her eyes burning with only one emotion. Rage.

"What!" Regina snapped.

Her eyes were squinted, flickering for the first time with the hatred and ruthlessness that would become the notorious stare of the Evil Queen. Cora was at first surprised by the stare, but she was not easily intimidated, especially after the emotion that Regina had just displayed after she ripped Daniel's heart out. Two could play at that game. Cora stepped even closer to Regina, and leaned in, returning the same stare that her daughter was giving her.

"I'm only going to say this to you….. one time…" Cora said.

Regina squinted at her mother. They stood so close that she could feel her breath, and she felt an unfamiliar tingling sensation pulsating through her finger tips that seemed to grow more intense as her rage towards her mother grew.

Cora continued.." Love…..makes you weak. It is not something that is meant for us. Us, who are powerful. Us who are strong…."

Cora grabbed both of Regina's wrists in her hands and looked her in the eyes.

"….. You.. my daughter, will NOT be weak and vulnerable like the rest of the pathetic peasants that live in this kingdom. No. You're better that that, and you will BE better than that. Are you listening to me?"

Cora once again searched her daughter's eyes for some sort of indication that she was getting through to her. Regina couldn't stand the sight of her mother at this point, but for reason, some part of her took in her mother's words. Cora could see that, and the corners of her mouth turned up slightly as she continued.

"Now, do you realize what a ridiculous display you just put on for some stable boy?"

Cora could feel Regina tense up in her grasp as she once again mentioned Daniel., so she decided to take a different route. Cora kept a tight hold onto one of Regina's arms, as she brought her right hand to Regina's chest.

" Do you see the pain that you feel in you heart right now?"Cora said.

Regina's eyes began to fill with tears, but she refused to let them fall. It was the worst pain that she had ever felt in her life. It was like a dagger had been shoved through her heart, and twisted 100 times over. Cora noticed Regina's reaction, and continued.

"Well, that type of pain can only be caused by one thing…. Love…"

Regina fought with all her might not to let the tears fall, but the pain that she felt from her mother's words was almost unbearable. Regina had experienced love for the first time, and now she was experiencing the agony and devastation of loosing it. She couldn't understand how it could hurt so much to loose someone that she had only known for a little over a year, even if she had fallen in love with him. Just thinking about it made Regina clench her teeth hard and look up with watery eyes just to try to keep the tears in. Her face was completely red from all of the pain and emotion she felt. God, she wished the pain would go away, or at least let up. Just a little bit.

Cora continued. ..." Regina… When you love someone, that person becomes your weakness. When your enemies discover that you love someone, they'll stop at nothing to hurt them, or even kill them, just to hurt you…."

She put her finger under Regina's chin to lift her head up to face her.

"Regina, listen to me. When you allow yourself to love someone, you INVITE the pain into your heart that you're feeling right now. It doesn't feel good does it?"

Regina looked at her feet, and then glanced over her mother's shoulder to look at Daniel. Her eyes started to burn at the sight of him. She looked back at her feet and she could no longer hold in the tears. They began to flow down her face and she looked back at her mother and simply replied,

"No".

She sobbed as the tears continued to fall. There was no use in trying to stop them now. Regina's body began to tremble. Her mother was starting to get through to her, and Regina knew that things weren't good when her mother was making sense.

"Then i'm going to tell you how you can prevent yourself from ever experiencing this type of pain again." Cora said.

Regina's eyes flickered. She was so eager to hear the secret that her mother held that could prevent her from ever feeling the agony that she was feeling ever again.

"How can I stop the pain mother?" Regina said desperately, feeling her heart now throbbing.

Cora's facial expression changed, from loving mother, to cold a sorceress. She took the hand that she had resting on Regina's chest and pushed it in. Regina's eyes widened as she shrieked out in pain. After a few seconds, Cora pulled back, and in in her cold hands, she held Regina's heart.

"Mother!…." Regina said, looking horrified that her mother had just torn her own daughter's heart out.

Cora held up the hand that was not holding Regina's heart, as to tell her to stop speaking.

" What do you feel?" Cora asked, looking at Regina with a smirk on her face.

Regina looked down, her eyes bewildered…..and then she realized. She…. felt better. The agony, the pain, the intense sadness that she felt only a few seconds ago was…. gone. Reina looked up at her mother, her eyes wide.

"I feel… nothing" Regina said as she looked at Daniel again.

She almost felt guilty about being able to look at his body and not feel the intense love that had grown to feel for him over the past year. But… then agin. Daniel was dead, and he was never coming back. There was no need for her to hold on to the pain of loosing him. She thought about the pain that she'd previously felt, and she shuddered at the thought. But… She couldn't just let go of the love that she felt for him. The pain that she felt from loosing him was almost unbearable, yes….. but the joy and the love that she had felt with him when he was alive was equally intense. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if she had ever stopped loving him. Daniel was the only person that truly understood her, and loved her for who she really was, and she would love him for that, whether he was dead or alive. In her eyes, love was something to be earned, and Daniel had more than earned her love for a lifetime. Cora watched Regina as she was lost in her thoughts, waiting for her to come out of them as she still held her heart in her hands. Regina went back and forth about it in her mind, and she decided that her heart would remain out of her chest… while she interacted with others in the daytime. But at night, when she was alone and lied in her bed chamber, she would return her heart it's rightful place in her chest, and allow both the pain that she felt from loosing Daniel, and the depth of the love the she felt for him, to gently lull her to sleep every night.

"I've made a decision", Regina said.

A look of satisfaction graced over Cora's face as she could see from the regal tone of voice that Regina now spoke in, that she had gotten what she wanted. Royalty… which meant Power.

"You were right mother. Love is weakness, and I can never be the Queen that I am destined to be if I allow frivolous distractions to get in my way." Regina said.

Even without her heart, Regina felt a pang in her chest from calling Daniel a frivolous distraction. But she quickly cast the emotion aside. Something that she would get used to doing, and eventually become very good at. Cora had a full blown smile on her face for the first time during this interaction. She then spoke.

"Regina, I am so happy that you finally came to see it my way. I love you so much sweetheart, and I know that you'll make a great Queen."

Regina smirked, trying to give her mother a smile.

"Thank you mother. Now, can I have my heart?" Regina said holding her hand out.

Cora looked into Regina's eyes with a skeptical look on her face, searching them for some possibility of deception, but she saw none. So she smiled.

"Of course sweetheart. Keep it somewhere safe.", Cora said looking at Regina with a dead serious face.

Regina nodded, taking the heart. Cora spoke again, this time in a disgustingly cheerful voice, satisfied with the outcome of the events that just occurred. She faced towards the exit of the stable.

" Now, shall we return to the castle so we can discuss our…. your wedding plans?" Cora said.

She said it as a question, but it was more of a statement.

" Yes mother", Regina replied.

Cora smiled and began to walk towards the exit. Regina slowly followed behind her, and as she saw Cora exit through the door frame into the night, Regina looked back at Daniel, and she looked at her heart that was glowing in her hand. She looked at the exit to make sure that her mother wasn't watching her. When she saw that Cora was still walking towards the castle, she quickly pushed he heart into her chest, and almost dropped to her knees from the pain and sorrow that immediately rushed through her entire body. Her eyes were once again wet, but she knew that she didn't have much time before Cora noticed that she wasn't behind her. Regina stood up straight over her Daniel's body and waved her hand over it in a half circle. Daniel's body immediately began to glow a purple glow. Regina looked at him for a few more moments, and placed her hand on his chest and leaned to whisper in his ear.

"I love you Daniel. No matter where this path that mother has me on takes me, I'll always love you with all my heart. You saw me when know one else did, and for that, I'll be forever grateful."

She looked at his face lovingly, and kissed his lips one last time. She let a tear fall down her face, and she finally stood up again. Regina brought her hand to her chest, trying to remember how exactly her mother did it. She felt her hand sink through and felt the pain of ripping her own heart out. She pulled it and looked at it, not knowing that this was the last time that she would see it completely red. Pure. At that moment, her facial expression changed, as she thought about the life that she had ahead of her. She wiped her face with her hands, and a new emotion flickered through the eyes that sorrow once shown through. This… was a look of ruthlessness. One of power, of confidence, and most of all, hatred. Regina never wanted this life, but now that it had been practically shoved down her throat, she would live it. She then made a decision. If a ruthless and powerful queen was what her mother wanted, then that was exactly what she would get. Regina took one last look at Daniel's body and snapped her fingers. Daniel's body disappeared into thin air. Regina looked without emotion at the empty hay stack where his body was, and she heard her mother calling her.

"Regina, are you coming dear?" Cora called.

Regina turned away from the haystack and replied,

"Yes mother", in the sweetest, most sarcastic voice that she could muster up.

She winced as she walked towards the exit. She even walked with a new attitude. When outside, Regina turned to close the doors of the stable. She took one more look inside, and whispered,

" Goodbye Daniel."

Although she didn't say it, that goodbye was not just meant for Daniel, but for herself as well. Regina had given her whole self to Daniel, and after the pain that she experienced that night, she made up her mind that the woman, the Regina that only HE had, would die with him. If this was what loosing someone you loved felt like, she didn't want anything to do with love. But she did have one last mission to accomplish in that department. She would become the Queen that her mother wanted her to be, but there was no way in the world that she was going to let those who were responsible for Daniel's death just….. live. No, as her last homage to him, she would spend the rest of her life making sure that she got revenge on EVERY person that had a part in his death. Starting with….. Snow White.