I listened intently as Regina began to tell me the story of her lost love.

"I guess it all started with me. I hated my life as queen. All I could ever think about was revenge. Revenge on Snow White." She looked at me hesitantly. Perhaps she thought that I'd be offended by this. I waited for her to continue. "Anyway, I was... Troubled, I suppose. I walked over to the balcony of my castle, only hoping to find answers somewhere. I didn't. I spent so much of my energy on finding answers that I didn't notice when the balcony began to break. I fell, and at the time, I thought it was to my death. But before I hit the ground, everything stopped. A little green fairy had stopped the fall. Perhaps you know about her; her name is Tinkerbell. We talked for a while, just us girls. She was so... Kind. I told her why I was the way I was. The way I still am. She told me I could still have my happy ending. To be honest I thought she was crazy. But I followed her anyway. She led me to a bar. Through the window, she showed me a man. 'See that man? The one with the lion tattoo?' she asked. 'That's your happy ending.' Then she began to leave. She told me that it was up to me to choose my happy ending. I almost walked in. For a brief moment, I pictured my life with this man. I saw a little baby that I could call my own, and I saw him coming home everyday from work. And for the first time in my life since Daniel died, I felt happiness. Then just as quickly as it came, the feeling left me. I ran. Away from the bar, away from the man, and away from happiness. I thought that I would never be happy unless I killed Snow White. Now I know I was wrong. I should've walked into that bar and met that man. Maybe then we could've had a happy ending."

Neither of us said anything for a long time. Regina, realizing exactly what it was that made her unhappy, had broken into another fit of tears. I took some time to think about what I had just heard. Regina could've had everything anyone wants in life: a happy ending. And yet she walked away from it all, making her life troubled and unhappy. Her story almost reminded me of the dream I had about Neal. Regina's happy ending was so close, but it was suddenly ripped away from her. Just like mine was. Stop it! I tried to tell myself. There was no way Neal was you happy ending! That wasn't true love! Then I remembered what Henry had said to me about happy endings and true love.

"You know," I told Regina, "a very wise person once told me 'Just because it wasn't easy doesn't mean it wasn't meant to be.'"

"Who told you that?" she asked.

"Henry."

"Always the optimist, isn't he?" she commented. And for the first time all day, Regina began to smile.

"So, I have a question. But only if you've calmed down."

"Well, I can't promise anything, but I guess we'll just have to see."

"Why were you looking for Henry this morning? What were you gonna tell him, that you and a random pirate hooked up?"

"You don't know the irony in that sentence. The 'random pirate' happens to be Captain Hook," she laughed.

Her face suddenly turned serious again, and I prepared for tears that never came. "I was going to tell Henry… I was going to tell him the story of this mystery man. And then, I was planning on looking for him."

"Look for him… With Henry?" There was no way this woman was taking my son from me. I didn't care how desperate she was.

"No, of course not. You wouldn't have let me take him anyway." The woman knew me well. "Besides, I know for a fact that he was not affected by the curse."

"How do you know that? What did you have Sidney look for a man with a lion tattoo?" She looked at me sheepishly. "Wait, you did what!? Regina you can't just- Wait. You said the man wasn't affected by the curse."

"Yes. I did."

"So that means… He's in the Enchanted Forest?"

"Yes, he is. And I need to find out how to get there."

"Okay, well let's think. Who do we know that would be able to find a way out of Storybrooke and back to the Enchanted Forest?" I paused briefly before realizing the obvious solution. "Gold. We have to go to Gold."

"Don't you think I already tried that? Besides, he's too busy 'planning a trip' to help anyone else other than Belle."

"What do you mean he's 'planning a trip'"?

"If I knew, I'd put a stop to it. But it certainly doesn't involve going back to the Forest."

"Ummm," I thought for a moment, "can you think of anything magical? Something that could create a portal of some sort…" I watched as her eyes suddenly brightened with a solution.

"A magic bean," she whispered.

"That's perfect, Regina! Do you have one of these magic beans?"

"No, I don't. I do, however, know where I can get one. But, in order to do that, I need your help."

"You need my help!? Regina, I don't know anything about magic."

"I know, Emma. But what I need you to do is nothing magical at all. In fact, this task may be right up your alley."

"And what's that?"

"I need you to steal from a pirate."

"Why did I agree to do this again?" I asked Regina as she prepared me for my "special mission". "If Henry ever finds out about this -"

"He won't," she assured me. "Henry is going to stay the night at my house and I will make sure that he doesn't know." She paused briefly, looking at me. "Why did you agree to do this Miss Swan? I was actually wondering that myself."

I thought for what felt like a very long time. Why was I helping Regina? All she ever did for me was threaten me and almost poison me. Regina's story was so much like my own, as far as happy endings go. We almost had it all: happiness, true love. The only difference between our stories was that Regina could do something to change that. As soon as I thought it, I knew that was the case. Of course, I couldn't tell Regina that.

"What can I say, Regina, I'm just a fan of true love I guess." That wasn't a complete lie.

"No there's more. I can feel it."

I sighed before telling Regina the whole story. "I guess your story just reminded me… of my life," I was finally able to tell someone other than Henry how I felt about Neal. And even Henry didn't know the whole truth. "I still love Neal. I thought he was my happy ending I guess... but he wasn't. Both of us could've had our happy ending. And both of us lost it. But you, Regina, you can change that. You can have your happy ending."

She didn't say anything for a very long time. Instead she just stared at me, trying to read my expression.

"Well," she told me, "we aren't exactly sure if I'll be able to change my happy ending or not."

"I guess I better not mess up then," I laughed.

"No," she smiled. "I suppose not."

I walked through the door of The Rabbit Hole, searching for my victim among the crowd. Just as I was about to walk out and tell Regina of my failure, I spotted him. Well, not him, but I spotted his hook. I ran through the plan in my head quickly before approaching him.

I found a seat close enough so he could hopefully see me and prayed that he would notice me. Luckily, Regina was right about the tight dress. I could feel his eyes search me up and down before he had even walked over to me. I tried my best to stay indifferent to his presence as he walked over to me.

"Some rum, for the lady," I heard him tell the bartender. I took this as my cue to "notice" him.

"Rum's kind of a strange choice to order for someone wouldn't you say?" I said as I looked over to him. But before either of us could say anymore, it was like the world had stopped. Hook was attractive, and not just your average guy-you-pick-up-at-the-bar attractive. He was supermodel material. Before I could let those thoughts take me anywhere, I reminded myself why I was here.

"Well?" I asked him. He still had yet to reply to me.

"Sorry, love. I was distracted by your beauty." One of his tricks. Regina had warned me early on about him, before we had even formed a solid plan for me to steal the bean. He knew how to talk to make a woman melt. It was my job not to fall for it. The last thing Regina needed was me falling for her ex-lover. "And rum never hurts."

"No I suppose not. So tell me, 'love', do you have a name?"

"Aye, I do. But that comes with a price."

"A price!?" I asked him incredulously. "What's the price?"

"A kiss perhaps?" He had to be kidding me. Is this how he planned to win me over? I decided to play along, for the sake of Regina. But a small part of me felt myself falling for his tricks.

"A kiss. And, what would the price be to, say, spend the rest of the night with you?" I asked suggestively.

"Ah, you see, love, that price is decided as it is paid," he told me as though he knew I would ask that question all along. Of course he expected that. He must've picked up a lot of girls before, his ego was blown way out of proportion.

"Well, I'm prepared to pay the price," I offered. "But first." I kissed him. It was just a quick kiss, the longer kiss, I knew, would come later. But even that small kiss set off a spark of electricity between us. The reaction was shocking. I had never felt this spark with Neal, never mind a complete stranger in a bar. I had written off this type of kiss as something of fairytales. But, I was learning that not everything that seems to be false is fiction.

"So, what's your name?"

"Killian. Killian Jones. Of course people tend to know me by my moniker, Captain Hook."

"Well, Hook, looks like you just found yourself some company for the night. I'm Emma Swan." And I would never admit it to Regina, but a part of me was looking forward to the night. A part of me was falling for his lies. A part of me was falling in love.