A/N Hi, to the ones that could have doubts if this is a stablequeen fanfic: No, it's not, my OTP is and forever will be SQ. However, I find that Daniel was the only man that could have been good for Regina if she hasn't ended up between Rumple's plan and her own mother's desires. That's why I want to play a little with both Daniel and Regina and see what Regina, the actual one, can be to the Daniel she once knew. It's part of the character development of the story and so Daniel will be in it. But, as I wrote in the previous author's note, this is going to be a SQ fanfic.

-2-

"Feeling better?"

Regina swallowed as her headache intensified, her tongue feeling heavy and useless between her teeth as Daniel kept smiling at her with all the warmth he had once looked at her back when they have been young.

She couldn't utter one single word as everything she could recall was how the man before her had asked her to love once again, to be happy, just before dissolving right in front of her eyes stealing the last thread of hope she had been holding that she could actually be with him. And now he was in front of her frowning with a worried look on his face as the silence kept growing between them.

"Regina?" He asked softly while kneeling right next to her. She looked down when she felt the shift on the mattress and looked absolutely mesmerized how one of his hands was close enough to her body to make her feel his body heat. "Love?"

Regina swallowed and looked up, her eyes looking to every part of his face, every pore, every wrinkle and gentleness that the man in front of her had or radiated. Slowly, she raised her own hand and touched Daniel's, not leaving the man's eyes for a second as she tried to discern if he was real.

"Daniel?" She asked as softly as she could, fearing that she would wake up at any second just to found herself in an alley trying to breathe through her injures. But as the man nodded and smiled with slightly worried eyes she found herself believing that what she was seeing was actually true.

"Are you ok?" The man asked when Regina didn't say anything else "Do you want to go to the healer? I think we can make him help you after what I gave him last month when he was short of supplies"

The woman shook her head once again as she tried to clear her thoughts, the darkness was growing with each passing minute and the cabin was now in a dimly lit state but Daniel's face and body looked that they were not only real but very much alive, not any single trace of magical curses marring their body.

"Healer?" She finally said picking up with what the man had been saying.

"Yes" The man explained to her with an equally confused expression "Do you need one? You told me that you were fine when you entered but now I'm not that sure, you fall from that ladder after all…"

"A ladder?" Regina repeated as she tried to recall such a thing but everything she could remember was Emma's magic blast hitting her and the darkness that had surrounded her after that. Grimacing and touching her back she found herself without any trace of magical injury but a few scratches on her arm that she hadn't see them the first time she had opened her eyes. Daniel was now looking at them and nodding to himself as if he had just reached an agreement.

"Yes, a ladder, a few hours back, you remember don't you? I told you that we needed to fabricate a new one or just buy it to someone but you were too stubborn and..." Daniel stopped midsentence as Regina kept staring at him with incomprehension shining on her eyes. "Regina, love, are you ok? You do remember the ladder don't you?"

Regina wanted to explain to him that she didn't remember anything he was telling her, that in fact he was very much dead and had been dead for a couple of years now. But she couldn't, something in the air, in her very bones told her otherwise and as she tried to reach her magic once again and found it useless the image of the broken quill came to her mind, the shattered pieces at her feet as she watched them helplessly, the magical blast engulfing her for a second before being abandoned to the darkness.

The quill.

Frowning, she looked at Daniel once again and tried to find any trace that the world she was in was just a magical mishap after the quill had broken but as the minutes passed and Daniel kept looking at her with a growing concern on his eyes she finally sighed and looked down; Emma's last words appearing on her mind for a second. "Take care, ok?"

"Yes, that's what I told you seconds before you crashed" Daniel said with a nod and a smile, seeming happy that Regina finally appeared to be remembering.

Regina raised her head, suddenly realizing she had said those words aloud. Biting her lip she tried to free herself from the cobwebs that filled her mind, Daniel looked alive but she didn't know if she was just in another realm or in a world created by the quill when it had been broken so the Daniel in front of her was just a mere projection.

"Daniel" She finally said as carefully as possible "Can you say me where are we?"

The man sighed and sat next to her, his hair partially hiding her eyes when he spoke up, worry lacing his words as she looked at Regina.

"In the enchanted forest next to the nearest place but no too near like you wanted. Does your head hurt?"

Regina muttered a soft no as she touched the aforementioned head. She felt a slight bump at one of its sides but nothing that couldn't be cured.

"No, it's just… In what reign are we?"

Now it was time to Daniel to look at her like she was a ghost. Or just losing her mind.

"There haven't been reigns in years Regina"

Green eyes closed lazily as the first stars appeared on the sky, the castle was now free from the noblemen and courtesans that wanted to ask for something and when the last one of them had finally abandoned the place pale hands touched equal fair temples and caressed them.

The day had been as long and boring as ever, and they sighed, feeling the tiredness growing inside of them just like they could feel the fear lurking in the two servants that were now crossing the main corridor and approaching the throne room as slowly as possible.

Sighing, they opened their eyes just a spec and raised their right brow when the servants finally entered. Dread filled the two men eyes as they bowed to their figure. Straightening slightly on the throne, which sparkled for a second because of the magic they released on it, they nodded, signaling the servants they could speak freely.

"Your majesty" One of the servants, the younger one they noted with vague interest, finally said after a few seconds in which the silence stretched painfully "You asked us to tell you when everything was ready"

They nodded, suddenly remembering the other part of their duties, the one they would like to do if it wasn't for the searing pain and blazing darkness that seemed to engulf them every time they did it.

"Very well then" They said evenly, standing from their throne and approaching the now slightly trembling servants. Smirking, they touched the younger's arm tenderly and narrowed their eyes, emeralds shining behind the narrowed eyelids in pure power. "Thank you for telling me…"

"Jack, your majesty" The man stuttered and they nodded regally before moving forward, their hand leaving the man's arm as if they had never touched.

They walked through an almost empty palace running into maids and servants that looked at the floor as soon as they saw them. At one point they stopped and enjoyed the final rays of the sun smiling when the moon glowed gloomily with them, the stars in the sky becoming more prominent under their eyes.

Sighing again they walked and left behind the windows until they entered in the darkest part of the place, one in where no one except them and the ones they allowed to could enter. The door that guarded that wing of the castle creaked under their hands and deep red colored lips parted in amusement as equally interested eyes landed on the two candles the servants had prepared at the other side of the door.

"They had surely made an effort" They said in mockery as they took the candles, each one supported by two candelabrum of the same dirty white shade their clothes were.

Once the door was closed and silence filled the wing once again they kept approaching the northern part of the palace with the candles illuminating their path. They could have light up the dozens of torches that were already at both sides of the corridor but they were too tired to even try to perform that spell. With a deep sigh they finally crossed the last door that was slightly opened and tilted their head, their white figure standing in the middle of the room while the candles kept illuminating the place until they arrived to the two thrones that hold two statues, each one made by what appeared to be alabaster.

Swallowing the foul taste that suddenly filled their mouth they took the final step and put the candles at their feet where dozens of burn out candles rested.

"Mother, Father" They said tonelessly but nothing else came out from their mouth after those words.

And so they kept silent until the candles light faded leaving the place in the same manner they had once entered; without saying anything and feeling the magic and the darkness growing slightly inside of them.

A/N Obviously is quite easy to spot who is the person that I'm talking about in the last part of the chapter but since they are going to be referred as "they" for a good part of the story I wanted to make it like that since the beginning

Side note: Just a question, how longer do you prefer to have each chapter?