(StoryBrooke-Present):
Henry is watching the clock tower from outside his bedroom window, when it suddenly moves. The next day, Mary Margaret and Emma who is sitting in her high chair are eating breakfast. Mary Margaret is surprised to see that the clock is working again. Rose wakes up, gets out of bed and looks out the window in her room at the inn. Meanwhile, everyone else in town just continues with their normal everyday lives. Archie is walking his dog Pongo, while Mr. Gold walks past him. Ruby is putting out the sign for Granny's Diner. Regina is reading Henry's fairy tale book and notices that some of the pages are missing. Regina storms into Henry's room and opens the book showing the section where the missing pages were. "The missing pages - where are they?" Henry shrugged. "It's an old book. Stuff's missing. Why do you care?" "I care because you think I'm some evil queen. And that hurts me, Henry. I'm your mother." "No, you're not." "Well, then who is? That woman you brought here? I don't like what she and this book are doing to you. Thankfully, both are no longer an issue." She notices Henry looks nervous. "What?" The clock chimes, and Regina looks up shocked. Henry leaves while she is distracted.
Regina heads to the town square. Archie is out walking Pongo. "Hey, how about that? Guess those rusty ol' innards finally straightened themselves out, huh?" Regina looks across the street and sees Rose's car parked on the side of the road. "Yes, how about that, indeed."
Rose is drinking coffee and reading a book when there is a knock at the door, she walks to the door opens it and sees Regina with a basket of apples in her arms. "Oh, hello Madam Mayor. Can I help you?" Regina smiles warmly, "Did you know the Honey-crisp tree is the most vigorous and hearty of all apple trees? It can survive temperatures as low as forty below and keep growing. It can weather any storm. I have one that I've tended to since I was a little girl." Regina takes a bright red apple from her basket. "And to this day, I have yet to taste anything more delicious than the fruit it offers." Regina hands out the apple to Rose who looks confused but takes it anyway. "Um... Well... Thank you, Madam Mayor." Regina holds out the basket to Rose, "I'm sure you'll enjoy them on your drive home." "A-Actually, I plan o-on staying for a week." "I'm not sure that's such a good idea. Henry has enough issues. He doesn't need you confusing him." "L-Look, I know what your thinking. But I am not trying to steal Henry from you. I just want to make sure he's ok." Regina smiled reassuringly. "He's fine, dear. Any problems he has are being taken care of." Rose frowned, "What does that mean?" "It means I have him in therapy. It's all under control. Take my advice, Miss Swan. Only one of us knows what's best for Henry." Rose shrugged. "I-I couldn't agree with you more, but I think it's best if I stay for the week." "It's time for you to go." "W-Why?" Regina leans in. "Don't underestimate me, Miss Swan. You have no idea what I'm capable of."
(The Enchanted Forest-Past):
At Snow White and Prince Charming's wedding, The Evil Queen is threatening everyone. "I shall destroy your happiness, if it is the last thing I do." The Evil Queen turns around and makes her way toward the exit. Prince Charming calls after The Evil Queen. "Hey!" The Queen turns to face him. Charming throws his sword at her, but she disappears in a cloud of dark purple smoke. The Evil Queen reappears in her castle. The Prince's sword out of nowhere shoots past her and becomes embedded into the wall. An elderly man comes toward The Queen holding a tray of drinks on it. "Would you like something to drink?" The Evil Queen glares at the man. "Do I look like I need a drink?" She snapped. "I was only trying to help." He hands one of the drinks to The Evil Queen and she reluctantly takes it. "Thank you." In the mirror on the wall behind her, a man's face appears and speaks. "Now, that was an awfully big threat. Destroy everyone's happiness? How do you plan on accomplishing that?" The Evil Queen smirked, "The dark curse." The man in the mirror and her servant look shocked and scared. They try to reason with her. "Are you sure, Your Majesty?" The magic mirror speaks. "But you said you'd never use it." "You made a deal when you gave away that curse." "You traded it away." "She won't be happy to see you." The Queen glares at her servant. "Since when do I care about anyone else's happiness but mine? Prepare the carriage. We're going to the forbidden fortress." The Evil Queen walks away with a malicious grin on her face.
In the mountains lies a dark and ominous castle. Inside the castle The Evil Queen and Maleficent are sitting in front of a very large fire place. "How are you, dear?" "I'm doing fine." Maleficent smirked. "Are you? If it were me, I'd be simply tortured watching that flake of Snow so happy. Weren't you about the same age when you were to be married? Before she ruined it all." The Evil Queen glared at Maleficent. "Yes, you were." The Queen smirked back. "Yes, it was about the same age you were when that Sleeping Beauty got the best of you, my dear Maleficent." Maleficent shrugged, "I soldiered on, as you will too. Hopefully." "Enough games." The Queen snapped. "You know why I'm here. I need my curse back." Maleficent smirked. "It's not yours anymore. A deal's a deal. I traded you my sleeping curse." "Which failed. Undone by a simple kiss. Now please, return what's mine." The Evil Queen demanded. Maleficent scoffed. "The dark curse? Really? You must know that not even it's unholy power can bring your loved one back from the dead. Have you considered a pet? They can be quite comforting." Maleficent said, stroking her pet unicorn gently on the head. The Queen sneered at Maleficent, "The only comfort for me is Snow White's suffering." Maleficent shrugged smirking at The Evil Queen. "Well, it's her wedding night. I doubt she's suffering right now." The Evil Queen has had enough. "I need that curse. I know you keep it hidden in the orb above your staff." "Hidden for the good of all, old friend. Whoever created that monstrosity, makes the two of us look positively... Moral. Who did give it to you?" The Evil Queen slowly arises from her chair. "Where I got it's none of your concern. Hand it back." The Queen snarled. Maleficent smirked. "Must we do this?" The Evil Queen smirked back, "Alas, we must." The Queen magically controls the fire in the fire place. Maleficent jumps up and flies away from her chair armed and ready with her staff, The Queen aims the fire at Maleficent, who deflects it with her staff. Finally, The Evil Queen uses her magic to summon multiple weapons in the room. She changes her aim from Maleficent to her pet unicorn. Maleficent takes notice of The Queen's intentions. "No!" Maleficent jumps in front of her unicorn, once again deflecting The Evil Queen's magic. While Maleficent is distracted, The Queen uses her magic to make the chandelier fall on top of Maleficent trapping her. The Evil Queen bends down and picks up Maleficent's staff. "Love is weakness, Maleficent. I thought you knew that?" Maleficent glared at The Queen, "If you're going to kill me, kill me!" The Queen looks at Maleficent. "Why would I do that? You're my only friend." "Don't do this. This... Curse. There are lines even we shouldn't cross. All power comes with a price. Enacting it will take a terrible toll. It will leave an emptiness inside you. A void that you will never be able to fill." Maleficent warns The Queen. The Queen looks at Maleficent. "So be it."
The Evil Queen, along with other villains are standing at the end of the forest around a fire. The Queen addresses them, "Who among us is tired of losing? That's why I called you here. To put an end to our misery. Today, we claim victory and move to a new, better realm. A place where we can finally win." An old woman with her eyes sewn shut speaks. "And we'll be happy?" The Evil Queen smirked, "I guarantee it. But first, I need something from you. A lock of hair from those with the darkest souls. You must trust me. Because if you don't, there are other ways." The Queen uses her magic to make the trees around them grow taller until the villains are completely surrounded. The villains give in, and each of them pluck their hair. The Queen holds out a basket for the locks and each of the villains put them in it. "A wise decision. All that remains is the final ingredient." The Evil Queen's servant holds out a little chest and opens it for her, The Queen reaches in and pulls out a heart. "The prized heart from my childhood steed. The glorious beast whose passing will fuel our victory. Let my wrath be unleashed." The Evil Queen threw the heart into the fire. A large pillar of dark smoke appears briefly, but then the smoke suddenly disappears. An evil gnome starts cackling, "Yeah, you really unleashed something, there." The Evil Queen uses her magic to turn the gnome into a stone statue and storms off.
(StoryBrooke-Present):
In Regina's garden is the gnome from the Enchanted Forest. Regina is picking apples from her tree. A man walks up behind her holding a newspaper, Rose is on the front page of the paper. He holds up the paper to show it to Regina. "The Mirror strikes again!" Regina glared at the man, "You're late." "Sorry. I wanted to bring you the latest edition. I assure you it's one of my better hatchet jobs." Regina frowns and takes the paper. "That's not what I asked for. What'd you find out about her?" The man shrugs, "Well, the truth be told, there wasn't much. She spent a lot of time in foster homes. Sh-she got into some trouble when she was a kid, ah, but the details are locked up pretty tight. Since then, she's clean. Bounced around all over. The only thing I really learned was that she doesn't like to sit still." "Well, that appears to have changed." "D-did you know that, um, she had Henry while she was in Phoenix? Huh, how'd he wind up here in Maine?" Regina glared at him. "So, if I'm understanding you correctly, you found nothing of value. Which means you have no value, Sidney. Do you know what I do with things that hold no value to me? I throw them away." Sidney looks nervous. "I-I'll keep looking."
Rose is at Granny's Diner, reading the newspaper and eating the apple that Regina gave her. Ruby walks over and sets down a hot cocoa in front of her. "Here you go." Rose looks confused. "Thank you. But I did not order that." Ruby smirks and puts her elbows on the table. "Yeah, I know. You have an admirer." Rose looks over at another table and sees Graham sitting there. She gets up from her table and walks over to him. Graham smiles warmly at Rose. "Ah, so you decided to stay." Rose looks down at her shoes, "Um... Yeah, I guess I did." Graham's smile widened. "It's good news for our tourist business, it's bad for our local signage." Rose tilted her head looking confused. "It's... It's a joke. It's because you ran over our sign." "L-Look, thanks for the cocoa but I'm just not in the mood for talking right now." "I didn't send it." "I did." Rose looks at a table behind Graham and sees Henry sitting there. "I like cinnamon, too." Rose frowned, "Henry what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at school?" "Duh. I'm ten. Walk me."
Rose and Henry are walking down the sidewalk, heading for the bus stop. "So, what's the deal w-with you and your mom?" "It's not about us, it's about her curse. We have to break it. Luckily, I have a plan. Step one - identification. I call it Operation Cobra." Rose frowned. "Cobra? T-That has nothing to do with fairy tales." Henry nodded, "Exactly. It's a code name to throw the Queen off the trail." "So, everyone here is a fairy tale character. They just don't know it." "That's the curse. Time's been frozen - until you got here." Rose takes a bite of her apple, and Henry notices the apple. "Hey! Where'd you get that?" Rose shrugged. "Your mom." Henry takes the apple from her hand. "Don't eat that!" He throws it over his shoulder. Rose looks stunned and confused. "O-Ok, uh... Alright. What about their pasts?" "They don't know. It's a haze to them. Ask anyone anything. And you'll see." So, for decades, people have been walking around in a haze, not aging, with screwed up memories, stuck in a cursed town that kept them oblivious." Henry smiled at Rose, "I'd knew you'd get it. That's why we need you. You are the only one who can stop her curse." "Because I'm the daughter of King Leopold and Queen Eva and Snow White's sister." Henry nods his head. "Yes. And right now, we have the advantage. My mom doesn't know that. I took out the part with you in it. See? Your mom is Queen Eva and your dad is King Leopold." Rose sighed. "Henry..." "I know the hero never believes at first. If they did, it wouldn't be a very good story. If you need proof, take them. Read them. But what ever you do, don't let her see these pages. They're dangerous. If she finds out who you are, then it would be bad." They reach the school. "I got to go. But I'll find you later and we can get started. I knew you'd believe me!" "H-Henry wait... I never said I did." "Why else would you be here?" Henry goes into the school. Mary Margaret sees Rose and walks over to her. "It's good to see his smile back." Rose shook her head and looked down at her shoes. "I didn't do anything." Mary Margaret smiled. "You stayed. So, does the Mayor know you're still here?" "Um... Yeah she knows. What is her deal? S-She's not a great people person. How did she get elected?" Mary Margaret shrugged. "She's been mayor for as long as I can remember. No one's ever been brave enough to run against her. She inspires quite a bit of, well, fear. I'm afraid I only made that worse by giving Henry that book. Now he thinks she's the Evil Queen." "Who does he think you are?" Mary Margaret chuckled, "Oh, it's silly." "I just got five minutes of s-silly. Lay it on me." "Snow White." Rose is shocked. "Who does he think you are?" Rose shook her head. "I-I'm not in the book. Can I ask you a favor? Regina mentioned Henry's in therapy. Do you know where I could find the doctor?"
Archie is in his office thinking about Rose when there's a knock on the door and the door opens. Rose enters the room, she blushes and looks down at her feet. "H-Hey A-Archie." Archie smiled warmly, "Rose Swan. I was, uh, just reading about you. Let me guess - you're here for a little help with post traumatic stress? ...That diagnosis was free, by the way." Rose smiled shyly. "N-No, I'm here about Henry." Archie's smile faded, "I'm sorry. I... I really shouldn't-" "I know, I'm sorry. J-Just tell me something. This fairy tale obsession - what is causing it? I mean, he thinks everyone is a character in his b-book. That's... Crazy." "I-I hope you don't talk that way in front of him. The word crazy is, um, quite damaging. These stories... They're his language. He has no idea how to express complex emotion, so he's translating as best he can. This is how he communicates, when he's using this book to help deal with his problems." "B-But he got the book a month ago. Has he been seeing you longer than that?" "Um, yes, he has." S-So it's Regina, isn't it?" Archie sighed, "Uh, his mother is, uh, a very complicated woman. And, uh, over the years, her attempts to try and bring Henry close to her only backfired." Archie walks over to his cabinet and gets Henry's file and hands it to Rose. "Why don't you take a look at the file? Um, see what I mean." "W-Why are you doing this?" Archie shrugged. "We talked about you a lot. And you're very important to him." "Thank you." "Just, uh, see that I get it back, ok? And Rose. Just for the sake of the boy, be careful how to handle his belief system. Destroying his imagination would be... Be devasting." Rose leaves with the file in hand. Archie goes to the phone and dials a number. "You were right. She was just here." "Did she take the file?" "Yes. H-How did you know that she was going to come here?" "Because I'm the one who gave her the idea."
Rose is sitting on her bed at the inn, flipping through Henry's file when there is a knock on the door. She gets up from the bed, walks to the door and opens it and she sees that it's Graham. She smiles warmly at Graham. "Hi Graham. What's up?" "Um... I'm here about Dr. Archibald Hopper. He mentioned you got into a bit of a row with him earlier?" "W-What? No I didn't." Graham smiles sadly, "I was shocked too. And given your shy, delicate sensibilities it was quite a surprise... He says you demanded to see Henry's files and when he refused, you came back and stole them." "Rose was shocked and hurt. 'Why would he lie about this?' "No... T-That's not t-true. H-He gave them to me." Graham looked concerned and curious. "I'm sorry Rose, but alas he's telling a different tale. Now, may I check your room? Or, must I get a search warrant?" Rose, with a shocked look on her face let's him inside her room. Graham sees the papers from Henry's file strewn all over the bed. Graham sighs and turns to Rose. "I'm sorry Rose. But I have no choice. I'm afraid you're under arrest. Again." Rose backs away slowly as Graham takes out the handcuffs. "N-No. I would n-never do something like this. Graham, you have to believe me." Graham walks toward her slowly, gently takes her hands and puts the cuffs on them. "I do believe you Rose, but I'm sorry I have to take you in. Just cooperate and everything will be ok. I'll prove your innocence, but you have to cooperate... Ok?" Rose's eyes water and she nods slowly, "O-Ok."
Regina is walking down the street to where Henry, Mary Margaret and his class are sitting and studying. "-water, synthesize." Regina interrupts Mary Margaret. "Ahem." Mary Margaret looks up at Regina, stands up and walks over to her. "May I speak with my son?" "We're in the middle of a lesson, Is it important?" Regina glares at Mary Margaret. "Do you think I'd be here if it wasn't?" Regina brushes past Mary Margaret and walks over to Henry. "Henry, sweetie, I have some bad news. The woman who you brought here - she's been arrested. She broke into Dr. Hopper's office and stole his files. She's a con woman. She's trying to learn about us in order to take advantage of us. That's why she's sticking around. I'm sorry." "No, you're not." Regina sighed. "I know you think otherwise, but all I'm doing is trying to protect you. This is going to be good for us. You'll see. Things will be better." The school bell rings. "I got to get back to class." Henry walks away.
At the police station, Graham is taking Rose's mugshot. Graham sends her an apologetic look. "To the right, please." Rose turns to the right, her eyes still red from crying. "To the left." All of a sudden, Henry and Mary Margaret run in. "Hey!" Graham is surprised to see them. "Henry! What are you doing here?" "His mother told him what happened." Graham sighed "Of course she did." Rose looks at Henry with a worried expression on her face. "H-Henry, I don't know what she said-" Henry interrupts her, "You're a genius." Rose frowned. "W-What?" Henry smiled, "I know what you were up to. You were gathering Intel for Operation Cobra." Graham frowned. "I'm sorry. I'm a bit lost." "It's need to know, Sheriff. And all you need to know is that Miss Blanchard's going to bail her out." Rose looks at Mary Margaret surprised. "You are? W-Why?" "I, uh, trust you." Graham smiles, takes out the handcuff keys and unlocks the cuffs. "Thank you Graham." Graham nods, "It was no trouble at all." Rose, Mary Margaret and Henry leave the station.
Archie is walking Pongo and feeling guilty about what he did to Rose, when he sees her walking down the street with her eyes red and tears rolling down her cheeks. He feels even more guilty than before. He walks toward her and calls out her name. "Rose!" Rose looks up, glares at him and walks faster while brushing past him, but he gently grabs her arm. "Rose, please listen to me." Rose looks up at him her voice shaky. "I have nothing to say to you." "Rose, please j-" "You just stay away from me! Your a coward." Archie looks at her apologetically. "Rose... I know nothing can make up for what I did. But I want you to know that I am truly sorry. With time I hope you can forgive me." Archie kisses her on the forehead and walks away, while Rose watches him with a small smile on her face and whispers. "I forgive you, Archie."
(The Enchanted Forest-Past):
The Evil Queen and her servant are standing where the failed curse had taken place. "Maybe it's for the best. The forces you are summoning are darker than we can conceive." The Queen glares at him. "Oh? Now you're trying to protect me?" "It's what I do." The Queen had a sad expression on her face. "I know. You're the only one who does." "Helping you is my life." "Well then help me understand why this curse isn't working." "If you want to know that, then you need to go back to the person who gave it to you in the first place. Revenge is a dark and lonely road and once you go down it, there is no heading back." "What is there for me to head back to?" The Evil Queen storms off leaving her servant alone.
Deep in the dungeon where Rumpelstiltskin is imprisoned, there are mice running around. "It's just us, dearie. You can show yourself." One of the mice leaves the cell and a cloud of dark smoke appears surrounding the mouse, transforming itself into it's true form... The Evil Queen. She takes out the scroll with the curse on it. "That curse you gave me - it's not working." Rumpelstiltskin giggles maliciously. "Oh so worried. So, so worried. Like Snow and her lovely new husband." "What?" "They paid me a visit, as well. They were anxious... About you and the curse." The Queen walks up to the cell, "What'd you tell them?" "The truth! That nothing can stop the darkness. Except, of course, Snow White's eldest sister... Princess Rose Red." The Evil Queen frowned. "She doesn't have a sister." "Oh yes she does! You're mother placed a curse upon her and King Leopold and Queen Eva had to send her through a magic mirror to save her. You see, no matter how powerful, all curses can be broken. Her sister is the key. Of course, the curse has to be enacted first." "Tell me what I did wrong." "For that, there's a price." "What do you want?" "Simple. In this new land, I want comfort. I want a good life." The Queen interrupts him, "Fine. You'll have an estate. Be rich." "I wasn't finished. There's more!" "There always is with you." "In this new land, should I ever come to you for any reason, you must heed my every request. You must do whatever I say. So long as I say 'please'." "You do realize, that should I succeed, you won't remember any of this." "Oh, well then. What's the harm?" The Evil Queen smiles. "Deal. What must I do to enact this curse?" "You need to sacrifice a heart." "I sacrificed my prized steed." Rumpelstiltskin lunges at The Queen, reaches through the bars and grabs her face in his hand. "A horse? This is the curse to end all curses. You think a horse is going to do? Great power requires great sacrifice. The heart you need must come from something far more precious." "Tell me what will suffice." "The heart of the thing you love most." The Evil Queen grabs Rumpelstiltskin roughly. "What I love most died because of Snow White." "Ooh. Is there no one else you truly love? This curse isn't going to be easy. Vengeance never is, dearie. You have to ask yourself the simple question. How far are you willing to go?" The Queen leans in, "As far as it takes." "Then please don't waste everyone's time and just do it. You know what you love. Now go kill it." The Queen storms out of the dungeon.
(StoryBrooke-Present):
Rose unlocks the door to her room, opens it and walks in. Granny follows her. "Miss Swan. Oh my, this is terribly awkward. Uh, I need to ask you to leave. I'm afraid we have a 'no felons' rule. It... It turns out it's a city ordinance." Rose was in shock, "B-But... I didn't break into Archie's office. I-I didn't steal anything!" Granny looked at Rose sympathetically. "I know you didn't dear." Rose's eyes watered, "T-Then why are y-you kicking me out if you know I didn't do anything wrong?" Granny looked at her with regret. "I'm sorry Rose, but I have no choice... You can gather your things, but I need to have your room key back." Rose with tears in her eyes slowly gives the key to Granny. Granny reluctantly takes the key from Rose and took her in her arms. Rose hugs her back and cries into her shoulder. "I-I d-didn't do a-anything wrong." Granny rubs her back and says soothingly. "Shh, I know dear, I know."
Regina is picking apples from her tree and putting them in her basket. Graham arrives, walking up behind her. "So, how's your little felon handling being locked up again?" Graham sighed. "Miss Blanchard bailed her out." Regina turned to face him angrily, "What?" Graham shrugged. "It's for the best. I'm just not convinced arresting her is the right plan. We both know she didn't steal those files." Regina storms up to him, "Oh, do we?" "I mean, she looked pretty shocked when I leveled the charges against her." "It's because she doesn't like being caught." "Or because she was set up. And if she was, that means Dr. Hopper was lying. And if he's lying, that means that someone asked him to. Are we really confident that the man's conscience won't eventually get the best of him?" Regina sneered at Graham. "I think your schoolboy crush is clouding your judgement. Remember - I made you sheriff. And I can take it away just as easily." "If you want me to arrest her again, I will." Regina looks satisfied, "Good." "But she's going to keep seeing Henry. And I know that you're going to keep coming at her and you will do whatever it takes to get her out of here and you may succeed." "No, I will succeed. He's my son. It's what's best for him." Graham sighs, "I know that's what you believe. Yeah, but if this escalates, it seems to me the only one who will get hurt is Henry." Graham walks away leaving Regina lost in thought.
Rose is walking down the street, she looks over to her car and sees a parking boot on it. Her cellphone rings, she answers it. "Hello?" "Miss Swan, I'd be happy to continue demonstrating my power, but am I right in guessing your resolve to stay is only growing?" Rose sighed. "Umm... Yeah." "Well then. I think it's time we made peace. Why don't you drive over to my office? Or walk, whatever suits you." Regina hangs up and Rose rolled eyes and sighed. "Ok... Time for a professional opinion." Rose walks off to Archie's office.
Archie is sitting at his desk when there's a knock at the door. Archie looks confused. 'It's not time for Henry's session yet. Who could it be?' Archie gets up from his desk chair, walks over to the door and opens it. He is surprised and happy to see Rose. "Rose... What are you doing here." "I forgive you." Archie is shocked, "What?" "I forgive you for what you did. I know Regina set you up." Archie smiled. "I'm glad that you forgive me, Rose. So... What brings you here?" "I, uh, came to ask you for your opinion on something." "Oh, well please come in." Archie holds the door open for Rose, she walks in and sits on the couch. Archie sits on the couch across from Rose. "Ok, so what is it you wanted to talk to me about?" Rose played with her hands nervously. "Well... Um... Regina called me and said she wanted to make peace. Well, what should I do? Should I just avoid her or should I go see her?" Archie smiled warmly. "Well, you want to do what's best for Henry. So I think the wise decision is to make peace with Regina." Rose smiled back. "Thanks Archie. I'll do it." Rose got up along with Archie and shook his hand. Than she stood up on her toes and kissed Archie on the cheek. Archie blushed and when Rose left his office he touched the cheek that Rose had kissed and smiled. Things were definitely turning around for him.
Regina and Rose are sitting in her office. "I'd like to start by apologizing, Miss Swan." Rose looks stunned. "What?" Regina shrugged, "I just have to accept the reality that you want to be here." "Yes. I do." "And that you're here to take my son from me." Rose sighed. "L-Look, I-I have no intention of taking him from anyone." "Well, then, what are you doing here?" "I-I know I'm not a mother. That much is true. But I did give birth to him. And I can't help that he got in my head and I want to make sure he's ok. The more you try and push me out, the more I want to be here. E-Especially after seeing how troubled he is." "You think he's troubled?" "Well, he's in therapy. And I only got through a couple of pages of Archie's notes before you had me arrested. But putting all that aside. He thinks everyone in this town is a fairy tale character." "And you don't?" "H-How can I? Henry can't tell the difference between fantasy and reality and it's only getting worse. I-It's crazy." "You think I'm crazy?" Rose freezes than turns around and sees Henry standing right behind her with a sad look on his face. "H-Henry..." Henry runs out of the room. "H-How long was he t-there?" Regina smirked. "Long enough." Rose turned to face Regina, "Y-You knew he would be here." "Did I know that my son comes to my office every Thursday at precisely 5:00 P.M. so I can take him out for dinner before his therapy session? Of course I did. I'm his mother. Your move." Rose's eyes start to water. "Congratulations. You've won." Rose walks out of the office leaving Regina grinning in victory.
(The Enchanted Forest-Past):
The Evil Queen storms down the hall of her castle. There are several mirrors on the wall. The slave in the mirror appears in mirror after mirror. "What happened?" The Queen ignores him and keeps walking. "Did you get your answer? What's going on? Your Majesty? Your Majesty!" She enters her bedroom where her servant is lighting candles. He turn his attention to The Queen, "Did Rumpelstiltskin tell you what you needed to know?" The Queen brushes past him. "Yes." "And?" The Evil Queen stops and responds. "I'm not sure I should say. I'm conflicted." "How bad is it? Maybe I can help." The Queen turns to face him. "I have to cut out the heart of the thing I love most." "Me?" The Evil Queen's eyes water. "Daddy, I don't know what to do." "My dear, please. You don't have to do this." "I have to do something." "Then move past this. I know this may sound self-serving, but you don't need to enact this curse." The Queen looks devastated. "But I can't keep living like this. What Snow did to me, what she took from me? It's eating me alive, Daddy. Her very existence mocks me. She must be punished." Her father objects. "But, if the price is a hole that will never be filled, why do it? Stop worrying about Snow White and start over. We can have a new life." "But what kind of life? All I've worked for, all I've built, would be gone. My power will disappear. They already think I'm nothing." Her father hugs her. "Power is seductive. But so is love. You can have that again." A tear rolls down The Queen's cheek. "I just want to be happy." "You can be. Of this I'm sure. But I believe, given the chance, we can find happiness. Together. But the choice is yours." The Evil Queen nods her head slowly. "I think you're right. I can be happy." Her father smiles warmly at her. "...Just not here." The Evil Queen plunges her hand into her father's chest and rips out his heart, he falls to the ground dead. Tears fall down The Queen's cheeks. "I'm sorry..." She walks away, taking the heart with her.
(StoryBrooke-Present):
Mary Margaret is at home sewing a shirt at the table, Emma is in her high chair eating animal crackers. Emma picks up a elephant and holds it out to Mary Margaret. "Momma eat!" Mary Margaret smiles warmly, laughs and takes the animal cracker. "Why thank you Emma. Now you have to finish eating so I can get you ready for bed, ok?" Emma nods her little head up and down with a smile on her face. Mary Margaret smiles and kisses Emma on the forehead, after Emma finishes eating her animal crackers Mary Margaret puts down the shirt she was sewing and takes Emma out of her high chair. "Ok, my little sunflower. Time for bed." Mary Margaret walks up the stairs with Emma in her arms. In Emma's room Mary Margaret sits Emma gently on the bed, goes to the closet and pulls out two sets of footie pajamas. "Ok, Emma what pjs do you want to wear tonight? Your purple ballerina pajamas or your pink unicorn pajamas?" Emma points her little finger at the purple footie pajamas. Mary Margaret nods, "Ok the ballerina pajamas it is, let's get you in them." Mary Margaret takes off Emma's day clothes and puts on her footie pajamas. "Ok sweetheart, your all dressed up for bed." Emma pouts and crosses her arms, "No bed!" Emma pushes past Mary Margaret and toddles down the stairs. Mary Margaret smiles and chases after her. When Emma reaches the kitchen she turns around and sees her mommy very close by. "Uh oh." Emma toddles to the living room to watch tv, when Mary Margaret finally catches up to her and picks her up. "Oh no you don't, you little roadrunner. Come here. Oh gotcha! Did you really think you could escape the tickle monster?" Emma nods her head and smiles. Mary Margaret laughs. "Oh really, well I'm going to... Tickle you!" Mary Margaret tickles Emma who immediately starts giggling. "Oh yes! You can't escape the wrath of the tickle monster!" Mary Margaret stops tickling her when there's a knock at the door, Mary Margaret opens the door while carrying Emma. There standing in the doorway is Rose. "H-Hey. Sorry to bother you. Just wanted to say t-thank you and, um, pay you back the bail money." Rose hands Mary Margaret an envelope. Mary Margaret takes the envelope. "You look like you need to talk." Rose enters the apartment. Mary Margaret is making them hot cocoa. Rose noticed that she put some cinnamon in the cocoa. "Cinnamon?" "Oh, I'm sorry. I should've asked. It's a little quirk of mine. Do you mind?" "N-Not at all." Mary Margaret walks to the table and sets down the mugs, and gives Emma a sippy cup of hot chocolate. "Oh thanks." "Tank you momma!" Mary Margaret smiles and kisses Emma on the forehead. "Your welcome, my little princess." "When you bailed me out, you said you trusted me. W-Why?" Mary Margaret shrugged, "It's strange. Ever since you arrived here, I've had the oddest feeling like we met before. And, I know it's crazy." Rose smiled. "I'm starting to re-evaluate my definition of crazy." Mary Margaret smiled back. "For what it's worth, I think you're innocent." Rose raised her eyebrow. "O-Of breaking and entering, or just in general?" Mary Margaret smirked. "Whichever makes you feel better." Rose sighed "It doesn't really matter what anyone thinks I did or didn't do. I'm l-leaving. Thank you - for everything - but I think it's for the best. If I s-stay, Henry's only going to keep getting hurt." Mary Margaret frowned, "What happens if you go?" Rose ponders that thought and shrugs. "I don't know." "I think the very fact that you want to leave, is why you have to stay. You care about him. Who will protect Henry if you won't? And besides I know some one else who will be very sad if you do leave." Rose looks at Mary Margaret with a shocked expression on her face, blushes and looks down at her shoes. "Yeah... I guess." Mary Margaret smirked and took a sip of her cocoa. Emma looked at Rose and pointed at her. "Wose Wed!" Mary Margaret and Rose look at each other and burst into laughter.
Henry is in Archie's office for his therapy session. "Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?" Henry ignores him and continues to fiddle with Archie's umbrella. "You know, that umbrella kind of is my good luck charm. Is that why you think I'm Jiminy Cricket?" Henry leans the umbrella against the table. "I don't think you're anyone." The door swings open and Rose barges into the room. Archie gets up from his seat. "Rose... What are you doing here?" "I'm sorry to bother you, but I needed to see him." Rose looks at Henry. "Henry, I'm sorry. " "I don't want to talk to you." "Rose, if she knew you were here-" "I know, but this is something I have to do. Henry, there is one simple reason I stayed here. You. I wanted to get to know you." "You think I'm crazy." "No, I think the curse is crazy. And it is. But, that doesn't mean that it isn't true. It is a lot to ask anyone to believe in, but there are a lot of crazy things in this world. So what do I know. Maybe it is true." "But you told my mom." "What she needed to hear. What I do know, is that if the curse is real, the only way to break it is by tricking the Evil Queen into thinking that we are non-believers. Cause that way, she's not on to us." Rose looks up at Archie who smiles warmly and nods. "Isn't that what Operation Cobra was all about? Throwing her off the trail?" Henry smiles. "Brilliant!" Rose takes out the missing pages, "I've read the pages and, Henry, you are right. They are dangerous. There is only one way to make sure that she never sees them." Rose stands up and throws the pages into the fireplace. Rose turns to Henry. "Now we have the advantage." Henry hugs Rose. "I knew you were here to help me." Rose hugs him back. "That's right, Henry. I am. And nothing, not even a curse, is going to stop that." Rose looks at Archie with a grateful expression on her face. "Thank you Archie." Archie nods. "Your welcome Rose."
(The Enchanted Forest-Past):
The Evil Queen is once again at the cliff where she previously tried to enact the curse. She takes out her father's heart and throws it into the fire. All of a sudden a large pillar of smoke appears once again but this time, it doesn't dissipate. The Queen walks over to a tombstone and places a red rose at the base of it. "I love you, Daddy." The tombstone has the name 'Henry' imprinted on it.
(StoryBrooke-Present):
Rose and Henry are leaving Archie's office together. Meanwhile, Regina is still admiring her apple tree. Mr. Gold arrives. "What a lovely night." "Yes it is. What could I do for you, Mr. Gold?" Mr. Gold shrugs. "I was in the neighborhood. Thought I'd pop by. Lovely to see you in such high spirits." Regina smiles. "Well, it's been a good day. I just rid the town of an unwanted nuisance." "Rose Swan. Really?" "Yes. I imagine she's half way to Boston by now." "Oh, I wouldn't bet on that. I just seen her strolling down the main street with your boy. Thick as thieves, they looked." Regina looks at him shocked. "What?" "Perhaps you should have come to me. If Miss Swan is a problem you can't fix, I'm only too happy to help. For a price, of course." "I'm not in the business of making deals with you anymore." "To which deal are you referring?" "You know what deal." Mr. Gold smirked. "Oh, right. Yeah. The boy I procured for you. Henry. Did I ever tell you what a lovely name that was? However did you pick it?" Regina glared at him. "Did you want her to come to town? You wanted all this to happen, didn't you? Your finding Henry wasn't an accident, was it?" "Whatever do you mean?" "Where did you get him? Do you know something?" Mr. Gold shrugged, "I have no idea what you're implying." "I think you do. Who is this woman, his mother, this... Rose Swan?" "I would say you think you know exactly who she is. I really must be going." Mr. Gold starts to walk away from Regina, but she runs ahead of him and blocks his way. "Tell me what you know about her." "I'm not going to answer you, dear. So I suggest you excuse me. Please." Regina stands there with a shocked expression on her face as Mr. Gold leaves the garden.
