Chapter Two

"What do you mean you don't know?" Emmas voice sounded around the town hall. Regina slumped in defeat. "I don't know. Portals work differently. I opened that portal to send the wraith to the enchanted forest. It's destroyed so I don't know what would have happened to your parents" she finished.

"Gramps and Grams have gone?" A small voice sounded from the door. Both Regina and Emma looked to find a small Henry staring at the two of them. Regina immediately stood from her slumped position on the floor. She moved towards Henry but he shouted.

"STAY AWAY FROM ME. ITS ALL YOUR FAULT. YOU"RE THE EVIL QUEEN!" And without a second look in her direction Henry fled from the room.

A heart-wrenching sob escaped from Regina, a sound Emma never imagined could come from the brunette. Emma approached regina and placed a hand on the former mayors back. Upon the contact Regina recoiled and turned to face the blonde.

"DONT!" She snarled in Emmas direction. "I bet you're happy. You got what you wanted. My son hates me!" Emma was taken aback.

"Regina, I never wanted Henry to hate you" she tried to reassure the brunette. When she didn't receive a reply Emma made a turn to leave.

"I'll go and talk to him and explain. I don't think its your fault snow and David have gone" and with that Emma left in search of her son.

Once Emma had left, Regina was left pondering about everything that had happened. Without realising she had made her way to her vault. It was a place that she felt close to magic, even during her curse. Now that the curse had been broken and magic had returned to storybrooke, Regina realised that maybe there could be something she could use to kickstart her magic properly. She thought back to the moment Emma had touched her back at the town hall. Her magic had worked then. She tried to cast a spell but it didn't work. In the moment Regina realised that her magic wasn't working she felt alone and for the first time afraid. She couldn't rely on the saviour to protect her and of she couldn't protect herself regina didn't know what she would do.

In a panic she started emptying boxes looking for that something that would kickstart her magic. Box after box she emptied and came across nothing. Her frustrations grew bigger than the piles pf boxes around her. Just when all her hope of finding something had almost faded, a sparkling jewel caught her eye from underneath the fabric in the last box. Regina slowly reached towards the jewel. Removing the fabric she was met with the sight of her mothers long lost spell book. A smile graced the fallen mayors lips. This was what she needed.

Meanwhile Emma had tracked Henry to beach where his once magnificent castle had stood. It had of course been torn down after the storms. She carefully approached and was not surprised to find him clutching his storybook, tears staining his cheeks.

"You okay kid?" She asked. Henry just shook his head.

"Why did she do it?" Henry asked. Emma sighed. "I know you don't want to hear this kid but it wasn't your mums fault. Mary Margret fell through the portal trying to save me and David jumped in after her. It wasn't your mums fault. She saved me from falling into the portal." Henry looked at Emma upon hearing this information, but before he could answer Emma's phone rang. She looked apologetically at Henry before answering it.

"Okay ruby slow down" she said alerting Henry who the caller was. Henry watched as Emma calmed the caller before ending the call. "The townsfolk are going crazy. We need to go okay"she informed him and Henry reluctantly followed her to the bug.

Emma arrived at the diner to a flurry of questions from those waiting outside for her arrival. She tried to shush them but they got louder each person trying to get their question heard above each other. Having enough Emma pulled out her gun and fired a warning shot into the air. The loud bang got everyones attention and they quietened down.

"Okay Thank You" Emma responded sarcastically to the silence. She spotted a bench and made her way to it. Standing above she had a view of everyone. She took a deep breathe.

"I know you are all confused, sacred about what has happened, believe me I am just as confused as you all" she started.

"What was the creature that was here before?" A crowd member shouted. Emma looked around for the source of the voice. "It was a wraith. It was summoned to destroy but it has been dealt with" she informed them. "Where are Snow and David" another voice shouted from the crowd, Emma recognising the voice as Leroy's. "They were unfortunately transported to another realm" Emma reluctantly informed the crowd but the moment the words left her lips she wished she hadn't. A huge uproar started at the end of her sentence. It took another warning shot to quiet them down again. "I promise you I am working on a solution to bring them back. In the meantime I ask you all to go back to normal, or as normal as possible. If your homes were destroyed im told that the church is opening a shelter until we can fix your homes. Everything will be okay, I promise" she finished. Although a few people looked skeptical at her words the majority seemed convinced and the crowd slowly started to disperse. Emma watched as one by one they left until it Wass only Henry and Ruby remaining. They both approached her. "Well done Emma" Henry told her. Ruby looked worried. "Snow and David are gone?" She asked and Emma nodded. "Yes. But I'm going to go and see Gold or Rumplestiltskin or whoever he is now, to see if he has any answers. Will you watch Henry for me?" Emma asked and Ruby nodded. Bidding the duo goodbye Emma got in her bug and drove the short distance to Golds Pawnshop.

It was closed on Her arrival but upon trying the door Emma found it to be unlocked. She entered and the tinkling of the bell alerted Gold to her presence.

"Well if it isn't the saviour" his voice called out from behind the counter. "tell me saviour how is the mayor?" He asked and from the tone of her voice Emma could tell that Gold was responsible for sending the wraith after her. "Fine no thanks to you!" she responded. A smirk graced his lips and it took all of Emma's willpower not to punch him in the face.

"What do you know about portals?" She asked him and Gold shook his head. "I heard about your parents but I'm afraid if you want my help you will need to do something for me." He told her. Emma sighed. "I don't have a choice do I?" She said reluctantly. "Not if you want your parents back" he told her. "What do you want me to do?" Emma asked.

"A friend of mine is being held hostage against her will. I want your help to rescue her. If you help me I will help you get your parents back. Do we have a deal?" He asked holding his hand out to Emma. Emma eyed his hand suspiciously but shook it hesitantly nonetheless.

Over on the other side of town regina had taken her mothers spell book back to her house. She had debated using the magic but she realised she owed it to Henry to seek his approval before. She left her house and traced him down to the diner. Once she entered the occupiers held their breath. She spotted her son and walked towards him. "Henry can we talk?" She asked him. He looked at her. "I don't want to speak to you" he told her and it hurt regina deep inside. "Please Henry I'm sorry for everything that has happened for making you think you was a liar. Im trying to be better I promise" she told him but he looked at her and said the words that cut regina deeper than anything. "But you're still the Evil Queen" and he turned his back on her. Not wanting to force him to do something else he didn't want to do Regina left the diner. She headed back over to her mansion and picked up her mothers spell book. Turning the pages she found a spell. She studied the words and after a moment blew on the parchment. The dust floated in the air and with a big breath Regina inhaled the magic vapours. Her eyes glowed a majestic purple and Regina could feel her magic reignite. It prickled beneath her skin. She practiced with a few simple enchantments before she was satisfied she had total control. Then she sat and concocted a plan.

It didn't take Emma long to track down Belle. She made the connections to Mo at the flower shop once Gold had told her. She traced his footsteps and found him. After questioning it was deduced that he had planned to send belle across the town line. Emma called for reinforcements, taking the shape of the dwarves. She sent happy and sneezy to the town line to see if they could find belle there. Emma and Leroy headed towards the mines after a suggestion from gold suggested that they had tunnels that went deep past the towline.

Upon entering the mines it was evident that this was where belle was. They could hear her whimpering as they got deeper. Turning a corner they found her tied to one of the old mine carts. What they didn't expect was for the cart to start moving as they approached. It became evident that it would be a race to get her out before she crossed the line. Emma shot into action climbing into the cart, trying to rid belle of the bonds that tied her down. Leroy tried to manually stop the cart but nothing seemed to be working. Just when Emma thought they were about to cross the line the cart stopped. Both Belle and Emma looked up to find gold with his arm outstretched. He had used magic to stop them from going across.

"Rumple?" Belle questioned as she exited the cart. "Belle" he cried and the two losers reunited. Emma coughed and Rumple looked up. "I will look into what happened Miss Swan, A deal is a deal" and Emma satisfied vowed that she would be checking in on him until he had something useful. Emma exited the mines and made her way back to town. She was hungry and tired and she had a 10 year old to sort out.

Regina had exited her mansion once again. Upon approaching her car she was alerted to the sound of someone behind her. She looked to find Archie staring at her. "I have no time for you cricket" she told him but Archie stood firm. "You know regina if you need to talk I can help you" he told her and regina looked confused before realising. "Oh right the conscience thing" she said. "I don't need to talk" she informed him "I need to get my son back" and with that she shut her car door and drove off towards the diner.

She parked the car and got out. The diners that remained looked at her fearfully. She walked past them delivering one of her wicked smirks as she passed. With a wave of her hand the diner door flew open. She entered looking regal. "Henry, You will be coming with me" she informed him with a no nonsense voice. Ruby made a move to stop regina taking him but with a wave of her hand Regina silenced her. "STOP" Henry called. "I'll go with you okay just don't hurt anybody" he told her and Regina let go of the enchantment binding Ruby. She watched as Henry walked towards her and out to the car. With a last look at the diner she turned on her heels and followed hr son to the car.

Henry was silent on the way home and as soon as they reached the mansion Henry shot out of the car and ran up to his room. Regina wanted for a moment before following him upstairs. She wasn't surprised to find him trying to climb out of the window and with a wave of her hand the tree he was attempting to climb down held him in place. With a flick of her wrist the tree moved Henry and gently placed him down back on the floor of his room. Henry shot away form the window and sat on his looked fearfully at Regina. It was in that moment that Regina realised she had done exactly what her mother had done to her on Henry. Just as she was about to speak a knock at the door sounded. Regina gave Henry a regretful look before going to answer the door. Henry waited with baited breathe to see who it was, too scared to do anything else.

Downstairs Regina opened the door and a blonde Swan stormed passed her into the foyer. "What The Hell Regina?" Emma asked. "Well hello to you too sheriff" she said sarcastically closing the door behind her. "Wheres Henry?" Emma asked and Regina held up her hands. "calm down sheriff he's upstairs" Regina told Emma. "HENRY" she called up the stairs and a moment later Henry appeared. "there you go sheriff as you can see he is fine" Regina informed her. "You okay kid?" Emma asked and Henry nodded. Regina acknowledged Henry. "henry I want you to go upstairs and get your bag. You are going to go and stay with Emma for a while" she informed him much to the surprise of Henry and Emma. Regina moved passed Emma and up the stairs towards Henry. She looked him deep in the eyes before starting "Henry I am sorry for what happened I really am. And I don't want to force you to stay here. I want you to stay here because you want to, not because I made you or because of magic"she told him. "I don't know how to Love very well but I promise you I will try to be better" and Henry nodded, not trusting himself to speak. "Go on get your bag" she told him and she watched as he turned and ran back to the direction of his room. One he was out of earshot Regina turned to Emma. "Take care of my Son Miss Swan! Make sure he eats plenty and sleeps at a reasonable time" and Emma nodded. She couldn't believe that Regina was giving Henry to her so easily. Henry appearing at the side of Regina broke the tension. Regina told Henry to behave for Emma and soon enough they were both exiting the house leaving Regina alone once again.

Regina got into her car for the third time that day. She drove to Archies office, determined to follow through on her promise to Henry about getting better. The day had turned to nigght and it had started to rain. By the time Regina arrived it was pouring down. She got out of the car and knocked at Archies door.

"Regina" he called in surprise when he opened his door to find a wet Regina standing there.

"I need your Help" regina told him and he opened the door to let her in. For the first few minutes they sat in silence. Archie didn't want to push Regina into talking too soon.

"I let Henry go with Miss Swan" Regina informed Archie. He nodded. "I need to stop using magic, how do I do that?" She asked him and Archie went into details about the different methods regina could try. After a while of talking and a few coping methods to try later, Regina was leaving. It was still raining when she left so she dashed to her car. She started the engine and set the wipers going. He looked around and saw a man standing across the street. She looked once, Twice not believing her eyes. For a moment she thought she had seen Daniel but when she looked back a third time the man was nowhere to be seen. She out it down to being exhausted and drove home. She went to bed that night with a million thoughts going around in her head. That night she dreamed of Daniel and their days back in the enchanted forest and she wished with all her heart she could be back with him once again.

On the other side of town Emma was putting Henry to sleep in the loft. She watched him as he slept trying to make sense of everything that had happened. She though about what she could do to get Henry and Regina reconciled, Her parents back. It was a lot to process. Emma drifted off into a restless sleep. She was haunted by nightmares of her childhood and everything that had happened as a result of her parents sending her away all those years ago. They had blamed Regina then but Emma thought was it really her fault? They after all had made the decision to send her to a land without caring about what happened to her. Images of what fate her parents had met also crept into her dreams and Emma woke the next morning feeling like the whole world was on her shoulders.