8 years ago
"Do you really have to go Lilly?" Emma asked her friend as she watched Lilly load a box unto a movers truck.
"Uh..yeah Emma, I really have to go"
Lilly was seriously moving, and it wasn't fair. Emma held on to her only possessions. A backpack with a couple of change of clothes, a pair of shoes, the folder she got from the hospital. The picture of her baby had moved from the folder, and now littered the wallet she brought from a thrift store. When ever she was feeling sad or depressed, the image of her baby would help her feel better. This was her moving on. This was her getting over Regina. Nights where she laid in a cot next to 40 other woman who were also homeless, the picture of her baby helped her pull through. She was taking one day at a time. She missed Regina, but she didn't want to go back. She couldn't. She didn't miss her parents. They were fine without her, and if they weren't. So what. They made the choice to trade her life for everyone else's. Emma for the second time in her life, was in charge of her own life, and this time, she was going make something of it.
Emma bit her bottom lip. "Can I go?" She asked. She hadn't even thought about moving away from where she was now. Maybe it was for the best. Maybe if she kept moving she would eventually find a place that was just for her.
Lilly smiled. "I thought you would never ask"
8 years ago Storybrooke
"Do you remember the plan David?" Snow questioned. She was eager. Eager to get her daughter back. Regina thought that Gold was the only magic user in Storybrooke that could possibly help them get Emma back but she was wrong. Turns out there was one other person. A person who cared about Emma just as much as they did. That fact should have worried them, but it didn't. Right now it was just another person on their team. A person by the name of Ingrid. Snow had known Ingrid when she was Mary Margaret as the woman who worked in the ice-cream shop, but before then, she hadn't no idea there was someone that went by the name of the "snow queen"
"Yes. Let's do this" He nodded. "Let's get our daughter back" He said with determination. They had been brainstorming and planning to get Emma back the moment Regina cast that spell upon her house preventing them from getting Emma out. No one had seen the evil queen in an month. She hadn't even been out of her house. Well, she would be forced to face everyone today. David nodded to the Snow Queen who stood behind him. It was go time.
The Snow Queen walked casually in front of Regina's home and stood directly in the middle of her front yard. She easily lowered the spell that protected the house from unwanted intruders. Whom ever this evil queen was, she was no match for the Ingrid. She nodded to everyone who was in this fight and together they all walked up to Regina's front door. This time, Regina wouldn't be able to hide behind her magic. She would either give up Emma, or die.
8 years ago Regina
Regina laid upon her bed. Still. She hadn't moved much. Daniel would come and try to talk to her all the time but she was too depressed to even speak. One would think that after all she had gone through to avenge Daniel's death she would be in heaven now that she had him back, but that wasn't the case. She couldn't be the evil queen anymore because what was there to be angry about? She no longer had that rage. The rage that was slowly dying when she had Emma in her life. All she had now was sorrow. She was just Regina. Just a woman with a broken heart and no will to live. She couldn't be mad at anyone but herself. It was her fault Emma was dead. It had been a month now and everyday without Emma was harder than the last. She wish she could go back in time and do everything all over again. She'd show Emma how much she loved her.
"Regina" Daniel walked into her room. They didn't share a room. Daniel slept in an room downstairs. Emma's room remained and always would remain locked. Regina couldn't step foot in there. It was too hard.
"Yes Daniel" Regina answered.
"I just wanted to see if you wanted to watch the talking box downstairs with me tonight?" He asked hopefully.
Regina sat up. Now was a good time as any to tell Daniel the truth. He deserved to know...everything. She couldn't live this lie. It was too painful. She still loved Daniel, but had come to the conclusion that she wasn't in love with him. If she had a choice of who lived and who died, Emma would be standing before her, and not him. "Daniel, please sit down. I have to tell you something" Regina states.
Daniel looked confused but did as she asked. "What is it Regina, is something wrong?" He questioned. The concern for Regina evident.
Regina sighed. Like a band-aid she thought. "Daniel. You died. Over 30 years ago" Regina states. She reaches out to grab Daniel's hand but he moves it away.
"What?" He asks.
"My mother killed you. Remember the little girl I saved from the horse, remember the king I was to marry, I-" Regina started but Daniel interrupted her.
"Of course I remember, that all happened recently. But we got away, and your mother can't find us here" He smiled to Regina.
"No Daniel. Please, listen. We didn't run away. You died. My mother ripped your heart out and crushed it right in front of me" Regina cried. Retelling Daniel's story was always hard, but with the added pain in her heart from Emma's death, it was a bit too much.
"No Regina. Look, I'm right here"
"No Daniel" Regina cried. "You said so yourself. I look different. That's because I'm over 30 years older than I was then. I used magic to remain forever young. No one aged in this land I created"
"I don't understand Regina. If I died, how am I still here?" Daniel questioned.
"Magic. Very powerful magic. After you died, I became known as the Evil Queen. I became my mother. Ruthless, except I had a reason. Revenge. I created a dark curse, and cursed everyone here. No one remembered who they were. Everyone had a completely different life. 17 years later, a beautiful girl named Emma came to town. She was supposed to break my curse 11 years from now. What she was doing here so early, I don't know. She was supposed to come on her 28th birthday. I took her in to keep an eye on her, and eventually...I fell in love with her. She was the first person who was ever nice to me after you Daniel" Regina sobbed. Daniel couldn't stand to see the woman he loved in so much pain. He pulled Regina in to a hug. "I held onto her the only way I knew how. By force. I locked her away and one day she just snapped. She took her own life" Regina sobbed. She missed Emma so much and would do anything to have her back again.
That had been over an hour ago she shared that story with Daniel. She hadn't gotten anymore out after that, she couldn't. All she could do was cry until she cried herself to sleep. What woke her up was the fact that someone had just lowered her protection spell. She didn't care. They could kill her if they wanted to. They just needed to leave Daniel alone. Regina stood from her bed and made her way down the stairs.
