A/N: A huge thank you to everyone who has reviewed or followed.
Chapter 2
That morning was just like every other morning since they had arrived in the town. Regina got up, got ready for a day of work at the mayor's office, and headed out to walk to the office and take in the site of the people living the same day of their miserable little lives all over again. A faint smile was on her face as she walked past the familiar shop where the wood carver was constantly fixing the sign, yet the man wasn't there that morning. Nor did the lonely, little, miserable imp limp on by.
A frown crossed her face as she nearly ran into the cricket, as usual. The frown deepened when she caught him staring up at something. The sound of the bell at the top of the clock tower tolling stopped the major in her tracks as she looked up at the clock. 8:25. The clock never read that, the clock didn't even work! Time was frozen here!
"Huh," she heard come from the former cricket, "guess those rusty, old innards finally worked themselves out."
The grip she had on the leather briefcase tightened as the man walked away. Something was wrong.
"Come on, Henry, get up!" Emma called from the small bathroom, "We're gonna be late meeting with your new principal." She bit back a smile as she heard the grumbling coming from the bed as Henry finally stumbled out of bed, towards the bathroom. She ruffled his sleep tousled hair as she slipped back into the main room. "Ten minutes and I'll have cocoa for you, okay?"
She chuckled as she heard another grumble, this time one she assumed was agreement, before grabbing the keys to her car and the room along with her wallet. After locking the door behind her, Emma made her way back downstairs and followed the signs that led to the attached diner. Behind the counter, she spotted the same lady with the red streaks in her hair that she had seen when she had first arrived.
She quickly placed her order for breakfast along with a large cup of coffee and the cocoa she had promised Henry, made just the way they both preferred it. The lady, Ruby her nametag read, brought Emma her coffee while she waited for the food to be ready. With a word of thanks, Emma took a seat at the counter and looked around at the diner's customers.
If it wasn't for the fact that she had come from the same land and knew quite a few of the people from the stories of the fairies, she would have had a very hard time believing in the reality of the curse. But with that knowledge, and the meeting with Pinocchio, she could see the difference. Now that she had time to think, she had figured out who she had run into when she checked in last night. Granny didn't seem much different here but Ruby was a far cry from what she had heard of her mother's faithful friend, Red.
There at a table all alone was poor Gepetto, or whatever he went by in this realm. She wished she could tell him about his son, that he was alive and here, but she couldn't. He probably didn't even remember creating the formerly wooden puppet.
For a moment, she wondered what it was like to be like them. To not remember any of what had happened in the other realm. To not remember what she had been through, to not remember what had happened before she left. To not feel the hurt like an empty hole. Instead, they got to go on with whatever lives the Evil Queen had created for them here, in ignorance.
She heard someone clear their throat from behind her and turned around to see what it was. However the movement was too swift and caused the half-full cup of coffee to spill over the sides and right onto the blouse of the woman in front of her.
Emma heard a disgusted grunt as she quickly apologized before glancing up at the woman's face. Just at the first glance, a sense of disgust and horror filled her though she quickly masked it. She had heard all about that woman growing up, of the horrors she had done to her realm, to her family, to her mother. It was her fault they were here now and it was her fault that Emma's family would never be able to be put back together properly again.
If she hadn't darkened her heart, if she hadn't cast the curse, Emma would have been able to grow up in the loving home her parents had wanted for her. They would have been there to meet Killian and Snow would have been with her the day she gave birth to her own baby. Cora never would have taken over the Enchanted Forest and never have found their personal sanctuary they had created. If it wasn't for her, Killian would be by her side now.
Not only had she ripped away her parents' happy ending, but Emma's as well, and though the inhabitants of the cursed town would get theirs back when she figured out how to break it, she would never get hers back. She would never forgive the woman for that, and the smallest part of her looked forward to the day that happened. The day she could get her own form of revenge for the damage that had been done.
"Who are you?" she heard Regina ask and caught the look of confusion on her face. Thankfully Ruby chose that moment to come back with the bag that held her order.
Emma gave the mayor a smirk, "Just checking out the town, ma'am. I've been thinking about setting down some roots and helping out. The whole small town community thing." She didn't wait for a response as she grabbed the bag and headed back to her room.
The meeting with the blonde left an unsettling feeling in the pit of Regina's stomach. She quickly ordered her own coffee with barely another word to the waitress. The second the cup was in her hand, she headed off to her office.
In the comfort of her office, the feeling slowly started to dissipate. This is the realm where she won and nothing could take that room her. Not even their precious, little Savoir. When her guards had been unable to find the child, it had been assumed that the child had been killed. The Savoir was supposed to be dead!
Sitting the cup on her desk, Regina slid the drawer of her desk open and pulled out what appeared to be a small jewelry box. She lifted the lid to reveal a glowing, beating, red heart. Taking it into her hand, she began to speak.
"Graham, there's a new arrival that recently checked into Granny's. Interrogate her and find out exactly what she's doing here. Now."
