"Let's run away from here," Regina begged. "Let me take you somewhere else."

"Where?" Belle asked, intrigued.

"I don't know yet, but we'll find someplace. I just want to be alone with you."

They both sighed, still laying in each other's arms.

"We are alone," Belle pointed out, looking over into her eyes.

"I don't mean here. I want to take you somewhere beautiful."

Belle shook her head, laughing off the sweetness of the comment.

"Don't be silly."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you're being silly. I'm happy wherever I'm with you."

Regina let her head fall back against the metal. Her eyes slammed shut and started to fill with tears again as she shook her head. She couldn't understand how Belle could be so content with her life, when it was so miserable. Then again, Regina's life had been miserable, too, before Belle. That was all different now, in just a few short, life-changing months. Now she felt as though she couldn't live without Belle. Like it was wrong to go without her for too long. When she left, she longed to be back in her arms.

"Don't you see how fucked up that is?" Regina cried. "This is a horrible place, and it's my fault you're here."

"I forgive you, Regina. You're not the person you were years ago, and you never will be."

Belle looked sure. Confident. She had so much faith, such pure, naive belief - like Henry. They both had faith in her, but they were the only ones. No one else believed in her. And even now, Henry still wouldn't speak to her, because she had lied to him months ago about being ill. But she couldn't take that back, and she wasn't sure she could regain Henry's trust. But Belle. . . Belle believed in her, blindly and whole-heartedly. More than anyone else ever had.

"You have too much faith in me. I'll only let you down."

"You won't," she smiled, stroking Regina's hair. "I know you won't."

Regina was too tired to protest. She wiped the tears from her eyes then shut them again, slipping her hand into Belle's. She thought for a while, and they were both quiet. She listened to Belle's breathing and felt her chest rise and fall, letting it slowly start to lull her to sleep.

But before she fell asleep, she asked, "Do you think Henry will ever trust me again?"

They had talked a lot about Henry in their hours spent together in Belle's cell, and Belle understood the situation well by then. In fact, she'd learned a lot about Henry, including the fact that his biological mother - Regina's ex lover - was trying to gain custody of him. They hadn't talked much about Emma - mostly because it made Regina instantly furious - but Belle got the general idea.

"I do," Belle answered, "But I think it might take a really long time. He's young and impressionable, but he's also at a really sensitive age where he's trying to figure out who he's going to become. When you lie to him, you're telling him he doesn't deserve to hear the truth. And that's all he wants, Regina. It's obvious that all he wants from you is the truth."

Regina nodded and sighed, leaving her eyes shut. She didn't have a response, so she let her mind wander, thinking about Henry and what he might be doing with Emma at that moment.

"Don't worry, sweetie. Henry will come around. Emma's not going to win this. But you are going to have to share him," she said. "You're going to have to play nicely if you want him in your life, you know."

"I know," Regina snapped. "I know that, okay? I just hate seeing Emma. I hate it. It makes me feel so empty inside, being around her. Like we had something we lost and I'll never get it back."

As soon as she said it, she instantly retracted the statement.

"Wait, no. Belle, I just mean. . ."

"No, it's fine," Belle said, sitting up. "I get it. You were lovers. You gave her a lot of yourself, and it's okay to be hurt without her."

"Please, don't. It's not like that, Belle. It's just that when we first got together, I felt like maybe she was the one who could change me. Like maybe if I gave a little, I'd actually get love in return. And I think she really did love me, but I didn't love her, so when I gave those parts of me away, I never got them back. She wasn't a bad lover. She just didn't understand me the way you do. She could never understand where my feelings came from. Well. . . I guess I didn't share that many of them, now that I'm thinking about it. God. I don't know. I don't know how to explain this without sounding like a total witch."

"It's okay. Just try."

Regina nodded and continued by saying, "I tried to give myself, but I couldn't. I didn't feel like I could, with her. I wanted to, I really did. I wanted it to work. And when I stopped feeling. . . I just went numb, and I just tried to keep us together for Henry. And all I did was make it worse. Oddly enough, Henry's not mad about us splitting up. But he still doesn't know why I was. . . why I lied to him. He doesn't know about you. Yet."

"You're going to tell him? Belle asked, truly surprised.

"Of course I am," Regina said quickly. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Because it's going to hurt him? Because he wants his moms to be together?"

Regina shrugged.

"I'm not so sure that he really cares if we're together. I'm pretty sure he's on Emma's side right now. He seems to be pretty happy just being with her," she sighed. "Maybe it's better for her to have custody. I just want him to be happy, you know? He's not happy with me."

"Regina! You can change all that. It's just going to take some time. Don't give up on him."

"I just want him to be happy," Regina repeated.

Belle sighed and wrapped her arms around her, smoothing her hair again. She wasn't sure what else she really could say. Here she was, suddenly talking about Regina's ex lover and her son who she had never met. Something about it was just so awkward to sit with. It didn't feel right to hear the details of their relationship, but on the other hand, she wanted to know. Well, what she really wanted to hear was that Emma was a terrible lover and that Regina could never love anyone as much as she loved her.

"If you were so unhappy, why did you stay with her so long?"

"For Henry," Regina answered. "I guess. Our relationship was really empty. It was all just arguing and sex. There was nothing more to it than that. Emma tried, but it was all just so empty."

"Um. . ."

"Oh. Shit. I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. . . I'm so sorry. . ."

"No, it's. . . it's fine."

But Regina could tell it wasn't fine. She'd definitely messed up.

"Can I take you out to eat? I want to show you off," she asked hopefully, trying to wiggle her way out of the subject of Emma.

"And what will you tell everyone? That we're friends?"

"Not unless you want me to. I'd like to tell them you're my lover. If you are."

"I am!" Belle cried. "Of course I am. I do. I do want them to know. I just didn't know about. . . Henry. . . or. . . I don't know. What if we see Emma?"

"Let her see," Regina laughed, pushing a hand through her own hair, shaking her head. "You think I care what she thinks of me?"

"It might hurt her feelings to see you moving on," Belle pointed out quietly, not daring to be too assertive.

"Will you come or not? If you don't want to be seen with me, I'll go get something at Granny's and bring it back."

"Let's go," Belle nodded, standing up, her knees shaking with nervousness, but luckily, Regina couldn't see it through the dress.