C4

It had been a couple of days and Regina was starting to get bored with her isolation. She was done crying about it and she wanted to make a plan. She decided to go for a walk. She magic'ed up a coat and walked out of her little shack in the woods. She decided to follow the small stream that flowed through Storybrooke. After a while she sat down on a fallen log. She had been walking for sometime and had gotten a bit lost. It was becoming dark. Regina knew that she could magic herself back to her hut but she was still determined she wasn't lost. She took a few moments to get her self together. She sat on the log taking deep breaths to try and calm herself. When she heard a strange noise coming from the distance. What ever it was it sound hurt. Regina quickly got to her feet. She listened for the noise again and worked out where it was coming from. Her years at listening for spy's or assassins paying off. She walked quickly towards the noise. There was no path and she had to climb through bushes but the noise was getting clearer. In the distance she could see something lay on the ground, its leg caught in a hunters trap. Crying out for some one to help it. Regina ran as fast as she could. As she got closer, she saw the animal trapped was a horse. It was full sized and was wriggling around on its side panicking. Regina wasn't sure what to do she used her magic to free the horse who was visibly thankful for her help.

It relax a little, but was was still crying in pain an shaking with fear. It was now trying to tend to it wound. Regina walked towards the horse carefully. Making sure she didn't startle it. She was surprised to see that the horse wasn't scared of her. Most animals tended to run away or try to attack her.She knelt down beside the horse's leg. She brushed her hand across the top of the horse's head. It lifted it away from its injured foot. She put her other hand over the top of its foot. She used her powers to help it heal faster. The cuts were bad but nothing she could help the horse with. She made a thick badge appear and fastened it to the horses leg. She then moved behind the horses head and helped it to stand up. It wasn't quite used to walking with three legs so it wobbled slightly, but Regina steadied it. She Magic'ed them back to her hut. There was a shed on the side of the hut it was big enough for the horse. She had discovered the hut just before Emma got to town. She had found it when she had left work earbecause there had been nothing to do at her office and had she wanted to go for a walk. The hut was built with huge logs that had been fitted together. There was a simple wooden door. On the right side was a shed, some one had converted into a pen. Regina thought it would be ok for the horse until the morning. She could go get hay and a few apples from her house. She walked the horse into the shed. There was a large pig pen in the corner. She walked the horse into the pen. It almost collapsed in fatigue. Regina help lower it the ground slowly. She magic'ed up a bowl of water and pellets. It gladly drank the water but didn't touch the food. She tried everything she could to get it to eat but it refused. It fell asleep in protest. Regina decided to check on its wound, the bandage she had put on was soaked in blood and she needed to change it. The horse whimpered slightly in its sleep when Regina had gently unwrapped it. It was bleeding less, but she decided to try and stop the blood and clean it as much as she could then wrap it in a clean bandage. She managed to stop the blood a little and take away some of the dirt, carefully she wrapped it's leg back up. Regina realised that she hadn't seen if the horse was a girl or boy she looked at the horse's stomach. She could see that it had every indication of being female. It's almost silver eyes opened to look at her. She stroked its long black mane and it nudged its head towards her hand slightly. She sat down next to the horses head and continued to stroke its head. It lifted its head lazily and lay it down onto of Regina's crossed legs. The gesture made Regina smile. She stroked the side of its face and the top of its nose. For some reason the horse trusted her already. She took a good look at the horse wondering if she had met it in the enchanted forest. It's fur was such a dark brown that it almost looked black. She felt like she recognised it then she remembered she saw a curious shaped patch on the inside of its injured leg. The only horse she knew that had a patch on it that looked like this was the one she had tried to sacrifice for the curse. She looked down at the full sized horse.

She remembered when her Mother had first studded her old horse out, she had told Regina she could keep one. So Regina picked one of the smallest one. Her mother warned her it would die but Regina still wanted to look after it. She fed it the same as its Dad, but in smaller portions. She started to walk her with her Dad. She decided to call her Knightingale. She thought it should be named something heroic to match its genes. Her mother had become annoyed with her because she was spending all her time looking after the foal. So one night her Mother set the poor baby horse free. Regina had been upset when her Mother had told her it hadn't made it. Now Regina knew what happened and saw that her Mother had lied it her, again.

She lifted its head slowly off her lap, once it had fallen asleep. She slowly stood up and walked into the hut. It had a small light hanging from the roof. In the left back of the hut was a bed with Regina's best sheets. She didn't use them because they were expensive, but because the soft material made it easier for her to sleep. She starts to cook a small meal for herself. She was surprised to have found Knightingale. She could have come across any horse at all and the one she found just happened to be related to her beloved childhood horse. She smiled at the thought of maybe being able to ride a horse again if the horse's leg healed well enough.

Regina put her food onto a plate and sat in an arm chair. She slowly ate her food getting more tired with each bite. She had used her magic a lot more today than she usually did. She finished and washed her plate and put it back in the small cupboard. She lay in her bed and closed her eyes waiting until after what felt like to Regina as forever,she fell asleep fast.

Emma had a restless night . A certain nightmare kept racing through her head in her sleep and she couldn't bring herself to go back to sleep. She went down stairs and made herself a hot chocolate and grabbed a few cookies. She headed up to bed. She sat down and grabbed her laptop. She decided to watch a few films to try and get her to sleep. So she ate her cookies and drank her chocolate she could feel herself falling asleep. She lay down and closes her eyes.

Sooner than she'd liked it too, her alarm went off. She tried to bring herself out of her sleep. She went downstairs and saw Henry sat at the table eating he's breakfast.

"Alright Mom, your heard from other Mom yet" He asked smiling.

" No she hasn't called since the other day. We fell out after you went to bed." Emma said, not wanting to talk to her son about what was happening with his mother.

"You two give me whiplash. Don't worry Mom, she'll come back soon" Henry said, smiling at his panicking Mother.

" Right I have I go to the Station, see you later Kid" She waved him good bye as she grabbed Regina coat to wear and drove to the station. When she arrived she reached into her pocket to get the key. She felt some thing made of paper in her pocket. She gently pulled it out. It was a paper swan. She smiled to her self. Regina must of made it before she gave her the coat. Maybe she left it in there by accident.

Emma couldn't understand why Regina didn't just talk to her.

She and Regina had been stupid enough to ignore the signs. Emma had made Regina's magic make the hat work, they created an eclipse together and they killed a hell beast together. Regina was the person she need around her to ground her magic, so it what would do as it was told. She wanted the link they had to be stronger, but she wasn't sure that was possible if she married Hook. She did love Hook but not the same way she loved Regina. When Regina and Emma accepted that Henry need both of them, they got along better than Emma had gotten along with anyone.

She had been to scared to tell Regina how she felt. Then it had been to late. Regina had found Robin and Emma had decided it was time she tried to get over it. So she had given Hook a chance. He was sweet at some points and looked after her. Emma just felt disconnected from him. She and craved seeing Regina even more. Once Robin died Emma made sure she was there for Regina, but Hook made it difficult for her to look after her friend. When Hook disappeared, she was upset sure, but mostly because she knew she probably wouldn't get another chance at happiness. Then Regina started to help her and Emma couldn't help but feel the connection between them getting stronger. Then Hook had been brought back and Emma's head, since, had been stuck in a never ending shouting match. She wanted Regina so bad but Hook had asked her to marry him. In an attempt to make her Mother happier she said yes. She almost instantly regretted it when she saw Regina's reaction to the news. She had acted normal and congratulated her but Emma saw the flicker of pain in the woman's eyes. It gave Emma hope. Then she went and messed up the only chance she had gotten to show Regina how she felt. She walked into the station after picking up a quick coffee from Grannies. Her Dad was sat filling out paper work when she walked in. He looked up and greeted her.

"Hey Emma I'm just catching up on all the paper whilst Regina's away. You wouldn't know where she's gone. Her assistant told me she had taken a few days off. No one has seen her" He said filling out as much of it as he could manage.

"No I don't know where she is, I spent a whole night looking for her, but fell asleep. I woke up and realised I needed to get back for work." She said trying to sound casual. Her father wasn't as observant about Regina and Emma as her mother. Emma didn't want to start something now, so she tried to control her emotions.

"Ok so what the plan" Emma asked.

" I don't know it's been a slow day" David said finishing what he was doing.

"I'm just going to check something" She said and went in her office.. She pulled a huge map of Storybrooke from her desk and studied it to find anywhere she hadn't been. She circled areas on the map and folded it back up. Her father came into her office.

"What are you doing with that?" He asked Emma wondering why his daughter was acting weird.

"I'm going to look for Regina". She said zipping her bag up and putting it on her back.

"Want to go to lunch first?" He father asked concerned she was over working herself.

"I'll grab something quick but I need to start looking before it get dark."She said not waiting David to think she was going to stop looking.

"That's fine, lets go, I'll pay" he said then Walked out the station, Emma followed after him.

They got to Grannies and took seats at the counter. David ordered their food whilst Emma was trying to figure out the best way to find Regina in the littles amount of time possible.

A plate with a hamburger on and frys was push into of the map. She looked up to see Granny smiling at her.

"Look honey, she will find you when she is ready to talk. She is a strong witch if she doesn't want to be found she won't be." The older lady said seeing that Emma was stressing herself out.

" I know I just need to talk to her. She gotten wrong end of the stick about something and she won't let me explain my half the story" She said getting slightly annoyed that everyone was trying to stop her finding Regina. Of course they didn't understand why she need to find her but no one should be living in the woods by themselves.

She just smiled at her and started eating.

"So how is Hook doing?" David asked wondering if his daughter had seen her fiancee.

"I'm not sure, he was Ok last time I saw him, but I haven't seen much of him since Regina went missing." She said, not exactly sure she wanted to talk to her Dad about Hook. Her father and him had started to become friends and Emma didn't want to ruin it, so she pretended everything was normal.

" Do you want to come with me before you head out to find her, I'm meeting him at the docks." David asked not wanting his Daughters wedding being ruined by Regina's disappearance. Emma with a mouth full of fry's shook her head.

"I've got to be somewhere" Emma half lied, She didn't want her father to think she was avoiding Hook. That conversation was between her and her maybe future husband. She was still unsure that Hook was the right person for her. She knew her and Regina would never be together because they both would never have the guts to talk properly about their feelings. She wasn't sure that Hook would be right for Henry and her. When Hook left, Henry hadn't seem so put out by it. Emma had been upset but because the person she though she was in love with abandoned her. She couldn't get over the feeling of not being able to trust Hook out of her head. He's helped them a lot, but she never really knew his reasons for helping. If it was to be with her then maybe he wasn't the right person for her. Regina had helped them once she realised the only way she would be able to live her life the way she always wanted too ,was by helping the people she wronged and becoming the hero she would of been if Cora hadn't messed up her childhood.

An idea popped into her head. It might be a bit risky and she wasn't sure it would work, but she was going to visit the Queen's one and only sister, to see if she would help find Regina. Emma quickly finished her lunch and said good bye to her Dad who was surprised by Emma's new energy and couldn't get a word in before the she picked up the map and walked out.

She walked to Zelena's house and knocked on the door. She waited a few seconds and soon enough she answered the door, little Robin was fast asleep on her shoulder. She was rubbing his back comfortingly.

"What do you want" She said in a voice that didn't match her comforting actions to the child in her arms.

"Do you know where your sister's gone. I haven't seen her a few days" Emma said, trying to seem casual but failing to hide her nervousness.

" You two have another lovers tiff" The witch said egging Emma to respond to her comment.

"Something like that" Emma said not bothering to react to the woman's words.

"Oh so you've lost her that. That's brilliant, just so I have a heads up, she wasn't in a murder spree mood was she. I don't want to wake up tomorrow with half the town dead and me left with the dwarfs." The witch said getting bored of the conversation.

"To be honest I don't know her as well as you do. If anyone would know where she is, it would be you, so I'm sorry, but I'm no use to you" she said going to close the door.

" I know, I was just wondering if you could help me make a locator spell" She asked.

" Didn't you listen to anyone around here. I'm pretty sure one of them would of told you that if Regina doesn't want to be found, she won't be" Zelena said, getting a little pissed that the blond was still bothering her. She needed to go back inside and bath her son.

"I know but when we last talked she was really upset about something we were talking about. In fact she asks me to leave the house and when I came back she was gone" Emma said starting to panic that she wouldn't find Regina in time.

"If she thinks you need to talk she be there to talk you know what she's like. She will get to you when she is ready, not before and not when she no longer can. Trust me on this she's going to come back." Zelena said. Without saying another word she closed the door and left Emma stood on the step.

"Ok good talk" Emma said to herself before she walked away from the door.

Zelena walks back into her house and lay Robin in his basket and started to carry him upstairs. She turned to go upstairs when she was suddenly face to face with Regina.

"Why are you here now, at least your little girlfriend announced herself you just wanted to scare me to death. God where did you learn you manners" She asked obviously knowing the answer. Regina just lifted a eye brow at her sister.

" look I don't want to bother you I just want you help me" She said her voice serious and showing Zelena that this was something important.

" On one condition" Zelena asked picking Robin back out of his basket and handing him to Regina to hold. Regina smiled down at Robin.

"Anything you want" She said looking back up with desperate eyes.

" OK" Zelena said, smiling at her sister.

Emma sat in the Bug for a while. She had parked up outside of Regina's. Maybe if she stayed there long enough she might get a glimpse of the woman. She shuffled uncomfortable in her seat. Just when she was about to give up, she heard a noise coming from inside the house. She checked all the windows , just as she went to turn her engine on she looked up at the window for Regina's bedroom. She was surprised and relived to see Zelena stood next to Regina. They looked as though they were searching for something. Emma was angry at Zelena told her she hadn't seen her sister, unless she was lying to her, which was very much a possibility with Zelena. She couldn't move, she just stared at the window. She just stared at Regina hoping the other woman would notice her. Regina seemed to find what ever it was they were looking for and showed by to her sister. Regina glimpsed out the window for a second making eye contact with Emma. Then she magic'ed her self away. Emma stayed there for a while unsure of what to do.

She turned the engine on her Bug on and drove to her parents house to see how they were.

She knocked on the apartment door something she learned was a good idea to do before entering their apartment.

She heard Snow shout come in. She opened the door and saw David with Neil on his lap and Snow making their dinner.

"Hey Mum, Dad. Anything new?" She asked wondering if in her attempt to find Regina if she had missed anything exciting.

"Not really, Neil made a noise that sounded slightly like her was saying Mum but it needed up him just mumbling. " Snow said a little disappointed.

"It's a start though, soon enough you'll be able to understand something he says" Emma said, going to sit next to David, who handed her Neil to hold.

"You know I never thought I'd like baby's, but there pretty awesome. Being all little people and everything. It's kinda cool, sometime I wish I kept Henry" She said, she missed the look her parents gave each other. It was between sad and excited.

"So you want a baby then" Snow asked her coming to sit down next to her and handed her a bottle to feed Neil.

"Yeah I guess with the right person" She said, she realised what she said to late.

"What do you mean the right person, aren't you about to marry the right person" David asked. Emma just looked down at Neil and stayed quite. Snow nudged her a little.

"Dad I'm not sure he's who I thought he was, I mean I know he didn't mean to go but he still threatened to leave me. It's making me doubt that I should marry him." She said after being prompted by her mother.

"So your not going to marry him, I thought you loved him" He said sad that his daughter had told him she might not be getting married after all. He was sure this was the thing that would make the town have hope again. He didn't want to push her though.

"I do still but it doesn't feel right Dad there's something missing. The person I always saw my self with was going to make me want to be a better person when I am with them, even though they accept me, I would want to be better for them. He just doesn't make me want to be a better me for him." Emma said sadly.

"Maybe not yet but he might one day Emma, you never know he might surprise you" He said.

"I think I already found that person day, but I've lost them and no one is bothering to help me find them so, I'm going to leave before you guilt trip me into marrying Hook.

"It's in two days time have a chat with him before doing anything rash."Snow advised.

Emma nodded and stood.

"Ok I'm going home to sleep. I'll think about it Mom. I know that the town was excited and you and Dad especially" She said she left the apartment after hugging them bye.

She drove back to the house. Henry was already lounging on the sofa on his phone.he pulled his headphones out before he talked.

" Hey Mom you find her" He asked knowing she probably spent the day looking for Regiba. He wasn't sure why his Mom's wouldn't admit that they liked each other but his Mum was marrying Hook so he guessed he just had to accept that they never might. He knew his Mothers weren't the sort to make a huge romantic gestures but a part of him wished that was why Regina had gone missing.

"Yep I spotted in her window but she disappeared before I could do anything." She said moving his feet of the sofa and siting down.

"She'll be back trust me she wouldn't leave us" Henry said. He sounded so sure it made Emma

Feel reassured. She just nodded at him.

"So what's for dinner?"He asked.

"Oh crap I knew I missed something"She said disappointed in herself for forgetting she had to feed her son.

"Grannies then" Henry said standing up. "Can I drive" He asked giving it chance.

"No I remember last time. Not until you've had a few lessons" She said.

"And your Mom says it ok, she will kill me if I didn't ask her first" Emma laughed imagining how the conversation was going to go. She tiredly got up and Henry handed her Regina's coat.

" I noticed you've worn that a lot" He said smirking slightly at his Mom.

"It's a good coat" Emma said trying to dismiss the game of 24 questions that was about to begin, she didn't.

"How did you get it" He asked curious as ever.

"I woke up in the forest and it was lay on me." She said casually like it didn't mean anything.

"Have you checked the pockets?" He asked, he knew his mother so well.

She pulled the Sean from her pocket.

"Just this" She said. Before she could stop him Henry took it. He inspected the swam with great detail looking for a sign that his mother had meant to leave it.

He turned it upside down. He saw writing on the bottom that said

'To Emma, open it.'

He handed Emma the Swan and pointed to the bottom.Emma starred at it unsure if she wanted to open it in front of Henry.

"You don't have to read it out loud" He said. Knowing he would know what his mother said to Emma because it would be written on her face.

She nodded and opened the swan.

She found it difficult to unfold it but she managed to do it without ripping it.

Henry was right, inside was a letter addressed to her.

Dear Emma

I know Henry is with you right now because you probably wouldn't think I knew how to make a Swan. But Henry taught me a while ago how to make them and I thought you would like it.

I wrote to you because I needed to tell you I needed to go away for a while to work something out but I know what I have to do, I even have a friend helping me. Their sick at the moment, but I can't wait for you and Henry to meet them.

I will see you soon and I hope you and Henry are ok. My best to the Charming's.

Love Regina xxx

Ps

I haven't given up on you yet Miss Swan.

Henry knew most of what Regina had said, some of it had gotten fuzzy. But he knew what the bottom said.

Emma forced the tears that threatened to fall. She walked out the door as Calmly as she could manage. Henry walked behind her grinning, but in his head he was shouting "Yes Mom".

They got in the bug. Henry still hasn't stopped grinning.

"Why are you so happy" Emma said seeing him smiling like a goof.

"No reason just you know your getting married soon I'm happy for you" He said now seeing how she reacted to Hook.

"Yeah sure kid, don't get yourself all geared up weddings are boring" She said hoping her son didn't get to excited about it. She wasn't sure she could do it yet. She just smiled in response, She was completely oblivious to the fact that he knew more that she thought he did.

"I'm pretty sure this one is going to be amazing" He said."And not only because there will be cake" He grinned.

"Your totally my kid." She said smiling at him.