Click. Click. Regina's heeled boots echoed through the castle as she paced through the hallways. Click. Click. Click.

"I don't understand what's taking them so long," she growled, fists and jaw clenched as she headed toward the dungeon. "They're dwarves. Don't they just work in the mines?"

"Guards failing you now?" he called out, quirking a brow as he heard her coming down the corridor.

Although his words were seemed spiteful, his tone was rather plaintive. He was starting to see her in a new light. She wasn't the Evil Queen to him anymore. She was Regina, just Regina. She was a woman who lost her true love. A woman who was holding onto the pain because that was all she had left now.

He was starting to understand that. As he spent his days alone in his cell, he started to wonder. Some may say that "distance makes the heart grow fonder", but it made Charming worry more everyday. It wasn't like he had a real promise that everything would work out with him and Snow. Sure true love is the most powerful magic, but if it isn't mutual, is it worth it? And more than anything, he was starting to wonder if it was mutual on his part.

Regina truly was beautiful. Chocolate eyes, troubled and determined. And behind the harsh eyebrows and the seemingly permanent scowl, she had a face that could not be forgotten. Toned skin. And those legs. Those legs, strong yet dainty that allowed her to have quite the strut in those leather boots. He couldn't stop himself from stealing glances at any part of her when he could.

Yet there was a game to be played and walls to break down. They had both been hurt by love, whether recently or in the past. And something new just couldn't be easy. They had their pasts to overcome. Besides, she was the Queen and he was a wanted Prince.

"Apparently, they've fallen under her spell just like you, dear," she sighed, fingers running across the bars of his sell as she finally made her way into the heart of the dungeon.

"Some spell," he mumbled, rolling his eyes as they jumped to meet hers.

A stolen glance. Just what he had been waiting for.

"My, my. Tell me how you really feel, Prince Charming." She punched the last two words, a devilish smirk on her face, urging him to be the first one to admit what they both felt.

"What is your plan once you find her?" he asked, changing the subject with a small smug smile of his own.

Regina huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Well, if you must know, I've decided to do you a little favor. I-"

"A favor? And why is that?" He quirked a brow.

"Don't flatter yourself too much, dear. I'm putting her to sleep and-"

"How is that a favor?"

"Stop interrupting me!" she spat, the signature scowl returning.

Now he crossed his arms, giving her a nod to continue.

"Thank you. Now I'm going to be putting her into a deep sleep. A sleep so deep she'll practically be a vegetable," she cackled, eyes fiery, "or maybe a fruit."

"And how do you plan to do this?"

"With an apple."

"An apple?" he scoffed.

"A poisoned apple." She leaned forward, face almost touching the cell bars as her cruel smirk grew.

The Prince swallowed hard, eyes falling to the floor. Here he was again…conflicted. There were parts of her he really loved and then there were moments where he remembered why they called her the Evil Queen yet that was part of the thrill too. She was unlike any woman he had ever encountered. And his feelings for Snow only complicated things more, so he gave her a slight nod as if handing her permission to go through with her plan.

Using a few of the guards that were left to watch the castle, Regina ordered them to hunt down her stepdaughter and knowing she was dwarves in the mine, they found her with ease and set up a family reunion with the two royals. Regina and Snow White were to meet where it all began, the stables.

So she mounted a horse, the natural rhythm of the animal returning to her quickly as they cantered off.

Irony. It hit her hard as she headed to seal the final deed. She couldn't remember the last time she had rode a horse or gone to the stables. Yes. Yes, actually, she could. She swallowed hard, feeling a lump in the back of her throat. The last time she had been at the stables had been the last time she had seen Daniel. But she hadn't really expected to return there, so she left a little early to give herself time to take in the memories of that place. However, she couldn't lose sight of what she needed to do. She needed to make it known to the little brat that ruined it all what she did and more importantly, she needed to make sure she paid for it too.

And as she arrived at the stables, the smell of hay and time passing, staleness, filled her lungs. For brief moment, she wasn't even certain if she could go through with it all, but then it came rushing back. Her mother. The heart. His deadening eyes as he collapsed to the floor. Gone.

She felt tears stream down her cheeks of their own accord. She hadn't felt this weak in a long time. Her knees were shaking and her heart was sinking all over again. However, she swallowed hard, choking back tears as she twirled the make shift ring Daniel had given her on her finger.

We got her, Daniel.

She felt herself go cold again, distant. This had to be done. It was time. And as she heard someone approaching in the distance, she met them halfway. Snow. Just the person she had been waiting for.

It was funny how much they had changed since the last time they had been in this place together. They had both been so young and innocent and certain that the world was good. Yet here they were. Snow, a rogue, a wanted princess. And Regina, now the Evil Queen, understanding that love really was weakness.

But it was time for Regina to set the record straight so she took Snow aside in the field to a small gravesite, Daniel's grave.

"Remember when I told you that Daniel, ran away? You didn't really believe that, did you?" she almost snickered out of old habit as her eyes fell to the grave.

Snow's own dark eyes widened.

"Yes. That's right, dear. That's Daniel's grave. Thanks to your little deed to help my mother and I- really. Well done. My mother and I have never had a relationship quite like this until you did that. I've got to hand it to you, but instead, I have a little a constellation prize for you and you're going to take it right now," she urged, energy surging through her fingers as an apple appeared in her hand. "Yes. An apple. But not just any apple, an apple that's going to settle my problems because you know that this war between us won't end until we come to a compromise or one of us dies, and doesn't this apple look delicious?"

She pushed the apple toward the Princess and Snow took it willingly as the guilt hit her, guilt being the first emotion she had felt in quite some time since taking the forgetting potion so she took a defeated gulp and bit into it, falling to the ground.

Victory. She let out a booming cackle and returned to her steed, taking off into the sunset. It had all fallen into place. Snow was no longer going to be a problem. And, to her, she had avenged Daniel's death.

Yet in this moment of success, all she could think of was the Prince in her dungeon. Cla-clump! She thought of his radiant green eyes like the moss of the deep forest. Cla-clump! She thought of his broad shoulders. And the strong arms that hung below them. Thump! She kicked the side of the horse to sprint faster. She had to get home to him. It finally dawned on her, she had gotten the best constellation prize of all. She had won the Prince. She had won Prince Charming.