And I'm back in civilization! Hahaha I had a great time camping and got a whole bunch of writing done for both stories. I am happy to hear you are enjoying this one and I can always waiting to read your reviews! :)


Regina woke up slow, comforted by the familiar smells around her that she thought may have been forgotten. It was then that she nuzzled her face in to the warm body that held her close and made her feel safe. Then her eyes flashed open. Daniel was dead, it was not Daniel's warm body she was pressed up against because Daniel's body was cold.

So cold.

That was when she pushed herself back and scrambled away across the stable floor with wide and sleep confused eyes.

David woke up with a start at the feeling of her getting ripped from his arms, "Regina?" He asked drowsily and looked up to find her sitting on the floor with her hands behind her bracing her weight and one leg bent at the knee so she was prepared to continue backward if need be. Her lips were parted and her eyes were wide and confused, likely trying to recall what exactly had happened, "you alright?" It was basically like trying to work with a terrified and dangerous animal who didn't trust a soul. So he sat up slowly and kept his expression open and gentle.

"What happened?"

"Do you not remember?" He asked softly, no threat, no taunt.

She bared her teeth as the tears began to pool in her eyes without her allowance, "what happened?"

He put his hands up a little in surrender and answered her truthfully, "you were upset. You claimed you didn't want to go back to Storybrooke and that this," he motioned to the stable they sat in, "was the only place you had ever been truly happy. I held you and you cried. You told me you missed Daniel," he paused for a moment as he contemplated giving her the last piece of what happened. She was starting to shake again and while the tears had pooled in her eyes again, none had yet fallen, "before you cried yourself to sleep you made a request," he continued tenderly and watched the first tears fall from terrified eyes, "and I obliged."

Regina's breath was shaky and she tried to calm it but it only seemed to get worse, "you kissed me," she whispered and he nodded his head in confirmation. She breathed out a quivering breath and felt the start of her retreating into herself, "why?"

Her voice was a heartbreaking whimper that had the clear implication that no one would willingly kiss her let alone kiss her without something in return. It was like being stabbed in the chest, she was so vulnerable and scared and that was all she was at any point in time it was just under the false mask she put in place, "because you asked me to and I felt that you needed it."

His honest and gentle tone was touching a place in her heart that she didn't want to be touched again because it had only brought her pain, "if I recall correctly I asked for Daniel to kiss me."

"Yesterday I was your Daniel," he kept his voice soft and his head lowered slightly so as not to make himself seem above her, "it was just a kiss from me to you and you can do whatever you please with it. You can keep it close as a reminder that you are not a lost cause and that someone can care for you Regina," the tears in her eyes seemed to fall faster and she looked to be holding her breath, "or you can lock it away and forget about it and continue on like it never happened. Either way it is yours to keep with no strings attached."

She remained half sprawled across the stable floor, her muscles tense in preparation to flee. Her eyes darted between his own as she analyzed him, trying to find the lie or the metaphorical stab in the back. He could tell when she found none because her eyes went still and focused directly into his own.

He furrowed his brow in hurt that such a bright and beautiful girl had had to become such a ruined woman. Why was it that he hadn't seen it before?

He moved forward to touch her but realized a moment too late that it was too soon for that and she backed away hurriedly and pushed herself to her feet so she could all but run out of the stables wiping away her tears. He sighed and shook his head down so he was looking at the floor of the stable. Why did she have to show how scared and vulnerable she really was? How lonely and broken? How every day she just sat and cried on the floor with slumped shoulders and a bowed head with the shattered pieces of herself scattered around her and then crying more when those pieces crumbled in to dust and disappeared forever when she tried so carefully to fit two together. Why did she have to show him that?

Yes she was his enemy but after seeing who she really was he couldn't help himself, his good nature that didn't like to see a broken soul had him silently promising himself to mend her. With a deep breath he rubbed his hands over his face and pushed himself to his feet. Mulan and Aurora were still fast asleep on the floor apparently having been more tired than they had claimed.

To befriend the Evil Queen, "alright," he breathed out and cleared his throat before walking outside to find Regina. She stood straight as she always did but when she became aware of his presence her back went a little rigid and her head was held high once more as she looked over the property that had once been her home, "it's kind of neat to see how things have changed here don't you think?"

"Don't talk to me."

David smiled and shook his head in amusement as he folded his arms over his chest, "I noticed there is a water pump just out the stable doors. These are your stables, do you think you could lead me to a bucket without sending me into a room that locks from the outside and you leave me to rot?"

"There is a room we used for tack across from the open tack stall. You should be able to find one in there."

"Thank you," he received a simple nod in reply and he smiled, "you are much more tolerable after you've gotten a good night's rest," he quipped and she shot him a glare over her shoulder as he backed away.

...

Aurora slowed her pace until she was next to Regina and fell in step beside her. Regina looked at her coldly and stepped to the side as she walked forward so she didn't have to be so close which was fine, Aurora took no offense, "I'm sorry for attacking you yesterday."

"Quite alright dear. I'm used to it."

"That's not exactly something a person should be used to," she furrowed her brow and watched the woman simply shrug her shoulders indifferently. "So...the love you lost. What happened?"

"I don't talk about it."

"Well if chasing down the woman who caused it all didn't help then perhaps talking about him-"

"I said I don't talk about it," she snapped coldly.

"Regina," David warned from ahead of her and felt a hard slap on the back of his head that had him cringing and lifting his hand to rub the stinging area, "ow!" He turned to face Regina who was glaring at him as he walked backward and she continued forward, "did you just magic slap me?!"

"I am not your child nor am I your pet! You do not get to scold me!"

"You don't get to go around taking people's voices or smacking them upside the head because you don't feel like talking about a subject!"

"You do not get to tell me what I can and cannot do David!"

David laughed through his irritated growl and stopped walking causing Regina to nearly walk in to him and he gripped her arms beneath her shoulders tightly and his grip only tightened when she fought him, "knock it off."

"Let go of me!" She growled viciously and tried once again to tear herself from his grip.

"You can't keep doing this Regina!" He boomed and she glared at him with her teeth bared, "you need to change! Despite everything you have done in the past Snow still believes you can go back and I am here willing to give you yet another chance but you need to start trying harder!" She fought him yet again and when she started hitting his chest with her hands he let go of her arms and snatched her wrists and gave her a firm tug so she was pressed right up against him and couldn't move from there for he kept his hands around her wrists and her sides.

Her eyes were burning with rage and he could feel her chest rising and falling with furious breaths against his own body and her jaw was clenched with her teeth bared in a snarl but he didn't back down. Given their close proximity he lowered his voice so it was almost a whisper but it was no less clear or stern, "I am giving you another chance Regina. You show me who you are and you stop feeding the darkness and rage growing in your heart and I will help the rest of them see it, I will help Henry see it."

He knew he hit a nerve and she fought him again but he showed her it was pointless when he tightened his grip around her and kept her from backing away from him. He was certainly wary of what she could do to him but she needed to hear it, "this isn't you Regina, this isn't who you want to be."

"You don't know who I am!" She hissed and moved in even closer to him to try and regain the upper hand, "you don't know who I want to be!"

"No but I would love to find out," he countered honestly and she backed off almost unnoticeably, "you told me all you wanted was to love Daniel. If you give yourself a chance I'm sure you can find love again," he didn't like the way his heart skipped and his stomach flipped and fluttered suddenly, "prove to me that you can change. Prove to me that you can be good."

He held her close for a few moments longer until he felt her relax and watched her features soften slightly in agreement and only then did he let go of her, surprised by how he didn't want to. He surprised himself even more when he backed away from her and he found himself missing having her pressed up against him. "Do we have a deal?" He asked simply but insistently, Mulan and Aurora long forgotten.

Regina took a deep breath and ran her fingers though her hair and shifted her weight on to one foot. She knew he was right, that she needed to stop trying to be this person she no longer wanted to be, it was exhausting. She was just frustrated that he was right. Could she do it though? Could she prove herself to Prince Charming, the very image of 'good' that inside she too was good? "And if I slip?"

"If you have shown me enough I will pick you back up," he believed it was a fair answer and she seemed to agree for her worried and rather timid voice was strong again when she spoke once more.

"Deal."

"Excellent," he smiled approvingly and nodded once, "I am looking forward to meeting the real Regina," he raised his eyebrows when she opened her mouth and took a breath to snap at him but she clamped her mouth shut instead and pushed past him mumbling something indeterminable under her breath but he smiled because he knew it wasn't anything kind and she kept it to herself. Progress.