A/N: Warning: this chapter contains minor het (Rumple/Cora). No kissing or anything, but it references a prior relationship. I hope you bear with me because it is kind of relevant to the plot. Also, thank you for your reviews and your patience with updates.
Not quite sure where to start, Cora sensed the pull of familiar magic drawing her toward a shop that appeared to be full of ancient relics. It wasn't her daughter's magic, but it was magic that she recognized. If she had still had her heart, she would have felt a touch of joy knowing she was about to see the only man who had ever matched her yearning for power. She was one of the few who had seen through his lizard skin and cowardice to the charm and lust beneath. As she entered the pawn shop, she heard a strange musical sound, a ringing…almost like a cowbell, but higher pitched. She guessed that it was meant to announce the arrival of visitors. Rumplestiltskin had always hated surprises.
"Welcome, dearie. See something you like?" Rumplestiltskin quipped. Decades had passed since he had last laid eyes on the woman before him as she had been banished to Wonderland—with his help—by her own daughter. Much to his chagrin, her beauty had not faded with age.
"I always do. My dear Rumple, the years have been good to you," Cora let her eyes wander suggestively. She wasn't above using her wiles to get what she wanted, and whether she liked it or not, she was going to need the Dark One's help to carry out her plan.
Rumplestiltskin had been around far too long to be easily manipulated, even by a former paramour such as the Queen of Hearts. He knew that she never gave a compliment without expecting something in return, so he cut to the chase, "What do you want, Cora?"
"Well, I should think that obvious. I want my daughter. She and I have some unfinished business," Cora looked the pawn broker directly in the eyes. "I hear she has given me a grandson."
The pawn broker responded with a glint in his eye, "Dearie, you know that's impossible. Regina is incapable of having children. I never break my deals."
"Ever the wordsmith. You may not break your deals directly, but you thrive on loopholes. Tell me about this boy she shares with a most irritating blonde woman," Cora insisted, her tone commanding obeisance. Truth be told, she wasn't displeased that a loophole had been discovered. King Leopold had been the one to insist on it being part of the marriage contract so that his precious Snow wouldn't have any competition for the throne. Cora had merely been the one to implement it, by making the deal with the Dark One.
Rumplestiltskin said smoothly, "I take it you've met the Savior then. That irritating blonde woman is the one who broke your daughter's curse, allowing the portal to open between the worlds."
"I'll be sure to thank her next time I see her," Cora grew impatient. "Tell me about the boy."
Rumplestiltskin sighed to himself. What could it hurt? She'd find out sooner or later, and honestly, he had no stake in this whatsoever. Well, except that he might get her out of his hair faster. He answered truthfully, "The boy's name is Henry. The Savior gave him to your daughter to raise, but it seems that she's since decided to take him back."
"Regina just went along with that? That doesn't sound like my daughter," Cora snorted. "She is far too stubborn and possessive to just give up."
"And that, dearie, is where it gets complicated. Those two seem to enjoy a good brawl now and again, all quite uncivilized if you ask me," Rumplestiltskin sniffed, straightening his purple tie.
"A Queen is always civilized; it's her subjects who need to learn proper respect and decorum," Cora drew her nose up at the insinuation that she had raised her daughter to be no better than an unruly peasant.
Rumplestiltskin laughed, "Dearie, you haven't heard then. Regina gave up that title as part of the curse. By her own choosing, she is a mere Mayor now; in terms of the Enchanted Forest, a Mayor is the equivalent of a lord of a fiefdom. She does not share the same lust for power as you and I."
"It would seem she hasn't fared as well as I'd hoped without her dear mother," Cora responded thoughtfully. "Where can I find her?"
With the smile fading from his lips, he answered, "Big white mansion in the center of town. You can't miss it. I daresay she won't be as happy to receive you as I have been, seeing as how she thinks you dead. How is Hook, if I may ask?"
"Mr. Jones was unable to accompany me on my journey; something about battling a crocodile at the bottom of the ocean. He lent me use of his ship in the meantime," Cora replied tactfully, not mentioning that the man was in fact unsuccessfully battling the reptile from inside its stomach. "Let me worry about how to best approach my daughter. I'll think of something."
"You always do, dearie. You always do."
Emma had counted every crack in the ceiling twice, trying to keep herself awake for Regina's inevitable return. She'd tried to think of a plan on her own to deal with the possibility that Cora had found a portal to their world, but well, thinking ahead wasn't her strong suit; she tended to succeed more often making purely impulsive decisions. Speaking of impulsive decisions, agreeing to move into the mayoral mansion while she was recovering hadn't turned out nearly as badly as she had feared. For one, she got to sleep in a comfortable bed, eat real home-cooked meals, see her son without needing to sneak around, and flirt with the most beautiful woman she had ever seen, who also happened to be the mother of her son—and ironically, the Evil Queen who had cursed an entire town on a whim. What would her life have been like if she had been able to grow up living with her parents in a freaking castle? She wouldn't have been a juvenile delinquent, involved with a man two times her age just because he was the first person to genuinely appear to care about her, or a pregnant teenager who felt she had to give her child up for adoption so that he could have had a better life.
She would have been a princess, loved and spoiled by doting parents, and probably married off to a handsome prince—ok, that part made her a bit ill—with maids to do all her housework for her and a chef to cook her meals and…she wouldn't have had Henry. Even though he often resembled an annoying brat, she wouldn't have changed one thing about her life because every experience she'd had, every choice she had made, had led to the little boy who had stolen her heart, even if she did share him with Regina. Honestly, sharing custody with Regina wasn't so bad. It was certainly better sharing Henry with her than with his biological father/sperm donor any day of the week. Regina definitely looked better in a skirt; that was for sure.
