A/N: Café and I just want to thank everyone who has viewed our story so far. We've reached 600 views! Now, that may not mean a lot to some people out there, but as beginners, it means a lot to us. We also love every single person who has reviewed our story, and gave it a favorite and a follow. We are immensely grateful. For the past few days, smiles have been plastered on our faces. It's been stuck for so long our jaws hurt.
We extended the chapter length, from the request of Metope. (:
-Skye
P.S. We seriously do love you all 3
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CHAPTER FOURNeal was furious with Rumple's idea.
"What do we do, then? Wait for Regina to be tortured to death?" Neal said angrily, startling Rumple. "You don't know what she'd do to her."
Regina grabbed Neal's arm and asked for a private conversation with him. No one in the diner stopped them; they were all hoping Regina could change his mind. They walked to the corner of the diner to get some privacy.
"Neal, I know you want to protect me, but I'm a big girl now. I can protect myself. You should spend some time with your family."
"Regina, she is going to torture you. It has been so many years since we met each other. Everytime we meet, I see your mother hurting you," Neal protested. "Look, Daniel made me promise to protect you if anything happened. He made me swear to it. I don't want to break that promise, so please, let us find another way. I don't want you to get yourself hurt."
"Daniel was a great man, but I don't want my mother hurting anyone else, especially his best friend. Please, just spend some time getting to know Henry and everyone else, I'll try meeting up with you as much as I can."
Regina slowly made her way out the door, going back home. Neal walked back to the crowd gathering around the Charmings, face glum. The diner was buzzing with talk about Regina and Cora. After talking, everyone took a seat in the diner. Charming sat at one of the booths wondering what they should to do next. Charming couldn't stand the silence.
"If we save Regina, Cora will come after Henry or us, so..."
Neal interrupted Charming.
"If we leave Regina, she'll die. I've seen what Cora has done to her daughter. She'll die if we leave her."
Henry stared at his father for a moment.
"Why aren't you scared of her? Everyone else runs away. I think you're the first person to ever hug her, apart from myself."
Emma nudged Henry's knee, signaling him to be quiet. Neal didn't notice this action, and tried to explain it the best way he can.
"I'm not scared of her because I knew who she was. This whole Evil Queen persona is just a facade. She knew people would be afraid of her if she was powerful, because then no one would dare hurt her."
Henry was quiet for a while.
"What was she like before becoming the Evil Queen?" he asked finally.
Neal glanced at Snow and Charming before answering the question.
"She was one of the nicest, smartest and one of the best horseback riders I've ever met."
"My mom knows how to ride horses?" Henry asked, eyes filled with wonder.
"You didn't know?" Neal said, surprised. "She was an amazing horseback rider. She always said that she found solace in riding horses. She stopped riding when Daniel died, though, because it reminded too much of him."
"I don't mean to barge into this father-son bonding time, but we should focus on the problem at hand," Snow said.
Neal sighed. The worry returned to his face.
"Are you sure Regina is going to be abused to death?" Snow asked slowly.
"No, but I do know that Cora would inflict pain until she gets what she wants. I also know that Cora wants her daughter to obey all of her commands at the moment."
"So what the hell are we suppose to do?" Emma said, butting in.
"She just needs to remember that she isn't alone in this. She needs to know that the town of Storybrooke feels something good towards her, because once she thinks she's alone, she'll give in."
"Why are you so concerned for her? I also knew her before she became evil, but you are going out on a limb here. She had done merciless things that you don't even want to know."
Neal looked at Snow.
"I'm doing this because I feel guilty."
Snow and Charming were surprised and slightly confused by his answer.
"She wouldn't had learnt magic if I hadn't left her in the hands of my father. When one is powerless for a long time, to have control can make you..." Neal hesitated, trying his best not to look at his father. "...do unimaginable things. "
•••
Neal and the Charmings decided to follow Regina, for the sake of making Neal feel better. Emma had told Henry to stay with Ruby in the diner, since she couldn't risk him getting hurt. They followed her back to the mansion. As they peeked through the corner of a window, they overheard a small argument going on.
"Mother, please, forget what had just happened," Regina pleaded.
"Fine, but if you want to play like that, I suggest you keep your son safe," Cora said coldly.
"Don't hurt Henry. You hurt him, I hurt you. I don't care if you're my mother or not," Regina said, trying her best to look fearless.
"Are you threatening me, dear?" Cora asked indignantly. "That is a very bad idea."
Emma, hearing this, began to worry about Henry, still in the diner. Cora disappeared in a puff of purple smoke.
"No, Mother!" Regina screamed.
Regina, too, vanished.
Snow, Charming, Emma, and Neal were concerned for Henry and Regina, so they hopped in their car and drove as fast as they could back to the diner. Once they arrived, they burst through the doors, and stopped dead in their tracks. Cora was holding a knife against Henry's throat, smirking at Regina's desperate expression.
"I told you it was a bad idea to threaten me," she said, taunting Regina.
"Mother, please leave Henry alone! This is just between you and me."
"What are you so afraid of?" Cora asked, faking innocence. "Love is weakness. Are you telling me that you love Henry?"
Emma had the urge to punch Cora in the face, but was able to keep herself at the door next to her family. She was afraid that if she moved Cora would kill her mercilessly.
"No, I don't love Henry. He isn't my son anymore since he was taken away from me. You don't need to kill him. He isn't my weakness anymore," Regina lied, trying to use a different tactic apart from threatening.
Henry, believing these words, was shocked to hear this from Regina. His eyes started welling up with tears, words still ringing in his ears.
Cora glanced at the Charmings and back at Regina.
"How stupid do you think I am, dearie?" Cora asked, voice angrier than ever. "You love Henry; he is your weakness. That's why Snow White managed to hurt you again; she took your son away from you."
An idea popped into Regina's mind.
"You're right, he is my weakness, but I want to protect him. I want to propose a deal."
"Darling, you don't have anything I want."
"Just listen to my proposal," Regina said, praying that the plan would work. "You leave Henry and everyone in this diner alone. You don't hurt them at all, and I will give you my heart."
Regina said the last two words dreadfully. Everyone in the diner was shocked to see the Evil Queen proposing to give up her own heart for the savior's son.
"You can't do this!" Emma hissed in her ear. "She'd control you!"
"Do we have a deal?" Regina asked, ignoring Emma completely.
Cora let go of Henry, who ran towards Emma as fast as he could. Seeing this, Cora threw the knife towards Snow's direction. Regina noticed the knife, and ran towards Snow, creating a barrier between her and the knife. The knife stabbed Regina in the stomach.
Snow realized what happened and for a moment she was paralyzed and lost for words. She recovered slightly, though her eyes was still wide with fear.
"No!" Snow screamed.
Snow screamed so loudly everyone's ears in the diner were ringing. Nobody cared, however. They were too focused staring in shock at Regina's wound. Blood poured out of the wound, and soon after a few seconds, there was a pool of blood on the floor. Cora, also shocked, stared at her daughter.
"You foolish girl!" Cora exclaimed, clearly mad and disappointed. "Your long-time enemy was about to get killed and you protect her!"
Henry ran towards her mother, sobbing.
"Mom, no!" Henry yelled, kneeling next to his mother. "You changed! You were good! Don't leave me, I need you!"
Henry's words were nearly indecipherable as he was crying too hard. Regina managed to smirk at Cora.
"Mother, you're the one foolish here. Unlike you, I held my responsibilities as a mother, but you never did. I protected my children," Regina spat out.
That took out a lot of energy from Regina. She tried to breath, but it was ragged and uneven. Cora was laughing.
"You're trying to protect your children? You've tried killing her so many times."
Regina lift her head up with a lot of difficulty, and looked at her mother standing not far from her.
"I never wanted Snow to die. I just wanted to take away her happy ending, like how you took away mine," she said, smiling a bit.
Regina was silent for a moment.
"Huh," she said, letting out a forced laugh. "Look how that turned out."
Regina was driving Cora crazy.
"Such a waste," she said, sighing.
As she struck her hand in Regina's chest, a sudden wave blasted both of them to opposite sides of the diner.
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