A/N: Sorry it took me a bit of time to update but I can't update while I work. I work 13 hour days, 4 days a week, it is difficult to do so during those days. But during my off days, I can update regularly :)

For this chapter, I used a poem cited at the beginning of one of my favorite songs called 'Understanding' by Evanescence. If you so choose, you can search it and listen to the lyrics. It is a very deep song once you understand its meaning.

Also, thank you for the lovely reviews and the pointers, they are most welcome! I will work harder on my grammar :) Please, let me know what you think and enjoy!

While Regina and Henry waited for Maleficent to arrive at the mansion, they used the time to catch up. She learned that her son was attending college, Yale University no less. He was majoring in Science with a minor in History. When she asked him why he decided to study Science, his answer was not what she expected. She expected to hear one of those 'Operation Cobra' answers he always gave her as a child, but she learned that his interest came from her casting the Retrogression spell.

Henry explained to her how Maleficent and him came to the conclusion of her whereabouts using Einstein's Theory of Relativity. He went through the basics of it with her of how Time was explained as an illusion, of what was time dilation and how time slowed down or speeds up depending on how fast the object or the person was moving relative to something else. Regina started to understand her situation better, on how she lost seven years of her life in the real world while it felt like minutes during the loops.

Regina noticed Henry grew quiet and was lost in thought, "Are you feeling alright?"

He smiled sadly, "Yes, its just a lot to process. It's been seven years, mom. I have to admit, I was starting to loose all hope on seeing you again"

She started to look around the room, "I wish I had something to say to that, a beautiful answer, but I can only imagine how terrible it must feel", she looked back at him, "But now I'm here"

He nodded, looking at the ground, "Why didn't you tell me you were casting the spell in the first place?"

Regina hesitated to answer his question, "When you become a parent, all you wish for is for your child to be safe. That reason ruled out the possibility to tell you that I would be gone to save your mother. I didn't want to make any promises that I couldn't keep, Henry. I didn't want to promise you that I'll be back when I wasn't sure of that myself"

"But still…"

"I know, and I'm sorry. I know that having Emma turn into the Dark One would have broken your heart, and it did"

Henry looked at her in confusion. Regina realized that he had no idea what she was talking about.

"Wait, do you remember Emma turning into the Dark One?"

Henry moved his head from side to side, "No"

Regina stood up from the couch and started walking around the room, stopping at the window, "You don't remember. Does anyone remember?"

"No mom, I don't know what are you talking about. All I know is that you disappeared into thin air, inside Pandora's Box"

"But you know about the spell", she said turning around, "You know what the spell does, but you have no memories of what transpired, of the reason I casted it in the first place?"

"I think so. We know about the spell, but I thought you casted it to free yourself of the Dark One's power. I mean, we saw you disappear into Pandora's"

Regina looked at the ground, trying to find an explanation to all this, "This is complete madness. That's not what happened at all"

"Tell me about it, old friend", Maleficent said entering the room, "Sorry I'm late"

The brunette smiled at the sorceress, "That is my line"

"Well, I know", the blonde walked towards the couch, taking a seat besides Henry, "And yes, it is complete madness because no one remembers what actually happened"

"But it looks like you do", Regina said walking towards her desk and taking a seat, "Do you?"

"Yes I do. I was the one that gave you the stupid idea in the first place, remember?"

"True, but knowing the intelligence span dragons have"

"And knowing yours, Regina, I'm surprised you even listened to me", the brunette smiled at that, the sorceress did have a valid point.

"Now tell me, what the hell the people in this town believe happened to me?"

"Well, they saw you inside the vortex becoming the Dark One"

"No shit, Sherlock. Besides that", Regina rolled her eyes at the sorceress' answer.

"Mom, did you just cursed?"

"Don't worry honey, that's the Dark One talking", the brunette smiled playing with a pen at her desk, "She comes to play from time to time and takes over my brain, manipulating me in the process to talk and act like a badass"

Maleficent smiled, "I thought you were a bit more refined, my Queen"

"I thought you had more brains than scales, my faithful dragon"

"Ok you two, get a room", he smiled, "You two are impossible"

"And you never met us at the Enchanted Forest, we were quite a pair", the sorceress smiled looking at Regina, "But to answer your question, they thought you wanted the power. Hook convinced Emma through the years that you only wanted to become the Dark One to gain control, that you used her to become this all so powerful being, that you never intended to save her from her Dark Side"

Regina rolled her eyes, "And she believed the Pirate?"

"At the end she did, and agreed to marry his sorry ass"

"Emma can't be this stupid"

"She lost hope, Regina, she really thought you were gone"

The brunette couldn't believe what she was hearing. The Emma she knew didn't loose hope, not that easily. Through all the things the savior has gone through, this one is not the worse of those. She needed to find Emma; she needed to talk to her.

"Mom?"

She looked up and realized she was lost in her thoughts, "At what time is that wedding?"

"Tonight at seven, why?"

She looked at Maleficent, "Where is that spell book?"

The sorceress stood up, "You already lost seven years, don't be stupid"

The brunette looked back at Henry, "I need you to find a way to fix this. There must be a way for me to get that time back"

"Time can't go backwards"

"But I still landed in the past somehow, didn't I?"

Henry looked at her, lost in thought, "Well, in some way you did"

"I need to talk to Emma. I need to understand her side of the story. I need to understand her logic"

"Mom, why do you care? She loves Hook", he said standing up and walking towards the bookshelves. Studying the books closely, he found the book of spells his mother was asking for, "Here we go"

He turned around with the book in his hand and noticed his mom was gone. He looked at Maleficent confused, "What the hell just happened?"

The sorceress grabbed the bottle of whiskey next to the couch and drank directly from the bottle, "She just poof out of here"

He raised one eyebrow at her, "I can see that"

"You know how your mother can be, child", taking another sip, "She needed to stretch her legs"

"Stretch her legs my ass. She went to find Emma, didn't she?"

"Well, you know your mother, she can be stubborn as a banshee"

Henry rolled his eyes and smile, "She is stubborn alright"

Emma sat at her vanity staring intently at her reflection, lost in thought. She finished dressing for her big day, but the only thing in her mind at the moment was the dagger she was holding in her hands, the Dark One's dagger. For seven years she wondered why did it happened, why did Regina do it. She was the Savior, she was the one chosen to bring back all the happy endings, including Regina's. But she failed; the brunette was sucked into the darkness, and sacrificed herself for everyone.

I love you forever

After all these years, she could still hear Regina's words echo through her mind, feel her arms around her body, her lips softly caressing hers in a kiss full of nothing but love. She had never stopped loving Regina, the memory of her whispering those words very alive in her subconscious. And now, she felt the woman she loves was back, but she wouldn't dare summoning her. If Regina wanted to see her, she would come, the blonde would never force her to do something against her free will. She wanted the brunette to choose her path; it was her decision to make.

She closed her eyes, her mind taking her to a distant memory hidden in some dark corner of her brain…

Hook stabbed Regina on her back, the blade cutting through her heart.

"NOOOOO!"

She screamed, catching Regina's body in her arms and slowly lowering her to the ground.

"Emma", the brunette whispered closing her eyes slowly, her strength leaving her body.

Tears traveled down her cheeks furiously. She clutched the woman's body tight, drawing her as close to her body as possible. She rocked her limp body, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Please, don't leave me! Please, come back!"

Emma opened her eyes and looked around the room in confusion.

Was that real? Where did that come from?

She looked down at the dagger and caressed its blade softly. She remembered the moment right after Regina sacrificed herself; she went to her vault to look for her, to see if she had hidden there. What she found was an empty room, no Regina in sight. She sat alone in a corner for hours thinking of all the different ways the night could have ended. One of them, with Regina wrapped in her arms finally enjoying her happy ending with the infuriating brunette or even just as friends raising their son. It didn't matter to her, as long as Regina was alive and safe.

She also remembered Maleficent entering the vault and finding her crying in the corner. The sorceress crouched in front of her and recited what sounded like a poem:

You hold the answers deep within your own mind. Consciously, you've forgotten it. That's the way the human mind works. Whenever something is too unpleasant, to shameful for us we, reject it. We erase it from our memories. But the imprint is always there. Nothing is ever really forgotten.

Emma looked at the mirror once more.

What Maleficent meant with those words?

Maybe those flashbacks of unknown moments she was having lately, the ones that showed Regina's death, maybe those were real? Maybe, those were real memories hidden in her mind? But how that was possible when she saw her being sucked in by the vortex.

"Because, even thought I love you, I'm in love with her. And I'm not going to see the woman I love loose her happiness, even if that happiness is not with me"

"Have these unknown memories always haunt you, or just recently?"

That voice!

Emma turned her head towards the door and saw Regina standing there, in a black long leather dress that left little to her imagination, which reminded her that the woman she loves, was the Dark One.

"They started recently, I imagine about the same time you decided to finally come back"

The blonde stood up from the chair and walked closer to her, stopping a few feet away, "Why did it took you this long?"

Regina looked down the blonde's body and admired her wedding dress. A simple white gown, down to her ankles, that hugged her curves perfectly. Slowly looking up her body, she noticed the blonde wasn't wearing any jewelry, making her even more beautiful. Emma always knew how to look classy without the need of eccentricities.

"You look perfect", Regina whispered out of breath.

Emma blushed and for a moment forgot she was due to wed Killian in a few hours. How she wished to marry the woman standing in front of her, to give her soul entirely to her.

"Don't", the blonde whispered looking at her feet.

The brunette looked up, noticing the blonde wasn't looking at her, "I know somehow this wedding is important to you and I wouldn't do anything to stop you, but I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I don't tell you…"

"Please Regina", Emma looked up and made eye contact with the brunette, "Don't you dare say it"

Regina closed her eyes and nodded, she was too late. Seven years was too much time lost that she will never recover.

"Ever since the first day I met you, Regina, I have felt everything for you. And all this time you were never able to tell me how you felt. It took a dark vortex and a near death experience for you to tell me that you loved me. After you paraded with Robin all over town, not even trying to dissimulate the fact in front of our son. Took you seeing me moving on with my life with Killian to acknowledge your feelings!", Emma walked closer to her, "And I get it, you aren't the type of girl that will say how she feels"

Emma looked down at her engagement ring and started rotating it, failing to notice a tear running down Regina's cheeks.

"But Killian did tell me how he felt, he was willing to voiced out his feelings, and I think I can be happy with him. All I want is to be happy, Regina", the blonde took a deep breath and continued, "So whatever you were going to say to me, please don't say it. Not now"

Tears ran freely down the brunette's cheeks. The blonde looked up and noticed the state Regina was in and it broke her heart. For a moment there she wanted to throw all away and take the brunette in her arms. Regina then nodded in agreement and disappeared from the room in a cloud of purple smoke without a single word.

Emma felt tears form in her eyes as she stood still, gazing at the spot Regina occupied mere minutes ago.

What do I do now? Should I follow my heart, or my conscience?