Misthaven
Palace
9:28 PM
"Regina, I don't like this," Emma said as she paced through their room. "My mother isn't like this, she just isn't –"
"I told you," She said, crossing her arms. "And you didn't listen."
Emma scowled. "That's not helpful."
"I'm not trying to be helpful, I'm being realistic," She snapped. "And –"
"Regina, please listen to me!" Emma exclaimed, looking at her partner in deep concern. "If the story is being re-written, we have no idea what's going to happen, and that terrifies me! I can't even fully remember what happened because the book isn't able to tell me! You probably can't even!"
"Not in its entirety," Regina admitted. "Something changed when we fell through, Emma."
"Yeah, no kidding," She said dryly, finally sitting down on their bed in exhaustion. "What are we going to do?"
"We're going to live our lives as we will here," Regina told her. "And –"
"Your Majesty," A guard said, stepping into the room albeit pausing upon receiving a glare from the Queen. "I am so sorry to intrude, but I received some disturbing information."
Regina raised an eyebrow. "And what might that be?"
"Your daughter is gone," He said, and her eyes went wide in horror. "She went out riding earlier, but she never came back, and we've been unable to locate –"
Regina pushed him out of the room and slammed the doors with her magic, then stepping over to her mirror. "Show me my daughter."
The mirror shifted from reflective to the deep woods where the heiress was restrained by several guards of Snow and Charming's.
"Do you know where that is?" Emma asked, stepping towards the mirror a bit nervously. "And –"
"…Where's the Queen?" Charming walked over towards the heiress with a hand on his sword. "…Caitlin Leanne –"
"…Why would I tell you?" She snapped. "…I –"
She attempted to use her magic to break free but was sharply hit with fairy dust which inhibited it.
"No," Regina said, snapping her fingers and forcing the mirror to shift to Snow in her bedroom. "Hello Snow."
The woman flinched in start as she matched the Queen's narrow eyed stare.
"Regina," She said, biting her lip. "What do you want?"
"Tell your husband to release my daughter," She said, crossing her arms. "She has never done anything; don't you dare let him do anything to her."
Snow sighed. "Regina, you're the one who will end this war –"
"She's an innocent!" Emma protested. "How can you not –"
"Because it is about more than just me and Regina," Snow shook her head. "And she needs to understand that."
"No," Regina said, crossing her arms. "It's not alright. My daughter –"
"I'm not going to do that," Snow told her. "And I –"
"This is your choice," Regina said, her bitterness rising in her voice. "And it's your end."
Caitlin sat against the wall of the tower cell, her coat, tight shirt, and leather pants dusty. She was still unable to activate her magic, and she felt completely dejected. There was nothing that felt quite right, and she felt completely unreconciled. In her hands, she was holding her tiara and her dark hair was tangled and hanging unceremoniously down her back. A cool breeze constantly traveled through the window, and it was one of the few comforts she had. She wished that she had a book and ink; in the moment, as with so many, she felt the desire to write. That did not seem like an eminent possibility. She was angry with herself for letting herself get lost, and she was angrier that she ended up in the position she was now. She wanted nothing more than to be in the palace, where she was supposed to be, but she could not escape. At the moment, she was unsure if she would ever escape.
"I'm not trying to hurt you," Snow said, stepping into the cell. "Your mother seems to disagree."
"Considering where I am," She remarked dryly. "I would say that she's got a fair reason to."
Snow sighed. "I don't know what to say, but I don't feel right about this –"
"If you don't feel right about this, let me go," She scowled at the woman in front of her. "Don't be that much of a hypocrite."
"How can I know that my family will be safe?" Snow countered. "How can I be sure that Charming and I can marry in peace –"
"Well," Caitlin said, standing up and crossing her arms. "Why don't you find out?"
"What's going on?" Charming asked as he stepped into the small cell himself. "Snow?"
"She wants us to let her go," Snow said, sending him a slightly pleading look. "I don't feel right about this, we can't just –"
"What if Regina –"
"What if Regina does any number of things?" Snow exclaimed. "I just want us to marry safely in three days' time, and I don't want to make this any worse!"
Charming considered that, sending a cursory glance towards the young woman.
"We'll let you go on one condition," He said. "You'll get your magic back and you'll be let go…but you need to control your mother."
Caitlin glared. "On the condition that you control your wife."
He sighed. "That's not –"
"Fine," Snow said, throwing the dust towards her to unbind her. "But –"
Within a few seconds of reactivating her magic, the young heiress was gone.
"I'm not going to go after her," Regina said, her hands shaking as she tried to brush out her hair. "But –"
"Mommy?" Caitlin appeared in the room through her magic, startling both Emma and Regina. "Are you –"
"Oh thank god," Emma breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing her. "They let you reactivate your magic?"
"They let me go," She told her. "But they were trying to trap –"
"That much is clear," Emma said, looking worriedly to Regina. "Do you feel a little better?"
Regina snorted. "Because that's likely."
"Mom!" Henry all but ran into the room. "Oh, hi!"
"Hey," Caitlin said, glancing to her brother but then back to her mother. "Snow and Charming are getting married in their palace in three days."
Regina raised an eyebrow. "Is that right?"
"What are you thinking?" Henry asked. "You're not –"
"That might be a…perfect opportunity to make a few things very clear to them," She said, standing up with a faint smirk. "And, maybe, we can get exactly where we want to be."
Emma stared at her. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"No!" Henry exclaimed in realization. "You can't cast the dark curse again, you just can't!"
"Henry –" Regina started.
"Can we please discuss this?" Emma sent her a sharp look. "Please, Regina."
She hesitated for a long moment, biting her lip.
"Henry," Emma said gently. "Can you please let the three of us talk?"
Henry stared at his hands for a moment but then quickly left, slamming the door behind him.
"I'm not sure what we should do," Emma eventually said. "But I don't want you to cast that damn curse."
"It's our only chance at getting home –"
"There has to be –"
"Why don't we…" Caitlin sighed heavily. "Why don't we let it lie for tonight and deal with it tomorrow?"
"Regina's had a difficult time," Henry explained to his grandson as they sat by the fire, half reading the books which they were holding. "And I know she's still suffering."
The young boy bit his lip. "I don't want her to hurt people."
"It's not like her," He said, then shaking his head. "She'll never admit it to anyone, but, a few months ago, Caitlin and I watched as she followed an arrow that was supposed to take her to the one she hates the most, and it shattered a mirror and showed only her reflection. She hates no one more than she hates herself."
Henry sighed, leafing through the Storybook for a moment.
"I guess that makes sense," He eventually said. "But I just…I wish she knew how to feel better."
"There are two people in the world, beside Emma, that ease her suffering," He sent his grandson a sympathetic look. "And those people are you and your sister. I help her a little, but I think she would be lost without you or Caitlin."
Henry nodded. "I just want her to be happy."
"I know," He said kindly. "And I feel the same way. Losing Daniel was hard for her, but, in the last few weeks, seeing her with Emma has been genuinely comforting. I know they have been involved much longer than that, but the two of them are good for each other. With time, I think she'll finally heal. She's been moving towards that, and I hope that will happen because she deserves happiness."
"I agree," He said, rubbing his neck. "I don't want her to become worse."
"She won't," He said as reassuringly as he could. "I know her better than that, and I think we all do."
