CHAPTER NINE

Regina was at home, alone in her room. The doorbell rang, and Regina, sighing, trudged down the steps of the house. She knew who she'd see. She pulled open the door and there he was. Neal, in all his magnificent glory, standing in front of Regina. He took Regina's arm and pulled her towards the couch without a word. He forced her to sit down, and stared daggers at her, not taking a seat.

"You promised that you wouldn't die! You promised!" he said, trying to make sure Regina heard him say 'promise'. "I don't want you to perform it. Why does everyone break the promises they make?"

Regina stood up and put her hand on his chest. She felt his heartbeat; quick. She smiled.

"You know, you're just like your son, always worrying about promises," she said, gazing into his eyes. "You and I both know that there's things that turn out differently than what we'd hope for. I'll try not to break my promise, but for the sake of this town, for the sake of my–no–our son, I will do whatever it takes to keep it."

Deep inside, Neal knew what she said was true. At that, he realized something. He cupped her cheek, and smiled.

"I knew it."

"Knew what?" Regina asked, curious. She tried to ignore the weird feeling she was getting in her stomach.

"The woman I knew so long ago is still there. People say you're completely evil, but that's not true. If it was, you wouldn't be protecting this town, or even protecting Snow for that matter! You just forgot who you were."

Tears were beginning to form in both of their eyes. Neal continued.

"I never said it out loud, but I agree with Daniel. You are the fairest of them all, because even with all the things you lost, you still managed to take the ounce of love you have to love again."

Neal then took away his hand from Regina and began searching through his bag.

"What are you doing?" Regina asked, immediately missing his touch.

"Before you decided to run away with Daniel, he gave me a box, telling me to protect it, because it was supposed to be your birthday present. I didn't give it to you though, since you were supposed to marry the king," Neal said, face red.

Neal opened the box slowly, and Regina gasped. Inside were two beautiful charms, one with a horseshoe, one with an apple tree.

"It's so beautiful," Regina said in awe. "Why are there two though?"

"Well," Neal said sheepishly. "I kind of put my own charm inside the box after Daniel handed it to me."

He gestured to the charm with the apple tree on it. "Mine's a bracelet. Daniel's one a necklace."

Regina took the charms out of the box. She took Neal's charm and put it on her wrist, admiring the handiwork of the bracelet. She then took Daniel's necklace and put it around her neck, a foolish grin now on her face.

"These are wonderful. Thank you so much," Regina said softly.

An idea suddenly popped into her mind. She could use the charms as a focus point for practicing for the spell. She quickly told Neal her idea and warned him to leave, saying it'll be dangerous. Neal, of course, refused.

"I'm going to stay," he says stubbornly. "I don't want you to get hurt. What if something happens? I'll feel guilty."

After a little more bickering, Regina finally caved.

"That's the bad part about being Henry's twin," she said under her breath.

She closed her eyes and began to focus on the day Neal planted the apple tree with her. The bracelet began to shake. Neal then realized that Regina was focusing on the bracelet, not the necklace. It made him feel a twinge of guilt inside, but there was also a fluttering feeling of joy. After a while Regina remembered the day Neal left her, the day everything fell apart. Neal began to notice her shaking. Tears were streaming down her face. He was starting to get worried.

"Regina?"

She opened her eyes and remembered she was at home in Storybrooke with Neal. Neal felt sorry for her. In front of him stood a woman who never wanted to touch magic, yet it consumed her instead. Regina shook with fear. He opened up his arms, and allowed Regina to hug him. There were tears in her eyes, but they didn't fall.

"I told you I needed practice."

"What were you thinking about?" Neal asked, putting his hand on top of Regina's head in a comforting motion.

"About the day we met," she said softly. "And the day you left."

"That makes you sad?" Neal murmured.

"Well the spell's quite complicated."

He knew Regina didn't want to explain further, and he didn't want to push.

"I don't think we got to finish our talk under the apple tree," Neal said suddenly. "Care to join me on a picnic?"

Even though Regina needed to practice, it has been a while since she had a picnic. "Lead the way."


Neal and Regina sat under the apple tree, munching their food in a comfortable silence. Neal, of course, had another motive for bringing Regina here again.

"You know, I never told you this, since Daniel was there and all, but you are a very unique person."

Regina looked at him. "Bringing me under an apple tree, complimenting me out of the blue. Is there an ulterior motive under all of this?"

Neal's cheeks were beginning to redden, and he started to stutter. "I–I didn't–"

Regina smirked, and without a warning, kissed Neal on the lips. For a moment Neal did nothing, but finally realized what was happening. He deepened the kiss, hand caressing her face. The kiss was long and passionate, but soon pulled away to catch her breath. Regina gazed into his eyes and smiled.

"I always wanted to know how that felt."

Neal grinned. "I loved it."

•••

A/N: How did you guys feel about this chapter? Did you guys like the kiss scene? I don't think Café and I are that good at writing those kind of things, so forgive me if it was a little too fast.

-Skye

P.S. We would personally like to thank Pace for reviewing every chapter.