Hello again lovelies! I hope that everyone has had an awesome week and that you are ready because from here on out things are going to start to pick up steam. It's been a long time coming, but somebody has finally begun to believe! Enjoy! And Happy Reading!

Chapter 10 - She's Everything

"Ready for what?"

"To believe in magic…"

He looked down at their adjoined hands and back up into her eyes. The pulse from their initial contact was wearing off. But he could still feel the magic. He could see it burning in her soul when he looked into her eyes.

"Regina, do you know what you are saying? What you are choosing to believe in?"

"I'm choosing to trust you, and believe in you. I'm choosing to believe everything. I think magic may have caused the clock tower to start moving again."

"You think that was magic? Regina, there is no magic here. Come on. We need the book." He dropped her hand and started to move towards the path.

"I hid it. Somewhere that Leo can't find it. I don't want to risk having it out in the open again."

"But you read it?"

"I did. Though at the time I believed I was just reading fairytales."

"Fairytales aren't real."

"That's exactly what Mary Margaret said, but how can that be true? If I can believe in magic, why can't I believe in fairytales?"

"What is a fairytale Regina?"

"A story. Once upon a time…happily ever after… that's a fairytale."

Robin sighed and ran a hand over his scruff. "You didn't finish the book did you?"

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" Both of them were getting rather worked up, and their voices were beginning to rise.

"Because if you'd read it you wouldn't have called them fairytales!"

"And why not?"

"Because there is no happily ever after!"

Regina gasped, and her voice softened. "What?"

Robin moved away from her again, when he noticed how they had subconsciously gravitated together when they were yelling. "There is no happily ever after in that story, because that story is not over." He looked up and met her eyes again. The fire was still burning in them, somehow even stronger than before. "You said you were going to believe in magic. Are you going to believe in the book as well?"

"I think I have too. The book showed up because of magic. There is magic here in Storybrooke Robin. I can feel it." As she spoke the power in her eyes seemed to grow. It reacted as though the stronger Regina believed everything was true, the stronger she became. Magic was brewing in Storybrooke; Robin was watching it with his own eyes. And he smiled.

"Well then Your Majesty, let's go find it."

Mr. Gold had watched the queen take off from the diner and head towards the woods from the window of his shop. She ran from the diner in a way that made him think only one thing. She had started to believe.

When her car passed his shop he knew for certain, it was only a matter of time until Cora realized what had happened. Regina believed. She believed in the book, she believed in magic, and most of all she believed in herself. He could feel the magic radiating from her as she drove by. It was tangible, and strong. The power that Cora had felt before she was born was finally starting to show itself, and when it came in full force, he doubted even he would be strong enough to stop "The Fairest of Them All."

He refocused his attention on the task before him, but it wasn't long until he was distracted again. He felt her before he saw her, but when he looked up and out the window he saw her drive by with the forest ranger. Gold laughed to himself, what a funny pair the queen and the outlaw made.

The Queen and the Outlaw! That was it! He knew she had to have found True Love in order for this to happen, but he had always suspected it would stem from a child. That she would love Snow White enough to break the curse.

She hadn't. That was true love, and it was strong, but it wasn't True Love. There was no higher being weighing in on that. She loved that little girl by choice, not because it was fate. But Robin, Gold couldn't help but laugh; both of Cora's daughters had ended up loving men that were more suited to her original station in life. First a stable boy, and now an outlaw, won't mommy be so proud.

Robin refused to leave Regina alone at her home. She insisted that she could handle herself, but now that she believed all of this, he couldn't risk letting his queen be hurt any more. He had followed her into the house even though she was still arguing with him.

"I don't need a babysitter Robin! I am a grown woman I can handle the stairs on my own!" She made her point by running up the staircase as fast as her heels would allow.

"It's not you that I'm worried about hurting yourself and you know it!" He climbed slowly after her, all the while taking in his surroundings.

"You have no reason to protect me as you do!"

"No reason? No reason? You are the Queen! I have every reason and duty to keep you safe!"

She poked her head out of the master bedroom, where he had refused to follow her. "And what pray tell are you going to do when you realize that the man you are protecting me from is in fact, the King?"

Robin shook like he had just been slapped. He realized with a jolt that she was right, the man that he was promising to keep her safe from was in fact her husband, and the King. He ran his hand over his chin for the second time that afternoon. "Honestly, I hadn't really thought it all that far through."

She came out of the bedroom and shoved the book gently into his chest. "I know you haven't. Come on. Let's go get my daughter. She won't want to miss this."

Gold had gone back to cleaning up his shop, but he couldn't get Regina out of his head. He kept on thinking about True Love and true love, and how things never ended up working out exactly as he planned them. He thought he should be surprised that Regina had found her True Love in Robin, but somehow he wasn't. In fact the more he thought about it the more he realized they were a good match.

After his long standing history with her and getting to know him through the town for all of these years he could see how they complemented each other well, and how well they would fit together. He smiled a little to himself, he had always known that she would one day take the throne, but now he had a feeling that maybe it wouldn't be with Leopold at her side like he had always thought.

Leopold had been a mistake, but one that she had to make in order to fulfill her role in their future. She could never have become the queen without him, and he used to be a good man. He spoke out loud to himself as he let his mind wander away from him. "I wonder how much Cora's curse changed the future? Regina's future held so much promise, but then again," he finished muttering to him self, "Once upon a time mine held a lot of promise too…"

He had loved Mila, but it sure wasn't True Love, looking back now he even doubted if it was true love. They had been young, and there had been some sort of love, or maybe just lust and affection, but they had gotten by. That was until she had left to go run off with a pirate… And not just any pirate, oh no she had run off with one of the most notorious pirates there had ever been. Captain Hook. Rumple shook his head and tried to push Mila out of his mind.

The only good thing that he had gotten from that woman was Baelfire, and now he was gone too. He had died shortly after his mother had left, and Rumple had become the Dark One in an attempt to save him. He had ended up completely alone, with no family and no friends, only his power and his despair. He had become a monster. At least that was what he had thought, until he met the miller's daughter.

Cora had been young, seventeen years old, when she had first sought out Rumple's help. She had wanted to advance her station in life, and so when she was thrown into King Xavier's tower and told to spin the straw into gold, he had come to her rescue. He had saved her, and taught her his magic, and slowly he had come to care for her. He had been surprised when she had returned his feelings, and even more shocked when she had ripped her own heart from her chest, in order to marry the prince that she could not stand.

They had had true love, he was sure of it, and given time and proper care it may have been enough to become True Love. Now, they would never know. She had chosen royalty over love, and riches over power. To this day he was sure that she wanted both, she knew how to pull strings and get things her way. After all in the end, her daughter had still become the queen…

His mind shifted away from his lost loves and back to the young queen. She was beautiful where the outlaw was coarse, and soft where he was gruff. If they found a way to break this curse, if they found a way to harness what they had, he had no doubts that their love was capable of conquering all.

He watched from the sidewalk as Regina went into the building and came back out with Snow White. He smiled when she waved at him and greeted her with a formal bow. "Princess."

She laughed, but she curtseyed back. "Outlaw."

"Snow White!"

The girl spun around to face her mother so fast that she dropped the books that she had been carrying in her arms. "Mother?" She was shocked that her mother had addressed her as Snow White instead of Mary Margaret, what was going on?

"That is no way to speak to someone who has addressed you so formally. You will show respect to everyone equally, do you understand me?"

Robin spoke up, "Regina, really it's fine. She doesn't owe me the same respect she would show a nobleman, she's right," he tipped his head towards the queen and whispered loudly enough for them both to hear, "I am an outlaw."

Regina laughed at Robin, but her voice was still stern. "I don't care if you are the lowest street rat that I have ever seen, the princess must be polite."

"Of course Your Majesty." He ducked his head and took half a step away from her.

"Mother, what's going on? Are the two of you making fun of me to try and get me to stop all of this, because it's not going to work? I know the truth, I am Snow White, and that book," she pointed to the brown volume under Robin's arm, "is real."

"Snow,"

"No Mother, don't try and make light of this. I am serious about all this if you don't believe me,"

"Snow," Regina caught her daughter's flailing arms and forced her to look at her, "Snow, we believe you." She smiled, "We believe you, about the book, about the curse, about everything. You were right, now we have to figure out how to stop it."

"Really?" She looked back and forth between her mother and Robin before a huge smile split her face. "You really believe me?"

"Yes, Princess." Robin returned her smile. "Now may I suggest that we go somewhere a little less, out in the open to continue talking about this?"

"Well we can't go home, because of Leopold, and I don't want my mother finding us either…"

"Let's go to the library!" Both adults looked down at the child. "Belle, well Lacey, won't mind." Robin and Regina looked at each other and sighed, for ten years old Snow was fairly clever.

Together the three of them made their way to the library. When they arrived Regina went to the desk to tell Lacey what they were doing, and to ask her if she remembered anything, and Snow turned on Robin. "What are you doing?" She was whispering so her stepmother didn't hear, but that didn't stop the argument that was forming.

"What do you mean, what am I doing? I am helping you and your stepmother save everyone in this town!"

"Then why haven't you broken the curse yet? Why haven't you just ended it and sent us all back?"

"What are you talking about? I don't have magic!"

"Well, maybe you don't on your own, but Mother does and if you two use it then we would all be free!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Her magic, your magic! Together you two have strong magic!"

"Snow the only way two people can share magic is if they share True Love," he paused and thought about it for a second, "or maybe soul mates…"

She just looked at him.

"No! Regina and I aren't soul mates! And I don't even love her, there's no chance we can share True Love!"

Snow just stood there with her arms crossed, waiting.

"I mean, she's beautiful, and she's kind, and she loves you more than anything. And her smile, have you ever seen her truly smile? It lights up her eyes in a way that the magic never could." His gaze drifted across the library to where she stood talking to Lacey.

"Yeah, you don't love her…" Snow's smirk was almost evil. She knew it. She knew that Robin had fallen hard for the Queen. "You know according to the book it takes True Love to break the curse."

"And you think we can break the curse?"

"That depends, are you going to admit how much my mom means to you? How much she means to this town, to our kingdom?"

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. His blue eyes found her green ones and he held the princess's strong gaze. It had been less than a week since he had met the queen and the princess, but what a week it had been. He let out one more long breath before he answered, but when he did Snow knew that good would always win. That everything was working out just the way it was supposed to. "She's everything."

She smiled and spoke loud enough that her voice would carry across the room, "Then what do you think? Can we win this thing or not?"

"Yes." Both of their heads swung in Regina's direction as she spoke. "I think magic is here, and I think that we have already started to break this curse." She moved to stand between the two of them and she looked slowly from Snow to Robin as she spoke. "I know now that I am the Savior, that I have to be the one to save everyone from this curse, from my mother and my sister. I have to be the one that saves myself, but right now I don't think that I can do this alone." She locked eyes with Robin, and he could see the magic at full force, lying in wait inside of her. "Will you help me?"

He reached out and grabbed her hand, causing sparks to fly in her eyes. Their deep chocolate taking on purple streaks as her magic exploded from her soul and filled her body, "For you m'lady, I'd do anything."