Regina couldn't switch off since she had sent her letter. Emma was trying to get the mayor to sit still for a few moments.
"Gina seriously, sit down before you wear the floor away," Emma said sitting on the sofa watching Doctor Who, they had watched a few episodes before she had dozed off last night. Regina had started with 'Rose' the first modern-day episode. Emma had enjoyed it. The running around, the explosions, and the strange aliens. Emma couldn't help but wonder if the Doctor was real. There was a piece of her that wished he was and that he might pop up at some point.
"Hey, do you think that the Doctor exists?" Emma said curiously to the pacing woman who paused at her question giving it a lot of thought.
"I guess he could. Maybe Gallifrey is just another realm of super-intelligent lifeforms that had built the TARDIS' to go through different realms as well as space and time. Perhaps the Doctor just doesn't know about it. I mean he did meet a Robin Hood and Blackbeard. It is definitely a possibility." Regina said to the blond who grinned at her and bounce on her seat.
"I'm definitely going to research into that when we have sorted everything out. Do you need to go for a walk Regina it might make you stop wondering around looking all lost and anxious?" Emma asked noticing the blond had been doing it continuously for more than two hours now. Maybe she needed to get out.
"That might be good. I have been trying to think of where she might come and met us I don't think she will want to come here. We need to go somewhere more secluded." Regina said. Emma didn't know if Regina was right, the first place she would have come to meet them was at Regina's house. She didn't object to her thought though because maybe Regina had a hunch and was following it. The each grabbed what they needed and left.
Regina drove them to the forest outskirts. They began their walk. The forest looked beautiful during the day. The luscious green grass speckled with morning dew shone brightly. The clear blue sky was visible in amongst the leaves of the trees. The floor of the forest was covered in flowers and plants making the entire area look like it was right out of a fairy tale.
Emma took a deep breath taking in the fresh smell of the area. She had been inside all day and had needed a walk for a while now. Regina copied her taking in the air and letting it out slowly.
"You know back in the days of the enchanted forest I took sights like this for granted. Now coming here, seeing this. I remember what a beautiful place it was. Until I destroyed half of it and froze the other half I didn't realize how much I would miss the forest." Regina admitted a little sad but grateful that she could look at a little piece of her former kingdom.
"It is breathtaking. Even more so when you are here with me, I can't remember when I last felt this comfortable around a person. " Emma said smiling at the Mayor. Regina smiled back her cheeks turning pink. Without thinking about it Regina was holding the blond's hand. Emma rubbed her thumb on the back of Regina's reassuringly.
"We will sort all this out and then we can come here more often. Maybe even bring Henry along. " Emma said. She led Regina to a well-placed log. She sat down and used Regina's hand to try and get the Queen to join her.
"A log really, I think I would rather stand, than fall off that" Regina said. She wasn't a fan of sitting on things that could just roll out from underneath her. Emma grabbed the Brunette's waist when she had gotten her close enough and pulled her on to her lap. As predicted the log rolled forward and Emma fell on her back, Regina fell on top of her.
"Aw, that was why I didn't sit down Swan," Regina said through gritted teeth.
"Well, maybe I planned it?" Emma said kissing the tip of Regina's nose. Who sighed and relaxed her jaw. She prized herself off of Emma and stood up to dust herself off. Emma jumped up and grabbed hold of Regina.
"Come on Gina just relax a little. Everything will turn out ok." She said putting her hands on Regina's waist pulling her close and enveloping her in her arms. Regina responded by bringing her arms around Emma's waist and nuzzling her face into Emma's neck. Emma could feel a light tickle on her skin from Regina's deep breathing. She rested her chin on the Brunettes head. They stood still like that whilst Regina tried to relax. It was a long game. After a while, Regina pulled back from the hug.
"Miss Swan. What are we doing?" Regina asked a perplexed expression on her face. Emma looked back just as puzzled.
"Well we are hugging at the moment, We were just walking," Emma said. Stating the obvious not quite getting what Regina meant.
"No I meant we obviously care for each other but we haven't spoken about it." The brunette said hoping that she cleared up the confusion.
"I'm not sure, I'll be whoever you want me to be. I just know that I really like you, Gina, You're... special to me" Emma admitted. She didn't normally tell people that she needed them in her life, she usually tried to stay away from anyone trying to get too close to her. She couldn't help herself from wanting to let Regina in.
"Be whoever I wanted to be? That's a strange way of putting I would like to go out with you" Regina chuckled she took Emma's face between her hands. " Miss Swan I must be clear when I tell you, that I am most certainly falling for you. I have been for a while now. I guessed our little signs of affection meant you felt it too. If I have gotten it wrong I apologize. I don't want this to come between us." Regina said staring into Emma's eyes, wishing she could hear what the blond was thinking. A large smiled broke out over Emma's face.
"Regina you are the only other person I would trust, as much as I trust myself, with our son's life. Of course, that goes unsaid. Gina, you are so much more than you see. You are beautiful, powerful and feisty, but you're also passionate and caring. You gave all you love to our son and it shows in the person he has become. Gina, you are my Hero" Emma said. Tears sprung to the Brunettes eys. Not even knowing slightly how the blond could see her that way. Regina just saw herself failing her son over and over again. Getting him into situations no child should have been in. She just wanted to protect him and in the last few years, she hasn't been doing the best job.
Emma was holding a quite Regina when a loud pop came from behind her. She and Regina quickly broke apart to see what had made the noise. Stood there was Aldara. She snarled at them.
"What do you want?" She said viciously to Regina. Her eyes burning into the older women trying to intimidate her. It might have worked on anyone else but Regina straightened herself up.
" We need to talk. If you are my daughter I'd like to know for sure before I start to tell you about myself. I'm not one to share my life with someone on a whim. My past isn't something to be proud of but it is part of me. I was wondering do have anything that I left you as a baby, I can use it to make sure" Regina said trying to stay calm, hoping that Aldara would let her borrow a token if she had one. Aldara nodded more unsure than before but still holding strong to her anger. She unfastened a silver neckless from her neck. She floated it over to Regina, not wanting to get to close.
"Thank you, You will have it back in a minute," Regina said smiling at Aldara gently. She took the neckless from the air by the chain. She looked at the pendant hard, It had a small silver apple pendent hanging gracefully from the delicate silver chain. She definitely recognized it but she didn't know when she had last seen it.
"You left it with a note with my name on," Aldara said through gritted teeth as Regina looked at neckless. She took a small bottle from her pocket with a dark orange liquid in. She popped the cork and dipped the neckless in the liquid. The potion turned green and Regina's head immediately shot up to look at the young woman in front of her.
She couldn't help but try to deny it. She had touched the neckless and nothing had happened isn't that how these things usually work?. She was starting to get frustrated with herself. Why couldn't she remember her? She couldn't believe she would do this to herself, let alone her one and only Daughter.
She saw Aldara's face flash with sympathy and longing before it turned into confusion and hostility. She didn't take a step toward Regina. who was still staring at her. Regina wanted to explain herself to the girl, not knowing what happened, she didn't know what to say.
"I'm so sorry. I don't... I can't remember what happened. I have no idea what I did to you, or why I did it. I can't even remember when I would have had you let alone where I left you. I just wish I could remember. I want to be a good mother too you. I have an adopted son I share with Emma. He would love to meet you." She said smiling through unshed tears at Aldara who's face softened a little at the mention of having a little brother. She looked at Regina still unsure of what she should do. Aldara just stood there looking at Regina who was trying her best to get to the part she knew she had caught a glimpse of a second ago.
" I can tell there is a part of you that wants to forgive me. You just need to stop fighting it. I fought against parts of myself for years and managed to completely lose who I was. It took having Henry and Emma showing up for me to understand that I would never be happy if my life was dedicated to making everyone else's miserable. It took a while but it was worth it. Now I have more family than I ever thought possible. If you want you can have that too. I know that it won't make up for the years you spent without me to look after you, But I promise you, starting now I will try to make it up to you." Regina said hoping she would get to the younger woman. She could see she almost did but at the last moment her Daughters face turned angry and hurt.
"You could never want me, not now. Go have your life with your perfect son and perfect little family. I don't need that as a distraction. I need to concentrate on finding something to get me back to the Enchanted Forest." The woman said clearly not wanting anything to come between her and her plan. Regina could relate to this knowing that she was like that before she realized she could be different. Emma knew how she could help Regina.
" We know a way to get you home, they are called magic beans we have one here, you can use it but on the condition that you let us help you. Let Regina help you." Emma said knowing the more time the pair spent together the more likely that things will change between them. All she wanted was for them to be happy. She knew how this would affect them both if it wasn't sorted out.
" Yes that's a great idea, Emma, Aldara we can use the bean to open a portal to the Enchanted Forest. If you wanted, I and Emma could come with you through the portal to help you look for whatever it is you are looking for." Regina added to Emma's suggestion. She also had to admit it would be an ideal way for her and Aldara to get to know each other.
Aldara look taken back by the two women offer to help her. She had been doing things by herself for so long that she couldn't remember if she liked working with people. Unsure of what she wanted to do she stayed quiet. Thinking deeply about what she had wanted when she had met her mum.
When she was younger she dreamed of who her mother was. She wanted to be able to talk to her about anything and everything. Now her mother was stood in front of her all she wanted to do was run away from her. Aldara was confused and battling her conflicting emotions.
She could see her magic sparking at her fingertips. Her overwhelming emotions getting the best of her. Emma noticed what was happening. She took a step forwards. As soon as she moved Aldara's eyes flashed to Emma's face. Aldara's face was contorted. She didn't know how to respond to Emma getting closer to her. She warily took a step back put her hands in front of her palms facing Emma. Threating the blond to stay where she was.
"Calm down Aldara we can help you, we aren't going to do anything you don't want us to do. We want to keep you save and it would help if you didn't attack us." Emma said standing still as soon s Aldara had locked onto her movement. Aldara didn't lower her hands. Her eyes darted to Regina was looking at her face. Regina knew she had to do something before Emma got attacked by Aldara. She knew what the girl was feeling as she fought against her emotions.
"I know you think hurting me will make you feel better, I promise you it won't. I spent most of my life hurting people to get my happy ending and now I regret every choice I made that ended up with someone hurt or worse dead. I burnt down villages and kidnapped children. I took a man from his daughter and left him to rot in wonderland. I was a vile being." Regina said finding it hard to talk about her past selves sin's but she knew she was in a better place now.
"With the help of my family and friends, I will never go that deep into the darkness again. A family is there to catch you when you fall and lift you up stronger than ever. Aldara, please let us help you I know how it feels to be lonely, it's enough to make anyone turn against the world. I promise I try to work out a way to remember what happened to you. I just need you to know even if you hate me, I love you. I know I only just found out about you but now I know you are my Daughter I want nothing more than to stop you hurting, help you to find what makes you happy and to get to know you." Regina said tears escaping her eyes now and again, Regina wiped them away determined to finish her speech.
" You are the only child I have ever and could ever have that actually came from me. My mother took everything from me. She killed you possable father and turned me into a monster with the help of Rumplestiltskin. I think if I was desperate enough to leave you alone in the woods that my mother was the reason. I have no doubt about that, she would have made you miserable like she made me. I just would have wanted you to be happy. That wasn't possible for anyone around that woman. She tore through anything precious to me. She separated me from my sister and made me forget she existed. She married me off to Snow Whites Father and I was used as a possession of his for years. That woman made me give up the one thing in the world I had always wished for... a child of my own. A tiny little bundle I could protect and love. My mother was going to use you or any child I had to shape into a ruler of her own creation. She was going to change you into something worse than a monster. You were going to become a living nightmare. She would have ruined you and broken everything that you were. She would have taken you away and sold you to a vile man who would use you for his own doings. I know because that's what she did to me. I would never wish that on anyone ever." Regina said tears rushing down her face allowing herself to lean a little on Emma who stood next to her staring at her like she could never look away. Aldara stared at her mother and Emma.
Aldara wasn't sure what to say. She never thought she would be lucky enough that her mother would actually want to get to know her. She always thought she would be turned away or worse kept hidden from the world so no one would know she existed.
Aldara tried to keep her breathing steady as she felt herself start to panic as thoughts crossed her head. She had gone so long not trusting anyone, every part of her was fighting the small part that wanted to join them. She clenched her fist tightly. She could feel herself shaking with anger. She closed her eyes and tried to sort through her feeling to relieve some of the anger that threatened to boil over.
She suddenly felt someone's hands on her forearms. Her eye' s flashed open immediately catching the matching brown eyes of her mother's that were softer than her own and sympathetic. Aldara tried to fight against the voice that told her to just let go and let herself be loved by this woman who was so openly wanting to make amends. She didn't have enough strength to fight it.
She relaxed a little. The warm, reassuring look in Regina's eyes was comforting to her, something about the woman just made her feel safe. It scared her. She couldn't let Regina think she had the best of her. She couldn't just give in so easly. She had been angry with this woman for all of her adult life as soon as she had worked out who and where she was, she had hunted her down. She was going to tear Regina mill's happy life apart if it was the last thing she did. Starting with Emma Swan.
Before Regina could react Aldara appeared behind Emma and held a small but lethal looking knife to her throat. Pressing a little too hard on Emma pale neck.
"You think I will forgive you after you left me to the dogs and then took a potion to forget about me. If you are trying to convince me to not hurt you, you're not putting up a great argument for yourself Mother" She spat the last word out like it was poison to her. She dug her nails into the arm which she was holding to keep Emma still. Emma was panicking now being at the end of a knife was making her tremble. She took one last look at Regina who whispered her name in a panicked tone. That was the last thing Emma remembered before Aldara disappeared taking her to a small completely pitch black room.
" You should make yourself comfortable Emma Swan" Emma could hear the hatred that pierced through her name as the young woman said it " You going to be here for quite some time."