Chapter 11

A few days had passed since Henry and Emma's departure to New York, and even though Henry called back daily, Regina still went through each day missing her son terribly. Thankfully her heart had given her a reprieve these days, not physically hurting as much, but instead all she felt was numbness and a cold chill.

The sun was setting, and through the windows it casted a warm glow into Archie's office, where Regina was sitting ramrod straight on the couch as Archie sat in the armchair opposite her. It was therapy time again, and the agenda for today's session was to talk about how she had been coping since Henry left.

Archie had spent the entire session prodding at her, and still he wasn't done. He tapped his notepad with his pen, frowning down at it, before lifting his gaze up to her again. "This isn't just about you missing Henry though. You're also worried that he won't come back."

"Don't be ridiculous, I know he will. As angry as I am with Emma, I know she's sincere about her promise to bring Henry back. And Henry promised to come back too."

"Knowing that doesn't stop the worry though. Why, Regina?"

"I told you, I'm not worried," Regina denied.

Archie put his pen and notepad aside and leaned forward toward her. "Regina, we do this almost every therapy session. You deny something, and I have to keep pushing and prodding you until you finally talk. You have to learn how to open up to me."

She sighed. "I know. It's just difficult for me to talk about this, because all my life it had been told to me, over and over again by my mother and later Rumpelstiltskin, that I should never display my weaknesses because others will exploit it."

"You know that I'll never exploit you."

"Yes, I do know that. But the habits of a lifetime are sometimes hard to break."

He smiled encouragingly at her. "You have to try."

She nodded, closing her eyes for a moment as she sorted through her thoughts, choosing her next words carefully. "In my life, everyone I've ever cared for or loved had left me eventually. I guess I just keep waiting for the other shoe to drop, and for Henry to leave me too, like Daniel and my mother and …"

She trailed off, and Archie completed her sentence for her. "Robin." The name hung like a dead weight between them. It wasn't the first time they had talked about Robin during these sessions, but every time they spoke of him was still difficult for Regina, as there was a whole mess of emotions to sort through – guilt, despair, anger, grief and a hundred other things. She didn't know if she could talk about Robin today, already feeling much too raw after nearly an hour of talking about missing Henry.

"Zelena too." She couldn't stop a soft sigh from escaping her lips at her sister's name.

Thankfully, Archie allowed the change in subject. "You miss her."

She shook her head, smiling bitterly. "Not quite that. But she was the last one alive of my blood family. When I told her I was giving her a second chance, it wasn't just about her redemption. It was a second chance for us too, to maybe build something together out of the ruins that was our mother's legacy to us. I thought she understood, I thought she was going to take the second chance. Protesting every step of the way that I left her no choice of course, but I still thought she was going to take it. Instead, she used the last bit of magic she had to kill herself."

Archie nodded understandingly at her, silently indicating for her to go on.

"It doesn't make sense, Archie. Why would she do it? Zelena is a fighter. Even from our limited interaction, I can tell that it is not like her to give up at all, she'll fight until the bitter end. I just don't understand why she would…"

Regina suddenly stopped mid-sentence, as something occurred to her.

"You have to let go, Regina. Grieve for her, but then let her go. You'll never know the reasons for why she chose the road she did, but you can't keep holding on to the past."

Regina didn't hear what Archie just said though. She was remembering the moment when they found out about Zelena's suicide, and in her mind, new connections were being made between the unlikelihood of Zelena killing herself and how shifty a certain imp was acting back then, something she had ignored then because they had a portal to worry about, but now on hindsight...

"Rumpelstiltskin," she whispered.

"What?" Archie asked in confusion at her non-sequitur.

Regina ignored him. The more she thought about it, the more it made sense that Rumpelstiltskin had something to do with Zelena's death. He wanted to kill her back at the barn, and Rumpelstiltskin wasn't one to give up just because something he wanted was denied from him once. The security camera did record Zelena's suicide, but video tapes could be very easily tampered with by magic, and the excuse about the dagger was almost too convenient. Regina knew Rumpelstiltskin, and she knew that as much as he loved Belle, he loved control and manipulation even more, and switching the dagger on Belle would have been child's play to him.

Regina stood up abruptly. "I'm sorry, Archie, I'm going to have to cut our session short and leave now. I just remembered something I need to do."

Archie hurriedly got to his feet too. "Wait, what? Regina, what's going on? Where are you going?"

She gave him a grim smile. "Retrieving something from the Sheriff's office." She didn't give him any time to reply. With a swirl of purple smoke, Regina was gone from Archie's office.

Regina teleported straight to the Sheriff's office. She pushed open the door leading to the interior, calling for David, but instead of his answering reply there was the sudden cessation of conversation and a mad scrambling of feet. It wasn't just David that was inside the office, but Robin and Hook too.

"Regina!" Both David and Robin exclaimed, shocked at her sudden arrival, while Hook just looked mildly interested, continuing to stack his feet up on the desk while flipping through a magazine.

Regina lost her train of thought for a moment, seeing Robin for the first time in weeks after their devastating farewell at her house. He looked haggard, like he hadn't been getting enough sleep, and she wondered what was keeping him awake, if it was the same thing that kept her awake too.

She couldn't stop herself from asking, "What are you doing here?" She immediately remembered why though. Emma was gone and the Sheriff's department was short-staffed as a result, and together with there being more people in town and hence an increase in petty crime such as thievery and vandalism, David was getting overwhelmed. Robin obviously couldn't remain being unemployed, and so Regina had recommended that David offer him a job. So Robin had started his first day of work today, something she should have remembered thanks to Evelyn's daily reports, but the possibility of Rumpelstiltskin's duplicity had chased everything else out of her mind.

She waved away David's explanation even as she tried to ignore Robin's burning gaze on her, as though he's trying to drink in her image like a thirsty man at the desert. "I remember now. What about the pirate? Shouldn't he be with Emma in New York?"

David looked vaguely discomfited at the reminder of Hook's relationship with Emma. Surprisingly, Hook did too, and he fumbled through an explanation on how he wouldn't blend in while in New York so Emma had told him in stay in Storybrooke, and he was now helping David out temporarily. The explanation didn't ring true and it sounded like there might already be trouble in paradise, but Regina had no interest in gossip and speculation, particularly of Emma and Hook.

Turning to David, purposely ignoring Robin beside him, she was about to ask him for the video tape when Robin spoke. "Regina, I've been meaning to talk to you. I just want to thank you for helping my camp of merry men settle down in Storybrooke. We were at a complete loss and we owe everything to you."

She had turned to him at the sound of his voice, and now her eyes were caught up in the sincere gaze of his blue orbs, which were sucking her in like a vortex, and her mouth was dry. She tried to brush off his gratitude. "I'm just doing my job as the mayor."

"No, you have gone above and beyond duty in arranging everything for us, and I know you were the one who recommended me for this job. All these really mean a lot to me. Thank you." He made an aborted movement, as if he wanted to reach out to her, maybe to grip her hands or hug her or maybe even kiss her, but then had remembered their changed situation. Regina had flinched away from him when he first moved, and now there was resignation and longing in his eyes, and still she could not tear her eyes away from him.

David and Hook hung around awkwardly at the edge of her peripheral vision, and she knew they were watching the interplay between her and Robin, eyes flitting rapidly between both of them as if they were watching a tennis match. It was time to put a stop to this conversation before she and Robin made a spectacle of themselves, or said things they shouldn't. Luckily, Regina knew just the thing to say.

"You're welcome. I hope your men andyour wife are settling down well."

Robin reared back from her as if punched. He blinked slowly, as if trying to clear a fog from his mind. "Yes. Yes, they're all doing fine, and they're all very grateful for your help too."

"I'm sure they feel grateful to the Evil Queen, especially your wife."

Robin opened his mouth to protest, but David cleared his throat before enquiring in a too-loud voice. "So, why are you here Regina? You don't usually visit our office."

Regina was grateful for the distraction he provided, and also reminded of her actual task here. Turning to David, she ordered, "I want you to give me the video tape that recorded Zelena's death."

David lifted his brows, surprised at her request. "You know I'm not supposed to give it to you. The security tapes should never leave this office, those are the rules."

She would not be deterred by a simple thing like rules, not in this town that she created. She gave a soft sigh. "I just want to look at the recording again, in the privacy of my own house. After all, it is the only thing I have left of my sister."

David visibly softened, but still he hesitated, so she told him to hurry up, with a quick glance at Robin. "Just give it to me, David. I promise to bring it back. Stop wasting my time, I have better things to do than stand here waiting."

David had seen her look over at Robin, and interpreted it as her wanting to get out of Robin's presence as quickly as possible. He gave a quick nod. "I'll go find it immediately." Mission accomplished, Regina thought to herself. David opened a drawer, flipping through the tapes there before finding the correct one, and he passed it over to her.

The moment Regina took the video tape, she sent a pulse of magic into it. As suspected, she felt the answering thrum of another magic signature within it, one as familiar to her as her own. Rumpelstiltskin did tamper with the tape and Regina could feel rage starting to build up inside her. She struggled to keep it in.

"Regina? Is everything alright?" Robin asked, looking at her with concern. Before she could answer him, or maybe just leave without replying, the doors opened once again and Rumpelstiltskin himself walked in.

Robin surveyed everyone in the office warily, every part of him on high alert even if he didn't have any clue where the danger was. But something was definitely wrong, in the enraged twist on Regina's face when her hands had first touched the video tape, to the hostile glare she threw at the Dark One when he waltzed in. Tension radiated out of her, although to everyone else who wasn't staring as intently as he was at Regina, it might not be as obvious.

Regina's hands clutched the tape with a white knuckled grip, before she turned slightly to one side, out of sight of Rumpelstiltskin, and shoved the tape into her bag. Robin moved between her and Rumpelstiltskin, helping to block his view, and instinctively also wanting to protect Regina, even if he knew Regina could take care of herself, and probably stood a far better chance against Rumpelstiltskin than himself.

Rumpelstiltskin glanced dismissively around the room, sneering at Hook along the way, who sneered back. He addressed the room at large. "Throwing a party in here? Although it is good that everybody is here, this saves me the trouble of having to make multiple trips."

"Are you in the habit of making social calls now?" Hook joked, uncaring of the murderous glare Rumpelstiltskin threw at him even as David spoke over him. "Rumpelstiltskin, this is a surprise. Is there something wrong?"

"We have a new problem in town."

David rubbed his hand over his face tiredly. "Of course we do. What problem is it now?"

"This weather phenomenon that we're having, the unusually cold temperatures, it's unnatural in origin."

That got everyone's attention. "You're sure?" Robin asked.

Rumpelstiltskin didn't roll his eyes, but the irritated glance he threw at Robin definitely conveyed the same sentiment. "Yes, I am sure. This is definitely not just a quirk of Maine weather. Belle did some checks on the weather around Storybrooke on the internet, it's completely different. Whatever weather anomaly we have here, it's unique to Storybrooke. This can only be due to magical means."

David sighed. "Fantastic. At least we got a couple weeks of peace this time. What sort of magic is this?"

"Before I elaborate, I have one question for the pirate." Looking at Hook, Rumpelstiltskin asked, "When you and Emma went back to the past, you said I sent you into the vault where I keep the magic that is dark or unpredictable. Did you touch anything while you were there?"

Looking vaguely shifty, Hook admitted, "I might have picked some things here and there. What does this have to do with anything?"

So did you happen to move a heavy bronze urn that is kept tightly locked, with runes around the entire surface of its lid?"

Hook shrugged. "So what if I did? What else was there to do, sit and turn into a fossil? Look, mate, if you didn't want us touching anything, maybe you shouldn't have trapped us in there in the first place. That was pretty stupid of you, we could have wrecked havoc in there. You have only yourself to blame for your missing urn."

Hook did have a point. Although Robin didn't know whether to be impressed at his guts or rolling eyes at his stupidity in arguing with a Dark One who clearly loathed him.

Rumpelstiltskin pointed one long finger at Hook, enunciating every word carefully and menacingly. "You are skating on very dangerous ice, pirate. Don't forget that I can kill you any moment I want."

Regina spoke up suddenly, the first time she had said anything since Rumpelstiltskin walked in. "No you can't, because dear Belle has your dagger, and she will curb any homicidal tendencies you have, right?

Rumpelstiltskin's head whipped around to glare at her. "What are you implying?" They held eye contact for a moment, challenging each other silently.

Regina smirked at him. "Why are you so defensive? I was merely making sure that Hook knows it is an empty threat. Although I have to say that now, I am intrigued. What is in that bronze urn?"

Rumpelstiltskin replied, "Not what, but who. It's someone with very powerful magic, capable of manipulating the climates of entire kingdoms and realms."

"You think that Ms. Swan and the pirate released this person from the urn, and they're causing the cold weather here now? That's incredibly strong magic. It took almost everything in me to create and maintain a microclimate in a small dome. To actually manipulate the weather of an entire town like this has to be near impossible."

"Why are you so certain it is this person? Maybe it's someone else?" David asked Rumpelstiltskin.

Rumpelstiltskin looked gravely at each of them before answering. "Because she'd done this before in her own realm. There, they call her the Snow Queen."

It was by virtue of Robin's undivided attention on Regina that he saw her eyes light up with recognition at the mention of this Snow Queen, but her reaction was seen by Robin alone, as the others were busy talking about the new problem.

David clarified, "The Snow Queen from the Hans Christian Anderson story?"

"You know by now that these are never just stories. The Snow Queen does exist, just in a separate realm from our Enchanted Forest. She has incredibly strong magic, almost limitless potential, but little control. A century ago, she cursed her land to an eternal winter in a tantrum, and afterwards, would not listen to reason. Had I not neutralized her and trapped her into the urn, she would have turned all other realms into winter too, such was the extent of her powers. Now, thanks to the itchy fingers of the pirate, she has been released again. If you all don't want us to be cursed into an eternal winter, you will help me find and capture her."

Regina laughed cynically. "How altruistic of you, trapping her to save entire realms from winter."

Rumpelstiltskin smirked at her. "I try to do a good deed every day, dearie."

Regina smirked back at him. "I know you, Rumple, and therefore, I can guess at what actually happened. You saw opportunity in her limitless magic. You tried to manipulate her to do what you want. Maybe you even tried to get her to cast the Dark Curse for you. But her control over her magic is too unpredictable for you, and when you couldn't handle her, that's when you trapped her. You're afraid of her." A wealth of experience and remembrance was in Regina's voice, and Robin knew she was thinking of Rumpelstiltskin's own manipulation of her, and he felt rage on her behalf.

Rumpelstiltskin glared at Regina. "Don't be silly, I am never afraid."

"By your own description she's powerful. Probably even more powerful than you. And now she's pissed off at you, for a very good reason I must say. You're afraid she'll come after you, and you won't be able to defeat her. That's the only reason why you're seeking help from us. But why should I help you? This is not my mess, I wasn't the one who trapped her, nor am I the ones who released her."

"Can I remind you that the time travel portal was only activated because you granted clemency to Zelena, allowing her to later kill herself and have her untethered locket reactivate it?" Rumpelstiltskin pointed out.

It was as though a dark storm cloud manifested in the office, and an oppressive feeling took over the room much like the air on the eve of a thunderstorm. Robin could feel every strand of his hair stand on end.

"How dare you." Regina's eyes narrowed, and she took one threatening step toward Rumpelstiltskin, to everyone's alarm. A battle between the two strongest magic practitioners in town was probably high on the list of things the Sheriff's department should try to prevent. Robin turned to face Regina, trying to catch her eye and calm her down, and it worked somewhat, Regina unclenching her hand and stepping back, although rage still simmered under the surface of her skin.

"Well well, you're in a bad mood today. Still upset over losing lover-boy here?" With a lazy wave of his hand, Rumpelstiltskin indicated Robin, who tensed. He didn't know how Rumpelstiltskin knew what happened between him and Regina, but then again, the Dark One always had an eerie ability to know everything that's going on. Rumpelstiltskin continued talking, "Although I think you have other things to worry about now, dearie."

Regina shook her head, still glaring daggers at Rumpelstiltskin. "I already said I am not helping you."

Rumpelstiltskin smiled in delight, and his entire face was alight with glee. "You don't even know what I'm talking about, do you?"

There was pure venom in Regina's voice as she replied. "Cut the crap, Rumpelstiltskin."

"I'll give you a hint, dearie. Consider it my good deed of the day. That pain in your chest? It's unnatural too." He shrugged. "That's unfortunately all you're getting out of me, though, since you're being so uncooperative."

Alarm bells rang in Robin's head. He glanced sharply at Regina. "Pain in your chest? What is he talking about?"

David echoed his worry, "Regina, is there something you should be telling us?"

Regina had stilled, struck frozen for a moment, but she rapidly lurched back into motion. "Standard diversionary tactic, I expected better of you, Rumpelstiltskin. Even if I wanted to help you, which I don't, what can I do? She's lying low right now, or else she would have announced her presence long ago. Do you even know where she is?"

It occurred to Robin that Regina was using the same tactic. He wanted to pursue the previous topic further, but the conversation had already moved beyond it, although David's worried look told him that he hadn't forgotten it either.

Regina was talking about tracking spells right now. "To track her, you will need something that belongs to her. I doubt you have anything like that."

"That's not quite true."

"You keep hunting trophies now?"

"Have you learned nothing from me about technicalities? She was Queen of her realm, any object from her kingdom belongs to her and can be used in a modified tracking spell."

"That kind of tracking spell is far too general, you'll get everyone from the actual owner to his landlord."

It was intriguing how quickly Regina and Rumpelstiltskin fell back into a mentor-mentee relationship, when just a few minutes ago they were all but snarling at each other. It was frankly quite fascinating to watch, which was why the rest of them had said nothing so far, having nothing to contribute to this conversation about the inner workings of magic.

"Fortunately she is the only one from her realm here, so we won't have that problem."

"Unfortunately you must have hit a snag in that plan, since you still don't know where she is."

Rumpelstiltskin sighed, and Robin was surprised to see that he was actually looking slightly sheepish. "There are almost certainly some objects from her realm that are in my shop, but I've collected so many things over the centuries that to actually find something specific would be extremely difficult and time-consuming."

Robin tried to stay optimistic. "That's at least one method, it's better than nothing." It was clearly not optimal though, and Robin wasn't really looking forward to having to search Rumpelstiltskin's shop for an unknown object from an unknown realm. Well, maybe he was looking forward to the ransacking part, if only so that he could pilfer more things from the Dark One. Regina raised her eyebrow at him, as if to tell him that she knew what he was thinking, and unrepentant, he grinned at her. It was a moment of shared camaraderie, quickly snuffed when they remembered where they stand now, and embarrassed, they looked away from one another.

"We can ask Jefferson!" David suddenly exclaimed. Everyone turned their attention back to him.

"What about him?" Rumpelstiltskin said even as Hook asked, "Who's this Jefferson?" Robin echoed Hook's question.

David elaborated, "He's a realm hopper. He used to have this hat that allowed him to go to any realm that has magic. He might have visited the realm of the Snow Queen before. If he did, he could help us identify which objects were from there. Maybe he might even have something from that place."

Rumpelstiltskin looked reluctantly impressed. "That's actually a good idea."

David picked his coat up from the chair. "I'll go talk to Jefferson right away."

Regina stopped him from leaving. "No, wait, you don't have to. I will go talk to him."

Robin and the rest turned to regard Regina in varying amounts of shock. Earlier Regina was asking why she should be helping, and now she was suddenly volunteering to help. There had to be more than just that though, Robin thought, from the open surprise on Rumpelstiltskin's face – he clearly didn't expect Regina to volunteer for this in particular, and his next words confirmed that.

"I wasn't aware that you are back on speaking terms with Jefferson."

"You aren't aware of it because it is none of your business, imp."

"Right," David interrupted before Regina and Rumpelstiltskin started arguing again. "That'll be great. I know the two of you have been hanging out frequently at the Rabbit Hole recently, it does make more sense for you to talk to him."

From his men, Robin knew that this Rabbit Hole place is a bar. A bar where Regina and this man had been hanging out with. Robin was feeling to get an uneasy feeling about this mysterious realm hopper named Jefferson, who Regina seemed to know a little too well. "Wait, who is this guy again?"

Ignoring David's input and Robin's confusion, Rumpelstiltskin continued his conversation with Regina. "I am surprised. After everything you and Jefferson have done to each other, you're best friends again?"

"Because he's actually repentant about what he did to me, unlike you." Regina retorted back at Rumpelstiltskin.

"He expresses some remorse about past deeds and you fall for his charms again? I thought you would have learnt from your mistakes. But then again, I guess sometimes old flames never quite go away."

Robin's mind screeched to a halt.

What? Abruptly he opened his mouth and asked Regina, "Was he your lover?"

Regina's head whipped over to him, mouth open at this uncharacteristically indiscreet and blatant statement from him. "This is none of your business too."

But there was a lion tattoo on his wrist that made it his business, and Robin felt jealousy build within him. "I say it is."

Regina's eyes burned with indignant fury. "You have no right."

"Um guys, we're getting sidetracked here. Let's get back on topic." David, ever playing the role of peacekeeper, tried to turn the conversation back to ways of neutralizing the Snow Queen.

Rumpelstiltskin, on the other hand, seemed like he was enjoying the situation, looking as if he wanted to rub his hands in glee. He addressed Robin, "Careful your baby blues don't turn green, Archer. Although the question shouldn't be if Jefferson was her lover, it's whether he is her lover again."

There was delight in Rumpelstiltskin's voice as he dug the figurative knife further in and twisted it, and Robin felt a jealous rage build within him at the implicit confirmation that Regina and this Jefferson guy were indeed lovers before, and at the implication that they might have resumed their past relationship, even if he knew he had no right to be jealous about this, not when he had left Regina for Marian. He couldn't help it though.

"Just who is this Jefferson," Robin grounded out through gritted teeth, and a tiny part of him thought that if his skin could change colors, he would probably be as green as Zelena right now.

Cold steel was in Regina's voice as she addressed both him and Rumpelstiltskin. "My personal life is none of your business, any of you, and I would not stand here and be interrogated on it when we have a problem to take care of. Now, I'll go talk to Jefferson, and the rest of you men can either find something else useful to do, or you can just stand here and speculate." She stalked off through the doors, leaving them swinging with the force of her exit.

With Regina gone, Robin could only turn to David for answers. "What is the nature of this man's relationship with Regina?"

David was caught in the middle. "I don't know."

Robin knew he was being completely irrational and rude, but he didn't care. All he knew was that there was a man named Jefferson who was once Regina's lover, and he was getting close to Regina again. Gripping David's shirt, he asked again. "You clearly know more than me."

"Hey, easy there mate." Hook tugged him away from David.

"Don't touch me! Will someone just tell me, who is Jefferson?"

"He's just an old friend of Regina," David insisted.

Rumpelstiltskin obligingly answered Robin's question though. "More than that, dearie, more than that. As I said, he's her ex-lover. They go back a long, long way. Decades. He was useful to me at first, but then they started their whole affair and he became such a big distraction to her magic studies. Looks like it might be starting up again. It seems like she still can't resist his charms. And I guess she's vulnerable right now and aching for company. Just like old times."

Robin growled, low in his throat, and Rumpelstiltskin smirked at him, enjoying his rage. He left Robin to stew in it, addressing David. "I'll continue searching my shop for any objects from the Snow Queen's realm. Meanwhile, my prince, you should consider finding other employees for your department. One of them is a pirate who helped Cora terrorize the town, and the other is a thief who flies into jealous fits and can't even keep his mind on the job." With that parting shot, he disappeared from the office.

Robin tried, and failed, to unclench his hands. "I'm going to find this Jefferson guy right now."

David grabbed his arm, preventing him from leaving. "Regina is already on her way to talk to him."

"Precisely."

"Stop this very instant." The tone of authority was obvious, and in that moment, Robin remembered that David ruled alongside Snow White. He also remembered how protective the prince could be of Regina, how much he viewed her as part of his family. "Look, Robin, all I know about Regina and Jefferson is that they do know each other for a very long time. Other than that I have no idea what Regina's relationship with Jefferson was, or is. But she is right. You made your choice, and now you have no right interfering with her personal affairs. I will not allow you to hurt her again. Do you understand?"

Robin nodded his head jerkily, stepping back. David started outlining his plans for increased patrols to search for the Snow Queen, and Robin tried to focus and participate in the discussion, but he couldn't, because every part of him was still wondering about this man who was once Regina's lover.

In Robin's mind, the Snow Queen wasn't the problem. Jefferson was.

End Chapter 11

Does everyone like a jealous Robin? There's more to come! ;)

Just a few things to clarify about the Frozen plot: This story diverges from the movie fairly early - we have Elsa losing control at the coronation and her subsequent escape, we also have Anna setting off to find her and meeting Kristof along the way, but everything else is either changed or did not happened. We heard a little of the backstory from Rumple in this chapter, but keep in mind that he's a biased narrator. We'll see Elsa's side of the story a few chapters later. Also, the movie Frozen doesn't actually exist in this universe, so our characters won't be organizing a movie night anytime soon. I hope I haven't confused anyone...

A big THANK YOU to each and every one of you that reviewed, you're all very sweet! *hearts*

Several of you asked about Regina's heart. All I can say is that the reason for it is already in the previous chapters. ;) Although it's kind of on the backburner for a while as they deal with Elsa, but all will be revealed in good time. Keep guessing anyway!

Anon replies (starting from the earliest):

Guest 1: I hope this chapter lives up to expectations!

Guest 2: People are starting to suspect something is up with Regina's heart. Rumple already knows what's going on, but as usual with that imp, he isn't going to reveal what he knows without extracting a price...

A Reader: Oops I didn't mean to be cruel! Haha. I'm glad you like the previous chapter, Regina deserves a bit of fluff and happiness in her life every now and then. Tink is going to pop up again, although she's not going to be the one speculating. ;)

Guest 3: Wow thank you for the high praise! I hope the payoff will be worth it. :)