We are getting closer and closer! Lol! And for the guest that asked if this story was connected to my other story 'Lost' in that Regina is with Robin the answer is no. They are two entirely different stories. And a biiiiig thank you to aloneinthesky for the idea of Regina and David watching Disney's Snow White together! Happy reading! Please leave a review! :)


She pulled herself up the rope, each footfall silent upon the stone wall as she climbed quickly. Her seven dwarf friends were climbing with her as well but she was in the lead. It had been weeks since David had been taken by Regina and that was far too long. She had been waiting for Regina to do something, to demand something, to say something, but Snow never got anything from her stepmother. Nothing at all.

It was strange and worrisome. So she was now trying to break in to her old home with the goal of leaving with David at her side. Almost at the top now, she paused her movements and waved her hand at the dwarves in her company to do the same. She listened intently for any footstep or whisper of a voice and when she heard nothing she cautiously proceeded further and carefully peeked over the edge of the wall. She saw no one. Not a soul. So with a smile she nimbly climbed over the rest of the wall and jumped down on to the stone floor, keeping herself crouched down as she quickly looked around to see if there was any guard she hadn't yet seen.

"I promise you your dear shepherd is perfectly fine."

With a startled gasp Snow shot up and spun around, fear causing her blood to run cold and her heart to race. Her wide eyes focused on the source of that smooth voice and her body simply froze under the gaze of those dark eyes. Regina.

Regina hummed shortly as she stepped a couple paces closer to her before stopping again and looking the woman up and down. Then she walked past her and looked over the edge of the wall and watched as each and every climbing dwarf froze in place and looked up at her in fear. Humming again, she stood up tall and put one finger upon the top of the wall and as she walked along its length her fingernail dragged lazily across the cool stone and with every rope she came across, her magic cut it and the shouting of enraged and panicked dwarves reached her ears and echoed through the night as they fell.

"No!" Snow screamed as she leapt to the wall and leaned over it in an attempt to reach and take hold of the cut rope. But if course she was too late and her hands covered her mouth instead as she stared down in to the darkness.

With the last rope cut, Regina lifted her hand from the wall and walked a small circle back to Snow, "you of all people should have remembered that I do not care for unexpected company," she drawled out plainly and Snow spun around to face her.

"You didn't have to kill them!" She cried out and threw her arms out but Regina merely stood there with perfect posture and stared at her through intense unmoving eyes.

"I didn't."

"You-...what?!" She huffed out with a confused shake of her head. Regina didn't say anything at all, didn't even move, so Snow spun back around and looked over the wall again and what she saw only confused her further. Regina was telling the truth. Way down there in the dark were a couple of hand held torches that lit up the faces of the seven dwarves. Slowly she turned back around and actually looked at her. Truly looked at her.

Her dress was absolutely stunning but it was not nearly as extravagant as what she had seen her wear in these darker times. It was a deep dark purple fabric that seemed to be painted on her beautiful figure, a low sweetheart neckline, long sleeves, and a long skirt that followed her wherever she moved. A single diamond hung on a delicate chain just below her collar bone and her dark wavy hair was over her shoulder in a thick loose braid while a few shorter curls were left out to frame her face. Her lips were dark and bold but her eyes were only drawn on enough to enhance their natural appearance and altogether she looked more relaxed and content.

Not happy per say. But no longer wild with rage and a broken heart.

"Whatever has you scaling the castle walls in the dead of night?"

"Well I didn't imagine you'd open the front door for me," Snow laughed lightly and motioned toward the front of the castle. Regina didn't say a word and Snow knew she hadn't given her the answer she wanted. But she was rather sure Regina already knew the answer, "whatever has inspired you to take a late night stroll along this wing of the castle?"

"Well I wouldn't be a gracious hostess if I didn't greet my guests upon their arrival," she smiled with a deadly sweetness and then looked toward the edge of the wall with an unimpressed tilt of her head and an irritated growl to her voice, "no matter how unwelcome they are."

Snow frowned tiredly with the smallest tilt of her head when Regina's dark eyes snapped to her hazel ones. But she changed the subject with a gentle and honest, "you look well, Regina."

Regina tried not to show her irritation at the girl's rather relieved tone and instead cut right to the chase, "your precious shepherd is unharmed."

"May I see him?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Those are not the rules."

"What do you mean?"

"The shepherd is free to come and go as he pleases. You are not welcome here. Should you wish to see him you will have to wait for him to come to you," she explained plainly and Snow stared back at her in confusion, her brow furrowed and her mouth open slightly.

"Wha-I...what do you mean?"

"Do be more specific, child."

"David is free to come and go as he pleases?"

"I mean exactly that."

"You let him go?"

"Why is it you are so incapable of understanding what I am saying? Am I speaking in tongues? David can leave the grounds whenever he sees fit and for as long as he pleases. He simply has decided to stay."

"...why?"

"His reasons are his own. I have not asked."

"I don't believe that for a second."

"Well it wouldn't be the first time you turned a blind eye."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!"

"I have more important things to do this evening than stand up here on a wall with you. So you either climb back down that wall or I will remove you myself," she stated calmly but with irritation still in her voice as she turned to walk away.

"That's it?!" No answer. Not so much as a glance over her shoulder, "no attempt to take my life? No word games? No move to even capture me?!"

"You have two minutes to reach the forest floor or the magic will blast you from the castle's surface and I assure you the landing will not be pleasant."

"Regina!" She yelled in disbelief but the woman didn't acknowledge her. It was entirely bizarre to her but when she rushed forward and took Regina's arm in her grip, the enraged woman she had become accustomed to returned.

"Do not touch me!" She hissed as she spun around and tore her arm from Snow's grip.

"Talk to me, Regina!" She pleaded and Regina looked her up and down with a scowl on that pretty mouth of hers, "please Regina! Just," she shook her head and let out an exasperated breath before she calmed her voice, "just talk to me."

"No."

"We can figure this out, we can fix us!"

Regina gave a single amused laugh with her eyebrows raised and shook her head once, "no."

"Regina," Snow pleaded softly and dropped her shoulders, "this isn't over, we can pick up the pieces, we can fix this."

"No, Snow, we cannot."

"Until you give me a good reason I am not going to ever stop believing that we are beyond repair, that you are beyond repair!"

"I am not beyond repair! Snow!" She bellowed as she leaned forward in to the girl's space but Snow held her ground, "I simply have no desire to have such a deceitful and untrustworthy girl in my company," she snarled quietly and Snow's jaw clenched and unclenched her jaw repetitively with her frustration and wish to retaliate. "You may be known as the bandit princess, you may be fully capable of caring for yourself, you may be two feet taller, but you will always be that sweet faced embittering child who took everything from me. I want nothing to do with you, Snow White," she bit out with a smooth voice and Snow's jaw clenched firmly shut while her eyes were a mixture of pain, sorrow, and anger, "go away."

...

David sat at the table with a smile as he watched Regina teach Henry how to dance. The band of musicians played dutifully and beautifully, not seeming to care that they were now playing well in to the night. His attention was caught again by the queen and the boy when he heard their laughter as he had her duck beneath his arm in a twirl.

He was such a strange boy. He was good though. But to so quickly and easily break through to the queen and find the goodness in her heart was difficult for David to wrap his head around. The fact that the woman even carried light in her heart was still sometimes a hard thing for him to grasp. Snow had told him many times before but he never truly believed it. He did now though.

Another burst of laughter had him snapping back from his thoughts and smiling with them. His curiosity was getting the better of him. He wanted to see if this version of the queen could be maintained in the boy's eventual absence. The pair of them had given him quite a convincing teaser as to what she could be and he now had little desire to leave before the task of keeping her this way was seen through.

He stood up from his seat at the large table and walked up to the laughing pair and placed a hand on Henry's shoulder. The boy looked up at him laughing and Regina looked up at him with dark eyes shining in joy that had him taking a moment to get lost in them before he spoke to Henry, "may I borrow your partner for a dance?"

"Sure," Henry laughed and let go of his mother's hand and waist as he stepped out of the way for David to take his place.

Regina smiled as he stepped up to her and placed a hand on her waist and took hers in his other. Then he paused for a moment and proceeded to lead her around the floor in time with the music with a skill she was surprised by, "well look at you go," she chuckled and he smiled and cocked his head a little.

"I thought I should give your toes a break," he smirked and she gave a delightful laugh.

"And here I thought my poor toes were going to get stomped on by someone bigger," she teased and he laughed and then sent her spinning out beneath his arm only to pull her back in and she laughed in delight.

Henry laughed as he watched David take his mother around the floor, spinning them, twirling her beneath his arm, and skipping easily around, the both of them smiling so wide their cheeks must have been hurting. He didn't know that either of them could dance so effortlessly. He supposed he should have assumed that they could for they were both royalty but he had never thought much regarding the topic of their ability to dance. It was quite fun to watch.

"She looks so happy," Henry laughed as his mother and David continued to laugh and move in time with the music. And then he looked to Ruth who was sitting at the table across from him and she smiled at him with a nod.

"She does indeed."

"It's good to see her happy," Henry smiled as he swung one leg over the bench so he straddled the polished wooden plank and could easily switch his gaze from Ruth and the dancing pair, "I don't think I've even seen her laugh so easily. Not that I can remember anyway."

Ruth hummed through her smile and the boy looked back out to David and the queen in time to see him spin her under his arm again and again and again and again until she let out a yelp of laughter because she was growing dizzy and nearly tripped over her own feet. "Tell me, Henry, does your other mother have anyone in her life?"

"Like romantically? No. She doesn't really have any friends either. She mostly just...tolerates everyone. I know she wants love though. But it's hard to find love in a town full of every person she's ever hurt or terrorized," Henry smiled sadly and Ruth raised her eyebrows in agreement before she looked over his shoulder at David and Regina. "Things got a hundred times worse in the Enchanted Forest between this time now and when she cursed everyone to Storybrooke."

"And you forgave her."

"Well yeah. She's my mom. She gave everything up for me, she put every dark tendency and every fear aside for me, she loved me, she raised me, made sure I never went hungry and that I had everything I could ever ask for, she made sure I went to school, even when I found out the truth about her and pushed her away and treated her like crap she still loved me and took me back in without question. She would do anything for me. I wanted to make sure that this version of her didn't have to go through what my mom did. That she didn't have to kill, she didn't have to manipulate, she didn't have to go crazy, and that instead she could let go and let herself be happy and find love again."

Ruth nodded and smiled a small but honest smile, "you are a darling boy. Any mother would be lucky to have you. Especially the queen."

Henry smiled and hummed a short laugh, unaccustomed to such a compliment, "thanks," he nodded and Ruth nodded in reply as her smile grew a little more. They say in silence for awhile longer, listening to the music and David and Regina laughing and talking as they continued to dance. Then the music slowed and Henry curiously looked toward them to see what they would do now.

At the change of pace, David smiled and slowly pulled Regina in close to him and she hesitantly stepped in to him with an uneasy smile and quiet breath of laughter, "what?" He questioned with a smile as his hand settled in the middle of her back, "forget how to dance all of a sudden?"

"No," she laughed quietly and tried to calm her racing heart and slow down her panicky thoughts. She didn't know if she could handle being so close to him in such a different mood of music. Her mind and body were already running toward touching him and kissing him.

"I promise I won't bite," he teased and she breathed a soft laugh out her nose while she watched his hand take hers in a soft grip. Once she settled against him he began leading her once again and she followed him seamlessly. As the music played on he let his eyes fall shut and he rested the side of his head against hers and let himself feel her. He let himself truly enjoy her gentle lean in to him, the way her chest and stomach moved against him with every breath she took, the warmth of her hand against his chest, the softness of her hair against his cheek, the scent that he couldn't describe but perfectly fit her, everything. She felt so right there in his hold and he couldn't make sense of why. An evil queen should not feel so precious to hold. But then again she wasn't really all that evil.

Regina took a small risk and slowly lowered her head so it rested against the front of his shoulder and in response he slowly intertwined their joined hands and the gesture had her heart skipping and her breath hitching ever so slightly. She let him rest their hands over his heart and she took a slow deep breath to try and help calm her racing heart and tried to ignore the burn deep in her belly that urged her to kiss him.

With another long exhale she turned her head and laid it back down so her forehead and the bridge of her nose were pressed lightly against the base of his neck. From there she took a quiet breath in through her nose and let his scent fill her senses and she couldn't help but think on how pleasant it would be to wake up like this. Laying in bed with his arms holding her close, her head on his chest, his warmth soothing her body.

All at the same time Henry felt his stomach drop, his jaw go slack, his heart stop, and his eyes open wide. When he had said that they needed to find her love he did not mean David. He did not even consider thinking that perhaps she would fall in love with him nor did he think that he would fall in love with her. He loved Snow White, his true love was Snow White, he couldn't have fallen in love with Regina, that didn't make sense. David was not supposed to fall in love with Regina and she was not supposed to fall in love with him.

It was all wrong. What had he done. What he was trying to do was get someone to help her, someone who knew what to do when it came to love. He had not at all intended for the Evil Queen to fall in love with Prince Charming. He could feel his blood run cold in panic at the sight the sight of them so perfectly content in the arms of the other as they danced slowly to the music.

He wanted to look at Ruth to see what her reaction to this was but he simply could not pull his horrified eyes from the dancing pair as they slowly grew more and more intimate with their dance.

Slowly David detangled their intertwined fingers but only so he could place her palm over his heart and cover her hand with his, his fingers curling around and in between a few of her soft slender fingers. She felt so...perfect...

He knew he should but he did not feel guilty holding her so close and enjoying it so much. She let out a long breath and her thumb moved gently to catch his pinkie beneath it while he leaned his head a little more against hers. He had hated this woman. But in only a matter of a couple months he had grown to absolutely adore her. He never wanted to let her go now that he had her so close.

Her heart was such a tender thing that was wrapped in an armour of darkness and rage and slowly they had encouraged her to take off the armour piece by piece and the results were amazing and they hadn't even finished yet. Her soft breaths were warm as they blew across his neck and chest and with a further turn of his head he slowly encouraged her hesitant self to lift her head from his neck and chest.

Their steps had quieted to mere gentle swaying and his forehead rested lightly against hers and his nose bumped lightly against her own. Their eyes were closed and his closeness was making her dizzy and flighty. She didn't know what to do with herself, she didn't know what he wanted, she didn't know what she wanted, her thoughts were scrambled by the fact that he was holding her so close and with such tender care. She wanted to kiss him but that wasn't allowed. He loved Snow and she respected him, she cared about him, she trusted him, and she did not wish to ruin him by throwing herself in.

But perhaps that was already too far gone.

She realized then that their steps had stopped completely and when his hand softly left hers over his heart so he could run his fingers through her hair above her ear and then let them curl around the base of her head, she felt herself start to panic. Her lips were parted and her breaths were hard to find and when he softly bumped his nose against her cheek, the panic overwhelmed her and she quickly stepped back from him, her eyes immediately falling to the floor as she turned and hurried away from him without a word.

-Storybrooke-

Regina sighed tiredly at the knock on her front door and slowly got up from from her dining room table and walked across the foyer and down the steps to the door, leaving her cold tea in its mug on the table. She opened the door begrudgingly and when she saw David on the other side she wasn't surprised. She wasn't all that impressed either. But she had learned that it didn't matter what she said or did, he kept showing up at her door. She didn't greet him for she was irritated and wanted to be alone but it didn't faze him.

He smiled at her and handed her a bottle of red wine before he walked in to the home and she red the label on the dark bottle. She was hoping that he intended for a short visit but when he pulled his leather jacket from his arms she gave a long sigh and walked past him with the neck of the bottle in her grip and her arm swinging lightly as she walked, "what do you want, David?"

"I think it's due time for us to have a little fun."

Regina looked over her shoulder with one eyebrow raised and he followed her innocently as she walked to the kitchen and her eyes looked at the bottle he had brought, "this is hardly panty dropping wine, dear. If you want me at your mercy you're going to need something a whole lot stronger."

"What?! That's-that's not what I-uh-I didn't-"

"Relax, David," Regina laughed out softly, her voice rather weak and tired as she placed the bottle on the counter and took two wine glasses from the cupboard, "I am only kidding," she smiled over her shoulder at him and he rubbed his hand over his mouth and jaw with an uneasy laugh. "Besides," she shrugged as she began twisting the corkscrew in to the cork, "we both know you missed your chance with me," she teased with a small smirk to herself and David laughed a little easier behind her.

"Oh?"

"I offered and you denied. I even made you dinner and I don't do that for just anyone," she smirked over her shoulder and then pulled the cork from the bottle.

"Now that's not fair," he pointed at her and she hummed a light laugh and began pouring the wine, "I had a lot on my mind. There was Kathryn and Mary Margaret. A third woman was just too much."

"I assure you I could have made your decision easier," she smirked as she brought her glass to her lips and handed David his.

"And then where would we have ended up when the curse broke?" He smirked as he brought his glass to his mouth to take a sip.

"Oh probably fucking one another on the dining room table," she drawled out and swirled her wine in her glass, holding back a wide grin when David nearly choked on his wine in his glass, "so what was it you had in mind for some fun?"

...

"Make it stop," Regina whined with a laugh as she closed her eyes and cringed with David laughed with her, the pair of them sitting side by side on the floor with their legs outstretched in front of them and their backs against the couch as the movie finally started to come to an end.

"I don't understand how they screwed this up so royally!" David laughed and Regina groaned through her teeth.

"Everyone knows I am far more fair than Snow! I would not go on a murderous rampage for something so petty anyway! This movie is all wrong! And it is not that easy to get your hands on a poisoned apple!" Regina pointed at the television and David pushed his head back with a laugh that had her laughing with him as she brought her wine glass to her lips, "it took me months to get my hands on that damn apple!"

"Who in their right mind would even take an apple from a woman who looked like that?! I mean come on! Especially the one apple she says you have to take!"

"Not to mention the fact that the airhead is living in the middle of the damn forest! Who goes knocking door to door to sell apples of all things that deep in to the woods?" She pushed her hand at the TV.

"Oh my god you're about to get taken down by a bunch of fury woodland creatures with dwarves on their backs," he nodded and she groaned and took another swallow of her wine. "I like animals but if Snow sang a little tune and the entire fauna population came crawling through the windows, I'd lose my mind."

"Oh you give me such great ideas for screwing with you and Snow in my spare time!" She laughed and David shook his head.

"No! No, no, no," he laughed and Regina simply laughed in to her glass.

"My character is such a fool!" She motioned at the TV as she fell to her death, "after all that I fall off a cliff and get crushed by a boulder?! I don't even get to die as my beautiful self, I have to die as that creepy old hag?! I hate this movie."

"I love how you're more upset over the way you die rather than the fact that you actually die," David chuckled as he brought his glass to his lips and Regina rolled her eyes with a laugh.

"I wouldn't be talking, your number is up. Time for you to save your true love from the horribly convenient sleeping curse I threw together!"

"Ugh."

"The same true love you have known for a grand total of forty five seconds!"

"This is so inaccurate and so unbelievable!"

"Look at your hair!" She pointed and pushed her head back with a laugh while David groaned.

"It's so bad! And my face!"

"It's actually rather terrifying," Regina laughed in to her glass.

"It's like I'm some doll who was supposed to be a toy laying on the floor in a horror movie," he noted and Regina snorted a laugh and nearly spat out her wine, "right?! My horse looks better than me!"

"That last statement also applies in this world," she nodded and laughed quietly through her teeth when he scoffed and swatted her arm. "Ah here we go. Moment of truth...I don't know why I was expecting this movie to get suddenly better but it only got worse with that kiss."

"I hate this movie."

"Look at you riding off in to the sunset! Toward the castle that is suddenly so close!"

"I hate this movie so much."

"You brought it!"

"...wanna watch another one?"

"I'll go get another bottle of wine."