This is a very long chapter, my longest one so far, a lot happens, there are so many events here.
Spoiler for the latest episode (Just here, not in the actual chapter)... I AM NOT KILLING OFF NEAL! HE IS SAFE... I own nothing because if I did own it NEAL WOULD BE ALIVE!
"Belle!" Regina said.
"What? Roland was talking about the stories you told him before he'd go to sleep." Snow said.
"I know that, the beauty and the beast, that's Rumple and Belle's story, I forgot about her, how could I do that?" Regina said.
"Milady, whoever this person is, she must be important, you've had a rough day, don't blame yourself for forgetting about her." Robin said and he really wasn't helping.
"I need to go."
"No, Gina, please! I don't want to continue your stories without you." Roland said.
"How about you take a break? You stay here with David, Snow and your dad, and they'll tell you their stories."
"But, I want your story!" Ronald protested.
"Okay, how about this? Snow will tell you how she knew me through her life and when I come back, I'll tell you the one where the girl meets a fairy, and where the fairy shows her her true love." Regina guessed that she'd probably have told him that story.
"Yay! I love the ending where they live happily ever after!" Regina would change the story so that it was her story but it wasn't.
"See you later, buddy." Regina said and disappeared in the cloud of smoke.
"So, are you going to tell me who you met Regina?" Roland asked Snow.
"Okay. I was 12..."
"No, Gina starts the story with Once upon a time." Ronald protested.
Regina reappeared in front of the library and knocked on the door, she assumed that Belle would be there, but no one answered, so she went to the Gold's shop but no one was there either. She thought where Belle could be and remembered that she was close with Ruby, she went into the diner and found Ruby.
"Hey, Ruby!" Regina called her.
"Regina? What do you want?" Ruby asked and walked to her.
"Have you seen Belle?" Regina asked.
"No, why?" Ruby asked concerned.
"I can't find her anywhere, I went to the library, to the shop but she wasn't there. This is all my fault, I should have gone to her sooner." Regina explained.
"This is not your fault. Come on, I'll help you find her." Ruby offered.
"No, you're busy, you've got work to do. I'll try to find her myself, if you hear anything call me, I think Granny has my phone number from the last curse."
"If you don't find her in the next hour, I will help you look for her." Ruby said and went back to work.
Regina went to Rumple's house but no one was there, she went to the sheriff station, the town hall, even her office but there was no sign of Belle, she assumed that an hour passed so she went back to Granny's. Ruby was by her side in a second.
"Did you found her?" Ruby asked.
"No, what do you think I'm doing here?" Regina said.
"Come on, I'll help you, let me just tell Granny."
"Okay, I'll wait here." Few minutes later Ruby was back. "You ready?" Ruby nodded and they went outside.
"Can you smell her or something?"
"I think she's in the forest, but I don't know where exactly. The scent should be stronger once we are closer."
"Then let's get going." Regina said.
"Couldn't you just 'poof' us there?" Ruby asked and then noticed the blank expression on Regina's face. "Regina?! Are you okay?"
"Sorry, what?" Regina snapped out of it.
"Are you alright? You completely zoned out." Ruby asked again.
"Yes, I'm fine. Just a flashback."
"Was it in the last year?"
"Yes, someone was telling me to 'poof us in the forest' but I couldn't see his face, it was too blurry."
"It'll come back, now poof us there." Purple smoke rounded them and they reappeared in the middle of the forest. Ruby lead the way to the old well where they found Belle sitting and crying. Regina sat next to her, and Ruby sat on the other side, Ruby was holding Belle's hand, Regina put her arm around her shoulders and said:
"I know how you feel, Ruby does too, so talk to us."
"I miss him. I feel like..." But Belle couldn't continue, so, Regina did "...there's a part of you missing."
"And you feel empty, you think that you've got nothing to live for. But, Belle, you do, and so did I." Ruby continued.
"What do I have to live for?" Belle asked.
"You know what, get up! Belle, stand up!" Regina stood up and half-yelled at her. Belle and Ruby looked shocked but Belle got up and Ruby stood next to her.
"You do not have any right to do that. You have Neal, you have friends, hell, you even got me. I had no one, and look at me now, I'm the daughter of The Dark One, I have the best brother on the world, I've mastered every type of magic there is, and that's all because Rumpelstiltskin found me. He thought me the way to defend myself, he told me to never, not ever, give up. Look at you, do you really think that's what he would have wanted?! You need to stop this, you've probably been doing that for the last year. You need to realize that you do have something to live for, and that you have people who love you. How do you think Neal feels? How do you think I feel? I've lost a mother, two fathers, my son, the one man I loved, but you don't see me giving up on my life, I wanted to give up so badly, one prick on my finger and I'd be asleep for eternity, but I haven't. So snap out of it."
"Okay, Regina, calm down! You can't..." Ruby started, but Belle cut her off.
"No, she is right, she's always right, guess we know who did she got that from. Now, give me a hug, both of you." Ruby and Regina hugged her. Belle wiped away the tears.
"Oh, God. I have to go back, I think Snow's running out of stories."
"What?"
"Long story, so, do you want me to get you back at the library and Ruby, you back at Granny's?"
"Yes." They both said. Regina let the smoke round them and they were in the library, she left Belle in the library. And then Ruby and she reappeared in the middle of the diner. People stared and Granny got her bow ready, but Regina didn't care.
"Ruby." Regina called, and Ruby turned around. "Thank you."
"Anytime, Regina." Regina nodded and disappeared in the cloud of purple smoke. She reappeared in Snow and Charming's apartment.
"Hey, what did I miss?" Regina asked Snow.
"Nothing, Roland is in the bedroom upstairs with his father, you should go in." Regina went up, and went in to the room where she could heard a little boy and his father.
"I just came back, I wanted to check on you, little guy. Hello, Robin."
"Your Majesty."
"Call me Regina."
"Papa, can you and Regina tell me a story?"
"Um... sure... What story would you like?" Robin asked.
"I want one where the thief and the queen meet for the first time." Robin and Regina figured that it was about how they met, and they both were thinking the same thing, what kind of a relationship did they had? By the stories they were close, but just how close? These questions ran through their heads.
"How about we tell you a new story tonight?" Regina asked.
"Yay!"
"Just excuse us for a moment." Robin said and lead Regina out of the room.
"What story did you want to tell him?" Robin asked her.
"I don't know, I thought we were going to improvise. What story do you want to tell him?"
"Well, he seems to be used to stories about the thief and the queen, so why don't we pick a situation and just tell him how would we react, I'll speak for the thief and you speak for the queen. Okay?"
"Okay. Just, what situation?" Regina asked.
"We can say that we were fighting against The Dark One."
"No, he's dead and he's my father so you better watch your mouth."
"Then how about the thief finding out that the queen is The Dark One's daughter?"
"Okay, but don't go too hard on the queen, you can't change your genes after all."
After the story Roland was fast asleep, Robin and Regina went down, there they found Snow, Charming and...
"Miss Swan?" Regina called her.
"Regina, what are you doing here? And who are you?" Emma asked Robin.
"This is Robin Locksey. Emma - Robin, Robin - Emma." Regina introduced them to each other.
"Now, how do you remember?" Regina asked Emma.
"Hook gave me this potion to remember, and I did."
"Do you have any left?" Regina asked.
"Yes, but not enough to use." Emma said.
"Give it to me."
"No."
"Why? I didn't do this, and I want to remember, I need to remember." Regina said. "Okay, if you don't trust me, trust your gut, what is it telling you?" Regina asked.
"Fine." Emma said and handed the vail to Regina.
"Where is he?" Regina asked quietly.
"He is asleep. I don't know if he..."
"Remembers me. That's okay. I'll leave now, I'm going to Belle, we haven't seen Neal since the curse hit and with those dwarfs disappearing I'm worried about him." Regina asked.
"Then, wait for me, I'm going with you." Emma said
"No, I'm going to be with Belle tonight, she needs someone. Robin, it was a pleasure meeting you, again I guess."
"The pleasure was all mine, Your... Regina."
"Say hi to Roland when he wakes up. Snow, take good care of your little baby girl." And Regina disappeared in the cloud of purple smoke.
"David, did you hear that? We are having a baby girl." Snow said excitedly.
Regina reappeared in Rumple's house, she found Belle on the couch, and asked "Mind if I join you?", Belle nodded and showed her with her hand to sit next to her.
"Let me tell you a story and you try to fall asleep." Regina said and started the story of Beauty and the Beast, on halfway through the story Belle fell asleep, Regina covered her and fell asleep next to her. The morning raised and Belle was the first to wake up, she found Regina by her side and smiled lightly, soon, Regina woke up too.
"Hey, good morning." Belle said.
"Good morning." Regina answered. "Do you want to go to breakfast at Granny's?" Regina asked
"Yes." Belle answered and the two got ready, and left the house. When they got in, there were only Ruby and Granny at the diner. They sat at the second booth from the door by the window. Ruby went to them to see what they were having.
"Hey, good morning, what would you like?"
"I'll take an ice tea, and something to eat." Belle said.
"I'll have coffee and..." Regina started.
"Apple pancakes, I know." Ruby finished for her and went to give Granny the orders.
"Excuse me, Belle, I'll be back in a second." Regina said and went to the bathroom. When she came back she went to Ruby and asked for her coffee. Ruby gave her, but when Regina turned around she saw Henry and dropped the mug on the floor.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." But before she could say anything else, Henry ran to her and hugged her. "Mom! I missed you!"
"You remember me." Regina said and teared up a bit.
"How could I forget you?" Henry asked.
"I love you, Henry." Regina said and hugged him again.
"I love you, too." Henry said. They sat back at the booth where The Charmings were sitting and called Belle to join them, they talked about the time Henry spent in New York, when he got the book.
"I hate to leave, but I have to start to work on the potion. I'll see you later, Henry." Regina said and went back to her office. She found her potion kit and started to exam Emma's memory potion, at the look it looked familiar, like she's seen it before. She went to Rumple's shop before doing anything. She was looking for a book of potions and spells and there were many, she finally found what she was looking for, took the book, and went back to her office. She found the page that was marked with Rumple's handwriting that said 'Memory Potion' and Rumple added 'Emma's' at the beginning 'Emma's Memory Potion'. Regina made the potion enough for two persons, she took a sip, and suddenly she could remember everything. She took the rest of the potion and went to find Robin. She found him at Granny's sitting with Ronald, she took the mug from Ruby and put the potion in it. She gave it to Robin.
"Drink that." Regina said.
"Why would I do that?" Robin questioned.
"Please, trust me." Regina said and he finally drank it. Regina waited for some sign that he remembered. He lifted her up, and twirled her, she didn't expect that so she screamed but started to laugh.
"You crazy man! Put me down!" Regina said.
"No." He answered but stopped twirling her.
"So, does this mean you remember?" Regina asked.
"Yes." Robin answered.
The people watched the scene in awe.
"Put me down." Regina said.
"Say the word."
"Please, put me down."
"Nice, you took my advice, you lost the attitude." Robin said and put her down.
"Just for you." Regina played along. "Okay, people! Can I have your attention, please?" They already had all their attention, Regina looked around and one face caught her attention.
"Robin, she's here." She whispered, and made a perfect fireball in her hand. "What, Zelena, are you scared of the fire? That's odd, that was Cora's favourite weapon, guess the genes skip a generation." The Wicked Witch stood up and faced Regina. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Oh, come on, don't lie. Why don't you just show who you really are... sis?" Regina said and Zelena turned green, a few people gasped but Robin wasn't one of them.
"Where is he?" Regina hissed at her with a fireball in her hand.
"He, who?"
"Rumpelstiltskin, I know he's back, I brought him back,"
"So, sorry to inform you, but I have nothing with it." And then Emma, David, Henry and a very pregnant Snow got in.
"Don't come any closer." Regina warned them but it was too late. The Witch grabbed Henry and had a dagger on his throat.
"Loose the fireball, or the boy gets it, oh, and savior don't even think about it." Zelena said, and Regina and Emma listened.
"Who are you?" Henry asked.
"Well, I'm your aunt, of course."
"Mom, what's she talking about?" Henry asked Regina.
"Henry, this is my sister."
"Enough! Regina, I want you to suffer, to feel the pain I felt when I was growing up alone."
"Why didn't you come back? You could have told me and I would take my father and Daniel and we would be out of your way. But, you never came back! You can't blame me for not knowing that you existed, you can blame only Cora." Regina said, Zelena warned her to stop but she continued, "She gave you up, she destroy my life because I wasn't good enough, trust me, you're lucky that you ended up in Oz!"
Zelena took the dagger closer to Henry's throat. "I said... Enough!"
"Why? are you afraid of the truth?" Regina asked.
"Regina, stop please." Robin pleaded, and she did.
"Robin, our last day together, the first thing you wanted us to do. Do you think you can do it?"
"Yes, but I don't..."
"Turn around, on the table."
"Stop! What are you talking about?" Zelena screamed at them, she was ready to cut Henry's throat, but he disappeared in the cloud of purple smoke.
"Now, I'll ask again. Where is my father!?" Regina had a fireball in her hand, Robin was ready to shoot the arrow, and Emma was holding Zelena on the gunpoint.
"No need to fuss." Zelena said and in the cloud of green smoke, Rumplestilstkin came out and fell on his knees. He looked mad. He was humming some tune.
"Rumple?" And then Zelena disappeared.
"Regina... She's gone."
"Rumple, please. Talk to me." Regina kneeled next to him.
"You feed the maddens and it feeds on you." He said in the singing voice. He repeated that over and over.
"Regina, you have some explaining to do." Emma said.
"Not now, but if anyone wants to remember the last year I am going to make more memory potion in my office, hopefully, that will help him. Robin?" Robin came next to her and said "Stop talking, start poofing." They both smiled, Regina let the smoke round them all and soon they were in her office. She let Rumple sit on the couch and went to make more potion.
"Hey, Henry, are you okay?" Robin asked the boy who was sitting on the chair.
"Yes, just a little shocked, that's all. How do you know my mother?"
"We are friends, we're very close. I love her and she loves me."
"I do not, you're the most annoying man I've had misfortune to meet." Regina commented.
"See? I told you she loves me." But Regina didn't answer and rolled her eyes. Henry chuckled and asked, "How did you two meet?"
"I crushed his ego." Regina answered.
"How?" Henry asked.
"I think Robin would like to tell you that story." Regina said and continued working on the potion. She was soon done and she went to Rumple and gave him to drink it.
"Rumple? Drink that." Regina said and Rumple warily eyed the potion.
"It'll help you remember. Just drink it." And he did as he was told and he opened his eyes a few seconds later.
"Regina." He said and hugged her. "Now, where are Neal and Belle?"
"Belle is at the library, and we couldn't find Neal."
"What do you mean?"
"When the curse hit, the people started to disappear, and we don't know what has happened to them, maybe you could help?"
"Later, but now, Belle."
"Wait, get her to drink this, it's a memory potion." Regina said and gave him one vial of the potion. Rumplestilskin disappeared and Regina went to join Henry and Robin. Regina sat next to Robin and Henry asked "Do you two fight sometimes?"
"Yes" Regina said, but Robin said "No."
"Yes, we do." Regina started.
"No, we don't."
"See, we are fighting about the fighting." Regina said. "But that's what we do, we fight, we tease each other, and we use a lot of sarcasm." There was knocking on the door. Regina went to open it and there were Emma, David, Snow and Roland.
"Roland, hey. Come here." She said, picked him up and put him on her hip. "Come in, please." She said to the rest.
"Do you want the memory potion?" Regina asked.
"Yes." They both said, while Emma was hugging Henry. Regina gave them two vials of potion and waited for them to drink it. David first drank and a few seconds later he said:" I remember." Snow drank hers too and she also remembered.
"Okay, do you have enough potion for the whole town?"
"No."
"Can you make more?"
"No."
"Why?"
"First, it would take hours, second I can't find what I need to make it here."
"Where do you can find it?"
"Enchanted Forest, Neverland and maybe some botanic garden in Boston." Regina answered.
"Then, give Emma the list of what you need and she'll go to Boston and get you the plants."
"No way." Emma said. "I don't know plants, I'd probably bring you back a lot of grass."
"See? I'm going back to The Enchanted Forest. There's a house on the edge of town, where The Mad Hatter used to live. I'll go down there and get what I need to open a portal."
"Then I'm coming too." Robin said.
"Not a chance. You need to stay here with your son, he already lost a mother, he can't loose his father too."
"And I can't loose you. Like I said, no matter what I'll get you, and I got you back, there is no chance in hell I'm letting you go alone back to that place and loosing you again."
"Oh, I hate you. I am not going to win this argument, am I?"
"No. But you should talk to Rumpelstiltskin on how you want to act." Robin answered her.
"Don't push it." Regina warned him. "Okay, Henry, I love you and I'll be back, I promise." Regina hugged him.
"Roland, daddy and I have some things we need to deal with, do you want to stay with Snow?" He nodded.
"Here, take him. If he bothers you send him to Belle and Rumple." Robin said bye to Roland, and the they disappeared in the cloud of purple smoke.
"Okay, what was that?" Emma asked Snow and Charming.
"What was what?"
"Robin giving Regina that speech and then the two of them going together."
"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that, it's their thing, they look out for each other, they are like two sides of the coin, they are different, but, they are the same and they belong together, not romantically but just as an unbreakable friendship. Robin is Regina's soul mate but Daniel was the biggest love of her life."
"That was deep, kid, where did you get that from?" Emma asked Henry.
"From them, my mom and Robin actually said those exact words." Henry said and smiled at them.
Like I said a lot happens, I didn't want to write Henry not remembering Regina, and it should not be much of a surprise I wrote a chapter where he remembered her... Review or leave a PM, any kind of feedback would be appreciated.
