A/N: Just wanted to warn everyone that this chapter is kind of dark with mentions of rape.

Chapter 13

Emma sat up in her bed and looked around her. The mist was covering her skin and seemed to almost caress her. It didn't hurt and appeared to be friendly. She quickly put on riding pants and a more appropriate shirt with boots before following it to the door. Emma opened it quietly and looked back and forth, making sure the coast was clear. The princess stepped out into the hall, closing the door behind her, and followed the purple mist to an almost hidden door at the end of a hallway.

Regina was tired, but she couldn't seem to sleep. She had snapped at Emma, but it seemed the only option at the time. Letting Emma know the truth about her seemed like the most horrible idea possible. But, at the same time, that was a part of who she was. In fact, it was a part of who Emma was, too. Without Regina enacting the curse, Emma wouldn't be in her palace today. In a way, Regina thought Emma deserved to know.

The Queen turned towards the mirror in her small, hidden room. She had been spending a lot of time here since Emma had come, and she found the small room comforting. Sidney couldn't impose on her, and she was free to her thoughts. As she looked at herself in the mirror, she smiled slightly. She could almost see the young Regina, the Regina who had no thoughts of enacting a curse or killing anyone. But, just as it always did when she caught a glimpse of her former self, the Evil Queen took over. Sometimes she felt as though the two were fighting a constant battle within her for dominance and the young Regina simply couldn't stand up to the Queen. The Queen wanted to destroy the innocence, but without it, she wouldn't be there. The young Regina also knew that overpowering the Queen would leave her weak and vulnerable. So, she was constantly trying to maintain a balance between the two polar opposites.

She never allowed her innocence to consume her the way it once did, but sometimes she would let the Evil Queen dominate her. It was intoxicating, feeling all of her power flow through her. The dark side of her loved the cruelty the Queen brought with her. It was, for that reason, that she only allowed the Evil Queen to consume her when necessary.

Regina downed the remaining spiced cider in one drink and set the glass down on a small table next to her. She was angry with herself. On the outside, she knew she appeared collected. There were very few times that she allowed herself not to appear calm. Allowing emotions to be plainly painted on one's face for everyone to see was a sign of weakness and weakness was not something that came naturally to Regina.

As she turned back to the mirror, she reached out with her hand to touch the frame. She could feel the evil part of her welling up inside her and she knew that if she didn't try to sate it, it would make her do something horrible. Most likely, she would storm into Emma's room and inflict all forms of pain on her. She would push her against a wall, slip her fingers through the soft, white flesh of her chest and gently squeeze her heart while thrusting her other hand into her core. Regina knew Emma would scream in both pain and pleasure. Taking her heart to place in her vault seemed too simple. She would allow Emma that still. The prospect of violating Emma in such a way sent delicious shivers down Regina's spine and made wetness pool between her legs.

The Queen walked towards the door, about to stride towards Emma's chambers before she caught herself. A part of her loved Emma. Whether that love was romantic or not, she did not want to distinguish yet. And this love she had for the princess wouldn't allow her to treat her in such a way. At least not yet, not while Emma was still so young. Not when she didn't know what she was getting into. She had caught a glimpse of the Evil Queen after Maleficent had left and it had taken all of Regina's power not to allow herself to truly hurt the girl. She saw a small amount of fear in Emma's eyes and that kept her from completely loosing herself. When Emma was ready for that side of her then, and only then, would they explore that side of their relationship.

Regina turned back to the mirror, knowing that she had to deal with this anger in some way. She took far more gentle steps forward and placed her hand on the frame again. The Queen closed her eyes, thinking of the enchantment she put on this mirror so many years ago. It could show her all her memories exactly as they happened and not how she wanted them to. Over the years, she found that the best way to make the dark part inside her content was to live through the anger, hurt, and pain that caused her to be like this in the first place.

She never watched her memories with Daniel; they were far too painful even now. Knowing that she could have had a different life, a life full of happiness, was too much to bear. She began with the former king.

The mirror began to swirl into a dark picture of her dead husband's chambers. She turned to the bed. A show of their marriage night where he forced himself onto her began to play out before her. He was drunk; his breath smelt of wine and was hot against her skin. She hated him for everything that had happened to her. She hated him for Daniel, she hated him for Snow, and she hated him for taking her virginity in the most brutal way possible. As he rammed himself into her, she could feel her insides tearing apart. She held back her tears and soon found that she could barely feel anything as the large amount of blood pooling beneath her must have been making it easier for him. When he finally rolled off her, she stumbled to the door and out into the hallway. She didn't have to worry about anyone finding her, everyone was still celebrating. Everyone except for Snow White.

"Hello, Regina!" she said cheerfully. Regina stopped in her tracks and slowly turned to the young girl, grasping at her robes to keep herself covered up.

"Snow, dear, what are you doing out so late?" she heard a slight tremble in her voice but, if Snow noticed, she didn't say anything.

"I thought maybe I would find you and I could show you around the castle!" she said. Regina had to get out of here. She didn't want Snow to see the blood trickling down her legs. She hated the child, no doubt, but she couldn't allow her to see what a monster her father was.

"Tomorrow, dear. You need to sleep. You've had a very big day."

Snow's face fell slightly, but she agreed and began walking towards her room. Regina continued walking as well and she eventually found a small room at the end of the hallway. It was the exact same one that she was standing in now.

She let out a small scream as she sat on the floor and gingerly opened her legs to try and assess the damage. Blood smeared her thighs and everything felt sore. No one had ever touched her there, but she knew this was not how it was supposed to be. She picked up a small stone and threw it across the room in frustration and began attempting to heal herself with the little magic she knew and was failing at it. After about ten minutes of fruitless attempts, she finally gave up and let the tears that had been threatening to overflow her eyes run. She buried her face in her hands and let the sobs wrack her body.

"Why so blue, dearie?" said a voice. Regina looked up to see Rumpelstiltskin crouching before her. She wiped away her tears and looked him straight in the eye. She saw his eyes flicker down to her open robe and look back up at her. Something that looked like concern shadowed over his face and his mouth settled into a frown.

"Did our loving and gracious king do this to you?"

Regina nodded and swallowed more tears. The imp rested his hands on her thighs only to have her flinch away from him.

"I won't hurt you, dearie. Not like this anyway," he said. He reached out for her again and began healing her slowly. When he was finished, he looked back up to Regina. She had stopped crying, but tears still seemed to be swirling in her eyes. He moved towards the wall she was leaning against and sat next to her. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and held her close, the father in him taking over.

"Thank you," Regina whispered. "I would have done it myself, though. I just couldn't."

"You were too distracted. Your mind has to be clear when healing."

Regina rested her head on his shoulder. "Do I owe you anything?" she asked.

"Not this time, dearie."

They sat in silence for what seemed like hours but was only a couple of minutes. They seemed to take solace in each other's presence.

"You're more of a father than my own," Regina said to him. She felt Rumple chuckle next to her and smiled herself.

"You need to get back to your husband," he said. He pulled her up and kissed her lightly on the forehead before pushing her gently towards the door.

The mirror showed Regina's reflection again and she saw a small tear running down her face. She wiped it away quickly remembering that nothing was how it was then. She was stronger, her rapist was dead, and Rumple was no longer a father figure. He was the twisted little imp who had a love hate relationship with her.

Regina took a deep breath and conjured up the memory of another night. Moonlight bathed the bed her husband was laying on when she silently appeared in the shadows of the room. She saw the Genie moving towards the bed holding the box of snakes that would kill the king. As the Genie was speaking to him, telling him it would be over soon, Regina couldn't suppress a wicked smile. When the Genie left, Regina strode over to her husband. The fool thought he was dead, but there was still a faint glimmer of life left in his eyes.

"Hello, dear," she whispered to him. Horror filled his eyes as he saw, for the first time, how twisted Regina was. "I know you can't speak, so I'll just hurry up and tell you what I have been dying to since we married. I hate you. I hate you for marrying me, I hate you for making me lose my love, and I hate you for even living. You always say you want everyone to be happy in your kingdom and, when you're dead, I will be. When Snow is dead, I'll be ecstatic. And there is nothing you will ever be able to do about it."

As she said the last words, fear for his daughter flooded his eyes. He began to gasp for air and, as Regina watched, he died. She stood and took one last look at her pitiful excuse for a husband, and transported herself back to her room where the Genie was about to reappear.

The mirror cleared once again and immediately changed to the last night in her play. Her father was standing by a window as she walked in.

"Did you find out what you needed to do?" he asked in his typical anxious voice. Regina repressed a snarl.

"Yes," she said. "I did."

"And?"

"I must kill the thing I love and hate the most," she said slowly. She turned to look at him to see if it registered.

"How can you both hate and love something at the same time?" he asked. Regina pursed her lips at him.

"Quite simply, it would appear."

As Regina walked towards him, realization set in. He began walking backwards until his back hit the wall.

"You don't have to do this," he begged.

"Yes I do," she whispered.

"But, I'm your father."

"I know," she said. "A father who never helped me, never stood up for me. Do you know what I went through all those years? Do you know how much I hurt and you never did a thing to help me? A father would take interest in their daughter when she was hurt or scared and you did not. In fact, you only seem to be against me killing something when that something is you." She hadn't realized she was yelling until she looked at her father's face. She saw fear there, the same fear she had suffered through all of those years.

"But I have always loved you," he said.

"And I always loved you, daddy. I always will."

The dagger slid through his ribs easily. Warm, red liquid surrounded her hand. She looked into his eyes as he died. She didn't shed a tear when he took his last breath; her need for this was too strong. Regina laid him on the ground and took the dagger out of his stomach. She placed the tip just above where his heart would be and slowly began to cut through his skin. Blood pooled around her and, when she had to reach in him to retrieve his heart, she didn't even flinch. She was covered in blood as she brought his heart up to her face. A strangled, crazed laugh escaped her lips as she realized she was finally about to win.

She rose from the kneeling position she had taken beside her father and placed his heart in a small, silver chest. She walked back over to his body and, with the wave of a hand, he was cleaned and ready for burial.

The mirror cleared for the final time and Regina saw herself again. Her mask had completely fallen away and she saw herself for what she truly was: powerful yet broken.

A sound came from behind the Queen. She turned around quickly to see Emma standing in the doorway, looking both frightened and disgusted. Emma looked from the Queen to the mirror and back to the little silver chest sitting on the table next to her.

"What are you doing here?" Regina hissed. Emma remained silent, staring at the Queen. "How much did you see?" she asked as she began walking towards the princess.

"You killed the King and your father," she whispered. "That's why you don't want anyone to know. You really are a monster."

Regina flung out a hand, making Emma crash against the wall. Fear and hatred seemed to radiate from the younger woman as the Queen snarled up at her.

"You're evil," Emma screamed.

"Yes, yes I am," Regina said back. She reached a hand up to the girl's chest. She hesitated for a moment, realizing what she was doing. As she stepped back, she lowered the princess to the ground who promptly smacked her.

"I'm leaving," Emma said and began walking out the door. Regina followed her, too much in a daze to completely understand.

"I don't know when I'll be back," she continued. "Or if I'll even come back."

Regina was too caught up in her own thoughts. It was best if Emma did leave, she thought. She couldn't hurt her like she was about to back in her room.

"Do you even care!?" Emma screamed at Regina. The Queen saw the tears forming in Emma's eyes, though she wasn't sure why. She should hate her for everything that she had ever done, everything that she now knew about. She wasn't worthy of Emma.

"You should leave," she whispered, not daring to look at the princess fully. She felt Emma's hands on her shoulders, pushing her back against the wall. She pressed herself firmly against her and Emma roughly pressed her lips to the Queen's.

"Fine," she choked out.

Regina watched her storm out of the palace and walk into the woods. She walked back to her room, closed the door, and got ready for bed. Only after an hour of hoping Emma would come back to no avail did she let herself cry for the first time in years.

Emma stopped by a small pool of water to think about what she had seen. The Queen was evil, there was no doubt about that now. She was twisted, insane, crazy, but she couldn't help but want to return to her. There was something inside Regina that Emma knew could still love and was ashamed of what had happened. There had to be more to the story.

But she was in the woods now, she had made her choice and Regina had agreed. She couldn't go back, at least not for a while. They both needed to calm down. Even then, she wasn't sure if Regina would want to see her.

She sat down on a rock and looked into the pool wondering if Sidney could see her. She imagined he probably could.

"Emma," a sweet voice drawled behind her. "What a surprise."

Emma turned around sharply to see Maleficent staring at her with predatory eyes.

"Get tired of Regina already?" she asked.

"We just had a bit of an argument."

"In that case, perhaps you need a place to stay," she said as she moved closer to the princess.

"No, I thin-"

"I insist." Maleficent pointed her staff at Emma and purple mist, the same mist that had led Emma to Regina, engulfed them.

A/N: Please review!