"What do I do father?" Regina and her father, sat at the table eating fruit and drinking wine. She'd left her chambers after convincing the princess that she should sleep. The younger woman had fought her, but Regina was persuasive and eventual the blonde did sleep. As soon as she was confident that the blonde was resting she'd left her chambers to seek out her father. She was fighting a battle she didn't know if she could win and she needed his guidance.

"Teach her." He spoke as if it were the easiest thing in the word and he didn't understand why they were discussing the matter. The Princess seemed to trust his daughter and would be willing to learn.

"But daddy…"

"Regina, she needs to learn how to control it, who else will teach her? Snow and Charming do not possess magic, so it is fitting that you are the one to teach her."

His practical answers were beginning to annoy her. He should know that it wasn't that simple. It's never that simple. She could not teach the blonde. The relationship between a teacher and student was bound to cross some lines. She looked to Rumple as a father for many years though he was undeserving of the title. She knew that the relationship that would foster between herself and the princess would not be maternal.

"You know I was not taught by the best. I fear I will be no better than he. I am not a good person. I will use her and exploit her and turn her into exactly what I am."

"Nonsense, you are a far better person than Rumplestiltskin, and I have faith in you. Regina the mere fact that you fear corrupting the Princess shows that you far better than you give yourself credit for."

"She doesn't know father." Regina took a long drink from her glass and grabbed the bottle to add more. This had been troubling her since she'd become aware.

"Who doesn't know what?" He sipped his wine and ate a strawberry and waited for Regina to stop being so cryptic.

"The Princess… she doesn't know about the Lost Decade, she thinks she's twenty-four."

Henry was quiet for a moment, "What happened?"

"She was inquiring about her magic and she thought I had left remnants of magic inside her. I told her that she was the product of true love and that she had magic. I said that her magical interactions with me had awoken what lay dormant for 34 years and she said she had yet to see 34 years."

"She doesn't know…" Her father looked on at her confused and she could tell he was thinking.

It was not a secret that Henry Mills was a passive man, he allowed Regina to endure much pain and suffering at the hands of his wife and yet, he could not fathom how anyone would allow what happened to Emma to happen to their child.

"No, I cast a small memory erasing spell just to get rid of the previous minute, but…..the fact remains that she doesn't know about the Lost Decade."

"Did you tell her differently?" Both father and daughter looked up to see Snow White standing at the threshold. Regina didn't speak. She sipped her wine and ate a grape.

"Answer me, witch!" Snow spat as she moved to stand over Regina. Her nostrils flared, her cheeks were flushed, and her breathing was ragged.

"Snow, calm yourself. Regina would not overstep in such a way." Henry looked pleadingly at his daughter to verify his words. He knew she enjoyed riling Snow White up so he doubted she would make this easy for the woman.

Regina slowly rose from her seat until she was nose to nose with Snow. "I was unaware that the Princess was in the dark of the Lost Decade. About your sacrifice, or rather her sacrifice, because truly Snow all you did was gain from the deal you made with the Dark One."

Snow's features darkened, "I lost my child, because of you!"

"No! You lost your child because of you, and your fear. And you didn't lose her; you gave her away. You gave her to Rumple, just like you sent her away with Johanna when she was born. All you've done her entire life is give her away."

"You do not tell me how to raise my child, especially being that you don't have one of your own." Snow smirked at her dig, knowing Regina was unable to have children. She'd learned from Isla, who was Regina's person handmaiden while she was married to her father.

"A choice that was my own. I refused to procreate with the man that fathered you!" Regina spat angrily, her temper was spiking, and she knew this would not end well. Her inability to give birth was her own doing. She'd made that sacrifice after her mother ordered her to allow the king to impregnate her. It was her first encounter with Rumple; he'd given her the potion.

"How dare you speak of my father that way! My father was a good man." Snow's eyes began to water as she thought of her father. He'd loved her and given her everything she'd ever wanted. It still hurt that he was gone.

"Your father was a demon, and I don't mourn him."

"You're an evil witch, you left me fatherless; parentless."

Regina growled at the contempt in Snow's voice and took a step closer to the pregnant woman; their noses touched as they glared at one another, neither woman backing down.

"You're father took more from me than you will ever understand. I was but a child myself when he made me his wife, he who was old enough to be my father himself. I don't regret his death, and I shall lose no sleep for not bearing his child. He was a vile, despicable man; I did you a favor." A smirk ghosted on Regina's lips.

"He loved you, but you were too wrapped up in your hatred of me to love him back. You fawned over a stable boy when my father wanted to give you the world. "

Regina's nostrils flared and she summoned a fireball. She wanted to eviscerate the self-centered woman, get her revenge at that moment.

Henry stood swiftly and moved to stand between his daughter and Snow White. "Regina, calm down, she is with child, please."

Regina ignored her father. The flame burned brightly in her hand and hatred shone brightly in her eyes.

"You made a promise Regina. Please, she is carrying a child." He placed a hand on her face hoping he'd gotten through to his daughter. When he looked at her, he saw her gaze was elsewhere. She glared at Snow. He pressed a hand to her cheek and waited.

Regina smirked darkly at Snow before turning her attention to her father. She slowly closed her fist and the flame extinguished. She closed her eyes and took a cleansing breath, "I'm going to retire to my chambers."

Regina smiled at her father "I'll also check on the Princess."

"There's no need for you to check on my daughter!" Snow spat her eyes ablaze; she was shaking. The blossoming relationship between Regina and her daughter made her uncomfortable. With her work with Henry unearthed, she feared that would only send Emma falling further into Regina's clutches.

"Well being that she is in my bedchambers it only makes sense."

Henry nodded and watched his daughter prepare to take her leave, he knew she was working hard to cause Snow to unravel and he knew she was very close to being successful. He just wanted to neutralize the situation, but the thought of the Princess being in his daughter's chambers sent Snow in a panic.

"Why is my daughter in your bedchambers?"

"Well darling, she came to me, well after the sun had set, for help," Regina said with a seductive smirk. She bit her lip and sighed, "And what kind of host would I be to deny her?"

Snow's nostrils flared, and she moved to step closer to Regina. Henry held his ground standing firmly between the two women. "Why is my daughter in your bedchambers?"

"Well, she's doing what any other person would do…sleep. After all, she's quite exhausted after the night she'd had." Regina smiled salaciously and left the room, her hips swaying suggestively.

Snow and Henry stood in silence for a moment after Regina left, "I can't believe her! How dare she! How dare she?"

"You should calm yourself, Snow; it can't be good for the baby." Henry placed a gentle hand on her back and guided her into a chair. She sighed and put her face in her hands.

"I'm going to lose her again? For the third time, I'm going to lose my daughter, but this time I don't think I'll be able to get her back." Her tears raced down her cheeks.

"Snow, I'm sure the Princess will come around."

"She won't, she was so betrayed, so hurt. She spoke with such contempt. She has never spoken to me in such a way. And then she goes…..she goes to Regina of all people for help. What could she possibly need from Regina? I am her mother; she should've come to me for whatever it was that caused her to seek Regina out."

Henry didn't speak; it's wasn't his place too. He just lent a comforting hand.

"All I wanted was peace; I wanted to bring my son into a peaceful realm. I wanted to experience his first words, be there for his first step. Does that mean that I love him more than I love Emma?"

She looked up at Henry for some guidance.

"I cannot answer that for you, Snow. I love Regina with all my heart and yet, I sat and watched her mother taunt and torment her. I allowed her to turn her into something she hasn't. I watched as my daughter was married off to the King, a man decades her senior, a man that she didn't love. I was too afraid to protect my daughter. It took me a long time to accept that fact. That I was wrong. I could blame Cora until my dying breath, but I know that I should've said something, done something. I should have stood up for my child. I should've fought for my child and if it had come to it, I should've died for my child. I have taken responsibility for my actions when it comes to myself as a Father. And even though I do have a child, I will not tell you how to raise yours."

Henry smiled and caressed her cheek gently before leaving her to her thoughts.

Thoughts? What is this Lost Decade?