Auradon

"So your Snow and her daughter were back in the Enchanted Forest?" Snow asked with interest.

"Yes. All in all they were trapped there for a couple of weeks with David and I forming something of a tense alliance to recover them. I owed Emma that much at least for saving me and not handing me over to the mob at my doorstep and it was what Henry wanted," Regina explained.

"Were you still in danger from the general townsfolk at this time?" Snow inquired with a hint of worry.

Regina smiled sardonically as she replied, "For all of a day or two, perhaps. I had the most rudimentary access to my magic, but my control was shot and it was like I hadn't practiced at all in years, which I suppose was the truth. Like the novice that once braved meeting Maleficent I could barely light a candle one time in ten and it was frustrating me. Especially since I needed my magic to help me recover Emma and Ms Blanchard. But I knew what I would need to do to jump start it and sync myself with the odd flow of magic in Storybrooke."

"And what was that?" Snow wondered.

"Rumple had a spellbook of my mother's in his possession. One in which she had laced a few pages with special ink infused with her blood and magic. It was a kind of trap Rumple taught her to lay against people that would try to steal her secrets. The blood magic would act as kind of poison to anyone that tried to tap into it not related to her. But to me, her daughter, it was just what I needed to jump start myself and acclimate to things," Regina reported.

"And he just gave it to you?" Snow asked, well aware of the animosity between them.

"Well it was mine by blood right and even the Dark One respects such obligations. And for all that we've tried to harm each other Rumple always did seem oddly tolerant with me. I assume it was because I reminded him of my mother when he trained her. He certainly had a snide little comment of how much I was acting like her when he finally gave me the book. But I suppose he saw the value in having me able to draw attention away from him in town. I certainly wasn't going to let anyone intimidate me when I finally had the power to fight back," Regina informed her.

Storybrooke

Belle looked to Rumple's face in concern as he listened to Regina's interview with deep interest through a mirror spying on the Charming loft. "Rumple?" she asked.

"That wasn't it. Not exactly, anyway. I could always see the differences between Regina and Cora. I teased her about them, but I never thought they were all that alike. I assumed she just took after that simpering fool Henry and it counteracted some of Cora's nastier traits. Turns out I should have been looking for a little more of me in her," Rumple recalled aloud.

"You didn't know. And when you find her you can try to repair things between you," Belle tried to assure him.

"Can I, Belle? I'll admit most of the better things about her, the ones she showed raising Henry, she learned from her... stepfather. But her ability to hold a grudge? That Regina definitely inherited from me," Rumple noted with a sad shake of his head.

"You can't give up hope, Rumple. You're family. You, Regina, and Baelfire. That has to mean something," Belle insisted.

"Did you know that I held Regina when she was only hours old?" Rumple recalled. "I had popped in that first night after Cora went to sleep and held her in my arms, telling that perfect, innocent little baby girl all my terrible plans to make her the Evil Queen one day. And even as I sneered and scoffed she just watched me with wide eyes and reached up like she wanted me to hold her close and comfort her. Me, that disgusting imp that I was in the Old World," Rumple reminisced.

"Hey, I happen to love that 'disgusting imp'. And the man behind him," Belle noted with a sly smile.

"Part of me wanted to take her with me that night. To fulfill Cora's original contract and raise Regina for myself even if we had changed the deal. Now I can't help but wonder if part of me still suspected the truth but was too stubborn to admit it? Despite how I hate the Black Fairy I can't deny Regina has my mother's hair and eyes. If I had only seen, only let myself believe... I could have raised my daughter myself. Saved her from that witch using her as a glorified showpiece," Rumple lamented.

"You can't wonder over the past. You can only try to improve the future," Belle assured him as she moved in to embrace her True Love.

Auradon

"So your mother's spellbook worked to jump start your magic?" Snow asked.

"Yes. I blew on one of the protected pages and inhaled the rising dust. I could immediately feel it resonating with me as my magic came back fully. Even my apple tree, which has been rotting and dying as a result of its connection to me, was fully restored, the apples becoming red and vibrant again," Regina recalled.

"And what did you do with you rediscovered magic?" Snow inquired.

"Made and ass out of myself," Regina noted sassily. "I had it in my head that now that I had my powers, David and the rest of the town wouldn't be able to keep me from my son. And since most everyone in town was at a meeting to discuss Snow and Emma's disappearance, I took it as an opportunity to let them know I was back to my old self."

"What did you do?" Snow asked with a note of worry.

"Talked a big game and tossed a few people around with my magic. Nothing that hurt anybody but enough to show them I was no longer vulnerable. I suppose it really showed the difference between who I am now and who I was as the Evil Queen that I was so careful not to hurt anyone. Not that they'd notice over their panicking about me having my magic. I even went so far as to snatch a bolt the Widow Lucas had fired next to my head as a warning shot out of the air and incinerate it into a fireball, though all I did with it was make it dance around the room and make it ignite the town crest behind me to intimidate people. When they finally had the wherewithal to demand to know why I was there Henry knew it was to collect him and bring him home and my Little Prince bravely offered to return with me to protect them," Regina noted fondly.

"And did he stay with you?" Snow asked somberly.

"No. He had no intention of living with the Evil Queen. I tried everything I could think of to get in his good graces, offering him any magical gift I could think of like some cheap knockoff of the imp, but he wanted nothing to do with it. To him all magic was evil and he didn't want to touch it. It oddly echoed my own thoughts on my mother's magic as a child," Regina recalled.

"So you let him leave?" Snow prodded gently.

"Well, his idiot grandfather, and I say that wholly about David Nolan and not about your Florian when I call Charming and idiot, dear, but anyways David showed up sword in hand to try to threaten or kill me. I don't know which honestly, although I had him bound to the wall in tree branches I had summoned from the pattern in my wallpaper before he could move."

Storybrooke

"Again, why are you all not dead or in her dungeon in the Enchanted Forest?" Emma insisted as David ducked his head in embarrassment.

"Because she didn't want either of those things to happen long term, Emma," Neal noted.

"What do you mean, Dad?" Henry asked.

"Even if Cora and Poppa tried to hold her back your mom still inherited her magic from both of them. If she had wanted Queen Snow dead, she would have been. She wanted her to pay for what she saw as a deep betrayal. She wanted to see her punished. You can't do that with someone that's dead. It's why Poppa allows Hook to stay alive. He wants him to suffer for taking my mother and he won't give him the satisfaction of joining her in death," Neal noted. If anyone understood that thinking, it was the son of the Dark One.

But there was one doubter in the form of Snow White herself, who thought it might just be that there was still something too good in Regina to make her want to kill Snow and her friends.

Auradon

"I mostly ignored whatever impotent threats the man offered before I informed him in no uncertain terms that he would care for my son and guard him with his life because if Henry was hurt under his care I would end him, Snow's husband or not. He was so confused he hung there speechless as I called up to Henry and told him to pack his things to spend time with his grandfather before I released the fool. I think that was really the start of our alliance to find Snow and Emma. The fact I would do what was best for Henry rather than myself threw him for a loop," Regina recalled.

"And how did the attempts to recover that world's Snow and Emma go?" Auradon's Snow White asked.

"Painfully uneventful for the most part. The one time David managed to track Jefferson down he claimed he couldn't create a new hat to help collect them, which was somewhat true I suppose. You can go anywhere one way with his hats, but you need to bring back the exact same number of people as left for a round trip. To get Mary Margaret and Emma, we would have needed to abandon two people in the remains of the Enchanted Forest. I can't see that kind of offer going over well with anyone. Especially when the only ones the town would want to leave, namely Rumple and I, were the only ones with enough magic to work the stupid hat if he did cobble a new one together," Regina snorted in derision.

But her face grew pained as she noted "But, eventually, we found a way to communicate with them. Even though it was dangerous."

"And what was that?" Snow prodded.

"Those that have been under the Sleeping Curse, at least our version of it, relive many of their worst memories. They can also end up mentally in a room apparently made of fire where they can talk to others that have been under the curse when they are asleep at the same time. But the room of fire can cause physical pain and worse if you go there too many times. But Henry and Snow had both been under the curse so he insisted on using it to work out a plan to get them back. It was fine at first, but eventually everything Rumple and I were doing to protect him started to fail. It was... hurting him. It could have eventually done much worse," Regina recalled with tears in her eyes.

"So what did you do?" Snow asked gently.

"Well, in the last message Henry could safely relay I had learned about my Mother's survival as she had just confronted and been driven off by Ms Blanchard and Ms Swan. Until that point, we had been planning a way for them to get hold of a magic bean to make a stable portal, and use the well where magic returned to Storybrooke as the entry point. There was more involving the wood from wardrobe used to originally transport Emma and the last drops of the waters of a magical lake, but that was the gist of things. The problem was that Rumple and I were quite certain my mother and Hook would find a way to trick Emma and Snow and would be the ones to come through the portal instead. And the thought of my Mother having access to Henry. No. I could never let that happen. So I helped Rumple to craft and cast a Death Curse over anyone that traveled through the well, hoping it would stop my mother. But Henry insisted it would be Emma and Snow. He... he convinced me to brew another Sleeping Curse of my own with Rumple's equipment and put David under its effects voluntarily to relay a change of plans to Snow. I still had my doubts... but Henry's heart is one with more belief than I thought possible. He convinced me to remove the curse. That David would not fail and it would be Emma and her mother coming through. He begged me to lift the curse but you can't just remove magic like that. It was Rumple's power combined with every bit of fairy dust he had managed to swipe from that insipid blue moth. But Henry was so certain so..." Regina trailed off.

"What did you do, Regina?" Snow asked.

"Prepared myself for death for the second time in as many weeks. I absorbed the Death Curse into myself. It should have killed me. To this day I have no idea why it didn't" Regina admitted with a furrowed brow. "But I had no choice. Henry needed his family. He would never forgive me if the Curse killed Emma and Snow, so all I could do was hope he was right and give him the family he wanted. The family of heroes he deserved instead of a broken villain of a mother. And he was right, it was Snow and Emma that came through the well."

Storybrooke

The stunned silence that had settled into the Charming apartment spoke volumes. None of them had known what absorbing the curse on the well had meant, nor that Regina went to what she thought was her death without a second thought to make her son happy.

Emma silently vowed that if they ever did find a way to reach Regina, she would take a moment to thank her for all she did for the Kid. Then she might slap her upside the head for ever thinking her killing herself was what Henry would have wanted no matter the reason.

Neal gave a sad and proud smile. What Regina had done and been willing to do was what Rumple had failed to do for him. She was willing to give everything to see her child happy, no matter what. He would be very happy to know her when her finally met his sister.

As for Henry, he sat there crying silent tears, realizing he had asked his mother to go to her death without even knowing it, and she went there with a reassuring smile on her face for him.

Aurdon

"I know it wasn't long after their return that you come to Auradon, but there is one other incident to cover during the time they were missing that I wanted to cover for out viewers," Snow began with a tentative wince.

"Ah, yes. Victor's attempt to 'mend fences' with me once I had my magic back and he was afraid I would come looking for retribution over the mob he brought to my doorstep," Regina noted as she bit back a snarl at Frankenstein's name.

"Can you tell people what happened?" Snow prodded.

"Frankenstein decided the best way to placate me was to try to follow through on the promise he had made to me all those years ago. And so he managed to sneak into my mother's heart vault in the family mausoleum under the cover of night and steal what he believed to be the strongest heart there before using it in his horrible experiment to try to resurrect Daniel," Regina growled hatefully.

"And his efforts weren't what he expected, were they?" Snow continued.

Regina smiled nastily as she agreed, "No, they were not. Daniel, like the last person Frankenstein brought back came back... wrong. He literally ripped the fool's arm off and it was only by the grace of him conducting his foul little project in the hospital that Victor survived. Although the fairies did help with reattaching his arm after the fact with minimal fuss. But Daniel was... dangerous. I tried to stop him, to talk him down, but he ended up nearly hurting Henry when Henry encountered him in the town stables. David was going to destroy him but I begged for the chance to talk to him, to try to reach the man still in the monster. I asked David to lead Henry away and confronted Daniel. He... he started to choke me, but then it was like something broke and he recognized me. For a sweet moment he was my Daniel again."

Regina paused at the recollection as a tear fell unheeded from her eye. "But then he doubled over in terrible pain. He begged me to destroy him; to end his pain before he lost control of himself again and ended up hurting me or my son. I begged him to fight it, to stay with me, but he couldn't. So... I did what I had to and used my magic to completely destroy his body. I would never let Victor or anyone else profane his memory again. And as he died in my arms a second time, he smiled at me and made me promise to love again someday," she recounted as she fought to maintain some semblance of self-control.

Storybrooke

"Jesus," Emma whispered in sympathy for Regina. Just the idea of having to do something like that made Emma wonder how the former mayor wasn't a raving lunatic at this point?

"Oh Regina," Mary Margaret fretted in agreement, her heart all but bleeding for the pain her stepmother must have faced in that moment. And to know Regina likely felt she couldn't even find comfort in Henry. Well if Snow wasn't committed to getting her home before that certainly firmed her resolve. She needed to be there with her family whether Regina agreed with it or not.

"Rubes, I know he's a friend of yours and all, but remind me to punch Whale in the nose the next time I see him," Emma noted with a glare.

"I might just hold him in place for you," Ruby agreed with a disappointed shake of her head. All she could see in that moment was Peter in place of Daniel and it made Ruby's blood run cold at the thought.

Auradon

"Now that we have that bit of the story out of the way, what can you tell everyone about how you came here to Auradon?" Snow asked as she dried her own tears at Regina's tale.

Regina took another moment to compose herself, visibly seeming to seep into what Emma internally called her "Madam Mayor mode" before she replied, "Well it started literally right after we brought Snow and Ms Swan back to Storybrooke. After Snow revived Charming back at Rumple's shop, the Charming family decided to go to Granny's, the town diner, for a celebratory dinner and literally left me standing there on the street without a second thought. I was left on the outside looking in as Rumple tried to rile me with some insipid comment about how I risked myself to reunite a family and how if I was lucky maybe one day they would all invite me to dinner. I ignored the imp and was ready to head him and try to get on with my life when Jefferson found me. At first he looked ready to gloat, but when he saw me and why I was upset... he seemed to understand. We exchanged a few polite words before he offered me the chance to see something I could never have again in Storybrooke."

"And what was that?" She asked.

"He didn't say at first. He insisted on showing me and ushered me back to his workshop in his home. There he showed my me a new hat. One that apparently was meant to look in on Auradon. It seemed that since his daughter preferred to remain with her foster family until he was in a little more stable of a situation that for a time he had been checking other alternate realms for a place where they could be together. He had discovered Auradon quite by accident and while it didn't serve his purposes, he thought it could help me," Regina explained.

"And how did he think it could help you?" Snow asked.

Regina looked somewhat affronted as she replied, "Well bear in mind that the period we saw was just after Evie, Mal, Jay, and Carlos came here, back when your Maleficent was forcing them to comply with her half-witted scheme to get Fairy Godmother's wand and that all four of them were terribly depressed and conflicted as they had started making real friends here like King Ben, Doug, Lonnie, and Jane. They needed help at the time and were terribly vulnerable so Jefferson got it in his head that I could act as a mother for them, or at least for Evie, since Henry would never accept me again now that he had discovered his heroic roots. Honestly, the idea was offensive. It would be like your Queen of Hearts showing up and insisting she was my mother now instead of Cora. But in spite of myself I was intrigued. I kept the hat with me for a week and watched the realm in earnest, especially the... I believe the 'cool' term for the kids from the Isle now at Auradon Prep is 'VKs' as a shorthand for Villain Kids. Evie truly fascinated me as I knew I was permanently infertile thanks to the potion I had taken and I couldn't help but look for bits of Daniel in her features since her father here is unknown. But all I saw was a smart and determined young woman being torn apart by her mother's ridiculous plans and expectations, just like I had been. The same was true for Mal. Jay was just as run down. And the less said about how your Cruella treated Carlos, the better."

"So you were watching as Lady Mal and the other kids from the Isle chose good and banded together to fight Maleficent when she escaped during King Ben's coronation?" Snow inquired.

"Oh yes. And my Maleficent would have laughed herself hoarse at watching the kids bring that madwoman down. I don't think she would have had any better of an opinion of your Maleficent than I have of that... this is to say, than I have of Grimhilde. But yes, I watched all four of the kids make the right choice, the choice I failed to make when given the same chance over and over again at their age, and I cheered for them a little inside. But I also noted what I didn't see in Storybooke as well," Regina recalled.

"You never saw Henry?" Snow asked with a frown.

"Once or twice from a distance early in the week. But he never so much as looked at me. I didn't see or hear from anyone in town unless I made the effort to get my morning coffee from Granny's, actually. The whole town seemed content to ignore my very existence. And I realized something. Henry would be happy and cared for with his biological family. I could trust Ms Swan to watch him after knowing her for a year and seeing what type of woman she was. And I knew Snow would never let anything harm him either. And, more importantly, he didn't want or need me there as a shadow looming over his life. I was in the way of his happy ending and without my son, there was no happy ending to be found for me in Storybrooke. So I decided for once in my life to let the wrongs of the past go and try to move on. To be Regina instead of the Queen lording over those that betrayed her. To look for a place to start over where I could be happy too. And so I took Jefferson's offer and had him transport me here. Where I arrived with a rather undignified splash in a fountain on the Auradon Prep campus," Regina recounted.

"Yes, I recall it caused quite a stir as we thought you might have been Stepmama at first when the magical alarms and wards went off, and an even greater stir when we realized she was still on the Isle. Now, what can you tell the viewers about your early days here in Auradon?" Snow recalled.

"Well I appeared in front of Evie and Mal on their way between classes only to be whisked away to a heavily warded room that suppressed my magic and compelled me to tell the truth for a few days of interrogation. From there I was given temporary quarters as King Ben and the Royal Council tried to decide what to do with me. Eventually, it was decided, as I had committed no wrongs in Auradon and no intention of starting trouble, that I would make a good choice to look over certain... discrepancies about the supplies that had been sent to the Isle that were discovered when Mal and the other started opening up to their friends here about life on the Isle," Regina noted with a hard expression.

"Yes, it was certainly a shock to learn that not only were people on the Isle getting second had goods to make life easier, but somehow were getting spoiled food instead of fresh rations and at less the half the amount of what she have been given to them. Just the thought of the innocent children that had been born on the Isle living of of rotting garbage... well let me personally thank you for helping to discover the culprits," Snow agreed with an equally hard expression.

"Trust me, it was my pleasure. I can understand taking revenge against your direct enemies. But making the children there suffer? Never mind hapless sidekicks only imprisoned because they were too loyal to protest like Mr Smee. I mean the man had wanted Wendy Darling to be his mother when she was all of twelve. He's clearly got some kind of developmental disability and even the Lost Boys were afraid to try to hurt him because he was too nice and it would have been like hurting a child. I can respect his loyalty to Hook and refusal to leave his captain but you can not tell me he deserves to live in squalor. Every one of the various bands of thieves we found skimming from shipments and replacing the provisions with garbage deserved everything they got. They're lucky King Ben was merciful enough to not sent THEM to the Isle. I don't think a whole population of starving people living off of scraps for two decades would have been all that welcoming," Regina sneered with a wicked gleam in her eye.

"I would say not," Snow agreed. "And what went on after you had helped to track down the various issues with the provisions to the Isle?"

"Well, I had worked closely with Fairy Godmother and Queen Mother Belle, and they noted some of the administrative skills I had honed as mayor of Storybrooke for nearly three decades during the curse. In fact, being able to read a paper trail was how I found many of the thieves. And it as decided that since I have a unique perspective on former villains trying to adjust to a non-villainous life that I would make a good liaison and counselor for the kids from the Isle currently here, even if it's currently only six kids in total. Although that number is set to increase next term as the successes the original four kids have had integrating here has paved the way to ease the transition for other young people looking to leave the Isle of the Lost. After all, while their parents might be serving life sentences, they have committed no crimes and are still citizens of the realm. We're vetting the next group to come to Auradon Prep right now and working with other schools like Sherwood Academy, as well as smaller local schools, to start pilot programs of their own similar to AP's," Regina announced.

"That's wonderful news," Snow all but gushed. "Do you have any ideas as to who will be attending yet?"

"Not quite yet. We're in contact with Master Yen Sid as he still volunteers to teach science at Dragon Hall on the Isle and has a good idea of the personalities for some of the kids. And of course all of the original VK's have their suggestions, along with Freddie Facilier and CJ Hook. And we're not forcing anyone the leave the Isle that wants to remain, but we are working on it. And we have to exercise some caution as not everyone raised on the Isle is some mistreated innocent. We're not about to let people run roughshod over Auradon just because they were born on the Isle to start off," Regina assured her.

"It's good to know that so much attention to detail is being taken. And will you act as liaison for the new students coming next term as well?" Show asked.

"Yes. In addition, I've been hired on to teach economics and business administration at Auradon Prep for the next term. And I'll be offering seminars over the summer in town for kids that aren't attending the school that think the might benefit from them. I've found I have a penchant for teaching myself after helping to tutor Mal, Evie, and the boys while they were vetting me to gauge my intentions here in Auradon," Regina reported.

"And it's my understanding that you've filed the paperwork to formally take custody of Evie, Mal, Jay, and Carlos recently?" Snow prodded. This was something she had a personal interest in as she was looking forward to getting to know her stepsister in the form of Evie.

"That's right. After what happened with Maleficent and the... threats made by Grimhilde, it was decided to look over the homelife situation for all of the kids from the Isle attending Auradon Prep. Miss Facilier and Miss Hook had stable enough families despite their situations on the Isle, but Jafar, Cruella, and Grimhilde were found completely unfit. It was safer for me to sue for custody so they could not try to exert any influence over the kids in the future. All four of the original VKs agreed with the decision," Regina replied.

"And how are things going in that regard?" Snow asked.

"Mal seems to like me well enough, and Jay trusts me enough to ask for help with his homework. Carlos thinks its hilarious now to refer to me as 'Auntie' for some reason. And Evie... well she has taken to referring to me as 'Mom' on occasion," Regina admitted with a fond smile. "I could never replace Grimhilde, nor would I want to, but the fact she can see me in that way warms my heart. It tells me that maybe I can have a family, a life, here in Auradon."

"That is so sweet. I am so happy to hear things are going well for you," Snow gushed happily.

From there the interview continued a bit as more familiar matters were discussed like the burgeoning clothing design business Evie and Doug were starting at Auradon Prep as her designs grew more popular with the royal children in particular after they saw what she kept doing for Mal. Not to mention Mal's growing popularity in the kingdom and her talents as an artist. They discussed how Jay was excelling in athletics and becoming a respected leader among the boys of the school and Carlos' brilliant inventions and innovations what he was working on, many that could help improve the infrastructure of the Isle and make the lives of the citizens there a little better.

Storybrooke

Neal and Ruby were smiling in a similar manner to the Snow White in the TV as they were happy to see Regina was finding a real place for herself somewhere that wasn't judging her for her past.

Emma felt conflicted as she glanced between Henry and her mother, realizing that the looks on their faces meant they were going to try to get Regina back no matter what. And it seemed that Regina was happy. She wasn't conquering the world and raising hell somewhere. She was teaching kids math and raising a group of lost kids to make a kind of unconventional family for herself. Helping to give them the love she was denied as a kid when she had been all but sold off to Snow's father. Emma had real misgivings about even trying to mess with that.

David swallowed his misgivings as he saw a spark seem to ignite in his wife's eye. This was going to be trouble and he knew it. Regina was safe, contained, happy, and out of the way. It was literally everything they could hope for and he knew Snow would want to rip her away from it regardless of what Regina thought. And he knew he would support his wife because that was just what he did. But he really didn't think it was a good idea or like their chances of succeeding. If this whole realm was seeing this interview as a way to get them to better accept Regina they might be facing far more resistance than from the missing Queen herself.

As for Mary Margaret, she felt something blossoming in her chest that she had not felt in many years as she watched Regina smile while talking about these kids she had basically adopted. This wasn't the Evil Queen talking. Nor was the frightening and powerful mayor of Storybrooke that kept everyone but Henry at arms length. No, this was someone Snow never thought she would see again. This was Regina, the real Regina. The happy girl that Snow had loved and wanted as her mother, all grown up. And as she looked at her, an ugly part of her felt cheated that she was never the one to bring this woman back. But she would make certain to bring her home and make amends. They were a family and they would always be a family. It was what was best for Regina, after all.

Henry did his best not to scowl as his mom talked about those other kids. He could see now that she hadn't thought she had replaced him with them. That she thought he didn't want her around. But that wasn't true and now Henry could admit it. They would bring her home and she could have her happy ending here in Storybrooke with him and those villain kids could go on living their own lives with their own parents. His Mom needed to come back. They all needed her there.

Belle smiled as she listened to Regina talk about the children she had taken in. For all that she should have hated how Regina had tricked her and locked her away she really couldn't. Even if it was for selfish reasons it was Regina that had pushed Belle to confront her growing feelings for Rumple. To admit that he was her True Love. And, if things kept going as they were, in a weird way Regina herself might end up as her stepdaughter. Belle had no intention of stealing the "Evil Stepmother" title from the likes of Regina or Lady Tremaine.

As for Rumple, he felt deeply conflicted over the whole thing. It was clear that Regina was happy and making quite a little life for herself in this new realm. Part of him wanted no part in doing anything that would endanger that happiness. But another part of him loathed the idea of his daughter being separated from him. And the voices of the previous dark ones before him were all whispering and reminding him that Regina was his. Who were these other people to take away from the Dark One and keep him separated from his family? In his own way hadn't he already raised her himself to make her more than Cora ever wanted her to be?

And so the man and the beast within his soul continued to argue back and forth even as Rumple started planning for ways to reach this Auradon place as he was well aware Snow at least could never leave well enough alone. And Baelfire deserved to at least have the chance to speak to his sister now that they found her, didn't he?

"She's happy Rumple. You can take some kind of comfort in that, can't you? That she's found some peace?" Belle offered, as if she knew exactly what to say to try to counter the insidious war going on within his mind.

"That she is Belle. Not that I think Snow won't insist on reaching her. And she deserves to know about and meet her brother, it nothing else," Rumple agreed.

"And you'll get a chance to meet all those new grandchildren of yours she went and adopted on you," Belle noted with a smile.

Rumple seemed to pause as if he had not really considered the kids Regina had taken under her wing and what they would be to him before smiling ruefully as he agreed, "Indeed. And hopefully some of them are slightly less precocious than Henry can be when he gets going. Regina really did spoil the lad without meaning to." Then, with a wave of his hand his dismissed the spying window he had made of of his mirror with a flourish as she smiled sardonically at his dearest Belle.

The Charmings watched the interview continue for a few minutes longer until the magic Emma provided finally seemed to exhaust itself and the TV returned to static on them. There were various exclamations of disappointment that their window into Regina's new life was over.

"Oh, don't worry, Your Majesties, Sheriff Swan can provide more energy to the hat to look in on Auradon any time not that everything is set up. I would just avoid doing it more than once or twice a day since you're not really experienced in regulating the amount of magic you're using and you can't risk damaging the hat itself as its the only stable potential portal to the realm," Paige interjected eagerly. She had been glad to help Henry and his family check on the missing Queen, and she was happy to see what her Papa had done for Regina had worked out so well.

"Thanks kid," Emma replied with a grateful smile at the ever-polite and helpful daughter of the Mad Hatter.

And with that said Ruby stood up with a smile as she noted that they had been watching Regina's interview far longer (and informative) than any of them expected, "It's getting kind of late for kiddies on a school night and I need to help Granny open the diner tomorrow anyway. What do you say I drive you home, Paige?"

"That would be wonderful, Miss Ruby," Paige agreed with a grateful smile. "Bye, Henry, I'll see you in school tomorrow. Thank you for having my in your home, Ms Blanchard, Sheriff Swan," the little girl added with a smile as the family echoed her farewells.

"Are you good for tonight Snow, or do you want me to come back later?" Red asked as she knew he best and oldest friend would need time to process all that they had heard.

"I'll be fine, Ruby. I'll talk to you tomorrow," Snow assured her with a grateful smile.

"Sounds good. See all of you later," Ruby exclaimed as she ushered Paige out of the apartment. As the pair headed off you could distinctly hear a mischievous voice ask "So kid, have you ever ridden in a '74 Camaro before?"

With the departure of Ruby the rest of the group seemed ready to break up as Neal got ready to help back to his father's shop while Snow and Henry both wanted to go somewhere quieter to think about what they had discovered. As for Emma she decided she needed a beer as she brooded over what she was learning and how it changed her mental picture of everything that went on both with Regina and in Storybrooke in general.

But it wasn't just people in Storybrooke listening in on the interview of Regina Mills. All though Auradon and the Isle of the lost various people had been watching what would prove to be one of the highest rated television programs of the year in the first year of King Ben's reign...

Author's Note: Okay, finally got through the beast that was the interview. The next part will have reactions from the VK's, notable people in Auradon and some people from the Isle (yes this will include Uma and Ursula for those wondering.) As always I live for your feedback and look forward to your reviews and PM's. Please feel free to send any suggestions or questions you might have to me. It really helps me to flesh out the world in my head when I read your input.