I apologize for the long wait; college graduation is fast approaching and that is where my focus has been. But here we are ladies and gents, the penultimate chapter before we head into the Missing Year. This chapter will more than likely be a fairly short chapter; we're mostly tying up some loose strings. Outlaw Queen Fans, I have to warn you now that from this point on there's gonna be angst for Robin and Regina; chapter 17 was the last OQ goodness for a while, so hold on to that!

Xx

Zelena stood in the middle of Regina's vault, a small scroll in her hand and a triumphant smile on her face.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Zelena tilts her head to the side as she pulls the scroll apart; revealing not just a curse, but the curse, the very curse Regina had used to bring everyone to Storybrook.

"Well Regina, looks you're not as smart as Rumple likes to believe you are; otherwise, you wouldn't have left something so powerful just carelessly lying around for me to find," Zelena laughed wickedly as she read over the curse.

"Hm. Looks I'll need to tweak this a little bit, seeing as I can't crush the heart of the thing I have most, and using Regina's heart would totally defeat the purpose of my needing to destroy her. But I'm sure I can substitute a few things to create something far worse than she did," Zelena carefully held the scroll in her hands and smiled wickedly.

"Oh, I'm going to enjoy tearing you to bits with this curse," With a flicker of her hands, Zelena disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

oOo

"Well, did you find anything?" Regina paced back and forth across her living room floor; the heroes had gathered at her house to try and figure out exactly what Zelena was up to.

"No, I'm sorry Regina, I can't find anything about Zelena in here," Belle looked up at her with sad eyes, wishing she knew more. She'd spent hours in Gold's shop trying to find something but had come up short.

"This is completely ridiculous! No one just…disappears into thin air," Regina ran a hand through her hair in frustration.

"Regina, we don't even know if it was Zelena," Snow attempted to soothe as Regina brushed her off.

"It had to be her; Emma said she felt magic! And I felt it when I went into my vault,"

"Robin, you're sure Zelena doesn't have any magic?" David turned to the only person who would know Zelena best.

Robin felt torn, he couldn't keep lying to Regina and everyone else; but he couldn't risk telling them anything, not knowing that Roland's life was tethered to Zelena and she could kill him with a snap of her fingers.

"No, I'm sorry; she's never, there's no way she has magic," Robin sighed as Emma stared at him intensely.

"He's lying," Emma's voice was firm as everyone turned to look at her.

"Emma if Robin says he she doesn't have magic then-"

"No, Regina I do this for a living; I can tell when someone is lying and Robin, he's definitely lying," Emma marched toward him, staring him hard in the face.

"Robin, if you know anything then-"

"Stop it just…stop! Robin would never lie to me, not about something like this. So if Robin says he's not lying then he's not lying," Regina moved to stand in front of him, her eyes boring into his.

"Robin, if you know anything about whether or not Zelena has anything planned then please, please tell us," She gently grabbed his hands, holding them in her own. His heart began to beat faster as he thought about Roland.

"Regina, I…"

"Robin, do you know something? Please, tell me what it is Zelena wants from us," Robin sighed heavily, closing his eyes as he rested his brow against Regina's. He glanced over at Roland, who'd been sitting with Snow White on the sofa. What Zelena had done to him was terrifying, but imagining a life without Roland in it was far worse. Yes, he felt things for Regina and his tattoo foretold of a prophesy that said they were destined to be together. Still, he could not lose his son; Roland was the only thing in his life that kept him going every day. He was also the last tie he had to Marian. Taking another glance at Roland, Robin made the most painful decision he could.

"Regina, I am so sorry, but I have to go," With that, he pulled away from her and quickly grabbed his son and left.

oOoOo

Regina stood still as Robin grabbed Roland and walked away. This was not happening; she had not been deceived by a man she'd given her heart to. There was just no way this was happening, sadly, Robin leaving was confirmation. Everyone was silent after Robin left, though it was Emma who moved toward her first.

"Regina-" She quickly recoiled away from Emma's touch.

"Regina…" Snow tried, but before the princess could make a move Regina disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

She needed answers, and there was only one person who could give them to her; the stupid fairy who put her in this predicament in the first place.

"Regina, what are you doing here?" Blue was in front of her, her eyes filled with fear and with contempt.

"Tinkerbell, where is she?"

"She's-"

"Right here; Regina, what's-" Regina didn't give the fairy time to react before she sent her flying across the room.

"Regina, stop!" Blue shouted, though Regina froze her in place with her magic.

"Wh-wha, what's wrong?" Tink was on the ground, slowly crawling towards a wall.

"You did this; you brought Robin into my life!" Tinkerbell could see the pain, the anger in her eyes and immediately knew something was wrong.

"What's going on? Is Robin okay?"

"Robin is working with Zelena; he's hiding something from me. You said he was my soulmate, you tried to make me go after him in that tavern, you told me to give him a chance in Neverland and now look at what's happened! There's a Wicked Witch who's out to kill me and Robin's working with her!" Tinkerbell shook her head slowly; no, there was no way, there was just no way.

"Regina, what did Robin say?" Tink's voice was gentle, trying to make sense of what was going on.

"He didn't say anything! Instead of telling me the truth, he picked up Roland and left! When we asked him if he knew what Zelena had planned, he ran away! You brought him here; you couldn't leave well enough alone! You had to go and ruin my life twice!"

"Regina, him running away could mean anything!" Tinkerbell stood up, though she braced herself against the wall for purchase; she was still a bit weak from being thrown across the room.

"Or, it could mean he's working with her and they've been planning this the entire time!"

"You don't know what they're planning or if he's even part of it. Maybe she tricked him? Maybe she threatened him, did you think about that? Regina, I've seen how he looks at you and-"

"Bullshit! Robin lied! He lied and he's working with Zelena. You said that I could be happy, you said that this was true love but it isn't!" Regina towered over the young fairy who understood just how ruthless the queen could be, but Tink was strong; she could take whatever Regina threw at her.

"I know what this is; you're scared that this might not work out between you and Robin. You don't know why he ran off and you didn't ask why. Instead, you came here to try and blame me for this,"

"Because it's your fault! If you hadn't brought Robin to me in the first place-"

"Robin may not have come into your life when I thought he was supposed to, but him coming back into your life after all these years has to mean something! If you go back, if you run away from Robin again it will only bring you destruction!" Tink called out as Regina turned and walked away.

"Think about Henry!" It was the one thing she could do to make her stop.

"Think about this Regina; think about how hard you've worked, think about what this will do to Henry. Regina, please don't do something you're going to regret later," Tink's eyes were pleading, but she couldn't get through to her.

"When I find him, he's dead," With that, Regina disappeared once again in a cloud of smoke.

oOoOo

Robin had to move quickly; there had to be a way out of this bloody town, a way to keep his son safe.

"Papa, why'd we leave?" Roland stood in the middle of their room at Granny's looking completely confused.

"We're going home m'boy, back to the Enchanted Forest," Robin said as he gathered the few meager items he and Roland had.

"But why papa? I like it here with Regina and Henry!" Robin looked at his son; he seemed to be okay after Zelena tried to drown him but, he couldn't risk anything else happening to him.

"I enjoy being here too, but remember what I told you about Zelena?" Roland nodded seriously.

"Well, Zelena is about to do something bad; so we have to leave," Robin hoisted Roland onto his hip before heading for the door.

"But papa, we can't just leave Henry and Regina behind," Robin stood in the doorway and sighed heavily.

Roland was right; he had feelings for Regina and he didn't want anything to happen to her or Henry. Still, though, he had to think about Roland. He would never forgive himself if something happened to his boy. He also thought about Marian; Roland was the only connection left to her. He knew that Marian would want him to protect Roland at all costs, even if it meant hurting Regina.

"We'll come back for them, I promise," Robin lied; however just as he placed his hand on the door, Zelena opened it.

"Going somewhere?" Zelena chuckled, though her eyes were trained on Roland.

"Please, I didn't say anything to her, I promise,"

"No, you didn't; but I can't let you leave without seeing what's in store for her," With a wave of her hand, Roland disappeared from his arms, practically into thin air.

"Where is he!? What did you do to him?!"

"Relax, he's fine," Zelena said, waving her hand dismissively.

"He's fine!? He's bloody disappeared!?"

"And he'll be returned to you as soon as everything is over," Robin frowned at Zelena's words.

"After what's over? What do you have planned?"

"I'm going to destroy the Evil Queen once and for all," Zelena smirked triumphantly.

oOoOo

"Regina, I'm sorry," Snow White's voice was sympathetic as the two stood inside of Regina's house. She had returned shortly after her talk with Tinkerbell proved to be unsuccessful.

"I trusted him and he just…" Regina did her best not to cry as she ran a hand through her hair.

"We'll find them, Regina; we'll find them both," Emma's hand is gentle on her shoulder as she speaks.

The rest of Emma's promise was lost when there was a loud banging on the front door, which David quickly answered.

"We'll find him, Regina; and when we do, I won't stop you from ripping his heart out," Emma tried to keep the mood light but immediately regretted it.

"Shit, I didn't mean to-"

"No, Emma, it's fine; I've learned that villains really don't get happy endings," Regina murmured just as David walked back into the living area, Grumpy and a few of the fairies trailing behind him.

"David, what's going on?" Snow White's brow rose in confusion.

"It's Zelena…" David sighed.

"What's going on?" Regina straightened her spine, ready for a fight.

"She wants you to meet her in the middle of Main Street in ten minutes,"

"And if I don't?"

"She's said she's gonna start killing people, starting with your boy toy," Grumpy informed her.

"She can have Robin," Regina said as Snow turned to face her step mother.

"Regina, you don't mean that…"

"He lied to me! He knew exactly who she was and he…whatever happens between Zelena and I, if Robin ends up a casualty, then so be it," Regina rolled her shoulders before popping her neck as she headed for the door.

"Make sure Henry stays safe," With that, she disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

oOoOo

There was already a small crowd starting to gather in the middle of Main Street as Zelena waited for Regina to show up. She knew that she'd eventually show; there was no way that Zelena could harass citizens of Storybrooke and hold Robin hostage and Regina not step in to save them. Still, it was getting late and Zelena was growing impatient.

"You'd think that your beloved queen would've shown by now," Zelena looked around at the crowd, which seemed to be growing as the minutes passed.

"If she doesn't show in the next few minutes then-"

"Then what?" The crowd slowly parted down the middle as Regina and the heroes made their way towards her.

"Regina, how nice of you to join us!" Zelena's hands clapped with glee at the sight of the other woman.

"Regina, we don't even know what she wants," Snow whispered.

"I know what she wants and what she's doing; I have a plan to stop her," Regina said quietly.

"Care to let the rest of us know what that plan is?" David murmured, though Regina ignored him, walking directly towards Zelena.

"Well, aren't you going to ask what it is I'm doing here?" Zelena stood with a hand on her hip, not failing to notice the pain in Regina's eyes when she glanced at Robin.

"Fine, what do you want Zelena?" Regina sighed

"Well first off, I failed to mention that Robin isn't really my brother!"

"I'm painfully aware of that," Regina said, her eyes focused only on Zelena.

"Aww, I'm sorry; I know how much Robbie-"

"Robin doesn't mean anything to me," Regina quickly replied.

"Regina, I'm sorry," Robin said, hoping that he could say something, anything to get through to her.

"I don't think she wants to hear that; she's far too upset that you brought me here," Zelena said glancing back at him.

"We both know that I didn't willingly bring you here!" Robin shouted.

"Really? Then pray tell how did I know where to find Regina and how important she was to you?" Zelena's eyes held a warning; if Robin said the wrong thing that Roland's life would end.

"Yes Robin, exactly how did Zelena find me?" Regina tilted her head to the side, willing to go along with their little charade but still wanting to know just how involved Robin was in all of this.

"Regina, I really am sorry, but I can't tell you that," Regina rolled her eyes in disgust at Robin before turning her attention back to Zelena.

"What are you doing here, and what the hell do you want with me? We've never met until now," Regina's hands were on her hips; her patience growing thin, and fast.

"You're right; we've never met until now but that doesn't mean I don't know who you are. After all, we were both fortunate enough to share the same teacher," Zelena started a slow pace as she began circling Regina.

"Rumple taught you?"

"Why, of course he did; did you think you were the only one darling?" Zelena laughed before she continued,

"So that's what this was about? You're jealous that Rumple trained me to cast his curse?" Regina laughed as Zelena glowered at her.

"If you think that's what this is about then you're sadly mistaken,"

"Alright then, humor me; exactly what the hell is this all about?"

"It is about Rumple but not completely; as far as him training me goes, he didn't train me for long. He said I didn't have what it took to cast his curse, even though he admitted that I was much stronger, much more powerful than you ever would be. You see, I was born with magic so it all came natural to me. He taught me just enough to get by but you, you he taught and molded you into the pathetic little waste you are today. I mean, look at you Regina; you created a town that was nothing more than a fancy form of running away. You didn't ruin their lives, you made them better; you gave them inside toilets and water that didn't come from a well. The Dark Curse was supposed to be the curse of all curses and what did you use it for? You used it because you were too weak to rip out Snow White's heart when you had the chance, and for what? Because she tattled on you and cost you some stupid little stable-" Zelena's words were cut as she became suspended in mid-air thanks to Regina's magical chokehold.

"You may think you know me greenie, but you have no idea what I'm capable of. You've only heard stories about the Evil Queen, but you've never seen her up close," Slowly, Regina lowered Zelena to the ground; a smirk of satisfaction moving across her face as she watched Zelena rub at her neck, doing all she could to suck in the proper amount of air.

"Now, I'm going to ask you again; what the hell do you want from me?" Zelena stood up, straightening her clothes out a bit.

"That was cute, but I can do better than that…but I won't, there's no need. Soon, you'll all be dead,"

"And exactly how do you plan on doing that?"

"Simple; you asked me what I wanted from you, and what I want is to destroy you. In order to do it, I'm going to use this," With that, Zelena opened her hand and in it appeared a small scroll.

"Do you know what this is Regina?" The queen immediately swore under her breath; she knew exactly what it was Zelena held in her hand.

"How did you…my vault is sealed with blood magic! There's no way in hell you should've been able to break into my vault and stole that!"

"I told you, I'm a much better witch than you," Zelena smirked.

"Regina, what is that?" Emma asked.

"Regina?" Snow prompted

"Since you won't tell them, I will: this scroll has the ability to undo Regina's first curse. That's right; she's had the power to send you all home for the last 28 years. And since I'm a far smarter witch than she is, I figured out a way to tweak it a bit, at least, enough to work to my advantage. You see, all I have to do is-" Zelena began as the scroll disappeared from her hand.

"What the-"

"Looking for this?" Emma swan teased, holding the scroll in her hand as Zelena began to see red.

"You give that back to me right now!" Zelena shouted as Emma shook her head.

"Sorry, I don't think so; Regina, catch," Emma said as she tossed the scroll to Regina, who caught it with ease. Though once she had the scroll in her hand it felt too easy; too…anti climactic.

"Ooh, that was clever, but not quite clever enough," Zelena said as she disappeared into a cloud of green smoke.

"Something's wrong; this was too easy," Regina murmured.

"She wanted us to have the scroll, but why? What does she have planned?" Emma asked as Regina held the scroll for a few moments before collapsing onto the ground.

oOoOo

Zelena stood in the middle of the forest at the wishing well completely furious. Her curse was almost complete; all she needed was the scroll and that stupid savior had taken it away from her. She watched as green smoke poured from the well, slowly seeping to the ground, engulfing everything it touched. Several feet away tied up to a nearby tree, Robin tried desperately to get away.

"What the bloody hell was that about?" Robin shouted.

"Oh hush up you!" Zelena leaned forward, her eyes looking into the old wishing well.

"That was perhaps the dumbest thing you've ever done," Zelena looked up at the sound of Rumplestiltskin's voice.

"Don't worry, I'll figure something out; I'll get that scroll back," Zelena said, not bothering to look at him.

"You have no idea what that scroll can do," Rumple shook his head slowly before using his magic to free Robin.

"I knew enough to tweak the curse to use it to my advantage, didn't I?" Zelena jutted out her chin in defiance; she would not allow Rumplestiltskin to belittle her, not when she was so close to winning.

"You may have been able to tweak it to make the curse work for you here, but there's one thing that Regina knows about curses that you don't,"

"And what's that?"

"That all curses can be broken," Rumple said Zelena scoffed.

"I knew that too,"

"Ah but what you don't know is how to break this curse; you see, there's a reason I chose Regina to cast my curse and not you…you were so revenge laden that you missed important lessons,"

"Such as?" Zelena drawled.

"That no matter how you tweak this curse, no matter how much you change it, there's only one way to break it," Rumple made his way closer to Zelena, so close that their faces nearly touched.

"I told you when I realized who you were that I wanted no parts of what you had planned for Regina; now that she's got that scroll and is willing to break the curse, you've pulled me and my family into your mess and now, you're gonna have to pay for that," Rumple said nothing else before disappearing into a cloud of dark red smoke. Zelena knew that pissing off Rumple wasn't smart, but maybe he needed to be punished also? Whatever way this curse was broken was obviously bad if it had Rumple seeking her out to threaten her. Zelena stood straighter before turning her attention to Robin.

"Well, it looks like plans have changed; you might wanna hold on to the little brat for as long as you can," Zelena said before causing Roland to materialize out of thin air and into Robin's arms.

"What the bloody hell have you done?" Robin asked as he held his son close.

"I don't know, but whatever the breaking of that curse is, I'm glad Regina has that scroll. Now, she's about to ruin her ownself and Rumplestiltskin," Zelena laughed before disappearing into a cloud of smoke.

"Papa, what's happening?" Roland asked as a dark cloud appeared over Storybrooke.

"I don't know m'boy…"

oOoOo

By the time Regina opened her eyes again, she was surrounded by several people who instantly had questions.

"Regina, are you alright?" Snow asked as David helped her to her feet.

"I'm fine; where's Henry?" Regina desperately looked around for her son who immediately rushed into her arms as she held him close.

"Regina, what happened, you fainted and then…"

"Regina saw exactly what the scroll wanted her to see," Rumple said as he casually strolled towards everyone.

"What's happening?" Neal asked his father, who looked remorseful.

"When I gave Regina that curse, it came with a price, a deadly one," Rumple said.

"What's the price, Regina? All magic comes with a price; so what's our price?" Emma asked.

"It's not our price, it's mine," Regina said with a sigh.

"What are you talking about?" Emma's face was slightly scrunched in confusion.

"It's what I felt when I first held it; I have to say goodbye to the thing I love most," Regina said as a realization washed over Emma.

"Henry?"

"I can never see him again; I have no choice, I have to undo what I started,"

"The curse that brought us to Storybrooke," Snow suddenly understood.

"That created Storybrooke; it doesn't belong here, and neither do any of us."

"Breaking the curse destroys the town," Charming said as he too realized what was about to happen.

"It will rip out of existence as though it were never here, and everyone will go back to where they're from, prevented from ever returning," Regina said as she hung her head, doing her best not to cry.

"Then, we'll go back to the Enchanted Forest," Emma said slowly.

"All of us, except Henry; he will stay here because, he was born here,"

"Alone?" Emma had pulled Henry close; he couldn't be left alone, they'd only just found each other.

"No, you'll take him, because you're the savior; you were created to break the curse, and once again you can escape it," Regina said, the irony of everything that had happened in the last 28 plus years washing over her.

"I don't want to; we'll both go back with everyone,"

"That's not an option; I can't be with him. If I don't pay the price none of this will work. And there's no telling what Zelena has cooked up with this thing,"

"Emma you have to go!" Snow said tearfully; she hated this, saying goodbye to the daughter she just found after so long, but Regina was right. There was no telling what Zelena had in store for them if Regina didn't pay the price.

"I just found you," Emma whispered, still holding on to Henry.

"And now it's time for you to leave us again; for you best chance, for his," Snow told her.

"No, no I'm, not done, I'm the savior, right? I'm supposed to bring back all the happy endings, that's what Henry always says," Emma was confused, and hurt, and downright scared. How could she be forced to leave behind the home she'd been searching for, the family she'd wanted her entire life?

"Happy endings aren't always what we think they will be. Look around you, you've touched the lives of everyone here," Snow explained as Emma looked around at everyone, though her eyes focusing on both Hook and Neal.

"But we're family," Emma muttered, doing her best not to cry.

"Yes, and we always will be, you gave us that,"

"You and Henry can be a family and you can get your wish; you can be like everyone else, you can be happy," Charming said; he too hated leaving his daughter behind after just reconnecting with her but he understood what this meant. He understood that Emma had survived 28 years without them, and she came back to them. He just had to have faith that she could do it again.

"It's time for you to believe in yourself Emma; it's time for you to find hope," Snow said with a smile.

"I've known you for some time; and all I've wanted was for you to get the hell out of my life so I could be with my son. But really what I want, is for Henry to be happy, we have no choice; you have to go," Emma stood looking at Regina, this woman she'd for so long saw as a monster, but now as she looked at her, she saw a friend, a mentor, an ally of sorts, but most importantly, she saw a woman willing to do anything for her son.

In that moment, Regina was a mother; so, with a heavy heart, Emma nodded and whispered,

"Okay,"

oOoOo

Word quickly spread of what Regina was going to do; some were happy with this news and some were not. Many wondered just what fate awaited them back in the Enchanted Forest. Still, though, everyone stood at the town line just after midnight, prepared to say their final goodbyes to the town and to the life they'd come to love so much. While everyone was uncertain of Zelena's fate, they were sure that she couldn't escape the fate of the curse, and that she too would be returned to wherever it was that she came from. The heroes, along with Regina and Rumple, had decided that once everyone was back in the Enchanted Forest, they would deal with Zelena then. Now, though, all they wanted was to say goodbye to Henry.

"Neal, I'm sorry," She wanted to say goodbye to him first; she at least owed him that much after dragging him here.

"Don't be; you gotta get our boy the hell outta here," Neal said as coolly as possible, though he was desperately hurting inside,

"But you have to go back there," Neal said nothing as he pulled Emma in for a long embrace.

"Hey, this isn't over, I'll see both of you again," He said before quietly saying his own goodbyes to Henry.

"That's quite the vessel you captain there, Swan; there's not a day that won't go by that I won't think of you," Hook did his best to keep his voice from shaking; he'd started to fall very fast and very hard in love with Emma Swan. She was the first lass to ever get this close to him since Milah. She was a fiery one, yes, and he was sad that she had to be taken away from him so soon.

"Good," Emma whispered before Regina quietly pulled her to the side.

"Emma, there's something I haven't told you,"

"What now?" Emma was emotionally drained, having to say goodbye to her parents, to the people in this town who had become like her friends, and to the two men that were vying for her heart.

"When the curse washes over us, it will send us all back; nothing will be left behind. Including your memories, it's just what the curse does. Storybrooke will no longer exist, it won't ever have existed. So these last years, will be gone from both your memories, and we'll just go back to being stories again," Regina hated springing this on her at the last minute but, she knew this was what had to be done.

"What will happen to us?" Emma wondered.

"I don't know,"

"That doesn't sound much like a happy ending,"

"It's not, but I can give you one,"

"You can preserve our memories?" Emma looked hopeful for a moment.

"No, but I can do what I do what I did to everyone else in this town, and give you new ones,"

"You cursed them and they were miserable," Emma said growing annoyed; this really sucked.

"They didn't have to be. My gift to you, is good memories, a good life for you, and Henry. You'll have never given him up; you'll have always been together," Regina said tearfully.

"You'd do that?" Emma said in awe; Regina continued to amaze and intrigue her.

"When I stop this curse, and you cross that town line, you'll have the life you always wanted,"

"But it won't be real," Emma said sadly

"Your past won't, but your future will; now go, there isn't much time and the curse will be here any minute," Regina said as she pulled Henry close, giving him one final kiss just as Snow and Charming came forward to say their final goodbyes to Emma.

Everyone stood solemnly as they watched Emma's yellow bug cross the town line. With shaky hands, Regina tore the incantation of the curse from the scroll, balling it up, reciting old forgotten Elvish as the curse evaporated into a purple magic that radiated from her hands. She tearfully lifted her hands into the air, just as the last of the curse surrounded everyone at the town line, carrying them all back to a land and fate they were unsure of.

Part II to follow…

Aaanddd…we're off to the Missing Year, which, I happen to think you all are going to enjoy VERY much! Again, I'm sorry it took me so long; the first chapter of the Missing Year has already been started, so it shouldn't take me too long to finish and upload it. I'm excited to see where this story goes!

Happy Reading!

Xx