Chapter Twenty-Five
In the days following the curse being broken, the residents of Storybrooke found their lives changing rapidly. Snow White and Prince Charming were finally reunited with their daughter, Emma and their grandson, Henry. Mr. Gold, who was now going by his more colorful moniker, Rumpelstiltskin, moved out of his home with Regina and moved into a large Queen Anne Revival-style mansion with Belle. Emma made the decision to have full custody of Henry, not allowing Rumpelstiltskin or Regina to see him, and Regina now lived all alone, in the same house that she once shared with her husband and son. You could say that Regina was the only resident of Storybrooke who didn't get anything good out of the curse being broken. On the contrary, her life was destroyed! Rumpelstiltskin left her and their marriage without batting an eye. He was overjoyed to be reunited with his true love, Belle. It was as if no time had passed at all for the couple. They were as in love as ever. Rumpelstiltskin did find that Regina crept into his thoughts for a moment here and there, but they disappeared just as quickly as they came. Rumpelstiltskin found himself now focused on one crucial matter, Emma Swan letting him see Henry. Rumpelstiltskin bided his time and let Emma cool down, but his patience was wearing thin. While Emma Swan did give birth to Henry, Regina and Rumpelstiltskin were his parents and Rumple didn't take kindly to being told that he couldn't have any contact with his son. After exactly a week, Rumpelstiltskin had reached his boiling point and decided to pay Emma a visit at the station.
"Hard at work as always I see, Miss Swan," Rumple said as he walked into the station.
"What can I do for you, Mr. Gold"? Emma asked
"Well for starters you can let me see my son" Rumpelstiltskin answered.
"Not happening. I'm not letting my kid anywhere near you or Regina" Emma replied defiantly.
"Is that so"? Rumpelstiltskin retorted
"Yes" Emma replied sternly.
"I do admire the fact that you've never been afraid of me, Miss Swan. But don't let Regina fool you, I'm the one with the power around here" Rumpelstiltskin responded self-assuredly.
"You're right. I'm not scared of you and I'm not letting my son live with an evil queen and a dark one. Whatever the hell that is" Emma affirmed.
"Maybe you're misunderstanding me, Miss Swan, I'm not asking you, I'm telling you. You will let Regina and I see our son"! Rumpelstiltskin demanded
"Not a chance. I'll take you two to court if I have to" Emma threatened.
"Oh, I'd really like to see you do that. Are you going to tell the judge that the evil queen and the dark one adopted your son"? Rumpelstiltskin asked smugly "It sounds like a one way ticket to a mental institution to me" He continued.
Emma stood there silently. While she didn't want to admit it, Rumple was right. Nobody would buy that Henry's adoptive parents were fairy tale characters. To anybody who didn't know any better, Rumpelstiltskin and Regina looked like two normal, upper-class people. If Emma thought about it logically, she actually would be the one who would come out of it looking bad. Henry was born in jail and given up for adoption.
"I'll take Henry and I'll leave Storybrooke" Emma warned Rumple.
"You'll never get past me, Dearie" Rumpelstiltskin gloated "The curse is broken. I no longer have to be nice to you. Don't make me show you just how dark I can be" Rumple threatened.
"He's my son" Emma blurted out.
"No. He's our son" Rumpelstiltskin corrected Emma "My estranged wife may have many faults, but being a bad mother isn't one of them" He pointed out.
"Estranged? You and Regina broke up"? Emma asked confusedly
Rumpelstiltskin had no choice but to fill Emma in on his ruined marriage. He kept it simple and said that Regina lied to him and that he decided to leave her. The point was that Regina loved Henry and Henry loved Regina. Rumple didn't want his family to be broken any more than what it already was.
"I just don't want Henry to get any more confused" Emma lamented.
"Let him see his parents. I'm sure if you were to ask Henry, he'd tell you that he misses us" Rumpelstiltskin replied sincerely.
"He does miss you" Emma admitted "I'll drop him off at Regina's after school tomorrow. You two can work something out from there. I just better not hear that you guys are fighting in front of him" She continued.
"Regina and I may have our differences, but the one thing we've always agreed on is Henry" Rumpelstiltskin assured Emma as he walked towards her to give her a hug.
"Thank you for looking out for my boy," Rumple said appreciatively.
"I will always look out for Henry" Emma replied.
Over at Regina's house, her life was in a total upheaval! Her husband left her and Emma was keeping Henry from her. After the initial shock and pain of Rumple leaving her died down, Regina found that she was mostly angry at him. In a flash, he had tossed her aside and acted as if she had meant nothing to him. Regina was by no means blameless and she was well aware of that, but in her heart, she felt that she deserved more than being instantly replaced by Belle. Of course, through her anger, Regina still missed Rumpelstiltskin. She missed his morning kisses, she missed the way he loved Henry and most of all she missed the way he loved her. The curse may have brought Rumpelstiltskin and Regina together, but love had kept their marriage going for the last twenty-eight years. Knowing that it was over, broke Regina's heart.
She was also desperately trying to recover her magic, the one thing that had always given her a sense of comfort and purpose. Something that once came so naturally to her was now feeling impossible. She started off simply, by trying to light a candle, but nothing was happening. Regina was growing increasingly frustrated and needed some assistance. Back in the Enchanted Forest, Rumpelstiltskin had been her teacher, but that was no longer an option. In the midst of her frustration, Regina remembered her mother's spell book. In that book, was anything and everything she would need to get her magic back. She scoured the house looking for it, but it wasn't there. She went to her secret vault and the book wasn't there either. The only other location that Regina could think of was Rumple's shop. That was the last place she wanted to go right now, but Regina saw no other alternative.
Regina pulled up to Rumple's shop and entered cautiously with a knot in her stomach. She was angered immediately when she saw Belle standing behind the counter!
"Well, if it isn't the happy home wrecker" Regina snapped.
"What do you want, Regina"? Belle asked
"I'm here to see my husband. He is still my husband, you know" Regina replied bitingly.
"He's not here right now" Belle answered.
Regina made her way behind the counter and began frantically looking for her mother's spell book. She tore everything apart trying to find it.
"Stop! What are you doing"? Belle shouted
"I'm looking for something that belongs to me" Regina replied.
"Nothing here belongs to you. Get out"! Belle demanded
"Listen little girl, just because you're living in sin with my husband does not give you the right to tell me what to do"! Regina fumed
"Rumple and I love each other. We would never have been apart if it weren't for you" Belle insisted "Thank heavens Jefferson let me out and put a stop to your sham of a marriage"!
"Oh, I have Jefferson to thank for this. Noted" Regina said shrewdly.
"Even without Jefferson, Rumple would have found me eventually. Our love is stronger than your evil" Belle replied defiantly.
"Oh please, you think you know Rumple but you don't. You could never understand him the way that I do" Regina barked.
"I love him. I see the good in him" Belle replied defensively as Regina finally found the book that she was looking for.
"That's all very sweet, but I love him for who he really is. I've known Rumple for a very long time and his dark heart always wins out in the end. I can accept that. Can you"? Regina asked Belle smugly, trying to plant a seed of doubt in her head.
"I refuse to believe that, Regina. There is kindness in Rumple" Belle argued.
"Enjoy it while it lasts" Regina smirked "Your novelty will wear off and Rumple will remember what we had. When it's all said and done, you'll wish I had killed you" Regina said contemptuously as she walked out of the shop with her book and slammed the door so hard that she broke the little bell that hung above it.
Regina drove straight home and studied the spell book for hours. She managed to finally get a candle to light, but she couldn't do much else. Still frustrated, Regina started crying. Feelings of loneliness and defeat were starting to sink in. Everything she held dear to her was gone and there was nothing that she could do about it.
Tired of sitting in her big empty house all alone, Regina decided to go to "The Rabbit Hole" and drink her troubles away. When she walked in, she was surprised to see Albert Spencer, who was known as King George back in the Enchanted Forest, sitting at the bar. King George was Prince Charming's father and shared Regina's distain for Snow White and Prince Charming. They made small talk all evening as they drank and even flirted a little. Regina had no interest in King George, but she enjoyed the attention so she humored him.
When the bar closed, George started making unwanted advances towards Regina in the parking lot. He sloppily kissed her and grabbed at her body. Regina pushed him away and tried to get into her car, but George just kept getting more aggressive.
"Come on Regina, you were married to a monster for the last twenty-eight years, you must be dying for a real man," George said drunkenly.
"The only monster around here is you. Get your filthy hands off of me"! Regina shouted angrily as she tried to get away.
George pushed Regina up against the side of "The Rabbit Hole" and began jamming his tongue down her throat and lifting up her dress. He yanked at her panties with one hand as he restrained Regina with the other hand. Regina was terrified, but she knew she couldn't give in to her fear. She conjured up every emotion she had inside of her, just like Rumpelstiltskin had taught her so long ago, and was finally able to use her magic! Regina let out a powerful force of energy that sent George clear across the parking lot and rendered him unconscious. She got into her car, locked her doors and started weeping. She felt pathetic, she felt violated and most of all she felt angry. The object of her anger at this particular moment was Jefferson. He set Belle free and destroyed Regina's marriage. Regina decided that Jefferson needed to pay for what he had done.
Regina drove to Jefferson's enormous mansion and once again used her magic to let herself in.
"Regina, what are you doing here"? Jefferson asked fearfully as Regina walked towards him with rage in her eyes.
"Oh, I think you know exactly why I'm here, my dear Jefferson. You destroyed my family, so now I have to destroy you" Regina sneered as she plunged her hand into Jefferson's chest and ripped his heart out, crushing it right in front of him and killing him.
Before she left, Regina turned Jefferson's corpse into another one of the many hats already in his home. There could be no murder without a body.
When Regina got back home, she took a hot shower and crawled into bed and sobbed. She had been fighting for love for so long and she was exhausted. Regina vowed that she was done with love. She just wanted Henry back. She just wanted peace.
That night, Regina removed her heart and put it under her pillow so that she could finally get some sleep.
Author's Note: Sorry for the delay in updating this story. I've had a difficult week plagued by health problems. I hope to stay on track from now on. Thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing. If you're looking for something to read in between updates, feel free to check out my other stories.