Sorry guys! My life pretty much just fell apart these last few weeks lol! One thing after another after another after another and it doesn't look like it's going to settle down any time soon. But I will try and do better at the frequency of these updates! :) enjoy! I hope to get the next chapter finished by the weekend ;) please leave a review!


She hadn't been down there in a long time. She hadn't really needed to. The last time she had pushed aside her father's coffin was when she had taken Emma down there to fix her up with a diamond to keep her magic at bay. She was down there now for an entirely different reason.

It wasn't exactly a matter of finding it. She knew precisely where it was. It was a matter of simply retrieving it. She took a deep breath as she rounded the corner and flexed her fingers anxiously at her sides while she walked down the dark corridor that held her mother's belongings. She wasn't sure her mother was even aware that all her things were down in her vault. Not that it really mattered all that much.

With a thick swallow and unsteady hands she pulled out the small wooden box and with some convincing she took a peek inside. Just a little glance to be sure that the glowing organ was where it should be before she hugged the box to her chest and turned her back to the wall so she could slowly sink to the floor and close her eyes.

One step at a time.

...

She was doing the crossword in the paper when the vase of flowers moved. Silently a couple inches to the left. She furrowed her brow at it and moved it back to the centre of the table with a flick of her pen before she looked back down at her crossword. She didn't want to go to her office today, she didn't want Greg to bring it upon himself to visit her again. Not until she had figured him out anyway.

The vase moved again.

Regina looked up from the folded newspaper and stared at the vase with a scowl. Then she moved it back and stared at it for a little while longer before slowly looking back down to her crossword. David was at work and Henry was with Cora. She wasn't thrilled about it but it really wasn't hurting anyone. He had invited her to come along but the idea of spending any time with her mother didn't thrill her when the woman's heart was sitting in a box upstairs.

When she looked up to check on the vase she was startled to find it had moved toward her and was now only perhaps a foot from her rather than three. She stared at it again in irritation and confusion and pushed it back in to its place with a slow tilt of her pen. She watched it again, waiting for it to move and when it didn't she looked back to her crossword. She filled in two more words before the vase moved again and the movement was followed by a long sigh and then a mischievous smirk when she figured it out and carelessly flicked her fingers behind her. The spell was followed by a snicker of laughter that turned in to a fit of laughter and when she turned around she found Emma floating in the air as if there was no gravity where she was.

"Regina," she laughed and tried grabbing for anything to keep her from floating away, "shit," she laughed when she knocked a photograph over in the process of trying to grab at the edge of a cabinet that was waist height but now her feet were now floating above her head and her fingertips were trying to get a grip on the corner of the wooden furnish. But it was quickly out of reach and she was grasping at air as Regina walked up to her with a full smirk, her dark eyes sparkling with delight and good humour.

"Really," Emma laughed as she hit the ceiling and stayed up there like a discarded balloon at a birthday party. When Regina's laughter reached her ears it was warm and low like the purr of a cat and it had Emma laughing a little more as she hung limply in zero gravity, "can you put me down now?"

Regina cocked her head as she looked up at her and then shrugged her shoulders before flicking her fingers and folding her arms. Emma fell instantly with a yelp but she stopped herself from hitting the ground with mere inches to spare, "good instincts," Regina complimented with a smile and Emma let out a long huff of air with a nervous laugh and cautiously put her hands on the floor so she could push herself up on to her feet again.

She wasn't going to lie. She liked Regina's method of teaching. She found it satisfying and it quickly built her confidence up. She didn't like being told what to do, she preferred to do things on her own because that is how she had grown up. She was stubborn as hell when it came to accepting instructions from others and Regina seemed to understand that quite well. Perhaps it was because she was exactly the same. Because, really, queens are not accustomed to being told what to do.

It was much more rewarding anyway to figure it out on her own, "so what's on the lesson plan today, your majesty?" She chuckled As she swept her hands over her clothes to rid herself of nonexistent dirt.

"Summoning," she smiled and Emma's face twisted in confusion.

"What like demons and stuff?"

"No," she breathed out a laugh and shook her head. She almost hated that she was enjoying the blonde's company.

"Oh no wait you mean like poofing stuff to your hands!" She corrected and Regina started to nod, "like this bowl," she smirked and Regina paused mid nod and her eyes flicked to the bowl from her kitchen cabinet, "or this spoon," she offered as she spun a spoon between her finger and thumb, "or this box of Cheerios?" She shrugged and poured them in her bowl with a grin and then sent it back to the cupboard with her magic, "and the milk?" She smirked and looked back at Regina to see her lift her chin a little with a pleased smirk.

Then she sent the milk back to the fridge and took a spoonful and brought it to her mouth, "that kind of summoning?" She grinned and put the spoon in her mouth and as she chewed, Regina laughed quietly through closed smiling lips.

"I didn't pick you for a teacher's pet."

"I'm not. I'm just kind of lazy and have always wanted the super power of making things appear in front of me when I want them," she shrugged one shoulder with her grin before taking another bite of cereal, "figured this one out on my own."

Regina gave a short hum in acceptance with her smile and walked past the blonde and Emma turned on her heels and followed her with a quiet laugh, "I suppose I should provide you with more of a challenge then."

"Cool."

"One that will require you to remove your safety net."

"...the necklace? Are you sure I'm ready? I mean..."

"You'll be just fine," she stated plainly and stood in front of her wall of books and searched for the one she needed.

A little more nervous now, Emma took one more bite of cereal before placing the bowl on the table and folding her arms over her chest, "so what is the next game you've got for me?"

"A challenging trick I am most certain you will have fun with," she smiled and trailed her finger along the spines of her books. "Ah," she smiled and hooked a finger in the top of the book and slid it out, "here you are. Give it a good read, take off the necklace and practice things you are already comfortable with performing and then give it a try. Doing research on the skeletal and muscular structure of the animal you choose to transform in to will only help."

Emma took the book with a giddy smile and a cock of her head. In gold scrawl on the brown leather cover read 'Transfiguration' and as she flipped quickly through the pages she couldn't help but laugh a little and nod toward Regina, "how many animal skeletal and muscular structures have you memorized?"

"You insult my intelligence," Regina smirked and Emma laughed quietly, "I can change in to whatever form I please."

"Show me your favourite."

"My favourite what?"

"Your favourite animal to change in to," Emma laughed and motioned toward her and Regina folded her arms over her chest and smirked and then looked at the space around her as if she was checking to see if she had enough room. Then there was a veil of purple smoke that gathered at her feet and rose up and when it disappeared it revealed a big black mare with a thick mane and tail and a forelock that fell over one of her eyes. Dark eyes that were that same rich brown they were when she was in her normal form.

Emma let out a laugh and took a step back to take in the sight of the horse that took Regina's place, "okay that's fucking awesome."

-2 days later-

"You figure him out yet?"

"No. But I do think I've come up with a way to at least keep him at bay."

"Oh? Do tell."

"Well he is not susceptible to magic but there is nothing suggesting that magic is susceptible to him," she tilted her head a little in to the phone she held against her ear while her free hand slowly spun her mother's perfectly red heart on the table in front of her.

"And what has your brilliant mind come up with for a plan?"

Regina couldn't help but smile at the tone of his voice. She could practically see his smile through the phone with that voice, "nothing complete yet."

"But it's coming?"

"It's coming," she smiled and then frowned at the heart.

"Good. Alright. We still good for lunch?"

"Yes. You coming home soon?"

"Getting in the truck as we speak."

She smiled and gave a quiet hum at the sound of the truck door opening in the background and him climbing inside it, "I'll see you soon."

"Absolutely."

"Good. I love you," she added and then smiled at the soft breath of laughter on the other end. The kind of laugh that is not of amusement but of happiness.

"I love you too."

"Bye."

"Bye, Regina."

She hung up with a smile but as soon as she placed the phone on the table she was frowning again. She was angry first and foremost. Lots of it. And then there was heartache. The kind of heartache that reaches your throat and makes you want to scream and cry. And then there was sorrow. That deep, deep sorrow that twists your gut and makes your hands shake. There was fear as well but it was being buried deeper and deeper by everything else.

The 'what if's were being overrun by the 'why's and 'how could she's.

And her heart was red.

She was standing up from the table to go put it back in its box upstairs when Cora walked in the door. She looked down at the heart cradled in her tense fingers and shook her head at it. She had to stop torturing herself.

"Hello darling," Cora smiled as she walked up in to the foyer and Regina kept her back turned and her head down. "What project are you working on?" She asked curiously and placed a gentle hand on the small of her back as she stepped up behind her and looked over her shoulder. Needless to say she was confused by the heart in her daughter's hands. From what she understood, Regina had quickly and happily given up that practice, "whose heart is that?"

Regina stared bitterly down at the heart and as Cora's hand slid higher to the base of her neck and she gave a concerned call of her name, Regina's fingers dug in to the heart without warning. Cora let out a small shout of pain as she stumbled backward with a hand clutching her chest and a cruel smile slipped on to Regina's lips, satisfaction. But then she remembered that she wasn't her, that she didn't want to be the evil queen, and her smile dropped and her jaw crossed as her fingers relaxed and a tear rolled down her cheek.

Cora's eyes were wide as she panted and tried to find her breath, her hand still over her chest as she stared at Regina's back. "Where," she panted and Regina slowly turned around to face her, "where did you get that?"

"I have had it for a very long time," she answered quietly and kept her eyes down on the glowing organ.

She was not worried for her life but she was unsure of what Regina was planning to do with her heart, "Regina-"

"Why did you do it?"

"I couldn't let love hinder my judgement."

"Well I didn't realize I was such a burden to you," she shot back quietly but with an incredibly harsh undertone as her eyes snapped up to Cora's.

Cora shook her head and a silent tear rolled down Regina's cheek, "I took my heart out long before I had you."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"You were not the reason I pulled my heart out, Regina."

"I was also never the reason you put it back in," she tilted her head and pushed it forward a little, a smile that was all pain lifting the corners of her mouth.

"Regina I-"

"You know what really gets me?" She smiled and lifted the heart in one hand so it was the same height as her jaw. When Cora's eyes glanced at it Regina pointed a finger at it and looked at it herself, "there is only a small spot of darkness," she touched it lightly and gave her head a single small shake, "with all that you've done, with all the lives you have taken, with all the souls you have ruined, with all the selfishness, and with all that blind hunger for power, your heart is nearly as pure as Snow White's," she finished bitterly, her jaw tight and her voice growing shaky as her tears really started to fall. At least she had the decency to stay silent rather than give excuses.

"Have you ever seen my heart, mother?" She snarled and started stepping closer to her, "it is as black as they come. Swirling with every cruelty I have ever performed, every decision, every life taken, every heart ripped from its chest, every soul tortured, every dark spell cast, all of it and more painting my heart black. While yours has escaped tarnish," she cocked her head and Cora held her ground but did so with sorrow in her eyes that only broke Regina further.

"Your heart is good," she forced out of her thick throat and Cora winced but whether it was because of her words or her tightening grip around her heart or even a combination of both, she couldn't say. She stepped closer even still until they were almost touching one another and while Cora kept her eyes down, Regina ducked her head ever so slightly to try and catch them, "despite everything you have done, despite every life you've harmed or ended, your heart is good. And that," she shook her head a little with the saddest of pained smiles and Cora finally looked up and met her eye, "that is not fair," the last word came out shaky and she hated that. She also hated the tear that rolled down her cheek.

Cora opened her mouth to speak but before she could say a word Regina thrusted her right arm forward and pushed her heart back where it belonged. Cora fell against her with a sharp and sudden cry of both pain and surprise and Regina held her up with a hand on her shoulder. Her jaw was crossed and her eyes were focused ahead on nothing in particular as her tears rolled freely down her cheeks and a growing panic filled her chest and made it hard to breathe.

Sharply she pulled her hand from Cora's chest and then paused for a moment before she ran away. Cora fell forward and stumbled to catch her balance, a hand over her heart as she fought for breath. But that was all Regina saw before her stilettos were clicking against the floor with her leave as her tears seemed to fall faster.

Tears filled her eyes the very moment her heart was put back and she was choking on the air she tried to bring in to her lungs while silent hacking sobs tried to tear her apart. Everything came flooding back at once and she was overwhelmed with guilt and regret. So much regret. "Regina," she managed to push out quietly, calling her back so she could look at her, so she could hold her. But the front door was opened and she kept running, "Regina!" She called louder and then placed a hand over her mouth as she cried and tried to cope with all of the emotions hitting her at once.

Regina ignored her and found that with each step she took her pace quickened. She was practically jogging once she made it out to her front path and David was walking up toward the house and therefore her. She didn't look at him, she pushed right past him and didn't give him the chance to catch her arm in his grip.

"Regina?" He frowned when he saw the tears on her face and the distress she expressed as she all but ran from the house. "Regina," he tried to stop her but she pushed him aside and hurried off to her car and was quickly driving away. Confused and concerned, David continued up to the house even if only to close the front door and follow after her in his truck. He didn't though. He walked carefully in to the home when he laid eyes on a particularly hysterical Cora on the floor with her legs curled beside her and one hand bracing her weight and the other covering her mouth.

"Cora?" He called cautiously as he stepped up to her and then crouched next to her. When her eyes opened he was caught off guard by their different appearance. He couldn't say what was different but there was definitely something that had changed. When she started laughing through her continuous tears he furrowed his brow and frowned a little in confusion. Confusion that grew leaps and bounds when she stood up and reached forward with both hands to hold his face.

"Look at you," she laughed and then laughed some more as her tears fell down her cheeks and her eyes studied his face for what seemed like the first time. He stood there in confusion, his brow creased and his eyes wild with questions as she stayed so close and held him there, "look at you!" She laughed again and rose on her toes so she could kiss his cheek before she pulled him down and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and laughed and cried in to his neck.

David stood there awkwardly and bent forward at the waist just a little with his hands partially out at his sides and she remained clung to him. "Um...you alright?" He asked awkwardly and hesitantly placed his hands on her sides.

Cora laughed and nodded against his neck, "I am more than alright," she squeezed him tighter with another tearful laugh and when she pulled away she looked at him with a bright smile which he stared at as though it was the most bizarre thing in the world. She supposed it sort of was. "You good man. You good strong man," she laughed and patted his chest with every adjective used. And then she felt a strong wave of sorrow and tipped forward and pushed her forehead in to his chest between her hands and cried.

Absolutely unsure of what to do, David moved an awkward hand over her back to try and calm the uncharacteristically emotionally unstable woman.

...

"Can you please stop staring at me like that. It's freaking me out."

"I'm sorry," Cora whispered and shook her head as she dropped her eyes to her tea with a smile. The mug was warm in her hands and it made her feel good. It was a simple sensation that she hadn't really taken much notice to. Not until now anyway. Now that her heart was back in her chest. Why? Why did she take it out? What possessed her to believe that was a good idea.

"Cora."

"Hmm?"

"Stop staring at me."

"I'm sorry I...I just," she shook her head and laughed quietly but quickly there were more tears in her eyes and her throat was starting to grow tight with the desire to cry again, "thank you."

David cocked his head as he leaned forward, his brow knitted together, "for what?"

"For everything," she shook her head with a teary laugh and shrugged her shoulders up and let them drop, "for putting me in my place, for helping me with Regina, for helping Regina, for loving-" her voice gave out and she lifted a hand to cover her mouth and forced down a small cry as she looked at him, slightly hating that she was such a mess. Not that he seemed to care about it. He was a good and patient man. The likes of which she had never really seen before him, "for loving my daughter when no one else would," she pushed out and gave him the best smile she could manage as her tears rolled down her cheeks.

David cocked his head a little the other way and slid his hands over the table and took hers and he frowned a little when she squeezed his hands tight with a shaky breath. "You are a very good man, David. Good and honest and kind and humble and strong and gentle and loving. I am so...relieved that you were stubborn enough to stay in Regina's heart," she nodded and more tears rolled down her cheeks as her dark eyes flicked back and forth between David's confused and kind eyes.

David moved his thumb along Cora's knuckles and smiled just a little, barely enough to be called a smile really as he shook his head a little, "as honoured as I am to hear such words from you; may I ask what is it exactly that has you so overwhelmed?"

Cora laughed quietly with a bright smile that showed all of her teeth for she was overjoyed to be able to say it, "I have-" but she was cut off when the front door opened and her eyes instantly found Henry walking in from school. "A grandson," she whispered and felt her heart fill with warmth and she looked to David who was no less confused than before, "I have a grandson," she laughed quietly and stood from her chair to quickly go greet Henry.

"Hey David?" Henry called as he walked up the stairs in to the foyer, his eyes examining a piece of paper given as a newsletter regarding the remaining school events of the year, "where's mom? I have something to-whoa!" He huffed when he was pulled in to a tight hug. It certainly wasn't David's arms wrapped around him and they weren't his mother's either. They were entirely unfamiliar actually but her scent was familiar, "umm...what are you doing?"

Cora laughed in to his hair as she held him close and as she let to she lowered herself down so she sat on her heels and balanced on her toes and her hands held his face and her fingertips traced his features. "Look at you," she grinned and laughed quietly and Henry frowned at her in confusion, "you clever boy. My grandson," she laughed and Henry looked up over her shoulder but she kept looking at him, love and protectiveness securing itself in a special place in her heart.

When David caught Henry's eye he simply shrugged in confusion to match the boy's as he stood behind Cora who still fussed over Henry. He hadn't the slightest clue what had gotten in to her.

...

"Where did I put the blasted thing?" Archie huffed under his breath as he pushed through the paper on his desk. At a small whine he paused and turned his head to find Pongo with his leash held in his mouth, "ah," he chuckled and reached forward to he could take it from him, "good boy," he smiled and rubbed the top of the dalmatian's head in congratulations. He didn't get the chance to clip the leash on though for just as Pongo whipped his head to the door, a particularly hysterical queen came barging in through it.

"Regina?" He called worriedly as he hurried toward her and she ran a hand through her hair while the other rested on her hip. Her dark eyes were wide and panicked and her breaths were ragged and harsh and upon closer inspection her hands were shaking. "Regina what happened?"

"I did it."

"Did what?"

"I gave her heart back," she breathed out quickly and pushed both her hands over her face and in to her hair, "I feel like I'm going to be sick."

"Alright just sit," he took her tense arms in her hands and gently urged her on to the couch, "down. I'll go get you some water."

"I'm afraid I'll only spill it everywhere with my hands in this state," she tried to laugh, tried to lighten the mood but it only seemed to make her more frantic.

"Well I'm sure I can find a straw in this place somewhere," he joked back and she gave another laugh and while it was a little more sincere it was also unsteady and sharp in her panic. He returned with a glass of cool water and dropped a black straw in to it and she took it with a quiet 'thank you'.

"Why did you come here? If you don't mind me asking."

"Who else do I have to go to, cricket?" She answered quietly as she focused on not shaking the water from the glass, the name holding more affection than insult.

Archie smiled, happy and honoured and even proud, "you are safe here."

"I know," she whispered and gave a rather timid smile up at him before looking back down at her water.

His chest filled with a sense of pride at those two little words. He had her trust. All of it. And he knew that that was not something he should ever take for granted. So with a smile he sat down on the coffee table in front of her and held his hands in his lap.

"Stop smiling at me like that, you damn fool."

Archie chuckled quietly at the defensive strike. She didn't like to be vulnerable, she didn't like to be known, she didn't like to put her trust in people, but he had snuck in and she was trying to keep him from feeling like he had achieved such a thing. But her tone was much too light for her words to be considered a threat or an insult or demand, "we can talk when you're ready."

"I don't know what her love will feel like. I have never known it. I am afraid."

...

David stood from his seat at the dining room table when he saw his lovely Regina silently enter their home. He gave her a gentle smile but she didn't return it as she pushed a hand through her hair and slowly walked toward him, "hey," he whispered when she stopped in front of him.

"Hey," she breathed out and pressed her lips together in half a smile as her hand dropped back to her side.

"Rough day?" He spoke softly and her eyes fell to the floor as she folded her arms in front of her for some comfort.

"I just had to get out of the house and away from..."

"Your mother," he nodded and she nodded in reply.

"I had to clear my head, I was just," she shook her head and hugged herself a little tighter as she tried to find her voice.

"Overwhelmed," he offered as he stepped closer and rubbed his hands up and down her arms beneath her shoulders, "angry. Hurt. Scared."

"...I had to go..."

David smiled while she kept her eyes down and he leaned forward and whispered, "and how is Archie these days?" He smiled and softly kissed her forehead before her dark eyes snapped up to his with a little irritation in them.

"Well aren't you just earning all you merit badges," she snapped a little more harshly than she intended but she didn't back down. He had crossed a line and her privacy felt intruded upon. She hadn't told a soul about her spontaneous sessions with Archie.

She tried to push past him and twist herself free from his hands but he tightened his grip and allowed for no such thing, "hey hey," he stopped her gently and she let out an irritable sigh from her nose, "I'm not keeping tabs on you, I've just noticed your absences and the moods you've been in when you've returned. It's not like you find many people worthy of your company in this town, let alone hours of your time," he spoke quietly and lifted a hand to cup the side of her face.

He smiled when she tilted her head in to his touch and he moved his thumb along her cheekbone, "I love you. I am not offended you went to him to talk. A neutral party is always helpful to see things clearly in this chaos. And I promise not to bring up Archie again unless you wish to talk of him," he promised softly and she nodded once in agreement, her eyes still down. He smiled a little more and dropped his head and kissed her. A strong and slow kiss that gave her reassurance and lent her courage. She kissed him back with just as much force, her hands letting go of herself to take tight fistfuls of his shirt over his stomach as his hands held her head.

She wanted nothing more than to stay in the security of his touch. But she didn't fight him when he softly broke their kiss and looked down at her with all the love in the world. Kind blue eyes just within her focus as his warm thumbs moved slowly over her cheekbones. Her eyes fell shut when he leaned forward and rested his forehead against hers and she heard him hum softly when she affectionately bumped her nose against his.

"She is kind, Regina," he whispered and felt her face crease beneath his as she pushed her head a little harder in to his, "she is happy. She loves me. She adores Henry. She misses you. She cannot wait to know what it feels like to love you," he whispered and frowned at the tear that met his thumb.