"Okay, let's try something more complicated." The Queen thought for a second. "Astronomy".

"A-s-t-r-o-n-o-m-y" Rachel spelled.

"That's great!" her mother praised her.

"I think you can finish already." Gold, standing behind his wife and gently massaging her shoulders, leaned towards her and kissed her on the temple. "Let her have breakfast in peace."

The children, already dressed in their school uniforms, were sitting at the table opposite their parents. The older ones were eating waffles.

"Don't you remember that she has a contest today?" Regina turned to her husband.

"I remember." He kissed her again, this time on the nose. "And Rachel has been preparing for it for a month now so the extra ten minutes won't change anything. Let me warm your waffles up, they have gone cold already." He took his daughter's plate and went to the microwave.

"How about "electricity"?" The Queen winked at the girl.

"E-l-e-c-t-r-i-c-i-t-y" she spelled.

"Regina, chill out." Gold smiled softly, turning to his wife. "She knows everything. Enough."

"Okay." She raised her hands in a conciliatory manner. "Enough is enough. How many classes do you have today?" She turned to her son.

"Five." he answered after thinking for a moment. "And then we'll go to Joe's, we have a rehearsal."

"Really?" the Queen asked raising an eyebrow. "And have you already asked permission from me or from dad?"

"Mom, stop it." Gideon grimaced. "Will you give it a rest? Even dad is not mad at me for that time".

"Well, dad never gets angry at any of you and allows you everything." His mother grinned. "If it wasn't for me, there would have been a complete mess over here."

"That sounded a little offensive." Gold sat down at the table next to his wife and put Rachel's plate in front of her. "But in general, your mother is right." He turned to his son. "If you are going somewhere after school, it would be nice to ask us. At least warn us in advance."

"So I'm warning you in advance." the teenager sighed. "Right this morning."

"It's advisable to have done this before mom asked, not after." His father smiled at him.

"I would have told you on the way to school." Gideon assured him.

"Good." Gold nodded. "What plans do you have?" He glanced at Charlotte.

"None." His daughter shrugged. "After the test in algebra, I won't be in the mood for anything, that's obvious."

"You know, this can be changed." The Queen smiled. "If you get more engaged in the subject, then tests won't be such a terrible event".

"I would do that if I were interested in algebra." Charlotte grimaced. "But this is most boring thing in the world. And I have no time in general. I need to prepare for the chemistry Olympiad".

"Well, you won't always have to prepare for the chemistry Olympiad." Gold remarked.

"Yes." the girl agreed. "But there are also biology contests. They are very interesting as well. And math still remain dull, from class to class. And I still don't understand how all this can be useful in life".

"Okay, we'll discuss this later." Her father sighed. "Now there is no time." He glanced at his watch. "You all have to go to school. Get ready, I'll take you."

"Can I drive?" Gideon asked pleadingly.

"You can." Gold agreed. "But only to the end of our street."

"Deal!" The young man picked up the backpack lying around under his feet and quickly walked into the hallway to put on his shoes.

"Haven't you forgotten something?" His father asked with a grin.

"Yes, exactly!" Having only one shoe already on, he hopped on one leg into the kitchen and kissed the Queen. "Bye, mommy! Have a nice day. I promise I won't be late".

"You will be back at exactly eight." she said in a mock sternly voice.

"And not a second later." Her son assured her, heading back to the hallway.

"That's not the only thing you forgot." Charlotte muttered, picking up plates from the table.

"Leave it, I got it." Regina got up from the table and, hugging her daughter slightly, kissed her on the top of her head. "Good luck on the test!"

"Luck is my only hope." She grinned, kissing her mother on the cheek.

"Mom, are you not coming with us?" Gold smiled at his wife. "You, like, were planning to go to the gym in the morning."

"No." The Queen shook her head. "Regina wrote that she wants to visit us this morning. She has something urgent to tell me and she says this isn't a conversation we can have from the phone".

"Where had she been, by the way?" Her husband asked. "What kind of urgent business trip can the Senator have?"

"I think we will find out soon." Regina shrugged. "Wait." She caught Rachel by the shoulder. "Your hairpin is unfastened." She straightened the girl's hair. "Bye, honey."

After seeing her husband and children off, she returned to the kitchen and set to work on the dishes. When she was almost done, the doorbell rang.

"Hi." Regina looked tired and a bit disheveled. "Where is Gold?"

"He took the children to school." The homeowner looked at her sister in surprise. "What is the matter with you?"

"Well, that's even better." The Senator threw off her shoes and headed for the living room. "It would probably be better for us to talk in private first."

"Sounds intriguing." The Queen followed after her.

"I don't even know where to start." She walked along the mantelpiece, rearranging several trinkets, and then poured herself some whiskey.

"Maybe start with where you have been?" Her sister suggested.

"I've been to Storybrooke." Regina gulped down the glass and returned it to the mantelpiece.

"Very interesting." The Queen tensed. "And?"

"Zelena needs help." she breathed out.

"What?!" the hostess of the house broke out. "And are you seriously planning to ask Gold for it?"

"Wait, listen to me." her sister put up her hands in a conciliatory manner. "It's not about her. Robin is missing, her daughter. It turned out that she had been interested in magic for several years and she was able to open our vault recently – since she is our niece, blood magic let her in - and began to visit it often. Zelena doesn't know what spell she tried to cast, but one day she simply disappeared, in front of her mother, when she tried once again to take her back home. The whole Storybrooke has been looking for the girl for a week, all to no avail. So Zelena called me. But I couldn't find her either."

"Well," the Queen smiled venomously, "now our sister can roughly understand and feel what my husband felt when she killed his only child that time. That's nice."

"But the girl isn't to blame." Regina shook her head. "We need to find her."

"Not with our forces." her sister said firmly. "None of us: neither I, nor even Gold, will help Zelena. How did you even come up with this idea after all that she did?"

"But listen." the senator continued uncertainly. "She didn't kill Baelfire. Yes, she showed him and Belle the path to the Dark One's vault. But she couldn't have been sure which of them would open it and…"

"Oh sure!" Regina interrupted her. "Poor naive Zelena couldn't have even thought that our little Belle would get away and Bae would open the vault instead. And then she took the dagger purely by accident and… I don't even want to think about everything else".

"Okay." her sister agreed. "Perhaps she knew that. But from her point of view, she really was doing everything for the good of both herself and Rumple. She wanted to turn back time; she was confident in her success and did everything possible to make this possible. She was sure that he was mistaken, not choosing her, and wanted to prove that she was the only one that could really fix everything, that she is the best. Bae's death was only a temporary means to an end for her, a way to have Gold change his mind and make him believe in her plan, a small step on the path to great success. In her mind, she did everything right".

"In her mind, she absolutely did everything right." The Queen remarked just as venomously. "Obtaining complete submission from Rumple, inflicting pain on him daily, spending her whole life taking revenge on him for the fact that he didn't choose her once upon a time. I'm sure she enjoyed it a lot."

"But she wanted to fix everything." Regina repeated helplessly. "And, admit it, if it hadn't been Zelena, Rumple wouldn't have come back to life then. There would be neither him, nor your family, nor your girls. Zelena brought him back".

"Oh please!" Her sister grimaced. "If Zelena's plan were a success, then there would be no one at all. You and I wouldn't exist. And now you rush to help her, on the first beckoning. What's wrong with you?"

"What about your favorite theory, that everything always happens as it should?" Regina retorted. "According to that, Zelena is simply part of a greater plan, an instrument of fate, who willy-nilly gave you your family."

For a while, both of them were silent.

"In any case, Robin isn't to blame for anything." Regina repeated. "And I didn't want to come to you; I tried to retrieve her myself. But she is nowhere to be found and it isn't known what she did. Judging by the ingredients that disappeared from the vault a dozen different spells could have been cast and none of them suit the situation, none of them explain what happened to her. I have come to a dead end. I need help, I need Gold. Maybe he'll be able to find the girl."

"But did you seriously expect to get my support before asking him for it?" The Queen asked irritably. "Well then you went crazy, no worse than our sister. Do not even think to talk about it with Gold."

"Talk about what?" The owner of the house peered into the living room.

"Nothing." his wife answered with all the same irritation. "Regina is already leaving."

"Well, darling, it's too late to hide something from me." Gold smiled. "I'm already interested."

"Regina has just returned from Storybrooke." the Queen said more calmly. "And she came here to ask for help for our other sister, Zelena."

"Well, you know, I'm probably not interested after all." He glanced at the relative. "Whatever happened to your dear sister, it's not a bother of mine, sorry."

"Robin's gone." The Senator looked hopefully at Gold. "We need to find her."

"Do you think we need to?" He grinned. "How old is she now? Seventeen years old? Surely she was tired of living under the same roof with a psychopath."

"She didn't run away." Regina shook her head. "She disappeared. She opened our vault, screwed up something with a spell and simply disappeared into thin air."

"And what makes you think that she didn't run away from her mother this way? Zelena still has no magic, right?" Gold asked.

"Right." The Senator confirmed. "That's why she called me. I tried all the searching spells but none of them gave a result. I used my mirror, Cora's globe — all for nothing."

"Well, that's a pity." Her conversationalist shrugged. "But I can't help you, sorry. You and Zelena should look for someone else."

"Please, Rumple, the girl can't be blamed her mother is Zelena." Regina lowered her head. "She's Robin's daughter. I should have kept an eye on her all this time but I was too busy. And now she's gone. Because of me, do you understand? If I had locked the vault better, if I had ever thought of her ... Robin gave his life for me. And I didn't even think about taking care of his daughter."

"Regina." The Queen gently touched her sister's shoulder and she immediately hugged her, with her nose buried in her neck.

"I need to find her." The woman said through tears. "I know I shouldn't have come to you but no one else can help me."

"Regina, it's not your fault." Gold stroked her back. "The girl has a mother who was supposed to keep an eye on her. Come here, sit down." He sat Regina on the sofa and sat next to her, continuing to stroke her shoulders a little. "You're right: the girl has nothing to do with it." Both were silent for a while. "She wouldn't have been able to cast a spell of such power that even you weren't able to find her." he continued, when Regina calmed down a little. "Someone took the girl. However, the list of those who could do this is not so great."

"What do you mean?" The Senator finally looked at the conversationalist.

"How many creatures do you know who live outside the realms that we can see?", he asked.

"Fiona?" The Queen crouched next to him.

"I hope not." He hugged his wife, leaning her against him. "In this case, we won't be able to bring Robin back. However, it can hardly be her. She specializes in younger children".

"Gothel?" his sister-in-law asked doubtfully.

"Gothel." Gold nodded. "Or someone like her. Perhaps I can come up with a couple of interesting characters hiding between the realms. And what about our fairies? Did Blue try to look for the girl?"

"Please." Regina sighed. "There is as much benefit from Blue, as milk from a goat. She had been looking for her for a whole week, until Zelena finally called me. However as you can see, there hasn't been more benefit from me."

"Well, at least you haven't wasted another week." the conversationalist comforted her. "Neither spells nor will a globe help here. We don't need to look for Robin but for the one who took her. So wipe away the tears and let's go. Show me what is missing from the vault. Maybe we can understand who she summoned with her inept attempts to cast spells."

"No." the Queen took her husband's hand. "Regina will stay here with the children and I'll go with you. We haven't heard from Zelena in sixteen years and now she appears in our lives again. I don't want you to go through this alone. Plus, we don't know who or what you will encounter there. And I'm not going to sit at home and go crazy all the time about you both being in Storybrooke. I don't want to offend you", she looked at her sister, "but we all know I am stronger than Regina."

"Stop it." Gold smiled, stroking his wife's hair. "You understand yourself that compared to me; all these twilight creatures are quite harmless. Of course they pose a serious danger to a teenage girl, but not at all to the Dark One. I'll take Regina with me only so she can open your vault and show me what missing from it. Tomorrow evening we will be back."

"Fine." the Queen nodded. "I can show you and tell you everything."

"Okay, there's no time to debate." Gold sighed. "Get dressed."

"Are you sure you're ready to meet her again?" The Queen turned to her husband when they crossed the city line.

"No." Gold shook his head. "Not sure at all. But maybe I won't have to. We don't really need her in order to search for Robin."

"You can still refuse." his wife remarked.

"You know that I can't." he objected. "If even Regina failed, then this girl has no hope. Let's start with the vault." He turned off from the main road towards the town's cemetery.

Ten minutes later they were walking along the wet grass after the rain to a stone building towering in the distance.

"Well, I certainly wasn't ready for this." Gold grinned nervously, nodding at the red-haired woman sitting on the steps near the massive doors. "Meeting Zelena in the first half hour I'm in Storybrooke - this is some special luck."

"We can start at the pawn shop." Regina suggested. "Let's see what else we can use from the searching tools."

"To hell with it. Let's go." He quickly walked towards the vault.

The Queen hurried after him.

"Waiting for the rain to end, dearie?" The magician called out to the woman, sitting with her forehead buried in her knees.

"Rumple?" Zelena raised her head and immediately after this jumped to her feet. "You are here!" She rushed to Gold and impulsively hugged him. "Thank God you're here!"

"I see your daughter's disappearance greatly shook your already not very strong mind." He removed her from him with hostility. "Let's have an agreement right away, dearie: if you touch me again, I will leave at that moment. I am only here because Regina asked me to and because I feel sorry for the child who was unlucky to be born from a mother like you. All this has nothing to do with you. Don't think that something has changed between us over these sixteen years."

"Thank you, Regina." She turned to the Queen. "You..." Zelena stopped short. "It's not you." she said uncertainly.

"Definitely not her." she grinned. "But this isn't important for you right now. Come on! Since you are here, you will show and tell us how it all happened." She flung open the stone doors with a wave of her hand.

All three went down to the vault

"She disappeared right here." Zelena stood beside a large potion pot still filled with muddy liquid. "But the spell she was reading ... It was some kind of nonsense from the Internet, not a spell at all. Something about the forces of nature and the elements. I laughed when I heard this stupid rhyme and ordered her to return home. And at that very moment she disappeared, simply vanished into thin air." The witch started to cry, sitting down on a low bench near the potion pot.

"It's bad to be clueless." Gold looked at the shelves with the flasks. "Any stupid rhyme in the right hands can gain unprecedented power. Write down what she said." He snapped his fingers and a note pad appeared in Zelena's hands. "Regina, what was there?" He jabbed a finger at the empty space on the shelf between the two flasks.

"Something trifle, like lemon balm or sage." The Queen shrugged.

"Like lemon balm or sage." her husband repeated thoughtfully.

"Some kind of nonsense." she said after a pause, still looking around the shelves. "Nothing special was lost. Separately, all this can be added to dozens of potions, just like Regina said, but all together make no sense".

"Give me a flask." Gold held out his hand without looking, looking at the contents of the potion pot.

The Queen put an empty bottle in his palm and he scooped up some liquid.

"Indeed." He shook the flask a couple of times, looking at it in the light. "Some nonsense. Okay, we'll see." He plugged the flask with a stopper and put it in his pocket. "Have you written it down?" He turned to Zelena.

She silently nodded and handed him the notebook.

"Or maybe not." Gold read the text and then showed it to his wife. "Sage or lemon balm, you say?" He smiled at her. "For you and me, that's a meaningless mixture." He nodded toward the potion pot. "For her, that's a meaningless rhyme." He pointed to Zelena. "But for someone who has lagged behind life for a long time, all this makes sense."

"Laerta?" Regina asked uncertainly.

"Now you see why Regina has always been the best?" The magician grinned, casting a quick look at the red-haired witch.

"But this is also nonsense." the Queen said, still uncertainly. "She's been dead for about a hundred years."

"In fact, much longer than that." her husband assured her. "But the problem is, she's not completely dead. Being one of those ancient witches who dominated the elements, she was stuck between realms. In that gloomy place that neither a globe nor a mirror will ever show. Robin didn't find this poem on the Internet. Someone gave it to her just like the potion recipe in order to summon Laerta and let her take the girl. Apparently, Robin has some kind of innate features that make it possible for her…"

"...to take Laerta's place." Regina breathed.

"Exactly so." Gold confirmed. "What irony, right?" He smiled at Zelena. "Fortunately, the ritual is quite long. At least its preparatory stage. It takes more than one week. So probably we can still get the girl back. I'm in the shop." He quickly kissed his wife and disappeared into the clouds of bluish smoke.

"What are you talking about?" Zelena looked helplessly at her sister. "Who is this Laerta?"

"The same force of nature that Robin summoned." The Queen sat next to her. "She is one of the oldest witches, which explains her old-fashioned ways. Back in those days when she learned how to conjure, witches used simple means: chalk circles, salt, sage panicles, apples ... However, apples remained popular for a long time." She cheekily added as a second thought. "And simple-looking rhymes. With which, in fact, the most powerful hermetic magic was concluded. Just as the darkness enclosed in a dagger never disappears, the power of the elements does not disappear either. And the witch that once curbed it, can return, just as the Dark One can return. But in this case not just any person is suitable. They need someone who has a natural gift. The same as the witch does. Apparently, Robin has it. And now, being stuck between the realms, together with Laerta, she'll gladly develop it and improve it."

"And when she fully takes possession of it..." the witch stopped short.

"She will take Laerta's place." Regina confirmed. "And the witch will return to our world."

"No!" Zelena recoiled from her. "No no no. It will not happen. Listen, we have this stupid rhyme, we know what we need for the potion. We will summon her ourselves and make her return my daughter!"

"We won't summon her." the Queen shook her head. "Even if one of us had that special gift, she already has Robin. So you have to rely on Gold. He is familiar with Laerta and he will surely have his own methods of interacting with her."

"Regina..." The woman fell silent, swallowing tears.

"Don't be afraid, he will return Robin." After a little pause, she hugged her sister by the shoulders.

"Thank you!" Zelena clung to her. "I didn't have the slightest hope that Rumple would come after all... Regina... I'm so sorry..."

"Tell him that." The Queen hesitantly stroked her back.

"It's too late." Her sister shook her head.

"Well, try it regardless." Regina shrugged. "Go home for now. It makes no sense sitting here."

"No, please." Zelena begged. "I can't just sit at home and wait! I need to know what is going on. Please take me with you to the shop. Won't you go there too?"

"Gold is unlikely to be glad seeing you." the Queen replied calmly. "As soon as Robin is with us, I will send her to you."

Regina snapped her fingers and Zelena disappeared into the air. She spent some time securely locking the vault herself, so no one but her and her other half could open it anymore. After that she vanished as well into puffs of smoke.

Materializing in Gold's shop, she heard the quiet voices coming from the back room. One belonged to her husband. The second, a female one, was a stranger to her. Quietly going to the curtain that separated the main hall from the back room, she carefully glanced inside. Above the large potion cauldron over which smoke spread in the air, hung the face of an elderly woman.

"...You know me, Laerta." Gold was telling her. "You know that I can get to anyone, anywhere. You've picked the wrong girl."

"But this is the only suitable girl in general." The witch cooed playfully, whimsically. "She has a gift. And besides that, her mother returned from the death, passing through a time portal, which ensures her unique properties. Where else can I find one like that?"

"You're out of luck." her conversationalist sighed. "She's perfect in everything except one thing: she's my niece. So you have to return her".

"Seriously? Since when did you become relatives with a green witch?" the woman asked mockingly.

"This doesn't concern you, dearie." the magician muttered through his teeth. "The only thing that matters to you is that this girl will become your undoing if you don't give her to me."

"And how will this happen?" She said no less mockingly. "I'm already dead in some way. What can you do to me from over there?"

"It won't necessarily be me." Gold shrugged. "Do you remember Fiona? You know, the Black Fairy, who created the dusk in which you live? How fast do you think she can get to you?"

"Wow." Laerta laughed. "The great dark magician will complain to his mom about me."

"I hope it won't come to that." her conversationalist said calmly. "None of us will enjoy talking to Fiona. But I, unlike you, have something to offer her. I can bring her back in exchange for a small favor. You know, kind of sending you into oblivion".

"You're lying." the woman said uncertainly.

"Would you like to check?" Gold said with a smile.

She thought for a moment.

"To hell with you." the witch spat out at last.

The whole room was obscured by black smoke. Regina pulled away from the curtain, coughing and covering her nose with a scarf, squatted down and pressed her back against the wall. When the smoke cleared, she rose to her feet again and looked into the back room. Near the cauldron, opposite Gold, there was a fair-haired girl who looked around in amazement.

"Robin?" The magician stepped towards her.

"Who are you?" She looked around. "And where am I?"

"You're home, dear." Gold smiled. "Everything's fine."

"No, wait." She stepped back a few steps from him. "I ... I don't want to go home! I should be having lessons now. Laerta took me as a student, she teaches me magic. I need to get back to her. This is my calling, my life!"

"Believe me, that isn't so." he held out his hand to her. "Come, I will take you to your mother and then we will discuss everything."

"No!" She took a few more steps back. "I will not return to my mother!"

"Robin." Regina finally went into the back room. "Honey, please listen to us. Laerta is not the one you take her for".

"Who are you anyway?" the girl broke out. "I don't know either of you!"

"My name is Regina, I'm your mom's sister." The Queen raised her hands in a conciliatory manner. "It was my vault where you cast the spell that carried you into that gloomy world. We are your aunt and uncle, your mother asked us to help her find you after Laerta took you away".

"But I wanted it myself!" The girl did not let go. "I want to learn magic."

"You don't understand." Regina came a little closer. "Laerta took you not to teach you but to take her place in the realm you spent the last couple of weeks in."

"Couple of weeks?" Robin was amazed. "But I didn't spend even a day there".

"It can seem so to you." the Queen nodded. "You actually were there for almost two weeks." She carefully touched her niece's shoulder. "That world is illusory; time in it doesn't flow at all like it does here. Laerta has been locked in it for long and was looking for a way to return here. She would soon leave you there, instead of herself. That's why she abducted you".

"She did not abduct me." the girl objected. "I summoned her myself so I could become her student and she agreed".

"Robin, how did you even find out about Laerta?" Gold asked cautiously. "Who gave you the spell?"

"No one." Robin shook her head. "I found it in a book myself, in the vault."

"That's not true." He smiled. "There is nothing about her in Regina's books, believe me. So who told you about the witch and gave you the spell?"

"I already said: nobody." The girl shrugged. "I found it in the book."

"Robin, you're still in danger. Just like your mother." The Queen carefully looked at her niece. "The one who tried to bring Laerta back by exchanging her for you will not leave you alone. Now it may seem to you that this is a friend, but it's not. And very soon you will understand it yourself. This someone will be very angry because their plan failed. This someone will want revenge. If you don't tell us who it is, we cannot protect you. Your mother doesn't have magic and you are too weak and inexperienced. Unlike the one who gave you the spell".

The girl was silent.

"Dear, what is the date today?" Gold asked suddenly.

"The twelfth." Robin answered, bewildered.

"Very well." He nodded. "Let's go outside and check something. Come on." Going up to the curtain that separated the back room from the rest of the shop, he motioned for the girl to follow him.

"Okay." She grinned. "But what are we going to check?"

"You will see." The shopkeeper smiled.

Going out into the street, he threw a coin into a newspaper machine standing near the shop and pulled out a fresh copy.

"Do you think this is today's newspaper?" He clarified with girl.

"That's for sure." Robin rejoiced even more.

"Very well." Gold repeated. "Please take it and tell me what date is on it."

"What kind of nonsense." The girl laughed, taking the newspaper from his hands. "Naturally ..." She paused, looking at the newspaper. "... Twenty-third?" She uncertainly finished the phrase.

"Exactly so." The man confirmed. "So you spent a week and a half with Laerta, as you can see. It's a little strange that you didn't know about it beforehand, isn't it?"

"There has to be some explanation." Robin muttered.

"Yes." Gold nodded. "And my wife just said it to you. Will you talk to us?"

The girl nodded silently.

"Let's go." He took her under the elbow and carried her along, back to the shop.

After listening to Robin's inconsistent story, the Golds looked at each other in silence.

"It's a coven?" The Queen said uncertainly.

"It's a coven." Her husband confirmed. "And they won't leave it like that. They are unpredictable and will find a way to get through any protection we place. We cannot even be completely sure who is in the coven at any given time. Different replacements and rearrangements occur then and there. So we don't know exactly what we need to protect her from".

"Can you really get Fiona there?" Regina asked quietly.

"Of course not." He grinned. "And Laerta will realize that soon."

"So there remains only a world without magic." she suggested, still uncertainly.

"It does." Gold nodded. "Well, honey, it's time for us to go see your mother." He smiled at the girl.

After which all three were transferred to Zelena's house.

"Robin!" Zelena rushed to her daughter and hugged her tightly pressed on her. "You are alive! You are back! Honey, how glad I am to see you!"

"Me too, Mom." The girl stroked her shoulders.

"Rumple." The woman stepped toward the magician but froze under his gaze. "I don't know how to thank you." she muttered, averting her eyes from him. "And I know that doesn't mean anything now, but I'm sorry..."

"That's not needed dearie." Gold said coldly. "I'm not doing this for you. Pack your things, you are leaving Storybrooke".

"What?" Zelena was confused. "Why?"

"Because it's too dangerous for your daughter to stay in any of the magical realms." he answered calmly. "She disturbed forces that none of you could compete with. So you have to go to a world without magic."

"But where can we go?" The woman was even more confused. "We have nothing but this house. I work as a midwife at the local hospital, my salary is barely enough for a living. We have no savings and this house costs nothing".

"Don't worry about that." Gold continued just as coldly. "I will buy you an apartment in New York. And then Regina will help you. Not my wife." He specified, catching Zelena's gaze. "Her other half. Well, you know, the one…" He stopped short. "Robin, honey, go pack your bags, there's not much time." He smiled at the girl. "The one who loved Robin." he finished when she disappeared behind the door. "She wants to help his daughter and I want to help her. So you have a chance to start all over again. In some place where both of you will be safe".

"Rumple..." Zelena breathed, sinking into a chair.

"I haven't finished." The magician interrupted her. "Miss Swan, I think, will gladly agree to take you to New York. For the six months she's spent in the small town of Storybrooke, she's probably missed her son and granddaughter and would be glad to see them again. She will be able to take care of you along the way. So now you go pack your things. We will escort you to the Charmings and say goodbye then. And we never meet again. At least with you. That's all. You can start packing." he finished.

It had long been dark outside the window and the Queen, while mother and daughter were packing, had fallen asleep on the sofa in the living room of their house. Waking up, she found herself sleeping in Gold's mansion. He was not in the house. The car was near the porch. Upon dialing her husband's number, she immediately got the answering machine. At first she wanted to be magically transported to his shop but then she decided that her sudden appearance might be inappropriate. So in the end, she chose a more traditional way of moving, especially since the keys to the car were on the table in the hallway. To her surprise, the store was locked and sealed with magic. For several minutes she stood near the window, wondering where her husband could have gone and then went to the place they started their visit to the town.

There was no one in the cemetery at this early hour except Gold sitting on the grass covered with dew. He sat with his legs bent beneath him, his hands interlocked, looking inseparably at a polished plate with a name on it.

"Rumple?" Regina called softly, slowly approaching her husband. "Honey." She knelt beside him, also sitting on the grass and gently hugged his shoulders.

"I'm sorry, I thought I would be back before you woke up." He put his hands on hers, arms folded across his chest.

For a while, both were silent.

"This is another reason I don't want to come back here." Gold finally said.

"Bae?" Regina asked.

"Bae." Her husband nodded. "He always wanted me to become simply a human again. To return to a normal life. He did everything to make this possible." He laid his head on his hand and closed his eyes.

The Queen hugged him tightly.

"He brought me back at the cost of his own life, so that I'd get one more chance." He was silent for a while. "A chance to fix everything. A chance to live life differently. But I was still scared. Like the very first time, the time when I couldn't give up newly gained power for the sake of living a normal human life. But now that you're there, I'm not afraid anymore, Regina. Now I can come here and tell my boy that everything was not in vain. That he gave me the opportunity to become a happy man. Do you understand? Just a man. And that we still..." He stopped short, clutching his wife to himself. "...will be able to meet again." He finished through the tears.

"Sshsh, all is well." She alternately kissed his eyelids, rocking him slightly in her arms.

"Let's go home." A couple of minutes later Gold struggled to get on his feet, leaning on his wife's shoulder, and then extended his hand to her.

"Let's go." She nodded, getting up.

"Would you sit a bit behind the wheel?" he asked as they reached the car.

"Of course."

She took a blanket out of the trunk and covered her husband with it when he sat in the passenger seat and reclined.

"Sleep a little."

She kissed his temple, going around the car, stepping behind the wheel and gently pulling away while watching him out of the corner of her eye wrap himself with the blanket and falling asleep.