Regina took a step back from Emma once she posed the question. Her mouth slightly open she tried to fathom how she could have missed that and what that now meant.

Emma was right, how could she travel back there if there was no soul that was a match for hers?

She had been so stupid. How could she not have seen this?

"No, no," Regina said. "This … can't be …"

"Wow, thanks," Emma said. "I thought you might take that news a little better. I mean you were after all very supportive of the idea when it was the other Emma. You know I don't get you, every time I think I do get you, then something else happens and I feel like you and I are no different than the two women who met that night when I brought Henry home. You are the most aggravating person I have ever met. And sometimes it's a good aggravating, but other times I just wonder what's going through your head. And sometimes I feel like asking you what you are thinking but then I think you won't answer me anyways so why should I bother. But from the moment I stepped foot in Storybrooke it seems like you and I keep getting thrown together. And yes, I rejected the notion that you and I might be something when Em first showed up, and I actively fought against it because I'm sick and tired of feeling like I have no say, no control in situations. I hate it because that is how you have made me feel these last couple of days, like I don't matter to any of this, like I don't matter to you. Look, I don't know what's going to happen with Alex. I don't know what's going to happen between you and I. But I can tell you what's not going to happen. I'm not going to sit on the sidelines for this. You want to go confront Alex, fine, be my guest, but I'm going to be standing right there beside you when you do."

Regina waited a moment, "Are you done?"

"Yes."

"Firstly, I said no because you're right. I completely missed it that you had to have some matching soul back in Agrabah to travel back there," Regina said. "But I was saying no in regards to what that means for my plans in terms of Alex. It was not a reflection of you or the idea that of you and me together. Have I been holding back with you? Yes."

"Why?" Emma blurted out. "Did I do something? Do you just not like me as well as Em? What is it?"

"I've been holding back because despite all that has happened to us since Em came into our lives, I'm not sure where you and I stand," Regina said. "And despite what I said before about backing off and letting you decide whatever you want to decide, I'm afraid. I'm afraid of that future that Miss Swan said was waiting for me in our time."

"That's not your future," Emma said. "I'm sure as hell not going to be marrying Killian."

"But that doesn't mean you and I will be anything more than what we are at this moment," Regina said. "She chose me. Of all of the Reginas out there she chose me. Why? Am I just incapable of having a meaningful relationship? In our time, do we try this me and you and I mess it up?"

"Why would you assume you would be the one to mess it up?" Emma smiled. "It's not like my dating track record is all that great."

"True," Regina said giving her a smile back. "You are much worse at it than me."

"See there is the woman I know that always has a comeback and always wants to get the last word in," Emma said. "Now if you are serious about this plan of yours, fine, I will support you, but only if I am there at your side. I'm not waiting in the wings."

"No," Regina said. "We can't go into this like some hostile force. We do that and she will act before that other Emma even gets a chance at this. The point of what I am doing is to delay this Alex from acting. And forgive me for saying this, but you don't have the patience such actions. This requires talking."

"I can handle talking," Emma said. "Look, you and I are talking right now."

"No, we're about to be arguing, which is why I'm going to say again – it has to be just me. I appreciate that you want to be there with me, I do, but I need to face her alone," Regina said.

Emma actually growled as she took a step back. "Why do you have to be so stubborn?"

"Why can't you let me do this?"

"Because it's dangerous ok. Because I don't want anything to happen to you, especially if I could have done something to prevent it," Emma said. "Please, for once, will you just trust me to be at your side?"

The last thing Regina wanted was Emma anywhere near this. She fully intended to speak to Alex, but she wasn't hopeful that Alex would be in anyway receptive to what she had to say. To have Emma there beside her would increase the chance that if Alex did something – that Emma could be hurt.

But she heard what Emma was saying to her – that Emma wanted her to trust her.

Trust had never been an easy concept for Regina. Ever since her childhood and dealing with her mother, she never felt entirely comfortable with trusting anyone until she met Daniel. She had lost Daniel though because she had trusted a young girl to keep silent and that hadn't happened.

She thought too of Emma. Being forced to live in this world – away from her parents, never feeling like she belonged and not trusting others until a young boy showed up on her doorstep one night.

Both of them had come a long way from who they once were.

"Ok," Regina said finally. "You can come with me."

"Thank you," Emma responded.

"Let's go talk to the others," Regina said. "I say we go over the plan one more time and then we do this. I'm ready to end this."

….

Regina wasn't as confident as she tried to display to the others as she stepped into the library with Emma a half step behind her. Everything was in order, everyone in their place, but Regina couldn't shake this feeling that she had overlooked something else. Ever since Emma had pointed out that she had failed to see there was a reason Emma was allowed to go to the past, she had been frantically thinking through everything to see if there was something else she missed.

They were in the main hall, but from what Swan told them they would need to go further in to where Alex normally stayed.

The library had become a decaying relic since the time of the fire that killed Belle. No one ever came there because of Alex and Alex hadn't seemed to bother to do anything to make her surroundings more hospitable.

They continued to walk until they got to the more damaged part of the building.

"Welcome Regina," a voice called out.

A moment later Alex stepped out of the stacks and was standing maybe ten feet in front of them.

Regina had been warned about what she looked like, but she still found her voice unable to make speech as she looked at this woman. She indeed looked like her, but Alex's blond hair and her eyes stood out more than anything else.

"You couldn't let her come alone, could you," Alex said, turning her attention to Emma.

"There was no reason for her to come alone," Emma responded.

"That is where you are wrong," Alex said, and she waved her hand.

Regina was surprised when she felt the magic grab her. Her eyes instinctively closed and when she opened them, she saw that she was no longer in the library. Instead, she was standing at the border to Storybrooke – and she was alone with Alex.

"Finally, we can talk," Alex said.

….

"She took her!" Emma called out as she reached the others. "Alex took her."

Em ran up to her, "What happened?"

She quickly explained what happened and Em turned to her wife, "Can you use your magic to find her?"

"I'll find her."

Regina backed up a step from Alex but kept her eyes firmly on her.

"How many times have you crossed the border out of Storybrooke?" Alex asked her.

"Not as many times as you might think," Regina responded.

"Even one time would be enough to make me jealous," Alex said as she glanced over at the border. "I have read so many books about what it's like in the world out there. Belle really did a good job of keeping the library well stocked with books."

"And what would you do if you were out there in the world?" Regina asked.

Alex smiled, "You know, I don't really know. I mean there is just so much one could do. I don't understand why people just stay in one place when there is so much out there to experience. Why did you stay – in Storybrooke I mean?"

"It's my home, it's where I am raising my son," Regina responded.

"Yes, you humans do put a lot of stock into family and love," Alex said. "It's not a concept I fully understand, I admit. I would like to though. All the books I have read make falling in love so wonderful, like it's fulfilling some goal that must be strived for."

"Why do you say humans like that, like you aren't one?"

"You think I am human?" Alex asked, cocking her head slightly.

"Born of magic yes, but human nonetheless," Regina said. "Do you not see yourself as such?"

"I do not," Alex said simply. "Everything I have read, everything I have done, would suggest otherwise."

Regina gave her a small smile, "And you really think all you have done prevents you from being human because if it was based on that, I would have lost my humanity years ago."

"How do you know you didn't?"

"Because I still have the capacity to love," Regina said simply.

This time it was Alex smiling, but there was no warmth to it.

"We could spend years conversing," Alex said, as she started to move around, forcing Regina to move to keep an eye on her. "All the time I have spent alone and in five minutes, I know that you are special, that you maybe of all people could understand me."

"Yet, you brought me here not for conversation," Regina countered.

"True," Alex said. "You do have something I desire more than anything else. And you knew that before coming here, which makes me wonder why you bothered. Tactically speaking, it's foolish of you to be here. You could have stayed back home."

"If I had then you would have just found another of me to do this to," Regina said. "I couldn't let that happen."

"Actually, no I wouldn't have," Alex said. "Pardon me, I should say I couldn't have. Like I said you are special. I have searched other incarnations of this world and you are the only one whose soul I could use. Imagine that, all the versions of you and you are the only one who can't make it work with Emma."

"You are the only one," Alex continued. "I have viewed worlds where you were the one who brought Emma to Storybrooke, not Henry. Worlds where you and Emma were together from the beginning and you were there in the hospital when she gave birth to Henry. Or worlds where you were enemies turned lovers. Or worlds where Emma became the Dark One and you were always the Evil Queen and you ruled together. So many different worlds, so many different ways for you two to get together and you did. Except for you."

Regina thought about what she said – was it possible, she wondered. Was it possible that she was indeed unique? No, she thought, her and Emma had made progress – Emma was going to go back to the past, which meant she and Emma were connected.

"I know what you are thinking," Alex said. "I know you think that you and your Emma have made some sort of progress, that perhaps you two have some sort of future together. But that's not the case, let me show you."

Alex waved her hand and before Regina could block it she found herself frozen in place. There was nothing she could do as Alex walked toward her – and then Alex touched her cheek.

She felt the magic grab hold once more but as Alex let go, she realized they had again moved. She looked around and saw they were standing in the street in one of Storybrooke's neighborhoods.
"Why have you brought me here?" Regina asked.

"Watch," Alex said as she nodded toward one of the houses.

Regina looked at the house but for several moments nothing happened and then a young man, maybe in his 20s came out of the front door with a water gun in his hand. He came out to the front lawn looking around as if he was expecting someone and then a younger child also with a water gun popped out from behind some bushes and began shooting water at the older one.

"Henry," Regina said taking a step forward as she realized the older boy was her son. As she got to the sidewalk, two other people walked out of the front door and stood on the porch watching the two boys play. It was Emma and Hook – he had his arm around her as they smiled at the scene playing out in the front yard.

"The younger boy is Hook's and Emma's son Kevin," Alex said coming up to stand beside her. "Don't worry, they can't see you. This is a brief glimpse at the future of your timeline."

"And why should I believe you?" Regina asked, although she kept her eyes on the house and its occupants.

"You probably won't believe me," Alex said. "It doesn't make it any less true. If it makes you feel any better, you and Emma do try and make a go of it before she ends up with Hook once again. The two of you couldn't keep from arguing all the time and one night Emma had enough and she walked away – not really surprising if you think about it – commitment is not really her strong suit. But then Hook swept her off her feet once more and within a year of your break up, they were engaged and then married."

"What is the point of this?" Regina asked finally turning toward her. "If you know I will not believe you, what is the point of any of this?"

"Would you like to see where you are this point in time in the future?" Alex asked.

"No," Regina said.

"What's the matter, too afraid to see your own future?"

"Again, I will ask what is the point of this?"

"The point Regina is that you have no place in your own world," Alex said. "Can you honestly say when the last time was that you felt like you had your own place in your own world?"

While the last thing Regina wanted to do was indulge her, she couldn't help but think about what she said. When was the last time? Maybe when it was just her and Henry – before the ending of the curse, before Emma? After Daniel she had felt unsettled in the Enchanted Forest. In Storybrooke – even enacting her curse, she felt unfulfilled. It wasn't until Henry came into her life that she felt like she had found a home.

But the chaos of her life since Emma arrived – the breaking of her curse, Neverland, Robin – it was all beginning to be a bit too much even before her current circumstances.

But she wasn't the type to let that overwhelm her. No, she was royalty, she was a queen, and queens held their heads high even in the worst of times.

She also didn't understand what it was that Alex was wanting from her. Yes, she understood that Alex needed her soul but why all of this?

"What do you want?" Regina asked. "Do you want me to say my life isn't perfect? Fine, my life isn't perfect, but no one's is. That is life."

"Why does it have to be that way though?"

Regina paused before answering. The way Alex asked that question, there was an innocent almost child-like quality to it, and she had to remind herself that despite how she looked Alex hadn't been alive enough to even be considered an adult.

"I don't know," Regina admitted. "It's just the way it is. No world can include everyone getting what they want out of it. Because what two people want may be in conflict with each other. There is no such thing as perfection."

"Rumpelstiltskin thought he was creating perfection when he created me," Alex said. "How wrong he was. The thing is, I never knew why he did it."

"You never asked him?"

"Oh, I did," Alex said. "But he refused to answer. He said he wouldn't answer me until I used my power to bring back his son and wife."

"That is why you resurrected Neal?"

Alex nodded. "I wish I hadn't as the result was well less than perfect, so I refused to do it again to try and resurrect Belle. Thus he refused to give me the answer."

"But he gave you the answer," Regina said. "He created you to bring back Neal. He thought with your power that you would be able to do it."

"I don't think that is why he did it," Alex said. "Don't get me wrong, I understand why you would say that. It does make sense, but that couldn't be all there was to it."

"Why not? Rumpelstiltskin manipulated me into casting a curse that brought us to this world just to find his son," Regina said. "Neal and Belle were priorities to him."

"No!" Alex yelled stepping away from her. "There has to be more. There has to be a reason, a purpose for why I'm here. It can't be for some singular, selfish purpose, there has to be more to it. There has to be more for me."

She's having an existential crisis, Regina realized. She's trying to figure out who she is.

"Part of life is figuring out what our purpose is," Regina said.

"Have you figured out yours?"

"Yes," Regina said. "I think my purpose was to be Henry's mother."

"So, you understand that your purpose is not to be with Emma?" Alex said.

"I do," Regina said, even as she suspected that Alex was trying to talk her into a trap.

"Then you have fulfilled your purpose in this life," Alex said.

"Is that what you think or is that you want?" Regina challenged. "Do you want me to say that I am done with this life, that I have done all I was meant to do and meant to be? Will that make what you are going to do easier in your mind?"

Alex smiled, "And what do you think I'm going to do?"

Regina saw the expression on Alex's face, and it reminded her so much of the reflection she saw in the mirror when she was the Evil Queen.

"I think you brought me here to kill me and take my soul," Regina said.

"Kill you? No," Alex said. "What I'm going to propose to you is a partnership."

"A partnership?"

"Yes. You and I were meant for this. You fulfilled your purpose in being Henry's mom, but there is more for you. More outside of Storybrooke, out there in that world across the border," Alex said excitedly as she pointed to the road beyond where they stood. "Out there is where I need to be. Out there I can find out why I'm here."

"What makes you think that you will find the answers out there?" Regina asked.

"Because I haven't found them here," Alex replied.

"I'm not seeking answers though so whatever this partnership is that you are thinking I might be a part of, I'm not interested," Regina said. "Whatever my future is, I will take my chances."

"Your future is death," Alex said, and she waved her hand and again the magic grabbed Regina. They reappeared inside the mausoleum and Regina immediately saw that it was that she assumed Alex brought her here to see.

There was a plaque on the wall with her name on it and the words "In Memoriam."

She walked up to it and let her fingers run over the letters.

"How?" Regina asked.

"How did you die? Well, not to spoil it for you, but the latest big bad hit town. You and Emma probably could have defeated it together," Alex said. "But Emma was away on her honeymoon so it fell to you. You almost won, almost, but you weren't quite good enough. Emma returned and you had weakened it so badly that she was able to handle it."

Regina thought about this – her magic in conjunction with Emma was stronger than what she could do alone, so in that sense, there was a certain logic to it.

"Emma is never going to be there when you really need her," Alex said.

Regina thought about her past with Emma, about the things that Alex had shown her – and her last conversation with Emma.

She had to trust that Emma would be there when she needed her.

That didn't mean she shouldn't buy a little time.

Regina turned to her. "If that is true what is this partnership you are proposing?"