A/N: Hopefully this chapter clears up the confusion about Bae. I double checked chp's 26 & 27 so I stay consistent. Henry's birth in this story will be equal to the canon timeline... as much as I possibly can keep it equal :)

~Daytime Drama~

Regina, too caught up in her own thoughts, hadn't been paying attention to the conversation of the other two. She had intended on using her magick to transport everyone to the The Dark Ones grounds, but after seeing the horses saddled and ready, she couldn't say no. It had been years since Rocinante...

Fighting with her inner demons hadn't been easy these last twenty years. The support she'd known in Storybrook, the friendships she had eventually created, hadn't come with the fusion of this reality, and those memories. Those people were different versions of themselves and Henry didn't even exist yet. It would have been entirely too easy to fall back on her old, evil ways.

She did have her father, for a while anyway. He kept her grounded. Life living on the run from angered villagers hadn't been easy on him, but that never stopped him from his brilliant smile, or his kind words. He never once complained about their situation, and she'd gotten a do over with him. He got to see her as a good person. He had always wanted her to be happy, and her true self.

It was two years after she'd ran from her castle when she ran into Robin and his men. They didn't quite recognize her, to her surprise. They offered food, shelter, even though she and her father were strangers to them, they offered her support she only knew from the gifted memories. The spark between her and Robin was there, like new, like it had always been. That was the year Elder Henry passed away. She couldn't help wonder if he was waiting for her to find someone again, and she did.

She missed her father, but she was sure he skipped purgatory all together. That was enough most days.

"Tell me more about this 'Land Without Magick'." Belle was saying, cutting into her thoughts.

Regina tried not to laugh as Neal began describing things, such as cars, planes, spaceships, none of which would have been terribly easy for Belle to understand, though she did have a wildly active imagination. No surprise that Belle was most excited at the idea of an e-reader, or as he put it, a library in your hands. Then she asked him if there were adventures there.

"In it's own way. Nothing like it is here. There's really no spells to break, or dragons to slay, or evil sorcerers to defeat-" he looked back at Regina. "No offense."

She raised her eyebrow at him in response.

Belle was shifting uncomfortably in her saddle. Something was on her mind. "Baelfire," She finally spoke, and Regina had to strain to hear as she spoke so softly. "I have to ask, how are you okay with what happened?"

Regina's mouth made a perfect O. This had the potential to be better than daytime TV.

"What do you mean?" he asked her.

"Everything that happened, you know… when you were a puppet. Everything you did."

He stared at her a moment. "What, stabbing Hook?"

"You.. wait. You don't know?"

He shrugged. "I know I was accused of stabbing Hook. I still don't remember that. Is there something more than that?" When she didn't respond, he shrugged again, clearly unnerved. "Whatever it is, it can't be worse than attempted murder." He attempted a chuckle.

Belle looked back at Regina with a dumbfounded look on her face.

Regina just shrugged. "As I told the Charming's. He was unconscious during his time as a puppet. He wouldn't have any memory of it."

That effectively ended the possibility of further conversation. Belle seemed more nervous to be around Neal, like a child afraid of a sword. Neal seemed lost in his own thoughts, unaware of how his presence affected Belle, though he did seem unnerved by the notion he had been used for more than he knew.

Regina shook her head, thinking how she should have poofed them all there in the first place.