My apologies for the hiatus. Life and a lack of writing inspiration got in the way, but I have most of the next chapter written and the rest of the story outlined. I'm toying with a few things in the next chapter and would like to hear your thoughts on this one before I finalize those decisions. Feedback or simply letting me know you're still reading is very much appreciated!

David leaned against the doorway to the back room of Gold's shop and watched Regina and Henry, listening to their conversation while she concocted the sleeping potion. He'd been with Gold to discuss what would happen once he ingested the curse, having stepped out for the conservation to ensure Henry wouldn't overhear. His son had already insisted he was capable of going under the spell again, concerned for David's safety, and David refused to add to Henry's worry with the knowledge of how real the risk was.

He couldn't deny that it frightened him to think of what might happen if this didn't work and he remained asleep indefinitely. If Snow couldn't wake him, he wouldn't be around to help her and Emma return. He wouldn't be around to protect Regina and Henry if Cora made her way to town. Even though he would not be lucid for that potential outcome, it still felt like he'd be abandoning them. It would mean that he had failed his family once more.

The conversation he overheard now distracted him from those thoughts and he concentrated on listening harder to catch the quiet tones Regina and Henry spoke in. He could sense from Regina's posture that she was unsure of using magic in front of their son, and with good reason. They'd turned their backs on Regina for magic and Henry had made her promise never to use it. And they hadn't just condemned her past use of it, but they had shamed her for the ability she was born with.

Regret twisted in David's gut at the thought, heightened by secondhand pain for Regina when he heard Henry ask if she'd truly kept her word not to do magic. The boy appeared enthralled by the process of making the potion and likely felt guilty for being intrigued by something he thought was bad. David gathered it was the reason Henry questioned her now, wary of condoning his mother's use of the very thing he'd thought to be evil, while watching her use it for good. Their son's struggle to process such a contradiction at his young age was no surprise and couldn't be held against him. Not when David had only recently started to understand it himself.

It was yet another way David felt he'd failed his family. He hadn't helped Henry understand the events that followed the curse ending, nor encouraged him to consider the storybook with an open mind. Especially when it came to Regina and the question of her heart, of her capacity to love, and her ability to change. She had already changed and proved herself loving, but David had been too caught up in his own feelings of betrayal to consider that objectively.

David hadn't stopped Henry from demonizing his mother, the woman who'd raised him with so much love and dedication that they'd never questioned her heart before the curse unraveled. Instead he had fueled Henry's vitriol towards Regina and validated his childlike concept of morality, thanks to his own sense of superiority and lack of empathy.

Guilt ate away at him as he listened to Regina assure her honesty, her expression heavy with vulnerability when she bent to look their son in the eyes. He ached as she admitted to using magic with Daniel, remembering the grief and pain he'd witnessed while she relived the loss that had changed her forever. He knew each time Henry questioned her use of magic, questioned her heart and honesty, that it was like adding salt to her wounds. David could feel the sting of it himself, wanting to take it from her and shoulder the burdens she'd carried for so long.

Regina was scared and uncertain, and he knew that it was the reason she'd lashed out at him before. It had been her coping mechanism at times during the curse, when she felt especially hurt or fearful, to respond with venom and anger to mask her true emotions. Despite that life being fabricated, it wasn't hard to translate her reactions from past to present. She'd let him see behind her mask during their marriage, and it had given him insight to her that no one else had. He knew the difference between his Regina and the monster she pretended to be to the rest of the town...The monster everyone believed she truly was.

He longed to cross the room and pull her into his arms, to hold her like he knew she needed. It surprised him how quickly his anger at her faded, but at the same time it was no surprise at all. Not when he knew what was behind her behavior and why. Not when he knew what she needed was to feel protected and loved and reassured. They were such simple aspects of humanity that every person needed to feel whole, yet she'd been so sorely deprived of them in her life before the curse. Thinking back on how surprised Regina had been by his gestures of love and kindness during their early years made him painfully aware that being cared for was a foreign concept to her.

David studied Regina's meticulous method to her magic, the steady and skilled working of her hands, and the knowledgeable way she recalled ingredients from memory, rarely referencing the open spellbook. She added an ingredient that caused the potion to suddenly flame blue and her expression brightened in response. Witnessing the care she put into her craft and the small smile of achievement she let slip made it clear to David that practicing magic validated Regina in a way only those with the ability could truly comprehend.

It made him sad for her that her talent had been manipulated by her mother and Rumple, stealing the joy from something so innate within her, and that the methods in which she'd used magic in the past had left her ashamed of possessing it all.

Yet here she was, the villain people thought to be pure evil, gingerly using her magic to help others and acting almost apologetic for it to the little boy who held her heart. She was using her magic for good. She was doing the right thing that David had preached so heavily about before, while believing she was entirely incapable of it then.

How terribly he'd misjudged her only added to his remorse as he watched her with their son. She was a natural mother, gentle and patient, and it brought on a rush of emotion he couldn't quite explain. Observing the two people he'd called family for so long sparked something deep in his chest that felt like realization and remembrance at the same time. It felt like finishing a puzzle after struggling to make each piece fit until it looked like the picture on the box, but with the outlines of the pieces serving as a visible reminder of the time put into it.

That is what the aftermath of the curse had been; what it had felt like to love Regina and be so devoted to their family, only to watch it unravel. That was what it felt like to be betrayed by her, to be angry for what they'd lost, and to tell himself the feelings hadn't been real. It had been agony to remember how happy their picturesque life was while staring at the pieces it was left in, thinking it impossible to ever reconstruct. But here he stood, realizing he could still see that picture and starting to believe he could put it back together from memory.

It had taken time for him to sort the pieces of his cursed life and the one before, but maybe he'd known, deep down, what he'd wanted all along. As his hurt and anger faded, it became clearer to him what was real and what was the curse. He'd stopped fighting his heart and started to let go of beliefs instilled in him; the things he'd been told he should want and the way he'd been told he should live, by a role in life that he hadn't asked for. It was time to put his life back together and it would not look like the picture on the box. The different pieces would be visible by the grooves that connected them, a sign of having been taken apart and put back together, but symbolic of the love that made the effort worth it.

Two months ago he'd believed there was nothing real about the life he knew and the love he had for the woman he'd shared it with. But now David realized. He remembered. Their years together, the family they created, and the parts of herself Regina had given him were more genuine than anything that could be fabricated by a curse.

Behind the persona she presented to the world, Regina was soft-hearted and empathetic and earnest. Through the years he'd witnessed her capacity to love and feel things more deeply than anyone he knew. It made him wish he could've met the girl she'd been before heartbreak and trauma broke her spirit. Not because he'd have found her more worthy than the woman she was now, but so that he could've saved her from the pain that awaited her.

The only difference between Regina, the villain of the storybook, and the heroes is that no one had saved her. She'd been a girl without family to protect her, without true love to keep her going, without a savior to shield her from the darkness. In his heart he knew his Regina was still that girl, as much as she was the woman who'd lost herself.

David knew this because loving Regina had unearthed that girl who'd been buried by pain and stifled for survival. Even during the curse, when he was entirely unaware of who she was, he'd still known her completely.

His Regina was both darkness and light, with a spirit broken and mended, and a heart shattered but pieced back together.

And he'd spent decades loving her.

Regina sat beside the bed in Gold's shop, eyes fixed on the gentle rise and fall of David's chest. His expression was so still and peaceful that watching him breath was the only reassurance she had that he was alive and not in pain. She wasn't sure how much time had passed, but Henry had lost his battle to stay awake and now lay curled beside David with an arm draped over his chest.

Each passing hour made her more fearful. Self-loathing threatened to swallow her whole, mixing with the anxiety and guilt that kept her stomach churning. The moments before David put himself under the curse played over in her mind, forcing her to swallow back tears that burned in her throat. She'd been as scared at the thought of losing him as she'd been angry at him for taking the risk, and it had resulted in her communicating neither.

She'd allowed David to put himself under a spell he might never wake from without showing an ounce of the emotion she'd felt. It might've been the last moment she had with him and her last chance to take back the terrible things she'd said. Yet she'd only managed a callous look and mumbled "it's all yours" with a tone of indifference that contradicted everything she'd wanted to say.

It was as if she'd learned nothing, like she hadn't changed at all from the heartless villain the storybook depicted her as. She'd stood across the room, hands clasped and shoulders squared, as she watched Henry and David say goodbye. David had met her gaze when their son plowed into him with a hug, his icy blue eyes full of emotion directed at her. His expression had softened and her own had faltered, but the shared glance was brief before he looked back to console Henry.

The lump in her throat grew, making it ache as painfully as it had when she'd watched David reassure their boy that everything would be alright. He was a good father. He was so many things to her and Henry, but she hadn't told him. And now she may never get the chance to.

Fear had flooded her when he'd fallen onto the bed, eyes closed and body limp with the curse. It felt too familiar to watch him collapse lifelessly as her first love had and triggered emotions she struggled to stifle now. She'd never had a chance to say goodbye to Daniel and it had left her without closure for decades. Now she faced living with that feeling again, but this time due to her own selfish pride.

She had learned nothing. She hadn't changed. She had never deserved the love David and Henry gave her, and probably never would. The apple doesn't fall far and she was Cora's daughter, through and through.

"Any change?" Rumple's voice startled her and she looked up to find him wearing a different outfit than when she'd seen him last.

It struck her as odd until she glanced towards the storefront and saw daybreak, realizing she'd sat there through the night. She watched Rumple take in her appearance and hated how she must look, knowing it gave the man more insight to her current mental state than she wanted him to have.

"No," Regina answered quietly as she stood and walked to the counter, "He's not improving. He needs true love's kiss...he won't wake up until Snow comes back," she muttered, keeping her gaze fixed towards the window as her stomach turned with the statement.

"Until? That's rather optimistic, don't you think?"

"What are you saying?" she turned her head and leveled Rumple with a hard look.

"We're battling your mother. Squid ink is the only chance Snow and Emma have of defeating her."

Her anger sparked to life at the familiar feeling of Rumple's plotting and she found herself snapping back, "Which is why you sent David to tell them."

"And that would've worked if we knew he'd found her, but given Charming's condition, we don't...Which is why we must take precaution. We both know that when that portal opens, it may not be his dear wife and daughter that come through. It could be Cora."

Regina tried to ignore the panic that gripped her and braced her hands on the glass counter, eyeing Rumple, "That can't happen."

"Which is why we're going to find the portal they plan to come through and destroy it."

"But...then whoever came through it would die," she watched him warily.

Regina's fear heightened when Rumple's expression remained somber. She'd never seen him discuss one of his underhanded plans without a glint of wicked glee in his eyes. To see him truly concerned spoke to the severity of the situation and she had to fist her hands to keep them from shaking.

"That is the point, dearie," Rumple said dryly after he'd watched her grasp the situation, "Between the two of us, we should be able to summon enough magic to do so."

"But what if we're wrong? What if we destroy it and it is Emma and Snow that come through?" Regina frowned and felt dread fill her.

"A win, win." Rumple said smugly and the devious sparkle to his eyes suddenly appeared as he taunted her. "If it's Cora, then you're saved from whatever revenge she has in store for you. If it's Snow and Emma, then you become the only mother in Henry's life...and the only wife in David's."

Regina glared at him, "No."

"Consider it this way... Magic is unpredictable in this land. If something misfortunate were to happen while you were trying to get his beloved mother and grandmother back, Henry could hardly fault you for that."

"I won't lie to him. I promised him," Regina tried to sound firm despite the cold determination on the imp's face, "I'm trying to be better for him."

"We both know if your mother makes it through, she will be a threat to everyone. Especially your dear boy. If you truly want to protect him, and be better, this is your chance."

"I'm not helping you," Regina squared her shoulders and held his stare, hoping she managed enough false bravado to convince him she meant what she'd said.

"Very well," he eyed her skeptically, hand resting on his cane in an eerily calm manner that made her heart thump harder. "I'll remember this, dearie."

Silence filled the room as he lingered, watching her in a manner that made her mask a shiver. Rumple had a way of manipulating her that was stealthy and insidious, more refined than her mother's method. He preyed on her mind, sensing her fears and insecurities by simply looking into her eyes, and using them to his advantage. While Cora would simply rip out a heart, Rumple preferred not to get his hands dirty.

When she was a girl he had used her emotions against her, leading her into orchestrating her own demise for his gain. The method proved to last longer and cause more damage than her mother's abuse had, for there was no escaping someone that had invaded her mind when it was so broken.

Rumple finally ended the silence with a hum and shook his head, "And after everything I've done for you."

Rage bubbled out of her before she could control it, slamming her hands down on the glass counter between them, "You ruined my life!" she snarled fiercely.

He remained silent at her reaction, head tilting as he watched her with a look of pity and a small, triumphant grin. Regina's mouth snapped shut and she seethed with anger at herself for losing control. Rumple knew what buttons to push and exactly what to say to make her snap. He'd wanted to prove that he could still intimidate and manipulate her, and she'd proven his point for him. It had been a powerplay and he had won.

The imp knew he didn't need to utter another word as he walked out, leaving her standing alone with the familiar sense of helplessness that haunted her since she was a child. Despite the years passed, her former mentor had a way of making her feel as powerless as she'd been before the Evil Queen was born. It didn't matter how skilled she was at magic, how feared she was by others, or how strong she knew she could be, the tormentors of her past still haunted her.

Cora had physically tortured her, had ruined her self esteem and destroyed her future. Leopold had imprisoned and degraded her, using her in a way that crushed what was left of the spirit her mother fractured. They'd done the dirty work in breaking her and left her ready to mold into the perfect monster for someone like Rumple who didn't care for the grunt work. It was then he had entered and stole from her the one thing she had left; her mind.

Each one of them left different kinds of scars, but the complete control Rumple once had over psyche was the reason she'd feared him most. He was the last person she wanted as an enemy and now she'd not only defied him, but shown him he still had power over her.

"Mom?"

Henry's voice startled her and she turned to find him peering around the corner. His face looked slightly pale and his brows were furrowed with worry, making it clear he'd heard everything.

"Henry, listen to me," she closed the distance between them and kneeled in front of him, cupping his face, "I need you to run down the street to the diner. Find Ruby or Granny and stay with them. I have to go somewhere."

"I'm coming with you," he insisted, eyes wide, "We have to stop Gold. He could kill them! And Dad could never wake up!"

"I'm going to stop him."

Regina hoped it sounded convincing enough, but the truth was she had no plan. She felt out of her depth against Rumple and the thought of her mother's return, but she wouldn't sit idly. Not when the people she loved were threatened.

"I want to help you!" Henry pleaded.

"The best way to help me is to let me know that you are safe," her voice wavered and she attempted a smile as she stroked his hair, "I am going to try my best to stop Rumple, but you need to do as I say."

Henry's lip puckered like he wanted to cry before he nodded and self-loathing threatened to make her crumble at the sight of him putting on a brave face. It was because of her that Henry was in danger. Her past deeds coming back to haunt her were at the root of the fear and anguish he felt now.

She choked down the sob in her chest and instructed him once more, "Run to the diner and stay with Ruby and Granny until either myself, or Snow and Emma come to get you. Do you understand? You do not leave with anyone else. Alright? Henry Daniel, answer me."

"Alright," he muttered quietly before glancing back towards David, "What about Dad?"

Regina nearly broke again at how small and scared his question sounded, but she gathered herself to reassure him. "The spell has him…frozen, in a way, and nothing has the power to alter that but True Love's kiss. The sleeping curse is keeping him safe from others, since no one has the power to wake him but Snow."

Henry nodded solemnly before his expression clouded with another wave of fear, "But what if it's your mom that comes through? Will you be okay?"

"If my mother comes through, then I plan to keep her occupied until Snow and Emma find a way back. I know they won't stop trying, and when they do, they'll find you and they'll wake David. In the meantime, I know that Ruby and Granny will keep you safe."

Leaving him in their care was the only part she was sure of. Regina knew Ruby and Snow considered each other family, and she was close with David and Emma. The young werewolf was loyal to the Charmings, as was her grandmother. Their true nature also made them the most feared killers that came over with the curse, second only to herself, and they would take care of her boy.

"I love you very much," Regina's voice trembled with emotion at the thought of leaving him, but she knew she had no time to waste.

It was possibly the last time she'd see her boy, but she was doing this for him. She couldn't allow Rumple to kill his mother and grandmother, nor could she let David lose his wife and daughter again. If it was her mother that made it, then she'd play into whatever manipulation or punishment Cora had in store for her long enough to ensure Henry's safety. Then Regina would put an end to her...or die trying.

"I love you," Henry's voice wobbled.

Regina leaned in and kissed his head, inhaling the familiar scent of his hair before standing to take his hand in hers, "We have to go now, sweetheart."

Regina swayed on her feet despite her best effort to remain steady and braced a hand against the front of Gold's shop for support. She could hear the small group of townspeople rush past, filing through the front door in a flurry of excitement and suspense. Dark dots clouded her vision and her head swam, forcing her to close her eyes and take a deep breath. She tried desperately not to consider what she was about to witness, but she needed to see it for herself. She needed to see David awake.

It had drained the minimal energy she had left to walk back to town, trailing behind the group of people that had formed at the well minutes after Emma and Snow's return. Ruby and Henry had been there first, but she'd barely had time to register their arrival before she'd absorbed the magic Rumple directed at the portal.

Everything following had happened in barely coherent flashes of consciousness. She remembered feeling the bolt of fairy magic finally end and her vision going black. Then suddenly she was gasping for breath and pulling herself from the ground to lean against a tree. The next thing she registered was a flood of relief at Henry's voice. It had sounded happy and she could tell, despite her vision blurring and mind swimming, that Emma and Snow had returned and her boy was safe.

By the time the two women noticed her presence, Regina had managed to ground herself and act somewhat coherent. She vaguely remembered muttering a welcome back to Emma, but then her next memory was walking unsteadily behind the group as they made their way back to wake David.

"You alright?"

Regina felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up too quickly, having to close her eyes through the dizzy spell that followed. When she opened them, Ruby was watching her with what appeared to be genuine concern.

"Fine...I'm fine," she nodded stiffly and averted her gaze.

Ruby studied Regina like she didn't quite believe her before nodding once, "I wanted to say that I'm sorry. Henry told me what was going on and I wanted to help. I didn't know he was following me until I was at the well. He was supposed to stay with Granny. I never would've let him come with me or willingly put him in danger."

Regina gawked at her, surprised and confused by the sincerity of the wolf's statement. She was sure Ruby despised her, yet she was the only one who'd seemed to notice her struggle and give more than a nod in her direction. It made her uneasy, but she nodded to accept the apology.

"He is willful. It runs in the family, I suppose," Regina muttered dryly and watched Ruby's expression flicker with something akin to amusement. It made her somewhat less wary of the wolf's motivations, prompting her to continue, "Thank you...for looking out for Henry and for coming when you did. If you hadn't distracted Rumple, I might not have been able to get between the portal and his magic."

"Of course...You did a good thing, Regina," Ruby's voice was softer as she offered a timid smile.

It struck a chord in Regina and a scoff escaped her, recoiling from the kindness she assumed was condescension, "I don't need to be told it was the right thing to do, Miss Lucas. I know I did the right thing because I am miserable. I have lost everything I hold dear. That is what being good gets the villain."

Regina stepped past the wolf before she could respond, praying the dizziness would hold off long enough to enter the shop without collapsing. The last thing she needed was Ruby peeling her off of the floor with a look of pity.

To her relief she managed to slip in unnoticed, none of them concerned with her presence when their beloved Snow was back. Focusing on each step, she made her way towards the back of the shop and leaned against the counter, grateful to have made it without incident.

Everyone gathered around David's bed, chattering anxiously as Snow rushed to sit on the edge. Regina's stomach turned as she watched Snow blubber over him and cup his face, putting on a show for her minions. It was enough to make her head spin again, but she forced herself to remain upright. She had to see for herself that David was alright, no matter how much it would hurt to watch Snow's kiss wake the man she loved.

This was the end of her family and the life she'd worked so hard to create. It was the end of the love she'd never deserved in the first place. A happy ending was not in the cards for her, but her boys were safe, and their well-being was all that mattered to her now.

Her breath hitched when Snow's dramatic build up finally came to a head and leaned down towards David. Regina let her eyes close, not having the strength to watch it happen as she waited for the end result. She couldn't leave until she saw those blue eyes open and heard that familiar voice and knew he was back.

Collective gasps filled the room but they did not sound like happy ones and Regina's eyes popped, wide with fear. Was he hurt? Had he stopped breathing? Was he gone? She stumbled forward to see past the people in her way before noticing them all begin to turn and look at her.

Their gazes were hard and suspicious, confusing her panicked mind further as she reached out to steady herself against the table. Her eyes darted to David frantically, forcing her vision to focus until she was sure his chest still rose and fell with life. She exhaled loudly in relief before scanning the room again, finding the crowd still stared at her as she struggled to make sense of what was happening.

"What have you done?!" Snow hissed accusingly and stood from the bed.

"I…what…I-" Regina stuttered and looked between Snow and David's sleeping form. She blinked silently as her fear-rattled logic slowly allowed her to catch up with the rest of the room.

David was alive and breathing, but he was not awake. Snow had kissed him, but he was not awake. Snow's kiss didn't work.

"I know you're behind this!" Snow shouted, but Regina could only stare at her in shock. "You put something in the sleeping curse to keep him from waking up! You did this on purpose so you could finally get your revenge!"

"I…" Regina's lips parted speechless as she tried to process what it meant. Had she botched the potion? Was there something wrong with the magic? Had someone in the in-between world interfered with David's return? Her eyes darted to the chemistry set on the table beside her and her brows furrowed as she mentally recounted the steps of the potion and the ingredients she'd used.

"Look at her! It's all over her face!" Leroy jeered, "She's guilty!"

Regina's head snapped up with a startle, realizing her confusion likely did register as guilt to the simple minded idiots accusing her. She scrambled to form a defense, but her exhaustion and concern for David worked against her, distracting her from formulating a counter to the rapid consensus of her guilt.

"You just couldn't let it go, could you?" Snow's eyes gleamed with angry tears as she took a few steps towards the center of the room and the rest of them watched from the sidelines like spectators. "You had to take him from me. But don't you see, Regina? It's not just me you're hurting. You've taken away the only father Henry has ever known. Does that sound like a good mother to you? Boy, wouldn't Cora be proud."

Anger coursed through Regina's veins at the remark, sparking enough energy within her to clear her mental haze and form a comeback, "And what would you know about being a good mother?" she sneered, "I'm not the one who abandoned my child in a box."

"You miserable bitch!" Snow shrieked and charged, but was brought to a halt when Ruby grabbed her arms.

Emma stepped towards the middle of the room then, placing herself between Regina and Ruby holding back Snow. "This is not the way!" the savior warned the room cautiously.

"She needs to pay for what she's done!" her mother shouted, her maniacal eyes still fixed on Regina.

"We don't know that she did anything," Emma replied in a tone that begged for reasoning, but her mother was having none of it.

"Are you serious?" Snow let out a sharp, humorless laugh at Emma and shook her head in disbelief, "You know what this woman is capable of! This isn't the first time she's tried to destroy our family, Emma!"

"Let's not forget Regina blocked Rumple from destroying the portal," Ruby spoke up then and Snow's head snapped to look at her in utter betrayal, wrenching her arm free in the process.

Regina could only stand and watch, utterly confused by both Snow's daughter and best friend speaking up on her behalf. Was she dreaming? Had she slipped into a coma after absorbing the fairy magic? Had she died and ended up in some twisted form of purgatory? Whatever this was did not feel like reality.

"It's an act! They probably struck some sort of deal!" Snow insisted, looking around the room at the dwarves who nodded in blind agreement.

"No…. I saw her when I was running towards the well," Ruby sounded nervous and Regina was surprised by the pang of sympathy she felt for the wolf. The girl hadn't done anything wrong and didn't deserve to be put in this position, especially not after Regina had snapped at her outside. "She was arguing with Rumple and he was warning her to step back, but he saw me and became distracted for a second. Then Regina stepped between him and the well when he cast the spell and she blocked it."

Snow merely scoffed and the room filled with murmurs.

"We all know Regina has done terrible things," Emma quieted the room, eyes focused on her mother with a pleading look, "But I don't think she's behind whatever is going on here," she motioned towards David, "And we need to calm down, so we can figure this out."

"Emma, that is your father!" Snow exclaimed, eyes wide with disbelief.

Regina watched the way Emma seemed to bristle at the term and sensed the blonde harbored resentment towards her mother. She'd noticed something familiar in Emma since the day she'd arrived at Storybrooke, despite how much she'd loathed her existence and tried to ignore anything human about her. There was pain behind the savior's forced smile and fierce independence; a kind of pain that came from weathering life's harsher lessons alone and at too young of an age. It was a depth of pain Regina recognized, and one Emma's spoiled mother could never comprehend.

The room was quiet as the mother and daughter stared at one another and Regina decided to announce her exit, a move she told herself had nothing to do with taking the heat off of Emma. "If you're done accusing me of crimes I did not commit, I think I'll go home now," she spoke up in a bored tone and watched Snow's eyes darken when they found her again.

"Oh, I am nowhere close to being done," Snow glared, "I've given you so many chances and you prove me wrong every time. You'll never change."

"But she has changed," Henry's young voice caught the attention of the room as he stepped forward and looked at his grandmother earnestly, "Ruby is right. Mom went there to stop Rumple. I heard him try to get her to help him at the shop and she refused. She told me to go stay with Ruby and Granny while she went to stop him."

Regina's breath hitched when Henry looked at her and she tried to give him a smile, but it was wobbly at best. Her vision blurred with tears when the boy barrelled across the room towards her and enveloped her in a hug that nearly knocked her off of her feet.

"Thank you," Henry said as he hugged her tight, his voice muffled against her chest.

Regina held him to her, pressing her face in his hair as tears of relief escaped her. There were only two people in the room whose opinion of her mattered, one of them under a curse and the other in her embrace. She was grateful for her son's faith in her, whispering her own thank you against his temple and pressing a kiss there.

"Be good for Emma, okay?" she murmured near his ear and tilted her head to meet his gaze. She saw the concern and unspoken question in his eyes, appearing confused that she didn't plan to take him home with her.

It both broke her heart and healed it to know he cared and worried for her, but taking him back now wasn't in Henry's best interest. She had no idea the effects the magic would have as it worked through her body and she didn't want him to bear witness to it or feel responsible for her. Not to mention she expected a fight with Emma when it came to custody, and she wasn't physically capable of having that argument now. What Henry needed was an adult capable of looking after him and she wasn't sure she'd even be lucid by the time she arrived home.

Regina looked at Emma in silent question and watched her nod once in acknowledgement, silently confirming she would take care of him. As much as she hated Henry having a relationship with his biological mother, she knew Emma was dedicated to him and the best option for him right now.

Her eyes shifted to David and she watched him for a moment, soaking in the sight of his steady breathing to reassure herself. But it was mere seconds before Snow noticed and stepped in front of him, blocking her view. If it hadn't been for her lack of strength and Henry's existence, Regina would've killed her then and there. Instead she stifled her rage as the insufferable cow stood with a smug expression, clueless to how narrowly she'd just escaped death.

Regina turned her attention back to Henry then, kissing his head once last time as she murmured her goodbye, "I love you, my prince."

When she released him and looked up, all eyes were still pinned on her with suspicion, except for Emma and Ruby watching her more inquisitively. Regina sneered at the rest and squared her shoulders, thankful for the anger their hatred stirred within her. It gave her enough stamina to walk out of the shop without faltering and a small shred of her dignity intact.

Knowing she wouldn't make it on foot and not wanting to upset Henry, she rounded the corner of the building before summoning her magic to transport home. Relief flooded her when the smoke cleared and her foyer came into view. It had drained the remainder of her energy, causing the black dots to take her vision and her legs begin to collapse, but at least she'd made it home.