Part Two

I hold the ropes as the one-hand pirate started to move his ship towards the portal the bean had just opened. The ship is shaking badly, water splashing everywhere and I have to hold on to the ropes with a strengthen that I don't yet possess. It had only been a few hours since the trigger drained me of half my magic. It's hard, but I close my eyes and think about Henry, I think about how I felt when he was hugging, how he so proudly said I was a hero now. That gives me all the force that I need to hold the ropes as we fell into the hole in the water, the portal swallowing us whole. It happens fast and in a blink of an eye, we are in calmer waters now, the ship sailing smoothly under the dark starry sky.

"How long until we arrive in Neverland?" I ask the pirate.

"Three days," He says "If everything goes smoothly"

"Three days?" I hear Miss Swan asking behind me "That's too long!"

"Sorry love," Hook said looking lovingly at Miss Swan "I'll try my best to make the jolly roger get us there sooner"

"Thanks, Hook," Miss Swan said and I can't help but roll my eyes.

"Are there any accommodations here?" Snow asks "If we are going to be here for three days, we are going to need a place to sleep"

"Yes, of course," Hook says "Follow me"

I follow the clan of idiot's down the boat, trying my best not to touch the rotten wood. One could never know what one could catch by touching that filthy ship. He shows the accommodations under the nose and I wrinkle my nose when I see a bunch of double beds, four of them on each side of a small corridor. There is just no way in hell I'm sharing such a confined space with the Charming's. I keep walking down the corridor until I see a small room on the back. I pushed the door open and to my surprise, the small space shelters two beds in the same fashion the ones outside the corridor did. One next to the other. The room is dark and one could feel claustrophobic in it but I had worse. At least, it was private. I let myself fall onto the bed, the first bit of rest that I have since…Well, let's not think of that.

The bed isn't all that bad, and I readjust the pillow under my head and look up at the ceiling. It's all black apart from the little bit of lightning coming from the moonlight through the even smaller glass window on the opposite wall. I close my eyes and little white and red dots dance behind my eyelids. I let my thoughts go to Henry. Is my little Prince hurt? Hungry? Cold? Scare? I take a deep breath and promise myself that every single person involved in his abduction will pay severely for what they have done. I will personally make sure of that. Then I shake my head thinking about what would Henry say about that. He wouldn't like it. And I want to be better for him. I want to be worthy of him. For once, I want my son to choose me. His mother.

"Hey, do you mind if I crash here?" I hear Miss Swan's voice by the door.

"I came here because I wanted to be alone," I said "There are plenty of beds outside this room for you to crash"

"Trust me, Regina, having you as a roomie isn't exactly my idea of fun" Miss Swan says "But I need to rest, and Hook snores. A lot"

"Doesn't he have a Capitan cabin?"

"Yes, but apparently there is no bed in the room" Miss Swan says "So, whether you like it or not I'm crashing here"

"If you were going to force yourself in the room why did you even bother to ask?"

"It's called being polite" Miss Swan says "You should try it"

"I'm too tired to even argue with you," I said as I roll my eyes "Just lay down and be quiet"

"That's what she says," Miss Swan says and I hear a smirk.

"Says who?" I asked feeling confused.

"What?"

"You said 'that's what she says" I repeat.

"Oh," Miss swan says and let out a breath of laugh "That is…a joke"

"A joke?"

"Yeah, it's… It's dumb. Sorry!"

"Okay"

I hear Emma…Miss Swan opening the zipper of the boots she was wearing and then I hear her body softly landing on the mattress. She stays silent and I imagine she drifted off. I close my eyes again imagining all the horrible suffering I wish to bring upon Owen and Tamara. Oh, how would The Evil Queen enjoy making them pay for kidnapping her little Prince.

"Do you think he's okay?" I hear Miss Swan asking.

"I don't know," I said "But Henry is a brave boy. He'll find a way to hold on until we find him"

"I keep thinking of horrible ways to make them pay," Miss Swan says "I would murder them with both my hands if I could"

"Not very hero of you"

"I know" Emma let out a puff of air "And Henry would be so disappointed"

"He would," I said "He is the only reason why I may not give them a horrible death for taking him away"

"She killed Neal," Miss Swan says sadly "He was gone right in front of my eyes"

"I know. And I'm sorry" I say sincerely.

"I told him that I loved him," Miss Swan says "But I lied"

"Excuse me?"

"He was being sucked inside the portal," Miss Swan says and I hear her sniff "I thought...I thought if said…I thought If I told him that I loved him he would hold on to my hand. Instead, he just let it go"

"Oh!"

"Fucking asshole," Miss Swan says angrily, "He told me he loved me, and then he left. Again!"

"Miss Swan…"

"And I can't even be angry with him this time," Miss Swan says and I hear she is openly crying now "Because he is dead. He died to save me"

"Why are you telling me all of this?" I ask trying to keep my voice soft.

"I don't know" Miss Swan half cry half laughs "I guess I just need to take it out of my chest and you are the only one here"

"Your parents are right down the hall"

"It's not the same, Regina"

"You and Snow were best friends when she was only Mary Margaret"

"God, don't remind me of that" Miss Swan says "The things I told her"

"Well…"

"Don't even bother pretending you feel sorry"

"I wouldn't dream of it" I smirk "What about the one hand pirate wonder"

"What?"

"Hook," I said "He is in love with you, I'm sure he would love to sit down on the moonlight and hear you talking all night long"

"God, Regina I just lost Neal!"

"But you didn't love him," I say, "You said so yourself"

"Yes, but that's mostly because they don't interest me anymore"

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing!" Miss Swan says "Never mind"

We fell silent again but it's not exactly uncomfortable. I can hear Emma moving in bed, probably turning around to face the wall. I don't know why, but I can't stop thinking about what she said only a few minutes ago. Yes, but that's mostly because they don't interest me anymore. What is that supposed to mean? If she wasn't interested in Neal or Hook, did that mean she was in love with someone else? But who in Storybrooke could possibly have caught the eyes of the Savior? I don't recall seeing her with any other man around Storybrooke but then again ever since she broke my curse it was hard to keep track of what was happening around the town. But still, that is the type of information I should know about, especially if she intends to put yet again another man in my son's life. But perhaps…perhaps that was not what she meant. Perhaps she meant that she was no longer interested in them because now she was…

"We'll find him, right?" Miss Swan asks pulling me out of my train of thoughts.

"Of course, we will," I say "He is the son of The Evil Queen and the Savior. Peter Pan doesn't stand a chance"

"I like that sound of that" Miss Swan says and as weird as it sounds, I can hear a smile forming on her face "How is your magic?"

"It's coming back," I say "It's not fully restored inside me again but I can feel it running through my veins already"

"That's good. We are going to need it"

"Yes, we will," I said, and a yawn forms upon my lips.

"We should get some rest," Miss Swan says "We both need to restore our energy"

"Indeed, we do"

"Good night, Regina"

"Good night, Em…Miss Swan"

I close my eyes again and this time, I let myself acknowledge just how tired I am. My whole body aches when I turn around to face the wall. As much as I hate to admit, Miss Swan is right. I need to rest. I need to let my magic restore inside me, I need to let it re-built to its full power. That is the only way that I will be able to save our son.