"Is Regina mad at me?" Snow asked, as they drove to get her some clothes. Emma was driving with her father in the back with her brother.
"No, why would you ask that?"
"She didn't say goodbye. She just left."
Regina had essentially ran from the house –Emma supposed because she hadn't moved quickly enough in removing Snow from the house. It made Emma feel awful because this was her fault.
Clearly what Snow had to say about Regina having a child with Snow's father had bothered Regina. But Emma was sure there was more to it than that. While Regina had lashed out at her with anger, Emma had seen hurt in her eyes.
She had never really given much thought to Regina's time in the Enchanted Forest before she became the Evil Queen. To her, the Enchanted Forest wasn't home so it wasn't something she thought a lot about, but now with this situation she didn't have a choice but to think about it.
"I'm sure she was just in a hurry," Emma said, glancing over at her mom. "Being queen and all, she's a busy person."
Snow looked down at her hands which were folded and lying on her lap, but didn't say anything. Emma thought she was sad yet she didn't know what to say to her. This was her mom, sort of, and even if she weren't a little kid, Emma still wasn't sure that she would know what to say to her. There was too much history there between Regina and Snow – and the one adult didn't want anything to do with it.
They got to the clothing store and after explaining to Snow for the second time that this was place to purchase clothing for her, they went in.
Less than 10 minutes later Emma was wishing she had left with Regina.
…
Striding through the door and up to the counter, Regina laid out the broken vial on the cloth she had collected it in and only then made eye contact with Mr. Gold.
"What was in it?" she asked.
"Problem dearie?"
"Cut the crap," Regina said. "I'm not in the mood for your tricks, riddles or games today. I want to know what was in that vial."
Gold considered her for a moment and then carefully picked up one of the shards and examined it.
"Where did it come from?"
"My vault. I had been going through all the stuff that was in there, specifically many of the things that belonged to my mother. I was going to dispose of them once I knew what they were and a safe way to do it."
"I will conjecture based on this broken vial that it didn't go to plan. Why don't you tell me what happened once you broke it?"
"I didn't break it," Regina said. "It was Em … it was Sheriff Swan. She broke it. And then this multi-colorful smoke appeared and it swirled up like a tornado to the ceiling of the vault. I figured the colors would be a clue would be a clue as to what it was but I haven't been able to find anything in my books."
He put the shard back down. "Wait a moment," he said and then disappeared into the back. When he came back he had a vial of his own, opened it and dropped what appeared to be a drop of blue water onto one of the shards. It turned multicolor like the smoke had been for a moment and then went back to normal.
"Hmm. It would appear your mother kept some powerful magic lying around," Gold said.
"You know what it is then?"
"Perhaps," he said. Again he walked away and this time he grabbed a booked from a shelf and began leafing through it. "You still haven't told me what this did. And I don't mean a description of what it did when it broke. I mean what did the magic it contained do?"
"That shouldn't matter in telling me what it was."
He snapped the book shut. "Then figure it out for yourself, your majesty."
"Fine," she said, picking up the glass with the shards and walking back toward the door. She got all the way there, her hand on the doorknob when she stopped and turned back and walked back to the counter.
"The magic surrounded Snow White and turned her into a child. She's about 10 years old again," Regina sighed. "And her memories are those of her child self."
"No wonder you are desperate enough to darken my door," Gold said. "What's the matter, the reunion not full of fond memories?"
"Hardly" she said. "Now what was in that vial and how do I reverse it?"
"It is a desire spell."
"A desire spell, I don't understand."
"Not desire in the sense of lust," Gold said. "Well it could be but seeing as Snow White is now a kid, I'm doubting it is that kind of desire, especially since it was her daughter's doing."
"So you are saying Emma wanted her mother to be a child? That makes no sense."
"It's probably a little more complicated than that. This particular brand of magic can take even an unconscious desire and try and fulfill it. I imagine your mother never used it because it is unpredictable. We think we know ourselves best but who really knows what desires we have deep inside?"
"How do I reverse it?"
"You can't."
"There has to be a way."
"There is none," he said, handing her the book. "Read it if you don't believe me, but do return it when you are done."
She snagged it from his hand and again moved to leave.
"You may want to have a word with the dear sheriff," Gold said, stopping her. "It is after all her desire, therefore the magic won't stop until her desire is fulfilled. One has to wonder what she was desiring exactly. I mean clearly this mishap of Snow being a child is upsetting to you for obvious reasons so one has to wonder if that was the point."
…
Emma wasn't anti-children, but spending hours on end with little Snow was souring her on the idea of ever having another child. Atleast not a spoiled little girl.
She thought clothes shopping would be easy. They would pick her up a couple of outfits and hopefully she would be back to normal before she actually wore them all.
Emma was certain that even her father was annoyed by Snow before it was all said and done.
Every outfit that Snow tried on was criticized by the young girl because it wasn't like it was back home – something that she should have realized before they got there.
Despite not liking any of the outfits she tried on, she still insisted on buying about 10 of them.
The whole ordeal lasted nearly three hours.
They returned to the mansion where Snow immediately began calling out for Regina, wanting to show off her new clothes to her stepmother.
But Regina wasn't there.
Another hour passed and Emma sent Regina a text. Then 30 minutes later she was calling Regina. Two hours later she was getting worried all the while trying to keep Snow calm because she too was getting worried despite Emma repeatedly telling her Regina was busy working.
She pulled Henry and her father aside while Snow was holding onto Neal and giving him a bottle.
"I'm going to go look for her," she said. "You two stay here and keep lying to her so she won't freak out. I'll text you when I find her."
Emma went first to the vault, thinking Regina would be there researching or just trying to hide so she didn't have to interact with Snow. When she didn't find her there she checked city hall, but she wasn't there either.
She checked Granny's, but no one there had seen her.
When she left there she called Regina's phone again, swearing when it went to voicemail after a couple of rings.
It was only after she spent the next 40 minutes driving aimlessly around town looking for a sign of Regina's car that it dawned on her that she had a way to find Regina, in fact Regina had taught it to her. It was a locator spell that Regina had wanted her to learn just in case something would ever happen to Henry and Emma would need to find him without her help. It involved having something of the person's so Emma went back to Regina's vault, not wanting to go to the mansion where Snow would surely question her.
She found some clothes – clearly from queen mode Regina – and she took a piece and held it in her hands and let her magic flow through the object a way for it to recognize the person who it belonged to. Then she sent her magic out in an ever expanding ring from where she stood. It kept going and going and Emma was getting fearful that for some reason Regina was no longer in Storybrooke, but then the magic found her and Emma dropped the cloth and went running.
Breaking every speed limit Emma arrived at Storybrooke Stables in record time. She had no idea what Regina would be doing out here but she was now on high alert. She had only been out here a few times herself so wasn't sure where to look so she stopped the first person she saw and asked them if they had seen her, and she was pointed in the direction of the biggest stable.
Entering it, she saw Regina at the far end and she was sitting on a hay bale next to a stall.
Emma approached her as Regina continued to sit there seemingly lost in thought since she didn't acknowledge Emma's presence until Emma was right next to her.
"Did you do this to punish me?" Regina asked.
Emma actually looked around her thinking Regina must be speaking to someone other than her.
"What are you talking about?"
"Do you hate me that much that this is what you desire?"
"Regina, what are you … I don't hate you at all. What is going on? I've tried calling you and texting you but you weren't answering. What are you doing out here and why are you asking me these questions?"
For the first time Regina looked at her and Emma almost took a step back. The expression on her face was more like when Emma had first come to town and they had been at each other's throats.
"Why would you want your mother to become a child?"
"I wouldn't. Good God after today I was hoping you had come up with answer on how to reverse this."
"It can't be reversed until the magic runs it course," Regina said standing up. "It can't be undone until the magic gives you whatever it is that you were desiring when you dropped that vial. So again I will ask you, did you do this to punish me?"
"Whoa, whoa, time out," Emma said. "Speak English will you because I have no idea what you are talking about."
"Let me lay out for you then, the magic in that vial was a desire spell. It works to give the person who used it, in this case you, something that you desire. Therefore something you desire is connected to the magic turning your mother into a child. And a child she will remain until the magic completes its task and you get what you wanted."
This time Emma did take a step back as she thought about it. "No,' she said. "This is ridiculous. There is nothing I want that would involve turning my mother into a child. Why would I want that?"
"I've been thinking about that all afternoon," Regina said. "And the only thing I can come up with is that you did it hurt me. Having that child around is like pure torture. That child is the reason I lost the man I loved."
Emma again looked around as she realized why Regina was here. Daniel. She had come out here because she was thinking of Daniel and probably thinking about how he died. Having young Snow around had to be a painful reminder of all of it.
"I swear to you, I do not want to hurt you," Emma said. "I don't hate you. Come on Regina, look at how far we have come. Why would I do that?"
"I don't know, but the desire you have doesn't have to be something you are conscious of so maybe your subconscious is trying to tell you something."
Emma shook her head no. She knew that wasn't possible. She didn't subconsciously wish Regina any ill will. In fact when it came to desire, she wasn't afraid to admit – at least to herself – that she desired this woman in front of her. In fact she had been thinking such thoughts right before all of this happened.
Emma took another step back as her mind flashed back to that moment in the vault when she was thinking about how close she and Regina had become, and how she would like it to be even closer but she didn't see that as a possibility because of Regina and Snow's past.
If only those two could get beyond their shared past is what she had thought.
"Fuck me," Emma said. "I did do this."
Regina crossed her arms in front of her taking that admission as one that Emma had intended to hurt her.
"It's not what you think." Emma said quickly as if she could read Regina's mind. "This isn't about me hating you or anything like that."
"But you do realize why this happened don't you?"
"I might," Emma said. Even as her cheeks felt hot from the embarrassment of it, she knew there was no way she could tell the truth. The magic clearly made Snow a child so that she and Regina could reconcile their past so that Emma could then make a move on the mayor.
"Out with it," Regina said.
"Are you sure there is no way to reverse it?"
"If there was I would have done it immediately. Now what is this all about if it isn't about me?"
Technically it was about her, but Emma had no idea how to frame this so she didn't have to reveal what her desire actually was.
"I think we should get back. She's been pretty worried about where you have been all day, and um I think I might need some time to think this through a little bit," Emma said, praying that this stall tactic might work even as she doubted it would.
Now Regina was scrutinizing her even more. She was doing that slight head tilt thing she did when she wasn't quite sure what to make out of something Emma had done or said.
"Please," Emma said. "I promise I didn't want to hurt you."
"I guess that remains to be seen," Regina said.
"I'll figure this out, but for now, let's get back. Henry was also worried about you."
"Fine," Regina said. "But you need to resolve this quickly."
"It is my number one priority," Emma said.
She waited for Regina to lead the way out and once they were to their cars Emma stopped as she opened her door. "Maybe when we get there you could try to spend time with her."
"Why would I do that?"
"She thought you were mad at her when you left this morning and not seeing you all day, well I just thought maybe it would keep her from bugging you if were nice to her for a bit."
Regina looked as if she wanted to go off on Emma, but she held her tongue – almost. "Forty-eight hours Miss Swan. You have that much time to fix this. After that, I want her out of my house and I don't care what you do with her or if she ever returns to normal after that because I assure you she and I will never occupy the same room ever again."
Getting into her car, Regina pulled away while Emma still stood there. Once she got into her own car she knew how absolutely screwed she was. Forty-eight hours was not enough time to repair decades of hate.
