"I can't believe she tried to kill me…after I offered her everything…"

"She doesn't change, Snow. I'm so sorry."

Charming pushed his feelings towards Regina aside. Snow started to cry again, and curled in his arms. He wrapped his arms around her, all but cradling her. He tried not to let further anger rise in his chest. Seeing Regina try to kill Snow in front of him, seeing the pure hatred in her eyes, had left him feeling even worse than he ever had about her. Regina. He knew full well that Regina had tried to have Snow killed time after time. This was the first time, so far as he was aware, Regina had tried to kill Snow by her own hand. Always before had she forced others to do so. There was the way she talked, too, even when she felt her own death was imminent. Regina. She shared no mercy. No care. Up until the end, or, at least, her apparent end, she had wanted to kill Snow. It made him sick. Seeing the way her actions upset Snow so much, now, made it worse. Snow was almost too good of a person. She had told Regina she would kill her if she harmed anyone in the kingdom again. He knew she wouldn't.

"I'm stunned you told Regina you would kill her."

Silence.

"It's an empty threat," Snow had looked away, sounding embarrassed. "But one that should keep her in line."

"What's the real threat?"

"Well, I assume she thinks that one is real. But…"

He had gently cupped her cheek. "You don't have to say if it'll upset you."

Snow had shaken her head. "The real threat is that we take Lynn from her," She had said, her voice little more than a whisper. "Because, if Regina is willing to continue harming people in our kingdom thinking we may kill her because of it, who's to say she isn't harming Lynn?"

He had sighed.

"Charming," She had rested her hands over his. "We're going to be okay. And, if the worst happens, Lynn will be as well."

"I know," He had paused. "No one knows that we're with child, do they?"

Snow had smiled. "Of course not," She had leaned in to briefly kiss him. "The wedding is in just over a month. They'll find out well after. For now, our little one is our secret."

"Hey," Charming shifted, brushing the tears away from her face. "You said it yourself a little while back: it's going to be okay."

"I know," Snow briefly closed her eyes. "There's so much to think about, and I suppose I just…I thought I could save her."

"We can't save everyone," He spoke gently, lightly rubbing her back. "But we did our best. That's all that can be asked for, isn't it?"

"It is," Snow said, biting at her lip. "It's just hard to not also feel a bit defeated."

He fell silent. The feeling hit him too. More than anything else, even anger, it hurt, and it was nothing short of disheartening.

"Whatever happens, we'll be okay," He finally managed. "Was it you or I who first promised to always find each other?"

Snow laughed a little. "To be honest, I'm not quite sure anymore."

"Well, regardless, I mean it," He leaned over to swiftly kiss her. "You're my beacon, Snow. And I will never leave you or our child."

"Good," Snow winked. "Because I have a feeling neither of us will let you go either."

"I wouldn't want you to," He replied. "Why else would I be so excited to marry you so soon? To have a child with you?"

Snow grinned. "Are you playing smart with me?"

"Is that a good or a bad thing?" He teased.

"Depends," She started laughing. "Oh, don't pull that face. You know I'm just about incapable of staying angry with you for any reason."

He laughed with her. "And I you."

"You undid Regina's bracelet, the one that prevented her from using any magic. Why?"

Red nearly spilled the tea she had been pouring on herself when the smaller (and, typically, impulsive) lady of Willowsand stepped into the greenhouse. When her eyes met the quizzical green ones behind those glasses, she sighed. It was almost impossible to explain why she felt at ease with the woman, but perhaps it stemmed from the fact they were very nearly the same age. It made her closer in age with Regina than Snow, but it also was yet another disconnect between herself and the queen. She tried to ignore that her thoughts kept referring to Regina as the queen. In the few times she had, very briefly, spoken to Snow since Regina's near execution, she had struggled to maintain her face. She was just nomadic, as she always had been, and news took longer to set in for her. Snow and Charming believed her. It made her sick. She was lying through her teeth. Yet, she couldn't stop. She didn't see any world where she could stop, and be okay with herself if she did.

"I hope I'm not scaring you," Caity remarked, brushing her fingers over some of the yellow roses. "I'm just a bit…perplexed. You care about Lynn, obviously, but anyone could have undone that damn bracelet. Why did you do it the second you realised she had it on her, before any of us did?"

Red glanced at her, hesitant. Caity perched herself on a chaise lounge.
"Regina can't harm them in this land because of Rumplestiltskin's spell," Red eventually said, sitting down on one of the plush chairs across from the lady. "Someone would have done it for her either way and, to tell you the truth, it seems unnecessary. The only person she can hurt now, without risking her life, is herself."

Caity considered that. "True. Yet you didn't help Snow and Charming, and you, by similar logic, didn't help Regina either. Not to mention that you have essentially gone into hiding."

Red glanced away for just a moment.

"So, I ask again," The lady's high pitched voice softened. "Why?"

Red started to speak but cut herself off.

There were far too many things she wanted to say.

Most of them, she told herself, made absolutely zero sense.

Regina had shown zero remorse for what she had done.

Snow had spent her entire life trying to help and protect others.

The two of them were diametrically opposed.

How was there any struggle of conscience on the matter?

Why did she find herself returning to the same unanswerable questions day after day after day?

"I can't explain it," Red looked down at her hands. "Because there are about a million reasons why I should detest Regina, and a million reasons why I should take issue with Snow. And, while I feel like the right thing should be to agree with Snow and Charming, I can't decide how I feel about either of them. Snow is my friend…but I also don't see the same woman in Regina she and Charming do. I can't, not anymore."

Though the lady's response was almost immediate, the few seconds of silence felt like an eternity, and it terrified her to the core of her being.

The words that followed stunned her.

"That's fair. Regina and I have known each other for years, and to tell you the truth she was one of my first friends. I know I'm going to always favour her. I can't say I will ever be able to forgive Snow and her prince for what they put her through and, just as importantly, what they put Lynn through, but they didn't necessarily have the wrong intentions. Regina does have a hair pin temper. And, for better or for worse, the trauma she's endured has made her prone to quick action."

Red looked up, blinking rapidly.

"Is that really hard to understand?"

Red startled.

"Of course not, I just…I was surprised."

"And that's perfectly natural…honestly, we would be much better off as a world if we just took a step back…and recognised that we can never know everything…and we have to let those things go. Then again, I'm more than a hypocrite on that subject than anyone..."

"Momma…" Lynn mumbled, starting to fall asleep. "Tell me the story about the lady with the pretty hair again…"

Regina sighed, leaning over to affectionately scratch her daughter behind the ears. She barely heard herself speak, having told her the story so many times already. It felt more and more ethereal with every rendition. In that sense, it was somewhat saddening. A reminder that the world would never be as the one she had so briefly felt in fantasy. She hated it. More than anything, she hated that she could possibly give into and fantasise about a world where everything was perfect. Where everything seemed perfect. It hadn't been worth it when everything seemed perfect here. No. She glanced down at her daughter, who was slowly nodding off to sleep. Lynn was worth it. The fact she herself was still alive was worth it. The only thing that was not was the fact Snow had won. More than anything, it made her angry. They had taken away so much already, and now left her below the status of her friends. It was humiliating. It engendered rage in her. Leaving her the palace, and her daughter were little more than a slap in the face. After all they had done to her, and to Lynn, taking away their power left her more vitriolic towards them than ever.

"You're always going to be the princess," Regina smiled briefly when she saw Lynn roll over, happily mumbling to herself in her sleep. "I will ensure that. Somehow."

The doors to the room swept open.

"You have a visitor."

Without thinking, Regina snatched up one of her sharp hair pins, half expecting her step daughter to saunter into the room.

"Who?"

Her eyes narrowed when she heard laughter.

Sick fucking laughter.

"You need to ask?" The voice behind the laughs remarked, nearly waltzing into the room. "What other friends do you have, dearie?"

Her hand tightened around the pin. "You're no friend," She snapped. "Have you come to relish my suffering?"

He raised an eyebrow, looking almost offended.

Regina did not waver. When his gaze briefly fell on Lynn, the pin left her hand, and, for once, scraped into his shoulder, drawing blood.

Still, he laughed. That infuriating, throaty laugh.

"I thought you'd want someone to help…raise your spirits," He said, tugging the pin out of his shoulder and dropping it to the ground. "Especially on a day like today."

Regina's eyes narrowed further, and, her steps almost flurried, she came up mere inches from him.

"What," She hissed. "Is so special about today?"

Rumple made a brief show of thinking rather deeply about that.

"Snow White and Prince Charming's wedding, of course!"

Regina started swearing under her breath.

"Didn't you get an invitation?" He remarked with a smirk. Then, he shrugged. "Me neither. Still, nice to be able to see them declare their -"

Regina sent him a murderous look.

"- true love," He drew out the words almost as if he were both amused and repulsed by them. "In front of their entire kingdom. A happy ending, after all."

"And, because of you," Regina's fingers began to curl. "There's nothing I can do to stop it. No way to harm them in this land ever again!"

She lowered her voice. Glanced at Lynn. To her relief, her little girl was still sound asleep.

"Yes," He eyed her curiously. "Yes, I suppose that's true. In this land."

Regina raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"The deal I made was explicit," He cheerfully replied. "You can never harm them in this land. Now, were you to bring them to another land…well…"

Regina stared at him for a few seconds.

Then, she turned to her dresser.

Pulled out a couple of drawers.

She still had it.

Her eyes read over it quickly, and her fingers curled tightly around it.

She slipped it into the pocket of her pants.

Then, though she did her best to mask it, she smiled.

"Told you I was your friend."

Within seconds, he was gone.

Regina glanced back to Lynn.

It would only be a few hours. Then, she would be back for sure, this time.

"I have a wedding to get to."

Replies To Reviews:

barrattajennifer: Regina really does get screwed over more often than not. and, 100%, Snow and Charming are not nearly as careful or far ahead as they think they are.

jasouatfan: i'm glad you liked it! It was an especially challenging chapter to write! sorry if this one is a bit shorter! i will offer a single hint, however: five chapters until Storybrooke.

Sammii16: it was definitely a chapter fuelled and embodied by emotion, and i hope it's set the stage well for the exploration(s)/chapters to come!