A/N: This story takes place during the Missing Year. I've been meaning to write a story for the Missing Year because I feel like we all got cheated out of some much needed scenes as is we didn't get enough of what happened during the year. This is like 100% my imagination. Eventually it'll line up with the actual show, though.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, but my grammar issues.


Regina Mills, also know as the Evil Queen, was sitting at the round table in her castle along with Snow White the "Queen", Prince Charming the "King", Grumpy the Dwarf, Belle the Bookworm, Eugenia the Wolf, and (Her Majesty's least favorite) Robin Hood the Thief. Discussing...well Regina's not quite sure because she's been ignoring them for the past hour. She's sure it has to do with famine or something of the sort. Although, she could just use her magic to produce food for the whole kingdom, but no, "It's too risky," Snow says. What an idio-

"Regina!" The brunette hears an annoyingly familiar voice yell.

She turns her head towards the sound and grunts in response.

"Are you even listening?" She scoffs and scrunches up her nose.

"No," Regina wants to respond, so in turn she does and smirks when the Uncharmings roll their eyes.

"We said," emphasis on the said, "that we need to go to the Mystic Willows forest so we can gather the proper materials to protect the crops of the land from the creatures of night."

At this Regina sat up straighter, if possible, and frowned. The Mystic Willows is known for having creatures that possess glorious and powerful magic. From the soil on the ground to the birds that hover above. What Regina found most compelling is the rumor that the human embodiment of light lives deep within the heart of said forest. Being the human embodiment of darkness, Regina's interest was peeked,"You realize Fos lives there, right?" Regina clasped her hands together to keep her excitement down.

Save Face. Never let anyone know what brings you joy or pain... Regina remembered the words her mother continuously spoke.

"Who is that?"

"She's...thehumanembodimentoflight..."

"What?" Everyone respond at the same time minus Belle, who had already started looking in her books for more information.

"She's the human embodiment of light. While, I'm the human embodiment of darkness." The former mayor squeezes her clasped hands tighter together.

"So would you two fight or something?" Charming inquiries.

Before Regina could respond Belle started, "Actually, the exact opposite. Because one is light and the other is dark they'd be attracted towards each other in an undeniable way. If they came with contact, physically I mean, Regina would get a surge of incredible energy and Fos would feel calmer than usual. It can sometimes be perceived as a sexual attraction, but in all actuality its much more."

"So sister, you're telling us that if she goes with Charming, Snow, and Robin that she'll gets the hots and fuck?" Grumpy asks and Snow chastises him.

"It was just a question." He 'justifies' his inquiry.

"No, we would not, as you so eloquently put it, fuck. I'd just want to stay with her...all the time. I should be fine as long as we don't touch." Regina shrugs, "So when are we leaving?"

"Are you sure its safe for you?" Snow asks concern clearly written on her face.

"Yes, Snowflake, I'll be fine." The brunette grunts purposefully using the nickname that Snow despises.

"Fine, then we can go tomorrow at sun rise." Snow says, but it comes out more like a growl.

"Should I ready my men?" Robin asks Snow.

"No, we're just going to gather supplies. The four of us should be more than enough." The young woman smiles.

"Yes, more than enough, so why does the thief need to be there is the first place?" Regina emphasizes the word thief.

Robin hated that. The way she taunts him with the word. The way she starts arguments out of nothing for absolutely no reason. She was simply maddening.

"Well if it comes down to it, maybe I'll just have to save your arse again." Robin glares daggers at the Queen and grits out the word again, but is nothing compared to the glare he receives back.

"Oh, so you're gonna save us when you couldn't even save your own son!" Regina unfolds her arms a rests the face front onto the round table.

"Yes, Your Bitchiness, you saved my son from the thing that was coming for you! And I am forever grateful as I've made clear by now. But I saved you and the Queen from the flying monkeys when you first got here. Therefo-" Robin doesn't get to finish because Regina threw a mini fireball at his foot.

"What the bloody hell!" Robin yells, outraged.

Regina smirks in response, "It's highness, dear. Don't forget your place you imbecile." With this the woman turns and walks towards the exit of the room.

"Well, I suppose this meeting is adjourned. Robin are you alright? And will someone please wake up Granny?" Snow huffs.

"Is she always so infuriatingly contemptuous?" Robin asks through clenched teeth as his eyes follow the queens's retreating form.

He continued to glare at the door that the brunette had just exited through. He couldn't even begin to form the words of how aggravating the brunette's arrogance was when it came to...well anything really. She didn't even bother to bid anyone goodnight. Her chin was always stuck up in the air and she was always in such a foul mood.

"Hey, she's really not bad. She's just reacting to a bad situation best she knows how, its just the way Regina is. Go with it and she'll warm up to you eventually." Snow defends her former stepmother with an optimistic smile. Robin just grunt and marches out of the library.


By lunch on the next day the whole gang was already walking through the forest. The forest was filled with large trees that changed colors. Snow spotted a pond that has dancing wisps on lily pads. One of the magical spirits danced around Regina. Unexpectedly, Regina started talking to them.

"Hello, what's your name?" Regina asked the invisible character. This was the wind spirit that was floating about. The spirit swirled around Regina, messing up her hair a bit, and whispered into her ear, "Caeli."

The queen let out a free giggle, yes she giggled, and said, "A pleasure, Caeli." She then did a slight curtsy.

"Regina...who are you talking to?" Snow asked a bit concerned.

"Oh, you can't see them, but its the wind spirit of the forest. Their name is Caeli."

"That's great, your highness." Robin responded then leaned over to David and whispered, "Man she's gone batshit. I say the three of us make a run for it while we still can."

Charming lets out an unexpected laugh and the two queens turn towards him, "Fine, call me crazy all you want. I know I'm correct."

Caeli senses the brunette's shift in attitude and goes straight towards the two men who are still chuckling. They let out a not so manly shriek when they're picked up off the ground and spun around.

"Caeli, its okay." Regina states and Caeli stops spinning the men, letting them fall towards the ground. They then speeds towards Regina and nuzzles into her neck, so Regina grins and lets out airy laugh in response.

"A-Alright let's keep moving. Regina will Caeli be joining us?" Snow asks.

"Caeli are you coming?" After a moment Regina speaks again, "They say that they'll catch up later. They have something to do at the moment."

"Alright."

The group of four said goodbye to the spirit and continued to trudge forward through the gorgeous forest. Almost as soon as it came, Regina's attitude shifted back to her normal anger.


Snow was growing restless with the abundant sound of silence. They'd been about the forest for hours collecting what they needed and mapping out what they'd discovered. And to say Snow was bored would be an understatement.

"Regina, how are you feeling? Any Fos magic, happening?" Snow asks walking a little bit ahead to catch up with her ex-stepmother.

"Annoyed and no." Regina grunts. Truth be told Regina wasn't feeling much of anything within this forest, no matter its beauty and vast amount of mythical creatures, which was a major disappointment, plus Snow was standing to close. "What do you want?"

"Nothing, really, the silence is just bothersome." Snow shrugs then continues,"Want to play a game while we walk?" Snow looked at her with a hopeful gleam in her eyes.

"If I say yes, will you stop pestering me?" The older Queen rolls her eyes.

The younger Queen shrugs again and states, "If it's fun."

"Fine, what is this game."

"It's called, 'Make Me Laugh,' we go back and forth telling jokes and the first one to laugh loses."

"Simple enough, you start."

"Okay, knock knock.

"Who's there?"

"Interrupting cow."

"Interrupting co-" Regina is cut off by Snow screaming "moo" in her ear.

"That was just rude." Regina grunts.

"Your turn." Snow snickers.

"I despise this game."

"Aw, come one Regina. Live a little."

"I'd hardly call this living."

"Regina..."

"Fine, knock knock."

"Who's there?"

"Idiot."

"Idiot who?"

"Idiot you, if you thought I was really about to play this game."

The appalled look upon Snow's faces makes Regina bark with laughter.

"I lose...that...was fun." Regina chokes out as she continues to laugh and Snow just frowns at her to which makes the taller brunette laugh harder

Meanwhile, Robin and David are walk a little bit behind the two Queens chatting.

"The Queens seem to be pleased." Robin starts with a wistful look towards Regina.

"Maybe, Regina is probably just picking on Snow again." David shrugs and looks at Robin, who is still watching Regina.

"And you're alright with that?" He questions, eyes leaving the brunette.

"Their relationship is complicated. I leave them be."

Robin lets out a low hum in response. After a moment, though, he starts again, "Hey majesty, is complicated. But in a good way. If she wasn't so rude then I might want to get to know her."

David sighs and stops walking, in turn Robin stops and looks at David, "Robin please understand that Regina is my family. She's like my sister and if we really go into the family tree well then you'd get all messed up. But point being I care about her. I know her for the most part. She's been hurt so many times and she is still here. She may have been the Evil Queen, but she isn't anymore. Her being rude or cruel is just her protecting herself from more heartache. If you want to get to know her then go ahead just don't let her push you away."

"Alright, mate, alright." David nods at this response and they continue their journey.


After a while they've gathered all the materials necessary and are about to head home when Regina gasps loudly. Regina's eyes swirl purple with magic every now and again, but currently they are absolutely glowing. This takes everyone by surprise because they've never actually seen her eyes glow. As expected with their hero complex they all take a step towards her. Minus Robin because he isn't an idiot and has a sense of self-preservation.

"D-Do you fee-feel that?" Regina stutters, her mouth wide full of gleaming teeth.

"Regina..." Snow trails and takes another step closer to her. Regina then decides to run towards the cause of her feelings.

"Regina! Regina come back!" Snow and Charming yell and run after the speedy brunette.

"Aw, bloody hell, I knew I was going to have to save your ass today." Robin speeds forward and ends up on seconds away from the eldest queen.

" 'Gina, is that you? 'Gina?" Someone else yells, but has yet to show their face.

"Fos? Fos come out, love."

"Love?" Robin thought, "Well, this escalated quickly."

And suddenly as if everything just stopped a gorgeous woman walked from between trees.

"Hi, you're her aren't you?"

"I am. I'm Fos."

They walk towards each other and stop directly in front. Fos makes the first move and gently places her hand on Regina's cheek. Regina leans into the warmth of her fingers and moves her hand the same with the other. Then they just stand there staring at each other. Snow and Charming catch up and just stare along with Robin who's been there the whole time. This time Regina takes the leap and closes the gap between the two. As soon as she does they both lift into the air. Fos transforms into pure light and Regina pure darkness. They swirl around each other until the stop. As they come down they lean their heads on one another's.

That's when they see it.

Regina's natural, brunette, curls falling off her shoulders to the middle of her spine. Her leather pants and tight corset have turned into a long, silky, black gown that's chest is cut in a deep V, it also cuts at her thighs on the front and trails behind her on the back with a long, black cape clasped at the front.. Her face is clear of makeup and her eyes are now a pale white. Fos on the other hand has long blonde hair cascading down her backside. She wears a white gown that's cut similar to Regina's minus the deep V, but has a white glittery belt that ties into a bow. Fos also has a large, white tattoo in the form of a dripping heart on her left shoulder. Her eyes are similar to jet black.

It takes a minute for everything to calm down put as soon as it does they see Regina and Fos making out with white and black light flurrying around the thing they know, they're being tossed apart by some unseen force. Knocked unconscious they both succumb to darkness on either sides of that section of the forest.