Belle brought a tray of food into Regina's chamber although she doubted the young woman would eat it. Still, she needed to try.

She had seen Regina run to her room with tears streaming down her face – but that was three days ago and Regina hadn't left the room since. Belle had asked Rumple immediately what was wrong, but all he said was that Regina had seen something that had upset her. He also told her it was none of her concern.

But Belle couldn't help but be concerned. She liked Regina and didn't like seeing her upset. Last night she got a sobbing story out of Regina about how she had used magic to see Emma and witnessed her kissing another. Belle was familiar with Emma as she was one of Regina's favorite topics to speak about, so Belle was surprised by this. She had thought that Emma had indeed loved Regina as Regina loved her.

She tried to reassure Regina that she must have been mistaken in what she had seen, but Regina was too upset to listen to anything.

Belle was at least hopeful that she could get Regina to eat something today.

She placed the tray down in the antechamber and knocked on the door to Regina's room. There was no answer and Belle wasn't surprised by that. She entered quietly to find Regina standing near the window, her arms crossed, looking out on a view that showed nothing but the castle and the woods around it.

"Regina," Belle said, but Regina didn't move or acknowledge her presence. "Regina, I brought you something to eat."

"Thank you. I am not hungry." Regina said it with a completely flat, unemotional tone. She still didn't move and Belle studied her for a moment. This was the first time she had even seen Regina out of bed in three days and the first time she wasn't crying.

"You need to have something, you haven't eaten in days," Belle said. "It's just a bit of soup and some toast."

"I wish to be left alone."

Again that same tone.

Belle considered arguing with her; instead, she turned and left. She picked up the tray knowing Regina wouldn't eat from it if she had left it there. She went back down the stairs, dropping off the food in the kitchen. Rumple had been almost as closed off as Regina had been over the last few days. She never really knew what kind of mood she would find him in, but she felt she had no choice but to speak to him about Regina.

She entered the room where he spent most of his time and found him sitting behind his desk – where she had left him hours before when she brought him a tea.

Like Regina, he didn't acknowledge her presence.

While she let Regina get away with that, she wasn't about to take it from him.

"Regina still won't eat," she said standing in front of the desk. "You have to do something."

"What would you have me do, force feed her?" he said dismissively.

"No, but perhaps you could let her go so she may go see Emma in person and speak to her about what she saw."

If Rumple thought it was odd that Belle knew about it, he gave no sign of it. "And what would that accomplish exactly?" he asked.

"She's heartbroken over what she thought she saw."

He finally looked up at her. "Let's say I release her and she rides to the White kingdom to speak to Emma and Emma confirms that she is yes in love with this guy. Will she be any less heartbroken? Then there is the fact that Queen Snow would most likely throw Regina in the darkest cell she could find or take steps against Regina's family. Would these be good things for her? No. The best thing for her is to stay here and get over it."

"She loves Emma. It's not something she is just going to get over."

"She will with time," he said directing his attention back to his desk.

"Did you know?"

"Did I know what?"
"Did you know Regina would see something like that?" she demanded.

He again looked up at her. "It's best she learn now that the princess doesn't care for her."

"I don't believe that. Why would Emma go through all this trouble if not to be with Regina?"

"You have to admit this was a fairly effective way of getting Regina out of the picture. Now the princess can be with who she wants and not have to worry about her mother finding out about her momentary dalliance with our Regina."

Belle backed away as Rumple again looked away from her. Could it be true, she wondered. Could Emma have done this as a way to get rid of Regina?

No, Belle thought. While she didn't know Emma, she saw how much in love Regina was with her and Belle refused to believe Emma could merely cast Regina aside.

…

Regina had no choice but to leave her room the next day as the Dark One simply teleported her downstairs.

"I do hope you are done moping about," he said to her. "You still have much to learn."

She felt her anger rising in her immediately. "I will not take any more lessons from you," she said and she turned to exit the room. She got to the doors which swung shut in front of her. She tried to push them open but they remained closed.

"If you wish to leave the room, use your magic to open the doors," he said to her.

"No," she said. "Don't you understand? I don't want to learn any more magic. I don't want to know how to do these things? If I hadn't have done magic…"

She trailed off, her anger subsiding a little.

"Do you think you are upset because of magic? Don't you see that your magic has helped you see things as they really are? You should be thankful for this power."

"Thankful," she said turning to face him, her anger again spiking. "Tell me Dark One, what has magic gotten you? Are you happy? Does it make you happy? Does it warm your heart? Does it make you smile? Do you know what it is like to look into the eyes of the one you love and see that love shining back at you? Can magic give you that feeling?"

"It can not," he said. "But can Emma ever give you that feeling ever again after what you have seen?"

The anger transformed into pure rage at the mention of Emma's name and Regina turned from him, the magic unleashing from her fingertips and slamming against the doors. Both swung open and one was hanging on by one small hinge from the force of it.

Regina looked down at her hand, not quite believing that she had just done that. It hadn't even been a conscious thought. All she had felt was an overwhelming anger and the need to direct it somewhere.

She heard Rumple clapping and she turned back to face him.

"There are things magic can't do," he said. "But one thing it can do is make you so powerful that nothing can ever hurt you again."

She looked at her hand once more and then back to him.

"I want to learn," she said.

…

By now Emma knew she had made a grave mistake.

The ball and the announcement of her engagement were only a month away. She had essentially been held captive at the castle by her mother who would not let her travel outside its walls without armed escorts that wouldn't let her out of their sight.

And worst of all she had heard nothing from Rumplestiltskin about Regina.

She had no idea if Regina was safe, or if the Dark One had done something to her. She had begged her mother to resume the search for Regina. She hadn't told her mother the truth of what she knew about Regina's whereabouts, but she had hoped maybe a search party would learn something of her.

Her mother had of course refused.

As each day passed Emma became more despondent and at times she would be near-catatonic with worry.

She had appealed to her father, but he would not listen to her either.

While no one in court knew of Emma's and Regina's relationship, Emma had heard the rumor going around that Regina had planned her disappearance to run away with some ill-advised lover. Emma could guess that her mother was probably the source of such a rumor.

Still, it seemed to be enough to keep Regina's mother from attending court.

Emma wished she could talk to Cora, perhaps even tell her the truth because maybe Regina's family could do something where Emma couldn't.

Her constant thought was how this wasn't how it was supposed to be. She was supposed to be with Regina by now. They were supposed to be somewhere safe. The Dark One had made a deal with her – a deal which was supposed to allow Regina and her to be together.

She was sitting in the garden, the place where she first met Regina when she heard someone clear their throat. She turned to see Daniel standing there.

"Am I interrupting?" he asked.

"I am not really in the mood for company," Emma said.

Daniel still approached her slowly. "You never seem to be in the mood for company as of late."

He took a seat on the bench next to her. Neither said a word for several minutes.

"You are in love with her, aren't you?" he said finally.

Emma couldn't hide the shock in her expression but then turned her face away from him. "I don't know what you are talking about."

"Regina. I am talking about Regina," he said. "You haven't been the same since her disappearance."

"She's a friend, naturally I would be worried."

"This isn't just worry Emma. This is heartbreak," he said. "It took me a while to realize it. I thought you were just upset because you were friends, but this isn't about friendship. You are in love with her."

She didn't say anything but she leaned up against him and he put an arm around her.

"Why did your mom call off the search?" he asked.

"Because she knows. She knows about me and Regina. I let it slip and … and now she's trying to ensure I never have any contact with Regina ever again. She's forcing me to marry Killian. She's going to make the announcement at the ball."

"Yes, the prevailing rumor around court was that it would be Killian," Daniel said. "I was supposed to dance with Regina at the ball. I had asked her."

"I am sorry," Emma said, sitting upright again. She had forgotten momentarily that Daniel was her "competition" for Regina. "I know you have feelings for her."

"I do. I won't deny that. Regina was my first crush. From the first time I saw her, I thought I am going to grow up and one day she's going to look at me like I am some sort of gallant knight who would slay dragons for her. But that's not going to happen," he said with resignation in his voice. "She loves you too, doesn't she?"

Emma merely nodded.

"Well, it seems to me that since we both have feelings for our Lady Regina, that we must do something to find her."

Emma started to cry, burying her face in her hands even as she felt Daniel put a comforting hand on her back.

"We will find her," he reassured her.

She looked at him. "You don't understand. I know where she is at."