Hey guys! This plot idea came into my mind and I had to start writing it! I'm still working on What a Cruel Twist of Fate, I'm hoping to get it finished soon, but I decided to start posting this story in the meantime. This is set after 2x10 (The Cricket Game) and it's an AU take on Henry's reaction to Archie's "death" and what it means for his relationship with Regina. I'm a huge fan of their relationship, it's really grown on me now that I've been rewatching parts of the show. Sadly, there aren't that many RegalBeliever stories out there so I thought I'd write my own.

I hope you guys enjoy it!

Henry adjusted the straps of his bookbag as he passed the shops. It was a sunny afternoon in Storybrooke and he was excited to get back to the apartment. He had missed Emma and Mary Margaret when they were stuck in the Enchanted Forest. It was fun hanging out with David, but he wanted his mom. His actual mom. Not his other mo- no, Regina.

He shook his head. She wasn't his mother anymore, she was just Regina, the Evil Queen. She had never cared about him, that much was certain. Had never loved him. She just lied and tried to manipulate him all the time. Sure, she had saved Mary Margaret and Emma's life but she probably had an ulterior motive for that. She was evil after all. She had killed Archie! His friend. She had tried to lie about that too. She had made Henry believe she had changed, that she was trying to be good but then she killed one of his only friends.

Henry felt a wave of sadness crash over him as he walked along the sidewalk, he would never see Archie again. Never hear his voice, never see him walking Pongo outside. Archie had always greeted him with a smile. Now he never would again. All because of the Evil Queen. As Henry passed Mr. Gold's shop, the door suddenly swung open and Jefferson crashed into Henry. Stumbling a few paces, Henry finally regained his balance and looked up at the man.

"Sorry Henry, you okay?" Jefferson peered down concerned.

"I'm fine."

"I should've watched where I was going." He chuckled nervously, adjusting the hat in his hands. Henry's eyes caught the movement. It was a top hat, the same top hat that had sent Emma and Mary Margaret to the Enchanted Forest.

"What are you doing with that?" Henry pointed curiously to the hat.

"What- oh, this is mine. I was just getting it back from Rumpelstiltskin. Grace and I are going to Wonderland."

"Oh that's nice." Henry offered a smile up at the man.

"Thank you. Have a nice day." Jefferson dipped his head awkwardly toward Henry before hurrying off.

Henry watched him for a couple seconds before turning to walk back to the apartment. Before he had taken a step, a flash of silver caught his eye. He bent down, picking up a familiar ring. Recognition flashed through him as he held it. This was his mot- the Evil Queen's. A memory flashed through his mind.

Henry ran through the front door, "Mom!" He clutched a piece of paper in his hand as he ran up the stairs, "Mom?" He spotted her bedroom door ajar and hurried inside. His mother's familiar figure was standing by the window. As he approached, he noticed her gaze was on some circular thing she was holding. He took a couple more steps and realized it was a silver ring. It was the way she held it that confused him. Her fingers were brushing over it gently, like it meant a lot to her. Henry furrowed his brows, it was such a plain looking thing for his mother to be so delicate with. It was nothing like any of the other jewelry she wore, it didn't look like anything special. So why was his mom holding it like that? And why did she have tears in her eyes? He tugged her sleeve, "Mom?" She jumped and turned to look at him,

"What- oh, Henry! You scared me!" She admonished gently.

"Sorry," He looked down sheepishly, "I called your name. I wanted to show you something!" He held up the piece of paper excitedly. His mom took it and a grin spread over her face,

"Henry! You got a gold star on your math test!" She drew him into a hug, "I'm so proud of you!"

Henry fidgeted with the ring. It was definitely important to his mom. But how did it get here? A thought suddenly crossed over his mind. What if it had magic? That would explain why she held it so fondly that day. He couldn't give it back to her if it had magic, who knows what she could do with it. Turning on his heel, he headed into Mr. Gold's shop. Maybe he could tell him if this ring had any magic.

Mr. Gold looked up at the tinkle of the bell, "Henry! What are you doing here?" Henry walked up to the counter and placed the ring on it.

"I need to know if this has any magic?"

"Magic? It's just a simple ring. What makes you think it has any magic?"

"It belongs to the Evil Queen." Henry said bitterly, meeting Mr. Gold's gaze. He was slightly taken aback by the bite in the child's voice.

"Your mom? Regina?"

"She's not my mom. She killed Archie." Henry said venomously. Mr. Gold raised one eyebrow. He had never heard Henry speak so aggressively. He felt a pang of sympathy for Regina. He knew all too well what it was like to have your child hate you. But Regina was a completely different parent that he was. He had abandoned Baelfire. And while there wasn't a day that went by that Rumpelstiltskin didn't regret his choice, he had still refused to give up power for his own son.

Yet Regina was the opposite, there wasn't anything that she wouldn't give up for her son. That was clear when she absorbed the death curse. It should've killed her, the only reason that made sense as to why she was able to survive it was the fact that she had done it out of love for her son.

She had taken it with pure intentions.

He wasn't sure if she had really killed Archie, not if she had taken the death curse like that. He had seen the dreamcatcher, had seen Regina strangle the cricket, but something seemed off about the whole situation. Regina was smart, strategic, that was one of things he admired about his student, though he would never admit it. She would never be so sloppy, no matter how angry she was. There was also the fact that she wouldn't do anything to jeopardize her relationship with her son. Unlike him. He thought bitterly.

"Why do you need to know if it has magic?" He asked curiously.

"Because I can't let her have it if it does. Who knows what she could do with it? I want to make a deal."

"A deal?"

"That's what you do, right? If I want you to help me, we make a deal."

"That is what I do."

"Okay, then can you see if this has magic. I, uh, don't know what you want in return."

Mr. Gold eyed the boy, amused, as he reached out to pick up the ring. As his fingers touched it, a sharp stab of pain rushed over him. Withdrawing his hand quickly, he stared bewildered at the ring.

"I was right! It does have magic."

Mr. Gold ignored Henry's comment and reached out his hand again tentatively. This time, he was able to pick it up. He focused, emitting a pale blue light from his palm. This object wasn't magical, but it possessed some strange feeling. Mr. Gold closed his eyes, drawing upon his magic. It was a powerful feeling, something raw and emotional. His magic weaved into the metal and the sharp stab of pain flooded his body again, but it didn't hurt like the first time. It was so much worse. A paralyzing fear had washed over him, his heartbeat thumped quickly in his chest and his breathing became fast before he felt the terror overtake him.

No! A distant voice screamed in his mind. Then pain engulfed him. It was like someone had ripped his heart out and crushed it, but he wasn't dead. He couldn't be dead because it felt like white-hot knives had slashed through his chest. He wasn't dead because his heart wasn't in his chest. It had been crushed but he was still breathing and he didn't know why. He should be on the floor, dead, just like-

Then the feeling changed, it was like he had been dropped in the middle of an ocean. The water was washing over his head, flooding his mouth as he shivered, gasping for breath. The frigid temperature of the water glided over his skin and he was numb, he couldn't feel anything but at the same time he felt everything. It was all gone.

It was all gone!

He sank deeper, but water no longer surrounded him, it was this sadness. The kind of sadness that clung to his skin and he couldn't breathe because it was all gone. Suddenly he broke the surface, the air swept through his airways, clearing them and he could breathe again. He breathed in and out, in and out, and it was so fast and he needed the air. But he was breathing too much, too fast. He was hyperventilating because this could not be happening.

This could not have happened!

He was stuck, he felt a looming weight press down on him, it was blocking his airways, crushing his body. He tried to breathe but he was breathing in acid and there was something tightening around his ring finger, cutting off all circulation and it was so cold. It was such a bitter cold that it felt like ice was burning into his skin and it had reached his blood and it was racing through his body and he was turning to ice, it was so cold. And he was alone, he was so alone-

"Mr. Gold?" Something shook his shoulder. "Mr. Gold!" The grip on his shoulder tightened and his eyes flew open. Warmth flooded his body as his head turned toward the feeling on his shoulder, it was a hand, and the hand belonged to,

"Henry?"

The boy's eyes were fearful. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Mr. Gold said shakily, glancing down at the ring in his hand, "You said this belonged to Regina?"

"What could she do with it?" Henry's voice was weak, fear in every syllable.

Mr. Gold shook his head, "It's not magic."

"But you were shaking! You were breathing so heavily, it was doing something to you!"

"It wasn't magic, it was-" Mr. Gold broke off as it hit him and this time he felt the cold sweep through his body, "It was memories." He suddenly felt sick as the pieces thudded into pieces. If that was Regina's memories, it had to be of that stable boy's death, but that didn't explain the last part of it, the looming weight, the metal on his finger, and the- oh.

Mr. Gold thought he was going to throw up as understanding hit him. The king had- Mr. Gold couldn't even finish the thought. She had been seventeen. She had been a child. He knew because he still felt guilty for manipulating her the way he did, especially at such a young age. She had been too young for the pain that she had experienced and he had exploited it. Used it to channel into anger, anger that would become twisted and would lead her exactly where he had wanted her. Into casting the Dark Curse, bringing them here, to the Land Without Magic.

To his son.

"Memories?" Henry asked confused, "But it looked like it was hurting you."

"It was." Mr. Gold said sadly, looking at the boy.

"What was she doing to you?" Horror had replaced the fear and Mr. Gold's heart clenched at the sight. It was the exact same gaze that Bae had when he had seen the extent of what he could do as the Dark One.

"She wasn't doing anything. Not intentionally." He let out a deep sigh, "All magic comes from emotion. That's why True Love's Kiss is so powerful. Since our emotions help us perform magic, sometimes, usually accidently, when we feel something so powerfully, our bodies can't take all of that emotion and it comes out in magic. That magic enters an object that is connected to our emotion. It's like a cup that's overfilling with water and that extra water that doesn't fit in the cup is put into another cup."

"So it's like storage for emotion?"

"Exactly."

"How evil is she? To cause so much pain?"

Mr. Gold blinked, "Evil?"

"Those emotions were hurting you! What did she do to make them hurt that bad?" Mr. Gold's mouth fell open at the boy's words, did he really think that poorly of his own mother? The woman who had raised him? Suddenly an idea sparked in his mind. A smirk spread over his face,

"Those emotions hurt, didn't they? I suppose you want to draw the memories out of this ring so they can't hurt anymore."

Henry nodded his head, "Yes! I don't want her to be able to hurt anyone again. Especially not like that, I don't think anyone deserves that kind of pain."

Mr. Gold bite his lip, trying to suppress an amused grin. The boy was so scared of how much pain those memories had held that he thought Regina had caused that pain, not that it was her feeling that pain. "Well, I could place an enchantment on it that can strip it of the emotions. That way it can't hurt anyone else. But," Mr. Gold paused for dramatic effect, "one person will have to experience the memories that caused this emotion. In order for this ring to lose that emotion, the person will be connected to whoever felt this pain. They will draw the emotion out in three stages. Stage one is the past, it's the emotions that led to this pain and the actual event. Stage two is the present, the most recent pain that the person experienced. Stage three is the future, the future pain that the person will experience. Those stages are necessary in order to wipe the ring clean of any emotion from the past, present, or future that could influence it. Once all of those stages are complete, the ring will lose all its magic."

Henry nodded, "Can you do the spell?"

"I believe we have a deal to arrange first. I will perform this spell, but someone has to experience the memories in order to strip the magic away. That's where your end of the deal comes in."

"Me? What do you want me to do?" Henry's voice held a note of wariness.

"I want you to be the one to experience the memories."

Henry's gaze met his, "Why me?"

"Don't you think it's fair that you see what your mom-"

"She's not my mom!" Henry interrupted.

"Fine, what the Evil Queen is capable of? That way she can't deceive you again."

Henry tilted his head, "That makes sense. I'll do it." Mr. Gold grinned, he did love double meanings, especially with words. Henry would be in for a rude awakening, seeing the kind of emotions Regina was capable of. She wouldn't be deceiving him again, not when Henry would know the truth. What had happened to his mother that pushed her into becoming the Evil Queen.

The truth about who she was.

Mr. Gold felt like he owed Regina that much. Seeing Henry hold so much anger toward Regina reminded him painstakingly of Baelfire. Regina wasn't him. She was a far better parent than he could ever be and part of him hated her for that. But the other part, the part of him that still harbored so much guilt for what he had done to her, the shove he had given her, leading her down the dark path. Allowing her to be consumed by the darkness so she would cast the curse that could finally bring him to his son. That the estrangement between her and her son was partly his fault. This, he hoped, this deal might be able to fix it. If Henry could understand what his mother had gone through and how devastating of a blow it had been, if he could see who she used to be and how that love that had defined her back then still defined her now, maybe they had a chance.

"Then we have a deal." Mr. Gold waved his hand over the ring, it glowed for a second before fading back to the muted silver. He had made sure to put a block on any memories that might appear from the castle, after Daniel's death. There were some things that no one, especially not her son, had to witness. Mr. Gold handed the ring to Henry, "Enjoy."

"Thank you."