A/N: Thanks to CrazedScribe, AndromedaEBlack, xxxLeaniexxx, HPGreen943, impureevilregal, SkullGaudess and VampWolf92 for reviewing/favouriting/following. I hope you enjoy this chapter and drop me a review to let me know what you think :)

That evening, the Queen decided that perhaps Talulla was now old enough to see her real father. She didn't want the girl to grow up thinking Leopold was her father. She had spoken to the King and he had agreed that the young toddler should know who her real father was, stating that she should know as soon as she was able to understand.

So, after supper that evening, Regina picked her daughter up and headed to the crypt where Leopold had allowed her to keep Daniel.

"Bed other way, mama," Talulla protested, pointing over the Queen's shoulder.

Regina chuckled. "I know, sweetheart, but we're not going to bed yet. There's something I want to do first. There's something I need to tell you."

"What is it, mama?"

Setting her down on the floor in a doorway, Regina bent down to her level and took her hands in her own before looking Talulla straight in the eye.

"The King and I have decided it's time we told you the truth. I don't want you to grow up not knowing this and we think you're old enough to understand now."

The little girl frowned and reached to her mother's face. "What wrong?" she asked.

"No, nothing's wrong, sweetheart. It actually involves the King and I."

"You and Papa?" Talulla's brow furrowed even more.

"That's the problem, Tallie. King Leopold isn't your father."

"What you mean?"

Regina sighed. "Your real father died. He was killed by my mother just before you were born. She wanted me to marry the King, but I didn't and I tried to run away with him. She caught us and she… she killed him."

"Why, mama?" Those usually happy eyes were now sparkling with tears.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart. My mother was a woman who wanted her own way. She wanted me to marry the King and would stop at nothing until she got it."

"Where she now?" Talulla didn't like the sound of this woman.

"Gone, sweetheart, and she won't come back to hurt you, I promise. I banished her to another land soon after you were born," the Queen explained. "Now come on, I have something to show you."

She took the girl's hand in her own and led her through a door just to their left. Inside the dark room lay a single, glass coffin where a man dressed in a white shirt and cream waistcoat lay peacefully.

"Who that, mama?"

"That's your father. His name was Daniel."

The young girl let go of her mother's hand and slowly walked over, placing one of her tiny hands on the glass and looking into her father's face.

"Papa," she murmured softly.

Regina's heart broke all over again as she watched her daughter looking at her father for the first time and a tear trickled down her cheek.

"He never got to meet you, but I know he already loved you. His face when I told him we were having a child… he was delighted, absolutely delighted. And if he'd lived long enough… if he had, he'd have spent every moment with you, caring for you, loving you." She muffled a sob with her hand, yet her daughter's ears missed nothing.

"Mama? You 'kay?" Talulla turned round, concern clear in her eyes. "Why you cry?" She toddled back over, frowning.

"I'm alright, sweetie, I promise." The Queen bent down and took her daughter's face in her hands. "I just miss him, that's all. I loved him."

"You not wuv P… King?" The young girl looked disappointed.

"I married him to give you a father. I couldn't let you down. I'm so sorry, sweetheart." She swallowed, looking desperately into Talulla's eyes. She wasn't about to lose her daughter too, was she?

After a moment's hesitation, the young girl reached forward and wrapped her arms firmly around her mother.

"I wuv you, Mama," she whispered.

"And I love you too, don't ever forget that, my sweet girl. You and your Grandfather are the only two people I truly love in this world."

"Would I have wuved Papa?"

Regina was taken aback slightly at this question and looked set her daughter back at arm's length. "Yes, yes you would, he was the loveliest man I have ever met. So generous, so kind…" The Queen could feel tears pricking in her eyes so she trailed off, swallowing and smiling sadly at Talulla.

"I wish he still awive now," she said, and this statement confirmed Regina's plans. The reason she had got into magic in the first place. When she next saw Rumpelstiltskin, she would ask him about magic for bringing people back from the dead. Seeing Talulla with such sadness in her eyes was too much for her to bear, but she couldn't tell her, for if it didn't work out, then there would be even more heartbreak in the little girl's eyes.

"I know, sweetheart, so do I. I miss him so much. However, we must get you to bed, it must be way past your bedtime now." She picked her daughter up and started out of the room, carefully locking the door behind her. It would do no good for anyone else to find him.

"Can come see him again?" Talulla asked her mother once they were on their way up the stairs.

"Yes, of course, you can come with me when I visit, but we can't come often, we wouldn't want to make the King jealous, alright?"

"Yes, Mama."

"And there is to be no word of this to anybody, especially not Snow." The Queen was itching to tell the little toddler that Snow was the reason her father was dead, but she held back. It would do no good to poison their relationship with that knowledge. "I am trusting you with this, Talulla."

The little girl knew that when her mother called her by her full name that she meant what she was saying.

"I pwomise I no say anyfing."

"That's my girl." The Queen smiled and laid her daughter down in her bed. "Good night, sweetheart." She brushed the dark hair of the toddler's forehead and gently kissed it before tucking the covers round the yawning girl.

"Night, Mama," she replied sleepily and turned over, snuggling down into the covers.

Regina gave a little smile to herself as she turned and walked out of the room. She didn't know what she would have done if Daniel hadn't given her her little treasure, something to get away from the sadness in her life and her love-less marriage. She knew once her daughter had got a little older, she would start to grow away from her, but for now, she was enjoying the dependence the small child had on her. Something she could fuel all her emotions into. Something that made her feel happy.