Sometimes it was amazing to him how fast women could move when they wanted to. He could have sworn that after the mirror had cracked and shattered he'd lost sight of Regina for no more than a minute, maybe two at the most. Yet when he finally came to his senses, began to think about his next steps forward, and finally summoned the image of her again, she wasn't in her room. The white wedding dress she'd been wearing was in a heap on the floor. All he caught in her room was the heel of one of her riding boots slipping out the door. She was running and yet…

It wasn't right. He knew the feeling he got when something was going the way it should, when the future was unfurling before his eyes and he needed to leave well enough alone, but that wasn't the feeling he had now. He had a vision, an image in his head of Regina back in that wedding dress, getting married to the King. The vision was accompanied by an urge to go after Regina now. But the question was how. Oh, she was cautious that girl. Using the mirrors he followed her on her journey through the busy castle halls, out into the stable where she quickly saddled her horse, his book, he realized, was stuffed unceremoniously in a saddlebag. Then with little other planning, he watched as she mounted her steed and galloped off down the same road she'd tried to escape down before, only this time there was no one to stop her from leaving. Except, perhaps, him.

Free of people, free of her chains, free of the property, he watched as she beamed with joy and then pulled on the reins slowing her horse down to a walk. She had no more need to push the beast as she had yesterday. She'd gone. Cora, her magic still very much so a part of the land but unable to do anything without her command, would be alerted to her departure, but helpless to do anything against it in her new world. Still, as he finally allowed himself to stop watching and simply take himself to her instead, he realized that Regina wasn't as set in this decision as he'd initially thought. She didn't notice him arrive on the road before her because she kept looking back over her shoulder. And it wasn't in the quick, worried way of someone wanting to know if they were being followed. It was in the way of an individual who was torn about the path that they were on. It was bad news for Regina, but good for him, as it meant that she was still questioning this decision. It was very good. He needed her to turn back, the entire future was urging him to get her to turn back! But wise as the years had made him, he knew that she needed to believe it was her choice, not his own.

"Leaving, are we?" he questioned when she turned back to face him. The horse didn't startle at his appearance, but she did. It was only for a moment, as if expecting to be caught by someone much worse than he, before the terror faded. The feeling that Cora was watching and returning would take a while to disappear. In truth, he didn't expect Wonderland to hold Cora forever, clever and powerful as she was. He didn't need to search the future to know she'd be back one day. He just hoped that when she did return, Regina would be just as powerful, if not more so than her. A different person entirely. But only if she turned around!

"That was always the plan," Regina stated as she got down off her horse and approached him. He watched as she opened a bag at her hip and rooted around before finally finding a book, his book. The one that had allowed her to call for him. The first book he'd ever given Cora. "Here. A gift. I don't want it," she said as she handed it back to him.

"Uh, can't be a gift. It was mine to start with," he pointed out. She didn't respond; just gave a look of mixed anger and amusement before turning back to her horse as if their conversation was done.

"Before you go! Answer me this…" he advanced, willing her to turn around and face him. "How did it feel?"

Regina shook her head and stood up tall. "I loved my mother-"

"Ah! B-b-but that's not what I asked, dearie," he corrected quickly. He knew how she felt about it. He'd watched the entire thing and read her face like it was a book! He wasn't after the mourning she felt or the love she had, and he didn't want to hear about how she'd had no choice. He was after that one brief smirk he'd seen before the mirror cracked. He wanted acknowledgment for that one moment of satisfaction he'd sensed within her that might create the temptation that he needed. "How did it feel to use magic?"

"It doesn't matter. I'll never use it again," she answered definitively before turning back to her horse.

"Why not?" He wasn't going to let her get back on her mount. He wasn't about to let her just run off, not without saying what she felt. It was there in her mind, a sensation burrowed down deep in her soul, tormenting her. And when she turned back to him with a look of fire in her eyes, they both knew why.

"Because I loved it!" she hissed, a small growl there in the shake of her struggling admission.

He smiled and restrained a laugh as best he could. There it was…now she looked like Cora.

"You've discovered who you are," he insisted moving closer. "You could do so much now…if you let me show you how…" he teased in a sing-song voice.

"Through magic?"

"Through many things…"

Magic. Guidance. A confidant…magic came in many forms. He was quite certain he could teach all of them. Looking at Regina, he knew that she was certain as well. She offered a sweet, tempting smile of her own as she moved even closer.

"And what do you get out of it?"

That was something he certainly wasn't willing to divulge, not yet. Years, decades even, down the road at the right time, perhaps. But not now. Not now when she still had so much to learn, and a heart that needed significant blackening.

"Someday…you'll do something for me."

She stepped back at his words and looked him over. Her eyes filled with questions but also with curiosity. He'd given her a taste of what it was to be magic and powerful and she was weighing that against how much she didn't trust him at the moment. Fortunately, he'd had over a hundred years already to understand the art of dealmaking and how to offer up temptations that went with it.

"Let me guide you," he pressed, offering the book she'd just handed him back again.

She looked at it for several long seconds, his heart skipping every other beat. He had perfected this look of calm power and authority, the look of intense confidence and knowledge and it helped him in times like these when Baelfire's face swam before him, and he knew this was a pivotal moment. He wouldn't give up, even if Regina turned him down, he wouldn't walk away from trying to convince her. The prophecy was very clear; he wouldn't risk it now!

Finally, she stepped forward and closed her hand over the book. But she didn't take it. Not then. She merely looked him in the eyes, a gaze that was piercing and held a grip on what little was left of his own soul. Perhaps she was like her mother.

"And I won't become like her?" she questioned.

No. If he had his way. She would be better and worse all at once.

"That, dearie, is entirely up…to you." He pressed the book into her hands, and this time she took it.

They stared for a few more moments, then Regina secured the book again in her satchel and turned back to mount her horse. And as much as he would have loved to let her be a rebel and leave the grounds, knowing that she was going to work for him, his vision had showed that she would marry the King and if she continued on the path she was now, he saw all too easily why it was essential.

"But, you'll be difficult to train with the King's guard chasing after you!" he called up to her on the horse.

"Chasing after me?" she snorted as if it was ridiculous. "Why would they-"

"Well, it's a very suspicious scene you've left behind, isn't it? Broken mirror, no sign of you, no sign of Cora…they'll hunt you both down for murder, if not treason for leaving the King at the altar. Not exactly a smart choice to abandon that."

"But…" he watched as her eyes slowly widened so that he could see the whites around them, and the smirk disappeared from her face. He once had the ability to look at Cora and know that she was thinking something through. He appeared that Regina had inherited that particular expression. He could see it now as he watched her realize his argument was right. "Then…then I'm still trapped," Regina breathed out as she grabbed her chest. The whites he'd once seen in her eyes suddenly turned red as she sat back on her horse informally and looked around her. She was near panic.

"Oh, no! No, no, no! Quite the contrary," he smiled, stepping close to her and offering her a hand. "You'll have the ultimate freedom if you go back."

She looked over his hand for a moment, then shook her head as the horse stomped, and she put her hand in his, swinging her leg over the beast and putting dismounting once more.

"Think about it," he muttered, grabbing her by the shoulder and pressing her close to his side so she was forced to look down the road she'd been about to flee on. "Out there, down that road, what is it that waits for you? Your dear stable boy is behind you, stored in a mausoleum with a very clever Preservation Spell you managed the very first time you did magic."

At that Regina's eyes widened, and she stepped away from his side. "How did you-"

"I told you last night, dearie…I know all about you. And your father and-oh!" he gasped, putting his hand to his mouth and widening his eyes. "Heavens! What will your father think?!"

"My father?"

"Well, he'll be the first person they put in prison! For hiding you or your mother. Prince or not, he'll be the first suspect."

"But…" Regina's heart began to race again, and he could see the tears welling up in her eyes as she looked side to side, giving off the impression of a trapped fox looking for shelter. Youth…they really never did think through their actions these days. "I didn't mean for that to happen to him."

"Oh, of course not, of course not!" he soothed with false sympathy. "No one ever means for these things to happen. But, his Princess is gone, and if you're not careful, you'll spend the rest of your life on the run. It'll be a short life, I imagine. King Leopold's guards are so highly regarded throughout the land-"

"Just…stop lecturing me! What do I do? Tell me!"

"Me?!"

"Yes, you! You got me into this mess! You have to help me get out of it! For my father!"

"Oh, well, I think you'll find I don't have to do anything Dearie! But!" he shouted as she opened her mouth and took a step closer in argument. "Tell you what…return, Regina. Go back to the palace. Sweep away the shards of the mirror. Put on your beautiful gown. Tidy your hair. Tell only your father what has happened and go through with the ceremony as if nothing has happened. When they ask for your mother, you'll give them no hint that you know more than you do."

"You want me to lie."

"To save yourself? What else can you do? This way it will be as if she's just stepped outside and never returned."

"But…but if I do that…I'll be married to the King."

"Oh, yes, true, true, you will. But I think you'll find that royals aren't as loyal as they pretend to be. And he is quite a bit older than you. He'll be dead before you know it."

Suddenly the color drained out of Regina's face as she stared ahead at him. Her gaze was no more than a daze.

"The King is a weak man…" she finally muttered.

"Exactly!"

"No!" she shook her head. "It's…it's what my mother told me this morning. 'The King's not a strong man'. That was what she meant. She meant that he'd be dead soon. That was why she wanted me to raise an army and form a personal guard. She was anticipating me becoming a Queen…and a widow."

"Wise advice…" he muttered. Regina's brows knit together in disbelief, and he shrugged. "Cora may have been overbearing and irritating, but no one ever said she wasn't smart. If there was anyone, aside from myself, who knew how to work with the opportunities they were given…it was your mother."

The girl's gaze narrowed. All at once, she stopped looking him over and fixed her eyes on his own in a look that would have any peasant running for the hills with fear, or at least it would in time. "You never said how you knew my mother…or my family…"

He let out a gasp of false surprise. "That's right! I didn't."

She held his gaze, expecting him to say more, but he hadn't told her those things before for a reason, and he didn't intend on telling them to her now. Smart and perceptive as she was, he had little doubt she got the message.

"So…that's what you think I should do too? If I go back?"

He smiled at her question. If...there was no "if" here, not anymore. She'd added that stipulation on as a second thought. She was going back to Leopold, the future he saw in his head for her was holding steady. The question was what she should do when she returned. Magic was power, but Cora had been intent on giving her power in another way. Well…a taste of one could lead to a desire for more. Both worked in his favor.

"I think in front of you, there is nothing but a life spent in the woods until the King's guards catch you. Behind you on the other hand…" he motioned back toward the castle, forcing her to turn her body as well. "Just there…is your father, a crown, riches, and comfort beyond belief. Neither life involves Cora anymore, and both mean freedom. But only one will allow you to meet the finest of people, give you time to study your new craft, see your father, begin horseback riding again…"

Regina smiled at the picture he painted. "I hadn't thought of it that way before…"

"Only one of these futures has power, power that your mother always wanted, but you can take instead, power you can shape in your own way, without her help. Power will make you Queen."

"Queen…" she breathed suddenly as if she couldn't quite catch her breath. It was as if the vision in his mind had finally made the jump into her own, and there was no doubt in his mind now, she was going back. The future was intact. He'd done his part.

"But…I'm not ready to be a mother," she explained, quickly turning to face him. "And Snow White…no one ever seems to understand just how…how wretched she truly is!"

"Ah, yes…the little brat who cost your Daniel his life."

She nodded, this time she hadn't even thought to look distraught at his knowledge as her face twisted into an angry grimace, proof that beneath her skin that rage for what Snow White had done to her was still alive and well and ready to be used.

"She told my secret…"

"Indeed she did," he confirmed gently. "Rest assured, that there is much still to learn dearie, and we'll get to all of it in due time, but here is my first lesson. Free of charge!" he piqued, raising his hands and taking a step closer to her. "No one is perfect. What better way to return the favor than to learn all of her secrets?"

I loved this scene when we saw it in the show, but I always felt like something was missing from it. You have Regina riding away from the palace, dead set on being free now that her mother is dead, but the next time we see her she clearly has married the King and become Queen. She and Rumple (as far as we see) never talked about going back to the palace. By all accounts, there was no reason for Regina to turn around and go back. So I added a bit to the end of this scene in order to explain her return. I wanted to see Rumpe urge her back.

Thank you MerlockVonBaron, MissAmande, Jennifer Baron, and Grace5231973 for your reviews on the previous chapter! Much appreciated! I hope you think everything flows together well enough in this chapter and I hope you'll think Regina's return makes sense by the end of this chapter. Now that you've seen how Regina got her mother gone, her magic, and to be Queen, we'll check-in on her, catch another glimpse at Jefferson, and meet another character! Guesses for what's coming next? Or should I say who...Peace and Happy Reading.