Regina didn't require finessing like Zelena had. She was raw. Still very much a girl in a woman's body, she wore her emotions on her sleeve with very little sense about how to hide those emotions that could help her. When he spied on her at their royal family gatherings, she smiled. But it was easy to see the smile was of no worth. It held no substance, no reflection of the true emotion a smile should. It looked as though it had been sewn on any time that she was in the presence of the King and Snow White, and yet, whether they simply ignored it or couldn't believe what they were seeing, most seemed to pretend as though that smile didn't exist. When Regina saw her father, on the other hand, her eyes lit up properly. She all too willingly freed herself from her new family's embrace and went to his side, crying out "Daddy!" and kissing him happily on the cheek. A true and genuine smile; it almost made him feel sorry for the man, for he alone knew what Regina did not yet. If the books and the stories were right, then this curse would require a sacrifice and not one of a bird or goat, as so many practitioners assumed. To want to do this, to cause such pain and anguish to others required pain and anguish be spent. It would require the heart of what Regina loved most. Her father. He saw it every time the pair of them flashed in front of his eyes. She loved her father more than anything in the world…or at least she would.

At the moment, Regina did love her father more than anything in the world, with the exception of one "thing" in particular. It was her love of this "thing" that was driving his interest in another world, that was providing him with a need for a certain doctor and his experiment. He was forming a plan. He had to. Because presently, the thing that Regina loved more than anything in the world, including her husband, her step-daughter, even her father, lay inside the family mausoleum.

Daniel. He was the problem. A much bigger problem than it appeared and growing bigger day by day. In truth, it would have been easier for him to just let her heartbreak take its course. Daniel was dead. There was no hope of ever bringing him back no matter how much he suspected that was really what Regina was after. But it was soon clear to him that he couldn't allow it. This connection she had, this desire, it had begun to affect his work. He knew it, even if Regina claimed that she didn't.

For months they'd been working on her magic. And to be fair, she was getting better. Aside from knowing how to brew some simple potions, reverse blood magic, and call small objects to her side, now she was appearing and disappearing. Apparition, the books called it, the ability to transport oneself around the world via magic. It was helpful. It was important. The King and his staff kept Regina busy, and they were still grasping at any time they could for learning magic, two minutes here, ten minutes there, finally, he'd given in and begun to teach her the art of it. To his delight, Regina learned it almost as quickly as he could teach it, and the reason became obvious. Using magic was about motivation. Regina, who hated the castle and the life that she was living, was desperate to get away. Just as he'd explained when he'd taught her to move the rock, she came to find that being able to transport herself away whenever she desired meant freedom. As he observed her, he recalled how Cora had been unable to appear anywhere unless it was back to her Prince's castle for the longest time. Now it made sense. It was because at the heart of it all, she'd always been right where she wanted to be. It just wasn't so with Regina.

And soon, with her new abilities, he found that the amount of time they could spend together increased. It didn't matter where the King took her, or what her schedule was; when she had two minutes alone she could simply transport herself to his castle and they could have a lesson. It was becoming such a regular thing that he began to keep the mirror with the direct link to Regina with him in the room. This way he had a hint of when she might be arriving as well as when people on the other end would begin pounding on the door for her to open it and she could return. It was a marvelous little trick she'd mastered…but unfortunately, that was where it stopped for him.

It wasn't just that he expected more from her after working with Zelena, but he expected more working with anyone. He'd worked with Cora, who had been happy to embrace her power and moved at a well-timed pace in learning it. He'd worked with Zelena who excelled at everything. Regina had that same potential, but lately, her learning seemed stunted. Months of learning and all she had to show for it was a rock, potions, and a cloud of smoke that cleared into her smiling face whenever she arrived at his home. She was more powerful than her mother, he could feel it every time he walked in the room, but her heart wasn't as in it as she declared it was. It made him wonder, did she know what her own problem was? Or was she as clueless as she claimed to be?

It was Daniel. It was Daniel that was holding her back. Because while his goal was a curse beyond belief, hers was to resurrect her lost love and enjoy blessings beyond belief. It didn't work that way. She had to get in touch with emotions far greater than she even knew and yet sometimes in the middle of a lesson she got a distant look in her eyes or went weepy and he knew that the only emotions she felt were sadness and hopefulness. That simply didn't help his situation. Something had to be done. He had to confront her about it, had to force her to see what he saw. So he did what any good teacher would do. He called her bluff.

A fireball was a useful piece of magic, a useful tool to keep handy. Not only useful for starting fires, they could be used for defense, intimidation, even light if one were so inclined. The tools needed to make a fireball in one's hand were simple ones: hate, power, confidence, and desire. If she was truly as unhappy as she said she was, as miserable as she claimed to be, then fireballs should be no problem for her and yet…

He watched as time after time her hand came up empty. In the beginning, when he'd first taught her, it had sparked a couple of times. Now…there was nothing but her fretting about being unable to do what she needed to do.

"It takes hate, Dearie!" he chanted at her in his tower as he let the ball before him rotate in his hand. "Hate and desire!"

"Well, maybe I don't have enough hate!" she harrumphed before snapping her own arms straight as arrows at her side. Her hands were in fists. Clearly, she was angry, but not angry enough because it wasn't the primary emotion. He wanted her to name it. To name that emotion would be to own it, to perhaps put this behind them so they could move on. So he pushed.

"Oh, it's the hate that you have plenty of Dearie!" he screamed at her. "Your mother, your husband, your step-daughter; you have hate in abundance, what you lack, I believe, is desire."

"I'm here, aren't I?"

"Are you really? Or…" he closed his fist over the ball in his hand and appeared behind her, just over her shoulder. "Are you somewhere else?" he questioned in a sing-song voice.

Regina shook her head. "You taught me everything I know if I was somewhere else, wouldn't you be the first person to know it?"

"Oh, true enough, you are no projection, Regina. But…there is something blocking your heart…"

"What?"

"There is something blocking your heart!" he cried making her jump. "There is something that is stopping you from accessing all that hate you need, something that stops you from wanting exactly what you need to want."

Suddenly Regina went rigid in a way she hadn't been before. He was close enough to hear her breath hitch as she turned to face him. Her eyes were wide, and one of her hands was over her heart in fear.

"Something my mother-"

"Not your mother, dearie!" he spat, shaking his head in irritation. "If it was your mother's spell, we could remove it easily! The problem is you! You've placed that block there! Because even though you may be here with me, your heart is somewhere else." He stepped closer to her, so close he could feel her chest against his own as he put his lips close to her ear and whispered: "in the mausoleum perhaps?"

She gave a little gasp and jumped back at the pronouncement, and he let his eyes go wide with understanding before she shook her head, dropped her arms, and walked to the tower window.

"I don't know what you are talking about…"

"Well then, that's a pity!" he growled. "Because until you are ready to address that wandering heart of yours, then all is for naught!"

"I'm getting better!" she whined.

"But you are not dedicated!"

Again, the girl huffed at him, staring in false disbelief as she tried to keep a straight face. Even she knew she was lying.

"I'm dedicated!" she shouted, striding over to him. "I show up here every last second I get! I can cross the realm in a blink of an eye! What more do I need to do to prove it to you?"

"Make fire!" he roared back. "You claim you are dedicated simply because you can take yourself from one place to another, but magic is about more than convenience and power is about more than being polite! Have you managed, with any success, taking something besides yourself out of the castle a great distance?"

"Well…no, not really, but I don't know what to-"

"Have you practiced immobilization of an individual? Frozen time? Practiced anything outside of moving a stone from under a box into your hand."

"It's hard to do!"

"Have you practiced?!"

He yelled it so loud that she jumped, then drew her hands around her torso as she swallowed, opened her mouth-

And closed it again. Her silence was all that was needed to answer his question, and they both knew it.

"This concludes your lesson for today. Sometime between now and the next time we meet, figure out where you are Regina, or it's best we don't meet at all. I don't need my time wasted."

Long time viewers of the show will know where we are going with this chapter. I know it was nothing we saw in the show but I use it here as an introduction to a certain storyline that is coming up down the road. But, if I'm honest, this chapter was really important to me on a personal level during the binge read. There was something I struggled with in this fiction, something that I questioned and debated on the entire year and a half it took me to write it. It was the relationship between Rumple and Regina. I hemmed and hawed for a long time as to whether or not this section needed a good Rumple/Regina bonding moment. Spoiler alert, I did decide against it. During the binge read, this chapter was crucial in helping me think I made the right decision. Why? Why do I think that a chapter dedicated to their relationship is such a bad thing? Especially when we saw how close they are in later seasons?! Well, two reasons that sort of go hand in hand. Zelena and Prince Henry. Rumple knows that he needs Regina to cast the curse, he knows that in order to get her to cast it she needs to take the heart of the thing she loves most. The thing Regina loves most at present is her dad. I think he would keep his distance in order to keep it that way, especially just coming off of Zelena. For now, my opinion is that he would try to keep her at arm's length to ensure that what happened with Zelena doesn't happen with Regina. He wants to keep it strictly student/teacher with her for now. And, in my opinion, the story supports that. Beyond their education they sort of have a strange and distant relationship, sometimes hating each other as much as they admire one another. It's only later, in Storybrooke, once Henry is dead and gone that they seem to really develop that father/daughter bond. Apologies if you disagree.

Thank you MissAmande, Alarda, Jennifer Baratta, and Grace5231973 for your reviews. This time I'm totally honest with you when I say that Jefferson is coming up next! In the next chapter, we finally get to see Rumple go on an excursion with our Mad Hatter. If you know roughly where we are in the storyline then you know where we're going and who we'll be meeting in the chapters ahead! Let's get started! Peace and Happy Reading!