AN: Hey guy's. Wow the support on this story has been amazing. I've got more follows, favourites and reviews then I've ever had before so thank you all so much. You have no idea how much I appreciate it. The first dream in the last chapter was based on 'No One is Alone' from Into the Woods and Laurathechef won. Her request will probably be included next chapter. Anyway, this chapter is HUGE in length, but very Swan Queen central, and though I've edited it several times there may be some mistakes I've missed so I apologise in advance. Hope you enjoy it, and as always, let me know what you think!

The more I think about it the more it makes sense. And the more it makes sense the more I come to realise just how blind I've been from the start. Since the day Emma Swan strolled into my town she has had this inexplicable hold over me. At first I mistook it for hatred, jealousy, a fear that she'd take Henry away from me, so I made an enemy of her. But even as I threatened her, tried everything in my power to ruin her character and drive her away, I felt pulled towards her. She intrigued me, challenged me, matched me in every possible sense, and I thrived on every one of our heated interactions.

Of course, if you'd asked me then if I thought our interactions were heated I probably would have thrown a fire ball at you, but when I look back on it now it's as obvious as the partially healed heart resting in my hand. More than once I tried to manipulate her with my allure. I dressed as provocatively as possible to try and win her favour. I even caught myself openly admiring her figure on several occasions. At times I despised her, truly wanted to kill her, but even then I couldn't have denied that I was undeniably attracted to her. Is it any real wonder why I never succeeded in driving her back to Boston?

I guess my feelings grew from there, as most feelings do, but it was such a subtle process – so slow in its development – that I never saw it happening. The way it hurt when she accused me of killing the cricket, my determination to give her the best life I could even when it meant sacrificing my own happiness. The way I followed her down to the Underworld without ever thinking about the consequences. For years I have taught her that true love is the most powerful magic of all, and yet I failed to notice that I was always at my strongest when stood by her side.

But though I can see her now, and boy can I see her now, she's in love with someone else. She worships Killian, her pirate that has never really done anything to earn such affections. She gave him darkness because she couldn't bear to live without him. She was willing to share her heart with him. She literally went to hell and back to rescue him. And I know she's worried that he isn't her true love, but if the thought troubles her that much then it's obvious that he is.

At least I now understand what's happening to me, it's simple really when you think about it, my feelings for her are completely one sided and my mother's notes were right.

My heart is being torn in two by unrequited love.

"Mom?"

The sound of Henry's voice jolts me from my thoughts and I quickly replace my heart, spinning from the fireplace to face him.

"Henry?" I greet, unable to conceal my smile despite my anger, "What are you doing here?"

He gives me one of his lopsided grins, an expression that now reminds me so much of Emma, and takes a careful step forward. "I had to see you…"

"It's not safe for you to be here," I interrupt, annoyed that he disobeyed my instructions but pleased to see him regardless. "You know I don't have control over my magic. I could unintentionally hurt you or…"

"Regina, it's my fault."

My scold is cut short when Snow appears from the around the corner. She looks more nervous than Henry, and I can't help but wonder if everyone fears angering me as much as they appear too.

She moves to stand beside her grandson, offering silent support before continuing to explain herself, "He stayed with us last night and when I saw what he came here to show you…" Her voice trails off and she gestures to the sheet of paper Henry is clutching in his hands. "Well you should see for yourself."

My curiosity piqued, I step forward, "What is it?" I ask, reaching out to take the sheet from my son.

"I wrote a few pages last night," he replies, "I don't remember doing them but they were on my desk when I woke up this morning."

Suddenly fearful, my eyes drift down to the authors latest work. On the page is a beautiful hand drawing of me capturing the exact moment that I woke from my revelational dream. Underneath, in perfect script, it reads.

With a start the ex-Evil Queen awoke from her shared dream. At long last she understood that her lost lover was not the reason for her broken heart, for she loved another. It would take time, hope and a little magic, but she finally realised that her heart could be complete once more.

I feel my stomach sink, that awful, nauseating moment when you realise you're about to be forced to explain something that no one will understand.

"Henry what is this?" I ask, desperate to avoid the questions for as long as possible. Unfortunately, reality and my ever curious son determine that it won't be long at all.

"Is it true?" He counters, ignoring my demand for an explanation. His loving eyes fill with hope but I can't share in his enthusiasm. Hope is an emotion that will only end in disappointment. "Did you wake up and realise that you loved somebody else?"

I open my mouth to reply but find the words unwilling to come. How can I tell him the truth? How can I tell him that I've fallen in love with his other mother, and in front of Snow? Impossible!

As always, he instantly picks up on my hesitancy, "Mom, this is important," He pleads, pointing at the words written in his hand, "This could be your happy ending."

I meet his gaze, unaware how I've gone so long without noticing the similarities before but suddenly, I'm staring straight at Emma. The colour of his wide eyes, his crooked smile, her face etched into his every feature. How could I honestly believe that I could love him so deeply, and yet never fall in love with her?

"I..." The words stick in my throat as I stumble to find an answer, "…no of course I didn't…."

"But the book says your heart will be healed again," He protests, refusing to allow me the time to think of an appropriate lie, "And this book is never wrong."

I feel trapped, backed into a metaphorical corner where the truth surrounds me on all sides and I respond the only way I know how, defensively.

"It's a story Henry," I shout, my harsh words echoing off the stone walls, "a fairy-tale. Life isn't that simple, the real world isn't that easy!"

He flinches, cowering from me like a scared animal and I instantly regret my response. Though I no longer think of myself as the Evil Queen, she's still the first person to protect me when I'm feeling vulnerable.

Relaxing the sneer that I didn't even realise I was pulling, I reach out to affectionately ruffle his hair. "I'm sorry," I apologise, my voice soft once more, "I know you're only trying to help but the book has been wrong before. It was wrong about Robin and I meeting in the Enchanted Forest, and it's wrong about this."

"It wasn't completely wrong about you and Robin!" I sigh heavily and grind my teeth, more than aware that I should have expected Snow to sprinkle the argument with false hope and non-existent happy endings, "It knew that you were meant to be together…"

"And look how that turned out," I growl, fixing her with a dangerous warning glare. The sort of look that had people running from me back in the Enchanted Forest.

A low rumble begins to vibrate up through the floor as Snow and Henry share a nervous glance. My chest begins to tighten and my breath grows shallow as the pain in my heart flares to life once more. I silently curse Snow for thinking it was ever a good idea to bring my son into such a volatile situation and as if reading my mind, she raises her hands, instantly trying to calm me.

"Okay," She soothes, quickly realising that placing Robin and happy endings in the same conversation is not something likely to comfort me, "Okay, I'm sorry!"

"Yeah, Mom," Henry cuts in, though unlike Snow his caring tone does help and the shaking slows to a stop. "We didn't come here to make you mad."

I take a deep breath, once again reminded of the irony of my newly discovered feelings, "I'm not mad, Henry its…it's just complicated!"

Something in my reply triggers a sense of understanding in Snow, "So you know what's going on with you?" She asks, gesturing around my vault, "With this?"

I nod, "I think so, yes. I just need to stay down here until I find a way to deal with it."

"What's going on?"

And just like that I feel my control slowly slipping away from me once more. Emma Swan saunters into my vault as if her presence here is the most natural thing in the world. She offers her mother a warm smile, drapes a bare, toned arm across Henry's shoulders, and fixes me with emerald green eyes that suddenly make my stomach do strange, unfamiliar flips.

"Miss Swan?" I acknowledge curtly, trying to hide the effect her proximity has on my equilibrium. "It's a good job that Storybrooke doesn't stand on a tectonic plate or I'd find you forever by my side!"

The unnecessary sass is for self-preservation, my go-to response when I have no idea how to deal with an overwhelming situation. The woman I so recently realised I'm in love with responds to it with an exasperated eye roll.

"Henry sent me a text," She replies, gripping our sons shoulder, "he told me to meet you all here." Her eyes flick back to mine with a one shouldered shrug, "The earth shaking is just a coincidence."

Failing to pick up on the slight bristle of tension between his two mothers, Henry takes the newly written page from me and hands it to the blonde. "I wrote this last night," He informs, proudly.

Green eyes pull from mine, fluttering down to the sheet in her hand, but her confident expression quickly disappears as she reads the words on the page. There's something in the subtle movement of her mouth, the rapid blink of her eyes, that suggests she's more attuned to the meaning of Henry's writing then she'll ever let on. Snow picks up on it too.

"Emma? Honey are you okay?" She asks concerned.

The saviour visibly swallows, licks her lips and shuffles her weight from one leg to the next. "Yeah," She squeaks, clearing her throat at the surprising sound, "I-I'm fine." Her confidence quickly returns, "Is this true? Are you in love with someone else?"

My blood runs cold as her eyes search mine, searching for an answer that she won't have to look hard to find. My mouth dry, I force myself to keep a neutral expression and tilt my chin defiantly.

"If I were I'd hardly tell you," I scoff, feigning superiority. "Between you, your mother and your boyfriend he'd be lucky to survive the week if I did." I sniff, a trait left over from my Evil Queen days, and fold my arms across my chest, "I have no idea why you all suddenly have such an invested interest in my love life, but if you'd kindly refrain I might actually be able to heal my heart and get back to running this town."

The emotionless speech is straight out of the Enchanted Forest. Snow knows it, I can see it in her indignant expression. Emma knows it too, her only response an eyebrow raised in disdain.

I feel bad for my unfair reaction, I maybe even regret it, but this is all I know. When I'm attacked, threatened, when I'm forced to respond to an emotional situation that I don't know how to deal with, I lash out.

But as excusable as my harsh words are, I can't ignore the hurt look in Henry's eyes as he turns to Emma. "I wasn't trying to interfere," He explains, his voice small. "I didn't even know what I was writing…"

Emma turns on me then, leaning forward to encroach on my personal space, her jaw set tight in a way that I haven't seen since some of our earliest confrontations.

"Our son was trying to help you," She growls angrily, "I know you're going through a rough patch right now but I'd really appreciate it if you didn't take it out on him…"

"A rough patch?" I chuckle, inching forward to stare her down, my lips curling in distaste, "Is that what you called it when your pirate was killed?"

We lock glares for several long seconds and from the corner of my eye I see Snow's fingers lightly brush Emma's hand, pulling her back and reigning her in. She's seen this look on me before and if memory serves me right, it ended with her eating a poisoned apple.

"Why am I the only one not allowed to have real feelings?" I state, continuing my rant, "Why am I the only one who can't have a broken heart?"

The bandit steps in front of her daughter, protecting her as the ground begins to shake once more, "Regina, it's not like that we…"

But I'm past the point of listening, past the point of reason, if I allow them to continue down this path then the truth will out, and then what? My feelings are one sided and I will not betray them. I would choose subjects that fear me over friends that pity me, any day.

I quickly decide to hide behind my mask, the easy explanation that everything I feel is related to Robin's death.

"I may be nothing more than the Evil Queen to you peasants but when you cut me I still bleed," I snarl cruelly, "Once in a while it would be nice if you all tried to remember that."

Snow recoils so fast anyone would think I just kicked her puppy, and Henry despite understanding, looks fearful. But it's Emma that catches my attention, the way she narrows her eyes to study me, the firm set of her jaw.

"Mom," She begins, carefully, "would you take Henry home so that I can talk to Regina alone?"

Snow instantly protests, as always fearing my response, "Emma, I'm not sure that's a good idea. The ground is shaking again and Regina's clearly upset…."

"I'll be fine," She interrupts, her eyes never leaving mine, "She'll listen to me."

I grind my teeth in anger, still not certain what it is that I'm truly angry at. Though if I hazarded a guess I'd assume it to be my unwanted feelings.

"She can hear you right now, dear!" I retort sarcastically.

"Regina," Snow sighs, her voice the same patronising tone that I've always hated, "Contrary to what you believe, we're only trying to help you."

Frustratingly, it seems to be the one thing that actually breaks through my Evil Queen armour and I finally back down, realising how ridiculous my whole response has been. The shaking stops as my shoulders slump.

"I know," I admit begrudgingly, my voice returning to its usual timbre, "but this is something I need to deal with by myself."

Snow nods in understanding as Henry reaches out to snatch my hand in his, squeezing tightly, "I miss you, Mom."

I squeeze back, enjoying the comfort his touch can bring. Sometimes he seems more adult than child, but times like this remind me that a part of him will always be the same frightened toddler that used to cling onto my legs for dear life.

I smile warmly, "I miss you too, Sweetheart."

Mother and daughter share a brief, silent exchange and then Henry and Snow are gone, leaving me feeling extremely vulnerable under Emma's intense stare.

"Why are you lying?" She asks after a moment of absolute silence.

Every muscle in my body tenses and I suddenly fear that I'm not strong enough to be in this tiny space with her. My emotions are too strong, too obvious, and it's only a matter of time before she figures it all out and laughs in my face.

I make a desperate attempt to stall for time, "Excuse me?"

She huffs, not falling for my divertive tactics, "My super power maybe off at times Regina but it is never wrong about you," She replies, "You were lying to them, why?"

I feel the anger bubbling inside me once more and attempt to cut her down, "This may come as a surprise to you Miss Swan, but I'm not obliged to tell you the inner workings of my mind."

"Miss Swan again is it?" She laughs, shaking her head at my failed attempt to intimidate. "Why are you being like this? We've been getting along great, haven't we? Why are you suddenly pushing me away again?"

I feel the fight physically drain from my body, her concern a blanket that I want to wrap myself up in and hold onto forever. She makes me weak, breaks down my walls and strips me bare. She's always had that effect on me, and I find the realisation absolutely terrifying.

I break eye contact, suddenly fascinated by the flagstones beneath our feet, "I don't want to talk about it," I reply in a voice I barely recognise as my own.

She sighs heavily, sweeping her gorgeous blonde hair behind her shoulder in a move that makes her look every inch the princess she truly is. She's beautiful. Independent, strong-willed, loyal to a fault and most crushingly of all…Hook's.

How could I ever dare to hope that a woman like her would want someone as tarnished and broken as me?

I have to let her go.

I'm so wrapped up in my thoughts that I fail to realise that she's walked over to the other side of my vault and has discovered the notes I was reading last night.

"Chapter six, the consequences of unexpressed and unrequited True Love?" She reads aloud, throwing me a questioning look.

I silently curse my stupidity for leaving something so telling lying open to the room and pinch the bridge of my nose

"Henry was right, wasn't he?" She asks, her eyes widening when I fail to respond. "You're in love with someone else but you don't believe they return your feelings…"

My heart sinks deep into my chest and I shake my head, wishing more than anything that she'd just leave the topic alone, "Emma…"

"Who is he?" She presses gently, "How can you assume you know how he feels?" Her voice is soft, undemanding, but the questions cut through to my very soul.

"I don't want to know," I reply, scared too look at her for fear that she'll see the truth. "I'm past the days of hurting others for my own gratification."

"He's married!?" She gasps, and I can read the alarmed look on her face, the disgust and horror behind what she believes to be my reason for silence.

I roll my eyes, insulted, "Oh for heaven's sake if for one second you think that I'm in love with that idiot father of yours then you're more stupid then I thought," I snap, far closer to blurting out the truth then I feel comfortable with.

Her brow creases as she visibly searches for another candidate, "Who then?" She asks, unwilling to drop the subject, "Why can't you just tell him?"

I raise a quizzical eyebrow, "And if I said it was Hook?"

"Is it Killian?"

I sigh, mentally weighing up the consequences of confessing my feelings against this almost painful guessing game. At the moment it's a tie.

"Don't be ridiculous," I chastise in a way not dissimilar to how I scold Henry, "But hypothetically if it was, how would that make you feel?"

She pauses to consider the question, and when a frown creeps in to mar her beautiful features, I know that she's figured it out. The answer not the person.

"So he is in a relationship?" She states, her expression softening as soon as she realises what that means for me. "Regina, I know this poses a problem but if it's true love…"

Ever the saviour, she can't bring herself to suggest a pursuit regardless of relationship status and instead, opts for the closest example, "Robin was in a relationship for a while."

I shake my head, "Robin stopped loving Marian long before he met me," I reply.

"So this person is in love?"

I nod, terrified that any moment she'll work out the obvious. And then I remember she's a Charming, and strangely enough, the fear quickly passes.

"That sucks," She finally, somewhat childishly agrees, "but I still think you should tell him."

For a moment I'm caught in her gaze, in the open honesty laid bare in emerald orbs, and I can feel the words on the tip of my tongue. Three little words that to her will mean nothing but to me, mean the world.

I take a deep breath, open my mouth to enunciate the 'I', but when I look at her warm, friendly smile I just can't bring myself to lumber her with such a burden.

"You look tired," I state, finally settling on something far less damaging. "Does it have something to do with your weird dream?"

Despite the question being linked directly to my feelings I have to know if we're really sharing dreams, because if we are…if we are it's only a matter of time until she discovers the truth anyway.

Her cheeks turn a light shade of pink, "Which weird dream?" She asks innocently, "I-I mean what are you talking about?"

"You text me at two this morning to ask if I was okay," I patiently remind her, knowing full well that a reminder is the last thing she needs. "You said that you'd had a weird dream. I take it from your response that you had more than one?"

"Oh that?" She huffs, brushing it aside as though it was nothing when she clearly feels otherwise. "I had a dream that you were lost in the Enchanted Forest and I had to find you. I assumed it had something to do with the amount of time we've been spending together because when I woke up, I had this irrational fear that you were upset or in danger or…" She shakes her head, searching for the right explanation but coming up blank, "…something." She shrugs, "I've had a few weird dreams just recently."

Surprised, I raise an eyebrow, "About me?"

"About…" Her gaze drifts to mine and her pink cheeks darken to red, "…a lot of things."

Emma Swan may have a super power but I'm in love, and if there's one thing a woman can do it's tell when the person she loves is lying to her. "Friendship goes both way Miss Swan," I chastise lightly, desperate to get her to open up so that I don't feel quite so alone in this bizarre scenario, "and I'm a good listener…"

She stares vacantly at the notes still in her hand, caught somewhere between indecision and outright denial. I can sympathise with her internal struggle, it's the one that I've fought several times myself in the last twenty-four hours.

When her eyes flick back to mine, her expression has lost its usual confidence. "When I fell back asleep I dreamt that I was back at the Ambrosia Temple," She confesses, causing me to release a relived breath. "I was upset because the test didn't work the first time, so I did it again and…" She stalls, staring straight at me, "We passed."

From her emphasis I know that by we she means her and I, but I want her to say it aloud. I want to hear her actually confirm that we shared the same dream, that this whole thing between us isn't solely down to an overactive imagination and wishful thinking on my part.

"You and the pirate?" I ask, giving her the perfect opportunity to dodge the truth if that's what she wants. At least then I'll know where I stand.

"Me and y…" She stops herself before she can finish the sentence, her eyes widening in fear. "Of course Killian," She snaps somewhat aggressively, "who else would I do the test with?"

I purse my lips, trying my hardest to disguise the deep disappointment that courses through me. I'm not stupid, I know full well that she doesn't return my feelings, but it would have been nice to know that she at least welcomes the strong connection we apparently share.

Tired of dancing around the truth, something I'm certain will only make our relationship more complicated in the future, I make the quick decision to be open and honest.

"Let me guess," I state calmly, leaning back against the wall to study her body language, "When you put your heart on the scales it caused Hook great pain so he ripped out his own heart and placed it next to yours. Then you were both engulfed in a blinding white and purple light, and the door to the temple opened."

Though her back is to me I can see her entire body tense. It's clear that Henry's newly written pages have caused her to suspect a connection between our dreams but the question is, what will she do now that those suspicions have been confirmed?

"H-how do you know that?" She asks, her voice small as she refuses to turn and look at me. Even now, she's still unwilling to accept the truth, choosing to remain ignorant to whatever this is between us.

I take a deep breath, "Because we both know that Hook wasn't your partner in that dream!"

I watch as her shoulders slump and her head drops, fully aware that she can't escape reality any longer. She shrugs, turning her head in my general direction but still unable to make eye contact with me.

"I…I just thought it was a dream!" She replies, her voice so quiet that I have to strain to hear it. Slowly, she turns to face me, "Are we sharing dreams now?"

I want to be angry with her, so much so that I can hear the Evil Queen cursing my response. Emma has gone out of her way to ignore what's between us and though I know that for her it isn't love, it hurts that she won't even acknowledge the possibility that we're soul mates.

Does she even know that soul mates don't have to be lovers? That they can be mother and daughter, sisters…best friends? Of course she doesn't, and she wouldn't want to know because she'd never want to admit that I was hers.

My instincts are begging me to retaliate, to make her feel bad for rejecting me so easily, but I can't. As much I'd like to, I now know that I could never do anything to intentionally hurt the woman I love.

"I believe so," I reply after a moment of absolute silence. "I also had a similar dream to the one you first described, and I know that the text you sent me was the same thing you said to me in that dream."

She shakes her head in disbelief, laughing in spite of herself, "This is crazy!" She snorts, "I can't believe that we can share dreams. I mean, what kind of fucked up situation is this?" A stray thought causes her expression to darken as she finally looks at me through narrowed eyes, "Is this something you're controlling?"

Deep inside I can hear the Evil Queen screaming at me. She's ordering me to take offense, to be angry that once again the blame has been laid squarely at my feet, but try as I might, I can't do it.

"It's more complicated than that," I explain, my voice soft. "I believe we're sharing them because of the connection we share with Henry but the content…" I hang my head in embarrassment, too afraid to maintain eye contact in case hatred is all I see staring back, "I believe I'm responsible for the content."

But she isn't angry, and when silence falls between us I dare to glance back to her. She's frowning, that adorable confused expression contorting her face.

Green eyes flick to mine, "I don't understand?"

I briefly consider telling her to forget it, to go home to her pirate and ignore the dreams completely. But something inside pleads with me not to let go so easily, to give her a chance, to give us a chance…

"Do you remember when this all first started and you had a dream that we were making love?" I ask, seeing no reason to keep anything from her now.

She nods, "Yeah, I accused you of trying to manipulate me."

"I wasn't," I swallow, reiterating the truth despite being uncertain of how she'll react. "I had no control over that dream…"

She instantly detects my hesitancy, "But?" She prompts.

I close my eyes, silently praying that I'm not about to ruin a friendship that took far too long to build, "But I had it too!"

"And you didn't tell me?"

The question is more of an accusation though I don't blame her for her anger. I should have told her at the time but I was scared, I didn't understand any more then than she does now.

I shrug, "Would you have believed that I wasn't trying to manipulate you if I had?"

"Yes…no…" She shakes her head, uncertain what to say, "I don't know!" She shouts, frustrated. Her voice softens when I wince, "What do the dreams mean?"

I knew the question was coming but it isn't any easier to hear. How do I tell her that we're soul mates and that because I'm also in love with her my subconscious is trying to tell her through our dreams? I can't!

I nod to the notes gripped tight in her hand.

"I think you should go home and read my mother's thoughts on the subject," I reply.

At least if she figures it out on her own and away from my presence, I might just survive the experience.

"Regina…"

I know that voice, it's her soft, pleading voice. The one that convinces lost boys to go home and ogres to set her free, but it won't work on me, I refuse to let it. If she's ever going to know how I feel about her then she has to work it out for herself. I don't have the strength to say it aloud and I'm not stable enough to stand the humiliation.

"Please Miss Swan," I beg, "don't make this any harder than it already is."

She nods once and smiles softly, walking past me towards the stairs, but before she can place a foot on the first step she stops dead, her gaze fixated on the notes in her hand…

Chapter 6: The Consequences of Unexpressed and Unrequited True Love

And suddenly I know that gets it. That she's put all the pieces together and has figured it out.

"It's me, isn't it?" She whispers, spinning to face me with shocked, wide eyes. "You're in love with me?"

I fight the tears that instantly threaten, my hand reaching up to rub at my aching heart. "I'm sorry," I reply, an apology the only thing I can think to offer.

Her lips pull into a thin line and I'm certain that my eyes aren't the only ones wet with tears. "How long?"

I think back to my earlier thoughts and if I were to be brutally honest, with myself as well as her, I'd have to say since the moment we met. But that's a confession that neither of us are ready to hear.

I feign ignorance, instead, "I honestly don't know," I lie, "but I fear far longer than I ever could have imagined."

A long silence passes between us, a moment that is as painful as it is final. I know exactly what's coming, and I know what it will do to my heart, but as much as I want this to be over, I'm terrified of hearing the words.

"Regina I…I love Killian."

A single tear rolls down my cheek, pain erupting from my chest, but unlike the searing pain from all the times before this time its duller, permanent.

"I know," I reply, struggling to hold my composure, "and I would never do anything to come between you and him. Please understand that this is a new and shocking discovery for me. I will deal with it. I just need time."

She nods, and I swear I see her swipe at a tear of her own, "You can have all the time you need," She promises, "I won't tell anyone."

With no words left to say she turns to leave. But as her foot hits the bottom step she pauses to glance back over her shoulder, "Regina, I just want you to know that in a different realm, a different time…"

Her words trail off but I know what she's trying to say. She does feel something for me, and without Hook, without our past or the history between our families, then things could have been so different between us.

I stop her before she can say as much, certain that my heart wouldn't survive the fall.

"But we live in this one, Miss Swan," I reply heartbroken, "And in this one, you chose him."

I hear her deep, almost sad, exhalation and know that on this we're in agreement.

Without another word, she's gone.