The storyline is finally beginning to be revealed. I have an exciting adventure in store for our characters; hopefully it will be enjoyable to read. My favourite parts of writing this fanfiction are the flashbacks to Regina and Rumple's former relationship in the Enchanted Forest. For me, Rumple is the main instigator for all of the evil that the show conveys. He is the one that corrupted Regina and I find it so fascinating to explore this.

*I am going away to a summer camp very soon so, if my updates are sparse, please don't worry – I will not abandon the story, I'm having too much fun!*

Chapter Three

"I just have one question. Why am I not grotesquely ugly?"

Emma's voice fills the room, awakening Regina from slumber. She opens one eye to reveal a bedraggled Miss Swan, perching on her window sill. The moonlight catches on blonde strands of hair blowing in the nightly breeze, and Regina takes a moment to drink her night time visitor in before, "What the hell are you doing in my room!?"

"Asking you a question, why I am not grotesquely ugly?"

"Emma, I'm serious!"

"And I'm serious too, Regina. Deadly serious."

Regina sighs in acquiescence, "You could never look ugly, Emma." The words drip off her tongue before she can trap them, and she quickly masks her admittance with, "Why on earth would your appearance be grotesque anyway?"

"Rumple wasn't exactly a looker," Emma laughs out the window to conceal her own blossoming blush, and Regina can't help but chuckle in return, despite the uncomfortable knot that eats her emotions at the mention of her former teacher's name.

"No, I suppose he wasn't."

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For holding my hand earlier. You didn't have to do that- it helped me. Calmed me down, I guess," Emma's words dig in to Regina's heart as she frantically tries to eschew the sensation that follows. The blonde is still absorbing the night sky: fragmented emotions pieced together in this moment only by the solidarity of the stars. She sighs and asks the brunette the same question that has brought her to this large window…

"Why do I look just the same?"

"Why don't you just ask Rumplestiltskin yourself?" Regina retorts, suddenly irritated as her words scratch at the other woman.

"Okay," Emma says slowly, "I will." Her eyes grasp at Regina's own and, with their gaze still locked, Emma's constructs a black mist to engulf her body.

Regina doesn't realise that she has been holding her breath until she releases it at Emma's departure. She stares blankly in to the void where Emma's silhouette had been. What just happened?

And then she understood.

Using magic to dress herself, Regina hastily prepares for the walk to the shop. His shop. She doesn't dare teleport herself to the entrance, knowing that Rumple will sense the sudden influx of purple smoke quickly, if not immediately, and react. She pushes open her bedroom door and practically hovers over each stair, her heart contracting and relaxing rapidly and –

"Where are you going?"

The timid voice halts Regina's flight momentarily, turning to acknowledge the four year old clutching a large toy giraffe. His face is twisted in confusion, a lip trembling as his little brain struggles to comprehend why anyone would be leaving the house at this hour.

"Roland," Regina says softly, crouching to the small child's level and stroking his hair tenderly, "I have to go and help someone. You'll be okay. Why don't you go and find daddy?"

"He wants you, Regina. I tried to calm him but he wanted you."

Robin's interjection startles the brunette as she extends her legs to face her soul mate (she hears Emma's mocking tone whenever she thinks of the word). Robin looks just as confused as Roland, except for his lip that is set in a cold line. Regina squirms under his watchful glance, aware of both time and the man's tangible frustration.

"Roland, go back to bed and I'll be there soon," Robin says slowly, giving his son a gentle pat in the direction of the spare room, leaving the two adults alone in their secrets and denials. "Regina, this is too dangerous," Robin hushes, shaking his head in exasperation, "I know you won't listen to me but you must."

"Emma needs me," Regina says simply, a statement that is natural on the brunette's lips yet alien as it darts in the air. She bites her tongue at Robin's expression, which clearly needs more persuading. "Rumple will corrupt her, Robin! She is too vulnerable in her power and he knows that. He uses that to his advantage. He takes vulnerability and pokes at it until mutates in to evil- an evil in which he is the puppeteer and I'm the puppet." Her breaths have become ragged as tears coarse down her face.

"You said, 'I'm the puppet'," Robin says carefully, touching a tender hand to his loved one's face.

"What?"

"You said, 'I'm the puppet'. Rumple, he corrupted you didn't he? He instigated the evil that you succumbed to."

Regina pulls away, swallowing her tears with the knowledge that she must keep her stability to save Emma, "Now do you see? I have to, HAVE to, save her."

…

Regina lay in bed with only peaceful rhythmic breathing to steady her emotions. King Leopold had summoned the brunette to his room an hour ago. And she had not gone. There had been several knocks at her door over the period since her beckoning; one was even accompanied by the whisper of a little girl calling for her step mother. Regina's body was contorted in rage and frustration, yet most of all despair. Today was the Daniel's birthday and she was not, repeat not, going to spend it in the bed of a man she loathes. Her eyes closed as pent up frustration at her imprisonment grew until purple sparks darted from her fingertips. Magic was still a new encounter for the young queen, and under the reptilian eye of the Dark One she was attempting to control it.

"The king is most upset, dearie!"

Regina shook fiercely at Rumpelstiltskin's sudden exclamation. She pulled the linen sheet tighter around herself, willing him to leave.

"What are you doing in my bed chambers?" Regina cried, refusing to make eye contact with the shimmering imp.

"Expecting the King?" Rumple grinned wickedly, "Or perhaps not? Judging by your current state, it seems that you and his majesty do not share the same agenda."

"Leave me alone, Rumple. My next lesson isn't for another two moons."

"Ah yes! But this isn't a lesson, Regina. Think of it more like a helping hand… a deal, if you like," the man's eyes were practically sparkling with excitement.

The brunette became instantly intrigued by this proposition. The Dark One's deals were infamous and Regina felt strangely honoured that Rumple would request her. She sat up and stared quizzically at the scaly creature as he danced around her large chamber.

"Fine. What is it you seek?" she snapped at him, irritated at his tangible enjoyment.

"Oh nothing much, dearie. Nothing that you would miss," Rumple trilled, his hands clasped tightly in anticipation for his next words, "I want you to kill the King!"

The imp's laughter unnerved Regina, although she felt oddly comfortable with the idea of killing Leopold. She had considered murder before. There had been many times where she had envisaged Snow's death, but acting upon her visions… well, it was a different matter entirely. The murder of the king would be treason, Regina knew that much, and would certainly result in her death.

"You would be free, Regina. Free to roam around the castle. Free to mourn your poor twoo love," Rumple whimpered the last line, mockingly.

"Free to rule," Regina breathed, as a burst of energy coursed through her veins at his words.

"And in return I will help you exact vengeance on the princess, the beloved Snow White."

Upon hearing this last statement from the wizard, Regina nodded frantically. "Yes. Yes, I will. I will kill the King and be free of this imprisonment!"

Rumple giggled, "So eager, my young queen! Alas, you must wait. In several years from now, a foreigner will enter this kingdom and seek your love. You will use this genie to silence Leopold and then, and only then, will the beginnings of your evil reign and the princess' death commence!"

Regina shook her head in disbelief at her teacher's power of foresight; however, she became instantly frozen at the word 'evil'.

"Evil? I'm not evil! My mother was evil, not I!" the queen raged, shocked at Rumple's insinuation.

"No Regina, you're not evil. But that is only because of one simple fact: evil is not born, dearie, it is made."

…

The murmured voices become clearer as Regina creeps in to the crack between the door and the dresser. Pressing her knees against the floor, she can just see the silhouette of her target: Emma. The brunette leans a little further forward to hear the hushed conversation that drifts around the space between her and the blonde.

"Emma, there is something you need to know. Something that is rather pivotal to your transformation," Mr Gold's voice pricks at Regina's ears as she holds her breath.

"Okay, then spill. I need to know Gold… especially if it endangers the people I love," Emma croaks, and Regina can tell from her wavering tone that she is scared; scared of Rumple's reply.

"Back in the enchanted forest," the former wizard begins, disturbing the eerie silence, "I was the Dark One for quite some time before we were first cursed. The longest Dark One ever to have lived, in fact. My reign was indestructible, tethered to no one but the dagger and myself. My name, engraved on the weapon, was so deep that a part of my very being was entrapped within it. Usually the power is simply transferred to another, and the Dark One is carried to its next victim. You, however, did not directly take the power. The darkness was stripped away from me and my name was erased from the dagger, yet not all of it mutated in to the substance that is transferred to the next Dark One- the darkness the dagger held was still there, the darkness which first turned me in to the Rumplestiltskin that was so feared. When you saved Regina, you became the new Dark One; however, my power was not transferred to you but instead absorbed by you."

"I don't understand… I…"

"Emma, you are going to transform in to the Dark One I once was. The evil version of Rumplestiltskin will take over your soul, and any ghost of your former self will be completely eradicated."

Regina doesn't see anything after these words- just darkness. But she hears voices: Rumpelstiltskin's mocking tone, his cackle, his promises, his deals, his 'dearie', his whispers and then, louder, his parting words he had said to the young queen before the deal regarding Snow's death, "Evil is not born, dearie, it is made."