The Queen's attempt to cast the Dark Curse had failed. As much as Sarah disliked Regina, she felt bad for the woman.
"Perhaps it's for the best. The forces you're summoning are darker than we can conceive." she reasoned.
"Oh, now you're trying to protect me?" Regina snarked.
"It's what I do." Sarah said, rolling her eyes.
"I know. You're the only one who does." Regina sighed.
"It's either you or the Dark One, and I'll never help him willingly. You keep me safe, and I guess that's all I can ask for."
"Well, then, help me understand why this curse isn't working."
"As badly as I hatet to say it, if you want to know that, then you need to go back to the person who gave it to you in the first place." She looked away from Regina to the trees which were once her escape from reality. They had been her home. "Revenge is a dark and lonely road. Once you go down it... there is no heading back." she cautioned.
"What is there for me to head back to?" Regina asked in defeat.
"Your Majesty, I have one request." Sarah said quietly. "Please don't make me come with you on this part of your journey. I know I'm not at liberty to ask this of you, but I beg of you. I can not be near him. Not after everything he's done. I will do tasks set forth by him, but I can not be in his presence." She said, her shoulders sagging in defeat.
Regina looked at the woman and frowned. She had never given much thought to just how cruel the Dark One had been to her in their travels, but seeing the true fear in the woman's eyes had made her realize that perhaps she should grant her this one kindness.
"I will allow it. When we get to the castle, get my father and bring him to my room. I need his counsel." Regina decided.
"Of course. Anything you ask." Sarah agreed.
When the Queen entered her great hall, Sarah was lighting candles, and her father rose from his seat.
"Did Rumplestiltskin tell you what you needed to know?" He asked.
"Yes." Regina saiad quietly.
"...And?" He urged.
"I'm not sure I should say. I'm conflicted." She said, pacing the room.
"How bad is it? Maybe I can help." Sarah offered.
Regina stopped pacing. "I have to cut out the heart of the thing I love most."
Realization dawned on hher father's face "Me."
"Daddy, I don't know what to do." Regina worried.
Sarah slowly began to back away, into a corner of the room.
"My dear... please... you don't have to do this." Henry tried to reason.
"I have to do something." Regina said, resuminh her pacing, Henry following.
"Then move past this. I know this may sound self-serving, but you don't need to enact the Curse." he told her.
Regina stopped to address him face-to-face. "But I can't keep living like this! What Snow did to me, what she took from me... It's eating me alive, Daddy. Her very existence mocks me. She must be punished." she practically growled,pacing again.
"What... If the price is a hole that will never be filled, why do it?" He asked. Regina stopped again. "Stop worrying about Snow White and start over. We can have a new life."
"But what kind of life? All I've worked for, all I've built, will be gone. My power will disappear. They already think I'm nothing." Reginacountered.
"Power is seductive, but so is love, and you can have that again." He said, holding open his arms. After a moment, Regina stepped into them, and her father enfolded her in an embrace.
"I just want to be happy." She whispered.
"You can be. Of this, I'm sure. I believe, given the chance, we can find happiness together. But the choice is yours." he promised. This was the first time Sarah had ever seen Regina cry. It was almost...humanizing.
"I think you're right." She stepped back to look at her father. "I can be happy. Just not here." Abruptly, the Queen reached into her father's chest and removed his heart. He looks shocked, then fell to the floor." I'm sorry."
Sarah's hands flew to her mouth as she let out a strangled scream. She had seen this before. She had been victim to this. But watching it happen to someone else brought back memories of her brother, and she wasn't ready to remember that.
Sarah sat quietly, processing what she had just seen. It wasn't long before Regina had transported them to the forest once again.Sarah started the fire back up, and stood to the side as Regina remove her father's heart from a small chest. She added it to the fire burning in the same pit from her failed attempt to cast the Curse, ready for her success to become evident. She needed to know that killing her father had not been done in vain. Eerie billows of black and green smoke rose and surged forth. The Queen had successfully cast the Dark Curse.