Sorry sorry sorry I'm late with this new chapter, but it was for a good cause. I uploaded an OUAT video, here's the url if you wanna watch it: watch?v=nN8HxRIflgw

Plus, this chap's not BETAed, sorry.

Chapter 4

"Now show me what you've learned. immobilize it!"
Regina concentrated and casted the spell on the beautiful unicorn that was immediately wrapped in a thin blue veil and stopped moving.
Regina smiled and turned to Rumpelstiltskin:
"There I did it!"
"Very good, very good my young apprentice! Now there's just one tiny tiny little detail... take its heart!"
Regina's proud expression faded from her face that turned stone cold.
"Like what my mother did to..."
'OH! Your true love indeed! Than you already know how it's done!"

Regina reluctantly turned to the unicorn, still paralyzed in front of her, and held her hand high while she walked towards him…
"Gently now... if you do it right... no harm will be done... unless of course, you will it."

And tonight, Cora was willing it.
Pain. Only pain and fire burning in her chest.

That was all she could register as her mother's hand gripped her heart with more and more force.
So this is what it feels like, this is the pain Daniel went through, the pain she had caused to the countless people she had taken a heart from. Only now, while feeling the pain herself, she realized it.
Then, all of a sudden the pain stopped, leaving room for a sense of emptiness inside her. Emptiness and endless darkness, as if she was just a shell emptied of all her feelings, and emotions.
It was just a brief moment though. Soon everything started feeling like nothing had happened.
Regina found herself on her knees on the dirty sidewalk, trying to regain her breath. She looked around, her vision still blurred, but she recognized her mother's figure standing in front of her.
Cora was holding something in her hand, a small object, that glowed of a bright red light.
When the realization hit her, Regina wished a thousand times to be dead instead. Her mother had taken her heart, her life, she belonged to her now.
"Wh...why?" she managed to ask.
"Why my dear? Because if you won't listen to me I am forced to use other methods! You are mine now, and you WILL do as I say."
Regina lowered her gaze to the ground. Cora was right. there was no way out now. Her thoughts went immediately to Daniel and Henry. They were in danger now and there was absolutely nothing she could do to protect them. Or maybe there was…

Using all the strength and courage she had left, Regina put a smirk on her face and raised her head.
"All right mother... you bested me. I am yours now." She tried to sound as convincing as possible, hoping her mother would buy it. This could give her some time to try and find a way to protect Daniel and Henry.
"Oh Regina... you've never been capable of lying to me. I appreciate the effort though, and I know why you are doing it. Despite all these years you spent hating the whole world, your heart it still capable of love, it's always been your greatest weakness. Proof is the fact that you couldn't kill me yourself, you sent Hook instead. And thanks to that now I'm here, to tell you once more Regina, that love is weakness. You love Henry and Daniel, and thanks to that I now have you in my control."
"You will not touch them..."
"You're right I won't. Until you keep your head down, listen to your mother, and do as I say, I promise you they won't be harmed. But Daniel… Daniel's punishment for being alive will be far worse. He will watch you show who you really are. You are destined to rule above everyone else! Destined for power! Daniel will see his true love rise above all the others and regain control of the realm. He'll see you for what you are really capable of. And in the end, you would have caused so much pain to him, that he will be the one to kill you."

If her heart would have still been in her chest, she was sure she would have felt it stop beating. How could Cora be so twisted and cruel? Why? Why couldn't she just let her go?

"Why are you doing this?" she whispered.

Cora chuckled "Because Regina… you are a little girl playing with fire! Everything you've done, everything you've achieved in your life happened because someone planned it for you, and let you believe it was all your doing. You are still the eighteen year old that pushed me into that portal. You play games you don't have the cards to win. And that's why…"

She paused and raised the hand holding Regina's heart "…I'm taking over now."

Regina saw her mother's hand closing firmly on her heart, and then the pain was too much for her already weak body, and she collapsed on the sidewalk floor.

"Mom! Granma! Look!" Henry was galloping fast in the large stable's paddock, under Daniel and David's vigilant guard.

"You are doing great Henry!" Snow was smiling proudly at her grandson's goodness, and Emma couldn't take her eyes off him, in just a couple of months that she was away he ad grown so much. She was leaning on the white fence, content of finally being home to her son, and that her family… it still felt strange to say it but that's what it was. Her family was finally reunited.

"Seems like everyone's got their happy ending now." she thought, looking at Daniel that was standing next to her.

He noticed her looking at him and politely smiled at her "We haven't really been properly introduced." he said "I'm Daniel."

"Sure, Regina's fiancée…" She couldn't hide a sting of bitterness in saying Regina's name. "I'm Emma."

Their friendly moment was interrupted by Henry's voice:

"Mom! You came!"

Confused, Emma turned to Henry but she didn't meet his eyes, he was looking behind her with a big smile on his face. So she followed his gaze and it fell on Regina standing at the entrance of the stable.

She didn't acknowledge Herny's greeting though, her gaze merely went from Snow to David to her and Daniel, and the smile on her face didn't seem friendly at all.

Seeing her, Daniel's smile grew wide. He had missed her today, even if it was just a couple of hours he couldn't wait for her to be in his arms again.

"Regina! You made it!"

He jumped the fence and started walking towards her.

She was standing in the stables, seeing everything that was going on, but it wasn't her controlling her body. It was like she was trapped in her own skin, trying to run away but not having anywhere to run. All she could do was watch what happened around her, absolutely powerless.

She saw Daniel, and felt the uncontrollable need to run to him and collapse in his arms, but her body wouldn't move. Than she saw him walking towards her, felt her hand move, shivers of magic running through her arm.

No… no please no…

Before she could even register what was happening, Daniel's body was dashed against the fence by some invisible force and he collapsed on the ground.

Red sparks came out of nowhere were wrapping against Emma, Snow and Charming's body paralyzing them. It took Regina less than a second to realize they were actually coming from her hands.

She tried to stop it, to run away, that was the only way she could save them. Nothing worked, she couldn't even close her eyes.

Regina was forced to watch as Cora's will wrapped the Charming's bodies in a dark cloud and made them disappear, the only things she registered before the black smoke enveloped her too were Henry's screams and Daniel trying to get up, his eyes looking directly in hers, confused, scared and disoriented.

Mr. Gold was in the back of his shop when he heard the soft ring of the bell, signaling the door opening.

"Seriously people what is wrong with you and that 'closed' sign!?" he commented, convinced the no one in the other room could hear him.

"Well, maybe you should try locking the door…"

Gold's back was turned to the door, so he couldn't see who had just entered, but surely he recognized the voice.

Surprised, he turned around, and was met with the sight of a shiny silver hook being pointed under his chin and the sting of a blade poking at his side.

"You wouldn't want to risk some… unwanted customers to come in, uninvited…"

The smug smirk on Hook's face was made of pure hate and thirst for revenge that had piled up in the long 30 years of his waiting. And now it was his moment. He didn't care if Rumple still had magic "he won't have time to use it" he thought HE CAN be killed here. And that was the only thing that mattered now.

He saw Rumplestiltskin's eyes travel from his face to behind him, and couldn't help but notice his thin lips twitching in an almost invisible smile.

"Are you gonna kill me now… captain?" he breathed out.

"You bet your ass I am…"

He raised his hook ready to hit him, but when he brought down his arm his hook was gone, and he didn't have the time to react that his body was slammed into the wall where he remained blocked.

He looked around and her saw that the magic wasn't coming from Rumplestiltskin, but from Cora, that was standing at the door, holding his hook.

"Not so fast captain…"

"What are you doing here!?" his anger now visible as he tried to break free of the spell.

Without a word Cora immobilized Rumple that despite his effort couldn't stop her, and then she turned her attention back to Hook.

"I need him alive. E may come in handy some day…"

"What about our deal!?"

"Oh, my dear boy…" Cora said, slowly walking to him and releasing him from his invisible chains "do you feel like you are in the position for making deals? You have been useful to me, but nothing more than that."

Hook knew her well enough to know that he wasn't gonna get out of there alive, so he pushed his luck.

With all the strength he had, the shoved Cora's body in a pile of boxes and ran to the door.

Cora wasn't expecting it, and it took her one second too long to recover, the second that allowed Hook to avoid her spell and run away in the darkness of the street.