Trigger Warning: Forced sexual encounter. Reading this can be avoided by skipping the first section in italics (also separated by breaks).

Note on this scene: This HAPPENED in the canon story. It was horrible to write, but I think it has to be dealt with. This section is also the reason for the rating upgrade.

A/N: Thank you for your feedback so far. If anything in this chapter or in any of my stories bothers you, please send me a message/tweet me at galsbeingpals/talk to me on tumblr at angtequilajolie.

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Emma stood in a cloud of smoke and white hot ash. It burned her but she didn't care; her body healed almost immediately anyway. The fire had been soothing; she was relatively calm now. Her anger hadn't dissipated, but at least it was dormant for now. She considered her options, and finding a way back to Storybrooke did briefly cross her mind, but Henry was safe. He was with Regina. They would understand, in the end. And it wasn't like she was never going back. She would go. She just wasn't ready yet.

There was more in this land that she wanted to see. Needed to see. Had to see.

It was much harder to transport to a place she had never been to before, but she had seen pictures in Henry's book. To be on the safe side, she aimed for just outside, rather than a particular room.

The dark palace loomed above her, its aesthetic appealing to her blackening soul. There were no guards; in fact, there were no signs of life at all. Emma realised this made sense. The palace had been the centre of the curse. There would have been no escaping it here. She walked inside, using her magic to throw open the doors. She rather enjoyed making an entrance; it would be even better when there were people around to watch.

Interesting. So she did want to see people again. Up until now she had been perfectly content alone. Well, content other than a lust for blood. Now she felt a lust for… Other things. She logged the question for Regina. Does darkness make you horny as fuck too, or is that just me?

Regina. This had been her home. It was nothing like as nice as the mansion on Mifflin. It was dark and dusty and… Not really Regina's. Emma imagined the life of the former Queen. Forced to marry a much older man, forced into his bed. Emma growled. How could they have done that to her?

She had seen Regina, frozen in darkness, accepting the pain as her rightful fate. No person should believe that, no person deserved that. And yeah, Regina had done wrong, but…

She'd never hurt Henry. She'd given him the best life. And then she'd given them the best life. Her New York memories, her fake memories, had proved to Emma beyond all doubt what a wonderful mother Regina was. She was kind, thoughtful… She treated Henry like a person, a whole person, she didn't patronise him, and she'd only ever lied to him about the curse. Emma secretly loved that she had Regina's values woven into her mind. It made her a far better mother in real life.

Emma was accumulating quite the list of questions for her co-parent. She wondered if Regina would tell her. Perhaps if she asked under the guise of understanding the darkness? It wasn't a lie, she really did think it would help her understand. But she had to admit there was more to it. She wanted to know Regina, she wanted to know what had happened. She was sick of second hand stories, of her parents' continuing belief that everything was black and white.

She found herself in a bedroom. It was dusty, but otherwise, perfectly preserved. She could smell the magic, thick and spicy. The dark curse. But… And she was back to thinking about Regina. She could have made them suffer. She could have made them starve, she could have tortured them, she could have caused them endless pain. But instead, she took them somewhere clean and safe, somewhere, well, somewhere nice. She kept them all with her, as if she was afraid to be alone.

She made a school, she surrounded people with things that made them happy. Even Mary Margaret had been happy. She had a job she loved, she was surrounded by children, she still had all her friends.

Yeah, so David had been in a coma and married to Kathryn, but seriously? That was Regina's big revenge? Snow had caused Daniel's death. Emma realised, somewhat to her old self's horror, that she would have sympathised if Regina had killed her father. Tit for tat, as it were. But Regina had even allowed Snow and Charming to find each other. She could have stopped them, she could have killed one or both of them. She still could, Emma realised. But she didn't, and she wouldn't. Because Regina Mills had never been truly evil.

Emma looked at the bed. She wondered where Regina had slept when she was married. It couldn't have been in here. She felt her magic buzz through her. It was capable of so much more than she knew how to do. She thought of Regina, trying to imagine…

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She was in a large bedchamber, bright and gold. She struggled, realising she was trapped, until she understood. She was in a mirror. The mirror of a memory.

A beautiful girl entered the room. Girl. A girl. She couldn't have been more than 18. Her fear made her seem younger, but the pain in her eyes was old. Regina Mills. She was wearing a white dress, a wedding dress, and she was followed by a servant. Neither of them spoke. Regina moved this way and that, allowing the servant to strip her down to her undergarments. Then she sat at the vanity, staring right into Emma's eyes, as the servant unpinned her hair.

Regina kept glancing sideways; Emma realised she was glancing at the door. She wanted to get out of the mirror, she was desperate, she fought against the glass but it wouldn't budge.

"RUN, REGINA! GET OUT OF THERE!" she screamed, but she knew Regina would not hear her. There was no way she could stop this. It had already happened.

Emma felt tears prickle in her eyes as newlywed Regina set her mouth in a firm line and wiped away her make up. She was a child, an innocent child. Emma knew this story. Regina was here because she had saved Snow's life. She had seen her first love murdered in front of her just days ago.

Emma heard the door. Regina, too. She whipped her head around, but seemed to force herself to remain composed.

Emma watched the king, her grandfather, stagger into the room. He was drunk. He leered at his new bride.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" Emma yelled desperately. "She doesn't want this, she's just a child, you can't!"

Regina was so submissive. She stood, emotionless, as Leopold kissed her roughly. Emma watched agonised brown eyes slip closed. A single tear trickled down Regina's cheek as her husband tore away her slip and underwear and shoved her towards the bed.

Emma didn't want to see this. She felt disgusting just watching it. But somehow she couldn't turn away; her eyes locked open and she stared as Leopold pinned Regina to the bed. Somehow, Regina's silence made it worse. She didn't lift a finger in defiance. She allowed her body to be violated as if this was nothing out of the ordinary.

Emma beat against the glass, bloodying her hands as she tried to break through. When it had started, she had been frozen, but now the vile man was forcing himself on her and Emma didn't care, she didn't care that this was the past and she couldn't change it, she didn't care that this needed to happen for Henry, she didn't care that it was impossible, she was the fucking Dark One and SHE HAD TO STOP THIS.

She screamed and roared as she watched Regina's pain. She would kill him. She would bring him back to life and kill him over and over again. She would torture him, she would rape him with knives and daggers and swords, she would rip out his throat, she would pull out his teeth, she would burn him alive, she would burn his whole family-

His family.

Herself.

Emma Swan. She wondered how Regina could even look at her.

Leopold rolled over on the bed, snoring. Emma's fingernails drew blood on her palms as she clenched her fists and watched Regina's battered body shudder with huge, silent sobs. Emma slammed her fists against the impenetrable glass, but there was nothing she could do and she could feel herself being pulled away…

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Emma threw up violently, all over Regina's floor. She dropped to her knees, choking and heaving, until there was nothing left in her stomach and her throat was burned with acid and bile.

She staggered to her feet. And then she SCREAMED. She was crying violently, but her tears were of rage, not sadness. She punched the wall, feeling several bones in her hand break. She punched it again, relishing in the pain. When she could no longer feel her arms, she healed them and started all over again.

As she punched, she thought. She couldn't get Regina's submission out of her mind. Regina's submission to her husband, but also Regina's submission to the darkness as it trapped her. Emma realised there was somewhere else she needed to go.

Reluctantly, she stopped punching and healed herself again. She didn't bother to clean up the blood, though.

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Henry put the finishing touches to the breakfast tray he had prepared. He popped a strawberry from the plate into his mouth (it had looked unbalanced!) then carried it upstairs.

Regina had been having a particularly violent dream. She had woken up sweating, shaking, and terrified, and was just emerging from washing her face in the bathroom when Henry knocked on her door. She opened it, managing to force some kind of smile.

"Oh, you're up," Henry said, sounding a little disappointed. Regina saw the tray in his hands (french toast, strawberries, a generous helping of syrup, and perfectly brewed coffee) and felt her eyes prickle with tears.

"Only just," she said. "That looks amazing. Thank you so much, my love."

"You have to eat it in bed," he told her. Regina allowed herself to be led back to bed. Henry moved to leave her to it.

"Would you sit with me?" she asked. "I know you want to steal more of my strawberries."

Henry smiled ruefully as he sat down on his mother's bed.

"How did you sleep?" he asked her. Regina took a bite of breakfast, not wanting to answer. Henry helped himself to a fingerful of syrup.

"I had a bad dream," Regina admitted. "But I'm fine now. This is amazing, dear. Where did you learn how to make French toast? I don't remember teaching you."

Henry looked a little uncomfortable, but seemed to brush away the feeling. "Emma taught me when we lived in New York."

"Did she now?" Regina asked conversationally.

"Yep. She's great at breakfast food, actually. Unless you gave those memories to her."

"No, I didn't," Regina said, chuckling. "Well, if she is so great, perhaps we can entreat her to make breakfast for the three of us when she returns."

"That would be awesome. And then you should make us all dinner. She adores your lasagne, seriously."

Regina laughed. "It must be a Charming thing."

Henry wrinkled his nose. "Do you think of me as a Charming?" he asked.

Regina tried to hide her feelings. "Do you want to be thought of as a Charming?"

Henry shook his head. "No," he said firmly. He gave no further explanation. Regina wondered why he was so sure.

"Well, I have always thought of you as a Mills. Or perhaps a Swan-Mills."

Henry laughed, but his serious expression returned after a moment. "I don't think Ma wants to be a Charming, either."

"Why do you say that?"

"They're not a very nice family to be related to."

"Coming from the son of the Evil Queen?"

Henry squeezed his mother's hand. "I… You make more sense than they do. They think… They think they deserve everything, like… Like they're spoilt, you know? Grandma had everything handed to her, she caused a lot of suffering as a child, but… She's not that good."

Regina frowned. "She saved my life, too, you know. More than once."

Henry looked surprised. "Really? I mean, I know she wouldn't let Grandpa execute you, but that doesn't count."

Regina rolled her eyes. "Okay, once, then."

"Will you tell me?"

Regina finished her breakfast and began the story of the week she spent in disguise as a peasant. Henry already knew about the deaths she had caused, it was in the book, but mother and son both flinched when she arrived at that part.

"I want to tell you I never meant for them all to die," Regina said miserably. "But that would be a lie. I gave the order, and I gave it clearly. I was young and foolish and filled with rage, and I should not have had the power I did, but I murdered all those people. There's no escaping it."

Henry paused. "At school, we talked about… Well, if you give a baby a gun-"

"Why would you give a baby a gun?"

"Mom."

"Sorry, go on."

"Okay, so if you give a baby a gun and it shoots someone, is the baby a murderer?"

"Does it know what it's doing?"

Henry decided to restructure his analogy. "Okay, a… A seven year old kid. They're really mad at their friend, and then they have a gun in their hand, and they kill their friend. Are they a murderer?"

"I was not seven, Henry. I knew the consequences of my actions," Regina said gently. "And… I cannot tell you how much I value you defending me. But you should not take it so far. I cannot be innocent; I will never be good."

"Are you sorry?"

Regina looked him right in the eyes.

"More than I can ever express."

Henry met her powerful gaze, then leaned in and kissed her on the cheek.

"Then I forgive you," he said firmly. There was a buzzing on the nightstand. Henry leaned over and retrieved Regina's phone. He made a face.

"It's Robin," he told her. Regina sighed, took the phone, and answered it. Henry saw his cue to leave and disappeared with the breakfast tray.

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Granny's was busy and full of gossip, but for once the room did not fall silent when Regina entered. It was strange, not being the talk of the town for once. She rather liked it.

Robin was waiting for her, leaning on the bar. He tried to kiss her as soon as he saw her, but she moved away.

"Robin, we need to talk."

"Don't say that. When women say that, it only leads to trouble."

"I'm going to ignore your blatant sexism and get to the point. I don't love you."

Robin stared at her. He opened his mouth to speak, but she continued before he could.

"I don't love you, and you don't love me either. You chose Marian, and then even Zelena, over me. As is your right. I would never deny you your choice."

"It's more complicated than that. There were children to think of!" Robin protested.

"I know. But… I want to be with someone with whom I am my best self."

"You seemed pretty happy with me when we were in your vault!"

Regina sighed. "Regardless of my enjoyment at the time, I am not proud of what we did, what I did. I went against my better judgement, your wife was dying… Anyway, I do not mean to blame you. I just… I don't want to do this any more."

"Is this about Henry?" Robin demanded. "Because he's a young man now and he should understand that you have other people in your life. He's far too tied up in your apron strings, in my opinion. It would do both of you some good to have other people in your life."

Regina paused, controlling her anger. Her fingers itched to make a fireball.

"No, it is not about Henry. But since you bring it up, he is the most important person in my life, he always will be, and if you can't accept that, that's just another reason why we shouldn't do this."

"Hey, Regina, I didn't mean-"

"To criticise my parenting? To devalue the importance of my son's opinion?"

Robin had no answer. Regina reached out and patted his hand.

"You are… You're a decent man, Robin. But you don't belong with me."

"How can you say that? We're soulmates!"

"Because I get to choose. Finally, I understand that. I get to choose who I'm with, who I care about, who I give myself to. And it's nothing… It's not particularly personal, Robin, but I never chose you, and I don't want to."

"So you're giving up? After everything we've been through, now, when I need you the most?"

"I'll help you handle my sister. I won't leave you, or that child, to deal with her alone. And I'd still like to see Roland. But as your friend, nothing more."

Regina stood, leaving Robin to process. Thankfully, people were too preoccupied discussing their new Dark One to pay much attention to the love (or lack of love) life of the Ex-Evil Queen.

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A/N: Some of this was very difficult to write, and I would really appreciate your feedback! I'm hoping to update Extra Credit later today, too. And to those of you who've said you want me to write the show, feel free to let A & E know that I would happily accept pretty much any job they offered me.