Chapter four

"Are you okay grampa?" Henry asked cautiously.

Following Neal's death, Mr Gold had opted to spend as much time with Henry as possible, so he had taken him on as his apprentice. Dressed fully in a suit that he was sure Regina must have picked, the boy slowly swept the floor as the pawn store owner stared off into space.

He knew that he should be glad for the quiet that had ascended upon Storybrooke since the saviour and queen had become an official kind of hero like team, but there was something else on his mind, and for once it wasn't Neal.

Mr Gold looked up, and offered Henry a weak smile, "what do you say you take a half day? I have something I need to do."

Henry nodded, somewhat reluctantly.

"Is this about Cora?"

Gold sighed with a slight nod, no one had actually told Henry about what Cora had done before being locked away by her daughter, and he was determined not to be the one to tell him since he had yet to accept it himself.

"It is nice to have visitors, dear," Cora said as Gold approached the holding cell.

"Believe me, dearie, this is not for pleasure, I simply demand answers," Gold replied, the sound of Emma scurrying away to give him his promised privacy filled the station, before an oppressive silence fell.

"I believe that I have already answered all of your possible questions."

Gold stood somewhat away from the Queen of Heart's cage, and with a tightened jaw, he asked, "did Regina know?"

Cora shook her head, "of course not, if I ever told her of her true parentage she would have simply have told Leopold and married the dreadful stable boy. I take it she hasn't been very receptive to the idea of having a twisted imp as a father."

The Dark One felt his cane shudder under his tightened grip and he desperately tried to take a calming breath. He had spent so many years training Regina to become evil so he could return to his child.

The irony now weighed heavily upon him. He had literally spent his life ruining his daughter's life, unknowingly he had almost sacrificed one child for another, and in this moment it felt awfully pointless considering Neal's death.

"She hasn't uttered one word to me," Gold deflated with a sigh, he couldn't help but feel that he had an obligation to right what he had done to Regina, but there didn't seem to be any possible way.

"She can be quite stubborn," Cora chuckled languidly, "honestly, she doesn't make the best of daughter's, just look at old Henry's fate."

Gold took another breath, and exhaled for as long as possible. He knew that Henry Sr. was a major part of Regina's rejection to the idea of him being her father. She had after all, already had a loving father. One who didn't train her in dark magic, make her take lives, cause her misery at every turn. One who had given his life for even the slightest chance of happiness.

"Have you ever considered that you never made the best of mothers?" Gold asked angrily.

Cora tilted her head with a small smirk, "forgive me, I forgot that I'm talking to father of the year. How is Baelfire?"

With a wave of his hand, a glowing red orb appeared in the imp's hand, instantly he began to apply pressure to the organ.

Cora began to choke, and she fell back onto the cot clutching her chest, "Rumpel..."

An image of Baelfire asking him where Milah was flashed into Gold's mind, and instantly he released his grip, making the woman let out a sigh of relief.

"I am truly surprised Rumpel, who knew that the possibility of another child could disarm you so quickly."

Gold ignored her and continued to stare at the glowing heart.

He knew that he could just crush it right now and come up with some excuse for Regina, it wasn't like she was willing to even talk with him at the moment. But then another thought occurred to him.

He was well aware of Regina's wish to have a loving mother, hence the woman's ability to so easily manipulate her.

With a few moments of silence passing very slowly, Gold finally made his decision.

Waving his hand, the cell door opened.

Sure that she had finally reached the end of her life, Cora stood from the cot prepared to face it as regally as possible.

Instead of what she had expected, Gold sank his hand into her chest. Giving the heart one last agonising squeeze, he released it and retracted his hand.

Cora's eyes widened, and she fell back onto the cot, her regret rendering her unable to speak.

-Present day-

This shop is awesome.

Emma smiled down at her phone, Gold had clearly seen her anguish had only been amplified by Henry's confusion, so he had offered Henry a job to 'pass the time'.

Emma was sure that Belle was currently desperately trying to explain something magical in the most normal way possible.

"Are you okay Emma?" she heard her mother ask softly.

Emma looked up and realised that she had been standing outside the door for a good ten minutes.

She offered Snow a weak smile, and nodded, "I'm having Tamsin withdrawal," she tried to joke, which caused her mother to smile slightly. "Is she awake?"

Snow opened the door fully and nodded, "yeah."

Emma walked in to see the baby nowhere in sight, "where is she?"

"She had a diaper incident," Emma chuckled and fell onto the couch.

"So did you guys find anything interesting in Regina's vault?"

Snow shook her head, and walked over to the kitchen to prepare some hot drinks, "all that got done was organising the books into 'useless' and 'maybe' piles."

Emma sighed, "maybe I could come tomorrow? I just feel so useless staring at her for hours on end."

Snow nodded in understanding, and grabbed the cinnamon, which caused Emma to smile.

A gurgling sound caused her to turn to the direction of the bathroom door, and she smiled broadly as she saw her happy daughter.

"I believe she belongs to you dear," the woman holding Tamsin smiled.

Emma sighed in relief at the familiar face and made her way over to the baby, "thanks Cora," Emma smiled as Tamsin was passed into her arms. "Gold took Henry to the pawn store by the way," the blonde commented after she kissed her baby's forehead.

Cora nodded, "I'll continue my research then," she sighed.

Emma furrowed her brow, "have you been to see her yet?" she asked as softly as possible.

The former Queen of Hearts swallowed hard and shook her head, "I have, I just can't again just yet."

Emma nodded, she fully understood. She could tell that the woman was afraid of judgement; she had been since she'd had her heart returned. She certainly had a lot to make up to Regina, but no one could blame her for not wanting to be faced with her comatose daughter.

Skilfully, Emma balanced Tamsin in one arm, and put her arm around the other woman's shoulder leading her over to the couch.

"Believe me you've done more than enough," Emma assured.

Cora nodded sadly and looked at the smiling baby.

"It won't be enough until my grand-daughter meets her other mother."

A/N Hope you guys enjoyed XD Reviews would be much appreciated