Author's Note; Yes, the story continues...
28 years later
Isobella woke up as the light streamed into her room. Her eyes automatically strayed to the other side of the bed as they always did. She could never break the habit, despite her and her husband not sharing the same bed for as long as she could remember. She must have loved him at some point, after all she agreed to marry him, and the first couple of years of married life had not diminished their passion, but they had drifted apart after that although she could not quite pin down why. Maybe it was never love, whatever it was just disappeared with the loss of lust she thought melodramatically, wishing she was one of the heroines in one of the books she was reading. Sighing she got out of bed, padding towards her bedroom door to make her way to the kitchen. Pausing by her husband's bedroom, she noticed that it was empty. No doubt yet again he'd arisen early and left to attend some legal meeting or another. As always. Nothing changed. Or if not a meeting he'd be at his pet project. His shop. Retrieving her diary she checked her schedule for the day. Oh yes, the spa with Madam Mayor. Ugh, Isobella thought as she walked down the stairs. Not that she disliked the mayor particularly. She just couldn't figure out why she was friends with this woman, other than it suited her husband's business interests. Opening the fridge she peered inside, and drew out some ingredients for her breakfast. The whole town had thought it was a shotgun wedding, her father included, but as the months passed and no child was evident everyone had to accept it was true love. Where's it all gone she thought sadly, twirling her wedding band around on her finger. She'd begun to feel that he regarded her as little more than another of his acquisitions, another possession to be dusted off and paraded when necessary, but otherwise left to gather dust and lie forgotten. Mulling over for the umpteenth time leaving her husband she put the breakfast items back in the fridge. Habit she thought. Just habit. I do the same thing every day. Isobella walked back up the stairs to the bathroom. Perhaps today she could break the habit of a lifetime. Maybe today she mused, as she switched the shower on.
Regina was rattled today. Her son's birth mother had arrived in town and was making waves. Worse than that, Henry wanted to spend all his time with this woman. Regina was losing Henry, and the arrival of his birth mother was causing ripples in the fabric of the curse. Regina could feel the disturbances. If Ms Swan stayed much longer Regina risked the curse being broken. Well for the time being at least I can amuse myself with the little princess's unhappy life, Regina consoled herself. Henry will lose interest in this woman. His attention span is a little limited...Regina's first act in this new world had been to ask Mr Gold to procure her a child. In the last world he was the man who could get anything, and this had translated well into this world. Unconditional love, that was all she wanted after it had been ripped away by her mother after the tutelage of the Dark One. How fitting he should be the one to acquire that for her now that he was denied this. Her son. Only there was something...different...about him. He'd always sensed that something wasn't quite right, and that Regina was the centre of that. And yes, he loved his mother very much, but there was always something there, a slight distrust that marred their relationship.
"Isobella dear, always a pleasure. How are you this morning" Regina asked as they rendezvoused outside the spa. Air kisses accomplished Isobella replied "Always the same. Can't complain really". Regina did her best to look sympathetic whilst her lips curled up in a predatory smile. "Still unhappy dear? I'm sure things will get better". Isobella looked sharply at Regina, tired of the stale advice the mayor always offered. "No Regina, they don't. That's the problem. Nothing ever changes". Regina's advice was always the same. Stay with your husband. Things will improve. Every marriage has its ups and downs. By this point Isobella had heard nearly every platitude in existence. Determination making its appearance known Isobella announced with finality "No. I'm leaving him. Tonight".
Regina stiffened. She had enjoyed the last few years of watching the Dark One and his pet princess living in misery together. She looked forward to her weekly visits with Isobella, hearing about the unhappy marriage and enjoying the benefits of the expensive spa treatments at Isobella's expense. "Well, you don't want to do anything rash" she offered, unnerved by Isobella's sudden resolve. "Think it over. Talk to your husband" she continued, at a loss as to what to say next as she feared losing total control of the situation. No happy ending she reminded herself. "Regina, I feel like I've been thinking this over for years now, and talking to my husband for years now. It's not working, and it's time for action now" Isobella said, as she yanked the door of the spa open, determining to cut ties with this woman, "and I'm done talking about this". Regina followed Isobella in, wide eyed in shock, unable to formulate a counter argument to keep the unhappy marriage intact.
Regina endured the weekly spa session with Isobella in mutual silence. She's never gone against my advice Regina thought, pursing her lips and trying to avoid getting a mud based face pack rubbed in her eyes. And she's always done what she's told. Like the perfect little princess. Regina swatted away the hand of the beautician, impatient for the day to end. She knew she had to act very carefully now. Experience in the Enchanted Forest had taught her that when cornered Isobella would act of her own volition rather than stay in the role life had chosen for her, so there was no point in advising her to stay with her husband now. No, she'd have to put pressure on Ms Swan to leave. Make things unpleasant for her. Custody she thought, smiling to herself. Oh, she'd never act on it. Not yet anyway. But Emma Swan wouldn't know that. Yes, that might be enough. Let a rumour spread that she was looking into custody against Emma Swan for Henry. Ms Swan would leave; she'd know she stood no chance with her criminal record. Henry would be disappointed that Emma Swan would leave on the basis of a rumour, that she wouldn't even stay to fight for him, but he'd get over it. Emma Swan gone = curse intact. No happy endings.
Mr Gold sat on a stool bent over a work bench in the back of his shop, illuminated by a solitary light immediately overhead, casting the rest of the back room into darkness. He'd been up since very early that morning; well, he'd been up early every morning for as long as he could remember now. There was nothing for him at home any more so his time was spent between his legal practice and the shop. Truth be told he was getting bored with the legal practice now. So little happened in this town. Most of his time was spent extricating the diner's waitress Ruby Lucas from whatever trouble she had gotten herself into. Mostly public disturbances due to her irascible temper. He now left most of what came in to his associates whilst he worked in his shop. Being a pawn broker might not be glamorous work but he held most of the town in thrall through this business. Everyone wanted to make some sort of unpalatable deal with the pawn broker. Selling priceless jewellery to fund their sordid habits; gambling, alcoholism, prostitution. You name it, everyone in Storybrooke had their vice that they had to pay for. Gold knew their secrets and they feared him for this. He also happened to own most of the property in Storybrooke as well so anyone that didn't have some kind of vice to budget for was still called upon to pay rent to Mr Gold. He rather enjoyed having the residents of Storybrooke terrified of him. He often mused he had enough skeletons in his own closet that he did not want to be revealed, so with the town being too busy with fearing him they were less likely to pry into his private business. Mr Gold smiled to himself as he carefully replaced a gemstone into an antique necklace. It was almost therapeutic, and this provided him with a sense of inner peace, something he hadn't felt since...well for such a long time. He'd thought he had found it once, but like everything else in his life this had tarnished and was now nothing but a bitter reminder of his failure at life.