Emma and Henry awoke to the sound of birds chirping and the feel of dew forming on their skin. It was oddly peaceful and somewhat familiar to the sheriff as she slowly opened her eyes to look around.
The sun shone brightly through the canopy of leaves above her, and the cheerily chirping birds hidden amongst the branches that swayed idly in the warm breeze about her did little to help her throbbing headache.
Slowly sitting up, she took in a deep breath and tried to focus on what had happened. The events at the town hall meeting flashed through her mind, and she squinted as she recalled the blast of bright light before she awoke on a forest floor.
A forest floor?
She stood up quickly, accidently knocking a still groggy Henry back over in her haste. Turning in a full circle, she took in her surroundings, and then it hit her exactly where they were.
Eyes large, face full of anger and irritation, she said the first thing to come to her mind, not caring or mindful of the fact that Henry was within earshot.
"Crap."
Regina paced about her study as she tried to think of a plan. Emma's magic had clearly mixed with the Blue Fairy's magic and created a portal. The question was how to find out where the portal likely went. There were a few options before her.
She could consult with Gold, but that would mean owing him a favor, and she disliked the idea of owing him anything more than she already did. She could work with the Blue Fairy, but she was positive the only place that would lead was to a dead Blue Fairy. She could consult her books, but the type of magic Emma likely possessed wouldn't be in her books. Emma's magic was white magic. The magic Regina knew was dark. The two rarely worked well together. However, there was a possibility that a finding spell could work. She'd known of light and dark magic mixing together for such a spell, but she'd never seen it happen. It seemed like the best option, but that had problems as well, the least of which was finding a source for the white magic needed for the spell.
The brunette let out a frustrated groan. The longer she went without knowing where Henry and Emma were, the more likely something could happen to either of them, and she simply could not accept that.
Walking to her desk, she opened a small wooden box to look at the heart that resided in it. She caressed it and smirked knowing it would send a chill down Mary Margaret's body, a small reminder that her life was no longer her own to control. For too long, Snow White had been in seeming control of their situation, only losing it when Regina had implemented the curse. Now that it was broken, Snow thought she could take over again, but she was sorely mistaken.
This time, Regina would make certain she had the upper hand because this time she would not allow Snow White's interference to destroy what little life Regina had left.
With a flick of her wrist, she closed the box and walked over to her mirror, waving a hand in front of it. The surface shimmered and an image of Mother Superior appeared. She was talking to Gold as a small crowd listened and looked on. Regina cocked an eyebrow and listened in.
"What do you think is the most likely scenario, then?" The nun looked extremely worried.
"I don't know," Gold shrugged. "I would say it's safe to assume she'll do whatever she thinks she must to find Henry."
"Yes, but what about Mary Margaret?" David cut in, voice anxious.
"If you're asking me if she'll kill your wife," Gold said, waving his hand in the air with a flourish, "I can't answer that for you."
"You know her better than anyone else here," Leroy called out from the back of the crowd.
"There's got to be something you can do," David added.
"I'm afraid there's not, and, even if there were, why should I help you?" Gold raised his eyebrows in question.
"Rumple," Belle's voice was soft but firm. "Can you help?"
"What would I do?" He scoffed. "I can't wave my hand and have Mary Margaret's heart magically appear, and I'm as lost as the rest of you as to where Emma and Henry are at this point."
Leroy pushed through to join the inner circle of people talking. "Great, if Gold can't help and Mother Superior doesn't know what's going on, what do we do? We can't just let Regina keep Mary Margaret's heart."
"Yes we can." All eyes turned to the petite brunette. Mary Margaret's face held a defeated look. "That's not important right now. What's important is finding Emma and Henry. We should be focusing on that. The fight between me and Regina is an old one, and it can be left on the back burner. It doesn't matter. What matters is making sure my daughter and grandson are safely back home."
"Mary Margaret," David's entire body vibrated with conflicting emotions, "Emma wouldn't want you to be in this kind of danger."
"David," her voice was losing patience, "we all know that, so long as Regina has my heart, she can control me. She'll know everything I know. At this point, I'm a liability, and, if she is trying to harm Emma or Henry," at this Regina rolled her eyes but continued to watch and listen, "then we need to get to them first."
"That doesn't make any sense," Ruby said, her voice slightly edgy. "Why would Regina want to hurt either Henry or Emma? From what I've seen, she's been trying to do better, and there's no way she'd hurt Henry."
"I don't believe she would hurt Emma either," Archie added. "To hurt one would be to hurt the other, and I don't feel Regina is likely to do anything that would cause any more emotional damage to Henry."
"I think Archie's right. Regina's been very trusting with Emma recently, and I think we all know how much Emma's been trying to help Regina," Belle said with a nod of her head. "I really don't think we need to worry about Regina harming either of them."
"Even if that's true," Mary Margaret responded in a clipped tone. "I don't believe we should take any chances. In fact," she turned to her husband, "you should probably put me in jail until the situation with my heart is resolved."
He gave an emphatic shake of his head. "We're not going to put you jail."
"You have to," she said in a stern voice. "You know that as long as she has my heart, I'm a weak link. I can't be trusted, David. You have to do what's best for the town. Take me to jail and don't believe a word I say until you find Emma and Henry and get my heart back."
"She's right," Leroy crossed his arms as others chimed in to show their support.
"Okay," David gave a resigned sigh. "But I don't like this, and…"
"I know you'll be with me when you're not busy trying to find our family," Mary Margaret finished for him. "I know you'll find them, just like you always find me." She gave him a gentle smile.
Regina rolled her eyes and groaned. "Disgusting," she muttered to herself as she waved her hand in front of the mirror to stop the stream of images and sound.
With Mary Margaret effectively out of the way and the town clamoring between what to do about her missing heart and how to find the sheriff and Henry, it left a door open for Regina. She might be able to find them before the town got to them and poisoned them with their lies, but it would take an extensive spell and require personal items from each person, which meant Regina was going to have to raid her guest room and Henry's room to find something that would work.
As she had already noted, she would also need a source of white magic. Dark magic alone might work, but it would be volatile, and she didn't want to risk harming Henry. She cursed at her own misfortunes. For the first time in her life, she needed an ally from the 'good' side, and, naturally, the only ally she had was one of the two people she was trying to find.
Stalking over to her desk, she grabbed the wooden box resting there and then headed upstairs to her guest room. The first thing she would do is put Mary Margaret's heart someplace for safe keeping, and then she would find the right items for Henry and Emma. She'd worry about a source for white magic later. This was going to be a process that required her to take things one step at a time.
It is but isn't what you think.
