The smell of coffee emanating from her French press did little to settle Regina's frazzled nerves. The dream she'd had the night before was one of the most unsettling she'd ever experienced, and it wasn't because it was violent or frightening. It was because it felt far less like a dream and much more like she was reliving a memory.
She had dreamt of Daniel and a riding lesson, which would have been a wonderful dream had it not been for the fact that Emma Swan and Henry had been there as well. In the dream, they had interacted. She had not known who they were, and they had seemed uncomfortable in her presence.
Shivering, she recalled with clarity how confused she had felt at their obvious discomfort around her and how curious she had thought their clothing to be. Daniel's reassurances that they were nice people who were only there because they had been lost in the woods had done little to make her dream self feel at ease with the strangers. However, she had been warm toward them, and she recalled how gentle she was with Henry in particular in the dream.
With a wince, she wondered why she had never taken Henry to the stables in town as her mind replayed the riding lesson from the dream. Henry had seemed so excited about the horses.
To make matters more confounding, the dream was based on an event that had actually happened to Regina when she was young girl. She recalled it distinctly because she had fallen off of her horse during her ride, and she had twisted her ankle. Daniel had to fetch a healer to tend to her wound, and her mother had been furious with her for being so clumsy.
But now, instead of recalling a healer looking at her injury, her mind was inserting Emma Swan. The whole situation was very odd, and she was having difficulty processing it.
Shaking her head, she poured her coffee and sipped it as she looked over her morning paper. This morning, the headline read, "The Evil Queen Takes Snow White's Heart." She smirked. "I think today I'll take something else of Snow White's, too." She finished her coffee while she read the paper, letting her subconscious wrangle with her dream and the other issues that were currently pressing down on her.
"There she is." Daniel breathed out as if he were saying a small blessing, "That's Regina."
Emma's eyes found the place the young man was looking, and she took in a deep breath of surprise. "That's Regina?" Her voice sounded slightly strangled.
"Yes, that's her," he nodded.
Henry gawked. "She looks so young."
"And light," Emma added.
Daniel turned to give them a quick look. "Do you two always make such odd comments?"
"Yeah," the blonde nodded. "It's a thing we do."
The stableboy said nothing. Instead, he hurried to meet up with the young brunette who had finally reached the entrance to the stables. Emma and Henry watched from where they stood further in as he gestured towards them and spoke earnestly to the young woman, who looked truly concerned as they began to walk toward them.
"Remember, kid," Emma whispered down to her son. "Don't call her Mom. She doesn't know us."
"This is so weird," Henry bemoaned just before the other two came within earshot.
"This," Daniel gestured to the blonde, "is Emma and her son Henry."
"Hi," Emma waved.
"Hello," Henry gave a little wave of his own.
"Hello," the young woman smiled gently, brown eyes soft and warm. "I'm Regina. Daniel tells me you were lost in the woods. Are you alright?"
The mother and son were taken aback by the honest concern in the young woman's voice. "Yeah, we're fine," Emma finally answered. "It's just… uh, you know, when it gets dark sometimes it's hard to find your way out of places." She shrugged. "The kid and I should be fine now. In fact, we were just about to head out."
"Alone?" Regina's voice went up a tick. "Oh, but you mustn't go alone. It's still very dangerous out there." She glanced to Daniel. "You should go with them."
"But what of your riding lesson?" He looked overly concerned. "I offered to escort them after your lesson, and," he hesitated, clearly not wanting to say too much in front of the strangers. "Your mother…" he allowed his voice to trail off.
The young woman's posture straightened. "You're right." She nodded, giving him a meaningful look before turning back to their guests. "Would you mind waiting until after my lesson is over? It won't be very long, and I really think you should wait and allow Daniel to accompany you. It's far too dangerous for a woman and child to walk these roads alone."
Emma's eyes flared. "I can handle…"
Henry touched her on the hand as he smiled up at the younger version of his mom. "Can we watch you ride?"
Both woman stared down at him with equally surprised looks. Regina looked from the young boy to his mother, whom she asked, "Do you not have a horse?"
"Uh, no," Emma shook her head, trying to look appropriately ashamed. "We're not… we don't…"
"We can't afford a horse," Henry answered honestly.
Emma gasped. "Henry!"
"It's alright," Regina soothed. "I realize not everyone has the luxury." She squatted to be eye level with the young boy. "Of course you can watch, and, perhaps, if your mother will allow it, you can ride for a bit with me. Would you like that?"
Henry's eyes danced. He glanced up to Emma. "Can I?"
The sheriff inwardly groaned. Things were getting more complicated by the moment. "Yeah, sure, just don't fall off or anything."
"I promise I'll protect him as if he were my own," Regina answered with a smile. "You have nothing to worry about."
"It's true," Daniel assured as he guided a horse to them. "Regina is the best rider I've ever seen. Henry will be safe."
"Okay." Emma nodded and watched Regina easily climb upon the horse and reach down to pull Henry up, setting him in front of her on the saddle.
"Okay, Henry," Regina reached down and took the reins from Daniel. Holding them in her hands and making certain the young boy was safely nestled between her arms, she gave the horse a gentle squeeze with her knees to get him started at a slow walk. "Hold on, and, if you feel sacred, tell me. I promise we won't go too fast."
Henry nodded and leaned back as the horse began to trot.
"You're doing very well, Henry," Regina said in a cheerful voice as the two rode around the large, open field. "Are you sure you've never done this before?"
"Nope," he said with a laugh. "But this is fun! I wonder why we've never done with before?"
"I'm sure your mother would if she could," she replied in a gentle manner. Trying to keep the conversation upbeat, Regina added, "I like your name. My father's name is Henry."
Turning in the saddle to look at the young woman, Henry exclaimed, "It is?" The surprise in his voice mirrored the look on his face, which quickly morphed into panic as he lost his balance and began to fall from his perch.
Regina acted quickly, stopping the horse with one hand while she caught the boy with the other. Half in and half out of the saddle, she had to throw her leg over the horse to catch the boy and prevent him from hitting the ground. In the midst of her move, her foot caught in the stirrup, and her ankle twisted at a harsh angle as she hit the ground with Henry safely tucked into her arms.
"Oh my God," Emma gasped as she took off at a run to reach the two with Daniel at her heels. They reached the two on the ground quickly, and found them giggling.
"I'm okay, Ma," Henry said. Carefully standing up, he looked down at the woman still on the ground. "I think she's hurt."
"Just my ankle," Regina answered, a smile still on her face. "I may not be able to ride for a few days, but I think I'll be fine." She tried to stand, winced, and almost fell.
Daniel caught her by the arm and steadied her. "Perhaps I should go for help? The healer isn't far."
Regina shook her head. "I'd rather you didn't. I'll be fine, Daniel."
"Maybe I could look at it?" Emma offered while she stepped to Regina's other side to offer support. "I bet it's just twisted. If you have a long strip of cloth, I could wrap it for you."
"You're a healer?" Regina looked over to the blonde and raised an eyebrow in question.
"No," Emma drew the word out so she could think. "But I get hurt a lot, and I had to learn to take care of some of the stuff myself." She shrugged.
Regina nodded. "Well, if you don't mind…"
Emma looked at Henry and gave him a hard look before glancing back to the young brunette. "Yeah, it's not a problem. But, after that, the kid and I really need to get going."
Giving a grateful smile, Regina nodded. "Thank you."
Placing the paper in the recycling bin and washing her cup out in the sink, Regina sighed. The dream was still nagging at her. She could practically feel the wrap Emma Swan had placed on her ankle after the fall she took to protect Henry from getting hurt.
She paused.
That was not a dream. Realization struck, or perhaps the coffee had finally kicked in.
Emma Swan and her son weren't in a dream she'd had. They were in her past.
Horrified, she quickly rushed to her library to begin pulling reference books that had anything to do with time travel and portals. She needed to get the two of them back, and she needed to do it quickly. If they were in the Enchanted Forest with a young Regina, that meant they were there with Cora. They were in danger, and the longer they stayed where they were, the higher the risk that something could happen.
She grunted as she flipped through books. If they were in her past, then that meant their presence risked altering things. That could end just as badly as if Cora found them. There were too many variables at work. She needed to act quickly, and now she needed to take more from Snow White than her heart.
She needed her memories. She had to see where, exactly, Henry and Emma were in their past, and, to do that, she needed to make a few comparisons.
Regina frowned. A visit this morning to the jail was clearly in order.
Last night's episode, "The Miller's Daughter", has made me so mad and so upset I can't make promises that I won't kill off Snow White right now. So, if you're wondering why I'm not really dealing with that plot line right at this very moment, it's because I know that it's probably best to cool down first so I don't kill her. I mean, as much as I'd like to, I really don't think that'd work well for this story. Maybe a one shot, though...
