Chapter 2

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Regina felt acutely alone even before Emma turned to leave her in a mansion that had never felt so cold. It was one thing to decide, but quite another to be faced with the rest of your very long life alone. Never had the prospect of a forgotten time- of not ageing or dying - seemed quite so terrifying.

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The mine was the one place that hammered the point home. Regina looked at the cave where Rumplestilskin had been imprisoned when Cinderella and her prince had sentenced him with a quill.

It was the place where no magic survived, a place destined to slowly kill the will to live, leaving in its stead only a desperation that no one cared to hear.

She was pushed towards the cell carved out in the rock. And when the bars closed in, when the hands that had been pushing her left her arms, she felt the weight of all her loneliness heavy on her. She remained with her back to her jailers.

It was cowardly but she needed time to get herself together, time to get to that place in her that had allowed her to survive this far.

And when she felt sufficiently in control, she turned to them, smirk in place, chin raised high, though her eyes could not seem to focus on anything except Gold- aye, Rumplestilskin - who stood apart from the crowd as much as a master puppeteer form its stage.

It was hard to say she had never felt so alone. She had. This was all she had ever felt. She would not think of Emma or Henry now. Because that would make her weak.

"Get comfortable, Your Majesty. This will be home from now on."

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Emma called herself all variations of idiot, but she crouched before Regina. There was no way she was going to touch the Mayor. Really she wasn't. She would not deny it, there was a certain degree of abject horror and refusal of what she could only believe to be true.

"Madam Mayor… Regina." There was no reply. Her hand grabbed Regina's shoulder. "Regina" Emma shook the woman none too gently. It pissed her off to want to help, to want so desperately not to leave a wreck in her wake. "Regina, look at me!"

"You're leaving." It sounded like a question. Emma nodded. "You're leaving." And then it was a sad acceptance.

"Regina" Emma tried again to pull Regina out of the whole. "Who?" She shook her again. "Who took it?" It was impossible to accept the words coming out of her mouth. Maybe, just maybe, she would wake up and this would have been a weird dream. At worse, a coma dream. Anything but this where she felt she was losing her ever loving mind, talking about missing hearts in living people and magic and curses and witches. "Who. Took. It?"

Where Regina would have curled into herself and stayed well away from all the scars of that past, Emma pushed her into them. Her voice was urgent, her fingers hard on her shoulder, holding her tight in that place where she could not breathe, the place she had spent the last thirty odd years trying to escape. No, Regina thought, a heart was not worth it. It was not worth going back there. Oh Henry!

"Was it a witch?" Emma struggled with a Regina breaking down in front of her. It was hard to see anyone fall apart so thoroughly. But seeing Regina broken? It was obscene, like watching a cat dead on the road. There is nothing you can do, it is awful, but you cannot help but looking and studying it. And then feel disgust at yourself and your screwed up sensibilities. And there was the small matter that she knew nothing about magic or curses. She pulled at her hair once more, because what was there left to do that was useful? The sharp pain helped her concentrate. She wished she had read Harry Potter as much as she wished she had attended college. She was so not equipped to deal with this kind of reality turned on itself so far that it sounded like nothing more than fiction. "Regina!" The tone was like a slap. "Was it a witch?"

Regina laughed then. She had lost all semblance of control and felt herself spiralling down towards madness. But the word witch was so simple a description and one so grossly inappropriate that she could not have stopped the bubble of hysteria. "A witch… yes…" the laughter was maniacal, borderline deranged. But Emma crouched before her and held her face in her hands for lack of anything more effective to do and that, that light of purpose and anger in those green stormy eyes was like an anchor to her fraying self. The laughter stopped and her hands grabbed Emma's around her face. The word came in a sob: "Mother".

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Emma marched into the cave, her hand safely tucked into Snow's. It was so simple to feel part of something like this. The difficult part was to give it a name, such as family. They made their way through the old mine's corridors following the tense silence and the dust in the air.

Outside it would be daylight already, but down here, the darkness was perpetual.

"What are they doing here? I mean, why here? What's in here?" Snow stopped. "I remember this place. I mean, it doesn't make sense, because this should be… you know… back home… but this is the cave where Rumplestilskin was kept."
"What are they going to do?"

"Emma…" The tone was pained. "The curse broke… everybody, I think, remembers. "

Emma was no fool. If half of what she'd seen in Henry's book was true, she'd be out for blood too. And that book was probably gospel.

"Is it true? The book, I mean. Is it true?"

"Yes" It gave Emma pause. So far it had been a book, a bunch of stories on paper. But now? Now it was history- and one not so far at all. She tried to reconcile The Evil Queen with Regina.

She found that it didn't come easily.

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To Emma it felt like an electric jolt. Was there any limit to the horror? This was like a twenty car pileup and see could not avert her eyes.

"Your mother?" There was no reply. She squeezed her hands none too gently around Regina's face. "Your mother took your heart?" Man, she had heard some disturbing crap in her time. She had lived some of it too, but this was off the charts absurd. And yet, she found herself believing every word. Despite the little light of alarm in the back of her mind that cried for sanity and normalcy.

Regina's hands fell from their hold on Emma's and slowly opened her shirt. Emma fell back on her haunches. She knew her belief system, maybe even her hold on reality, were about to be shaken loose. When Regina pushed the pristine silk away from her torso, there it was, barely visible, but unmissable at the same time. Below the breast, a bruise as fresh as if it had happened yesterday. An anatomically correct shadow of a heart imprinted on the skin as precisely as if it had been in an anatomy book. If magic could have been CSI'ed, she would have given a sworn affidavit that whoever had taken that heart had been about the same height as Regina, using her right hand like a scalpel, because outside that shadow marred on otherwise perfect skin, there was nothing. More than anything, though, it was Regina's hands shaking the silk of the open blouse that clinched it. Holy hell!

She got up and turned on herself, a mixture of disgust and pity. Mostly, an absolute rage. At herself for fighting this woman for over a year and never realising. Anger at Regina. At whoever had done this. There was such rage in her that the only outlet was action.

She pulled at her jacket and left, pounding down the stairs two by two, stumbling in her haste.

And then she realised she had left only destruction behind and had no clue where to even start. She grunted in exasperation and went back up.

Regina was still where she had left her, on the floor with her hands still holding her shirt open as she had no tether to reality.

Emma went through her comprehensive list of expletives. Not a one was sufficient or adequate.

It took an effort of coordination to slowly approach the woman on the floor. She knelt and called her name softly. She took the Regina's hands in hers and then deposited them on her sides and buttoned up the shirt with care. Details mattered and brought back some equilibrium to them both.

"You came back."

"Yeah"

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Regina saw Emma through the crowd that stood in front of the bars holding her prisoner. She felt her even before she had seen her. There was a momentary sense of relief until she saw Emma's face. Her legs wanted to give. Despite the title, Regina had never had much that was truly hers in life. But backbone was the one thing. And that backbone kept her standing, though the mask that so infuriated others cracked and slipped if only a little. She would not sit.

She would not fall apart.

Emma's hand was firmly in Mary Margaret's. There was a pang of jealousy, slowly replaced by horror when she it became apparent that if the curse had broken, Emma knew Mary Margaret was Snow and, therefore, her mother.

She did not fall apart, but her heart grew heavy in her chest and unaccustomed to the feeling, to the sheer weight of it, she crumpled into the cot in her cell.

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"You came back"

It was little more than a whisper but Emma heard amazement and relief in that sound. "I always do" She hated empty promises. So she better make good on this one. "Regina I don't know where to start" Regina looked up at her as if she had forgotten the subject. "Where do I begin looking?"

"You don't"

For a moment, Emma indulged in the thoroughly absurd hope Regina would have it in a safe at the bank or something equally prosaic.

"Can we even get it back?" What did she know about magic? Could they get it back? Could a heart survive outside the body?

"No" Regina hiccupped. "There is no getting it back"

Emma pulled Regina up by her arms and took her to her bed. She needed someone to take care of that rag of a person while she was gone. Because one thing she knew: Regina was lying.

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"Mary, I need your help"

"Ok. What do you need?"

"Come to the Mayor's house"

"To help you hide the body?" Mary chuckled on the other side of the line.

"Mary Margaret, please. She is not OK. Can you please come over?"

"You're joking, right?"

"No. Please"

"Why me?" It was a little bit whinny. Emma knew she would come.

"Please hurry".

"'Kay. Be right there! But just know that this is going to cost you"

"Sure. Just hurry"

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As soon as Mary Margaret made it through the door, Emma turned and left. She heard Mary's sarcastic remark following on her heels. "Yeah, sure just leave me here to have my head bitten off, why don't you?"

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Seeing the Mayor pale and stricken was sufficient to merge the Queen and Regina in one person. She would worry about a definition later, but right now the only thing that mattered was to get to the front of the crowd and reassure her.

She pushed through the mass of bodies and this time there was no holding her back. Because this time she was not alone. The silence was instant and grave.

"What do you think you're doing?" She asked no one in particular, not taking her eyes out of Regina.

"Justice."

Emma looked towards the voice, and though it hadn't been Gold to speak, she had no doubt that the words might as well have come out of his mouth.

"By whose standards?"

Gold approached her then. Snow immediately moved to stand between them.

"This is no longer your jurisdiction, Ms Swan"

"This is still Storybrook, last I checked"

"Then I suggest you verify the information, Ms Swan. The curse is no longer. We know who we are. Every single one of us"

"Somehow, I'm pretty sure you always knew who you were, Mr Gold" As a bluff it was pathetic and Emma knew it. She had no clue who he had been and she was not about to turn to Snow and ask. "And yet, this is still, Maine, U.S. of A and therefore, whatever justice you think you're getting, it's not going to be this way"

"Ah, yes…" Emma wanted to wipe the floor with Gold's smirk. "Be that as it may, I assure you, Sheriff, justice is ours. In our terms."

The crowd thickened by the minute with more and more people piling into the cave. There was a dangerous rumour of assent and agreement when Gold spoke.

Snow studied her daughter. There was nothing- absolutely nothing- she would not do for her child. And that included, it seemed, this.

"No. The sheriff is right. We will do this according to this world." Emma had the pleasure of seeing Gold's fire being snuffed out a little. Gone was the meek Mary Margaret. This was a whole new world, it seemed, because before Emma and the crowd stood Snow White, the fighter and, more importantly, a queen in her own right.

There were murmurs of protest, but they died when Snow simply said Enough with a finality that Emma had never seen before. In anyone. "We are not back home. I think that much is abundantly clear, so we will do things as the law of this land commands"

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The only person she could think to help her was Henry. Who else would know anything about this? Who else wouldn't think she was certifiable? Henry was the expert. Oh god, she was screwed.

"Henry" She found him at the arcade. "I need help". To his credit he dropped the game and followed after her into her car.

"What is it?"

"Your mom…" How was she even supposed to word this in a way that did not make her doubt herself? "Who is her mother?" She rubbed her face waiting to wake up any minute now.

"Don't know" was the flippant reply.

"Where's your book?"

"Why?" God, when had the kid become so unhelpful?

Two could play that game. And she still had plenty of childish in her to beat him at his own game. "Because."

"Emma…." It sounded impatient and whinny. "Ok, ok. It's at home. But it doesn't say anything about… you know… her"

"I need to find out Henry. She doesn't have a heart."

"Duh…"

"A proper heart, kid. Like a beating heart."
"Just like Graham, you mean?" Realization hit her, but she had to try. "I felt Graham's heart, Henry. It was beating" All the times she had fought her son about this very same subject. "Hers isn't. There is nothing there."

"Only because now you believe…"
"Oh, God, Henry, I'm so sorry! Yeah, like Graham."

"Why do you need her mom?"

"Because it was her mom that took it" That actually gave him pause

"Wow…"

"Yeah…" It felt not so crazy. It felt not so demented to talk to someone else about this. Even if it was with an eleven year old. "Where do I start?"

"You don't."

"Kid"

"Emma! You don't. Why would you even do that? She doesn't deserve it. And it will probably get you killed and …"
"Kid, I have to."

"No you don't" He opened the car door and left, his rucksack jostling with every running step he took.

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Emma followed him after a few seconds. He was so much like her that he needed time to get a grip. Then he would be ready to talk. She found him home in his room pouring over the book. She closed the door behind her.

"There is nothing here." He leafed though the book, inspecting details. "Nothing" and closed it with a thud. She wanted to pull all her hair out. "I suppose we could do some research"

"Where?"

"Library…"

"Let's go

"You know that it's closed down, right?"

"It'll be open for us. Come on!"

Jesus, this was the stuff, Henry thought, because all of a sudden, Emma was a believer and this was all about the action and he soaked up all the adrenaline.

Emma jimmied the lock and let them into the dusty old place. He would have preferred she kicked it down, but he'd settle. She started going through the tomes.

"I don't know where to start"

"Well, not by the ones that everybody can get to." He said and shook his head lightly at having to state the obvious. "Can you open this cabinet?" The only reply came by way of a little key Emma kept in a hidden pocket in her pants. It did not take much to open it, but it was empty. She punched the furniture in frustration, but Henry just gave her a smirk that was pure Regina and started running his fingers through the inside of the cabinet until he stopped and tucking his tongue between his teeth something clicked. Slowly, a back panel opened and Henry found a book that looked distinctly like a Register of births, old and yellow and covered in a thick layer of dust. It was just too fitting this scene could have belonged in a slasher film where they would both end up dead at the hands of a monster. Or a dragon. Or both. Just as plausible in the current context.

And after the last few hours, Emma just did not want to risk it.

"Come on, let's get out of here."

They did not go home. They sat in the old bug again and poured through it. It seemed to Emma that this was thoroughly useless. There were no dates she could relate to, as if the dates referred to existed in a different calendar like the Mayan or the Egyptian and she could not make it correspond to anything real.

"Look at this, Emma! Each entry has notes on it…"

"What kind of notes?"
"Look!" He inclined the book for her to see. "Like who the person married and when they died and what children they had"

"Yeah, yeah, but what use does it have for us?" He did not reply, not for a long time, engrossed in his reading. And then he let out a hoot of triumph.

"Look, Emma, look". He was looking at the entry for Henry Mills.

She was dumfounded for a minute.

"Look kid, this is just someone messing with your head. This cannot be your birth entry."
"Ah, but don't be so silly. Of course not" God he sounded like Regina. "It's her father's. My namesake. Geez, and I'm the kid… Look, it says here he married a Cora. And had a daughter: Regina Mills. And oh, oh, oh, I was so right!" He actually punched the book. "It says here: Dead at the hands of his well beloved daughter. See? She killed him. She killed him, Emma. I told you she was evil!"

Emma wondered if the late Henry Mills might have been in the business of removing living hearts as well. She remained as detached as she could. She was in no hurry to jump to conclusions. Conclusions, specially the rushed kind, are like bad shoes: they look good in the shop but end up screwing your feet for longer that you'll ever think possible.

"Emma, you're supposed to be the responsible adult here! Don't you see? She killed her dad. What do you think she's going to do to you? To me? Please, please grow up!"

"What does it say about her mom?" Henry closed the book in protest. "Ok, kid, listen up, because I'm about to impart wisdom here. Things aren't always clear cut. Sometimes people have screwed up reasons to do sh… stuff. And until we know or until we've walked a mile in their shoes you won't know, not for sure. So, I'm giving her the good old innocent until proven guilty."

"You almost said a curse word…" Emma nodded. What else could she do? "Can I say it too?"

"No. Your mom will for sure kill me then" Henry reopened the book and leafed through it until he found the entry for a Cora that had married a Henry Mills.

The entry was just like all others: a neat sharp handwriting, black ink. Nothing made it remarkable. But a sense of dread filled Emma's chest, a chill ran though her body.

Cora Mills had been born a commoner. Married a commoner. And birthed a noble child, Regina Mills. There was no note for her death.

"Now I'm worried" Henry's remark was laconic.

"Only now?"

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She returned to Regina's house with Henry protesting he wanted to help on her quest. Emma objected to the word quest. That implied nobility, of which she had none. She was more of a fly by the seat of her pants kind of girl. And this was no different.

Regina slept. Mary Margaret was not a happy bunny when Emma made her appearance.

"You never told me that she was this cra… upset" She amended when she noticed Henry.

"Yeah, about that…. Sorry…"

"You're lucky you're cute. Look, I gave a little chill pill" she whispered trying to exclude Henry "that I found in her medicine cabinet. Let her sleep it off.

"Sorry, can't. " She moved to the bed and sitting on it proceed to wake Regina up. "Regina, wake up. We need to talk."

"Emma, come on!" Mary tried to interrupt.

"Regina, come on, wakie, wakie. Come now, you need to tell me. What happened to your mom?"

When Regina spoke she was not exactly awake, of that she was sure, but the words were as real as the shiver that coursed to Regina's listless body: "I killed her. I killed her" And she sighed in relief.

Of one thing Emma was sure: Regina was not lying.

Oh, crap.

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"Maybe we should ask her why, Your Majesty" Geppetto sounded like the voice of reason. "I would like to know why is that we're not back home." The noise from the crown turned threatening again. The anger and the menace crackled like a thunderstorm in the air. And this time even Snow was caught by surprise.

"Maybe you'd like to explain why you so desperately want to go back. It seems to me we do not miss much from there" David, correction, James pushed through the crowd. "As long as you've found who you were missing all this time" He reached Snow and he pulled her into him, into his arms and kissed her hair. His eyes caressed Emma. "What could you possibly miss from there?

"I would like to know, nonetheless" Emma was fluent in bullshit as much as English. And this was Gold bullshitting. He was lying as sure as the sun would rise in the east. The question was why. It felt like so much more that screwing with Regina.

Emboldened by the presence of her Charming, Snow spoke again. "We will determine that. We will hold a fair trial and we will met out an appropriate punishment." She shuddered inside her skin because whatever could be considered appropriate or fair if you had lost your life and your child, if you had lost as much as these people had, but she remained in control. "We will not do any of those things now while we are still so angry. We will be fair!"

It was like herding cats. There were remarks and protests and movement from all directions, but Snow and James were absolutely in control. And when Gold walked away, his limp forgotten and no cane in sight, Emma relaxed her guard and turned back.

Regina sat as if all fight had been taken out of her. There were no traces of the lover of an hour ago. No inkling of the bitchy mayor of the past year. Not a hint of the Evil Queen. There was only a woman caught in the surf, unable to kick for the surface and breathe.

Emma knelt on the floor. "Regina", she whispered trying not draw attention to them. "Regina, listen to me." Emma leaned against the bars that vibrated and warmed at her touch. This was all her fault. She had brought Regina a heart that weakened her and broke a curse that protected her. "Regina, I'm sorry."

In a gesture that would become as familiar to them as breathing over the next nine months, Regina covered Emma's hand with hers and leaned against the bars.

Feet shuffled and voices protested but the cave emptied. Leroy could not resist his parting shot. "There is no magic here, Your Majesty. The blood of the dwarfs saw to it. There is no escaping." The bitterness in his voice stung Emma's skin.

"I'm so sorry" She whispered to Regina.

"It's OK. Shh, it's ok".

And Emma knew: Regina was not lying.