A/N: This chapter takes place between last episode's scenes (4x08) in Mary Margaret's loft. It should be clear if you've seen it. I'm trying to stick with the show's storyline for other characters as much as possible.

Mary Margaret snapped up her phone and answered it on the first ring. "Emma?!" She asked frantically. David rushed across the loft toward her, but she was already shaking her head. In a calmer voice, she asked, "What is it, Leroy?" David tried to follow the conversation, though he could only make out grumbling through the phone.

"What, where?... Just now?... Well, go after her… Did you see which direction… what do you mean?" Mary Margaret's expression went instantly from eager and hopeful to confused and a little disappointed. "Oh. Okay… No, Leroy, don't worry about it... Thanks for calling."

As soon as she hung up, David asked, "What happened? Did he see Emma?"

"Uh, no," she said. "It wasn't her." David looked at her, confused. "I have to make a call."

…

Regina dropped the disguise as soon as she reappeared in her living room. She sat down on her couch, sighing deeply. It had all gone exactly as planned, although that didn't make her feel any better. Robin had woken Marian - he loved her again. Loved her still.

Regina hadn't been able to look him in the eyes. She had carefully avoided touching him when he handed her Marian's heart. But Marian had looked right at her, had smiled at her, had thanked her. If only Marian had known who was really holding her heart out to her.

Regina closed her eyes and thought back to that last image from her old office: Robin and Marian standing close, with Roland between them. It was all so perfect. It broke her heart, seeing Robin happy without her. But knowing he had everything he wanted, the second chance that she herself had always wanted, helped her stay strong.

Regina shook her head and stood up. Robin had his happy ending back, and she had to move on. There were a few more pieces of the puzzle to arrange before she could be sure her plan would go off without a hitch. She needed to talk to Emma, get her to agree to pretend that it had been her returning Marian's heart. She couldn't trust the savior to actually complete the task, or to explain how the potion worked. But it also wouldn't have been easy, or even possible, for Regina to do it as herself.

Regina went in search of her phone. Where had she put it? She tried to remember - it wasn't like her to leave it lying around. The last place she had remembered seeing it was… in her vault. Before Robin had come in. Before he had kissed her, pulled her to him, run his hands down her back…

Regina quickly closed her mind to the memories. The vault. That was where her phone was. It was just as well; her car was still there anyway. She was tired of poofing all over town, but one last transportation was needed.

Regina found her phone where she had left it and immediately noted several missed calls from Mary Margaret. What could that woman possibly want? As she looked through the list of calls, received periodically throughout the night, her phone rang again. Mary Margaret. Of course. Regina answered.

"Yes, Mary Margaret, what is so urgent?" The conversation was short. As soon as she heard that Henry was hurt (Mary Margaret's assurances of "He's fine" did nothing to calm her), she promised she'd be right over. She grabbed the locator potion Mary Margaret had requested out of a drawer and took off for the loft.

...

After seeing for herself that Henry really was alright, Regina headed downstairs and toward the kitchen, confirming that her son was just fine up in his room.

Mary Margaret waited for Regina to be done, then looked intently across the counter. "So I got a call from Leroy today. He said he saw Emma leaving the mayor's office."

Regina looked away. "Oh?"

"Uh-huh. But before he could get to her, she transported away. Which I found interesting, because as far as I know, you never taught her that bit of magic."

Regina busied herself with a speck of dust on the counter between them. "Well, her powers have been growing." Regina allowed a hint of hostility into her tone. "Maybe she finally learned something herself."

Mary Margaret leaned forward. "And did so in a puff of purple smoke? Come on, Regina, we both know that was you." She waited for Regina to meet her eyes. "Why were you impersonating Emma?"

"It was nothing bad," Regina said. "I just had to be somewhere without being there." The younger woman said nothing, but continued to look at Regina, patiently waiting for further explanation. Regina finally added, looking away again, "In other news, Marian is awake."

Mary Margaret pulled back, startled. "You figured out how to save her? Regina, that's wonderful. But what does that have to do with pretending to be Emma?"

Regina looked severely at her. "First of all, I didn't save her. I didn't have anything to do with it. That is why I was disguised as Emma. Just so you know, that's the official story. Emma was there, and Emma replaced Marian's heart." Regina stood straighter, crossing her arms in front of her. "Right after Robin woke Marian. Elsa was right, an act of true love was all it took."

Mary Margaret was confused. "But he tried that already, it didn't work."

"Well this time it did," Regina said impatiently. She pressed her hands to the counter.

Mary Margaret reached out and placed one hand on top or Regina's. "Regina, what aren't you telling me?" Her soft voice was beginning to get through to Regina. As unpleasant as this was, Regina knew that it would have to be explained. She might as well start with the person least likely to assume she had evil intentions.

Regina sat on the stool facing her ex-mortal enemy and brought her hands into her lap. "You know I've been looking for a way to save Marian." Mary Margaret nodded. "Well, there wasn't one. The Snow Queen wouldn't unfreeze her and I couldn't find a magical remedy. The only thing that might work was True Love's Kiss." Mary Margaret looked confused again, but Regina gave her credit for not interrupting. This was going to be hard enough as it was. "It didn't work last time because… Robin Hood was conflicted. He was with me when Marian returned, so his feelings had changed. I told him that in order to save Marian, he had to forget about me and focus on her." Here, Regina paused to see how her story was being received.

Mary Margaret looked at her without judgement, just like always. "So that's it? Robin just decided to love Marian?"

Regina looked down at her hands. "Not exactly. As I said, he had to forget about me. So I helped him a bit with that." Regina looked up again. "Magically." Mary Margaret tilted her head questioningly. "I gave him a potion. You know the one, you took it once when you wanted to forget your Charming prince."

Mary Margaret's eyes grew wide, and the patience and understanding were suddenly gone. "You did what?! Regina, tell me he didn't take it."

Regina grew defensive again. "Of course he took it. He had to save his wife."

Mary Margaret walked around the counter. "Regina, I know that potion better than anyone. There are side effects, bad ones. I didn't just lose memories when I took it, I lost a part of myself."

Regina scoffed. "You really think that just because you took the potion you understand it better than I do? You know nothing about how magic works."

"I know that potion is dangerous. Did you tell Robin what could happen before he took it?"

Regina sat up straighter. She had read Henry's storybook cover to cover, multiple times. She usually didn't dwell on Snow White's love story, not even the part where Snow White tried to kill her. But this morning, it had been just what she was looking for. She had read the story carefully, skimming over the declarations of love and focusing on the details of the potion. She needed to know exactly how it would affect Robin.

"It wouldn't have mattered, Robin needed to take that potion, for Marian's sake. And anyway, I knew what could happen. I know what will happen. Robin is not the same person you are, and his," Regina paused briefly, "feelings for me are not the same as yours were for David."

Mary Margaret stared at Regina. "What does that have to do with it?"

Regina shook her head. "You really do have no understanding of magic." She sighed. "The part of you that was lost when you took the potion was the same part of you that fell in love with David. That's how it works. You couldn't forget him without losing that part of yourself." Mary Margaret nodded. "You and David… you share one heart. I should know, I split it for you." They shared a quick smile. "It was all the good parts of you that fell in love with him - your compassion, your belief in the kindness of strangers, your relentless hope for the future… When you lost that, all you were left with was anger and vengeance."

"Yes, that's exactly…" Mary Margaret started talking again, but Regina cut her off.

"Robin is different. As I said, he was conflicted. He was torn between me and Marian. The part of him that drew him to Marian was the noble, honorable part of him. It was the part that believed in goodness, in honesty, and in always doing what's right." By now it was a struggle for Regina to keep her breath steady. "All of that is still left now that he's taken the potion. He won't turn into a monster because he forgot me. If anything, he'll probably be better off." At that, she got off the stool and walked away. Mary Margaret had started to look at her with sympathy bordering on pity, and that was something she refused to accept.

Mary Margaret walked after her. "Regina - "

"Regina!" David entered the room, breaking the moment between the two women.

Regina looked at him, surprised. She had thought he was out looking for Emma. After leaving more than a dozen distressed voice mails about their daughter being missing, shouldn't they be doing something about it? Regina voiced her concerns, and soon they were all out the door in search of the savior.

A/N: Thanks again to all the readers! Every time I see a new review/follow/favorite, I think, "You like me! You really like me!" And it keeps me motivated.

To the Guest from Nov. 15: Thanks for the long review! Your take is interesting, and I agree with a lot of what you said. I believe Robin falling back in love with Marian might take time, but would be easier to achieve without Regina in the picture. Unfortunately, I have so much else to focus on in this story that I didn't want to get into it. But the story's not over yet, and I think you'll like what's still to come.

To everyone: I love your feedback. It keeps me going. I love writing this story, and I'm always glad to hear how it's being received.