Chapter 11

Coraline looked up at them. She couldn't hide behind shyness. Neither of her mothers were shy. She needed to face this head on, like Regina would have. She needed to stop running and face her problems, like Emma learned to do. She needed to believe, like Henry. She needed to trust love, like Snow. She needed to be bigger than herself, like Charming. She needed to be the Swan Princess that she was born to be.

When she looked up, she saw Regina looking out the window. She could tell that something had caught her eye, but she couldn't tell what it was. Whatever it was it passed and Regina turned back to her daughter. A smile crept across her face and she waited for Coraline to speak.

"I'm sorry I ran."

"It is something that we do," Emma replied.

"I know. I tried not to, but I needed to learn as much as I could as fast as I could. I didn't know how to tell you both the truth. I was afraid. I am sorry," Coraline stated.

"There is nothing to be afraid of, Darling. We want to help you. I'll tell you whatever I can. I know that you are upset about what happens in your past, our future, but I can't help if I don't know everything that you can tell me. Can you tell us more about it?" Regina asked.

"I shouldn't," Coraline warned.

"But?" Emma asked.

"Wait, does she know?"

"Do I know what?"

"Did you tell her?"

"Calm down, Coraline. Let me tell you what we know so far and then you can feel in the rest. Does that sound like a good idea?" Regina asked.

Before Coraline could answer, a waitress came over and took their order. Emma and Coraline ordered a hot chocolate with cinnamon and Regina got a coffee. The waitress nodded and walked off.

"Yes, Mom, that sounds fine," Coraline answered.

"Once I figured out that you had magic, I confronted you about it. I saw the coat-of-arms tattoo and wondered who you were. I used the blood magic that is embedded in that tattoo to force you to tell me who you were and why you were here. I am sorry about that," Regina stated.

"Tattoo?"

"I'll explain it later, Dear," Regina told Emma before continuing. "Once we talked, you confirmed that I was your mother. You told me that you served the three queens of the Enchanted Forest. I was surprised that you told me that Emma, Snow and I all ruled together and in peace. I didn't have a complete picture at that point."

"Yeah, I know. Then I got mad and had Tink conjure that dragon. That didn't really work out well, now did it?" Coraline stated.

"No, it didn't," Emma replied, wondering what else she was going to find out today.

"Well, I am sorry for that. I didn't mean to scare either of you. That wasn't my intention. I was just angry and I needed to blow off some steam. Usually I had Ruby for that, but she doesn't know me like that here and now," Coraline answered.

"Can you tell me more about that?" Regina asked.

"Tell me what else you have figured out first…please, Mom."

"Well, after the incident at the convent, I realized that Emma was your other mother. It took Ruby yelling at me for me to realize how deeply I cared for Emma. I had for a long time, but I've my feelings to myself. I didn't think that she returned them. I didn't want to start something that would end in disaster, like every other relationship I've ever had," Regina said.

"Regina…" Emma started.

"No, she needs to know the truth."

"Fine, I'll tell her then," Emma started. "I followed Regina outside when Ruby confronted her about her feelings about me. I overheard the argument."

"I didn't want to tell Emma. I was scared. I was happy to suffer in silence like I had for years."

"But?" Coraline asked, smiling like a goof at both of them.

"I busted out into the argument and made Regina talk to me. You had already run, so it wasn't something that we could really get to the bottom of at the time. We were both worried about you. She confirmed that you were my daughter. I don't know why I couldn't see it. You do have Snow's chin," Emma told her.

"I know. Everyone that knew her tells me that. Does she know?" Coraline asked.

"Snow? That you are ours? Yes, Emma dropped that bombshell on her right before we left."

"Ma, you didn't," Coraline stated.

"I did, Kiddo. I did," Emma replied smiling at her calling her "Ma." "So, what now?"

"Well, you both know that you are my moms. I seem to be the perfect blend of you both. I have mostly your coloring, Mom, but when I do magic, I tend to look more like Ma."

"I noticed."

"You did?"

"When I was healing you, your eyes turned green just like Emma's. It shocked me to the core. I studied your face and your manners. Then, I realized that somehow you had to be related to Emma. You bear her resemblance as much as you do mine. The more I remembered about what you'd told me and what Ruby had deduced, the more it made sense to me."

"That Wolf! Can't get anything past her. But, I still love my Aunt Red."

"We all do, Kiddo," Emma added.

"I know. That is why you gave me to her. You know that she and Belle would protect me, raise me, teach me and remind me of who I was. They did your bidding until my twenty-five birthday. They kept me alive, taught me, told me who I was, but protected me from those who wanted to harm me because of my lineage and my right to the throne of the Enchanted Forest."

"Someone wanted to harm you?" Regina asked, her heckles rising.

"Yes," Coraline replied and the waitress brought their drinks.

"Ready to order, ladies?" she asked them.

"Yeah, can we get one large Chicken Caesar salad with dressing on the side, a bacon cheeseburger with a side of fries, and another bacon cheeseburger with a garden salad? Thank you. Oh, yeah, and some water all around," Coraline answered her.

The waitress wrote down their order and nodded at Coraline. Emma looked at her slack jawed and Regina just smirked. The waitress turned to go, but turned around quickly to ask one more question before she put in the order.

"You want garden on both burgers?" she asked them.

"Yes," Emma and Coraline answered together.

The waitress smiled at them, nodded, and left them table. She mumbled something about "coming right up." Emma still watched Coraline wondering how well her daughter actually knew her. Regina just burst out into a small burst of laughter.

"I should have known that you knew what we would eat," Regina stated. "I see that you actually like a little healthy food. I am assuming that the salad and the burger are yours, correct?"

"Yes, ma'am, they are. Belle and Red used to fight about what I would eat. They were always surprised that I would eat healthy one meal and completely badly the next. Belle used to laugh about it, something about nature and nurture. She told me that I was definitely your child."

"I can see that from the Bookworm," Regina replied.

"So, are you…have you…did you finally admit that you like each other?" Coraline asked.

"Yes," Emma answered before Regina could.

"To expand on what you mother stated, yes, Coraline, we have. We finally talked last night. We admitted that we had feelings for each other and I have finally agreed to let someone in again. I am not sure how your grandmother is going to take the news, but your mother assures me that she will deal with her parents.

"I am not worried about them, too much though. You are here and you are ours. That has giving me enough hope to believe that Emma and I will be happy enough together. But, your presence and the news that we aren't there for you, actually frightens me. Can you tell us more?"

"What do you want to know?" Coraline asked.

"Why don't you start at the beginning?" Emma responded. "Cause, I am kinda out of the loop. I am coming into this late, it seems. I would like to know why whatever happened has caused you to run to Boston to find out more about me. Why couldn't you just ask? I would have told you anything. I still will. I am not going to abandon you."

"But, you will…" Coraline said flatly.

Emma's face wrinkled in confusion. She wasn't prepared for that answer. She knew from what little Regina had managed to tell her that Ruby and Belle had raised Coraline in their absence but there wasn't much else that she knew. She wondered how much Regina actually knew.

"You're angry about that. I can tell. Just tell me what happened, Kiddo. I want to help you. We both do. We want to be there for you. If you tell us what happens, maybe we can stop it."

"I don't know that you can. Nothing has stopped the Blackness yet. Not men, not magic, not even Ruby for all her attempts, she is the only thing that has fought it head on and lived."

"The Wolf pup fought it and survived?" Regina asked.

"Yes, the day that we fled the castle. She took on a host of the Blackness and pushed them back. Then, she ran us to Rumple's castle as fast as her wolf body could carry us," Coraline explained.

"Okay, so let's go back further than that."

"Well, what little I know from before that day is I was born around the time that Henry is sixteen. It has been debated whether I was born here in Storybrooke or in the Enchanted Forest. That really doesn't matter, because shortly before or shortly after, we are all back in the Enchanted Forest. Snow and Regina decide to split the kingdom. The fact that you both are together, they decide to make you a Queen in your own right. So the kingdom is ruled by the three of you. It was decided that Neal would take Snow's kingdom. Henry would take Mom's and I would take Ma's," Coraline stated.

"Wait? I end up being a Queen? And, I have my own kingdom?" Emma asked.

"That is another story, Ma. But, Neal is a fragile boy. He gets sick around his eighth birthday. I was barely three or four at the time, I believe. He dies. It is the beginning of the end. Snow became inconsolable. Charming, Gramps, tries his best, but he can't get her to shake it. Mom finally gets mad enough about it and goes to Snow. I don't know what was said to Grams. I only know what you wrote about it Mom. It seems that you made Grams realize that Henry and I still needed her. So, did Ma. She moved in with us for a while."

"Did she get better?" Emma asked.

"Eventually, yeah, she did. It took both you and Mom to bring her out of it. She finally returned home and Henry followed her. He was worried about her. He wanted to make sure that she made it. She did. She returned to her normal hopeful self and began annoying Mom again. It made Mom smile," Coraline stated.

"What happened after that?"

"I don't know what happened exactly. I know that Rumple and Belle had a falling out. It was massive and he lost the dagger. She left him and moved in with Mom. Red found out and came to stay with us for a while. They helped each other. It seems about that time that Granny passed. They became really good friends…and then, really, really, good friends," Coraline told them.

"Belle and Red?" Emma asked.

"Grief does things to people. I don't think that they became really, really, good friends until after the battle though. They were more worried about the kingdom and the both of you, not each other at that moment. I think that Belle had to realize that Ruby loved her, first, and that Rumple was always going to want power over love. It was a hard pill to swallow, but she did it."

"I can see that," Emma replied.

Regina watched them. They were more alike that she wanted to admit, but she did love them both. They were her girls and she would do anything to protect them. The fact that she allowed Ruby and Belle into her home to be with Coraline spoke of the respect and the relationships that Regina would foster with the two women in the coming years. Relationships she knew that Emma helped her foster so she could turn from the darkness and into the light. Emma had been a catalyst in her life since the day Henry brought her to Storybrooke. She wondered what else Emma would do for her and she looked at Coraline. She gave them both a second chance at a well-loved family and a happiness that they had both only dreamed about.

"You really are my Savior," Regina stated.

Coraline and Emma stopped talking. They turned to look at her. The tears of happiness were forming and Emma pulled her into a hug. Coraline smiled. Her mothers were finally together. Emma saw the grin grow on Coraline's face.

"So, tell me…tell us what happened after that," Emma stated bringing the conversation back.

"The Blackness came. Before you ask, I don't know what started it. I don't even know what it really is. I only know the devastation that it created and still continued to cause for us all."

"Devastation?" Regina asked suddenly returning back to the conversation.

"Yeah, the Blackness came with men and mist and ravaged the land. Burning and corrupting the lands and fields. Snow raised an army, as did you, Mom. The men went out to fight. There was death on both sides but no clear winner. The wars raged for years. I was a still really little. I was kept away from it. You both decided that I didn't know about it. You were trying to protect me from it all," Coraline.

"But the battle came to us?" Emma asked.

"What happened, Darling? Tell me what you can. I know that you were young but you have to remember something about it. It doesn't matter how small the memory or idea. It can helps us, help you," Regina told her, reaching out to take her hand.

Coraline let her hold her hand for a few seconds. She pulled back when she saw the waitress coming with their food. Regina seemed upset with her about it until she saw the waitress in her peripheral. She removed her hand from the table. They waited until the waitress was done putting the food on the table.

"So, where was I?" Coraline asked stealing a fry from Emma's plate and eating it.

"The battle had come to you," Emma stated, silently laughing as Coraline took another fry.

"Yeah, it did. Snow and Charming took up arms and started battling towards the Winter Castle. Emma, well Ma, and Henry suited up to protect it. Charming made it through first. Snow did her best, but Grams couldn't beat through the Blackness. Charming and Emma went out to go get her and bring her to the castle. The men that had fought through the Blackness were taken in, fed, cleaned, and healed."

"Were there a lot?" Regina asked.

"Not as many as you would have liked," Coraline stated.

"Did we get to Snow?" Emma questioned, hanging on to every words she spoke.

"No, you didn't."

"What happened?" Regina inquired.

"I am not sure exactly. Henry and Charming went out together. You didn't want him alone. Emma, you went looking for Snow. I don't know what happened but I know that you got separated from Henry and Charming. Henry saw you fall from what I could gather later from Red. She was tearing across the battlefield trying to get to you. She never got you."

"I died?"

"You did. Red went back to Snow. They tried harder to get to you and the castle. Snow and Charming weren't going to leave you on the field. Red broke through the lines and managed to get to the castle. Charming and Henry got to where you fell they couldn't find your body."

"Couldn't find the body?" Regina asked.

"I don't know what happened to it. I know that Ruby went out a lot looking for you and the rest after we retreated, but she never found anything. She kept going out and kept coming back without anything. She never stopped though. She was determined that she would find you. It kept her going, I think. It gave her something to do when the world seemed bleak."

"So, what happened that pissed you off so much about that day? I know that it must have been this that set your anger in motion. So what else happened that day?" Regina asked.

"I was in lessons with Belle and Mom. We were in the main room of the castle. It was just off the throne room. We all spent most of the time in there."

"Do you remember the lesson?"

"I think it was something to do with the Enchanted Forest and history."

"I am sure that was interesting," Emma stated, quietly.

"It was when Aunt Belle was teaching it. She had such a passion for it. I know that it is why Mom picked her to be my main teacher. Snow started to teach me how to use a bow. Henry was better at it, though. Charming and Henry started teaching me how to fight. I went to classes with them and Ma. We all learned to fight together."

"Did you learn magic?" Regina asked.

"I did."

"I assume that I was teaching you that, Darling," Regina added.

"Yes, you, Belle and Emma were working on helping me with it. I wasn't that good yet. I was just beginning to show any capability with it. I was sitting at the table with Belle and Mom."

"Who came in?" Emma asked, realizing that Coraline was about to have a flashback.

"Gramps and Henry came into the room. They were covered in grime and muck. They were sad. I could tell that something major had happened. I didn't know it, but you were already dead. They were coming back to report to Mom."

"What did they say?" Regina asked.

"They brought you Emma's enchanted sword. The presented it to you in place of her body. They couldn't find it. They tried. They battled and fought but they couldn't find it. Red would later tell me that your body basically vaporized. She thought it was magic that took you away from the field and that is why she never stopped looking."

"She just vaporized?" Regina asked, like there was something more to it than that.

"The body was gone. There was nothing to bring home. Henry and Charming were devastated. Mom was angry. I don't know how angry, but she was pissed. I was wrapped around her leg. Belle pulled me away and held me. Your hands turned to fire. It scared me. I had only seen Mom get mad like that once. I didn't know what to do. I started crying. Belle held onto me and didn't let me go," Coraline stated.

"I went onto the battlefield, didn't I?"

"You followed Emma into death. Charming and Henry gave me items. They gave me love and followed you. Everyone went out onto that field to die. Red came charging in at the last minute. She told us that Snow wouldn't make it through until the morning. For whatever reason the tide seemed to be turning, it looked like we would actually save the castle and win the field."

Emma could see the tears forming in Coraline's eyes. She wanted to hold her daughter in that moment and let her know that she loved her. That she would always be there for her, but she knew that it would be the truth. She died trying to protect her family. It would be the way that she wanted to go, but now, she could see that it would hurt Coraline too much. She would find a way to stay alive. She would start training now. She would have to find a way off that field.

"I'll find a way," Emma told her, and she meant it with every fiber of her being.

"We all will," Regina stated, taking Emma's hand.

Coraline watched them. She knew that they were together. She was happy for them. She was happy for all of them. She had her family, now, and she could see why Emma would go charging into the fray, sword drawn, ready to defend them all, even unto death.

"I sent you away from Red and Belle to protect you and followed Emma into death."

"Yes, you did. We fled the castle and you all charged into the field. When we were about out and into the tunnels under the castle, the Blackness had broken through the lines and was in the castle. They were upon us. We didn't know what to do. Red was in her wolf form and she was ready to defend us. She kept pushing Belle and me down the tunnels. But, Belle wouldn't leave her. She wasn't going to let the wolf die for her. They were going to both get me out."

"You said earlier that Red did something that pushed them away or defeated them. Can you describe it? Do you know what it was?" Regina asked.

"Not really, I can't really remember much of that day. Just the tidbits that Belle and Red have filled in. I had nightmares about it for years, it seems. Belle told me that you pushed the back for us before you died. Red told me on a hunting trip that it wasn't true, but I wasn't to let Belle know that I knew that. She didn't want Belle to be upset. She told me that there had been a big blinding light and the darkness was pushed back. She said that it came from an amulet that you gave her. I don't believe that is what happened, either."

"Then what do you remember?" Emma asked her around a bite of burger.

"I remember Red ready to fight, her heckles and haunches bunched up and ready. I remember the light, but it didn't come from Red or Belle. It came from nowhere. But, it was so strong it pushed back the Blackness."

"A blinding light?" Regina asked.

"Yeah, bright and white. I've never seen anything like it, before or after. But, Belle and Red both have told me different stories about it. I don't know what that means, but that is really the only part of the story that differs besides their different sides leading up to our exodus. I don't know what it means at all, but that is the day that I lost everything, even my name."

"Your name?" Emma asked, plucking up a fry and throwing it in her mouth.

"Yeah, my name. It was deemed too important and I had to be hidden. It seems that the Blackness started seeking me out. It was thought that I was the light to its dark. It needed to control me. It needed to know where I was. Supposedly, I am the only thing that can defeat it."

"Then, why are you here?" Regina asked.

"Because I don't know how to defeat it. I have no formal training in magic or with weapons. Red taught me what she could, but she isn't Charming or Snow, Henry or Emma. Belle tried to teach me magics and other things but she wasn't you, Mom. She couldn't teach me to control it. She used books and journals that you had given her and not hidden in blood magic. And, even those that you did, I could read to her or write out for her to translate for me. It didn't help much. You already know that I don't have control. I tend to run from my problems. Hence why I am in Boston or here for that matter. I ran away from Red and Belle because…"

"Yeah?" Emma asked, as Regina squeezed her knee hard.

She gave Regina a look, but didn't say anything. Her heart was breaking for the kid, but she was her kid. They needed to know as much as they could. The Future be damned, Emma was going to save her coming family and she was going to be there to enjoy it.

"Well, because…damn it, I was tired of hiding. My given name isn't Coraline. Belle and Red came up with that once we got to Rumples. The Cora is for…well, your mother, Mom, Cora. And, the line is from the elongated form of your name, Ma. You're Emma, but they didn't want to name me Emmeline. So, they blended them into Coraline. That way I was still carrying my lineage without too many of the masses knowing my true identity," Coraline explained.

"What did we name you, my Little Princess?" Regina asked, her heart in her throat.

"Remy."

"Remy?" Regina asked.

"I get it," Emma answered.

"You do?" Regina asked.

"Yeah, we named her after us," Emma replied.

"How do you get that out of Remy?" Regina questioned.

"Regina and Emma, but Remma doesn't sound good. Remy is pretty. I also doubt that you would have let me name her Remington. I would have, though. I like the name. Sounds like we compromised on it," Emma explained.

"You did," Coraline said with a chuckle.

"Darling, what is your real name?" Regina asked.

"I am Princess Remy Aurora Swan of the Winterlands," Coraline answered with a mock bow, well a much of a mock bow that she could make in the bench seat of the booth.

"Remy Aurora? I have no idea where we got that name, but I am not sure that I would have agreed to it. Who named you?" Regina questioned.

"You did, Mom."

"I did?"

"Yes, about three days after my birth. You had to recover. I was born in the early morning and that is where you picked Aurora. Evidently Emma, well, Ma, had been playing with first names. You couldn't tell her no when came at you with Remy. When she told you it was for both of you, it stuck. I think it was more of the fact that she had been calling me Remington for months before my birth," Coraline stated.

"Really?" Regina asked, cocking an eyebrow at Emma.

"According to your journals, Emma took care of your every whim while you were pregnant with me. She was so excited that you were having a child that she didn't want anything to spoil the time for either of you. She decided somewhere along the way that if she had a daughter that she was going to name her Remington. When Snow used the necklace over your hand and swung for a girl, she started calling me Remington. You told her that you weren't going to let her name me after a gun company. So, her explanation for Remy worked for you."

"I doubt that," Regina replied.

"I can be very convincing when I need to be," Emma stated.

"Oh, I know that, Dear. But, I would like to think that I saw through your explanation and still told you no to naming our daughter Remy. I did name Henry after my father and it is a strong name," Regina told her.

"Okay, so you want to name our daughter Cora? Or, would you prefer Snow? We both know that either of those choices is out for both of us. Remy would be a logical choice," Emma countered and took a big bite of her burger.

Regina sat back in the booth and thought about Emma argument. She was right. She couldn't ever see herself naming her daughter after her own abusive mother. She feared what would happen to the child if she did. And, there was no way in Hell that she would name her after Snow. They had become friends, again, but there was still so much between them that would prevent Regina from naming her own daughter Snow.

"You have very valid points. I'll have to think about it. Now, that we know that we are having a daughter, we can plan a name," Regina told them.

"Can I say something about that?" Coraline asked.

"Sure, Darling, go ahead," Regina stated.

"I kinda like being Remy."

Emma laughed. She shot Regina an "I told you so," look. When Regina shot her back an equally damning look, Emma just picked up her water and took a drink.

Coraline smiled at their interactions. It was just as she remembered. They were cute and now, seeing it as an adult did her heart good. It was starting to ease her anger towards them. This was what she'd missed between them. She had never seen the love between them really like this. She couldn't help herself. She gave them a big grin and kept eating. She couldn't help but stare at them while they continued their silent argument with just looks.

"I wish I'd seen more of that when I was little," Coraline slipped out before she drank some water from her glass.

Emma caught the phrase and turned to face her. She could see the loneliness in her eyes. She'd had it as a child. Henry only had it when he was mad at both Regina and herself. But, to see it in another child's eyes broke Emma's heart further.

"We will do our best for you, Coraline. I promise you that. We will always find each other."

"I know that, Ma. It's a Charming thing. And, usually I would believe you, but I know what happens in the future. You go fight and never come back. First Ma, and then Mom, Gramps, and Henry, I don't have you in the future."

"But that is why you are here, Coraline. We are going to find a way. We always do."

"They really do always find a way to win, Coraline. It is nauseating. But, in this case, I will get onboard with Charming mentality. We are going to figure out how to defeat the Blackness and we are going to be a family. I am not going to let you go. I will fight for us all," Regina said.

"I can only hope."

"That is why you are here, isn't it? To find a way to stop it from happening? Then, we will find a way. But, Coraline, why did you come to Boston?" Emma asked.

"I was trying to find more about you. I figured if I knew what made you, well, you, then I would be able to know about my Ma. If I knew more about my Ma, then maybe I could convince you not to leave us and then we would be together. It is a selfish wish," Coraline replied.

"It is selfish, but I understand it. I don't want to leave you, Coraline. But, I will defend my family. I just found them not to long ago and I am not willing to lose any of them. And, that includes you now, too. Do you understand that?" Emma asked.

"What about Neal?"

"Now, that we know he dies from an illness, we can prepare for it. I will brew some tinctures and potions in preparations for him. I will talk with Snow about casting some spells of protection for the lad. I will not let this family fall apart. I will not lose my family, again, Coraline. Henry and you are all I have left. I am not going to lose you without a fight. I cannot. I will not," Regina told her firmly.

"But, that is the problem, Mom. You do fight, both of you do, and you both die. I understand that your love for us means that you will fight to the death for us, but that means I will still lose you. I came back here to stop that from happening," Coraline stated.

"And, we will. We will fight and we will live this time. We will find a way."

"We will find a way," Emma pledged as well.

"I hope that you can, Mom and Ma. I hope that you can. I want my family."

Will watched them from across the street. She hoped that Coraline was happy with her family. She knew that family was important. She just wondered if Regina knew how special her daughter really was. If she'd known who Coraline was, she wasn't sure that she would have helped her. Will was Emma's friend and she wondered what Emma was doing with Regina. It was odd that Emma would call her to find Regina's daughter.

Coraline was a mystery in herself. She was almost Emma's age, but she favored Regina and she claimed to be Regina's daughter. She didn't understand it, but Rumpelstiltskin was known for doing random things just because he felt like it. She wondered if the Dark One had anything to with the fact that Coraline was an adult and not a child.

Will didn't miss the Enchanted Forest. She'd come her on her own free will curtesy of Rumple's spell and a portal. She'd been her long enough to know magic was involved with the situation but she was far enough removed to want nothing to do with it. She cared for Emma, but she didn't know that she could help her anymore. She didn't want anything to do with Regina if she didn't have to and she couldn't figure out if she really had to.

So, she would wait. She would watch them and wait. She didn't know if she would follow them to Storybrooke. She wanted to spend time with Emma, but it seemed like Storybrooke wasn't a place that she needed to be. If Regina and Coraline were from Storybrooke, then Emma must know about magic and the Enchanted Forest. She was the law enforcement of the small town. Will wondered what her connection to the Evil Queen and her town her was.

She ran her hands over the red gem stoned ring on her left hand. She left the Forest to find a better place, a place where she didn't have to worry about who she was and why she was there. She had run away from death and destruction. She'd run away from responsibility.

"Well, my Queen, it seems that you have found the last of the Vulcannonians. I will not let you tame me like you did the rest. I cannot afford to lose myself to you, again, Regina. I can't."

She twisted the ring around her finger. It burned slightly like it always did, but she refused to take it off. Things were different in this world, but some things were the same. She watched them and wished that she could be there with them. She wanted to be with them.

She missed Emma. She cared for Coraline more than she wanted at this point. She didn't know what she was going to do. She grabbed her phone out of her jacket and checked the time. She had barely been gone for thirty minutes. She needed to move on and get away, especially before Emma or Coraline spotted her across the street.

Holding her phone in her hand, she walked out of the shop and headed up town towards her flat. She thought about texting Coraline while she was walking home, but she decided against it. She didn't want Emma coming to try to find her.

A/N: Since it just turned Thursday, 1.1.15 where I live, I'm posting it now. HAPPY NEW YEAR, Y'ALL!