Chapter 37
Coraline was putting the finishing touches on her dinner when everyone came in the house. She looked up from the casserole dish as all the ladies were arguing and it didn't sound like it was going to stop soon. She watched as they bypassed the kitchen and went out onto the back porch. Charming smiled at her as he came in the kitchen, two six packs in hand and placed them in the fridge.
"I'd stay in here, kiddo. That might take a while. I hope that dinner will keep," he stated.
"What are they arguing about?" Coraline asked.
"Something about Rumple and the line," Charming told her.
She didn't wait for him to finish. She threw the oven mitts on the counter and covered the casserole back up. She was out the back kitchen door in a flash. She stood there for a minute watching Emma, Regina, Belle, Ruby and Will argue.
"Hey," she stated quietly trying to get into the conversation.
She didn't get so much as a look from anyone but Belle. She wasn't surprised by that though. Belle was the only other person besides Regina that was always acutely aware of where she was. It must be a mothering thing, she mused.
"Hello?" she tried again to no avail.
Finally, she'd had enough of their bickering. She needed to know what they were thinking about. She had been cooking all day for this dinner and she hadn't heard any of the ideas that they were fighting about now. She needed more information to see if she could offer them any more information.
"HELLO?!" she screamed.
Suddenly five head whipped around to stare at her. Belle gave her an amused look. They all had an annoyed look on their faces. She stood there waiting for them to acknowledge her before she said anything further.
"Yes, Darling?" Regina asked, realizing what her daughter was doing.
"Well, hello, Mom, Ma, Aunt Ruby, Belle. Hey there, Will. Nice of you to come home for dinner. Now, I don't know what you are arguing about and right now, I don't care. We will talk about it later. Right now, you are all going to go inside and clean up for dinner. Once dinner is over, since Gramps brought over some beer, we will sit outside away from everyone else and will discuss whatever revelations that you all have come up with today. Understood?"
"Cora-"
"No, Mom, we will enjoy this family dinner. I've spent all day making it. I understand that Will defeated the ogre this morning and you have all been doing research in various capacities around town. You need to eat. We can talk later," Coraline told her.
"She is definitely your daughter," Emma said leaning towards Regina.
"Ruby can you help Henry set the table, please?" Coraline asked, giving Emma a look.
"Sure, Kid, no problem," she answered going back inside.
"I'll go make sure that everyone is here," Belle stated following her.
Will, Regina and Emma stood there. Coraline was glaring at them. She knew that Regina wasn't going to let something go before dinner, and they just enough time to talk about it now.
"What is it, Mom?" Coraline asked her.
"We may have found a way to stop Rumple."
"And, I'm not going to like it, am I?" Coraline asked in response.
"Probably not, Kid," Emma replied.
"Does someone die?"
"No," Regina asked.
"Then what is it?"
"We want to push him over the line and keep the dagger," Will stated.
"And, that will keep him out?"
"We don't know. He's come back before, but he tricked his way in. This time, I want to make it a little more permanent," Regina replied.
"Okay," Coraline replied.
"That's it. Just okay? You aren't going to ask how?" Emma asked her.
"You've already told me that I am not going to like it. You've stated that no one will die. And, I told you that we are going to have this family dinner before anything else is discussed. So, do you want to piss me off or do you want dinner?" Coraline asked.
"Yup, definitely Regina's daughter," Will stated, quietly.
"I heard that," Coraline replied.
"I had no doubt that you would."
"We need to move quickly," Regina stated.
"We need to eat dinner, damn it," Coraline countered.
"She's right, Regina. Let's eat and then we can talk about the issues. Let's go eat," Emma said.
Coraline walked back across the porch to the kitchen door. She opened it and held it for them to enter, giving them each a pointed look as they entered the house for dinner. Regina stopped at the door and stared into eyes so much like her own. She saw the determination and fire in her daughter's eyes. She smiled at her and leaned towards Coraline's head. She gave her a quick kiss on the forehead and went inside, immediately heading to the dining room. Coraline stood in the doorway for a few more seconds before getting the meal together and heading to the dining room to join them all for dinner.
Dinner was a quiet affair. Anytime that someone tried to stir the conversation towards Rumple and his connection to the ogre, Coraline shut them down. She made it abundantly clear that this was her dinner with her family and that was all that needed to be said. Everyone at the table had to agree that she resembled Regina in that moment and they were going to spoil it for her.
Charming was amazed at his granddaughter. She had charisma and she could command an audience. She reminded him of a younger Snow at time still trying to find her way and ruling a kingdom. But, he also saw Emma, headstrong and defensive, in her actions. He knew that her magic and her emotional side most likely came from Regina, but he didn't care. She had become a well-rounded woman even without their direct influences.
They were all fighting to save a future, her future, their future, but none of them understood the horrors of it like Coraline did. Charming uniquely understood that. He'd grown up a stable boy and farmer. He was thrust into royal by King George when his twin had been killed by the dragon. But, for all his time as royalty, he never let it get to him. He never flaunted it and he was proud that Coraline didn't either. She hid from it at times like Emma did.
"Coraline, will you tell me more about the people in charge in your time?" Charming asked.
Snow and Regina both turned to look at him like he had four heads. They all knew that Charming knew that Belle and Red were in charge. They didn't understand what he was getting at. Emma thought she understood, but she wanted to see what Coraline had to say before she added her two cents into the conversation he was starting.
"They were all good people. Mostly villagers and farmers, though. All the royalty or those with royal blood had been killed, or so we thought. There were a few knights, but they listened to the Council Elders only," Coraline replied.
"Council Elders?" Snow asked.
"The Council Elders were the only two survivors of the royal courts and were friends of both the royals and villagers alike," Coraline stated.
"Belle and Red," Regina added.
"Yeah," Coraline replied. "They survived the final attack with their 'daughter'…me. No saw fit to question it. Retreating to Rumple's castle made sense because it was protected by magic. Because she was the granddaughter of Granny, Red stood for the villagers. Because she was once a princess and knew what would be needed to keep the people healthy and protected, Belle stood as well. No one thought it odd. They were actually relieved."
"Why?" Snow asked.
"Sometimes people are like sheep. Wait, Gramps, let me explain. They are mostly okay on their own, but they need someone to step up and lead them. They crave the sense of belonging and protection that a leader gives them. It is innate. We all do it. Red and Belle were both on the Council, so the Council, or what was left of it, became the ruling body of the survivors."
"Did they ever stop coming?" Regina asked.
"No, new refugees came in almost daily from everywhere. Tales of the reigns of the all the greats, including the both of you, Mom and Grams, were told at night by the dimming cooking fires in the beginning. As soon as a printing press was found, the stories were collected and writing down for future generations. It was a way to give hope to the people that a royal among them would stand up and fight for them again and they would be prosperous against the Blackness. I used to hang on every word when Belle would read me the stories or tell them to us in masses. I went to school like every other kid that made it there. Belle taught most of the subjects with a few others that helped. Red never stopped her expeditions to find survivors, always leaving clues for others to find their way to us."
"I kept going out and looking. Wasn't that dangerous? Why would I leave?" Ruby asked.
"You felt the need to, I guess. And, you always did at the full moon. You'd tell us that you were just going to run in the forest. In the beginning that may have been what it was, but then you caught scent of something. Each month you brought something home. Weeks after, refugees would come crawling in. I would see the look on your face. Sometimes they would come in with talismans or crude maps. Things Belle and I figure out that you'd left behind for others, but it was the look in your eyes that gave you away. That and when we found a rough realm map that you'd made in one of the rooms that only the Council and the knights were allowed to use."
"What was the map?" Belle asked.
"She'd marked where she'd looked and where the refugees came from. Sometimes she would send knights out to check the areas again in between the moons. But it was always based on who came through the gates that month and what stories that told us. Stories that Belle catalogued for review and historical purposes, she was single handedly refilling the library."
"How did the community work?" Charming asked.
"For the collective group. There was no money and bartering was done only between neighbors. The farmers grew crops and tended the fields. Everyone had a job and everyone earned their meals. Housing wasn't an issue. The castle was big enough in the beginning that each family was given their own room or set of rooms depending on the size. The court yards were turned into fields. When we had to leave the castle grounds for whatever reason, the knights were always there to protect us. It wasn't a utopia, but we all did what we had to do to survive."
"There was no crime?" Emma asked.
"Oh, there was but it was dealt with swiftly and efficiently."
"Want to elaborate on that?" Regina asked.
"There was stealing, but those that were caught were just made to work more to pay back for what they took. They would have to do their job and then go work for whoever they stole from. Stealing wasn't the worst thing that happened, but it was the most prevalent," Coraline said.
"What was the worst?" Will asked, suddenly very interested in the story being told.
"There was one incident when I was younger. I think that I was roughly twelve. I was old enough to know what was going on, but I was still young enough to be shielded from it as well. I remember going to the trial, but I was taken away at certain points. It didn't seem strange to me, because all the other children had been as well."
"Do you know what the charge was?" Emma asked, curious as to what would make them hide it from the children who had already seen so much devastation.
"Not really, but if I had to guess it was something worse than murder. The accused was executed after being found guilty. But, his execution was different than any other I had seen or read about. His sentence was swift and fiercely carried out."
"What was it?" Regina asked, now just as curious as Emma and Charming.
"He had to run with the wolves," Coraline stated.
"That doesn't sound so bad," Snow replied naively.
"You have no idea, do you?" Coraline asked, looking at her grandmother stupidly.
"She doesn't mean running with the wolves like you might have, Snow," Ruby started to tell her.
"It is an older custom for area of the Enchanted Forest where Wolves lived among the people as equals. For capital crimes, men were sent to the Wolves naked on the night of the full moon. They were sent to their deaths. The Wolves would tear the men limb from limb and consume them. The head Alpha of the region would bring back evidence that the sentence had been carried out. If someone managed to make it past the Wolves to the so-called safe zone beyond their borders, they were considered exiled and would be killed if they ever crossed the borders back. No one ever came back and neither did this man, I assume," Regina explained.
"No, Mom, he didn't."
"What is worse than murder?" Snow asked.
Emma leaned over and whispered one four letter word. The look on Snow's face said it all. The questioning in her eyes told them all she understood and Coraline just nodded her head. Ruby sighed knowing what the crime was for that punishment. A crime that isn't respected in many societies, let alone those of the Wolf for them it was instant death when found guilty.
"Do you remember anyone else being charged to run with the Wolves?" Belle asked.
"No, it was the only instance. The punishment fit the crime and it was enough to be talked about in hushed corners and whispers that no one else dared. Murder wasn't even rampant. Like I said, we were all too busy trying to survive and find our place among the community. Children didn't always follow into their parents' trades, but they would find their place. Apprenticeships were plentiful and Belle had a few as scribes and printers. They did most of the work during the day while she was at the school or doing research with Red."
"Were you happy?" Regina asked.
"For the most part," Coraline answered.
"Why do you say that?"
"Because I didn't have my family," Coraline stated.
"But, you will," Will replied firmly.
"I hope so, because as much as I was surrounded by love and people. I was still alone. I was untouchable because of who my mothers were. Once, I realized who I really was thru stories and pictures, I knew that I had to do something. My education didn't stop in the classroom. Belle had been teaching me to lead and be a princess while Red was teaching me to hunt, fight, and track like a knight or a Wolf. I was being groomed to take over because I was the rightful heir to the throne of this motley crew of misfit refugees and I wanted to give them their kingdom back."
"So what did you do?" Charming asked her.
"I got myself captured and magicked myself here," she told him flatly.
Regina looked across her dining room at her daughter. She could see the tell-tale fire in her eyes. She didn't want to say more on the subject and after what Regina had witnessed due to the dreamcatcher, she didn't want Coraline talking about it either. That was something that only mother and daughter needed to share and it was something that would haunt Regina's thoughts and her nightmares for years to come as she watched a baby Coraline grow up, hopefully, into the woman before her. The silent conversation that they had only with their eyes spoke volumes to Will and Emma as they watched both women agree to not talk about what happened in that prison in the future.
"Well that is a very Charming thing to do," Snow quipped quickly, noticing the thickness in the air and the elephant in the room that no one was going to explain.
"It really is," Regina replied.
Snow looked at Regina and saw the thanks in her eyes. She knew that Regina was warming up to them and though she might never take the Charming name or be a true "White," Regina would eventually be her daughter-in-law. Their truce had been forming for years and the more time that Snow spent with Regina and Emma, the more that Snow was beginning to understand the intense emotional side of Regina that she had been blinded to as a child.
"So, what is your plan for Rumple?" Charming asked, now that dinner was over and Henry had gone upstairs to bed.
"We are going to lead him out of town," Ruby stated.
"How?"
"I don't know yet, but if it comes to it, I'll use the dagger," Regina stated.
"And, what makes you think that he will follow you?" Snow asked her.
"He wants something from us and while we might not know what it is yet, we aren't going to let him find it. He is willing to rip this world apart to get what he wants. I am not going to let that happen. We have fought too long and too hard to let our town be destroyed by him. He once understood community, family and doing the right thing," Regina explained.
"He did, but trying to get him out of town isn't going to be easy," Charming stated.
"No, it isn't. But, do you really think that he would try to stop us? We are the most powerful witches that any realm has ever known. I think that between Emma, Coraline and I we could force him to leave town. And, if we need more muscle, then we have an Alpha Wolf and a Vulcannonian Warrior Princess on our side. He doesn't stand a chance," Regina said.
"And, if that doesn't work?" Snow asked.
"Then, we go down fighting," Emma told her. "I am not going to lose my family. I am not going to let this town die because of one selfish man. I am going to stand up and I am going to fight."
"So am I," Ruby added.
"As will I," Will stated.
Belle just stared at all of them. She wasn't sure what to say. They had talked briefly back at the library but nothing had been set in stone, or so she thought. She knew what they were planning, but this was just too much. She couldn't watch them all march off to their deaths. She would have to do something to make Ruby see that this was a suicide mission. No one who ever went up against Rumple ever survived.
"Why push him over the line?" Snow stated.
"Because it is the only way we can neutralize him," Coraline told her.
"Neutralize him?" Charming asked.
"Whoever kills him where there is magic, becomes him. We can't let that happen. I know that we would be able to defeat him this way. Once he is over the line, he won't have magic and he can't come back over the line unless we give him the means to do so," Emma replied.
"Are you sure that he won't try to trick his way back over?" Snow asked.
"He wouldn't have a way to do it. He wouldn't have any magic. He wouldn't be able to influence anyone to let him back over. He has pressured this town and its people for so long that no one will back him. Even those that would think about backing him won't stand against me. They know what he is capable of and if he gets his way, he will destroy everything, Snow. You have to see that. You have to know that he would destroy it all," Regina told her.
"What do you mean by that?"
"The spell that he was working on isn't just a portal to the Enchanted Forest," Belle stated.
"Then what is it?" Snow asked, shaking her head slightly with the question.
"It is a portal back in time. He plans on going back in time so he can perfect his family and have everything that he wants. It is the same plan that he concocts every time he loses what he has. He tried it and realized that time travel wasn't a viable option when he lost Neal. He spent the rest of our time in the Enchanted Forest grooming me to cast a curse so he could come here to find him. What the Hell do you think that he is capable of doing in order to get Belle and Neal back? Fortunately the portal spell that he is using needs ingredients that he can't get here, but that hasn't stopped him. I think that he is trying to use the well in order to go back to get what he needs and once he has it…he'll erase all of this. Do you want that?" Regina asked them.
Charming sat back in his chair. He listened to what they were saying. He really did, but he decided that he needed to weigh in on the matter.
"So why is it that you have to confront him?"
"We need to get him to the line," Emma stated.
"Why can't I do it?"
"What are you talking about?" Snow asked.
"You want to stop him. You want it finished. We need to stop him. I agree with that, but why does it have to be one of you? Why can't someone else do this for you?" Charming asked them.
"What are you propose?" Regina asked, not sure if she was honestly going to entertain any idea that came from the shepherd prince, but she knew that she would at least hear him out.
"Why can't I lure him to the line or push him over? That is why we are all here, isn't it? Because as Coraline stated, matters of state were handled by the Council. Is this not the Council sitting here with us? Why can't we all have a say in this?"
"What are you suggesting, Charming?" Regina questioned.
"I don't know, but it can't be this. We know that whoever kills him takes the power. And, I hope that I can say that everyone here, that we don't want anyone to have that fate. But, is getting him over the line honestly going to stop him?"
"He has a point," Emma stated.
"We know what we are fighting. We know who are fighting, but we also know that we Rumple is capable of doing. We know how he turns things around to get what he wants. How do we know that he hasn't planned this to get us divided? If we are divided, then we are easier to defeat. He knows are weaknesses and our strengths. How do we know that he won't use those against us and still get what he wants?" Emma asked them all.
"We don't," Regina added.
"Then how can we say that this is best thing to do. We can't. We are planning on destroying a man because we think that he is trying to destroy us. We know that he is capable. He has proven that on more than one occasion, but what do we really know? We know that he is still grieving for Baelfire. We know that he wants Belle back, but do we know what he is planning in order to get both of those things in his life? No, we don't. We are going off half-cocked and unprepared. We don't know what he is doing," Charming stated.
"Yes, we do…" Belle stated looking passed everyone and into Regina's deep eyes.
"What?" Regina asked, breathily, completely surprised by the information that Belle was just now giving them after she had been there earlier while they were hashing out ideas and she had said nothing.
The looks that she was getting from Regina were copied by Will, Emma and Ruby. She simply shrugged off the looks. She shifted slightly in her seat but she never let them see the fear. She'd been taught to be poised and regal in hard situations. This was definitely going to be a hard situation. She was hoping that she wouldn't have to divulge this information but she knew now that she couldn't hold back anything. She had to tell them everything that she knew.
"I know what Rumple is planning."
"What is it?" Will asked, reaching over and putting her hand on Regina just the same as Emma was doing from the other side, each of them trying to keep Regina calm.
"There is a way to defeat the darkness inside Rumple. I almost did it once. I can't do it now. I've lost that chance and so has Rumple. He let it slip through our hands. I am not telling you this because I want him to die. I am telling you this because it is information that the Dark One doesn't want anyone to know. It is a way to defeat the darkness but it will only work if the Dark One agrees to it. It isn't something that I think is passed down with the knowledge of being the Dark One. I am not sure how this hasn't been documented, but I don't think that the Dark One has ever been on capable. Maybe that is the problem. They aren't capable anymore," Belle started to explain like she was still trying to fully process the information herself.
"The Dark One isn't capable of what?" Will asked her, watching her every move.
"Love…" Belle replied barely just above a whisper.
Regina met her fierce blue eyes. She saw the answers there and she knew why Belle had kept the information to herself. She knew that Belle had been keeping that information bottled inside for years. She wondered how long she'd known that there was another way to destroy the darkness inside him and why she hadn't acted on it. Had things between Rumple and Belle gotten so bad between them that she would offer this information? What happened to them?
Belle stared at her. She could see the questions in her eyes. But, Belle didn't elaborate more. She knew that she had said enough with what she had already said. She didn't know what else she could say to them. She had given them the power to destroy Rumple with one word and now, she was content to sit back and see what they would do with it.
"If that was the case, then why isn't Rumple normal now?" Emma asked not quiet grasping the magnitude of the information that Belle had given them.
"Emma…" Regina started.
Snow met Belle's eyes. She could see the pain and the heartbreak there. She understood what Belle was and was not saying. She stood up and grabbed Charming by the arm, leading him away from the table. He looked up at her and into her hazel eyes. She said so much that he understood now was not the time to question further.
"We'll see you all tomorrow," Snow told her family.
"Goodnight, everyone," Charming answered leaving with her.
"What did I miss?" Emma asked the remaining women.
"Emma, come with us. We need to go patrol. Red, you come, too. We could use your nose," Will stated realizing that Regina and Belle needed to talk alone.
Ruby looked up at her and then at Belle. She saw the look in Will's eyes. She saw the look in Belle's eyes. She felt for Belle, but she knew that whatever she had to say she needed to say it alone to Regina. She reluctantly nodded at Will. She stood up and cocked her head towards the door. Emma caught the look and stood up, too.
She was waiting by the door frame when Ruby met her. She could see the questioning in Emma's green eyes and she knew why, but she also knew that they needed to patrol the town and make sure that they were safe for the evening. She also knew that Regina and Belle had a lot of unfinished business to discuss.
Coraline took Will's hand as they left the room. Emma smiled at the simple gesture and hoped that both her daughter and her friend could find the peace and love that they deserved with each other. She knew that Regina was afraid for them and she understood it, but she also understood where her daughter and friend were coming from. They hadn't had a true loving experience in their lives until they found each other. And, the fact that they found it with each other was as much poetic justice as it had been for Regina and Emma to find it with each other. She smiled at Coraline and nodded as they headed out into the town. The unspoken words of love between them meant more to them both in that moment than actually saying that they loved each other and Emma knew it.
She pulled Ruby back just enough to give them some privacy. Ruby reluctantly agreed but then she saw the look on Coraline's face. It was the same look that she had seen with Regina when she looked at Emma when she thought that no one was really paying her any attention. She could see the love between them and she gave Emma a grin. They walked through town and patrolled, hoping that nothing would happen, waiting for a phone call to come home.
Regina was still just staring at her. She didn't know what to say. She wanted to yell at the librarian, but she couldn't. She would have done the same thing had she been in her shoes. Hell, her own mother might have saved Rumple once upon a time if she hadn't ripped her own heart out. They had the answer in front of them for years and yet they still didn't see it.
"Love?"
"Yes."
"It is the most powerful magic," Regina stated.
"In any realm," Belle added.
"How long have you known?"
"That Love would cure the darkness?"
"Yes," Regina replied simply.
"Since I was a captive in his castle, years before you captured me on the road that day."
"Why didn't you ever say anything?" Regina asked her.
"Because I was unsure of what someone would do with the information. It wasn't just his life that would be changed. It would be mine. I did love him once. I loved him enough to walk away, but that wasn't enough for either of us. The separation nearly drove him mad with lust for power and it made me your prisoner instead of his. You gave me the idea, on the roadway that day. You had to know what it would do to him," Belle accused her.
"It was an idea, but it was an idea that I never thought would work. My mother had loved Rumple. At one point, I am sure that he thought I or Zelena was his daughter. But, it wasn't mean to be with her. Do you know why?" Regina asked.
"No."
"Because she ripped her own heart out. She tore her own heart from her chest because she realized that she loved him, but she wanted power and fame and everything that goes along with it. She didn't marry my father for love. She married him to improve her station in life. Love was something that I never truly understood, even though I did have the love my father. It was the one thing that my mother instilled in me about love: it is weakness."
"But it is strength, too," Belle added.
"I know that now. I didn't then. I didn't when I took you from him and hid you away. I did it because I was sad and lonely. I did it to manipulate him, but all the while he was the one doing the manipulations. His love for his son caused me to curse the entire kingdom. He molded me into what he wanted, what he needed for his endgame. There were no thoughts about my happiness or my feelings. It has always been what it will always be with him, Belle. And, now, unfortunately, after being married to him for a few years, you see that."
"It will always be about him and his quest for power," Belle replied.
"Yes and I am sorry for that. But, I think that you have found something else because of you trials with him. You are stronger and you are willing to fight. You haven't given up on him. I can still see it in your eyes. You don't want him to die, but you are afraid that there won't be any other way to stop him. I get that. I am afraid of that, too. But, I am also afraid of what he might unleash on the town," Regina told her.
"He released the ogre didn't he?" Belle asked her.
"I don't know if he did it directly or indirectly, but Emma and Red know that he was there when it came through the portal that he opened. We need to close that portal but to do so, we need to distract Rumple. I am not asking you to do anything. I am asking you to not do something."
"What?" Belle asked.
"Stay away from him. I am afraid of what he might do if you go back to him. He is losing his mind with the power of the darkness and the more he does, the more I worry about you. No, I know that you can handle yourself Belle. I know that you are capable with a sword. I've seen you in action a few times when it's been needed. But, violence isn't your occupation like it was mine. Even through everything that we've both done to you in our quests for power and revenge, you have remained steadfastly pure and slightly innocent. You need to keep that."
"And, what would you have me do?"
"I would like for you to allow Red to do as she sees fit."
"Ruby is her own person," Belle replied.
"Not when she is around you, Belle. Don't try to deny it. We can all see how she looks at you. She could do a lot worse, trust me," Regina told her snickering a little.
"Should I be insulted?"
"No, Belle, you shouldn't. You are both of royal blood. And, according to my daughter, you are both the reason that our people prosper in a sea of darkness as you still try to fight the Blackness. I need you to stay the way you are for my daughter. Is that selfish of me? Yes, because at this point, I don't know that anything we are doing is actually helping. For all we know, we are playing right into the timeline that causes the Blackness to happen. I need to know that my daughter…that my family will be safe," Regina told her.
"Your family?"
"Yes, Ruby is my sister. And, I love her. She is my only true family besides Coraline."
"That is why you let her get away with more than the others with you," Belle said.
"Yes, it is. I know that you will keep her grounded Belle. I know that you will protect her fiercely like I do. I know that you are the reason that Ruby would take him on, kill him and take the darkness inside her and do you know why? Because she would do it to protect you from it."
"But, I am the only one that can defeat it," Belle argued.
"You were the only one that could defeat it. You don't love him like that anymore. You don't. If you did, you would have fought harder for your marriage and for him. But, you are here and you are telling me how to stop the darkness of the Dark One with love because you believe that either Will or Red is going to confront him. You know that they will be able to kill him and you know what that means for them if they do it. You are trying to educate us so we can give them a way out once the deed is done. Always two steps ahead, no matter what the plan," Regina stated.
"Love will make you do strange things," Belle replied.
"It surely will," Regina said as she picked up her glass. "To Love and all its glory. May it save us from ourselves, our enemies and help us defeat the unholy Blackness to come."
"To Love," Belle repeated.
"To Love!"