Author's Note: I wanted to thank everyone whose been reading and reviewing the story. Also to those that are favoriting and putting this on their alert lists. I hope that you'll all continue to enjoy the story. As many of you have realized Regina isn't exactly the same woman as she is in the show. The shift in her character will be explained as the story continues. But rest assured her snarky edgy self is still there and will make many appearances throughout the story. Also any questions about the ending of the last chapter will be answered in Chapter 5, until then I hope you enjoy Chapter 3 and 4. (Chapter 4 will be posted next week)

Now, I'm off. Go! Off with you! Enjoy!

Chapter 3
'Old Friends'

-Present-

The snap in the air filled the empty corridors of her castle. Those who once worked here were long gone. The hallway was bleak and much of the mirrored wall was dusty, but it seemed her precious servant was eager for her return. His face filled the oval mirror no bigger than her head. She did not turn to look at him, too caught up in thought.

The water from the fall dripped upon the marble floor beneath her for but a moment. The air around her rises in temperature and soon there is not a trace of the puddle she'd been forming or any touch of water upon her skin or clothing.

"My Queen! You have returned safely." He seemed relieved. She didn't comment that she was just as relieved as he was to be alive and well. It seemed unnatural.

"I take it you were aware of my…adventure?" Looking down at her ripped dress she waves a hand over the material and watches with a relieved smile as the dress grew down to her ankles once more and her beloved gloves return to the pocket of her cloak. Slipping into the black leather gloves she sighs in contentment. She, after all, is free of perusal and the touch of death that had been an unwelcome stench was free and clear of her now.

"Well, yes, my Queen I saw the encounter. I had tried to find you sooner to warn you of the knowledge of your return, but…"

Taking a tentative step, she tests her weight on her leg and growls at the sting of the wound. She sneered as she looked to the green face before her. "You failed…!"

"I…well, yes."

"No matter, all is well." Well enough, anyway. She would have to attend to her leg.

Clicking her tongue against her cheek she began her walk down the hallway, with only a slight limp. She would not show weakness in front of anyone, else.

As she went the torches lit themselves, a single spark sending them aflame once more. Their light flickered against the gray walls of the corridor. Throughout her castle the dust along the walls disappeared and whatever cob webs that had gathered burned to nothing but ash. By the time she reached her study, the witch's castle was as spotless and 'homey' as it had been before she'd left. It was as if she had never left at all.

The cold rooms began to warm as fire places sprung to life to re-instill in the rooms with only furniture and collected nick knacks the life that they had lacked for the last three years. Fascinating, it seemed by the dust and grime collected that it had been much longer than the simple 12 seasons that'd she missed.

That contradicted with her original thought. She had perhaps thought that three years in the mortal realm had been only three months here in this realm. It could explain why she looked and felt younger. Except her castle looked as if she had been gone for an eternity. If it had only been three months in this realm then she would have come back to just a bit of a mess, not the catastrophe this was.

Looking around the expansive open aired room, the Queen looked towards the door as if expecting to see her father standing there looking at her with his knowing smile. When she saw nothing but the empty doorway she shot her eyes away, turning towards the flames.

"Mirror…"

Above the mantle was a reflective surface where her Mirror appeared ready and willing to serve. "You called your majesty?"

She rolled her eyes at the title, what was it that she ruled over? Waving her hands as if to wipe away her own thoughts she continued to stare into the fire, the flickering flames intriguing her. "Do drop by the Forbidden Fortress and tell Maleficent I shall be there for a visit. And, drop by the old haunts and see if there are any souls willing to risk working for me. I will need a seamstress and cook most especially. Guards are of no real use to me right now."

As, after all, no one had found her castle in her time away. If she was honest however their interests in finding her castle will have been raised now that she had truly returned.

"Though do pass along that I may be looking for a bodyguard or two, perhaps a few maids as well. All will be well compensated."

"Yes, of course your majesty. Right away."

Staring, she brought her black gloved fingers to her chin, and tapped against her bottom lip in thought. "Mirror…"

"Yes, your evil highness…?"

"How long has it been since I've been gone?" She asks as she looks up into the reflection, seeing his face as well as her own upon the shields glamor.

He seems startled by this, as if she should know how long it is she's been gone. "It has been eighteen long years since your majesty left…and may I say you look marvelous!"

Eighteen years….eighteen long years. Nearly two decades?

Her silence startles him. "Majesty?"

She cannot answer him, she simply waves him away as she steps back to fall into what used to be her father's arm chair. Eighteen years?

It is possible, she supposes.

It had always been a possibility that the rift between the realms would cause a time differential. She had never thought it would be such a large difference. This realm moved six times as fast as the realm she had lived in with her father until this very morning. Though, somehow, on top of the time difference, she had returned to this world as young as she had been before she'd left. Three years wasn't much to age, but seeing as eighteen years had passed here in the fairytale realm, she had thought she'd have aged along with it.

Not that she aged normally on a regular basis thanks to her magic anyway.

But eighteen years would have taken a toll even on her outward appearance. So, to be as young—and dare she say—as fit as she had been before she'd left this realm was startling. Though a delight in and of itself.

If it was truly eighteen years since she'd last been seen in this part of the universe, then why in the world were there still bounty hunters waiting for her? How had anyone known she would return when she herself hadn't been sure of it until several hours ago? Who in this world had the power to see into multiple futures and pick which one would actually become reality?

Not many, and those who could were not all friendly towards her majesty.

"This…may cause a bit of trouble."

Seeing the Mirror still staring at her, she rolled her eyes. "Off with you. I must speak with Maleficent as soon as possible."

Perhaps her friend could help her weed through her list of enemies. Surely it must be smaller now that so much time had passed.

-Forbidden Fortress-
-Next Day-

The dark mist that lay around the Forbidden Fortress and Forest in general was thicker than she last remembered it. However, it did not stop her as she led herself through the familiar hallways and passageways. Thankfully there were no surprises in the form of bounty hunters waiting for her as she made her way through the entryway of the Forbidden Fortress.

Stuffy, like always.

The clack of her heels echoed through the quiet corridors. The servants were as skittish as ever, some of them doing their best to blend into the walls of the drab castle halls. She couldn't hide the smirk upon her face as she heard the whispers. It seemed the rumors had already started the moment her visit had been announced. Shock lay upon most of the servants willing to look at her, with bowed heads of course.

She could not blame them. For them, eighteen years had passed since she had last walked through the halls and it seemed as if not a minute had tick-tocked itself by. She was as young as she had been the eve she'd gathered in Maleficent's hall, save this time she was not interested in stealing back her curse. No, this time she was more interested in catching up with her dear, and only, true friend.

"Hurry…hide him…" Maleficent instructed two servants as her arms waved them away. The person they were hiding was no person at all, rather a grown unicorn. Ah, so the dark witch thought she was after something and would use that poor animal as leverage again. Well, let her think what she would.

It didn't hurt…
Much.

"Maleficent, dear, how wonderful it is to see you." She calls out into the open sitting room. Like her last visit two chairs sit before an animal skin rug and a roaring fire.

Maleficent turns around swiftly, her hands moving behind her back, her fingers swaying to keep the servants at their task of removing her beloved steed.

The elder witch's eyes widen as they take in her friend. She swallows stiffly as she makes her way to her seat, and her waiting staff. "Regina, what a won…what a surprise…" The blue-green eyes of the shape shifting witch is curious as she notices that there is no charm making Regina's skin as wrinkle free as it seems. "Darling, time has treated you wonderfully. You must share your secrets. Please…"

Regina laughs good naturedly as Maleficent steps up to her and kisses one cheek and then the other. "Well, apparently all one must do to shave a few years off is leave the realm. Simple…don't you think?" The sarcasm is plain.

Leaving the realm is far from simple, and it wasn't easy, especially when she needed to take two with her. Perhaps if she had been by herself it would have been easier, but there was no fathomable way that she was going to leave Henry. Until now.

Maleficent huffs as she forms a smile and gestures to the two seats. The moment they are both seated two 'eager' hired servants come out from behind the large black oak bay doors, a serving tray at the ready. Upon the shiny silver surface stands one long glass crystal flute, a dark purple liquid within its hold.

Taking the offered drink, Regina keeps it close to her. She does not take a sip, rather she runs her finger across the rim of it and watches Maleficent. Her friend has yet to take a sip from her flute. Just because she has been absent from this realm does not mean she is no longer aware of how dastardly minds work. There is a nervous air within the opened hall, and surprisingly there are no weapons mounted on the wall. So very different from the last time she was here. There were paintings along the wall, several of landscapes that Regina has never seen before. Others were familiar. Cinderella's as well as Princess Aurora's castle are two of the many castles painted along the wall. Their images enchanted as upon the canvas the shapes of people move in and out of the castle walls and guards patrol the walls themselves.

Interesting spell. It is also a clever way to keep an eye on one's enemy, when one does not have such a willing and able servant as hers.

Tilting the flute back, the blonde witch enjoys her first sip of the deep magenta liquid, her eyes steadfastly upon Regina. "You were gone for quite a long time."

"Yes, apparently eighteen years." Regina looks to her own glass as her black nail skims the rim once more. Meeting Maleficent's eyes she sighs, this is no way to live. Bringing the flute to her lips she drinks from it. The fruity taste pleasant against her tongue. She does not detect any poison, and she hopes that there is none. It truly will be a lonely life here if the only friend she has wishes to kill her at the first opportunity.

"You were unaware of the time difference?" Maleficent's shoulders sag a bit as she relaxes into her seat, mimicking Regina's current position. It was nice to see her friend, truly it was, but there was also a bit of worry lacing the blonde witch's body.

"I was surprised by the difference, yes. I knew there had to be a slight variance, I was just startled by it."

Maleficent looked thoughtful as she held Regina's gaze. "You seem different. There is, well, your aura has changed a great deal since the last time we spoke."

"Yes, well perhaps I've changed for the better." A small smile plays across Regina's lips.

"Hmmm…yes, I see that you have. You're less conflicted as you had been, and dare I think it, happy?" A shine came to Maleficent's eyes at that realization. She put her drink down on the table between their chairs and leaned forward.

Regina shook her head as she too placed her drink upon the table, crossed her arms and leaned closer to her friend. Maleficent had aged in the time that she had been away. Not by a great deal, but there were many more wrinkles upon the woman's face and laugh lines by her lips. "You too seem instilled with a sense of happiness, my friend. Do I take it that you have found your happy ending in the time I have been away?"

Maleficent drops her gaze away for a moment, her focus upon the carved wood of her armrest. "Tell me, how is it that you escaped?"

Regina tisks, "I believe I asked you first."

The blonde witch sighs dramatically before looking towards the fire, once again unable to meet Regina's eyes. "Fee…" Regina reaches across to take her friend's hand.

"I have…" Is the soft whisper that travels upon the air between them.

Regina is confused, honestly and truly confused. There was such a sadness around this admission. All she wishes to do is grab her friend up in a hug and wish her congratulations. There are so many questions at the tip of her tongue, but she does not speak any of them. Not a one.

The air around them is too heavy for her excitement to grow any farther than it had. Instead, she squeezes Maleficent's hand and offers, silently, to be an ear for the (now) older witch.

"It seems funny, to have found happiness all these years later. I…I had thought for sure I did not deserve it, and perhaps I still do not. I—for you see as much as I have come to love him, he still does not return my love." Regina's breath catches in her chest as Maleficent looks up, her eyes glazed with her unshed tears. The elder witch's lip quivers as she finally meets Regina's eyes, but only for a moment.

Once the moment is broken her hand is torn away and in a flash the monarch of this fortress is standing, then walking towards the flames she seems to think hold all her desired answers.

Regina is stiff in her seat, unsure whether to rise and follow after Maleficent or stay and let the woman rant. To love and not be loved in return is one of the deepest pains any woman could feel. Regina knows this, as many of the darker witches tend to.

Maleficent wipes furiously at just below her eyes, grumbling as she realizes that she has ruined her makeup and/or shown her weakness. Regina is unsure which upsets Maleficent more. "He is a fool for not realizing the prize he has in you."

Maleficent chuckles mirthlessly. "Yes, well, you certainly did not come to see me to talk about my unrequited love." Turning to look at Regina Maleficent returns to her seat, any trace of tears or sorrow wiped clean from her face. "So, what is it I can do for you my friend?"

"You are mistaken. My intentions for seeing you are not purely selfish. I have in fact missed your company and now, knowing that so much time has passed, I am genuinely interested in hearing about your life. I did not think I would miss so much of it."

"Oh Regina, dear you fool no one. You left this realm and all of us in it behind the moment you left. You speak as if you planned to return."

"Of course I didn…" Regina's words freeze on the tip of her tongue, they are lies and she does not wish to lie to Maleficent. So instead her focus settles on her fingers playing with the heavy silk of her cape. Her inability to meet her friends eyes admission enough.

Maleficent is surprised, and Regina does not blame her. "Tell me, my friend, why spend so much time, and effort!" The emphasis on effort is nary something one could miss, "on escaping this realm only to plan to return?"

Regina sighs, what could it hurt? "I knew that I would one day return. No matter how I wished to leave and escape this blasted realm and all—most of—its inhabitants. I knew I would return. I am destined to return. What can I say? I must be a masochist."

"No, that's not all it is either. Do not get me wrong, I can tell you are not lying to me, at least not completely. But why hide the rest of the truth from me when you've already spoken much of it aloud?" Maleficent probes the tip of her sharpened nail lightly against her top lip. "Tell me…"

"And waste this beautiful suspense?"

Maleficent rolls her eyes, "Sarcasm has always been your forte, but you know I will find out one way or another." Maleficent tapped her well maintained fingernail against her forehead.

Regina sighs, "Of course, you and your mind reading. Why not save me the trouble and find out for yourself, hmm?"

"And where is the fun in that?"

Laughing, Regina shakes her head, of course. Maleficent was all about the entertainment of the game, the fun she could have, not the trouble she could save others. "This is, Fee…"

How could she explain to her friend something that she herself sometimes had trouble comprehending fully? There was something that kept her from staying away, kept her from feeling complete elsewhere. She had been sure that she could find what she was missing in the human realm. She had been willing to stake her father's life on it, her own life on it. So, it was with a great deal of regret, sadness, and maybe a bit of heartbreak that she realized she could not find her happiness there.

"This world, this realm…Fee, this is home."

As wretched as this realm had been for her, and she to it, it was still where she was meant to be. Her heart had been brought to life here. She had found love and loss here. She had found friends and maybe a touch of happiness. There were a great many things she had found and many more things that she had lost here. Most of her memories were made here. Good and bad memories, just like everyone.

Regina had hoped by returning she could finally multiply the good. Her very soul was attached to this realm whether she wanted it to be or not and she had been unable to keep herself fighting against the pull here any longer.

Besides… "What would this realm be like without the Evil Queen?" The gleam of Regina's teeth as she smirked brought a cackle from Maleficent.

"Well, we've had eighteen long years to find out and apparently it's…boring." Maleficent shutters as if the very word is the most disgusting thing she's ever heard.

"Oh my dear, surely it couldn't possibly be that bad."

Maleficent looks as if she's about to cry…again. "It's simply become such a dull existence here. I myself thought of leaving for darker pastures!"

"NO!" The unexpected volume of her outburst even surprises Regina.

"YES!" Meleficent returns in the same manner, her head shaking as she sighed heavily. "Ohh…it's just," Maleficent leaned forward and took a hold of Regina's own and held it tightly. "No one is as sinister and ferocious as you could be. And with Rumpelstiltskin locked away for all this time and all the Princesses and Princes finding their true loves, becoming Kings and Queens, and breeding—"

Children, Regina cringed as Maleficent spoke of children, grown children taking on their parents roles of Princes and Princesses of the realm. Wonderful, another generation to toil with that might actually prove to be as interesting as the last. The last Regina had heard, the day she and her father had left, Snow White and Prince Charming were expecting their first child. She'd even thought about sending them a gift. Actually, she tilted her head to the side in thought. She had sent them a gift. Well she'd sent the child a gift. Upon horseback she sent her witch doctor, Patrick Whale with a note and a small stuffed toy. The note had simply read, "Goodbye and good luck" in her elegant script. She need not sign it, Snow White would know it was from her.

Laughing at the thought, Snow White had probably burned the stuffed toy the moment she realized who had sent it. No matter, to Snow White that was nearly two decades ago.

"—raising the next generation of monarchy brats! Well everything is just so listless. For us evil folk at least."

"Oh my, I take it that Snow and Charming's child is well on their way to finding their one true love?"

Maleficent laughs, unable to help herself. "Still with the obsession over Snow?" Regina simply tilts her head to the side, "Oh yes, sorry, I mustn't forget that you haven't lived eighteen years away from her. Though, I imagine even then you would still be as…"

Regina clears her throat, indicating that her friend should either drop the subject or simply continue, but at her own risk. "Right, well she's even more trouble than her bothersome mother. Getting lost and sneaking around in MY Forbidden Forest upon a whim. Dragging those bloody knights in shining armor, and wannabe Prince Charmings to my door as if I took the child.. Huh, accusing me of taking her! That girl is more of a handful than even I was willing to take on. You know me, Gina, I never was very fond of children."

"No, no you weren't."

Maleficent frowns, realizing her folly. "I am sorry, darling. Sometimes I speak without thinking."

Forcing a smile, or what could be considered a smile, Regina waves away Maleficent's worry. Between the two of them she was always more the maternal. She always longed for a child, and on occasion attempted to steal away others children to placate her own gnawing desire to be a mother.

She had been, once. But that had been what felt like a lifetime ago.

In an attempt to change the subject Maleficent picked at the straws of ideas in her head and came up with a winner. "You know, James and Snow are holding a ball for the dear White Princess tomorrow evening so that she can find her true love. They are worried after all. The girl is turning eighteen and has yet to find herself a suitor."

It seemed that Snow and her daughter were quite different in that respect. "Well, perhaps it is time to liven things up around here again."

"Oh, and how do you plan to do that?"

"Pessimism does not suit you, Maleficent." Regina teases at the exasperated tone to her friend's words.

The idea of dropping by at another ball for Snow and James, and their little Princess, was one she could not pass up. After all, the brutes had tried to have her killed. She might as well drop by and let them know she was safe and sound. No thanks to them. It seemed like the only polite thing to do after all.

Regina cannot contain her smile, "Well, my dear Maleficent, why don't we see to making it a bit more, what was the word you used? Oh yes, exciting again? Hmmm…? How long has it been since you've been to a ball?"

The rapid clapping and Maleficent's squeal of anticipation were answer enough for Regina.

End Chapter Three

So, what do you think about Maleficent and Regina's relationship? Anyone else as excited about their planned trip to the ball as I am? ;-)

Thanks for reading! More to come next week.