I could tell exactly when Mother left the building, because I heard David suddenly start cursing outside of the interrogation room. I had no idea what to do; my brain was still processing exactly what happened. Suddenly, Emma slammed her fist on the table, startling me. I watched her pace back and forth across the room, muttering under her breath. Her face was hard, like stone. Her eyes burned with frustration and rage. If I were completely honest with myself, in that moment she scared me a little bit. That look meant one of two things: she was going to act rashly and possibly get herself killed, or she was about to save the day. Or both.

"We need to talk to Gold," she said suddenly.

"What?" I asked.

"We need to talk to Gold," she repeated. "He's known Cora the longest out of all of us, and may have even had something to do with it." She looked at me, and her face softened. She must have seen the doubt in my expression. "It's a long shot, I know," she said in a softer tone, "but it's the only lead we've got."

I could see her point. Rumplestiltskin has played a part in the life of just about everyone in this town; I wouldn't be surprised if he did have something to do with it. Even if he didn't have a part in what happened here, perhaps he would be able to uncover more than we'd been able to. Besides, I could tell by her expression that her mind was set.

"Alright," I said.

Emma's eyes widened, surprised at how quickly I agreed. Then she smiled. She walked towards me and grasped my hand. "Thank you," she said in a low voice. Then she gently helped me out of my seat, never letting go of my hand. When I stood she pulled me closer to her, and gave me a quick kiss. I longed for more, but we both knew that time was of the essence. Despite the short duration, it was adorable. As we pulled away, I saw her grinning from ear to ear. She looked so silly and cheesy, I couldn't help it. I started giggling uncontrollably, and her questioning look only made it worse. She pressed her lips together, trying desperately not to laugh. It didn't work, and we stood in the middle of the interrogation room giggling like a couple of middle-schoolers.

Suddenly David came bursting into the room. Emma and I both took a step back and looked away awkwardly. Thankfully, David took no notice. He started pacing back and forth in the small space, his face hard.

Emma waited a moment before speaking. "We'll meet you at the house later, okay Dad?"

He looked up at her, confused. "Where are you going?" he asked.

"We're going to talk to Gold," she replied.

"You're going to what?!" he exclaimed just as Mary Margaret walked into the room. "Why?"

"He's our best shot at figuring out what happened to Cora all of those years ago."

"And why do we need to know that?" he challenged.

"Because it could show us how to defeat her!" she exclaimed.

"Could?" he asked incredulously. "You don't sound very sure."

"Maybe...but it's the best chance we've got."

David was quiet for a moment. Mary Margaret put a hand on his arm. "She's right, David," she whispered. He tensed, but didn't say anything. He was beginning to see the logic behind Emma's suggestion.

He sighed. "Okay. But what do we do? Is there anything we can do?"

"Yes," I said. "Go be with your son. And, if you can, would you please check on Henry?" Emma placed her hand on mine and squeezed it gently, sharing my concern.

David nodded. "Of course." Then he and Mary Margaret left.

Emma waited until their car was pulling out of the station, then turned to me. "Let's go get Gold."

We pulled up to Gold's shop a few minutes later. We were both in a hurry, but we knew better than to rush into that shop unprepared. Emma turned to me. "Are you ready?" she asked.

I nodded. "Let's go." Emma took a second to center herself. Then we got out of the car together and walked into the store together.

As we opened the door, the chime of the little bell announced our presence. Gold was behind the counter, like he usually was, inspecting a small silver figurine. At the sound of our entrance he raised his head.

"If it isn't Storybrooke's newest royal couple," he said. He gently placed the figurine on the glass shelf in front of him then turned around to face us. "Well, not so new now I suppose. The anniversary is coming up soon, is it not?" We didn't answer. He seemed to get that we weren't here to chat, and immediately went to business. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"My mother is in town," I said, "and she's after Emma."

He chuckled, which made me want to punch him in the face. "That doesn't surprise me," he said.

"What?" I demanded.

"Well, Cora was never exactly secretive about her distaste for homosexuality," he elaborated. "In fact, for the first couple of years after marrying your father, she used her influence to forbid homosexual marriage, and persecute those in the kingdom who were suspected of being in homosexual relationships."

"Oh my God," I said under my breath. "I had no idea. How could I have never known?"

"By the time you were old enough to understand, the people got the message. Those who were in danger of your mother's wrath either fled or went into hiding." I thought about that, and I remembered when I was young going through the town and finding that people had just vanished. I remembered the day I found the bakery abandoned. The sweet, delicious scent of flakey rolls and sticky sweets no longer beckoned me inside, the baker's kind face no longer smiled at my passing. I remembered how she used to give me a small sweet every time I passed, and when I dug into my purse to find a few gold coins, she always stopped me. "But how will I pay you for the lovely sweet?" I would ask. She would smile down at me and say "I don't need any payment, save a promise to come and visit me again." And so I would happily promise, and all but skip out of the door. Once in a while my mother would leave on some business, and I would sneak down to the bakery. The baker would let me help her knead and shape the dough, and decorate the sweets. She would even let me sample a few. She would tell me stories about far off places, about fantastic beasts and the lovely ladies who saved the day. It broke my heart when she left. When I'd asked my mother why she left, she said she didn't know. Even at that young age, however, I could tell that there was something off. Of course, I never said anything: I was just as terrified of her as the rest of the town. I realized that, no matter how often she talked about love, I never saw a man in her life other than her elderly father. Perhaps that's why she left so suddenly...

"Regina!" Emma's voice snapped me out of my reverie.

"Sorry. What?"

"I was telling Gold why we're here..."

"Oh, right." I cleared my throat.

"Anyways," Emma continued, "We were using the dreamcatcher, and we saw quite a bit, but it got to a certain point where it wouldn't let me through. It was like there was some kind of wall or barrier. Can you help us or not?"

"Perhaps," he replied. "If your dreamcatcher was made correctly, the only reason that it wouldn't have shown up would be if the memory was masked from Cora herself."

"Like she forgot?" Emma asked.

"Not quite," said Gold. "It's much more likely that Cora used magic to supress those memories."

"And how would you know that?" I asked.

"Because I'm the one that gave it to her father," he replied. Emma and I looked at each other, unsurprised. Of course he was a part of this.

"Okay, but can you fix it?" I asked. "Like, bring back her memories?"

"Are you sure you want to?" he asked. "You don't even know what she's going to remember."

"Well, don't you?"

"Sadly, no. I never asked about the specifics: I merely made a deal. But I can direct you to one of the people directly involved who might know more."

"Who?" asked Emma.

Gold smiled. "For that, dearie, there's a price."

"There always is with you," I said, exasperated. "What do you want?"

"You said you used a dreamcatcher. Which of you made it?"

"I did," Emma answered shortly.

He pursed his lips for a moment. "When you're done speaking with her, I would like that dreamcatcher."

"Why?" I asked. "We already used the hair woven into it, and it gave us nothing of use to you."

"That may be true, but a dreamcatcher is still a very powerful object, especially one made by the savior." He walked a few steps closer to us and outstretched his hand. "Do we have a deal?"

We hesitated for only a split second before Emma closed the distance and shook his hand. "Deal."

"Excellent. Let me give you the information then." He walked back behind the counter, took out a small piece of paper and a pen, and began scribbling something on it. "The person you'll want to speak to is Eleanor, and you'll find her at this address." He finished and handed the paper to Emma.

"Thanks," she said.

"My pleasure," Gold replied as we began walking out the door. "I hope you find what you're looking for."