A/N:

Hey guys!

I hope you've all had a good week, heres another (pretty long) chapter for you! Thank you as always for reading, reviewing and favouriting and all that fun stuff! I'm a little concerned that i've made things a bit confusing and that i'm not answering any of the questions you might have so if you feel like this please let me know! There's a little bit of Hood in this chapter (ugh) but i think you'll like it. A little warning for the chapter following this, there will be trigger warnings. Obviously i will detail them when i post the chapter, and it will only be for one chapter. If anyone is unable to read then i am more than happy to message you with the general gist of the chapter sans triggers so that you can carry on reading. Just let me know. As always comments and criticisms are appreciated a lot!

Happy reading, enjoy

Rosie

Xx

(I do not own Once or any of its characters, no copyright intended.)

"If you're not going to be able to pay attention, Miss Swan, then how do you expect to save our entire town from certain death?" Regina addressed Emma with distain.

They had begun their first magic lesson no more than 20 minutes ago and Emma was already driving Regina up the wall. After the revelation of Zelena's real intentions last night they had sent Henry off to school with his grandfather and two guards, ordered to stand outside the classroom at all times and escort him everywhere he went. He hadn't been best pleased with the idea but Regina and Emma had told him the truth about the witch's plan, that she needed him, and he solemnly promised both women that he would stay safe. He was so young, yet he had grown up to be wise beyond his years and this was what prompted them to tell him the truth; his awareness of the potential danger could only be a good thing.

"I don't know, Miss Mills" Emma whined insolently, her blonde locks falling over her face, green eyes peering out from behind the haze of hair. "When you said we were having a magic lesson I kinda thought it would be a little more adventurous and a little less sitting in your dingy vault reading books in a language I don't understand," she grumbled.

"This is the basics Emma, without learning how to read this, you will never be able to complete spells to any level of proficiency, I assure you." Regina was annoyed with Emma, but she also found the blonde's inability to study slightly endearing, god knows why.

"I know I won't be able to but I really can't learn like this Regina. My brain doesn't work. Ask any teacher I ever had. They all gave up on me because of it," she said sadly, looking down at the book in front of her as Regina watched from the other side of the table.

Regina knew that Emma was trying it on to get out of reading, but she also noticed that there was a profound truth to her words. It made her wonder what Emma had been like in school, or what she was like as a child at all really. Regina felt sympathy for Emma, she knew the pain of people giving up, of people leaving. There was also part of her which still felt unwavering guilt for having caused Emma's childhood to be what it was. The brunette reasoned that they were more alike than anyone would ever know and that their upbringings, although as different as two could ever get, had seemed to give them a similar understanding of people, of the world, and of themselves.

"Well I will not be giving up on you, I can assure you of that," Regina answered too easily. She smiled a genuine smile at Emma, her eyes softening. "If you cannot learn this way, then we must simply find another way for you to learn."

Emma was shocked by the former part of Regina's statement; it was something that, on occasion, she desperately needed to hear and hearing it from the Regina was strange, yet it felt right. She may not have been used to people being on her side but she knew without a doubt that she had always and would always been on Regina's side. It was nice to know that the opposite was true.

"Really?" she grinned happily after recovering from the initial onset of emotions the words had brought and closed the book in front of her. She sat stock-still, awaiting further instructions from Regina.

"Okay. Let me see," the woman looked around her vault, thinking of things she could ask Emma to do. "We'll start off easy. Light that candle over there," she pointed to a large red candle sitting on one of the shelves to the left.

Emma concentrated fully on the candle for several seconds, she felt a heat build in her palms and did what she felt like was transferring the sensations from her body to the candle. Immediately it was alight. She smiled at Regina, pleased with her achievement.

"Yes!" Emma celebrated, "Whats next?"

"Next, I want you to open the book to the page you were reading before. Hands behind your back."

Emma dutifully placed her hands behind the back of the chair and stared at the book in front of her.

"Imagine the page number in your head and how the book would move in your hands if you were to open it," the brunette suggested, her own hands linked together on the table in front of her as she watched Emma with interest.

The blonde closed her eyes and pictured the page, 328. She heard the rustling of pages and the thick over of the book hitting the desk and when her eyes were opened she saw that she succeeded in her endeavour.

Emma smiled, "too easy Regina, come on, give me a challenge," she said as she smirked and raised her eyebrows.

"Oh so you want to step it up a notch?" the brunette's eyes glinted mischievously.

Emma looked at her with apprehension for a split second. Regina could tell that Emma wasn't as confident as she made herself out to be but the woman accepted regardless.

"Bring it." Emma replied teasingly, revelling in the light flirty banter between them but also concerned about what the other woman had planned.

They exited the vault, sealed it behind them and jumped into Regina's car. She drove them to the woods and once she had parked and turned the engine off she extended her hand across the car to Emma.

"Are we…" Emma tried to think of the right word, "poofing? To where ever we're going?"

"Yes dear, hold on tight," she answered as she clasped the Saviour's hand softly.

Emma glanced around her as they landed, still trying to get to grips with being transported magically from a to b. It made her insides feel like they were on the outside, as if someone had picked her up and shaken her around before putting her back on her feet. Emma looked around her, hand still clutched in Regina's. In front of them was a gigantic ravine, spreading twenty feet wide and stretching out as far as Emma could see. There was a rickety looking rope bridge leading a path to the tree-line on the other side.

Immediately Emma was on edge and she quickly released the brunette's hand, instead tucking her hands into her back pockets awkwardly. Regina brushed her already immaculate clothing off and turned towards the blonde, eyebrow raised.

"You said bring it," she jested, "so I'm bringing it." She looked at the Saviour standing next to her; Regina worried slightly about her idea, whether the woman could handle it, but the brunette knew that Emma would always be able to handle what was thrown at her and more.

"Okay…now I'm scared," the blonde admitted as she jumped nervously from the ball of one foot to the other. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" She gazed out at the bridge in front of them. Regina was throwing her in the deep end now, and she had a bad feeling about it.

"You will be fine," Regina assured her, placing her hand onto the blonde's shoulder momentarily as a gesture of comfort. "We know that your magic responds to your emotions, and therefore that you work well under pressure. So," Regina did her best to hide the evil face she knew was undoubtedly going to emerge, "Step onto the bridge. Into the middle."

It took a gentle push from the brunette's hand to spur Emma into motion. Her boots slipped on the damp grass as she walked down the small slope to where the bridge began but she steadied herself. There were two large wooden posts set deep into the ground to which the ropes were attached. Feeling the mayor's eyes on her Emma inched forward slowly, her foot now making contact with the wooden slats, held up only by rope. She moved along at a shuffling pace, stopping every few seconds to gauge how far she was from land until she finally stopped in the middle of the bridge and turned herself towards Regina's welcoming gaze.

"Are you ready?" Regina asked, getting increasingly nervous herself. A couple of years ago should would have been thrilled at the opportunity to put Emma in harm's way but these days she was feeling more like she wanted to pull Emma off the bridge and tell herself never to be so stupid again.

"Uh…yeah…I think so," Emma stuttered nervously. She looked up at Regina but as she did so lost balance and wobbled slightly. Her hands came down in a vice-like grip on the rope either side of her as she steadied herself, attempting to stop her legs from turning to jelly underneath her.

Regina smirked at her as they made eye contact. Emma knew that the brunette wouldn't hurt her but she was terrified all the same.

"Are you scared of heights, Miss Swan?" Regina's eyes gleamed at finally having found the Sheriff's weak spot.

"No," Emma replied, her voice wobbling, "what would make you think such a thing? Saviours aren't scared of anything" she laughed, but it was obvious that she was simply trying to hide her fear.

"We don't have to do this if you don't want to Emma," Regina said seriously, taking a step forward to rest her hands on the wooden posts either side of her.

"No, I'm doing it," the woman replied stubbornly. She glanced down at the ground below her which was very, very far away, and had to steady herself once more. "I am not scared."

Regina looked at her incredulously, "I'm being serious Emma, we can do something else if you're not comfortable."

"Its fine. I'm ready. Just do…whatever you're going to do." Emma took up a defensive stance: her legs locked tight, feet stuck like glue to the wooden panels, hands holding onto the rope for dear life.

"Very well," Regina answered. If Emma had had time to look properly she would have seen the worry etched across Regina's face, the usual mask abandoned for this scenario. With a tap of her hands on the poles a jolt of magic shook through them and followed through the rope. Emma felt the surge of the former Queen's magic through her hands but only fleetingly, for the feeling was gone as quick as it had arrived.

Before the blonde could even ask what had happened she noticed the rope beginning to fray at the head of the bridge where Regina was standing. She looked behind her in a flurry and saw that the knots at the other end were beginning to come loose too.

"What the fuck!" Emma screamed, hands shaking, eyes fixed on the figure in front of her. "Are you trying to kill me woman?!"

The rope continued to fray as Regina replied and Emma began to panic.

"Of course I'm not trying to kill you!" Regina shot back defensively. "Thats the last thing I want." The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them but Emma was too distracted by her current situation - eyes darting between the wood underneath her feet and the slowly breaking ropes - to pay much attention to what the brunette was saying.

"What am I supposed to do Regina? I don't know what to do!" She yelled, the blonde's eyes screaming for help as fear took over.

Several more stands of rope broke away and the Saviour started to hyperventilate.

"Emma, you can do this!" Regina yelled, forcing herself to focus on the knowledge that the blonde was capable.

"Do what! What do I do?" she shouted as the bridge dropped lower, and lower, and lower with each second.

"Just fix the bridge," Regina cried out, "and don't die!" she added. Suddenly she was losing faith in her own plan, maybe this really was a bad idea, maybe Emma couldn't do this.

No, Regina said to herself firmly. She can do this. I believe in her.

Emma held her hands out, palms up in front of her attempting to summon something, anything to help her. She felt nothing.

"Thanks for the encouragement," Emma hollered. Trust herself to make a joke at a time like this. As she felt the bridge droop lower and heard rope pinging every few seconds she closed her eyes and tried again, focusing as hard as she possibly could to fix the bridge, to save herself.

"Focus Emma, you know what you need to do!" Was Regina's final call before the rope frayed and Emma went plummeting into the deep gorge below.

"No!" Regina screamed. She was silent for five seconds, waiting for Emma to reemerge but she didn't. "No! Emma, I'm sorry, I thought…" Tears began to pour from deep cocoa coloured eyes. "I'm sorry…I'm sorry." Regina felt her legs begin to give way.

Stupid, how could I be so stupid. She wasn't ready, "Ahhhhhhh!" the brunette yelled fiercely. She started to sink to her knees just as the air around her filled with the unmistakable crackle of magic. Regina could feel it in the air all around her, tingling against her skin. It felt so light she almost wanted to allow it to sweep her up into the sky and fly away with her.

"Emma?" she asked the thin air, straightening her legs back out and stepping forward towards where the bridge had once been.

As Regina stood and waited small pieces of wood started to rise up from the ravine, followed by bigger pieces, which began to form a new bridge at the opposite side of the gap. Shards of wood and pieces of rope began to merge together, creating a solid path. Just past the edge of the ground Regina began to see the unmistakable blonde tresses of Emma Swan, her head, then her face, her shoulders and torso.

"Emma!" Relief flooded through Regina's nerves as she realised that she had been right to believe in Emma, and that she should never for a second have doubted her.

Pieces of wood continued to move around her as Emma rose up from the gorge, a brilliant white smile stretching from one side of her face to the other. Her arms were raised high in the air, fingers stretched to the heavens. The bridge formed around her, slat by slat reattached to the rope from whence they came.

Regina wiped the wetness from her eyes and took in a deep breath. Emma was alive and powerful and gods she was beautiful when she had that smile on her face.

The blonde came to rest on her newly rebuilt bridge with the smuggest of grins. Regina couldn't help but reciprocate.

"Told you I could do it," she teased, stepping off the last rung of the bridge and onto dry land in front of Regina.

"You did no such thing!" the mayor shouted in reply, giving the Sheriff a slap on the arm for good measure. "I thought you were dead. Don't you dare scare me like that again Emma Swan, or I mean it. It will be the last thing you do." Regina's face said she was joking but her voice told Emma she was being deadly serious. The act of attachment set something off inside both women.

"Really though Regina? That was insane. It was amazing, but like, really fucking insane," Emma accused. "You just shove me on a bridge and make it collapse? Are you crazy?" she replied looking into Regina's still moist brown orbs with a smirk that she attempted to hide, but couldn't.

Regina looked guiltily back at Emma, "I'm sorry I…I wasn't thinking. I don't think I quite considered the potential consequences. I just didn't think about them because I knew you wouldn't fail," she said, the last part of her sentence coming out rather matter-of-factly. There was a warmth in her eyes that Emma wanted to melt into.

"How could you possibly have known that I wouldn't die?" Emma said exasperatedly.

"I don't know," Regina shrugged with a smile, "I just knew."

Emma took that answer for the time being. Using so much magic in one sitting had tired her out and she couldn't be bothered to argue. She also didn't want to question Regina's unfaltering commitment to her success, to her, in case it came out that the woman didn't really believe in her at all.

"So, how did I do? Do I get a grade?" she teased, changing the subject.

"Well, considering I only wanted you to retie the ropes, you get a B," Regina said resentfully.

"Retie the ropes," Emma tittered, "that was too easy! I built you a whole damn bridge, that totally deserves an A. Miss Mills," she poked.

"Fine, you get an A, with one letter grade deduction for scaring me half to death. So overall, a B. Happy?" Regina asked her as they began to walk back in the direction of town, Emma by her side.

"B+?" said a cheeky Emma, who nudged Regina with her elbow as they walked.

"Fine, B+," conceded the brunette. "In truth though, I am extremely impressed. You made great progress today, " Regina smiled. We can carry on practising at home. Lets go fetch Henry?" she asked.

"Sounds perfect. And thanks Regina, that really means a lot." Emma looked down at the woman next to her with a smile on her face. "I don't think I've ever had a teacher tell me they were impressed with me before. Even if you're not a real teacher, " she joked.

Zelena was out in the woods, preparing to gather another ingredient for her curse. She had almost everything she needed now, bar the boy. What Rumple had told her played on her mind. Forces at play that even she hadn't considered? In her head she had meticulously run over and over every detail of the conversation, every detail of her plan. He had told her that she wasn't seeing the big picture and Zelena hated nothing more than not being privy to everything, but she was struggling to see what she was missing. Regina was right where she wanted her; weakened and soon to be more weakened, with no idea, as far as she knew, that soon she would be separated from her son. She had the necklace which meant that no one, not even her father could compete with her magically. Her preparations for the curse were almost complete. Everything was going well, or so she though.

As she walked through the dense tree trunks she felt a peculiar feeling. It was magic, being used somewhere very near. Very powerful magic. The amulet around her neck pulled her towards it. Sometimes it felt like it had a life of its own, though usually the draw wasn't this strong. In her elation at retrieving the object and ticking another thing off her list she had neglected to realise that her knowledge about it and its power was minimal. Magic always came with a price and the more powerful the magic the bigger the price to pay.

Goosebumps prickled in a wave across Zelena's flesh and caused every last one of her hairs to stand on end. She channelled the ripples of energy, allowing the power of the distant magic to reveal itself to her. She pulled this power into her chest and allowed it to fill her up; the unwelcome feeling of someone else's magic inside her was tripled by the realisation that it was light magic. Immediately she focused her mind on moving towards the cause of this power and in a millisecond she was standing underneath a vast canopy of trees, roots and fallen branches littering the ground at her feet.

"No, Emma! I'm sorry", an unmistakable voice broke the silence of the wilderness and directed her towards her destination. I should have known, she thought, my sister and her pet.

Zelena crept forward towards the source of the noise. She arrived at the foremost line of trees just in time to see her sister, distraught, almost resting on her knees in the mud like a peasant. The woman's hands were clutched to her face, and even though Zelena had distinctly heard the woman calling Emma's name, the blonde was no where to be seen.

However, the sensation Zelena had experienced before returned, except this time with such immense power that he had to stop herself from falling over by bracing her hand on a large beech tree. As she watched the situation in front of her unfold she saw large hunks of wood rise from the gorge from below and into the air. There was an unmistakable crackle of magic from somewhere her view didn't quite stretch to which Regina had obviously noticed too, because she rose and peered over the ledge nervously, her hands visibly shaking. Sickening, Zelena mentally grimaced. But interesting….very interesting. The emotions painted across Regina's face, even from afar, were visibly genuine and the witch was slightly shocked by the fact. She had known that the women stood up for each other - that was clear enough from the blonde's 'heroic' performance in the town square - but what she hadn't realised was that her sister obviously had some strong feelings for the woman.

Again Zelena thought back to her conversation with Rumple. Another player? Maybe this player wasn't someone unknown to her at all, just someone that she hadn't previously considered a threat. The Swan woman was the Saviour, yes, but the redhead had been under the impression until right this second that her magical abilities were somewhat limited. That, however, did not appear to be the case at all.

Zelena looked on as Emma Swan emerged from the gap, wind blowing in her hair, the aroma of magic surrounding her. She was strong, that was for sure. This caused a problem for Zelena: if the boy was both her sister's and this woman's son then procuring him would be significantly harder than she thought. She reminded herself that the necklace protected her from all magical threats but it couldn't hurt to take a few extra precautions before the woman's magical abilities progressed any further. If her father was right and someone might be able able to defeat her the Charming's daughter seemed as good a candidate as any.

A bridge rebuilt itself around Emma as she levitated herself in the air and her sister's face was so full of joy that Zelena thought she might genuinely vomit.

But then something struck Zelena, something which she hadn't previously considered. What if the Swan woman was the key to casting the curse and not the boy. It appeared that there was a connection between the two of them as she watched from across the ravine. It could be that the heart of the thing Regina loved the most was in fact the heart of this woman and not of her son.

Well, she mused, I guess we may have to explore this little scenario before we proceed. Such fun.

Either way, she decided, Emma Swan was hers.

Emma and Regina walked side by side through the relative peace of the woods, making their way back to the car. Their lighthearted banter continued but neither could deny the fact that they were still processing the situation that had happened.

It hadn't gone unnoticed by Emma that Regina had been crying while she had been in the ravine. She had heard the tortured scream from above when the woman had thought she was dead. It sounded strange but Emma had never expected Regina to care so much, should something like that happen to her. However it was now obvious that the woman did care about her, she really cared, and that scared Emma because when people cared about her she had an alarming tendency to let them down time after time. She stood up to Regina's expectations today but there would come a day in which she wouldn't and then everything would inevitably break apart, because no matter how hard Emma tried it was never good enough. She always did something wrong and it was usually something she knew was wrong but did anyway, making it so much worse. She wondered whether Regina would still put all her faith in her if she knew everything about her life, everything she had done. But then, she supposed, she put her faith in Regina with the full knowledge that she had made some terrible decisions in her life, all she did was simply trust her not to make decisions like that again.

The crack of a branch from somewhere to her left pushed Emma immediately into guard mode. She stopped still and placed herself between Regina and the noise out of pure instinct.

"I heard something," Emma whispered, peering into the trees.

"Hello?" Regina asked loudly, "whoever is hiding out there, show yourself."

A shape emerged from the trees and Emma breathed a sigh of relief when she saw a stocky male form instead of an intimidating female one. She stood down, moving to stand alongside Regina again as the person made themselves known.

"Your Majesty, I apologise. We must stop meeting like this," he said, trying to be charming but neither woman was convinced. "And Emma, I am very sorry for startling you."

"Its fine just, be careful out here alone, blah blah, sheriff talk, you know the drill," she replied earning a scowl from Regina who apparently took Emma's job more seriously than the woman herself did.

He laughed briefly before turning again to look at Regina. "What are you ladies doing out here?"

"Patrolling," Regina quickly lied. Emma assumed that she wanted as few people to know about Emma's magical abilities as possible, just in case any of them were working with Zelena. "We have a witch to defeat, after all."

Emma stared at the man's face as he and Regina shared small talk about Zelena. He spoke to Regina as if he knew her, or at least wanted to know her, which Emma found somewhat bizarre. She had only encountered him once and he and his band of followers tended to keep to themselves for the most part so she wondered what the story was here. He was an interesting man, his face pulled upwards in what looked like a permanent grimace. He wasn't unattractive but there wasn't anything special about him either. She debated whether Regina was interested in this man. She hadn't been with any one since Graham, as far as Emma knew, and while she had dared to hope that maybe the person for Regina was her she hadn't expected that to actually become a reality. Emma wanted the brunette to be happy; after a difficult life Regina deserved nothing more than a happy ending and if that meant that she had to watch the woman fall for this boring, oaf of a man then so be it.

"Yes," Emma heard Regina say as she drifted out of her reverie, "we will be sure to keep you informed of any movements concerning the dark witch. We should be going." Brown eyes met green for a few seconds in silent communication.

"I very much appreciate that," he responded as they started to walk away, "maybe we could meet for a coffee at Granny's sometime?" he asked, a confident yet lopsided smile on his face.

Regina didn't know what to respond to the man. She didn't want to say no in case Tinkerbell had been right, and he was somehow involved in her happy ending, but she also didn't want to say yes. If the question had come from the woman next to her then the answer would have been on the tip of her tongue before she even gave it a second thought. With Emma she felt like what Gold told her could have been true but this man with the lion tattoo? There was no connection between them. Sometimes she felt Emma so strongly, like the woman was a part of her, and relinquishing that for a forty year old daydream seemed like the worst decision she could ever make. But there was something about the situation that intrigued her, even if she did not want to pursue it. She felt like there was something more to Hood and Tinkerbell and the entire fairy dust situation than met the eye, she just didn't have the time right now to figure it out.

"I am flattered for the offer, Robin, but I'm afraid I have my plate rather full at the moment," said the woman cooly.

Emma had to hold in a yell of joy at the fact that Regina was rejecting him and also a laugh at the look on his face, putting her hands in her pockets and looking out across the woods to distract herself.

"One morning off can't hurt, can it?" He asked.

The blonde had to try and convince herself that she didn't just see him wink at Regina but unlucky for her the image was already burned into her retinas. She wondered who this man thought he was, treating the former Queen like she was just a thing to be played with. Regina was not best pleased with his response and answered just the way Emma hoped she would.

"I think you'll find it can, Mr. Locksley. In fact it could cost you your life." She scowled at him and he was taken aback.

Emma tried to hide her amusement but there was literally nothing better than watching the queen of sass at work. All she needed was popcorn.

"We're leaving," Regina asserted finally and Emma fell into step behind her.

"Good bye Your Majesty, Sheriff," the man said from behind them, obviously still bewildered at being turned down.

When they were far enough away and out of ear shot Emma burst out laughing and looked up at Regina, her eyes sparkling.

"I'm sorry…" Emma said. She continued to laugh and had to stop between words to try and find her breath. "Just…Him…asking you out…you're so sassy…that was brilliant." By the time she finished Regina was chuckling too.

"He winked at you, oh my god I'm still in shock."

Regina looked embarrassed for a second then let out another laugh, "oh god, he did didn't he. That was awful."

"Awful? It was hilarious," the blonde replied, still smiling as they walked into the clearing where the car was parked. "So whats the deal with him?" Emma tried to ask casually, "do you guys know each other or?"

"I don't know," Regina asked as she slid into the drivers seat.

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"I have met him several times in Storybrooke, but I think I may have been acquainted with him in the missing year but I cannot be sure. And there's…something else, though I'm not sure you're quite ready for that story."

Emma clicked her seatbelt as Regina pulled the car away onto the road. She smiled across at the woman driving. "Try me?" she asked.

"Very well," Regina conceded, "I will tell you the short version because the long version would likely take all day."

Emma laughed, "Okay, thats fine. You don't have to tell me at all if you don't want to."

"No, I don't mind. Many years ago Tinkerbell used fairy dust to show me who my true love was. I was very sad at the time, this is well before I became the Evil Queen, mind you," Regina glanced over at Emma to make sure she was paying attention. "It lead us to a tavern, to a man, who had a tattoo of a lion's head on his arm, and-"

"Robin has the tattoo?" Emma finished for her. "So he's your…soulmate? True love?"

"Supposedly yes, but," the brunette had to stop herself before she accidentally told Emma that they were also true loves. "But…I don't know him, and I don't think I want to. It was many many years ago and things have changed now."

Emma speculated on this for a second, she tried not to think about herself but inevitably if this man was Regina's true love then it meant she had absolutely no chance in hell of being with the woman.

"You do deserve happiness Regina. Surely if he's your True Love, you want to find out? Things aren't going to have changed that much, right? Because True Love is destiny and destiny's course never changes. Thats how I'm the Saviour…so maybe…I don't know what I'm saying."

"No," Regina replied, "You're right. Destiny never chances its course, not for anyone. You're the Saviour because you were born to be and those laws hold for everything that magic touches," she smiled. However, she wasn't thinking about what Emma said in relation to Robin, but in relation to whatever was happening between them. If destiny never changed its course then surely that would apply to them as well, and if it did then they were fated to be together as much as she and Robin were, or could have been.

"Exactly," Emma replied, smiling widely across the car at Regina. She saw something resembling happiness and hope in the mayor's eyes and she prayed that her eyes did not reveal her sadness at finding out that destiny already had a plan for Regina. "Maybe you can find your happy ending after all."