"Something's wrong."

Red put her arms out to stop Snow and Charming from moving any further, her entire body moving harshly and entirely on instinct. The pair took a small step back, completely taken aback by her movements. The scarlet-cloaked woman took on an animalistic look, her pupils dilating, and her nose tipping upwards. For her, the smell of expensive, vanilla and rose perfume was becoming closer in the air. She could practically feel it in her bones, and she dragged Snow and Charming back, hearing heavy footsteps moving quickly nearby. The three of them scrambled up high in the trees, waiting, breathing heavily, terrified. Red leaned forward a bit, watching for whomever was approaching, only to realise there were two sets of footsteps. Her blood went cold when she saw who was walking past, suddenly realising these people were walking in the direction of the palace. Snow noticed too, and she and Charming quietly shifted to see what Red was. To their absolute horror, it was Regina, her father a few paces behind her, them both following an obsidian black arrow that was flying in the direction of the palace.

"What the…"

Charming looked to Red, who took in a sharp breath, holding it in until they were gone, completely out of earshot. Completely out of sight. But the terror did not leave them.

It was too close.

Too close to getting caught.

'Strange," Red finally said, leaning back in the tree. "That looked like magic. Why the hell would she be following that?"

"Necromancy, perhaps," Snow glanced down at her hands. "She's never gotten over the death of…of the man she had always intended to marry. It wouldn't shock me if she would be willing to do just about anything to have him back. It's a hole in her."

Charming shook his head. "She wants to hurt you more than anything. I'm sure she's trying to track you down."

Snow turned to him in surprise. "She can do that on her own, would want to. She's one of those people who won't feel fulfilled unless she does things herself. And that's exactly what she wants to do with me."

Charming's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"I get that, but she's also desperate, as you said. Couldn't that - wouldn't that - extend to you?"

"Not necessarily," Red said, glancing towards them. "Honestly, she's eccentric. I wouldn't be surprised if she has other motives we don't know. She could, for instance, be looking for something to protect her daughter. It's clear she would do anything for her. She would probably be willing to use all sorts of dark magic in order to find a way to protect her."

"I think that's possible," Snow sighed. "She loves her so much. I just don't know why she couldn't find it in her heart to forgive and love me and my father too."

"Because she's more than deserving of the moniker the Evil Queen," Charming paused, toning down the harshness of his voice. "I'm sorry, Snow, I know you're compassionate, I know you're loving, but she's anything but."

"She does have love in her," Red reminded him. "It's just only for a small few people. Actually, I think it's only for three people, and for one of them it's absolutely obsessive. The other is dependent, and the last one is….well, unquestioningly."

Charming scoffed. "I think the one with her father is just dependent, the way she's towards her lover and her daughter is absolutely obsessive, and with that disturbingly possessive and dangerous."

Snow startled. "She would never hurt her daughter."

"She would if she thought it would protect her," Charming countered. "If she thought she needed to protect her daughter from some terrible threat, she would kill her. Drown her, possibly, and then kill herself."

"No!" Snow paled in horror. "I don't disagree that she's obsessive about her unquestioning love for her daughter, but she would never hurt her, not for anything!"

"She's willing to kill anyone in her path to get to you," Charming reached over and rested his hand on her knee. "I hate saying it…but I don't think we should discount it as possible. We need to save Lynn."

"Why…" Regina swore under her breath, her eyes narrowing. "Bold of her. Why would she ever be in the palace?"

"It's her home -" Her father started.

Regina whipped around, shaking.

"No," She said, her voice angrily wavering. "It is not her home. It is Lynn's. It is mine!"

Henry watched her start to run off ahead towards the palace, almost unable to recognise his own daughter. How consumed has she become by this desire for revenge? It's almost impossible to believe in her. Where did my sweet, innocent daughter go? He chose to ignore that last thought. Cora had killed everything about their family, or, at least, everything that had been lovely about their family. If she had just backed down a little, if she had just taken the chance to enjoy life rather than try to control it, they could have had a normal life. They could have lived happily ever after. Regina would be a happy, well off duchess, married to the man she had always truly loved, with the daughter she cared so deeply about, the daughter who had become the centre of her universe. It could have been beautiful. It could have been perfect. And it could have been right, the life they had always wanted, the life all of them had truly deserved. In an instant, or, more accurately, over the years, Cora had taken it all away, whittling away at the happiness they had, taking it for herself.

"Regina -" Henry began as he caught up to her, chasing her up the steps of the palace, the spirling steps up to the Queen's own suite.

"She must be with Lynn!" Panic consumed Regina's voice. "Lynn? Lynn, darling, where -"

"Momma!"

Regina briefly collapsed to her knees at the top of the stairs into her suite, tightly embracing her daughter, holding her close, tears starting to stream down her face. Lynn clutched onto her mother, tiredly curling into her while Regina stroked her hair, trying to both soothe her and her baby girl.

"Oh, Lynn," She whispered. "It's okay. It's -"

The crash of a mirror shattering came from the other end of the room, and Regina picked up her daughter, running into it, seeing the wardrobe open, and expecting to find Snow in there, lying in wait.

But there was nothing.

Nothing but the mirror.

Nothing but the arrow jammed into where the glass of the mirror had been.

And, on the floor, were the pieces of the mirror.

Regina knelt down, looking into the wardrobe to check, seeing nothing within it.

Then, she saw herself.

She was reflected in the mirror.

The face looking back was not Snow, not her daughter, not her father.

It was just her.

"No!" Regina shouted, agony breaking into her voice. She lowered her voice when Lynn whimpered, and held her still, terrified of hurting her. "It can't be…" She whispered. "It can't be correct."

"Regina, I'm so sorry," Henry started towards her, but she turned towards him, her eyes blazing. "Is there anything I can do?"

The Queen stood up suddenly, holding her daughter tighter in her arms, and then all but started to run out of the room.

"Regina -"

"I need to be with her," She said quietly. "Lynn, darling, how about we go spend some time practising magic? Your grandfather can join us too."

Henry hesitated but then began to follow them, smiling at his granddaughter, who waved happily.

"It's going to be okay, Regina," He told her. "You're a good mother, and she clearly adores you. I promise you, it is going to be okay. You manipulated the arrow. It could easily be wrong."

Regina shook, briefly closing her eyes and, against her will, silent tears began to stream down her cheeks.

"Magic like that isn't supposed to be wrong."

Henry sighed. "Magic isn't infallible. People aren't infallible, and therefore magic can't be either."

"Well dearie, I can certainly tell you that the Queen has become more and more unhinged."

Snow took a look around from where she was in the woods, a couple of feet away from where Red and Charming were asleep at their campsite, the fire still there to provide warmth from the dewy chill of the night. Rumple watched her closely, an almost morbid curiosity taking him over. She had always been of interest to him, of course, as a prospective heir to the throne, but her banishment and Regina's unceasing, violent resentment of her drew his fascination out even further. There was something so unusual about it, both because of how mild natured Snow had been and how gritty she had become in such a short time. The turnaround was truly remarkable. He briefly smirked, wiping it off his face when she looked back at him. He briefly summoned a haze, clearing enough in the centre to show her the inside of the palace, where Regina was laying beside her daughter, brushing the little girl's hair. The love and care for her daughter was not what was unusual, but the disheveled nature of the Queen's gown, her own unbrushed hair, and the way her makeup was smudged so heavily below her eyes. She almost didn't look like the same person.

"She snapped after attempting to track you down with dark magic," He told her, letting out a short, mirthless laugh. "It was meant to direct her to the person she hates the most…and that turned out to be herself. It led her to a mirror within her own palace."

Snow's face briefly fell, but then she shook her head.

"I knew it…she really is torn apart by everything that's happened to her."

Rumple raised an eyebrow. "I wouldn't say that."

"Then what would you say?" Snow exclaimed. "She wasn't always like this!"

"She wasn't," Rumple agreed. "But she always had the capacity. Allow me to explain: when a person begins to use magic, if their heart is removed, if there is blackness among it there is something dark, something horrid lurking within them. I imagine that is precisely what happened with Regina. Removing hearts doesn't just have to be to kill. It can be for control, for example…and it can also be to take a look - quite literally - within themselves."

Snow chewed on the inside of her cheek. Regina…what happened to you? Why on earth would you give into that darkness?

"There is, of course, a great deal of darkness under everyone," Rumple went on. "But that darkness doesn't come out in the majority of us. Well," He winked. "It is a bit ironic to hear that from me, the Dark One himself."

Snow flinched, looking around again, anxiety twisting in her stomach.

"I don't quite know how to explain the Queen and her motivations," Rumple told her. "But, if anyone is capable of that, I do think it is you. If you seek out those answers, that is."

Snow looked down, running her hands through her hair.

"She's not all bad."

"Clearly," Rumple agreed. "She has a great capacity for devotion and love. But it is only directed on a fair few. You know that better than anyone."

"Still," Snow said. "I just can't understand it. Killing me won't bring him back, it'll do nothing."

"Vengeance isn't rational," Rumple reminded her. "Think about her mother."

"Cora is nothing like Regina," Snow crossed her arms. "Cora has nothing redeeming, nothing good in her. Regina is, at her core, a good person."

Rumple took a small step forward, and Snow briefly winced, afraid, for just a few seconds, that he was going to do something to her.

"You see the best in people, young Snow," Rumple said. "And that, likely, will be your downfall if you lose this fight."

Snow shook her head. "No. It'll help her. It'll remind her who she is, it'll save Lynn -"

"Are you sure you know who Regina is?" Rumple pushed. "People change quickly. Sometimes in the blink of an eye."

"That's not Regina," Snow said, defiance sparkling in her eyes. "She doesn't do the right thing much anymore…but she is misguided. And, in time, she'll return to the good person she is at heart."