Chapter 4- Revelations

During their shopping several residents of Storybrook were asking questions about Regina, some were curious, some were plain hostile. Henry defended his mother each and every time they met some of the less friendly ones. Granny was the last one to stop them just before they were driving back to the house.

'How is she doing' Granny questioned. Henry eyed her wearily. 'She's fine'

'and the baby, how is the baby doing'

'How do you know about the baby' Emma asked, she, Henry and Regina had agreed to not tell anyone just yet other than her parents, who knew because they had been there when Regina had returned. Dr. Whale was bound by doctor patient confidentiality. He was probably still feeling guilty about his attempt to resurrect Daniel.

'I happen to be the owner of a wolf nose sweetie, but I'll keep my mouth shut.'

'She will be fine' Emma said. 'If she lets herself get pampered and eats plenty both her and the baby should be fine' Henry remained still, he was still expecting Granny to say something nasty about his mother.

'Tell her I said hello and she should come by soon so I can serve her and the little one a healthy meal on, the house'

'Granny, I expect you keep this under wraps' Emma insisted.

Granny nodded. 'Her secret is safe with me'

Emma and Henry proceeded to the counter and payed for the groceries. When they arrived at their car Mr. Gold was waiting for them.

'Hello Dearies, I hear she's back.'

'What do you want from her' Henry shot back.

'Henry' Emma said. 'be nice'

However, Emma also was waiting for the deal breaker. Mr. Gold never did anything or spoke to anyone without a selfish endeavour behind it.

'Nothing dearies' Gold sighed. He really was interested in Regina's wellbeing. She had earned herself a favour or two maybe even three he thought but he also wanted to know if anything had changed. He had felt a very powerful magic in the air, it made him shiver with anticipation. Something had changed and his ability to foresee the future had been clouded, for once in his life Rumpelstiltskin didn't know what was coming.

'She's getting better, she'll be discharged tomorrow.' Emma paused, she remembered what Regina had said in the hospital…Gold could help her with her magic. 'I have to talk to Regina but if it's ok, she might need your help'

Gold looked at Emma with a thoughtful expression, what was going on.

'Sure, if she needs me it's on the house, no strings attached. Let me know if I can be of assistance.' and with those words Gold left the two behind in a cloud of dark red smoke. After returning from Neverland he didn't bother much with hiding the fact that he was the Dark One.

'Yeah right' Henry said, 'with him it's never on the house, what does he want?'

'You heard your mother, she needs him to heal her for whatever reason, she doesn't seem to be able to do so herself. We will talk to her about it and let her decide'

Emma and Henry dropped off the grocery's at Regina's house and after putting it all away they were on their way to the hospital so they could take Regina home.

Henry ran towards his mother's room only to be met with an empty hospital bed. He was bewildered, where was she, was something wrong. Emma was right behind him and was equally stunned. Where was Regina.

Dr. Whale came by and mentioned that Regina was more than happy to go home so she decided to wait for them in the Lobby, apparently Henry and Emma had rushed by her without even noticing her. Henry didn't even listen anymore he ran downstairs as quickly as he could and found his mom trying to fit a huge donut into her mouth.

'What's the matter…'Regina mumbled. 'The baby wanted it' She blushed. Henry chuckled. 'Yeah, right Mom'.

'Come on, Regina. We're taking you home' Emma smirked, she guided Regina towards their car

'I am not going home, I'm going to see Gold'

'But…" before Emma could get another word in Regina overruled her

"I am not arguing with you Emma, I need to pay Gold a visit and I am leaving NOW" said Regina in a frustrated tone

"Regina, you need to go home and rest. You are pregnant for god sake!"

"I am apparent to my situation Miss Swan, and I do not need to be told what to do. I am perfectly capable of making decisions for myself and my unborn child" came the snarky reply.

Emma had quietened by Regina's words. Regina realized that she was a little harsh on the Saviour and as soon as Emma turned to leave Regina stopped her.

"Emma wait, what I am trying to say is that the longer I wait to see Gold the higher the risk that I could lose what little control I have over my magic. I want to find a solution ASAP before anyone gets hurt"

Emma visibly softened at Regina's words and noticed her unshed tears and the fear so evident on her face. It made Emma realize how much Regina had changed and softened, either due to her pregnancy or her soulmate. Though she didn't care for the reason, only the result.

"I'll go with you, I don't want you to see Gold by yourself coz you know the whole dark one thing. And before you start saying, no I am not going as your babysitter but as your friend" smiled Emma to the apparent shock on Regina's face.

"Ok fine, but I'll do the talking" replied Regina rolling her eyes. However, Emma could decipher a tiny bit of gratitude in her expression.

Regina decided that she was a little hasty once she looked at her outfit, so she decided to stop by the mansion to freshen up and change. Also, she didn't have any makeup on, and she needed it to look like her former authoritative self. The trio headed out after being handed a prenatal prescription from the front desk.

'Oh no, I am not getting into yellow death trap of yours'

'Henry said you wouldn't, so I picked up your car instead.' Emma dangled the keys in front Regina. '

'You want to do the honours, Dr. Whale said you could drive just as long as you're not gonna race'

Regina grabbed the car keys and proceeded to walk towards the parking lot. Regina's face contorted a little bit getting into the car. Her wound did cause her a little discomfort but the drive felt great to her.

Arriving at her house she hesitated a little. She was home again. Opening the door brought back a lot of memories, not all happy ones. Her house looked great, it was really….clean. How was that possible.

Emma and Henry had these goofy grins on their faces.

'Your work'

Emma nodded…'well Henry helped too and we stocked the fridge and cupboards'

Regina fell silent. She didn't know how to respond to all this kindness. Henry sensed his mother's discomfort and took her hand and thus ending the uncomfortable silence.

'Come on, I'll show you too your bedroom. Dr. Whale said you should rest for the next couple of days' said Henry with a loving smile

Regina hadn't intended to but after having taken a shower she decided to lay down. However, she accidentally slept for 2 hours, while Emma had gone to the station and Henry remained in the house doing his homework. About an hour before lunch time Regina woke up and felt rejuvenated. She took a quick shower and decided to get ready and head to Gold's shop.

She was in the middle of doing her makeup when she felt a wave off dizziness crashing over her. Her magic was once again the cause of this, it was unstable ever since she had become pregnant. She felt the magic bubbling at her fingertips, strong, powerful and ready to be released.

'Get away from me' Regina shoved Henry out of the way as she was rushing down the stairs. Henry, who had noticed his mother's rushed footsteps had come up the stairs to see what was the matter with his mother. Regina stumbled to the front door. She needed to get rid of the magic before she hurt herself, the baby or Henry. Once outside she released all the excess energy, resulting in the garden shed turning into ashes. Henry had followed his mom and was shocked by the size of his mom's magical fireball.

Both Mother and son were staring at the ashes.

'Whoa ! Mom'

'Baby's fault' Regina murmured but she was fearful that she had nearly blown up Henry. She looked at Henry, who had a huge grin on his face. 'Awesome' was his reaction.

'Henry, why don't you call your mother and tell her to meet us at Gold's shop'. Emma was currently at the station attending to Sherriff duties.

'By us you mean the both of us?' Henry replied hopefully

'Yes, I do. You can come with us to meet Gold but granted you leave as soon as I tell you to. You are grown but you are only 13.' Regina stated sternly

'Ok mom, I'll do as you ask.' Henry agreed and proceeded to call his Ma to tell her about the plan.

As they entered Gold's shop he was behind one of his display cases, having his back towards them.

"Welcome back dearie, how are you doing having returned from the dead?"

Gold's POV

He could feel power emanating off of her in waves, its was chaotic as well as unfamiliar. He hated to admit it but he was quite intimidated by this recent change in Regina. Power of this nature, he had not felt before. Although he is the dark one and he has knowledge of every other dark one before him, this was out of his expertise. However, he would help his former pupil to best the he can. Only because he owed her.

'Hello Rumple, returned to your old terms I hear' Regina said coldly

'Hardly, what can I do for you?'

'It's my magic, it's highly unstable and unpredictable. And I was hoping you could help me to control'

'And how is it that your magic has evolved to such extremities?'

Regina was hesitant, she was unsure if she should reveal the aftermath of their escape from Neverland. She knew she couldn't trust Gold with such sensitive information.

Gold noticed Regina's hesitation 'I need to know so that I can help you accordingly and don't worry Madam Mayor, I assure you I don't have any ulterior motives'

Regina raised a brow at his words

'Consider it as returning the favour of what you did back in Neverland.'

Regina sighed and she knew that Gold was her best chance. So, she told Gold the entire happenings minus the part where she reveals the identity of her soulmate. She didn't trust him enough or anyone for that matter with this information.

'Well it seems that through the continued removal and renewal of magic, your magic has increased in capacity as well as potency. However, I would like to see you use your magic so I can come up with a relevant course of action'

Regina hesitated though she agreed that this plan was logical. 'Henry, why don't you head to Granny's and we'll meet you there' said Regina, she didn't want Henry anywhere near her magic.

'But mom...'

'Henry, this was our agreement now you have to leave and let the adults take care of this'

'Your Mom's right kid, go and we'll meet you there and don't worry we'll fill you in'

Henry nodded at both his mothers and gave Regina a hug before leaving.

'Shall we? I do not wish to do this here; my shop is quite dear to me'

'How about the forest? It's secluded and people don't go there' Emma offered

It sounded like the best possible option, Emma asked Gold if he could magic them there. But he explained that since Regina is pregnant her defences are uncontrollable and since Regina doesn't trust Gold enough, the baby will do anything to prevent my magic from reaching Regina. He stated that a pregnant witch is a very powerful one. Thus, they drove to the forest in Regina's Mercedes.

'What do you want me to do?'

'Well, you can start by letting out your magic out on the trees here and don't hold back' Gold stated

Emma looked at the pair with a look of confusion.

Regina proceeded to release her magic and destroyed the trees to ash. Emma stood dumbfounded, Rumple has a surprised look on his face which was rare. During Regina's demonstration, Gold had sensed something in Regina which seemed like a very archaic form of magic. Foreign to even him, for the first time he didn't have the knowledge or the solution to a situation which troubled him to no end. He told the both of them that he wanted to tell them what he had learned back at his shop.

'Madam Mayor, I hate to admit it but the situation you are in is quite honestly out of my reach. The ordeal you went through in Neverland has seemed to awaken a part of you which is very old maybe even ancient. Older than even the first dark one. Which is why I have no knowledge if it'

To say that Regina was shocked would be an understatement, she had always thought that the dark one was the oldest of creatures. She was truly at a loss for words at Rumple's admission. However, he continued.

'I have a suggestion however, there may be someone who may know about this change in you'

'And who is that?' questioned Regina

'Maleficent'

TBC….

Author's Note:

Hey Guys, sorry for uploading after a long time. But I am back and I have also made drastic changes to the future of this story. It will be fun and daunting 😊

Stay tuned

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this chapter they belong to the creators on Once Upon a Time.