Chapter 1

Regina was downstairs cleaning up the kitchen. So much had happened in the month since Emma had sacrificed herself and became The Dark One.

To start Robin and Roland had moved in. Robin put up a bit of an argument about living in an actual house. Thankfully, Regina was able to convince or probably more accurately bribe him by telling him that he could take the boys camping whenever he wanted. Once they moved in, they fell into a routine with their two sons. It amazed her how quickly they had become one cohesive and loving family. It was like this was how it had always been. Outside of the home things were a bit more complicated.

They had discovered that Zelena had magic remaining, which she had been using to fake her pregnancy. She had just enough to fake an image on the screen during the sonograms, but when she did not start to show Regina had become suspicious and figured it out. It was a relief to Regina that Zelena in fact was not pregnant, but she also felt for Robin knowing that while he hated Zelena, he did essentially lose a child. While he hadn't been happy about who the child had ultimately conceived with, it was still his baby. It took some time, but Regina had helped him sort through the emotions he felt over the loss. The hardest emotion being his guilt that he was in some ways happy that the pregnancy was fake as it removed something that could be a huge obstacle in his relationship with Regina. Once they knew her pregnancy was faked, Regina and the others had forced Zelena across the town line. Before doing so they made sure she had no magical items that would allow her future passage back across the town line or into any other realms.

Elsewhere in town, Emma, in recent weeks, had to be locked away in a jail cell. She had become a danger to herself and the entire town. Everyone thought it best to lock her away before she could do something truly horrible. Regina knew all too well how hard that could be to come back from. After they had gotten her into the cell, Regina had placed multiple protection spells to contain her. Regina was grateful that to this point Emma had not completely embraced the powers of The Dark One. If she had, the protection spell Regina had placed may not have contained her. While it was similar to the spell placed on the cell that contained Rumple, he did not have magic prior to becoming The Dark One. The full effect of Emma having magic prior to her transformation was yet known.

Everyone else had just been trying to deal with what in some ways was the loss of Emma. The Emma they all knew and loved was gone at this point. Even Henry struggled to visit her. Regina was pretty sure the only thing that was keeping most of their whole odd little family together was trying to remove The Dark One from Emma. They had traveled to Camelot and found Merlin. While Merlin had worked out most of a plan to banish the darkness for good, his plan was still missing a few pieces. The decision was made to return to Storybrooke in order to have access to all of the books and information they had left behind. Merlin had fought the decision initially, but he agreed to return with everyone and assist to finally banish The Dark One. That was what Regina and the rest of Emma's loved ones spent most days doing. They had almost completed their plan, but they still had one part to figure out. Where they needed to banish the darkness once they contained it. This part of the plan was something Snow and Charming had added in a way to keep anyone from unleashing the darkness ever again. Now they were tasked with finding a land where no one would ever be able to find it, but also one they had a spell they could use to send it there. Regina thought about staying up to continue to work through this problem, but she knew that she would be more useful after a good night's sleep.

Robin was already upstairs checking on their boys. He had started with Roland who had fallen asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow. Roland had spent the day with Will and the rest of the Merry Men having all kinds of adventures. The better part of dinner tonight had been spent listening to all the stories Roland had about his day. Robin had watched the boy sleep for a few minutes, glad that he was young enough that they could protect him from most of what had been going on. Henry on the other hand was not so lucky.

Robin stood in the door watching the older boy toss and turn in his sleep. Emma becoming The Dark One had probably been hardest on him. He missed his mother and in typical Henry fashion he had become more overwhelmed with guilt with each passing day that he had not been able to save Emma yet. Robin wanted nothing more than to take away his son's pain and guilt over all of this. He may be a teenager, but he was still young and deserved to have a normal and happy life. Just as Robin was becoming more lost in thought he felt the arms of his true love wrap around his waist and he instinctively put his arm around her. She then rested her head on his shoulder. She could tell he had been lost in thought. "What were you thinking about?" Regina asked him. "Oh nothing, I just worry about Henry and everything he is going through. I wish I could take on some of the pain for him." Robin replied. Regina's heart overflowed with love for this man, he treated her son as his own and his love for him only made her love for Robin grow even stronger. "Do you think they are both down for the night?" Regina asked. "I think so. Henry may be tossing and turning, but he was exhausted before bed. Hopefully he can get at least some restful sleep tonight." Robin was not completely sure this was true, but he hoped it was. They all needed their rest. Regina looked at the clock and realized it was only 9:30 at night. This was the earliest both boys had been asleep in for a month. She gave Robin a look that immediately let Robin know what was on her mind. She escaped from his embrace and took his hand in hers; leading him to their bedroom.