Author's Note: Just a little different perceptive/retelling of the scene in 3x06 "Ariel." Contains some lines from the actual episode. I own nothing.

Honestly, could Snow keep one secret?!

Regina saw the shared look between Charming and Hook, and she just knew the native princess had done it again. She rolled her eyes, and thought how stupid could people be to still trust this little girl with her track record. Surely, The Evil Queen's story should be prove enough not to trust Snow White with delicate information. However, it wasn't the dumbfounded glances between Idiot Number Two and the pirate that caught the queen's gaze. It was Emma.

"What?" Her eyes watered a little, and Regina could see the flicker of false hope creeping up around the corners.

Idiot Number One, doing what she does best, continued to flap her gums. "Neal, he's alive. He's here in Neverland."

Jesus, Snow. That's your daughter, and you're kicking her in the gut. Even I can see that.

"How do we know this isn't just another one of Pan's tricks?!" Regina could see Emma processing the information carefully. That's it, Savior. Regina understood that it was better to believe your true love dead, then to have him die twice in your arms.

"Look, there was a struggle." Snow proudly paraded over to show everyone the evidence of scuffed dirt and broken twigs.

"How do we know that means Neal?"

Did she honestly think that this would be convincing? How dim could this woman be? Pan was obviously toying with them, all the while their son was in God's knows what kind of danger. She couldn't believe Snow was actually falling for this. Regina was just about to let Snow know what she thought of her so-called detective skills when Emma's voice barely broke the sound of the leaves swaying on the trees.

"That doesn't mean anything." The burden of that one sentence made Regina's heart gush with equal agony and rage.

God damn you, Snow. She truly made a living ruining the lives of everyone around her with that big mouth. Oh, Miss Perfect with her dimwitted husband and their happily ever after, they knew nothing of the lost of true love! Worse yet, daddy's little girl seemed to take pride in rubbing it in other people's faces. She swore, sometimes, she wanted to shake away her nauseating optimism and scream, "I WILL NEVER FIND DANIEL! YOU MADE SURE OF THAT!" Nevertheless, it seemed Mommie Dearest was digging up graves again. Personally, she didn't care much for the fact that Baelfire had passed. If anything, he was a threat to her relationship with Henry. It wasn't until Ms. Swan spoke about him that her heart ached. Emma's masked face of lose and sorrow pulled heart strings she hadn't felt since her true love turned to dust in the stables of Storybrooke, Maine. His finale words still echoing in her head.

"Then, love again."

From a distance, Regina began watching Emma carefully. The way she carried herself - head held high yet heavy on the shoulders - she wanted to comfort the woman. Mostly because she had been walking the same way for centuries now. Stuck in Neverland, Regina was forced to see the similarities between the two of them. Her heart stung with familiar rejection while Emma spoke of the horrors she went through in foster care. Every time another story would start, Regina felt a lump catch in her throat wanting to assure her that having parents doesn't always mean happiness.

As the week went on, she grimaced when she heard Emma refer to herself as an orphan. She realized, so was she. She tossed and turned at night thinking of the past life of Emma Swan, and the amount of things that had to wrong for them even be in the same realm together! Let alone, the fact they now share a son! Surely, all of that unspoken common ground meant something. They were the same. They belonged together. Maybe, they could even love each other! She sensed Emma could complete her in all the right ways, and she would try her damnest to do the same. She's is Henry's mother after all - well one of them.

Baelfire or Neal - whatever his name is - he betrayed her! He had her locked away in a jail cell! Regina understood the fear of being restrained. Neal did not!

Regina reassured herself that if Emma was anything like her she wouldn't believe Snow White's unsubstantiated claims. She would dismiss them as false, and they could get back to the mission at hand. Operation Henry. However, the false hope only grew in the savior's eyes. She stared at the scuffed dirt and broken twigs swallowing back something that looked like longing. Regina felt her heart bottom out of her chest.

She didn't honestly believe that Neal was alive?! Frantically, she searched the savior's face to see any sort of reason. Their connection must stronger than a tawdry teenage affair. She swallowed hard, and scolded herself. Of course, he's her Daniel. She would always be the second choice. Hell, she's probably not even that. She saw what happened with the pirate. She knew then, but forced herself to forget. Numb herself. She had gotten good at that. Regina watched as Emma's eyes flicked over to her. She willed herself not to embrace her. She forced herself not console the woman she had found so much common ground with. She gridded her teeth in her skull when the look of need was not directed at her. The Evil Queen part of her psyche washed over in defense. They had dragged their feet long enough! Henry, her son, was in danger. The Savior can save herself. She spun on her heel and marched firmly in the opposite direction.

Emma's voice, childlike and sheepish, called after her. "Wait, where are you going? We have to stick together."

"No, we don't!" She could tell her comment stung, but she didn't care. Her heart swelled with the familiar rage that had since turned her heart small, dark, and cold.

"You may be prepared to risk Henry's life over some heartbroken fool's errand, but I'm not! I'm tired of waiting around." It was obvious she had been cut out of some twisted love triangle. First, the egotistical, misogynistic pirate who just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Now, it was Baelfire. Emma's puppy dog eyes told the whole story. Her heart didn't have room for an Evil Queen. She was merely a tool to rescue Henry. No doubt she would steal him from her arms again the second they were safe. Emma Swan never wanted to be friends, or anything else for that matter. There was nothing left for her in the Charming camp, and she certainly wasn't going to continue to subject herself to this soap opera. Including, the one she had apparently formulated in her own mind.

As she stormed off into the deep brush of Neverland, she wiped away her own false hope that was building up just under her tear ducts. Perhaps, her mother was right. Love is weakness. It clouds your judgement, and makes you believe in foolish things. Instantly, an image of Henry flashed in her mind's eye. Another tear somehow managed to crawl it's way down her face. This was all Pan's doing. His mind games were distracting her from the only reason why she was even on this God forsaken island. Then, she had a thought. Maybe, she could have everything.

I'll save him myself. I'll save him, and then she'll see that we're family. We don't have to be alone because we have each other. Neal and Hook don't have that connection to Emma, I do. Snow and Charming may be her parents, but I am her family. She'll see, and she'll like me.

I'll bring our son back, and she'll love me.