This is a long chapter. I won't apologize for that because I quite prefer reading long chapters myself. I hope you enjoy this chapter. :) Let me know what you think!

In the Enchanted Forest the air was crisp and clear and a gentle frost was covering the ground as the birds began their morning trills. The sun was just beginning its morning ascent, casting fresh new rays over the cold ground. In an open field a turkey was making its way along the tree line. Not far was a man with bow already strung, waiting for that perfect moment. Nearer and nearer the bird got to the man. The man's fingers and toes were cold but he remained patient and still as he watched the bird.

The bird was now unknowingly, practically in front of the man and before he was even aware, the man had pulled back and fired the arrow. Leaving his perch in the tree he walked over and picked up the heavy bird and began making his way to his camp.

A woman with auburn hair that flowed in gentle waves down her back opened the door to her tent. She moved to the smoldering fire that had gone out sometime during the night and quickly brought it back to life. She had to prepare breakfast for the men in the camp before they all went about their day. She breathed in the chilled air that carried hints of smoke on it. She loved mornings because they were always so peaceful before the hustle and bustle of the camps daily activities. It was her chance to be alone before the rest of the land woke up and they all went about their day. The same day everyday it seemed sometimes. Sometimes it felt like something was missing.

The man was walking down the path and he could see the camp through the trees. His friend was already starting on breakfast. On the air hung the smell of her cooking. It was like this every morning. One or more of them would get up and go hunting. She would make breakfast. They would go to work… whatever work was these days. They were some of the only people left in the forest and as such there wasn't much to do. But no one seemed to really realize that. It was like they were walking around in a fog, they knew who they were and what they were doing, but sometimes it didn't seem to completely register. They knew it had something to do with a curse. They had seen it coming but somehow when it took everyone else away it left them behind.

So this is how the man was going about his day when all of a sudden a wave of energy washed over him and suddenly it seemed that he was wide awake. Like all the mornings he had been waking up before we just a dream and this was the real thing.

He gasped as he came to the full realization that there had been a curse that had lasted… 28 years. But somehow, none of them had aged. Where was everyone else? He thought but then he looked up to see his friend falling to her knees in front of the fire.

A wave of energy had washed over her and she had collapsed under the full weight of memories that threatened to overwhelm her senses.

"Melanie?" The man said as he reached her side and knelt down beside her. "Melanie, what's wrong? Do you remember?"

Her brain was going to explode. There was a man next to her and she knew that she knew him but her brain was working to hard. "Robin…" She breathed finally. But he had called her Melanie, but she wasn't Melanie. Not really. She had been Melanie for a long time but that wasn't who she was. Fraida, she was Fraida. And then it all began falling into place. She scrambled to the entrance of her tent to see… her daughter… still asleep on the mat. But this girl wasn't really her daughter, not biologically, but she loved her like she was, and then she remembered… she remembered everything.

(The Enchanted Forest, before the curse, right before Regina had her baby)

Rumple was standing right behind her or rather in front of her. She jumped. She could feel the fear she had of this man tingling in her toes.

Rumple giggled. "Sorry dearie, didn't mean to frighten you."

"Rumplestilskin," Fraida said, "Regina is out in the garden. She should be back soon if you want to see her."

Rumple cackled, "Oh, I didn't come to see her! I came to make a deal with you."

This caught Fraida off guard for a moment before she replied, "I'm not making a deal with you." She had made a deal with Cora and though it hadn't turned out so bad for her. She had learned that deals made with people like Cora- and especially Rumpelstiltskin- only ended up really working out well for one person. Rumple was far more dangerous than Cora had been and she would be a fool to make one with him.

"But I think it is something that you'll be really interested in." Rumple said.

"You have nothing to offer me that I want or don't already have."

"Are you sure."

"Positive." She said, "There isn't a deal you can make that will interest me." She added and turned around and started walking towards the door.

"Not even if it involves the child of your dear friend, Queen Regina?" Rumple stated and Fraida stopped and turned around slowly. Over the past eight and a half months Regina and Fraida had both become more and more excited about the baby. They already loved it. Fraida already thought of it as a niece or nephew. "I thought that might capture your interest!" Rumple said and cackled and anger began to bubble up inside of Fraida.

"What do you want?"

"A great many things but right now just your help."

"With what?"

"The baby."

"The baby?"

"Yes the baby... You see, this baby, it does make Regina so happy. She has to much love bubbling inside her right now. I needed her broken and Cora took care of that herself. She was to sad then, so sad that she didn't have the desire to continue, so you see that it was very fortunate that she and that boy decided they loved yet other so much they wanted to make a baby."

"I don't think they wanted to make a baby."

"Whether they did or not makes no difference to me. All that matters is how it affects my plans, and it is just perfect." He had been speaking in a sing song voice for the last few sentences and Fraida didn't like it.

"What plans?" She crossed her arms over her chest.

"That is not for you to know dearie. Let's just say, I need her help to get to a place that I can't get to myself because the thing I would need to get there is already there and I need someone else to do it because the thing they will need is actually here." Rumpel cackled again. "Follow?"

"No..." Fraida returned looking bewildered.

"Never mind then." Rumpel told her waving his hands like he didn't expect someone with such a small mind to understand.

"What does this all have to do with the baby..."

"Oh well Regina won't be able to do it if she is happy and in love with her baby. I needed her broken, she was, but now I need her bitter and angry."

Fraida was confused and angry at that. Why couldn't everyone just leave Regina alone and let her be happy?

"I'm here to propose a deal." Rumpel said again.

"Which would be?"

"Well you see I'm going to have to get rid of this baby and naturally the easiest way to do that would be to kill it once it is born or have Regina have a miscarriage."

"Don't you dare even think of touching Regina or that child!" Fraida moved to get in his face and actually yelled at him. That was the last straw. She wouldn't let him hurt the baby. She would do whatever she had to do to make sure he didn't.

"I like you. You're so full of spunk. But sadly, you are also a problem. You get in the way of my plans to because you are her tether to her happy self. So naturally I have to get rid of you too." Fraida's eyes widened. Was he going to kill her? No, he couldn't possibly be that cold but he had threatened to kill the baby so yes, he was that cold.

"I would hate to do that. Or kill the precious child that has yet to see the light if day. So I will give you two choices. Either I kill the baby and later kill you, or you will take the baby and leave and raise it as your own."

"There is more to it than that isn't there?"

"So smart, yes dearie. I will put the baby under a spell to make it appear as it is dead and after that you will take the baby and go. You will tell Regina whatever you like, just that you can't be with her any more."

"Why are you doing this?" Fraida was crying now. It was an almost impossible choice. Either way she was betraying her friend. She couldn't think. If she left, Regina would be alone. But if she didn't and Rumple kept his words both she and the baby would die and Regina would still be alone and the link to Daniel would be gone... She would have to take the baby... She couldn't let him kill the baby.

"Because dearie! It's part of my great plan. It's nothing personal." He replied. "So what is your answer?"

"I can't let you kill the baby..."

"Excellent!" Rumple cackled again. "After Regina pops I will take the baby and I will keep it until you leave and come and get it."

"How long will you take care of the baby until I come?"

"Oh I never said anything about taking care of it. No, just keep it. This should give you the incentive you need to pull yourself away from poor Regina." With that said he disappeared, he was gone, leaving Fraida alone…

Fraida knew then that there was no going back. She had to keep Regina's baby safe even if Regina may never know or understand it.

(The Enchanted Forest the day the first curse broke)

Fraida's eye widened as she stared down at her, no Regina's daughter. Elaina was still her daughter, she was the only mother Elaina had ever known. She loved her Elaina just as much as any mother would love their child. Her shoulders began shaking as she began to remember ever more. How had she not remembered who she was or who this child really was?

(The Enchanted Forest, after Regina gave birth)

Fraida entered Rumples castle and hurried towards the basket sitting on the floor. Elaina was no longer blue but a nice rosy pink color and was breathing steadily but fast asleep.

"I put her under a small sleeping curse. She was starting to get fussy."

"When will she wake up?"

"As soon as I lift it dearie." Rumple said.

"I was also wondering how long she and I will have to stay out of Regina's life. Will it be until your plans are over or forever."

"That, my dear is and excellent question, let's just say when you remember what actually happened you can return." Rumple said as he thrust his hand out and a wave of magic flew out of his hand causing Fraida to crumple to the floor unconscious. "Now dearie you won't remember this for sometime but I'm going to replace your memories." Rumple said to Fraida even though she was unconscious. "You see I can't have you come back into Regina's life with the child and ruin this very elaborate plan I have going." He knelt down beside her and started changing her memories. "As far as you will know for some time Elaina is your very own child and her father died and you have no other family. You never knew Regina." He paused for a moment. "But you know, to be on the safe side I'm going to make you forget who exactly you are. I think it will just be easier that way." He finished adjusting her memories.

"And I suppose since you just had a baby I should make your body think that you did." He walked to a table in the center of the room. He selected a small bottle. He returned to the sofa and forcefully opened her mouth and poured the potion down her throat. It was a clear and syrupy.

"Now I'm going to take you somewhere and I hope you are able to make it out there in the world. It would be such a waist if you failed somehow after all the trouble I have gone to." He magiced them to the woods.

"Now this doesn't look right. No one will believe that you don't remember who you are…" With that he opened a wound on Fraida's forehead to make it look like she had hit her head. "I'm afraid you're on your own from here my dear. When you remember who you are you can try and find Regina. If my plan goes smoothly though she'll be in a completely different land though so… you might still be out of luck dearie." He cackled again and disappeared once again.

Fraida's was still shaking as tears streamed down her face. She had spent so long trying to remember and now she did. But now she wasn't so sure that she wanted to remember at all. Strong arms pulled her into a hug.

"Robin, I remember." Fraida said. He had a right to know. He and his men had found her and Elaina that day and had taken her to their camp. She had woken up and didn't remember anything except her baby. They had taken her in because she had nowhere else to go, and quite honestly they needed someone to cook for them and mend the laundry and make sure they didn't become to wild. Robin had been so kind to her and had tried to help her remember, they all had. It had been scary because all she could really remember was that the baby in her arms was hers and that her name was Elaina.

"You remember? Mel that's wonderful!" Robin exclaimed pulling back to look at her face, which was now draining of all color. "You should sit down." He said and guided her to one on the longs around the fire. He had been waiting to hear about this for years. After finding her in the woods with a baby and no sign of how she got there they had all wondered what had happened, but when she had woken up she had thoughts only of her child. "What happened to you?" He couldn't help but ask. But Fraida didn't mind. He deserved to know and she told him about the deal and about why her memories were missing.

He seemed intrigued by the whole incident. He was happy that she remembered and after making sure she was okay he went to go check on Roland. The boy had not aged for 28 years and even though Robin had remember himself the whole time he still wanted to check on him. It was like seeing his son with new eyes, like it was the first time in a long time. The camp was beginning to stir and soon Elaina was emerging from the tent. She saw her mother sitting on the log, still looking pale and somewhat worried.

"Mother, what is wrong?" Elaina asked kneeling in front of Fraida. Fraida looked up and gasped. Elaina looked just like her mother, except for her eyes, those were Daniels eye gazing back at her. There was a hint of Daniel in her nose but the rest of her face was Regina. If it wasn't for the eyes Fraida would have thought it was Regina sitting in front of her. She reached out cupped her daughters face.

"You look just like her… except for your eyes. You have your fathers eyes." Elaina said without thinking.

"Mother, what do you mean? I look like who? Wait, you remember my father?" Elaina seemed confused.

Fraida looked around to see the camp beginning to wake and everyone becoming fully aware of what was going on. That they were all waking up from the fog of the last years. She stood and took Elaina's hand and began to lead her into the woods where she could explain things in private. "We need to talk, I have some things to tell you." She said.

Elaina followed willingly. She was finally going to get answers about who her father was. She had always wondered about her father. The other men, especially Robin had filled most of the gap left behind by her father, but she still longed to know him.

"Elaina, I'm not sure where to start…" Fraida said and there were tears in her eyes as she spoke. "Elaina, I'm not your real mother."

"What…?" The look of blank shock covered her entire face and Fraida could feel the color begin to drain from her face again.

"Sit down, I'm going to tell you everything." Fraida said and Elaina sat down and waited. She thought it was strange how her world could go from right side up to upside down in one single sentence.

Fraida told her everything. About the deal she made with Rumpel to save her, how he erased her memories, and who her mother was. This shocked Elaina more than anything. She had grown up hearing stories about the Evil Queen and now she was her mother. "She wasn't always the Evil Queen." Fraida said sadly. "She was a good and kind person."

"What happened to her?" Elaina asked still confused and overwhelmed. She wanted to get up and run away and hide from the truth but she couldn't… no she wouldn't. She had waited to long to hear this.

"She fell in love…" Fraida said trailing off.

"With my father?" Elaina asked.

"Yes, with your father. His name was Daniel." Fraida said, she could remember him so clearly looking into Elaina's eyes. "He was a good man, he made your mother so happy and they loved each other more than air." Elaina smiled, but then she looked confused.

"What happend… if they were happy how did she become the Evil Queen? What happened to him?"

"He died, Elaina…" And then Fraida told her daughter how Regina became the Evil Queen. How her heart that had once been so bright and full of love and hope, had been broken, and how the effect that it had on her had been devastating. Elaina listened and she understood as much as she could.

"Tell me, what was she like before?" Elaina asked after a while and brushed a tear from her face. Fraida had been crying off and on through their talk and she had cried again telling Elaina how Regina became the Evil Queen and the woman who cursed all the land. Elaina had hugged her and then laid her head in her lap and Fraida stroked her hair lovingly. It was her Regina's hair exactly, dark, thick, and smooth.

"She was lovely. She was a lot like you, but you have your father in you too." Fraida paused thinking about Regina and how much she missed the girl she had once known. "She was one of the most wonderful and kind people I ever knew…" And Fraida told her daughter about what her mother had been like before Daniel died, before she married the king, before Rumpel taught her magic and before she lost the her child and the only friend she had. And there was a part of both of them that wondered where and who she was now and hoped that some day she could be a least a little bit like the way she was.

I get to go home tomorrow! It is a long plane ride though but there will be American food and people who smile at you even if you don't know each other on the other end.

In the next few chapters we will see some things. Things like, how Fraida and Elaina's relationship will be affected by this revelation. We may see more of Robin. ;) It's a big possibility that we will see more Regina. Leave a comment and let me know what you thought, what you think will happen, and who you want to kill after reading this chapter. ;)