"Rumplestiltskin, I summon thee."

Regina stood alone in a part of the forest she had never dared explore before. The moon was high in the sky, surrounded by a litany of twinkling stars, all which combined to light her way to the small clearing. As a young girl, she had overheard the merchant's children talking about the legend of the Dark One – the magical imp who grants wishes and makes deals. She'd dismissed their talk as silly rumor then. After all, she knew that real magic existed and that her own mother wielded it. If she ever needed something, her mother would get it for her.

Then she had met Robin and everything had changed. As she'd lain awake searching for a way to escape her mother's grasp, the memory of the story had awoken. What she had initially dismissed as childish superstition and forgotten transformed into a singular hope. The following night she'd encouraged her mother to drink more than her usual amount of wine at dinner, and while Cora snored softly Regina had stolen her spell book, the one she kept under her pillow and perpetually at her side - just long enough to examine its contents. Ironically, the answer she sought was contained not within its pages, but embossed on the back of the black leather binding. The name of the one who had taught Cora everything that she knew about magic. The only way to defeat magic is with more powerful magic.

And so she'd traveled to a place she feared, where the children had said the demon lived, and she'd called out the name. She didn't have to wait long for a response.

"Who dares summon me in the middle of the night?" a shrill voice behind her asked, making her spin around on her heel. He'd appeared from thin air as she'd seen her mother do many times. She swallowed thickly and summoned all of her courage.

"I do," she said, holding her chin high. "I mean, I did. I'm-"

"Oh I know who you are, Regina, dear." The creature took a step closer. Leaves crunched under his bootheel. Regina stood her ground though inside she trembled with fear.

"I've known you since you were a wee babe. I've waited a long time for this moment." The wind moved the leaves in the trees and light illuminated the Dark One's face. He appeared much like a man, underneath his green sparkling skin and dark eyes. "Now what have you called me for?"

Regina cleared her throat nervously. "I want to make a deal." She wanted even more to ask about his insinuation that he'd known her for her entire life, but that was not her goal. She had to stay focused. He was a trickster, and whatever he claimed to know of her was probably a lie. Listening to it would only be a waste of time, and her time was limited. She had to return home before anyone woke and discovered that she was gone.

"Well of course you do," he replied with a twitch of his head. "Let me guess. You need help to be with your true love."

She gasped. "How did you know that?"

He laughed, the sound grating to her hear like fingernails across a slate. "Do you think you're the first young girl to summon me? I've been bringing couples together since before even your mother's mother was born."

Regina did not doubt that he was telling the truth. "I've found my true love but my mother doesn't approve. I need a way to hide myself from her."

"Tsk, tsk, sneaking around behind mommy's back won't make her very happy." Regina watched him with a scowl on her face. She knew how her mother would feel, that was why she'd summoned him in the first place. "Why should I stick my neck out for you? What are you offering me?" He narrowed his eyes at her. He'd quickly reached the part she feared most, as she had nothing of value to offer him.

"I'll do anything you want. Just give me a way to shield myself from her view. She uses magic to watch me every time I leave the house. If you could just give me a spell, some way to keep her from being able to see where I go…"

He held up his hand and stopped her. "What do you think she'll do when she tries to see you and it doesn't work? She will know that I helped you. She's quite the sorceress, your mother."

This time Regina followed the trial he was blazing. Her curiosity was too great.

"What do you know about her?" Regina knew so little. Her mother never talked about her past or shared her feelings. To Regina she gave only orders and disapproval.

Rumplestiltskin laughed. "What don't I know," he replied without a hint of subtlety. Regina's stomach turned.

"Then you know that she'll stop at nothing until I fulfill the dreams she failed to realize herself, whether I want those things or not. She'll ruin my life if you don't help me." She had reduced to begging but she did not care. Her love for Robin was stronger than her pride, just as it had been stronger than her fear earlier as she'd entered the woods, and contemplated turning back.

"I'm not in the business of charity, Regina. I can provide the magic you seek, but it comes with a price. Are you prepared to pay it?" He studied her carefully as she reeled from his use of her name. She'd heard her mother say once that names had power. And he knew hers.

It took mere seconds for her to decide. "Yes. Whatever you want, I'll do it."

He chuckled with glee and circled her several times, looking her up and down from every angle. The scrutiny reminded her of being examined by her mother before leaving the house. She waited, impatient but fearful. He touched her cheeks with the backs of her hands and gazed deeply into her eyes with a shiver of his shoulders.

"So sweet and gentle. And so powerful. Stronger even than your mother, if you learn how to use it."

Regina grimaced and backed away from him. "I don't want power, I just want to be with Robin."

"Too late dearie, you already have it… but you must first learn how to wield it. I just so happen to be shy of an apprentice at the moment and find myself overwhelmed with boredom. You will be my new student."

Regina's heart dropped into her stomach. "You want to teach me how to use magic? Just like you taught my mother?"

"Exactly."

She shook her head. The last thing she wanted was to become like her mother. She had told herself that she would pay any price to be with him, but surely there was something she could give him that wasn't her deepest fear. "There has to be another way. I won't become like her. I see what the magic does to her. She's… she's heartless."

He stepped closer and caught a lock of her long, brown hair with his fingernail.

"You said you'd do anything, and that is my price. Once a day, every day, you will meet me here and learn what I have to teach you without complaint. Now really, is that so terrible?"

It was, and he knew it was. She felt betrayed by her own feelings, as if he'd read them like a book and picked out the one thing she couldn't bear to do. Her chin trembled slightly as she blinked back the tears that shone in her doe-brown eyes.

"Don't worry, dearie, you won't become like Cora," Rumplestiltskin sang. "You have something she didn't."

She looked up into his dark and terrible eyes. "And what's that?"

"Why, true love, of course."

She thought of Robin, of his smile and warm hands and soft kiss. He was more than just love; he was freedom. And there was nothing she wouldn't do for her freedom.

"Alright. We have a deal."