A/N: Each chapter is based off of an episode summary for The Lyon Girl on Tumblr, which was started by mishka47. Anyone can post stuff for it and it's a really interesting story. If you don't want any spoilers for this fic, don't read too much about each "episode" on The Lyon Girl page.

Another lonely night spent in front of the mirror. She sighed, unhappy and terrified of her future, while she properly sat up straight in front of her vanity with her shoulders back and her head held high. She slowly, lazily, ran a brush through her long, brunette hair before bed as part of her nightly ritual and took a hard look at the sad young woman she saw reflected back at her. Plump lips pulled south in a frown, innocently wide and tragically desperate brown eyes, trepidation on her features whenever she thought about her fiancé and their impending union, but none of that should have described a girl who'd only matured on the birthday she had only briefly been able to enjoy a month before the kingdom's well-respected King had proposed.

None of that had described Regina before her birthday celebration, though. During the celebration, in fact, she had easily been one of the happiest people in the kingdom. She'd had a boyfriend, though he had been kept a secret, she'd had a father who indulged her behind her mother's back, and she had Rocinante, her beloved steed. The only bad thing about her birthday that year had been her mother's incessant demands to act like a lady and look for a good husband because she hadn't raised her daughter to be a foolish spinster. That had been after she'd snuck back into their castle after seeing her secret boyfriend at their usual meeting place by a tree in a clearing a few miles from the stables where they'd first met. Her mother's scolding was followed by a few insults, which was a normal though extremely hurtful conversation for them, had sent Regina to her room to privately shed poorly concealed tears.

Thankfully, her father tried his hardest to salvage her evening. Cora was a strong woman who quickly, effortlessly, towered over and dominated both father and daughter combined, but she never seemed to notice his absence so he'd almost always went after Regina unless he knew she'd needed her space. That night he'd entered her chamber with a small little smile reserved solely for his darling daughter and she'd returned it with a watery and sad smile of her own. He'd sat with her and told her stories from his youth, before he'd met Cora, and he'd suggested they go horseback riding early the following morning. Just the two of them. And then they would talk about anything and everything they pleased and he would use words like "mijita" and "princesita" and "mi querida." During their time in the forest astride their horses that day while she'd told her father all about the stable boy and their hidden courtship, it had been one of the last times she'd truly been happy.

It was only the day after the King had proposed and her mother had accepted it on her behalf that she'd lost him, her Daniel, her love, her world. She'd run to him the night of her unwanted proposal and told him they had to run away. In her panic, she hadn't mentioned the proposal until he'd been able to calm her down and once he'd heard the news, he'd given her hope and a moment of pure, but unfortunately brief, happiness; the last she'd ever known, as bittersweet as it had been.

"Marry me," she'd said.

"Regina, what are you doing? What's happened," he'd asked, careful and lovingly and then concerned. "Did you tell your mother?"

"No," Regina had quickly answered. "And now I can never tell her. She won't understand."

He'd looked at her with so much compassion while she'd tried not to cry yet again because her cheeks had already been stained and a few tears had pooled just below her eyes but hadn't quite fallen.

"That girl I saved," she had breathily continued, "was the King's daughter. And now he's proposed. To me!"

"What?"

He'd touched her arm and she took a deep breath, though not calming or steady, before she cried out, "My mother accepted!"

In that moment, he'd shown immense sympathy for her, but he'd also looked as morose about the information as she had. It was then that she had turned from him, afraid there was nothing he would do to help her, afraid he couldn't even if he'd wanted to. With damp lashes and a heavy heart, she took a few steps toward the stable doors she'd entered through and sniffled. Thoughts about her situation continued to run through her mind until one of them made sense.

"The only way out is to run," she'd said almost reverently.

She'd turned around and walked back to him while she elaborated in a rush, "For us to leave this place, for us to be married, for us to never come back."

"Regina," he'd almost pleaded as he took her hands in his. "Do you understand what that would mean? Life…with a stable boy is a far cry from a life as Queen."

"Being Queen means nothing. Daniel," she'd placed her hands on either side of his head and stroked her thumbs over his cheekbones, "All I care about is you."

He'd gently held her wrists and brought her hands down to his mouth. He'd smiled before he kissed the pad of one of her thumbs and looked at her with bright eyes that instantly warmed her.

"Then if I am to marry you," he'd started to say after Regina begged him to run with her, "let's do this properly."

He'd ripped a tiny, twisted ring from a saddle he'd set aside nearby where they stood on straw littered dirt and looked deep into her eyes when he returned to her. He slid the gold band onto her finger and it fit perfectly, like it had been made just for that moment, that purpose.

She'd gasped and breathed out a happy laugh filled with a bit of relief at what she'd thought she'd finally be able to have, a life with Daniel and away from her mother and the kingdom and most importantly a life of happiness. She'd beamed up at him then moved in and melted into a passionate kiss with him. That had been the absolute last minute of untainted bliss for her because the little girl she'd saved from a runaway horse had found them, dropped a pail that had forced the two of them apart and ran off.

Regina had thought she'd convinced Snow White not to tell anyone, especially her mother of all people, about what she'd seen and how she felt about Daniel, but the child was only that: a child. Regina's secret had been kept for a day before Cora had barged her way into her relationship, her plans to leave with her true love, and she'd given her daughter false hope. She'd tricked Regina into thinking she'd accepted Regina and the stable boy together just long enough to get close to the boy and crush his heart with her dark magic. Right in front of Regina. And it had crushed her heart as well, though hers continued to beat in her chest while Daniel's had been turned to dust and mixed in with the dirt beneath his unanimated, rapidly chilling body.

He was gone and she'd wanted nothing more than to get him back.

A month later, she was still engaged to the King while he arranged the date and made all the preparations in the main hall in his Winter Palace for their wedding. She was also still haunted by the memory of that night, a memory she was sure she would have nightmares about for years to come. That night made her wonder which of their fates was more fortunate, his death or her hollow shell of an existence that even misery didn't know how to fill, though it certainly tried.

As she continued to sit in front her mirror, her hair forgotten as she slowly placed her brush back on her vanity like she was in a trance, the morbid thought passed through her mind for the millionth time since she'd lost Daniel—and a part of herself with him. The knowledge that a man at least twice her age would call her wife and make her Queen and Stepmother at the young age of eighteen led her to the balcony before she could waste her time tossing and turning in bed without an ounce of sleep yet again.

Four weeks prior, she'd only had a stable boy's love and the freedom to be who she wanted and go wherever she desired. Every night since then, she'd been harshly reminded of what handful of responsibilities she would have on her shoulders as soon as she became King Leopold's second wife and Queen. The unfairness of it all, her childhood and all the magical punishments she'd received for her insubordination—which was expected from most little girls her age, but Cora Mills refused to let her daughter behave as atrociously as those less than special brats—as well as her future as a mother to the little girl she'd saved who was only about six years her junior, finally upset Regina to her breaking point.

She slammed her fist down against the balustrade in front of her and growled her fury in an undignified way her mother would disapprove of if she'd heard it. The first hit relieved her so she took another breath and brought her fist back down against the balustrade. It started to shake loose from its unstable connection to the balcony floor, but it did nothing to deter the brunette from her long overdue venting. That was until she released her fist and pounded her palm flat against the balustrade, which shook drastically enough for her to lose her balance and grip the railing just as it pushed forward and gave way. She let go a second too late and screamed on her sudden plunge toward the ground. As the wind blasted against her face and through her long, dark hair, certain of her inevitable death, she couldn't help but wonder—and even feel a small sense of elation—if she would be reunited with Daniel. Fear flooded her entire being, but a wave of peace flowed through her when the ground seemed close enough to reach out and touch. She pictured his face, her sweetheart, her Daniel, and stopped screaming before she braced herself for the impact.

The ground then took on a green glow and she hit something, but when she failed to lose consciousness or see anything other than the cement beneath her she knew she hadn't hit the ground. Instead, she'd hit magic. Green magic.

"Put me down! What are you doing," Regina looked up and asked what she soon realized to be a fairy.

"Giving you a second chance," the fairy answered and a second later, the fairy flicked her wand and magically floated her back up to the balcony.

Her feet gently touched the ground and the fairy flew closer to her. Regina looked at the fairy with confusion as she approached and her eyes widened. As much as she was stunned by the discovery that there was a fairy in her presence, she was also in a state of disbelief that one would ever appear for her. She'd heard of them, of course, and how they granted wishes, but none had ever come to grant her any. She'd had plenty, especially when she was younger, but there wasn't a single fairy in all the realm that seemed to hear her desperate pleas.

Eventually she'd given up hope that one day her wishes, or at least one of her most wanted wishes, would be granted and she swore off the idea of fairies altogether. Because what good magical being that was supposed to help people would neglect a little girl who'd only wanted her mother to love her, who'd at the very least wanted her mother to stop restraining her with magic and using it to punish her and leave marks where no one would see?

The fairy in front of her morphed into full height, which made her only about an inch shorter than Regina, and the brunette took in the shiny green dress that matched the color of her magic. The fairy had rosy cheeks and blonde hair, which had been pulled back into a sort of bun and was partially maintained by a jewel-studded headband. She smiled at Regina even though she'd just stopped the woman from falling to death, and carefully approached her.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Tinker Bell."

"Y-You're a fairy."

Tinker Bell chuckled and replied, "I realized that when I used my wings and magic to get here."

Regina glared and asked, "Why are you here?"

"I want to help you. I'm here to give you a second chance like I told you down there," Tinker Bell said and motioned behind her at the ground below the unguarded edge of Regina's balcony.

Regina continued to glare and crossed her arms with defiance. "Fairies don't help."

"Sure we do," Tinker Bell cheerily responded.

"They don't help me. They never have."

"And they never will with an attitude like that," the blonde tried to joke.

Regina only huffed and turned away from her.

Tinker Bell sighed and stepped closer without invading too much personal space.

"If you change your mind about fairies, or about believing I really do want to help you, meet me at the pub in the neighboring village. Tomorrow at noon. I hope you show."

Regina took a deep breath and thought about the invitation. The first fairy to show up when she needed saving and that fairy had already extended a courtesy even her peers had never given her. She turned to the fairy and opened her mouth to say something, but the words got stuck in her throat when she saw Tinker Bell was gone.

Just as she'd suspected she would before she'd gone over the edge of the balcony, Regina had a near sleepless night. Only a couple of hours between sigh after sigh all the while getting tangled up in her sheets after shifting several times in futile attempts to find a comfortable position to help her drift off counted for rest that night.

Noon approached the next day and since she had nothing better to do, she decided to visit the neighboring village. She rode Rocinante to the only pub in the village and secured him to the post outside. She then wrung her hands and tried to gain the courage needed to find the fairy who said she'd be there.

Regina managed to walk to the door and reached out to pull it open when a man burst through it and startled her. She took a few staggered steps back and stared at him with wide eyes for a moment before she reigned in her emotions and neutralized her expression. She didn't want people to look down on her. She wanted to blend in, be as invisible or at least as boring and regular as possible.

The man hardly noticed her, but he flashed a small, polite smile and bowed his head out of respect as he passed her. She relaxed and turned her attention to the inside of the pub then looked over at the bar. There, she saw a few men sip their drinks or talk to the barmaid, but only one female sat in a stool on the patron side of the bar. Tinker Bell.

She went right up to the fairy, didn't bother to sit down in the empty stool next to the blonde, and waited to be noticed.

"Regina," Tinker Bell beamed as soon as the other woman was at her side. "You came."

"Yes, well, I figured there was no harm in finding out if you truly could help me. You are the first fairy to visit me so why wouldn't you have come all this way to help me?"

"That's what I like to hear," Tinker Bell said and shot onto her feet. "Why don't you and I talk outside? It's a bit musty in here."

Tinker Bell looped her arm in Regina's and led her out to a vacant table farthest from the pub, which really wasn't that far but the smell of mead thankfully didn't carry past the cups they were served in. The fresh scent of nature, of pine and wheat and grass, felt more natural to both women and each took their seats across from each other at the table.

The barmaid passed by and took their orders on her way to serving another table their drinks and Tinker Bell carefully and comfortably got Regina to open up to her about her past.

It wasn't long before Regina loosened up enough over lunch to express her honest feelings about her soon-to-be husband and her just as soon-to-be stepdaughter.

"Snow White? That's her name? Even I think that's a bit precious and mine's Tinker Bell."

"She's a monster. Totally indulged and adored. She sort of…ricochets through life telling people's secrets," Regina explained then leaned forward and lowered her voice to add, "…She had my fiancé killed."

"No," Tinker Bell responded with disbelief.

"The only way I can get through any of this is that she and the King will be gone all the time. They travel a lot. He dotes on her and she never misses out on new experiences in new places. Besides, she's supposed to inherit the throne once both her father and I are gone, or if we abdicate it."

Laughter from the table next to them drew Tinker Bell's attention to the other patrons and she leaned forward and spoke quietly to ensure as much privacy as possible in a public setting.

"You'll be glad when you're husband's gone?"

Regina laughed at the absurdity of the fairy's question.

"Husband. Please. It won't be a marriage. It will be a farce."

Regina reviewed her surroundings, reminded herself anyone could overhear and could possibly report her conversation to the King himself, and leaned forward like Tinker Bell previously had before she continued.

"I may gain the title of Queen, but to be alone in the palace I already feel like the queen of nothing."

Tinker Bell's expression softened, her eyes filled with sympathy and a hint of sadness. She looked Regina over before she said, "No wonder you jumped."

Tinker Bell took a sip from her drink with utter nonchalance, appeared completely unbothered by what she had said or how it had sounded.

Regina scoffed.

"I didn't jump," she nervously laughed then continued to correct the other woman when she said, "I fell."

"Right. You fell," Tinker Bell knowingly smirked and picked a fry off of Regina's plate and ate it.

"I did," Regina seriously insisted.

Regina placed her elbows on the table and leaned onto them as she avoided looking up just yet. She took a deep breath before she decided to continue with the truth when she spoke with Tinker Bell. She was the only person Regina had in her life that actually listened to what she had to say and she never judged. So she went ahead with her next confession with a little laughter in her words.

"But if I had? …Well, here's to good reasons."

They fluidly clinked cups, but only Regina drank to that. Tinker Bell didn't lift her drink to her lips, but instead looked around again before she offered a solution to Regina's dissatisfactory arrangement.

"You know, I've got an idea."

Regina perked up. "Hmm."

"I can help people find what they need, Regina."

"And what do I need," Regina innocently asked with a shrug and a smile.

"You don't even know? That's so sad. Regina, love. You need love."

Regina laughed and shook her head before she incredulously stated, "You're going to help me find another soul mate."

"It is possible to find love again," Tinker Bell encouraged. "I've never seen pixie dust fail. It will find you your perfect match."

Regina sighed and picked at the transparent sleeve of her dress.

"If you let it, it could find your happy ending."

"My happy ending looks like Snow's head on a plate," Regina flatly replied, her eyes downcast as a darkness fell over her features.

"No! Aren't you at least curious? What if I can do what I say?"

Regina jokingly responded with, "Well then I'd say that's real magic."

"I'm a fairy. You might want to try believing in me."

Regina gave it some thought. "Fine. You want me to believe in you? Show me the pixie dust and I'll see where it leads."

Regina waited a few seconds, but when Tinker Bell didn't move she raised her eyebrows in a silent question.

"Well," Tinker Bell started, "I don't have the pixie dust with me. I'll have to get it. But I can get it."

"Until then, I think this particular conversation is over. Feel free to visit any time, without or without the dust," Regina concluded as she stood.

Tinker Bell's eyes pleaded with her to stay, but Regina saw the fairy knew she was quickly losing ground with her. As Regina started to walk over to Rocinante, Tinker Bell sighed with defeat and watched Regina mount her steed and leave.

Regina threw a quick glance over her shoulder as Rocinante cantered away from the pub, her expression woefully hopeful as she looked at Tinker Bell, and then she faced forward and clicked her tongue at Rocinante until he sped up into a full gallop.

That evening, Regina sat in front of her mirror with a feather pen in hand as she delicately wrote out the day's events into her journal. The book was halfway filled with all her thoughts and feelings and questions about the things she didn't want to keep bottled up inside but couldn't otherwise express. Part of her entry then involved the fairy as she wrote, "The fairy I met last night has suggested she can find me love, my happy ending. I'm not sure I trust that to be the truth, but she seems genuine enough. Whether or not she brings me the pixie dust she claims will direct me to my second chance—another soul mate—I only hope she'll come back to visit.

"I may not know much about her and I certainly don't believe any other fairy would dare attempt what she says she will since she's the only one to come to me in all my eighteen years of life, but I think if she's as open to more lunches and conversations as I am she may come to be…a friend."

She had only just finished writing the word "friend" when a familiar green glowed appeared in her mirror. She pulled her hand away from the paper and allowed the ink to dry as she turned to the fairy with her lips parted in disbelief.

"Want to fly," Tinker Bell asked with a smile while her wings flapped, wand in hand.

"You got it," Regina asked as she stood and moved closer to the fairy.

"And then some," Tinker Bell answered and started to fly backward toward the balcony where Regina had fallen. "Let's get started. Helping you find your happiness, saving you? That's what's gonna save me."

Regina slowly started to come to the realization, "This isn't your pixie dust, is it."

"Well when you think about it, does anyone really own pixie dust?"

Regina shrugged, but looked worried and a little skeptical of the new information Tinker Bell had provided.

"Well fairies are…quite proprietary about it. If they find out you stole it, they wou—"

"Don't worry about me," Tinker Bell insisted. "This is about you."

With a flick of the wand, pixie dust sprinkled over Regina and she felt the magic course through her for a second before her feet left the ground and she levitated toward the blonde. Within a few moments, she was above the ground that would have taken her life had it not been for the fairy next to her. She was upright for a few seconds more before she looked at Tinker Bell, who slowly flew further from the palace, then leaned forward and followed behind her.

The power of flight, whether borrowed and brief or not, intoxicated her. It freed her from so many things and she couldn't explain in words how elated she felt not to be grounded. Her entire life felt like a cage, but the restriction-less skies opened her up to new perspectives. She already looked happier than she had since Daniel's death as she flew over the kingdom and stared down at her world with the realization that things she thought were daunting looked much smaller at a different angle.

After a few minutes, Tinker Bell flicked her wand and pixie dust descended in a similar way to Aurora Borealis toward an establishment in the distance. As they approached it, it didn't seem all that different than the pub they'd visited earlier that day. The real differences were the size and the seemingly sturdier structure the one under foot had over the afternoon pub.

"What's that," Regina asked.

"That is your happy ending."

Regina smiled, though it flickered with the doubt and insecurity that suddenly crashed into her like a tidal wave.

"Your soul mate's down there," Tinker Bell nodded toward what the pixie dust illuminated with a green glow.

They followed the pixie dust and Regina smiled again, one that lasted longer and was borne from the excitement and nervous butterflies in her stomach that time. Once they were on the ground, Tinker Bell took one of her hands and led her to the door.

"Inside here lies the beginning of your happiness," Tinker Bell said with a bright smile. "All the pain in your past will be just that, the past."

They stopped right outside the door and Regina's nerves started to get the best of her. She let go of Tinker Bell's hand and ran both of her sweaty palms over her thighs.

"I just need a moment," she said with her eyes on the ground.

"You're nervous," Tinker Bell noted. "I get it."

The blonde turned and leaned in toward the window within the door to what Regina had quickly realized upon landing was a tavern. Tinker Bell searched inside until she tapped a finger against the glass.

"There," the blonde instructed. "The one with the flower tattoo."

Regina moved in beside Tinker Bell for a closer look and saw a faint green glow around another blonde. Another woman. The person Tinker Bell's finger was pointed at had long blonde hair that not only framed her face but her breasts as well. The dress the woman wore wasn't too conservative, though a woman in a tavern at that hour was usually a barmaid, barfly, or general wench. For some reason, however, the woman in the tavern didn't strike her as any one of those types.

"That's her," Regina asked, surprised and a little timid.

"Pixie dust doesn't lie," Tinker Bell confirmed. "Come on."

Regina couldn't tear her eyes away, as sad and scared as they were, from the woman in the tavern. It wasn't until Tinker Bell gently tugged on her dress sleeve that she even acknowledged the fairy was still present.

"This is your chance at love and happiness," Tinker Bell calmly assured her. "Fresh start, no baggage. You can let go of all of the anger that weighs you down."

Regina still looked nervous, but she at least seemed a little more convinced to find out more about the woman inside.

Tinker Bell nodded toward the door and said, "Go get her."

Regina took a small breath and hesitated before she nodded.

"Okay," she agreed before she took a bigger breath and looked back into the window at the woman she was apparently destined—according to magical, stolen dust—to meet. "Okay, I can do this. I can be happy."

"I know you can," Tinker Bell smiled at Regina, who nervously yet hopefully smiled back. "Go."

Tinker Bell comfortingly ran a hand down Regina's arm then gave her space to introduce herself to the woman, to connect with her other soul mate.

Regina clutched her apple tree necklace and took a few minutes to herself on the colder side of the tavern door. She watched as the woman still haloed by pixie dust smiled at something and Regina backed far enough away from the door to open it without hitting herself.

She reached out and collected herself for a second before she briskly pulled the handle and felt a surge of fulfillment rush through her. When she opened the door wide, she saw the blonde inside much clearer and the glow had started to recede a little. As the pixie dust faded, more of the woman's natural beauty shined stronger than any magic Regina had known. It also allowed her to see the scar above the woman's right breast. It seemed like such a simple thing, not hard to miss given the woman's attire, but the imperfection somehow drew Regina closer. The brunette took a step inside and almost smiled as she continued to stare at the woman, the soul mate who was still nothing more than a stranger to her, but then Regina saw her stand up. She also saw the woman wasn't alone. A dark haired man with a leather jacket stood with her and closed a bit of the space between them.

Regina's heart sank and devastation clouded her features. She placed a hand over her stomach as she tried to keep herself composed, but felt sheer dread and heartbreak for a woman whose name she didn't even know. The man was, well, a man, and he wasn't bad to look at. There was no way pixie dust would win over the other woman's desire for someone who wasn't engaged to a king and had nothing as exciting or alluring to offer as the dashing mystery man in front of her. Although she did have two hands. Upon further inspection, Regina noticed the shiny, curved metal appendage that replaced the man's left hand. But he was still tall, dark, and handsome and Regina doubted she could compete with that.

Just as the woman's eyes darted to the door, away from the man who appeared to be her date, Regina hiked up the bottom of her dress and bolted from the tavern. She didn't once look back as she ran as fast and as far as her feet would carry her.