Storybrooke, Maine
Outskirts Of Town
6:15 PM

Mary-Margaret Blanchard rested her head against David's shoulder as they walked. "I'm glad that Regina's curse was broken…I can't believe we had no idea who any of us were for so long…and we just lived in a world under command…"

David sighed. "I don't know what we're going to do with her."

"We don't have to do anything right now," She reminded him. "Although it does concern me that, for all of the issues they have with each other, our daughter spends so much time with her. Alone, no less."

"Snow," He said gently. "They're in a relationship."

She snorted. "Yes, because our daughter is in love with the Evil Queen. The woman who separated her from us for the majority of her life."

"She is," He reminded her. "And we have to respect that."

She shook her head. "I know, I'm sorry, I just don't know how to process all of this."

He paused, cupping her face in his hands. "I promise it's going to be alright."

"I know," She said, softly kissing him before they began to walk again. "We just have to let this go and move on. Things are getting better, and –"

She cut herself off, tripping over a fallen tree that was half encased in the mud.

"Snow!" David exclaimed, rushing to help his wife up. "Are you –"

"Shh…" She said as he steadied her. "What's that over there?"

He raised an eyebrow, confused before noticing an unmoving red smudge in the distance that kept glinting every so often.

"Is that…" He trailed off, struggling to discern what it might be. "Another part of the curse."

Mary-Margaret hesitantly began to walk towards the sight, though it quickly became clear that it was more than they had bargained for.

"I…" She took a few steps closer as he caught up to her. "I think it's a person."

He paused as she stepped all the way over. "Are they alive?"

She was silent for a long moment, taking in the sight. The young woman, likely around seventeen, was laying on the ground, her long, dark waves covering her face and only partially tangled. She was small, and wearing a tight, red silk dress with an elaborate diamond and lace bodice. She was breathing shallowly, it seemed, and, when Snow pressed her fingers gently against her neck, a pulse could be felt. The young woman's pale skin stood out starkly against the mud, and almost look unhealthy. She had a faint pink lipstick, and heavy dark eye makeup. She was beautiful, even unconscious, and yet something about her appearance was uncomfortably familiar.

"She's alive," Snow called out, and Charming ran over. "But I'm not sure if she's well. Take her to the hospital."

He helped lift the unconscious woman off of the ground. "Alright."

"I have to admit, though…" She said, as they slowly began to walk. "She doesn't look like a normal person."

"She's dressed more like someone from our realm," Charming noted. "Which, I agree, is a bit odd."

"Do you think she is from our realm?" She questioned. "Or is this a coincidence?"

He hesitated. "I don't know." He eventually said. "Hopefully she'll come to, and we'll be able to ask her questions."

"That would be helpful," Snow shook her head. "This will be a shock to her if she is, though."

"It's a shock no matter how you put it," He said. "We're still trying to figure everything out."

"I know…" Snow sighed. "I just hope she'll be alright."

"I wonder who she is…" Charming mused. "If she's from our realm."

Snow considered that. "She must be wealthy to say the very least. And powerful…a bit of a dangerous combination. We all saw how it turned out with Regina, after all…"

"Tell me, Savior," Regina remarked, half teasingly as she grabbed Emma by the collar of her jacket. "Are your parents going to die when they find out that we're together?"

Emma rolled her eyes. "I think they'll force themselves to live just to spite you."

Regina laughed as she released her. "As much as you annoy me sometimes, I glad I keep you around."

"I'm sure you're lonely enough these days too," Emma said, and Regina raised an eyebrow. "With everyone being so angry about the curse."

Regina began to pace, still remembering Henry's angered reaction to her identity. "If I recall, multiple people…including those…dwarves your parents have on their side…have attempted to kill me."

Emma sighed. "I'm not going to let them kill you. I'm a bit mad at you for some of the things you've done, but you've done your best to change, and you saved all of us. I forgive you, and I love you."

Regina smiled a bit in spite of herself. "I love you too."

"See?" Emma said as she peeled off her jacket. "It's okay for you to be a bit vulnerable, to be emotional."

Regina stared at her for a moment. "Sometimes I'm not sure I'm capable of truly doing that."

"You're still human," Emma sent her a pointed look. "You are, I know. You care about our son –"

"Our son, who currently hates me and doesn't know we're involved," Regina glanced out the window, crossing her arms. "Speaking of which, are we ever going to tell him?"

"Eventually," Emma said, putting up her hands. "But after we get everything sorted out."

"Because that will ever happen," Regina remarked dryly. "You're more optimistic than you like to believe."

Emma sighed. "I like to believe that I'm realistic."

"Once I got past some of your…idiosyncrasies…I warmed to them," Regina paused in front of the mirror to adjust her hair. "And you and I eventually had that…torrid night –"

"Don't remind me…" Emma groaned. "Please don't. I hate that our relationship started that way –"

"In some senses, I think it needed to," Regina smirked ever so slightly to herself. "After all, how else were you going to realize that you have feelings for me?"

Emma stared at her in shock. "What are you talking about?"

"You know," Regina said slyly. "I know you do."

Emma reached for her phone as it started to buzz. "Mom?"

"Emma, can you come up to the hospital?" Snow said, her voice a bit quick. "There's a young woman here, and she just gained consciousness…it's weird, though. She was completely unresponsive as your father and I brought her in from the woods, and yet, a few minutes after being on IV, she came to –"

"…You…" A soft female voice said on Snow's end of the line. "…You two…you destroyed everything! You –"

"…Miss, calm down, there's –"

"…How can I –"

"Please be here soon –" Snow started.

"I will," Emma said, ending the call and shoving her phone into her pocket. "I'm heading up to the hospital."

Regina raised an eyebrow. "Any particular reason why?"

Emma scowled. "There's a woman that was found in the woods that just gained consciousness. She screamed something about my parents destroying everything. She had a soft voice…but also higher…I only heard a bit over the line, but…"

Regina felt a bit sick as watched Emma pull on her coat.

"Wait," She said. "Let me come with you."

"Mom," Emma embraced Snow tightly for a moment outside of the ICU ward. "What happened?"

"I'm not sure," Snow said, then glancing to Regina. "What are you doing here?"

"I am still the mayor," She said haughtily. "And this concerns my town. Now, move along so I can handle this."

Snow stepped in front of the doors. "You are not harming her."

Regina scowled, activating her newly restored magic and transforming her clothes into one of her elegant, queenly dresses.

"I have no intention of doing so," She told her. "Now –"

"Mom, just come talk with me," Emma said, sharing a look with Regina for a brief moment. Turning to the nurses, she nodded shortly. "Let her in. Alone."

Hesitantly, everyone left, leaving Regina alone on the hospital floor. Biting at her lip, she pushed open the doors to the room and stepped in. The young woman looked up, her grey eyes wide, and it was not long before tears started to rise in them.

"What happened?" She said weakly. "Where the hell am I?"

Regina used her magic to shut and lock the doors as she stepped over to the bedside. "Storybrooke, Maine."

She looked around in confusion. "I have no idea where that is."

"It's not where we're from," Regina said, reaching over and placing a hand comfortingly over the young woman's. "When I…when I didn't find you here after the curse…I thought you were dead."

Tears started to fall against her cheeks. "Did it at least work? Are Snow and Charming –"

"No, it only worked for a little…" Regina sighed heavily. "I don't know what to tell you."

The young woman embraced her tightly. "I never thought I'd see you again…after everything…I was alone in the palace for the longest time…and I…I missed you…and Henry…"

"I'm sorry," Regina said softly. "I should have been more careful. You're my daughter, Caitlin, and losing you was one of the hardest things I've ever been through…"

"What happens now?" She asked her. "What are we going to do?"

Regina sighed heavily. "I don't know. I just don't."

"She did just kind of go off on us," Charming said, and Emma groaned. "What? That's a fact, Emma. She kept snapping things about how your mother and I 'destroyed everything' and 'are the reason it all went to hell'. I don't know who she is, but she's clearly dangerous."

"I wouldn't say that," Snow said. "She could just be in shock."

"She seemed perfectly confident," Charming countered. "And –"

"A lot of people coming out of comas seem perfectly reasonable even when they're not," Snow replied. "She's not in a good state, just keep that in mind."

He was silent for a long moment, but then nodded. "Alright."

"She can't be Caitlin," Snow told him, and Emma's brow furrowed in confusion. "She's not here. She had to have died during the curse."

"Who exactly is Caitlin?" Emma asked, clear bemusement in her voice. "And why would it matter if she were her?"

Snow hesitated.

"Do you really want to know the answer to that?" She said. "Emma?"

She nodded. "Of course I do."

"She's Regina's daughter," Snow told her. "She's eleven years younger than me, and she was seventeen when the curse was cast. She…she's the daughter of Regina and a stable boy that she loved. She's also the reason that Regina and my father never had a physical relationship."

"Regina killed your father," Charming added. "Which is more proof that she's a vengeful –"

"I'll be right back," Emma said, standing up quickly and all but running up the stairs. "I promise."