Sorry it's taken so long to update. I wanted to wait for the finale, and it kind of messed up the story I had planned, so now this will be slightly AU. And if you're afraid I'm going to go over every single episode of season 1, don't worry. The next chapter will take place around the events of A Land Without Magic (probably).

Oh! And the title no longer makes any sense, and I am positively TERRIBLE at coming up with titles, so if you all could give me suggestions that would be very appreciated! :)

Enjoy!

Emma Swan's head was whirling. Everything was happening a little bit too fast. One day she had been happily, or at least as happily as was possible for her, residing in her hotel room in Boston, and the next she was in a peculiar town called, of all things, Storybrooke.

She was having a hard time keeping up with all her emotions; Henry, the son she had long ago given up for adoption finding her, and then telling her a ridiculous story about how he lived in a cursed town where every story book character resided was enough to make anybody's head spin. But even after just a day, she was finding herself drawn to this bright eyed son of hers. If she'd been a mystic she would have said that something outside had guided her actions when she had decided to rent a room and stay for week, but she wasn't, and knew that she just liked that kid and wanted to see what kind of life he led, and why he had been so desperate to find her.

And that mayor… something about her just wasn't right about her. No, she would stay, just to make sure Henry was all right.

Gold stood in his pawnshop, his fingers caressing the well-polished leather of his son's ball. The savior was here. Soon, very soon, the curse would be broken. He would be able to leave town, he would be able to find his son.

He bowed his head. Physically he had not aged a day in those 28 years, but he had felt the time go past, had been aware that if he had not timed when they arrived in this world correctly, they might have come too soon or too late for him to find his son. He repeated that same promise that he had said every day since he had lost Bae, "I will find you, son… somehow, I will find you."

He closed his eyes. He had lost so much and gained so little throughout all the years. Doubt wormed into his mind. What made this time any different? Who was to say he wouldn't lose again. These 28 years of misery would have been for nothing.

Carefully he put the ball back in its place and headed out, locking the door carefully behind him. It was time to go home, time to rehash every plan he had made, make sure it would all work out the way he wanted it to.

The first thing to do was make sure the savior stayed in town, and that meant manipulating Regina. He smiled and made his way to the mayor's house. "Time to use the magic word." He thought gleefully, a bit of his old humor returning.

He found her picking up apples that had been scattered all over her yard. He smiled. The savior was already showing signs of spunk. Some people might have left town after one of the mayor's frame jobs, but not Emma. She had come and cut off a branch of the mayor's tree. "Good," he thought. "We don't need the savior to be a coward." His bad leg twinged, and he winced inwardly.

But it didn't matter. It was time to plant suspicions in Regina's mind; make her not realize until it was too late who Emma really was.

Regina gazed after Mr. Gold's as he left her property, throwing the apple he had just picked over his shoulder. Doubt wormed in the back of her mind. "What does he know?"

She bit her lip. Did Gold remember who he was? He had certainly seemed that way to her. If he did, she was sure that this Emma Swan was the child of Snow White and Prince Charming, the one who could break her curse. She frowned. She had known something like this might happen, and she had prepared for it. Maybe it was time to check on her little pawn.

She turned and walked briskly to her car, a smile playing on the corners of her lips. Within moments she was at the hospital. With a nod of greeting to a nurse who was leaving for the night, Regina made her way to the back of the hospital, to the door leading down to the mental ward. She looked over her shoulder to make sure nobody was watching, and quickly typed in the passcode. The light turned green and the door unlocked.

She walked down the stairs and walked over to the desk. Nurse DeCyle rose to her feet at Regina's approach, her blue-gray eyes cold. Regina placed a hand on the desk and smiled at the nurse. "Has anyone been to see her?" she asked.

"No ma'am, as usual." Nurse DeCyle looked annoyed and Regina smiled warmly at her. "I always know I can count on you, dear."

"Then why do you bother asking?"

Regina straightened, her smile turning icy. "To make certain of it, of course."

She turned her back on the nurse and walked down the hallway toward the cell where she kept Rumpelstiltskin's treasure. She opened the hatch and peered in. The girl was sitting on her "bed". She lifted her sound at the sound of the hinges squeaking. "Regina?" She called out. "Is that you?"

Regina made a warm smile cross her face as she opened the door. "Hello, Emilie." She said as she walked in. The girl leaped to her feet and flew across the tiny room, throwing her arms around Regina's shoulders. "I was hoping you would come tonight." She said, a bright smile dancing on the corners of her lips. "I've been missing you these past few weeks."

"I'm sorry, dear." Regina said, brushing a strand of hair off Emilie's forehead. "There have been so many things going on; I couldn't find time until now." That was a lie, of course. Regina had never visited the girl, but Emilie had false memories of many visits from her mayor, and a relationship that was very much like a mother/daughter relationship.

"That's alright," Emilie said, hugging Regina again. "I understand, I'm just glad you could find time to visit me now."

The girl drew Regina over to her "bed" and they sat down together, Regina forcing herself to maintain an attitude of warmth and affection.

"Tell me," Emilie begged, grabbing Regina's hand. "What has been going on since I came here?"

Regina laughed. "Nothing really, aside from Henry running off to find his real mother…" she paused, her pained expression not an act. Was she going to lose her son as well?

"What?" Emilie asked. Her blue eyes were sad. "Is she…" she licked her lips. "Is she going to try to…"

"No!" Regina interrupted. "Henry is still my child… he is my entire world. I won't let his birth mother take him away from me." She looked at the girl again and forced a sad smile to her lips, forced the rage from appearing in her face. "I should never have trusted Mr. Gold." She said, as if talking to herself. She smirked inwardly as she felt Emilie tense up beside her. "What?"

Regina sighed. She would have enjoyed this play-acting if Henry was not as close to her heart as he was. "He was the one who procured Henry for me… he had the most contacts outside of Storybrooke so I thought…" she paused and bit her lip.

Emilie's hand found her shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Regina…" an ironic half-smile crossed her face momentarily. "I understand what a mistake it is to trust Mr. Gold…" she looked around her tiny room. "…and I'm reminded of it every day."

Regina had to bite back a self-satisfied smile. "I'm so sorry, dear… I shouldn't come bringing my troubles to you… perhaps tonight wasn't a good time to visit you."

Emilie smiled gently. "No, it's fine… you needed somebody who would understand. Now go home. Spend some time with your son."

Regina smiled tightly. "I'm afraid he's off with his birth mother… he has no desire to be with me anymore." She rose to her feet. "I'm sorry, Emilie… but I need to go now."

Emilie stood up. "Of course, Regina. I hope…" she paused and squeezed Regina's hand, "…well, I hope everything turns out fine."

Regina nodded then turned and walked out of the room as quickly as she could, barely able to resist the urge to slam the door. That girl was annoying! "At least I have her exactly where I want her." She reminded herself.

But there was no ignoring the fact that the conversation had touched a sore spot in Regina's heart. "I won't lose you, Henry." She whispered.

She was going to get rid of this intruder, this Emma Swan, and the way to do that was to get Gold firmly on her side, which he would be once she realized the treasure she had. She smiled as she walked up the hallway. There was only one other thing she needed from Gold, and once she had it there was no way she could lose.

Gold was sitting in his living room holding the teacup… Belle's teacup… the one she had chipped. The curse would be broken soon, the continued presence of Emma Swan confirmed it, and he would be able to find his son. His fingers gently stroked the teacup. If only finding Belle could be a part of his future, but he knew it wasn't. He closed his eyes and set the teacup down gently. She would never be anything more than a memory, he needed to stop wishing for the impossible… he needed to focus on finding his son.

It didn't help that she had become as important to him as Baelfire was.

It didn't help that he would never be able to be more than half a man, even when he found his son.

He closed his eyes wishing for the millionth time that he could rip out his own heart and never again have to deal with painful emotions.