Disclaimer: I don't own Once Upon a Time or its characters, just this story.

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It was a sleepless night for Regina, who was crouched in a corned of the cell, resting her forehead on her knees. She just couldn't stop thinking about everything that had happened in the past couple of days. She trusted David, she knew he was going to do everything he could to free her but what really troubled her was the thought of her mother harming Snow White, maybe even killing her, and for what? Regina didn't want to be powerful as her mother wished for her to be, and she surely didn't want an innocent girl to be hurt because of it.

At the crack of dawn she stood up and gripped the bars of the window. A silent tear rolled down her cheek as the sun rays hit her skin and their warmth sent shivers running down her spine. At the sound of footsteps behind her she turned around abruptly, a mixture of emotions written all over her tired face. There was the hope of seeing David coming to her rescue but also the fear of seeing her mother again, which could only mean something bad had happened to her stepdaughter.

She was sort of relieved when she saw Snow stepping towards the cell, though there was something different about the girl. Instead of the white dresses she used to wear she now wore tight, black, leather pants, a corset which exposed more cleavage than she'd usually care to show and a dark blue coat that reached the floor. She wore dark make up too, which gave her a completely different look, definitely darker but also much older. There was nothing left of the sweet, little girl Regina had saved from that runaway horse all those years back. Even her green eyes seemed different and they were hard and unforgiving on Regina as they bore into her brown ones.

Regina stared at her and started whispering with a pleading voice "Snow, please, you have to listen to me.." she said as she spotted two guards emerging from the shadows right behind Snow "Snow it wasn't me, I swear! It was Cora and she will stop at nothing to kill you! Please you have to believe me!" she was crying now, her voice broken by the sobs as the girl in front of her cocked her head a little and squinted her eyes a little "And you seriously think I am going to believe anything you say? How foolish do you think I am?" At her words Regina dropped her head and closed her eyes to prevent the tears from escaping them. "I knew from the start there was something wrong about you marrying my father.." she continued, only to be interrupted by Regina's pleads "Snow I swear, being queen means nothing to me! I never wanted to marry your father in the first place and I didn't kill him, I swear!". Snow stared at her for what felt like an eternity, enjoying the view of the hated woman falling apart in front of her. Regina had fallen to her knees, still gripping the bars with the little strength she had left in her body and still ranting about her mother wanting to kill Snow. So she didn't notice when the younger woman took a step back, not taking her eyes off Regina even for a second, before saying "Guards..". Regina looked up, her red eyes widening in fear as she tried to retract further in the cell until her back met the wall behind her. The guards lifted her up by her arms but she was too weak to walk so they had to drag her as they followed Snow White outside the dungeons and into the courtyard, where the villagers had gathered.

Regina was led by the guards to a wooden pole, where her hands were tied with a rope and she was blindfolded. She didn't put up much of a fight as she looked desperately amongst the crowd, hoping that David was there. He was nowhere to be seen, but as she looked at the people in front of her, something caught her eye. Or better, someone. Her eyes widened with fear as she spotted Cora, wearing a dark brown hood so as to go unnoticed, making her way through the crowd. Regina stared wide-eyed as her mother made her way towards Snow White, shaking her head a little and whispering under her breath "No..." but her sight was suddenly blocked by a blindfold, just as Snow ordered the archers to take their aim. She opened her mouth to scream to the girl that Cora was there when suddenly someone yelled "STOP!"

It took Regina a moment to realize who the voice belonged to. Cora had stopped in her tracks and saw a man making his way through the crowd. David stood halfway between Snow White and Regina and directed his words to the girl "Won't you at least grant this woman one last wish?" he paused long enough to let Snow think about it before resuming "I know you're a fair queen, Snow White, and I know there's good in your heart. This woman" he said pointing at Regina "deserves to pay for what she's done" Regina started shivering at his unexpected words "but everyone deserves one last wish". Snow looked at him, taking a moment to ponder his request "And what would this wish be?" David turned to look at Regina before looking at Snow again with a sad smile "One last kiss".

Snow didn't take her eyes off of him as she whispered to a guard to check if the man had any weapons. After making sure he didn't, the guard gave a nod to Snow White "Very well, then. Give the woman her precious last kiss." She said as she sat to enjoy the show, believing that to give her a little bit of love just to take it all away from her moments later would just add cruely to her punishment.

Regina could hear David walking towards her slowly before stopping right in front of her. "David.." she whispered "I'm here, Regina... it's going to be alright, I promise." She knew he was trying to calm her a little but she couldn't stop the tears from escaping her eyes and running down her cheeks. David pressed his forehead against hers before leaning closer to allow their lips to meet in a chaste kiss. Neither of them was ready to break the kiss anytime soon but they did and, as their lips parted, Regina felt David's hands cupping her face as he pulled her into a passionate kiss. Regina swore she could hear Snow's enraged scream but it was as if it was getting more distant by the second.

Regina felt David's hands leaving her cheeks, missing the contact instantly and whispered a trembling "I love you...". When he spoke there was something different in his tone. Something that resembled...happiness. "I love you too, Regina" he said as he reached behind her to release her hands and remove the blindfold from her eyes.

As Regina opened her eyes slowly, taking time to adjust to the sunlight, she realised there was no crowd to be seen. Snow wasn't there, neither was her mother and the castle was nowhere in sight. As she looked around she noticed they were standing on hot sand, water was almost reaching their feet, and opposite to the sea there was a forest. All they could hear was the sound of seagulls and of waves crashing against some rocks but there was no one else there apart from the two of them. She finally looked at David questioningly but, undoubtedly, happy "W-Where are we?". He pulled her into a loving kiss, happy to have her in his arms again, never wanting to let her go again. He broke the kiss and stared into her bright eyes, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Neverland."