What Once Was Mine

3.

28 years later...

Rosalie woke up with a scream. It was the middle of the night and Emma Swan had just checked into Granny's as Rosalie awoke from a nightmare.

"Rosie?" Eleanor asked as she entered the room after having heard her daughter's screams. She sat on her bed and pulled her daughter close to her and rubbed her back in gentle circles to calm her. "It's going to be alright. You just had a nightmare." She said reassuringly and still held her.

Rosalie looked at her mother. She was still in shock about her dream and her heart was racing. It all felt so real. She was in the woods in the middle of a swamp and their were snakes everywhere and she was all alone. It was awful. "It felt so real. Almost like a memory." She told her mother softly and cuddled to her.

Sighing, Eleanor stroked Rosalie's blonde hair which she had allowed to grow over the last twenty eight years. She didn't like the sound of that. Could the curse be breaking? "What did you dream about?" She questioned and made her daughter look at her. She needed to know.

Rosalie took a deep breath. "I was in a dark forest, in the middle of a swamp. There were snakes everywhere and I was all alone." She explained and looked at her when her mother gently moved her jaw in her direction.

This shocked Eleanor and made her feel guilty for what she had done to Rapunzel in the past but at the same time it worried her that the curse could break and she would lose everything. It had been 28 years, so the Saviour must have found her way to Storybrooke. She needed to talk to Regina first thing in the morning. "It's alright. It was just a dream. You are save." She reassured her and kept stroking her hair until the young woman drifted off to sleep again.

She stayed a bit longer until she was sure her daughter was really asleep again and then checked on the twins who were still sleeping luckily. Eleanor returned to her bedroom but she couldn't really sleep. Her daughter couldn't remember. She would lose everything all over again if the curse broke. After a while of just staring at the ceiling she finally fell asleep again.

The next morning she woke up as usual and got ready for the day, getting dressed in one of her many stylish pant suits before going downstairs. She decided to call Regina first.

Regina picked up the phone. It was still quite early and Henry was still asleep after the events of last night. She was still in shock that Henry found his birth mother. "Regina Mills speaking." She said as she answered the phone.

"Regina, it's Eleanor. I have a feeling the curse is starting to break. Rosalie had nightmares last night about what happened in the Enchanted Forest. It wasn't just nightmares. They were memories. That means this woman, Emma Swan, Henry's birth mother, is still in town. And she is the Saviour." Eleanor explained to her friend just as the clocktower chimed. That couldn't be. Time was running again? This couldn't be happening. She couldn't lose Rapunzel again.

The mayor was equally in shock as she listened to Eleanor and heard the clocktower too. "That can't happen. I need to get this woman out of town." She answered and rubbed her forehead a bit as she felt a headache forming. She needed to stop all this. She would lose everything if the curse would break. "Alright. Meet me at my office later so we can discuss a plan. " She told her after a moment of thinking. She needed a plan to get Emma Swan out of town. Otherwise they would lose everything.

"Fine. I'll see you later. Bye." Eleanor replied before she hung up just as Rosalie got downstairs with the kids. She couldn't lose her daughter again not after everything she had done to get a child in the first place.

She took a deep breath before she put on a smile for her family. "Good morning, sweetheart. Did you manage to get some sleep?" The grey haired woman asked as she walked over to her daughter and kissed her cheek lovingly before doing the same with the twins.

"Good morning, Mom. Yes, I guess so." The blonde answered as she put the kids in their high chairs and got them their breakfast. The dream still scared her somehow but it was just a dream.

Eleanor nodded and stroked her hair carefully. "It's alright, sweetheart. Maybe you should stay home today, get some more rest. I will inform the school and I can take the kids to day care on my way to the salon." She suggested to her daughter.

For a moment Rosalie thought about it. "Really? Thanks, Mom. I really don't feel so good today." She agreed and sat down to eat breakfast with her mother before she would return to her room to get the rest she needed.

After breakfast, Eleanor got the twins ready to go and got them in the stroller before leaving the house with them. She brought them to day care and then headed to the town hall first to talk to Regina. She was worried that the curse would break and she would lose everything. The former witch had fought so hard to get a child and she wouldn't lose Rapunzel now after everything.

"Eleanor, sit down." Regina said as her friend entered her office and they sat down by the fire place. The brunette looked worriedly at the older woman. "The curse is getting weaker. This Emma Swan is the saviour. Daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming. We need to get her out of town." She explained and sighed deeply. She never thought she would have to deal with the Saviour.

"And we will. I won't lose Rapunzel again." Eleanor told her confidently. She was determined to keep Rapunzel right where she belonged. She wouldn't let the prince get to her again.

Regina sighed and sipped her coffee carefully before looking at her friend again. There was something that had always been on her mind but she never really dared to ask. The former queen knew Rapunzel wasn't Eleanor's daughter and had always wondered how she got her in the first place. "How did you get Rapunzel anyway?" She asked curiously.

Eleanor was surprised at the sudden question. Why was Regina interested in that now? One thing was for sure though, no matter what she answered her, it couldn't be the truth. At least not the whole truth. She took a sip of her own coffee and sighed. "I got her through a deal with your mother. She wanted magic beans and promised me to get me what I desired most, a baby." She explained to the younger woman. That was about as much as Regina needed to know.

Regina frowned. Something about this didn't seem right. Why would her mother offer her a baby? And how did she get one in the first place? She knew however that Eleanor probably wouldn't tell her much more. "Oh alright." She simply answered and they continued to discuss a plan to get Emma out of town to protect the curse.