What Could Have Been: A Once Upon A Time Fanfic

Prologue

Regina stood in the middle of a desolated wood, in which was a large pit in the ground used for fires. There was a huge fire burning now, and standing around it were evil creatures of all kinds. Ogres, seers, and warlocks, just to name a few.
"Who among us is tired of losing?"the Queen addressed her company. "That's why I called you here; to put an end to our misery." She had her father beside her, holding the ingredients she needed to cast a terrible curse. This particular curse would send everyone from the Enchanted Forest to a new land, one where the only happy ending would be hers. She began tossing the ingredients into the fire, causing it to blaze brighter with each item added.
"Today, we claim victory, and move to a new and better realm!" she proclaimed. "A place where we can finally win!"
"And we'll be happy?" a seer asked.
"I guarantee it." Regina smirked. "But first, I need something from you: a lock of hair from those with the darkest souls."
The creatures started to whisper among themselves, wondering if this plan would truly work.
"You must trust me." the Queen said. "Because if you don't, there are other ways." She waved her hand, ad the dead trees around them began to creak and groan as their bare limbs slowly stretched out, reaching for the creatures.
The seer quickly grabbed a knife out of her pocket and chopped off a chunk of her hair. The others quickly followed suit, either pulling out or cutting off bits of their own hair.
"A wise decision." the Queen crooned, and the trees went back to the way they had been. Regina pulled out a basket and passed it around for the hair to be placed in. Once everyone had dropped their hair into the basket, she dumped it into the fire.
"All that remains is the final ingredient." she announced. Her father picked up an ornately decorated silver box and opened it. Regina reached inside and pulled out the item. A large heart.
"A prized heart from my childhood steed." she said, raising the heart above her head. "The glorious beast whose passing will fuel our victory. Let my wrath be unleashed!" she shouted and threw the heart into the fire. It blazed brighter than ever, and began to change color from orange to a mixture of blue and green. Then it changed into a pillar of smoke that rose high into the sky. Regina smiled and closed her eyes, excited for what was to come. No more Snow White! No more Prince Charming! No more losing! She would finally win!
When the wind died down, she opened her eyes, but was shocked to see that she was still standing in the same place, in the same woods, surrounded by the same things as before.
A tiny man climbed onto a rock and began laughing hysterically. "Yeah, you really unleashed something there!" He pointed at her and continued laughing.
Regina pointed a pinger back at him, and he turned to stone. Then she watched in despair as everyone else walked away and left.
"Maybe it's for the best." Regina's father Henry said, placing a loving hand on his daughter's shoulder. "The forces you're summoning are darker than we can conceive."
"Oh, now you're trying to protect me?" Regina asked sarcastically.
Henry shrugged. "It's what I do." he said.
"I know." The Queen's tone and expression softened. "You're the only one who does."
"Helping you is my life." he told her.
"Well, then help me understand why this curse isn't working!"
"If you want to know that, then you need to go back to the person who gave it to you in the first place." He turned her to where she had to look at him and he grabbed her shoulders. "Revenge is a dark and lonely road." he warned. "Once you go down it, there is no heading back."
"What is there for me to head back to?" Regina said sadly.

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Rumplestiltskin sat in his cell underneath the palace. He was sitting on his tiny cot, eating an apple. When he had eaten half of it, he decided that he no longer wanted it, so he tossed it out into the corridor. Before long, the apple was covered in mice who began to eat away at the partially consumed apple. All of the mice were some shade of brown. All but one, that is. One of the mice had fur that was solid black. Suddenly, the black mouse broke away from the other mice and slowly crawled towards Rumple's cell.
"It's just us, dearie." he said to the mouse as he got up off of his cot and walked up to the bars of his cell. "You can show yourself."
The mouse turned into a cloud of smoke that stretched out into the shape of a slender woman. When the smoke cleared, Regina stood where the mouse had been. She stretched her neck, then flipped her long, raven locks behind her before approaching the cell.
"The curse you gave me," she said, showing him a tiny scroll. "it's not working."
"Oh, so worried!" Rumplestiltskin exclaimed. "So, so worried! Just like Snow and her lovely new husband."
Regina stiffened. They had been here? They had talked to Rumple?
"What?" she asked.
"They paid me a visit as well! They were very anxious about you and your curse."
"What did you tell them?" she demanded in a harsh tone.
"The truth!" Rumple growled. "That nothing can stop the darkness."
Regina smiled to herself. Rumple shrugged. "Nothing, except, of course, their unborn child. You see, no matter how powerful, all curses can be broken. And their child is the key. But the Curse has to be enacted first, of course."
"Tell me what I did wrong." the Queen said.
Rumplestiltskin held up a finger. "For that, there's a price."
"What do you want?"
"It's simple. In this new land, I want comfort. I want a good life."
"Fine! You'll have an estate, be rich."
"I wasn't finished, there's more!"
"There always is with you." Regina rolled her eyes.
"Yeah." Rumple chuckled. "In this new land, should I ever come to you for any reason, you must heed my every request. So long as I say. . .please!"
"You do realize that, should I succeed, you wont remember any of this?"
"Oh. Well then, what's the harm?"
"Deal." Regina said. "Now, what must I do to enact this curse?"
Rumple placed a finger on his chest. "You need to sacrifice a heart."
"I sacrificed my prized steed." Regina said, matter-of-factly.
Rumplestiltskin suddenly leapt forward onto the cell bars and reached through with one hand and grabbed Regina's throat while holding himself up with the other. He pulled her closer until their noses were touching.
"A horse?" he shouted. "This is the curse to end all curses, and you think a horse is going to do?" Then he calmed his tone. "Great power requires great sacrifice. The heart you need must come from something far more precious."
"Tell me what will suffice." she said.
"The heart of the thing you love most." Rumple told her.
Regina grabbed his wrist and jerked it away from her. "What I love most died because of Snow White!" she shouted.
He gently caressed her cheek. "Is there no on else you truly love?" he asked in a mildly mocking tone. She pulled her face away from his touch and glared at him.
"This curse isn't going to be easy." he said. "Revenge never is, dearie. You have to ask yourself a simple question; how far are you willing to go?"
She leaned forward and put her face right in his. "As far as it takes." she said determinedly.
"Then please stop wasting everyone's time and just do it." He put a finger on her chest. "You know what you love. Now go kill it!"

❦ ❦ ❦ ❦

"Did Rumplestiltskin tell you what you needed to know?" Henry asked when Regina got back to the castle.
"Yes." she answered, but pushed past him.
"And?" he prodded.
"I'm not sure I should say." she replied. She couldn't bring herself to look him in the eyes. "I'm conflicted."
"How bad is it? Maybe I can help."
"I have to cut out the heart of the thing I love most." Regina said.
After a long pause, Henry spoke up. "Me."
When Regina turned around, there were tears in her eyes. "Daddy, I don't know what to do!"
"My dear, please. You don't have to do this."
"I have to do something!" she cried.
"Then move past this! I know this may sound self-serving, but you don't need to enact the curse."
Regina threw her hands up. "But I can't keep living like this!" she exclaimed. "What Snow did to me, what she took from me. . .it's eating me alive, Daddy. Her very existence mocks me, and she must be punished!"
"If the price is a hole that will never be filled, why do it? Stop worrying about Snow White and start over. We can have a new life!"
"But what kind of life? All I've worked for, all I've built, will be gone. My power will disappear. They already think I'm nothing."
"Power is seductive." her father said. "But so is love. And you can have that again."
A tear rolled down her cheek and he puled her into an embrace.
"I just want to be happy." she cried into his shoulder.
"You can be, of this I'm sure. I believe, given the chance, we can find happiness together. But the choice is yours."
"I think you're right." Regina said, slowly pulling from the embrace. "I can be happy." she smiled. She looked into his eyes and the smile fell away from her face. "Just not here." She thrust her hand into his chest and pulled his heart out. Her father looked at her with a sorrowful expression as he fell to the floor. She closed her eyes and turned away, she couldn't bear to see the disappointment in his eyes. "I'm sorry!" she whispered, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Regina put the heart in the same box her horse's heart had been it and went back to the woods where the fire was still burning. She opened the box and pulled the heart out.
"Stop!" someone shouted, startling her and making her drop the heart. She turned and saw Charming running towards her. "No!" he yelled and dove to the ground, catching the heart just before it rolled into the pit.
Then Regina felt someone grab her hands and clamp shackles onto her wrists. She smirked at the knight who had done it and mentally cast a spell that would remove the restraints. Only it didn't work. "What?" she asked, dumbfounded, as she tried to pull her wrists apart.
"It's no use." Charming said as he got up off of the ground. "Those cuffs block magic. As long as you're wearing them, you're powerless."
"How did you find me ?" she asked.
"You're not the only one who can use magic, you know. The Blue Fairy was able to find you by scrying." he said.
"I hate fairies!" Regina growled. Then she was led to a barred carriage where she rode until they reached the palace. There they took her down, down, down, below the dungeon to where they kept Rumplestiltskin. They put her in a separate cell and removed her shackles.
"What? What are you doing here?" Rumplestiltskin asked. Regina just glared at him.
"Just like Rumple's cell, this cell repels magic. So there's no chance of you escaping." the guard told her. Then he left.
"Did you cast it?" Rumple asked.
"What do you think?" Regina scowled.
"No!" Rumple said. "No! No! No! No!"

❦ ❦ ❦ ❦

Snow White stood outside the palace, pacing in front of the doors as she waited for her husband to return. She had begged him not to go with them to arrest Regina, but he insisted. And now she feared the worst. But she didn't have to wait long, because soon she spotted him coming up the path towards her. She ran as fast as she could (which wasn't very fast considering that she was pregnant and could give birth any day) to meet him. He started running too, and he kissed her when he met her.
"Did you get her?" Snow asked.
"We did. She can't hurt anyone anymore." he said. Then he placed a hand on her swollen belly. "And she'll never get her hands on our baby."
They walked inside. "I'm so glad you're safe." Snow said as they walked down the hall. "I was so worried that you'd be killed!"
"I told you I'd be fine." he said, placing a finger under her chin. "But to be honest, I was a little worried myself." They kissed again, passionately. Suddenly, Snow pulled away.
"What is it?" Charming asked.
Snow winced and placed a hand on her stomach. "The baby." She winced again. "She's coming!"

A couple hours later, Snow and Charming were looking down at the brand new baby wrapped in Snow's arms.
"Hello, Emma." Snow said gently, smiling down at the baby princess.
Charming set a hand on her head and gently rubbed it with his thumb.
"Hi there, Princess." he said.
Emma opened her tiny eyes and looked up at them. Then she opened her mouth and yawned, and a tiny smile plastered itself onto her face as she fell asleep.

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Author's Note: So, here's the first part! What did you think? Let me know in the comments! Hopefully, I'll have the next part up very soon! I hope to see you there!