A Second Chance

Chapter 7

Regina had pulled everyone into the room with no mirrors in it, to explain the Evil Queen's plan to everyone as she had explained it to Zelena earlier.

"Now you understand why I can't let you help? If you try, she will kill all of you by crushing the crystal heart that holds these realms together. There is no way out of it." Regina finished. She could see Snow thinking.

"But she doesn't have the heart yet?" she asked.

"I don't think so, but she will know if we go after it." Regina said.

"Not if we time it right." said David. "What if we wait until just before you have to go meet her. She can't be in two places at once, she's sure to send her lost boys after the heart while she faces off against you. I doubt she'll go to it before then, otherwise how will she be watching the castle closely enough to know if we try to get it ourselves or go to our Emma? Plus, it would give away her lie."

"So we go after the heart at the same time, so that she'll be so distracted fighting Regina, she won't be able to stop us from getting to the heart before her lost boys." Emma figured. David nodded.

"You won't even have to win, just distract her long enough to get the heart and then we come rushing in to help you." David added.

"She'll just blow up the cave and kill Emma." Regina explained.

"Not if we sneak around from behind the cave, no magic, and get her out while you're still distracting her." Snow said.

"That's a lot of distracting. How am I supposed to keep her attention that long?" Regina asked.

"She's you, basically. Her vengeance should be enough to keep her busy." Hook snarled. She winced as a part of her felt her was right.

"Are you all not listening? The magic will keep you out. None of these ideas will work. I'm the only one who can enter and only for a short window of time before it closes again and then explodes if I don't do what she wants." Regina explained once again. "Even if I somehow get to her, how do I get her out?"

"You won't have to. She'll be awake." Lucy said from behind the group. Everyone turned to see her sitting on the floor, the storybook wide open.

"Lucy what do you mean? You know how sleeping curses work." Jacinda asked.

"I know. True love's kiss will wake her. That's why grandma is the only one who can save her." Lucy said.

"Lucy what..." Regina began, but Lucy stopped her.

"I can't believe no one figured it out. It's all right here." she said standing and holding the book out to a specific page. Regina took it. Remember what Rumple said when you and Emma went to him for the true love potion?" she pointed to a passage on the page.

"That's the thing about true love, dearie. It can slip through your fingers. It's the most powerful magic in the world, the only magic powerful enough to break any curse. It must be protected at all costs." Regina read as she recalled the day.

"The most powerful magic? I read about all the times you and Grandma combined your magic. You did things no one else could do." Lucy said.

"Lucy that's not..." Regina started again, but Lucy flipped to another page that had a illustration of her and Emma using their magic to open the magically locked door in the underworld.

"And look." Lucy said pointing to it.

"Look at what?" she asked, as the rest looked on curiously.

"Your magic." she clarified.

"What about it?" she wondered.

"Look at what it looks like." she said and flipped back to a much earlier page. Regina looked at it confused and looked back at Lucy with a questioning glare. "Rumple's true love potion. Look familiar?"

Regina stared at the page a moment, red and white beams of light intertwined stared back at her. She swallowed hard. Could it be...

"Okay Lucy we don't have time for this. I think it's time to go to bed now anyway." Jacinda said while trying to close the book. She mouthed 'I'm sorry' to Regina and started to usher Lucy out of the room.

"But Mom, you don't understand...." Lucy began as the door shut behind them and they could no longer be heard. The room was in an awkward silence for a moment. Everyone's eyes were on Regina, except Hooks.

"Your daughter has a mighty wild imagination doesn't she, Mate?" Hook said looking at Henry. Regina looked at him knowing he was probably right.

"I knew it!" Snow exclaimed. Everyone turned their head toward her.

"What?" Regina asked as her voice cracked a bit. Snow realized she hadn't said that in her head as she'd thought.

"Can you all just excuse us a minute." she said trying to make most of their gathered family leave the room as Regina looked on confused. There were a few murmurs of protest but Snow ignored them and continued to usher them out.

"What do you mean you knew?" Regina finally asked once everyone was gone, save David and Henry.

"You...and Emma, I had a feeling..." Snow began. David looked on but Henry picked up the book and started flipping through it.

"There's is no me and Emma..." she began but then it hit her... "What do you mean, you knew?" Regina asked.

"Oh come on Regina...the way you look at her, the way you worry about her..." Snow clarified while Henry was still deep into the story book.

"I don't...." Regina started.

"Yes you do. It's fairly obvious." Snow told her.

"If it's so obvious then why didn't you ever say anything?" Regina asked.

"Well, at first I felt it wasn't my business, and then you had Robin and she had Hook and I thought maybe I had just been imagining things...but even then, every once in a while I'd think..." Snow explained.

"Well, you were imagining things. There's nothing between us." Regina replied sadly.

"You're expression says otherwise." David piped up.

"Enough. This is ridiculous." She sighed.

"Mom. They have a point." Henry finally said looking up from the book.

"Not you too." she said. He held out the book to another page. Her and Emma stopping the trigger together.

"I was just a kid, I didn't see it...but looking at it all now...Mom, it all sort of just fits." Henry said as Regina took the book and looked at the page. She shook her head and put the book down.

"Even if I did...have... feelings for Emma...and I'm not saying I do...who says she feels the same." Regina's facade was slowly breaking down.

"Regina, all the time you were looking at her...she was looking right back at you." Snow said. She looked at Henry, desperate for a way out of the corner she'd been backed into. He only nodded in agreement. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath.

"Regina" Snow said as he took a step forward and took her hand. "It's okay to admit it." she assured. "You love her."

Regina's eyes misted and all she could do was nod in affirmation.