strange and beautiful (I'll put a spell on you)

Chapter Twenty-Five

STORYBROOKE, Maine

It felt real. Too real. Regina could still feel the sting of the blade hitting her neck as Emma swung her father's sword to end her life. The only part worse than that was seeing her sister in the crowd watching with no trace of sadness across her features; just the same smirk playing on her lips that Regina often wore. She could feel it in her bones, something was off with Rebekah. This pregnancy combined with the curse -- something had to be done. And though Regina had been excited at the prospect of growing close to her nephew, if somehow that fetus broke Rebekah's curse... She couldn't risk it. Not to mention Regina still worried about the fact that Jefferson may change his mind about staying away from Rebekah and her foolish sister would forgive him and say three words that would cause her to fall into a dreamless sleep for the rest of her life. With no magic in this world, there was no way she'd ever wake up.

Regina looked up at her apple tree, eyes wide as she reached for the now-rotten fruit hanging from the tree. It was black, just like the apple Emma crushed in her dream.

The sheer panic of her once fresh apples beginning to rot is what brought Regina to Mr. Gold, her ally and foe; a man she wouldn't trust if her life depended on it but he was her only option.

"Your Majesty, to what do I owe the pleasure?" he asked as Regina walked into his shop.

She held up the apple to show him. "My tree is dying." Regina slammed the fruit onto the counter and raised her brow at Gold. "Why?"

"Perhaps it's your fertilizer?" Gold replied with a smirk.

Regina inhaled deeply. "You think this is funny?" She asked him and he smiled. "Well, I'll tell you what I think; I think it's a sign that the curse is weakening because of Emma." Mr. Gold slowly walked out from behind the counter and Regina followed him. "But do you care? No." She answered for him. "You're content to just sit back and do..." She motioned around the room and made a face, still not knowing what he was gaining from the curse. "Whatever it is you're doing while all my hard work burns!"

"That's not all, is it?" Mr. Gold asked. Regina shook her head, not understanding. "Come on, you might as well get everything off your chest."

Regina scoffed. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said, arms crossing over her chest.

"Henry," Mr. Gold replied. "Ms. Swan wants him."

Regina scoffed again. "She'll have that boy over my dead body."

Mr. Gold didn't let her finish. "The curse was meant to take away Snow White and Prince Charming's happiness. Perhaps your giving up Henry is just the price to keep the curse unbroken," he suggested.

She blinked, not understanding why Gold would even bring that up. "I think I'd rather just get rid of her," Regina told him.

"Whew," Gold huffed. "Well, well. You're going to have to be quite creative," he said. "We both know the repercussions in killing Ms. Swan. The cur--."

"Curse would be broken." She finished for him, already knowing that. She stomped over to him. "That's because you designed it that way." Once she was standing in front of him, Regina leaned over the counter and told him, "Undo it."

Gold exhaled deeply. "Y'know, even if I wanted to, I couldn't," he told her before walking to the front of his shop. "Magic, well," he chuckled, "is in short supply around here and dwindling by the minute."

Oh, it had become so clear now. Mr. Gold was amused; downright giddy. "You want the curse broken?" She accused him. "Why?"

"That's not something I care to discuss."