EVERY LITTLE THING ⇀ ( KILLIAN JONES )

TWENTY-FOUR

Pooh whined quietly again hopping up to take a peek. What they saw, Henry was not expecting.

Two wooden boxes, wedged side by side, with intricate metal corners and an identical symbol atop the lid, depicting a heart with a blade running down through the middle. Henry was certain that if he checked the front of the boxes, they would each have sparkling red gems encrusted in the metalwork.

These wooden boxes, Henry was familiar with. He'd seen them many, many, times before. In the pages of his book.

"Mr Gold will be over soon, Henry, he's just got an errand to run-" Regina stopped in her tracks when she noticed that Henry was standing over her open bag, now beginning to feel terribly, awfully, perfectly horrible.

"Henry-" She began, trying to come up with some sort of excuse that didn't involve her being incriminated.

"Who's are they?" Henry breathed out, stumbling back and sitting himself back down on the bed.

"Henry, I-" Regina tried again.

"Who's are they." He asked again, firmly this time, being sure that Regina knew this was not a yes or no answer type of question.

Regina sighed in defeat, "You already know how the story went... you know who's they are..."

With one simple look, Henry urged her to tell him the truth, regardless of what he knew.

"When I made that deal with Gold- Rumplestiltskin- I agreed that he would never have to see Kenai or Koda ever again, and while I couldn't- I could never kill them..." Regina paused and took a shaky breath, "Taking their hearts was the easiest way to control them and insure they remained safe away from town."

Henry glanced at the bag, "Why do you have them now?"

"I was searching for the cubs when David called me this morning... I have every intention of returning their hearts to them.. but- I made a promise to you, Henry, and a promise to Winnie- that I wouldn't use magic." Regina explained, "I'm not controlling them anymore- never again."

"Don't you need magic to put them back?" Henry asked, flinching slightly as his burned flesh brushed against the rough fabric of his pants.

Regina grimaced, "I was hoping to overlook that..."

Henry glanced at Pooh, sharing a look with the poor bear-turned dog as he recognized that very clear look of grief in his eyes.

Pooh missed his brothers- every one of them.

"Give them back." Henry agreed. "Let Winnie bring them home."

storybrooke maine .

— WHEN WINNIE AWOKE IN HOSPITAL, her head was pounding angrily as if she'd been listening to music on full blast for hours and it had inspired a very gripping headache. Her nose was itchy, still crusted with a bit of dried blood, her aching back pressed against the uncomfortable hospital bed.

Winnie hissed under her breath as she tried to sit up, struggling to prop herself up in a way that didn't hurt her back.

"I would keep still if I were you, Winnifred." A husky voice stated from a chair in the corner of her room.

Winnie stared at the end of her bed, almost glaring, "What makes you think I'll ever listen to you again, Rumple."

Her hair was messy and dirtied with bits of gravel, and when she reached up to soothe her forehead, her fingers met with cotton and tape plastered to the injury she was struggling to deal with.