Let down your dark hair

34.

For days they all had been searching for Hope but so far they had no luck. Regina was still weak and had to stay home with Snow. It was driving her crazy that she couldn't do anything to save her daughter but she still had to take care of Destiny.

The baby was currently sleeping in her mother's arms not knowing what was going on around her. She really was an easy baby and for that Regina was grateful. She fell into the mother role very quickly but inside she was broken. This time her mother had gone too far and there was nothing she could do about it.

"You are thinking about Hope again." Snow stated as she sat next to her sister on the bed.

"I'm always thinking about her. She is my daughter what do you expect? Not all of us were as willing to send their daughter to another realm as you." She snapped and Snow began to cry. The words of her sister really
stung but she supposed her sister was too hurt to think clearly right now.

"Wait. That's it. That's why we can't find her. They have to be in another realm. In the Enchanted Forest. " Regina suddenly realized and Snow nodded.

"Yes. It has to be. We need to go back. I'll call everyone for a quick town meeting and then we will find a way to get Hope back." The older girl explained and rushed to her phone to call the others.

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Meanwhile in the tower:

Rapunzel had been screaming for hours and Cora was losing her patience.

"Stop crying already! I already fed you and changed you so what do you want?" She shouted angrily shaking the baby but that seemed to upset the girl even more.

Then Cora suddenly had an idea how she would make sure that the baby would stop crying. She waved her hand and a veil with pink liquid appeared. She gave the baby the potion and Rapunzel stopped crying almost immediatly.

"See? From now on you will be an obidient girl." She smirked and looked at the blonde girl in her arms. She looked a lot like Regina when she was a baby and almost nothing like the thief except for her hair.

She considered raising the baby as her daughter but she was far too old and Rapunzel would eventually find out that she had lied. No, she needed a better plan.

She would be the grandmother and then lie about her parents. She had enough time to build a good lie and now that she had made sure Rapunzel would forever be an obidient girl maybe she wouldn't ask questions after all.

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Storybrooke :

During the town meeting they all agreed to go back to the Enchanted Forest except for Rumple.

"Dad, I don't understand. Why don't you want to go back? We need you." Regina asked as she put Destiny in her crib.

"Shh, you are still weak and need to stay in bed, sweety. I can't explain right now but I will once I succeed. You have to go back but I need to stay here and arrange some things before I can come back." He tried to sooth her but Regina sensed that he was hiding something.

"What are you not telling me?"

"Nothing." He lied and Regina saw right through it. The brunette looked him straight in the eyes until he couldn't take it any longer.

"I.... I ....need.... need to. ... find someone. " was all he could say as he looked at his little girl. He couldn't tell her the truth. She was already hurting and it would break her apart if she knew. Her main focus should be on finding her child and not worrying about her father.

"Who?" The girl was still not buying it and she wanted answers.

"No one important. "

"I can tell you are lying. I know you created this curse and when it was broken you didn't seem unhappy so you wanted it broken. Why?" She said sternly and Rumple knew he couldn't lie anymore. His daughter deserved to know the truth although it might hurt.

"I need to find your brother. His name is Baelfire and I lost him a long time ago. Hundreds of years before I even met your mother. He fell through a portal when he was 14. I know it might seem strange but he is alive and he is in this world somewhere. I need to find him and bring him home." Regina couldn't believe that she had another sibling. Why had her father not told her sooner? Why was everyone keeping something from her?

"Then you need to go. But promise you will be back." She put her hurt aside and tried to do the right thing. Her father had spend centuries to find him and she couldn't deny him that.

"I will be. I will help you to open a portal and then I will leave to go to New York and find your brother." He explained and hugged her tightly. Regina didn't want to let go but she knew she couldn't keep him from doing it. He needed his son too.

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Enchanted Forest :

Everyone was back home now. Everyone but Rumple and Emma. The blonde had agreed to help him since she lived in New York before and knew how the normal world worked.

Regina, Robin, Snow, Zelena and David went back to Leopold's castle where they had sat up a room for Regina before the curse happened. Leopold went to the summer palace to make sure everything was okay and he also wanted to make it into a home for Regina and Robin and their daughter. He didn't want Regina to leave but he knew he couldn't keep her forever. She was an adult and a mother and needed her own space. However what no one knew was that he secretly wanted to make Regina the future Queen.

He knew that Snow was the rightful heir but he wasn't his daughter was right for the job. Regina went through hell and back and was still so full of love and hope and strenght that she could stand anything. He just didn't know how to tell his daughters. Snow would surely be unhappy but it was the right choice for his kingdom.