The one she thought was lost

Chapter 17: Ready, set, go!

*A/N: Here's the new chapter! Sorry it took so long :)

On her way to Daniella's room and Regina clutched the potion more tightly in her hand. Because right now, it was her most prized possession. While nobody could replace Henry, Regina found she cared about Daniella like her own, loved her like her own. And she had already lost her son, she wasn't about to lose Daniella too.
Regina fastened her pace and almost ran towards the girls' room. Opening the doors with a flick of her wrist, she walked towards Daniella's vanity and picked up a scarf that hung on her chair. In the back of her mind she thought that for a teenager, the room was very neat.
Cradling it closely, she inhaled its sent. For a moment, it comforted her, calmed her racing heart and clearing her mind.
She allowed herself this for a moment longer before forcing herself to concentrate once more. Turning around, she started to make her way back to her room, only to run into a strong, firm chest.
Regina was thrown aback and almost lost her balance, but two arms shot out to steady her and Regina looked up to see Robin standing in front of her.
For a moment, it felt like time stood still and Regina became incredibly aware of Robin's hands on her hips, her eyes moving towards his lips involuntary before moving back to his eyes.
Regina felt her breath catch in her throat as it did every time she looked into his eyes, but they had darkened and not the way they had done at the ball. They had darkened with anger, irritation and the slightest bit of disappointment. And all of those things were directed at her.
Regina swallowed.

Daniella tensed as she heard footsteps approaching, coming towards her cell and she just knew it was Agatha. She'd heard those footsteps; light and fast, a thousand times before and she mentally prepared herself so that she wouldn't faint again.
"Don't show her you're afraid. Regina will come for you, just be patient", she told herself. She than took a deep breath and forced herself to stay calm.
Forming a mask of indifference onto her face, she turned to face her 'visitor'. Not surprised that it was indeed Agatha, she simply raised an eyebrow but otherwise didn't move.
"Good, you're up", Agatha said coldly, her piercing blue eyes staring at her without emotion.
It unnerved Daniella, she could handle emotion; anger, hatred. But she didn't know what to do now, so she simply sat up straighter and met Agatha's stare, preparing herself for what was to come.

"I thought we agreed on looking for Daniella together?", Robin asked slightly upset and Regina felt a pang in her chest as her heart gave a painful squeeze, like the organ didn't like the thought of having upset Robin.
Trying to ignore the feeling, she averted her eyes from his face and looked at a random spot behind him as she opened her mouth to speak. Only to realize she didn't know what to say, they did agree on going together, she was just so caught up in trying to save Daniella that she forgot the little part of them doing it together.
Regina told him just that. "... and I forgot that we agreed on doing it together. I'm.. just not used to people wanting to help me without wanting anything in return." And it was true. People never wanted to help her without getting something in return. Regina was used to people using her. Rumple, her mother, Leopold. They had all used her for their personal gain, so once Leopold was dead, she started doing the same thing.
Regina was so caught up in her own thoughts that she didn't notice Robin cupping her face in his hands until she heard him speak again.
"Well, you're going to have to get used to me helping you, especially if it's about Daniella." Regina looked up and saw that the anger in his eyes had been replaced by understanding. And was that concern?
She didn't dwell on it, she was just glad that she didn't saw pity in his eyes. She didn't want people to pity her, and she certainly didn't want him to pity her.
Not really believing him, but accepting his statement for now, she nodded her head and took a step backwards. Trying to ignore the tingling feeling his hands had left behind on her cheeks, she told him what the potion would do.
"This potion will find Daniella based on her magic. Because each person's magic had it's own signature, it will be able to see the difference between mine and hers for example. The fact that Daniella's is light makes it is very different from Zelena's and mine. But Snow's daughter Emma also had light magic.Though Emma's magic is based in instinct because she never had a chance to develop it or learn how to use it, Daniella's magic is more strong, warmer in a way. It's difficult to explain, but the point is each person's magic is different and this potion will use the scarf to find Daniella's magic and lead us to her." Robin nodded and Regina poored a few drops of the potion onto the scarf.
It took a few seconds and Regina let out a breath she didn't know she was holding when it glowed and flew out of her hand, through the doors and into the halls.
Regina and Robin shared a look and started following it.