*30 Years Ago*
Owen rushed to where he last left the town, followed by two Maine police officers. He stopped when he looked ahead, not seeing the town he just ran from. "Here! This is where they took my dad." Owen said, turning to the two officers. "There's nothing here, kid." One of the police officers scoffed, raising his hands up in frustration. "No, no. This is where Storybrooke was, by this rock." Owen said, pointing to the big rock to his left.
"Son, there isn't a town called Storybrooke anywhere in Maine." The officer sighed as Owen tried not to cry.
"You don't believe me?" Owen asked, holding back tears as the officer walked up to him, kneeling down to his level. "Look, now, you've been through a lot. Son--" The officer said when Owen backed away from him, walking a few steps forward.
"I'll find you, Dad! I promise. I'll never stop looking!" Owen cried, holding up the keychain when he was unaware that the town was cloaked, and he was right on the other side of the town sign. Regina, who was hidden on the other, sighed, reaching her hand out, but stopped when it touched the invisible cloak.
"Come on, son. Come on, let's go." The policeman said, turning Owen around as he cried.
Regina started to tear up as a tear ran down her cheek, watching the police officers guiding Owen back to the car. "Madam Mayor?" Regina turned, seeing Graham waiting by the sheriff's car, leaning against it with his hands in his pockets. Regina turned, wiping the tear off her cheek, when she walked over to him, clearing her throat.
"You want to go back to your place and start trying?" Graham asked when Regina sighed, looking back to see the Maine police car driving away.
"For what?" Regina asked, turning back to Graham.
"A baby... Isn't that what you want?" Graham asked when Regina suddenly got an idea. She did not want Owen. She wanted a child. A child to feel that void in her heart. And here, Graham was willing to give her want she wanted. "Yes... Of course." Regina smiled when Graham moved to wrap his arms around her.
*Present Day*
"Okay..." Gold said to David on the phone as he paced around Mary Margaret's bed as she stayed, glancing out the window behind her headboard. "And Dream is alright?" Gold asked, pausing as he waited for the response. "Good... Good." Gold said before hanging up the phone. "That was your husband. It seems that Henry convinced Regina to destroy the curse with the help of his sister. Which means my services are no longer required." Gold said, placing the house phone on the bed next to Mary Margaret when he wanted to walk to the door.
"How do you do it?" Mary Margaret asked, speaking up for the first time since Gold had been there.
"Do what?" Gold asked, stopping as she turned to look at him. "Live with yourself? Knowing all the bad things you've done." She wondered when he sighed to himself. "Well, you tell yourself you did the right thing. And if you say it often enough, one day you might actually believe it." Gold said before walking out, leaving Mary Margaret.
*20 Years Ago*
Graham and Regina waited in a hospital room while one of the nurses took Regina's vitals. "Mayor Mills." Dr. Whales said when he walked into the room with a clipboard. "Please tell me, Whales, that this is finally the time," Regina said, sounding very impatient. "I'm afraid not. The test came back negative... If you still want a child, after years of trying, there is always adoption and surrogacy--"
"How about you do all the tests you need to do to find out why we're not pregnant already." Regina scoffed when she sounded harsh.
"There a several things that cause a couple not to be able to convince... But I can order some tests if that is the route you wish to go." Whales said as Regina scoffed, getting off the table. "Yes, do that..." Regina said, taking off the blood pressure cuff before straightening her pantsuit.
After leaving the hospital with disappointing news, Regina sat at the dinner table alone, looking at the single rose in the vase on the table. It mocked her. The rose on the table, even the white ones that grew around her apple tree in the backyard, reminded her that they could bloom in the garden but that she would possibly never have a child on her own. That was until she got an idea.
*Present Day*
Regina and Dream were sitting on Dream's bed, eating vanilla and strawberry ice cream. But suddenly, the two of them heard a knock. "I didn't think anyone was coming over..." Dream said when she looked at her mother. "Yeah, I didn't either... Maybe it's Henry." Regina said, handing her bowl of ice cream to Dream before getting off the bed.
Regina headed down the stairs to see who was at the door while Dream stayed in her room. Regina wiped the sides of her mouth, making sure that she did not have any ice cream on her mouth. She opened the door when she saw someone she did not expect to see. "You..." Regina said, sounding shocked.
"Kill me." Mary Margaret sighed when she walked up to Regina, tears in her eyes.
"What?" Regina asked, furrowing her brows. "Regina, we have been fighting for so long... It's cost us so much; it has to end before anyone else dies. Our daughters are even at odds the majority of the time. So, please, just do it." Mary Margaret said, holding her hands out so Regina could rip her heart out. "My children would never forgive me," Regina said, looking at Mary Margaret since she knew her children wanted her to be better.
Mary Margaret shook her head, about to say something, while a tear fell down her cheek, but Regina spoke up. "But do you know what my problem is? I never learn from my mistakes." Regina smirked before she pushed her hand into Mary Margaret's chest, making her gasp. Regina pulled out a glowing red heart, so the two could see it. Regina gasped a little, making Mary Margaret look up at her. Regina was smiling. "Huh..." Regina said, getting a closer look at the heart.
"What?" Mary Margaret asked, looking at Regina. Regina turned the heart around so Mary Margaret could see what she was seeing. A little black dot on the pure glowing heart. "What did you do to it?" Mary Margaret asked her when she looked at the black dot.
"Oh, I didn't do that... You did it." Regina said, looking at Mary Margaret, who looked up at her. "You darkened yourself," Regina said as Mary Margaret refused to hear it.
"No! No! No!" Mary Margaret sighed when she shook her head.
"Yes... And once you blacken your heart, it only grows darker and darker. Trust me, I know--" Regina tried to explain while holding back her happiness. "So crush it. Do it, crush it. Get it over with." Mary Margaret said, making Regina smile at her. "And put you out of your misery?" Regina asked, smirking at her while she started to cry more. "I don't need to destroy you. You're doing it to yourself. And along the way, you'll bring down that perfect little family you fought so hard to reunite. And then Henry will be mine." Regina smirked while Mary Margaret started to sob silently.
"Please... kill me." Mary Margaret cried out into a whisper. "Please, just kill me." She continued to sob.
"You see?" Regina started to chuckle, smiling happily. "I can have everything," Regina said, pushing Mary Margaret's heart back into her chest. "Thanks to you." Regina smiled when Mary Margaret backed up with her tainted heart in her chest. "Now, get off my porch!" Regina demanded when she walked back inside, shutting the door as Mary Margaret tried to catch her breath.
Meanwhile, Greg Mendell was recording the whole interaction on his phone before running back to his car. Once he got in the driver's seat, he put his key in the ignition when he looked at the keychain that his father, Kurt, gave him thirty years ago. "I'll find you, Dad... I promise." Greg said, holding onto the keychain before turning on the car and driving to his room at Granny's.
~season 2, episode 17: "Welcome to Storybrooke"~
~1390 words~