Cure for All
“Regina?!” Belle runs to her as soon as Dark Swan vanished. “Are you alright?” she asks and grabs her friend’s arm.
“I’m… fine, Belle,” Regina lies.
Physically she may be in perfect health, but the dread Regina feels is nearly overwhelming.
“Where do you think she went?” Belle inquires, looking around the room.
“I believe-“ the Apprentice starts, “That she has nearly already carried out her main desire. Her next course of action will be directed toward her parents. Lily and Emma share a history that won’t easily be forgotten.”
Regina nods, knowing herself how it feels to despise the acts of a parent. But, still, a puzzled expression lingers on her, “Her main desire? What is that?”
The Apprentice sighs, “There’s nothing we can do to stop her. She has already killed him.”
With a rush of relief, Regina gasps and a sob breaks through her strained composure. She remembers! Regina celebrates to herself. Then she realizes darkly that although Emma remembers, she is now the Dark Swan and far from the Savior she loves.
“What, Regina? Who is it?” Belle presses and shakes her gently.
“It’s Captain Hook,” Regina says solemnly. “She has killed him because she and I spent a night together in the past, and he cursed her with a Forgetting Potion so he could be with her. It appears that becoming cursed with the Darkness restored her memory.”
“Right you are, Regina. We mustn’t delay any further,” the Apprentice rushes, “We have to reach Lily before Emma does.”
“Hold on to me, then,” Regina advises to Belle and the Apprentice, and teleports them into the dining room of Granny’s.
They see Maleficent in a booth, wiping tears from her eyes, with no Lily in sight.
“Maleficent,” the Apprentice says with care and immediately goes to her side. “What happened? Where is Lily?”
“She isn’t satisfied enough with just being reunited,” Maleficent sobs. “She left to find Snow and David, to seek revenge on what they did to her.”
In a flash of purple smoke, Regina transmutates herself to Snow and Charming’s loft and, to her relief, finds only them there.
“Regina?!” Snow startles from the kitchen. “What the hell?”
“I have bad news,” Regina calls out, “Charming, Snow. You may want to sit down. It’s about Emma.”
The two go to each other and Charming grabs Snow’s hands.
“What is it?” David asks, his face strained with concern.
“Emma and I asked you to watch Henry for the last couple days because there was something we had to do. My old friend Maleficent asked the two of us to find her child that you had cursed,” Regina says.
Snow’s jaw drops and sorrow fills her eyes. David sighs and looks at his wife morosely.
“We were successful in finding Lily and brought her back to Storybrooke. As soon as we did, Rumplestiltskin, well, he- Was about to be killed by the Darkness inside his heart that he first took on over 300 years ago,” Regina pauses and takes a deep breath to stave her hysteria. “In order to try and stop it from invading him completely,” she continues, “The Apprentice attempted to trap that Darkness in the Sorcerer’s Hat. But, it failed. Knowing the only way to contain it was to tether it to one’s soul, Emma took the Dagger and- Absorbed the Darkness. She is now the Dark Swan. She has already killed Hook and may be on her way here with Lily to… Kill you.”
“Whoa-“ David gasps. “She’s already murdered somebody? Her boyfriend, Hook?”
Regina glares at him, “He was never her boyfriend. In all honesty he has no one to blame but himself,” Regina states coldly. “Had I not made my promise to Henry, I would’ve killed him myself the moment after they returned from the past. Your daughter and I spent an unexpectedly romantic and blissful evening together while Emma and Hook were in the past. Hook witnessed part of it, and cursed Emma into forgetting about me. But, I never forgot. I never… Forgot the peace she brought me, and the devastation I felt when she left. She is able to remember, now, but I’ve lost her to the Darkness. I’ve lost her, again.”
Regina tries with all her might to remain strong, but soon despair washes through her. She begins to sob tears of agony from missing Emma for so long. Bringing her hands up, she buries her face in them and cries uncontrollably.
“Regina,” Snow says softly and approaches her. “You haven’t lost her. In fact, I believe you’re the only one who can return her to us," she reasons and gently pulls Regina’s hands to hold them. Snow then looks deeply into her friend's eyes, "Maybe that’s the whole purpose of the endless suffering you’ve felt over her loss; to have the knowledge that you love her... and that she loves you. You have to find Emma, Regina- and break this curse.”