It had been two days since Emma, Regina, the charming's and Hook were stuck in Neverland looking for Henry. Regina had already had her encounter with Tinkerbell which didn't end very well however she still decided to help them despite the issues the fairy had with the former queen. While Mary Margaret was talking to Emma on one side of the area where they were setting up camp for the night, Hook was helping David to look for some logs for the fire.
Regina walked in circles as her mind wandered. She wanted to talk to Emma but it wasn't the best time and as she was busy with Snow, she decided to walk over to Tinkerbell, who was facing the other way.
The green fairy sensed someone behind her, she turned round and got into a fight position holding a bat she had, ready to battle anyone who wanted to hurt her. When she saw Regina, she kept that position.
“Don't you dare come near me. I'm still mad at you.”
“I know and I'm sorry. I know that happened many years ago but I am not going to hurt you now. I swear on Henry's life. Please can you put the bat down.”
Tinker bell did as Regina asked. She could see the sincerity in the brunette's expression.
The fairy stood up straight. “What are you doing here, Regina?”
“I'm trying to find my son.”
“I mean, here, with me. What do you want? You keep coming to me, Regina.”
”Because you were my only real friend.”
“We weren't friends, especially not after you lied to me and cost me my wings. You ruined my life Regina.”
“I never meant for that to happen, Tink. How was I supposed to know they took away your wings? You knew me before I was evil. I wasn't like this. I was young, sad and lonely at the top of a castle.”
“Well you became evil, that's what happened, all the lives you killed”.
”You think I'm not ashamed of that? Yes, at the time I didn't care about people hating me, but now...things are different and I regret everything I did. Now that I have Henry again, I want redemption. I want my son, and I want a family.
Regina started tearing up but quickly managed to wipe away any tears coming down the corner of her eye. Tinkerbell could see the pain behind her eyes.
"Regina you had your chance of your happiness, and you didn't take it.
"Because I was afraid."
"Did you ever see him again?"
Regina had to tell someone, because she felt that she would explode at any moment.
"No...but I feel I could have another chance."
"Chance of what? of love?"
The fairy realised the former queen was hiding something that could potentially be a chance of her wished redemption. "Are you in love with someone Regina? Is this why you're so changed?"
Regina cleared her throat "It's complicated."
"Regina, who is it? What's his name?"
“I don't know if I should tell you. I haven't told anyone. I don't even know how real this feeling is.”
“Oh my, they've got you bad this time, Regina. Please tell me who it is and I will forgive you.”
“Are you blackmailing me?”
“If you want your only friend back? Then yeah.”
Regina lets out a small laughter, but knows the fairy is gonna get it out of her somehow. She thought she wasn't gonna be able to say it out loud, especially when the person she loved was only a few metres away.
Regina didn't have the courage to say it out loud, so the only way she could blurt it out was by making Tinkerbell take her heart and make her say it. Regina put her hand on her chest, she dug so deep into it, that when she pulled it back out, she felt a deep intake of breath as if she was choking. She had her heart in her hand and gave it to Tinkerbell. "It's the only way I can tell you."
Tinkerbell watched her in horror and with a confused look she took Regina's heart out of her hands, looked inside of it, and then looked into Regina's eyes.Grabbing Regina's heart in her hand, she took it towards her mouth and began speaking to it. "Regina, tell me, who are you in love with?"
“With tears in her eyes. "Emma Swan".
Tinkerbell looked at her in shock, but soon understood. It all made sense. There was a reason why she didn't go in that night all those years ago. He wasn't her happy ending. This was all meant to happen. She was meant to meet the biological mother of her adoptive son.
"It all makes sense now, Regina". Are you gonna tell her?"
“Are you crazy? Of course not.”
“Why not?”
“Because it's absurd. Obviously she doesn't feel the same way, as she was making out with Hook 5 minutes ago. It was disgusting, I had to see that.”
“Regina, come on! Don't you dare make the same mistake again. You've done it once already and I get that, but this time? Really?”
“What's the point, Tink? She doesn't feel the same way.”
“How do you know that? You don't know that for a fact. She probably kissed him to make you jealous.”
“That's ridiculous!”
“So is what you're saying. Come on Regina, take a chance here.”
“But when?”
“I don't know, maybe …now?”
The green fairy looked behind Regina and saw Emma sitting on the rock looking at the map. She grabbed Regina by her shoulders, turned her around and whispered in her ear. “She's alone. Gooo!”
Regina saw Emma and walked towards her. When she decided to open her mouth to speak to the blonde, the charmings interrupted her with information about the lost boys and how they could find them. Regina had no clue when she was gonna be ready to tell Emma how she felt, as she knew nothing would ever happen between them. The circumstances weren’t right anyway. They were in Neverland looking for their son, not to mention Emma’s parents were clinging on to her like they were trying to make up for all those years they weren’t with her since they left her in the enchanted wardrobe. They could only be friends, for now, as they had to first focus on finding Henry and getting him back home safely.