Author's Note: This begins with a lot of monologuing to set the stage of what's happened immediately upon the breaking of the curse, but it will pick up soon enough. Hang in there if it's not your kind of thing and I think you'll enjoy the rest.

Chapter 1: Desperate Measures

"Oh Daddy, now what am I to do?" Regina Mills hung her head, her hands set wide apart on the lid of her father's sarcophagus. A tear dangled, as if shivering in the brisk New England air, from the tip of her nose. She sniffled and the droplet lost hold of its perch and landed with a dull splash amongst a smattering of its brethren. "You were right Daddy. You were always right. I should have moved on... started anew. And now... now I have nothing. Not you. Not Daniel. Not even Henry," she hiccuped with a sob. She didn't know if it was because of magic returning, or simply her imagination, but Regina could swear she could physically feel the void left in her heart from losing all those she'd once loved. She felt as if she might collapse in on herself at any moment, the emptiness was so profound.

The words of her father, on the night she took his heart, echoed in her head. "We can have a new life." For all her power, she still couldn't secure her happy ending. Henry had come close to filling that void in her heart, but she had never been able to let go of the pain of losing her Daniel. It was a painful kind of love, but one she'd always believed gave her her strength. But then, as if a rebuttal from the grave, she heard her mother's voice. "Love is weakness." As bitter as she'd become, this was one lesson Regina had never believed in. Yet, the words never seemed truer than that moment. And suddenly, she knew what she had to do. "I'm going to do as you said, Daddy. I'm going to move on, and build a new life. But I'm going to do it my way." She lightly kissed the cold stone of her father's resting place before turning and rushing out the door, not bothering to lock it behind her.

After stopping at home for a change into a more sensible outfit of dark wash jeans, a light cotton blouse of dark purple, and black woolen overcoat, Regina made the short drive out to Storybrooke's woodlands, and parked at the Wishing Well trail head. As she made her way along the trail, ascending the tallest hill in Storybrooke, she found herself reflecting on the past week. Her joy at Henry's recovery had been all too brief, as the magic required to wake him up proved powerful enough to break the curse, and she suddenly found herself in the middle of a city full of people who would have her head, as soon as the shock of waking up passed - and few, if any, friends.

Despite what every last one of them believed, Regina wouldn't have stopped Emma from saving Henry, even if she'd known the consequence. But she did wonder what would have happened had she kissed her son first. Would it have broken the curse or strengthened it? Tucked into the back of her mind was the dread that nothing would have happened at all - and not because she had no magic. In her more vulnerable moments she wondered if she was even capable of true, pure love any more. 'Is that why I didn't think to try waking Henry with a kiss?' She shook her head to herself, banishing the thought back below the depths. Self-doubt served no purpose.

She'd initially returned to her mansion intending to pack what she could and flee town as quickly as possible. With the curse broken, it was likely she'd be able to leave without incident. But, despite her intentions, she'd found herself grieving the loss of Henry, the only pure piece of happiness she'd managed to eek out in this world. Her heart broke as she looked at her baby boy's room; each item another piece of his story. He wasn't truly gone, like Daniel and her father, but in many ways it was worse. She'd so completely failed as a mother that her little boy wanted nothing to do with her. Again, the little voice, usually buried into the deepest recesses of her conscious mind, spoke up. 'What if I'm unlovable? Would Daniel have eventually left me, had his life been spared?

She'd long ago realized that she'd turned into her mother after marrying the king. All women feared turning into their mother's, but not many had her mother. It had crept up on her, the bitterness; she'd initially only turned toward magic to bring down her mother, but the power was too seductive. When she'd finally eliminated her mother, she was left with plenty of power, but little love, and no honorable way to pursue it.

Oh, King Leopold was indeed a kind and just ruler, but his heart belonged to his dead wife and her mirror image in his daughter. Behind the pomp and circumstance Regina found herself more a glorified nanny than mother, and certainly not a true wife. She'd tried, at first, to embrace her role, but Leopold had no interest beyond a platonic partner. It had never truly been one act that ha turned her - it had been the weight of sacrifice for her mother and father's happiness that had undone her. All set in motion by that little girl who possessed too trusting a heart.

Now, she found herself alone, truly alone, for the first time in her life. Emma had slain her only true friend in a quest magic to save Henry - not that Regina expected Maleficent to forgive her for trapping her in her dragon form for 28 years. Aside from that, there was Sydney the sycophant, and a handful of like-minded villains who couldn't be trusted, which is why she'd planned on fleeing town - or so she had until magic rolled back in to town. She'd instantly recognized the hand of Rumpelstiltskin, and while she realized it was playing to some ultimate end, she still had no guess as to his final goal. Not that it mattered. Rumple or Gold, he'd always been dangerous, and as long as she too had magic, she wasn't worried.

Her first magical act was to secure her estate against the inevitable angry mob. Her magical muscles had needed more stretching than she'd realized at first, and she found her magic as unpredictable in this world as before. She simply had more power behind it. As such, a task which would have taken her minutes in her home realm left her laboring into the night. The effort had been worth it, though, as her estate was now surrounded by walls of thorns. It wouldn't stop any determined group, but it would slow them down long enough to give her time to escape, should they come knocking. The question of what to do next proved much more difficult.

Her first two days in her makeshift fortress had given her new appreciation for just what Jefferson had been subjected to for 28 years, and she actually felt a glimmer of regret for what he'd forced her to do to him. On the third day, the rest of Storybrooke came knocking, but not in the way she'd expected. She'd almost not answered her phone when Emma Swan's name appeared on the screen, but she quickly realized that if she didn't answer that blonde, her chainsaw would instead. She'd been doubly surprised when Emma, still legally sheriff as far as the state if Maine was concerned, began by offering her a plea bargain.

True to her word, and her job, Emma had talked down the near riotous mob that had appeared at the gates of the mayoral mansion the morning after the breaking of the curse. Snow and James had stood with their new found daughter, and it was likely the weight their words that had saved Regina's neck that day. They had made the case that Regina's lust for revenge was what had doomed them to Storybrooke to begin with, and that when one sows the seeds of pain, pain is the only crop they can hope to reap. This had, not surprisingly, come from Jiminy's counsel.

Emma had agreed to treat Regina's self-imposed imprisonment as an official house-arrest sentence until they could figure out how to handle everything. Rumpelstiltskin had, she'd been told, largely kept to himself, only making one appearance in public to discuss details of the curse. He'd proven largely unhelpful, of course, and it was clear to Regina that he had an interest in staying in this world for the time being. He had, however, agreed to set up a barrier preventing anyone from leaving town, though mysteriously, it didn't keep strangers out. The various princes, and princess, kings and queens in residence quickly found that living 28 years in a land without monarchy had left Storybrooke's citizenry with a distinct lack of reverence for the concept of divine rule. As such, Emma had declared a state of marshal law until a new city government could be established. It wasn't terribly strict, but did give Emma, and her new band of seven deputies, the authority to arrest anyone taking advantage of the situation, or doling out vigilante justice against people such as Regina.

And so, Regina once again found her life saved by the blonde woman. If she hadn't been the product of a love borne from the destruction of her own happy ending, she would have felt a real debt to Emma. But as things stood, the best she could manage was begrudging respect. The smartly coiffed mayor had only left her home in the days following to visit her father's mausoleum and Daniel's memorial statue, and meet with Snow and James' counsel charged with finding a way back home. As much as the town's inexplicable fondness for Ms. Swan had irked her since her arrival in town, Regina had to admit that that respect was likely the only thing keeping the townspeople's dagger limited to their stares, rather than in her back.

Regina had made her way through the town gauntlet once again on this day to visit her father and try to come up with a plan for saving her neck. She found she couldn't concentrate in her home; when she wasn't brooding, she'd found herself constantly expecting to see Henry in the doorway. The cemetery held an odd sense of peace she found conducive to productive thought. And this morning it had finally clicked. She knew what she had to do.

It felt good to have a plan again.

Finally, Regina crested the top of the path and the wishing well came into view. The idea had first sprouted when she'd realized that until her stint on house arrest, she hadn't been to visit her father since the night she'd destroyed Graham's heart. She'd cursed the nature of magic that wouldn't let her remove her own heart. Graham had cursed her for making him incapable of feeling, but she'd have given anything to be rid of her feelings at that moment. Not only was it painful, but it clouded her mind, making the level of concentration necessary for casting spells in this world next to impossible. And she'd need that magic to escape whatever punishment the Storybrooke Council finally deemed appropriate. That's when it had dawned on her. If she couldn't take her own heart, why not simply take back what was hers?

She peered down into the inky depths of the well, taking in the sweet mossy scent of its water, absently fingering the ring that hung on a chain around her neck. Despite having its magic drained away by Jefferson's hat, it was still the best reminder of what - and who - she'd lost and why she needed to stay focused. Never before had she had such clarity of purpose than when she'd finally realized that Snow White must pay. If she could get that clarity back, nothing could stand in her way - not even her own self-pity.

Regina slowly pulled the chain over her head and dangled the brass ring over the water. She'd always been afraid that erasing her pain would erase her memories of Daniel, and he, the orphaned stable boy, deserved to be remembered. But she realized now that he lived on in her heart, and that didn't require her to stay forever in mourning. He wouldn't have wanted that for her. He would've wanted her to seize the day and build a new future for herself. With a deep breath, she took one last look at the ring that had acted for so long as her last link to her beloved - turned her mind to the clarity and peace of mind she'd known because of him - and dropped it. A final metallic glint flashed before it disappeared down the well. It seemed an eternity before she finally heard a distant plop, indicating it had hit its target.

Regina unconsciously drew in a deep breath and then held it, waiting for a sign that her clarity of purpose would be returned to her. Just as she was about to give up, a golden beam of energy suddenly shot up out of the well's black depths like a searchlight, knocking Regina's form back through sheer brilliance. The brunette lost her balance and the heel of her brown leather riding boots caught on a lower step as she tried to right herself, sending her rear to land with a thump onto the soft forest floor.

As Regina pulled herself back into a sitting position she saw the mysterious light fade like a time lasped sunset. "What the hell was that?" she asked aloud, as if expecting an answer. Glancing around her, the woman realized that she was alone. "Daniel?"