The one she thought was lost

Chapter 40: A curse with a twist

The moment Granny uttered the words, Regina kissed Daniella's forehead and ran out of the room towards the library. She just had to find something, anything. A familiar fear had settled in her stomach once again. The fear of losing someone she cared about, someone she loved.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it", Regina whispered to herself as she started pacing. She had no idea how she was going to fix this. Why did these things always happen to her? What had she done to deserve all of these things?
Regina was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't hear the footsteps approaching.
"Regina?", Snow gently asked, though Regina still jumped when she heard her name. She looked towards her stepdaughter.
"Yes?", she replied, her voice hoarse from the lump that had formed in her throat. Shaking her head, she cleared her throat, hoping the feeling would disappear. It didn't.
Snow looked at her with sympathy in her eyes, the look making Regina clench her fists beside her hips.
"Snow, what do you want?", she asked, a little more rude that she probably should have, but Snow didn't seem to mind.
"Charming and I might have find a solution to your problem", she started, interrupting her sentence to glance at her feet. Regina swallowed once again as she felt a little bit of hope starting to grow in her chest. She pushed it down, not wanting to be disappointed.
"And how do you plan do help me?" The disbelief was clear in her voice and Snow heard it. She paused, looking Regina in the eyes.
"You can cast the Dark Curse with a heart-", she started, but Regina shook her head even before Snow had finished her sentence. She started to interrupt, but Snow grabbed her hands.
"No, Regina, listen to me", she said," You, I, will cast the curse. And I will use Charming's heart."
By the time that Snow had finished her sentence, Regina looked at her as if she'd grown another head. Her mouth dropped open in shock and she found herself speechless.
"I'm sorry, what?!", she exclaimed when the shock had worn off. "Are you crazy? Snow, this will kill him!"
Regina shook her head and started pacing again. "And why would you want to do this? After everything I did to you two, why would you want to do something like this?", Regina questionned as she turned to look at Snow once again.
Snow stared at her, a meaningful look in her eyes that made Regina want to look away. She almost did, but suddenly realised what her stepdaughter was hinting at.
"You want to see Emma again", Regina said, the realisation making her heart start beating faster in her chest.
"I want to see Emma again", Snow conformed," and I want to see Henry again."
Regina's breath caught in her throat at her son's name, the longing to see him almost overwhelming her. She didn't realise Snow had started talking again until she felt someone grab her hand. Regina looked up to see Snow looking her in the eye. "Regina, we also think that Emma might be able to defeat Zelena."
Regina opened her mouth to protest, but the princess had already started talking again. "We know Daniella is probably stronger than Emma, but I don't think you're willing to endanger her life, not after what happened."
Regina nodded and looked down. "And you are?"
Snow sighed, but otherwise kept silent, telling Regina all she needed to know. She nodded and said: "Alright, let's do this."

By the time Granny had brought dinner, Daniella had fallen asleep. She was lying in the chair, her hand holding Robin's as she continued to snore softly.
Granny looked at the girl, the way a frown had taken over her young face. "Poor girl", the older woman whispered before grabbing a wool blanket and carefully wrapped it around the teenage girl, kissing her forehead in the process. Daniella stirred for a second, but settled down soon after, burying her face in the warm fabric of the blanket.
"I promise you, you will not lose Robin, not if I can do anything to stop it", Granny said fiercly, before adding quietly: "Your mother is one of the strongest people I know, but even she has a breaking point and I fear that this might be it. So I'm going to try to everything I c-"
"I'm afraid you won't be able to", a voice interrupted her. Granny turned around, a scowl on her face as she faced the person who had interrupted her.
Her expression turned in one of shock as she recognised the person standing there, but before she could even open her mouth, he back-handed her and everyting went black.