Belle was happy with the progress she was making in cleaning up the library. She found that there was an apartment for the library caretaker in the back. She had replaced the sheets with linen Ruby had smuggled from the inn.

The waitress had volunteered to help the redhead tidy up the library after she was done with her shift at the diner. However, her help was short-lived as the day had reset itself and Ruby disappeared to where she was at 8:15 p.m. on the night Henry ate the apple turnover.

Belle sighed and carried on with her cleaning. She will have to wait until the morning to introduce herself to her friend. The thought of having to keep introducing herself to Ruby made her sad. She enjoyed the energy the brunette emitted. Her care-free nature was a welcome change to the people Belle surrounded herself with the past three decades.

She stopped dusting when she heard a knock on the door. She wondered who it could be as the only person who knew she was there was Regina who had given her keys to the library.

Belle had not removed the newspaper pasted to the door so that she could do her work without any nosey townspeople distracting her from her task. This also meant that she could not see who had come knocking on the library door.

She pushed the door slowly so that she wouldn’t accidentally hit the visitor in the face. She inhaled sharply when she saw who had paid her a visit.

“Rumple,” she furrowed her brows, “how did you know I was here?”

“I was passing by and saw that the chains on the doors were removed and figured you would be the one responsible for removing the lock.” Mr. Gold explained.

“Regina gave me the keys,” Belle said.

Rumplestiltskin smiled hearing the news. The two of them remained at the doorway, Belle clearly did not want the old man to enter.

“Well, the library had been closed for so long. I guess it was just waiting for the rightful owner.” The shop owner said. He was mentally kicking himself for not being the one to gift his lover the library. There was sadness in his eyes despite the small smile on his face.

“I was thinking of opening the library to the public once I’ve had the place cleaned up.” The redhead explained.

“I won’t keep you then. I’m sure you have a lot of work to do. I came by to bring you your clothing. It’s a good thing they were already packed.” Rumple laughed nervously recalling the night that caused Belle to leave him.

“Thank you.” Belle was genuinely thankful as she didn’t want to have an awkward conversation with Ruby about why a total stranger was wearing her jeans.

She took the suitcase Mr. Gold handed her. Rumple took a mental note of how Belle looked in T-shirt and jeans. She looked beautiful despite wearing an oversized top. He still preferred her in dresses as the modern look made her a little unrecognisable to him.

Belle wanted to ask if he had figured out a way to leave town yet but the subject may bring up another argument and she did not want to get into it at the moment.

She watched as Rumplestiltskin waved a small goodbye and turned to leave. She missed him but she cannot stand by the Dark One’s evil deeds even if it was in her honour.

A loud bang caught her attention in the distance. She could see trees and cars along the street being set on fire.

What is going on?! She thought to herself. The redhead hurried inside the library and locked the doors.

                                                           *.*.*.*.*

Emma’s phone had been ringing non-stop since Regina vanished from the hospital. There had been complaints of cars being set on fire and various vandalism to public property.

She did not need to go down to the streets to investigate as she had a pretty good idea who was tearing Storybrooke apart.

Emma was still soaked from the water sprinklers. Henry had been moved to another room and was already hooked up to hospital equipment that was not affected by Regina’s outbursts. Doctor Whale was curious as to what went on when he left the room but remained professional to ensure that his patient was unharmed and that his vitals were stable.

The sheriff knew that she needed to stop the mayor from setting the whole town on fire. Once she was satisfied that Henry was in the good hands of the hospital staff, Emma went to change out of her wet clothing before heading out looking for the out of control witch.

She drove the sheriff’s car around town, following a trail of burning objects along the street. It seemed to lead to the cemetery.

Emma parked the car and walked inside the graveyard. She had a pretty good idea where Regina was.

The blonde had been to the Mills’ mausoleum before with the former sheriff, Graham Humbert. He was convinced that the mayor had kept his heart there. That night did not turn out well. Emma and Regina got into a physical fight over Graham and the former sheriff ended up dying mysteriously later that night. The coroner reported that it was heart failure but the blonde was with him that night. Nothing about the way he died looked like a heart attack.

Emma stopped in front of the mausoleum. The door to the tomb was left open. She took a peek inside and saw a coffin in the middle of the tomb but there was no sign of Regina.

She took out her flashlight and shined it around the room. She found that the coffin had been moved. She walked closer to it to examine it. On the cover of the coffin was a golden plaque that read “HENRY MILLS, BELOVED FATHER.”

Regina had named her son after her father. She clearly had a close bond with her patriarch. Emma was curious to learn more about him but she figured that the brunette is not the type to share her personal life with just anybody.

The sheriff shined the light on the ground behind the coffin and saw steps leading to an underground passageway. She decided to go down the steps and take a look.

“Regina?” the blonde called out.

She waited for an answer but the whole place was quiet. She walked further inside. She could hear the beating of hearts. Several of them in fact!

The sheriff took a closer look at the wall of glowing red orbs. She pulled out a box and peered into it. It was a beating heart!

Maybe this was what Graham was talking about when he said his heart was in here.Emma finally figured it out.

She placed the box back in its place and continued further into the passageway.

Emma could see the brunette in a room at the end of the passageway, hurdled in a corner and crying.

“Regina?” the blonde called out softly once she got closer.

“Go away, Swan!” Regina was not in the mood for company.

I deserve this punishment! I deserve to be alone! The brunette was convinced that there was no hope of saving Henry.

Emma kneeled down next to Regina. She cautiously placed a hand on the mayor’s arm. She knew how powerful Regina’s’ magic was and did not want to be the next to get barbequed.

“We’ll find a way. I’ve tried looking. I’ve looked through every spell book, every potion, every enchantment, they all said the same thing, and there is no way to break this time loop curse.” The brunette explained.

“According to Henry’s book, I am the Saviour.” Emma started saying carefully. “That means, I can help you break this curse.”

Green eyes met chocolate ones. The sincerity in the blonde’s eyes was sweet as honey, enough to put a small smile on the mayor’s face.

Regina’s eyes grew wide when she realised something.

“The book!” she said all of a sudden.

“What?” Emma was not following.

“Henry’s book! I’ve not seen it since the new curse!” Regina explained.

“Do you think the answer lies in there?” the blonde asked.

“I don’t know. I feel like I am grasping at straws but it can’t hurt to try.” The mayor sounded exasperated.

“Okay… but before we start looking for it…”

“We have to look for it!” Regina interrupted.

“We will… it’s just that the town is kind of on fire… from your fiery rampage earlier…” Emma said slowly. Not wanting to aggravate the brunette.

“So?”

“Regina!” the sheriff whined.

“Fine! I’ll fix it.” The mayor relented.

“Thank you! Then maybe we can go for drinks? I think you could use some hard liquor’ Emma bumped her shoulder into Regina’s.

This brought a genuine smile on the brunette’s face. A welcomed change from before.