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|Gold's Shop|
❃

Regina and Emma arrived a few minutes after the shop opened. Meg and Henry had promised to behave and help watch Roland so Emma could go with Regina to see what Belle had found out.

"You're here!" Belle exclaimed. She was holding a bottle to Evelyn's mouth, but the baby didn't seem to be very hungry. "Can one of you hold her?" Belle asked. "Rumple went to pick up breakfast and she's not eating."

Regina took Evelyn from Belle. "Let me try." While Belle headed to the back room to get what she needed, Regina coaxed the bottle into Evelyn's mouth and the baby finally began to drink.

"Wow," Emma muttered. "Guess I know who to call for help if I have a baby who won't eat."

Regina shrugged. "I feel like I've done this before. I could teach you if you would really need it."

Emma smiled down at Evelyn, "I bet you did this with Megan before Hades threw her into the time portal."

Belle came out carrying the book from the previous day and the vial Meg and Henry had found, which was now empty. "The drops were of a mixture of a magical herb from the Enchanted Forest and mint. There are two Lethe potions that require that specific mixture..." Belle opened the book to a page she had bookmarked, "and both would erase memories of a specific person or time. The catch is they require other different ingredients meaning different antidotes."

"So we try both," Emma suggested. "One is bound to work, right?"

The look on Belle's face told Emma she was wrong. "If Regina takes the wrong antidote, it could either make the memory loss permanent...or hurt the baby."

"Oh," Emma said quietly. "Well let's look at both of the potions."

Regina didn't look like she was too fond of the idea that an antidote might hurt the baby, but she looked down at the list of ingredients for the two potions. "Which is stronger?" She asked.

"I...I'm not sure. It'd have to be this one," Belle pointed to the second potion, "because there's more Lethe water in it."

"Could the weaker one affect me?" Regina asked. "Since I'm the Sorceress...I'd have more of a tolerance to magical things, right?" Regina looked to her left and Merlin shimmered into existence at her request. He walked over to the book and looked at the potions.

"The weaker one would not cause you as much harm. If you had taken the weaker one, your memories of Robin would be fuzzy, but not completely gone."

Regina nodded. "It has to be the stronger one."

"The antidote will take weeks to make for that one," Belle replied, "but if you're certain, then we can't risk making the other antidote instead."

"So what do we need?" Emma asked.

"A melted lock and key born of true love, a branch from the oldest tree in the forest, a feather from the finest bird in the sky, and four weeks worth of moonlight."

Regina nodded. "That's doable. It will take time, but it can be done."

❃
|Regina's House|
❃

Regina wasn't sure where it was, but something told her she had a lock and key somewhere that was born out of true love. Belle said it would be best if the lock and key were Regina's or Robin's because it was Regina's memories of Robin they were trying to get back. While Regina searched her house, Emma had headed to seek the help of Will Scarlet to find out where the oldest tree in the woods was and Belle had gone about figuring out the best way to collect moonlight. Regina was about ready to ask Henry and Meg for help when she found what she was looking for.

Back when Zelena was at large and no one could remember the Missing Year, Regina had given Robin her heart. She had handed it to him in a locked up box with a key sitting on top. "I don't care if you look at it, but I'm warning you now it's more battered than I care to admit."

"Isn't that what it means to have the most resilient heart?" Robin had replied.

Regina shrugged. "I don't know."

"So you don't mind if I look at it?"

Regina shook her head and Robin carefully unlocked the box. He opened the lid to reveal Regina's heart.

"There it is," Regina had said, defeated.

And then Robin had smiled. "You may think it proves how dark you once were, but I think it proves how far you've come." Robin picked the heart up out of the box and held it in his hand. He closed the box and handed it and the key back to Regina. "You don't need to be ashamed of your past, Regina. And you may think me just an insufferable thief, but I think this right here proves you trust me. Now go, I know you are stronger than Zelena and soon this entire town will know it too."

Of course, Regina couldn't remember any of that, but she knew the box was special and that the lock and key would work for the antidote. She picked up the box and set the key on top of it. Belle wanted them to all meet back at Gold's shop in two hours, so Regina had a little time to spare.

❃
|Zelena's Cabin|
❃

"We need to collect nearly four weeks' worth of moonlight before we can do anything," Zelena muttered. "I wish we didn't need so much."

"Well where are we supposed to get the melted lock and key?" Arthur responded.

"I don't know. The Charmings? Emma and her pirate? There's so much true love in this town it could make a person sick."

"And the oldest tree in the forest?"

"My time as Marian was well spent even if I was frozen for most of it."

"Bird's feather?"

"I'll do some talking as Ruby."

"So we'll have the antidote done in about four weeks," Arthur concluded.

Zelena nodded. "Another four weeks for my sister to wonder about her soulmate before the crushing reality of losing him finds her again."

"So just an average month, then?"

Zelena nodded in agreement. "Just an average month."