A/N: I am not sure where I am going to take this story yet, but I wrote it before the season finale aired. This takes place after Robin dies, but diverges from there. This is a Swan Queen story so keep that in mind as well. So here is the deal, those who read it get to help me decide where to take it. There will be another note at the bottom of the story with your options and I will take the suggestions and write from there. To choose an option, leave a message here, or hit me up on Tumblr or Twitter pcworth2012

Zelena strode into the sheriff's office, getting stopped by the secretary who asked what her business was.

"I have a missing person's report to make."

She was directed to take a seat and the clerk disappeared into the back. A few moments later Emma came out and Zelena stood to meet her until she saw Hook following the sheriff.

"Who is missing?" Emma asked.

"You know what never mind," Zelena said, looking more at Hook than Emma who also noticed the look.

"Zelena," Emma said stopping her before she could turn to leave. "Who is missing?"

"My sister."

…

Emma directed Zelena back to one of the private rooms – something Zelena only agreed to after Hook had left. While Zelena took a seat, Emma remained standing, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed.

"What do you mean she is missing?"

"I mean exactly what I said. The last thing she said to me was she needed some time to herself."

"I think that's probably pretty natural after what happened. She's grieving," Emma said. "She'll turn up when she is ready."

"Yeah because her love didn't get to magically show back up," Zelena said standing up. "Like I said out there, never mind, I'll find her myself. You are clearly not interested."

"Zelena," Emma said even as Zelena walked out. Emma took a seat wondering if Regina really was missing. It seemed unlikely to her. Regina was heartbroken so it made sense that she would shun the company of others right now. And she thought it wasn't as if Regina would turn to Zelena during this time, after all, they didn't know each other well, and with Zelena having Robin's child that would make it even more awkward.

Emma pulled out her phone and dialed Regina's number. It went directly to voicemail.

"Hey, it's me," Emma said. "Zelena was just here at the sheriff's office. She was worried you were missing so um yeah give me a call when you get this."

She decided she would ask Henry tonight when he had last heard from Regina as she was sure he would have heard from her.

….

When she left the sheriff's station, Zelena transported back to Regina's.

"That was quick," Maleficent said. Zelena had approached her first to see if she had heard from Regina and Mal had agreed to watch her daughter while she went to see Emma.

"It was useless," Zelena said, taking her daughter from Mal. "The sheriff is too busy fawning over that useless pirate to give a damn about anything or anyone."

Mal was about to say that she doubted that was true having seen Regina and Emma work together, but she held her tongue.

"I'm not sure what to do next," Zelena admitted.

"Her mausoleum," Mal said. "Let's check there. Probably should have done that first. She's probably there."

"Ok," Zelena said. "Let's go."

They transported over to the mausoleum, and Zelena held onto her daughter as she followed Mal down. She had a bad feeling about this. She knew how upset Regina was over the loss of Robin but she didn't know what that would mean for her sister exactly. The truth was she didn't know Regina that well so she wasn't sure if this was just Regina being Regina, but it had been nearly two days now since she had last spoken to her.

Regina was letting her and her daughter stay at the mansion with her as they didn't have any place else to go. She could understand given their past that Regina might be uncomfortable grieving with her. But she too was grieving for Robin and yes even for Hades and she would like to have her sister's support. She felt like they had begun to forge a new relationship and she didn't want it ending so soon.

"Regina," Mal called out. No response. She said her name again just before they reached the bottom. As soon as they were down there, it was clear that the place was empty.

Little Robin began to fuss in her arms and Zelena rocked her a bit to hopefully lull her back into sleep.

"What is that?" Zelena asked nodding over to where a small box and what appeared to be envelopes were sitting on a big chest. Maleficent walked over and picked one of the envelopes up. She then spread two others out as she studied them.

"This one has your name on it," Mal said about the one in her hand. "These others – one has Henry's name and one has Emma's."

"Open it."

Mal tore into the envelope and pulled out a letter which she handed to Zelena after she rearranged the baby to free up a hand. She watched as Zelena read the letter, her brow furrowing, and her eyes tightening.

"What is it?" Mal asked after it seemed like Zelena was re-reading the letter.

"She's gone."

"What?" Mal said grabbing the letter from her hand.

"Regina has left Storybrooke," Zelena said as Mal began to read. "She's left forever."

Zelena stepped away hardly believing what she had just read. The letter outlined how Regina had left documents with her attorney, documents which would give Zelena Regina's house, property, belongings and turn over her bank accounts to her sister. It left her everything except for the things she had set aside for Henry.

She had then apologized that she wouldn't be there to be the sister Zelena needed her to be or the aunt that little Robin deserved to have.

The message was clear though – Regina was never coming back.

"She wouldn't do this," Mal said. "She wouldn't leave her son."

"It appears she has," Zelena said.

"She's just upset," Mal said. "She's been running on emotions all this time. When she lets her emotions get the best of her she doesn't always make the best decisions. Once she comes to her senses she will be back."

Even as she said it, Mal wasn't sure. She had known Regina for a long time – remembered the young Regina who had turned more and more toward vengeance when her heart had been broken once before.

"What's in the box?" Zelena asked.

Mal turned back to the chest and picked up the small box as Zelena crowded in closer. When she pushed back the lid, Mal knew Regina wasn't coming back.

…

Henry sat on the couch at Regina's house with the box sitting in his lap. He was vaguely aware of the adults in the room talking loudly but he couldn't take his eyes off of the box he held. The lid was shut, but in his mind, he could see its contents – the half of red heart that had belonged to his mother.

The letter she had written him lay on the coffee table where one of the adults had left it sitting after reading it.

The explanation for the half of heart had been spelled out in it. Regina had removed her heart, broken it in half – leaving the good half, the unblackened part on a bed of satin inside the box. She left it in Henry's care because he was the only reason she said that any part of her heart was still red. He could only presume the blackened half remained with her wherever she was at.

She had offered no clues to where that was, saying only that she loved him and she was sorry for all the things she had ever done that had adversely affected him. She said he could take whatever he wished from the house and explained that Zelena who now owned it knew to let him take anything. She also signed over his trust fund and savings account to his "birth mother." That was the closest reference she had to Emma in the letter.

The last word on the page wasn't even her signature. It simply said goodbye.

"Let me see the damn letter," Zelena said, rousing Henry from his stupor. Zelena and Maleficent stood to the left of him while Emma and Hook stood to the right of him. He realized they had been arguing for a little while now about the contents of the letter left for Emma, which Emma had refused to hand over, saying only that it was personal.

"Let's just concentrate on figuring out when she left and where she might have gone," Emma shot back. "If we're going to find her, we need to retrace her steps since the last time everyone saw her."

"Oh, now all of a sudden you care," Zelena replied.

"The way I hear it you didn't have much to offer in the way of information earlier," Hook said.

"Who invited you?" Zelena said. "Get out!"

"Where she goes, I go," Hook said pointing at Emma.

"I swear I will put you back in hell myself if you don't get out of here," Zelena said. "This property is mine now so if you don't leave I will call an actual competent sheriff to haul you off for trespassing."

"Yeah, you would know all about hell, you were only shacking up with the king of hell," Hook said. "I don't see you taking any responsibility for all of this. Robin's death is your fault. I wouldn't blame Regina for getting as far away from you as possible."

Emma stepped in front of Hook as Zelena called up a fireball, but Mal put her hand on Zelena's shoulder and then stepped forward.

"Sheriff," Mal said. "I suggest you do as Zelena has requested and have your boyfriend leave the premises. It might be a good idea if you join him."

"Just everyone calm down," Emma said. "None of this is helpful. None of this helps us find Regina."

"No it doesn't," Mal said. "Which is why I think it's best if you leave now. I will stay here with Zelena. We will see if we can use magical means to find Regina."

Emma hesitated.

"Come on love," Hook said putting a hand on Emma's forearm.

Emma sighed. "Come on Henry."

Henry looked up at his mother and then down at the box in his hand. "I want to stay here in case she comes back."

Emma approached him and knelt by the couch. "I know you do, but you can't," she said. "Let's go home. I'm sure Zelena or Mal will contact us if they find her, right?" She looked over at the two women.

"He can stay if he wants," Zelena said.

"I don't think that is a good idea," Emma said standing. "Henry, let's go."

"You'll call," Henry said to Zelena.

"You will be the first person we contact," she said.

He cradled the box in his arms as he reluctantly stood up. Emma put a hand on his shoulder to direct him out.

"I will start asking around town, find out who saw her last and when," Emma said.

Neither Zelena nor Mal responded and the trio finally left.

"What are we going to do?" Zelena asked Mal. "If she left Storybrooke, how do we find her when magic doesn't work outside of the town?"

"We will figure something out," Mal said. "She couldn't have gone far in two days without magic."

"I'm more concerned about how long she goes without her heart."

…

Emma parked the rental car and got out, coming around to the other side as Lily also got out.

"Eighth time is a charm," Lily said.

"You said third times a charm how many hours ago?" Emma said as she looked at the bar thinking they weren't going to have any luck here either.

They had flown into Florida last night and had been driving along the coast all day stopping at every beachfront watering hole they could find. Normally Emma would like a little more to go as far as information when searching for a person but Regina had now been missing for over a year and Emma was getting desperate to find her.

Lily was accompanying her at Maleficent's request – or as Mal had put it, "someone out there should have Regina's best interest in mind." As if Emma didn't have Regina in mind. There were days she was beginning to think Regina was all she was thinking about because despite what others might think she did care that Regina had gone. And despite what they thought, she did feel guilty about it.

Florida was more than a bit of a longshot, but at this point, longshots were all Emma had.

When Regina had left town Emma had found her Mercedes in Portland a week later. Regina had sold it as a car lot and according to the car lot owner, she had walked away, not even looking at any car to buy. She had been dressed in jeans and a shirt and jacket and had a backpack and that is all. That squared with what they had found at the mansion – which was basically everything Regina owned with the exception of the car. Not even Henry could say for sure what exactly she had taken with her or anything. All the pictures – the ones of him growing up also appeared to have been left behind.

"Whether she is here or not, I'm getting a drink," Lily said.

"We still have more bars in the area to look in," Emma replied.

"So," Lily said. "It's one drink. I wasn't planning on settling."

"Let's just get this over with."

They walked into the bar. It was like a stereotypical tiki hut with a deck that jutted out onto the water. The place wasn't overly crowded. They went up to the bar and Lily took a seat and ordered a draft beer in a tall glass.

"Anything for you?" the bartender asked Emma.

"Sure, I'll take the same," Emma said, taking a seat as she scanned the place. She had a picture of Regina to show but she decided to wait until the guy returned with their drinks.

She had trouble picturing Regina ever stepping foot in a place like this. Yet, all she had to go on was a mysterious happening involving a woman who may or may not be Regina who was said to frequent a beachfront bar in this area.

The bartender brought them their drinks. "Can I get you ladies anything to eat?" he asked. "We have a killer shrimp po boy sandwich here."

"No thanks," Emma said. "But we were looking for someone, do you mind looking at a photo?"

"Sure," he said.

Emma called a photo of Regina up on her phone and handed it to the bartender who studied it for a moment and handed it back. "She's a beauty, but I don't know her."

"Thanks for looking all the same," she said. She took a drink of her beer while Lily seemed absorbed in watching the televisions above the bar.

"So why you looking for her?" the bartender asked. "If you don't mind me asking."

"Not at all," Emma said. "We were hired by the family. Some sort of probate court, inheritance situation. We find her and she gets the inheritance, we don't find her and it goes to someone else. But the estate has to do its due diligence to try and find her. We were told by some family members that she hops around the coast."

It was a standard story she often used in her former employment when tracking someone down without letting people know why exactly she was tracking them.

"Well good luck," the bartender said.

"Thanks."

When another bartender came in to start her shift, the other bartender directed her to Emma so she too could look at the photo, but she too said she had never seen Regina before.

They drank their beers and finally left about 30 minutes later. They had gotten in the car and Emma started it up when Lily looked over at her. "So they were lying," she said.

"Yep," Emma said putting the car in gear. "Looks like we better find a hotel to stay in."

….

Emma had been on plenty of stakeout situations in her time as a bail bondsman. Sometimes you had to wait for days for the person to show up. After getting rooms in a cheap motel, they had swapped rental cars in case the bartender had gotten a good look at what they were driving. They figured if the bartenders there were willing to lie about seeing Regina, they may know her well enough to have warned her that someone was looking for her.

Both she and Lily had napped throughout the afternoon in order to stake the place out all night.

Emma had called her parents to give them an update. She was careful in what she told them. She didn't want them relaying information to Henry that might get his hopes up. She had learned what a mistake that was early on in the process.

When Regina had left, Emma had figured it would take her a week tops to track her down. She had been overly optimistic with Henry and when she failed time after time, the strain between them got worse.

But she had been like Mal – not believing that Regina would abandon Henry like that. It seemed inconceivable.

It would be impossible for the Regina she knew to do such a thing, but it was clear to her now that she wasn't dealing with the same Regina. This Regina only had half a heart and that half was dark.

Emma had feelers out around the country with other bail bondsmen she used to work with. It was how she ended up here in Florida. One of her former contacts told her there was a woman who had been arrested for an assault that matched Regina's description. Emma was naturally skeptical until her contact told her that from what he heard from one of the deputies, the woman just disappeared from her locked cell. They had no idea where she went or who she was because she had given them a fake name and her fingerprint card and booking papers had also disappeared.

The only thing that the arresting officer could remember about the woman was her description and that she had been talking with the other person who was arrested with her about drinking at a bar later when she got out of there. The man she was arrested with also could only provide vague information about the entire thing, almost as if he and the officer were under some sort of spell.

That was the only reason she and Lily had come down here – on the longshot that it was Regina. They were both skeptical but Emma couldn't let any stone be unturned in this search.

They returned to the bar that night, staying in their car down the street so they could see people enter and leave.

"Can I ask you a question?" Lily said.

They hadn't talked much beyond speaking about the strategy in coming down here and what their next steps would be. Despite their friendship as children, they had not had the time or opportunity to rekindle it.

Mal and Lily had been working on their relationship though which is why Lily was there. Mal hadn't wanted Emma going alone as she didn't trust Emma and made no secret of it. Lily had agreed to go, but Emma wasn't sure why except maybe to appease her mother.

"What?" Emma replied, not taking her eyes off the front of the bar.

"This whole half a heart thing, is that weird to you? Because I got to say it's weird to me. I mean I get your parents did the whole split the heart routine to save your dad's life but they have that true love shit going on too. Regina took her own heart out and split it. First of all, the woman must have balls of steel to do something like that. But like how does half a heart function? Does it beat like a regular heart? Does it pump blood and all that stuff? And like what if she got into a car wreck and they took her to the hospital and x-rayed her – would that shit show up as half a heart?"

Emma turned to her and the expression on her face silenced Lily from further questions.

They continued to sit there until the bar closed but there had been no sign of Regina.

For three days they staked the place out, rotating schedules so one would be watching while the other slept, but three days and they had nothing. Emma was sure both bartenders had been lying – something Lily agreed with her about. Normally when people are shown a picture and asked if they know them, they don't say no and then turn around and ask why you are looking for them.

On the fourth day, as the bar closed down and there was again no Regina, Emma waited for the bartender to leave and she began to trail his car.

She was tired of waiting around.

"We going back to the hotel?" Lily asked from the back seat where she was lying down.

"Nope. Following the bartender."

Lily sat up in the back seat. "Why?"

"Because sitting around waiting isn't getting us anywhere," she said. "We know the guy is lying so let's have a private chat with him."

"And you think he will offer up something now when he didn't earlier?"

"I will flash my badge if I have to."

"Yeah because being a sheriff of a mythical town in Maine will be effective."

"Then maybe I will flash my gun."

"Stop the car," Lily said.

"What?"

"Pull over," she said more forcibly.

Emma pulled the car off the road and parked. Lily got out of the back seat and Emma expected she was going get in the passenger seat, but instead she began pacing along the side of the car. Emma got out and but kept her hand on the door, prepared to get back in.

"Come on," Emma said. "We're going to lose him."

"What exactly is the plan here?" Lily asked.

"Well it was to follow the bartender and find out what he knows about where Regina is at," Emma said getting out of the car doorway and shutting it. "But looks like that won't be possible now. So what would you suggest we do since you've been sent to help because I'm not good enough to handle this myself, despite the fact I am the one with the history of finding people."

Lily got in her face. "I'm not just here to help find Regina," she said. "I barely know her. But I used to know you and I'm here for you too. So let's think this through a bit. You want to talk to the bartender, fine, I'm not opposed to that but I have gotten in enough trouble in my life that I would appreciate not being arrested with you if you get too heavy-handed with this."

"Again, what would you suggest we do?" Emma said crossing her arms in front of her.

Lily stepped back and she ended up leaning against the front of the car and Emma joined her after a few moments.

"I keep wondering what the hell she would be doing down here?" Lily said. "I mean all the bars along this stretch of coastal area are pretty much shit bars and that doesn't exactly fit with her majesty does it?"

"No," Emma admitted. "I was thinking the same thing. I was thinking this is a complete waste of time the moment we got down here, but that guy was lying. I'm certain of it. He knows something and we have nothing else to go on."

"Alright," Lily said. "We will question him, but not until we agree on the best way to approach it."

"And you think we will come to an agreement?"

"Of course," Lily smiled. "Just because I don't think stalking him and sticking a gun in his face is the right play doesn't mean I think we should do this by the book. After all, I knew you before you were the sheriff and I've caused enough trouble in my life that I think between the two of us we can come up with something a little less risky but something involves telling a few white lies."

A/N: Ok, so here is the question that needs answered for me to continue the story. When Regina is found, has she been up to something good, something bad or a bit of both (to borrow from Guardians of the Galaxy). Again, leave message here or hit me up on Tumblr or Twitter