The castle was decorated from top to bottom in garlands and holiday décor, and there was practically a Christmas tree around every corner. Regina swatted at a chain of paper snowflakes as she walked by. Clearly, someone had felt the need to make sure their first Christmas back in the Enchanted Forest was a memorable one, but unlike the rest of the idiots in this castle, she wasn't in a particularly festive mood.
How could she be, when every paper snowflake made her remember teaching Henry how to make them years ago? His chubby little fingers hadn't been able to manage any kind of intricate design, but they were beautiful to her no matter what. And when they had put up the tree, every year, they had decorated it together with Christmas music playing.
Until last year, that is. It had been a tense holiday, with his insistence that she was the Evil Queen. Still, under the tree on Christmas morning, she thought they had captured something of what the holiday used to mean for them. For a moment he had smiled and forgotten who she was. That had been nice.
This year, she was alone again. And yet not alone, because she was surrounded by happy people whose loved ones were right here with them. It was easy for them to be cheerful. If Regina had to listen to another Christmas carol, she might just rip the unfortunate singer's heart out.
There was one place where she wouldn't be disturbed, though. No one went near her apple tree, which had been brought back to the castle along with everything else from this land. She had heard rumors that its apples were poisoned, and she didn't bother to correct them. If people were afraid of the tree, they would leave it – and her – alone. All the other trees in the garden were lit up with twinkling magical lights, meant to look like the electric ones they had used back home, but not her apple tree. She would have lit the fairies on fire if they dared to come near it with their wands.
On Christmas Eve night, she wandered away from the feast to sit beside her tree. A light snow fell around her, and she remembered six-year-old Henry giggling and trying to catch snowflakes on his tongue. In spite of herself, she smiled at the memory.
"Why don't you come in and join us?" a familiar voice asked. Regina looked up to see Snow White walking toward her, bundled up in warm furs and looking concerned.
"Snow, now is not the time."
"I think it is," said Snow. It was the same tone that she had used as a child when she wanted Regina to braid her hair or take her horseback riding. That tone of voice that says "I'm not going to take no for an answer." But Regina wasn't that young queen anymore.
"Leave me alone," she grumbled.
"I know you miss Henry," said Snow.
"Yes, you've said that dozens of times," snapped Regina.
"But you don't have to be alone on Christmas," Snow continued. "You have a lot of people here who care about you, and I'm never going to give up hoping that sooner or later, you realize that."
"You certainly are persistent, I'll give you that."
"So will you come inside?"
Regina groaned. "I don't suppose you're going to give me any peace until I do."
"Probably not," Snow agreed. "Wait a second, I have something for you."
The younger woman actually seemed nervous as she pulled out a small box wrapped up in green paper. Raising a skeptical eyebrow, Regina undid the bow and peeled the paper pack. The box was made of wood, with a little clasp on the front that Regina undid. Inside was a large silver locket, and when Regina pried it open, she found a little portrait of Henry inside, looking exactly as she remembered him.
"How …?" she looked from the picture to Snow and back.
"Everyone knew him back in Storybrooke," the other woman said, reaching out to touch Regina's arm. "I had one of our court painters make it for you. I thought it might help to have something to remember him by."
A tear rolled down Regina's cheek. She gave Snow White a bittersweet smile as she held the locket in her hand.
"Thank you, Snow," she said. "Really. This means a lot to me."
Snow smiled back. "Now why don't you come back inside? We're having apple pie for dessert."
Regina rolled her eyes and followed Snow back into the castle. She would never say it out loud, but she had to admit, it was nice not to be alone on Christmas, even if she couldn't spend it with who she really wanted to.