Regina

Regina stood at the back of the ship, leaning on the gunwale, gazing at the moon as it rose only slightly above the horizon. Looking at the endless ocean somehow made her feel hopeless and glad at the same time. Glad, because she finally had everything behind her. All the madness, Greg Mendell and his anti-magic nonsense; the townspeople, those who wanted to kill her, but were too afraid to do it because of her magic... The memory of her mother. No matter how much she loved her, she was somewhat satisfied that she couldn't see her grave again. It would just bring up torturing memories anyway. Yes, it was all in the past, she was never to return to that damned place. Storybrooke. A place she once thought could be home for her.

Yet she was sad - no, sad wasn't the right word. Furious and blinded by hate would be more appropriate to describe how she felt. Because she was wrong, Greg Mendell and Tamara weren't gone and forgotten; no, they were there with her, in her thoughts, laughing at her. The image of Henry and the two jumping into the portal had burned inside her retina, so now every time she closed her eyes, she could see how the only person she truly loved was taken away from her.

"He's out there somewhere... We will find him."

The soft voice of the other woman would've made her jump, but she was the Evil Queen, she was not an easy person to scare. Somehow this thought made her laugh bitterly in her mind, as she heard the irony in her own thoughts. She closed her eyes for a few, short seconds, then looked at the other person, who now probed the horizon as well.

"You sound very confident. I can only hope that what you just said are not simply words of encouragement. Because in that case you shouldn't waste your breath. I don't need it." She turned back to face the ocean. "Not from you, not from anyone."

Mary Margaret stayed in silence, staring at the glittering black water. Regina thought she'd leave after a while, like she always did. She couldn't help it, being near her stepdaughter made her feel inexplicably uncomfortable. Fortunately for her, Mary Margaret must have felt the same way, because during the one day they had spent aboard the Jolly Roger together, she avoided her stepmother. As much as Regina agreed with this, she hoped the short haired woman didn't plan on changing it now. Now, when she needed a little time alone, to get her thoughts in order, to fully grasp what had happened the last 24 hours.

"What do you want?" Regina asked finally. Her demanding voice was not remotely polite. "Did you come here to chat or just to ruin my evening?"

To her surprise, when Mary Margaret turned to face her, she couldn't find the usual shameful and shy look on her face. What she saw instead took her slightly off guard, but after a short moment of astonishment Regina put her sassy mask back on. The woman's face mirrored pure worry, a look that Regina had barely seen in her life. Well, not looking at her, at least.

"I just came to check in on you." Mary Margaret spoke quietly, but her voice sounded loud in the night's silence. "With everything that's happened lately... I just thought someone should."

"Check in on me? And here I was thinking Henry's kidnapping made you worry just as much as it did me. Clearly I was wrong." But as a response to her offensive comment Mary Margaret only smiled sadly. "Would you share with me what you find so amusing about this?"

"Nothing... It's not why I came here..." She took a deep breath and turned to Regina fully. "You have faced death in a short period of time. Twice."

She paused, waiting for Regina to understand her point, but the woman only shook her head slightly. "And?"

"And..," her eyes showed pity and regret, which only made Regina more uncomfortable than she already was. "And it's horrible. It is frightening. I know, I've been there."

"Oh please," Regina looked away, rolling her eyes. "I don't need to hear your self-pity. Go, tell your sad story to someone who would actually buy it."

But the woman didn't move, only looked up at the sky. "My life hasn't been easy. It's not self-pity, it's a fact. But I've always had people around me who helped me through it, no matter how hopeless the situation was." She turned her gaze back to Regina. "We are family. We've always been and we will always stay that way. No matter what you did, no matter what I did in the past... I think we deserve a second chance."

"We deserve to start over? Need I remind you how you made me kill my mother in cold blood?" Regina's whisper cut the cold air like a knife. "You expect me to just move on and forget it ever happened?"

"No." Mary Margaret answered quietly. "Forgetting how you killed my father, ripped away my daughter and made me live through hell for almost thirty years would be impossible for me too. But forgetting and forgiving are not the same thing."

The brunette stepped back from the gunwale and put her hand on Regina's shoulder. Oddly, the woman didn't shake it off. "Once you said that you were good, it was me who added evil to your name. But you are not the Evil Queen anymore. Then... what does that make you?" She let go of her and went back to the cabin. "I will be here to listen if you figure it out."

And she left Regina in the dark, cold night on the deserted deck of the Jolly Roger, not knowing that she just asked the question that had been bothering the other the most.

Reviews are appreciated :)

oldmcpiper, thanks so much for betaing me!:)