This is a little depressing, but chapter 2 is happier (considering)
"I love you Henry. Never forget that. I will always love you. You will never have to be alone. I hope you can forgive me for everything I have done." Regina looked over at the Charmings, tears streaming down his face. "Take him, now!"
"No. Mom. I want to stay."
"I'm so sorry, but this is how it must be." David walked over and grabbed a screaming Henry. The Charmings rounded the corner and were thrown to the ground by a blast. The diamond exploded in a burst a bright light and magic. Then everything went still.
Branches were shooting out of every possible area of Storybrooke. Residents were clinging to their loved ones, saying last goodbyes. The ground rumbled then everything stopped moving. The branches receded and the buildings were restored to how they once were.
"Regina." Mr. Gold breathed out. "She stopped the destruction." Everyone turned to look at him with disbelief written all over their faces. How could the Evil Queen be the one who saved them?
"Mom!" Henry broke out of David's grip and ran back towards Regina. The Charmings followed and found him on the ground shaking Regina. "Come on mom. Wake up. Please. Wake up." Regina was in a lifeless heap on the ground, the diamond right next to her. "Please, don't leave me. Please. I'll be good, I promise, just don't leave." Henry was inconsolable. Emma looked at her parents who were both crying. She walked over to Henry, not sure exactly what to say. How do you console a child who just lost the woman who raised him? How do you fix the un-fixable?
"Henry. She's gone."
"No!" Henry bent down and kissed her cheek, hoping that True Love's kiss would work, but she remained lifeless.
Snow looked on as Henry collapsed next to Regina and clung to her like his arms would bring her back. Emma turned to look at them with tears in her eyes. Snow couldn't even comfort her family. She had been through so much with this woman. No matter what Regina did Snow loved her, and now she would never be able to tell her that. Snow walked over to Regina's body and knelt down near her head. She gently pressed a kiss on her forehead. David walked over and picked Regina up and Emma picked up Henry. The whole group left the mine one family member short.
The crowd cheered as they saw Snow and David in the distance. The cheering stopped when people realized what was going on. Mr. Gold was right, Regina had saved them. To their credit no one said a word as the Charmings walked through the town, crying. David and Snow walked up to Mr. Gold. Snow took a few breaths and spoke. "She would want to be with her parents and I want to honor that." Mr. Gold nodded and moved his hand slowly in front of Regina's body. Red smoke appeared and the weight in David's arms disappeared. A beautiful glass coffin appeared in front of Mr. Gold. Inside was Regina. All the dirt from the mines was gone. Her hair and makeup were simple and flawless. She wore a long navy gown that Snow recognized from the Enchanted Forest.
"I was never the fairest of them all. She was." Snow choked out. David wrapped his strong arms around her and she fell into them as sobs racked her body.
The dwarfs each walked up to Snow and placed a sympathetic hand on her arm. Then one by one they walked over to Regina's coffin. Once they were all in place they lifted it and started walking towards the cemetery.
Mr. Gold unlocked her mausoleum and the group headed down. He led them to a room in the back. "This is where she kept Daniel. I think it is fitting that we lay her to rest here." The dwarfs placed her coffin down and left with Mr. Gold.
Snow walked up to the coffin and put her hand on it. "I'm so sorry. I lived with you for ten years and never knew how miserable you were. I should have helped. I wish we could have gotten the chance to be a real family, here, in Storybrooke." A few tears dropped on the coffin. "I love you Regina. I always have." Snow continued to cry as every bad thing she had ever said or done to Regina flashed before her eyes. Henry walked over to the coffin. He didn't say a word. He just put his hand on the glass and cried silent tears. He cried and cried. Emma looked at him, unsure of what to do. How do you comfort a child that just lost his mother? "I can't do this." Emma turned and saw her mother run out of the room.
Snow found herself in another area of the crypt, at the back. She walked right up to the mirror and looked at her grief stricken face. A mirror. Only Regina would have a mirror in a crypt. Then it hit her. Snow finally understood why Regina always had mirrors around her. Daniel must have constantly told her how beautiful she was. Snow realized her father never told Regina how stunning she was. All he talked about was Snow or her mother. Regina never had mirrors around her but after she tried to have Snow killed she decorated the castle with mirrors and started dressing provocatively. Snow realized that it wasn't for other people, but to convince herself that she was beautiful. Snow started to cry harder. She put her hands on the wall with the mirror to hold herself up. The wall swung in like a door and Snow dropped to the floor.
"Snow!" David and Emma came running towards her.
Emma looked at the room. "Typical Regina. Only she would have a secret room in a mausoleum." She watched her mother get up and they all walked into the room. Her mother ran her finger along the furniture. "Apples."
Emma looked at her, confused. "What?"
"Apples, with a touch of cinnamon. She always smelt like them. After she poisoned me with one I stayed away from them. She always smelt like them. When I was younger I found the smell warm and welcoming. This room smells like her." She walked over to a box Regina had and opened it. She started looking at the papers in it. They were all drawings, drawings from Henry. Snow smiled. It looked like she had kept every single one. Snow grabbed a pile and started to look at them. Then she looked down and saw something else. She dropped to the ground and covered her mouth. She started to cry again. David rushed towards her.
"Hey, it's okay." Snow shook her head as she cried.
Emma grabbed the pictures her mother had dropped. She laughed a little. Regina was the only person she knew that would hide drawings in a secret room. She walked over to the box and saw more drawings. These were very old on parchment. Emma sifted through them carefully. The drawings were of birds, trees, a castle, and a woman with a little girl. Emma looked at her mother.
"These are yours." Snow nodded her head. Emma looked back at the drawings. "She kept them after all these years." Then something caught Emma's eye. It was a small box adorned with jewels. She carefully opened the box. Inside with beautifully exotic jewels and a note. "This is beautiful. I've never seen anything like it."
Snow looked up and choked out a sob. "I got her that for her birthday one year. She never had big birthday celebrations like my father and I did. I never knew why, but I guess it was because my father just saw her as a replacement mother. He never treated her like he treated my mother. I should have realized it then. I remember getting her that stuff. I was fourteen. I remember gathering up my most valuable jewels. A trader from a distant land was a guest with us that week. I traded my jewels for the box and the necklace and ring in the box. I never thought she would have kept this stuff."
Emma smiled and looked back in the box. She took out the note and read it. Suddenly her face changed. "Twenty! This letter you wrote wished her a happy twentieth birthday. You said your father was in his late fifties when he married Regina."
Snow looked up. "Yes. She married him when she was eighteen."
"Eighteen! She was barley an adult. No wonder she was so miserable. She was basically a child bride. You two could have been siblings."
David walked towards his daughter. "Please Emma. You need to understand. This is how things were."
Emma was about to retaliate when they all heard Henry's voice. "You guys can't be here. This is her room. You need to leave."
Emma looked at her son. She wondered if he would ever be the same again. "Okay. Let's head home."
"No! I'm staying here." Henry walked over to the chaise lounge and laid down.
"Henry you can't stay here."
"Yes I can. But you guys can't." He curled into a ball as tears streamed down his face.
David walked up to Emma and whispered in her ear. "We can stay outside tonight. We should let him stay here."
The group left and Emma sat outside the room and let Henry fall asleep.
2 weeks later
Snow sat with Henry in Regina's mansion. He spent every waking moment either with her body or in her home. Archie said that they needed to let him grieve, but Emma was anxious and wanted him to come home. Snow lifted his chin up, just like Regina used to do.
"Henry, I miss her too, but we need to try and go back to having a normal life. She died so you could have family, don't let that be in vain." Henry looked up at her with such anger that for a moment Snow thought he was related to Regina. "She's my family. I threw that away." He started to cry. "She didn't know."
"Know what?"
"That I love her!"
"Oh Henry. She did know that, and she loved you. "
Henry continued to cry. Snow wondered if maybe they were pushing him to hard. Maybe he just needed time.
i hope you liked this