Tuesday: Amnesia
Regina knew that when she stood trial that whatever would happen, it probably wouldn't go her way. So she made one of the conditions of her giving herself up, and having her magic stripped from her, that Henry was not see the trial or the punishment. Her other conditions were that she be allowed to talk as she wished at her trial, that Rumpelstiltskin have absolutely no say in anything to the point that he was not to attend the trail and that she be given a day to sort out her affairs afterwards, before her punishment was dealt out. Snow had agreed in a heartbeat and Regina had held out her hands for the Blue Fairy to place the magic binding cuffs on her wrists.
It had surprised most people in town when they heard that Regina had called a meeting between Snow, Charming, Emma and the Blue Fairy and they certainly hadn't expected Regina's imprisonment to be the outcome. The town had been happy about the trial and it had gone ahead quickly and thoroughly.
It was easy to see why Regina didn't want Henry there; she had a lot of crimes to account for. Occasionally she would disagree with a crime and sometimes she outright denied them. After the first few which had resulted in debates between Regina and the townspeople (all of which Regina won) Snow had just taken to believing Regina' word. After all, in Regina's own words, she was responsible for much misery in their lives but not all of it. She was not going to be punished for something she didn't do.
It took two days for all of Regina's crimes to be read out and another two for Regina to agree or refute the crimes before a punishment was reached. Snow still didn't want Regina dead, and Emma most definitely didn't. She didn't want to put her son through that. She didn't want to put herself through that. Despite a few calls for death, the general consensus of the town was that Regina should live as she had before. They saw her willingness to be made accountable for her crimes as a huge step towards some sort of redemption. Years had been taken from them, but Archie had played devil's advocate, pointing out all the good Regina had done bother before and after the curse along with the bad. Despite much of the town wanting Regina to commit to some form of community service, Snow overruled them and decided that Regina would be forced to cross the town line - forgetting everything about magic and her old life.
/-/-/-/
The apartment seemed darker, like it had more shadows lurking in the corners. But Emma knew she was projecting her feelings into her surroundings. She had been forced to explain to Henry the result of the trail and Snow's choice regarding Regina's fate. He had taken it relatively well, saying that she was the Evil Queen and deserved it. It disturbed Emma even though she would have once said the same thing. She knew that Henry's black and white point of view of the world would change as he grew older and she knew that one day he'd regret the way he had brushed everything off as 'good' or 'bad', particularly when he reflected on this moment of his life. Hopefully she could help him to see it sooner rather than later. Before Regina was taken from them.
Regina being gone wouldn't make the constant push and pull between the woman she loved and the rest of her family any easier. It would only make it more painful because now there would be a clear 'winner' Emma would be forced to side with. But after all of this was done, Emma didn't think she'd be capable of siding with Snow.
She almost wished that Regina was being banished, at least them she wouldn't be walking around town as someone else; a constant reminder of everything that had happened. And banishment was something Emma could get around. Trips outside of town to see Regina were possible; dealing with this memory thing was not.
As per Regina's request she was given a day to settle everything. Emma had already arranged to come over for dinner with Henry and was just counting down the hours until they would leave.
Finally it was six and Emma popped her head into Henry's room.
"You ready to go?"
Henry nodded and pulled his shoes and a jacket on before following Emma outside and into her yellow bug.
"Do I have to do this, Mom?"
Emma frowned. "Yes. Tomorrow your mom is going to cross the town line."
"You're my mom, and it's not like she'll be dead."
Emma sighed and kept driving in silence. She touched Henry's arm to stop him from getting out of the car when they reached Regina's house.
"Henry, no matter what has happened Regina looked after you and raised you. She's your mom."
Henry shrugged. "Whatever."
Emma wished she could make him understand. She didn't even know how to touch on the fact that Regina was essentially going to die tomorrow, despite what Henry claimed. Mayor Mills, the Evil Queen, whatever you called her, tomorrow she would no longer exist and to Emma that was as good as her being dead. There was nothing in Emma's life she wanted to fight for more, but Regina had made her promise not to. Emma wanted to respect that. She understood better than most the feeling of having all your choices taken away from you 'for your own good', but it was still a hard promise to keep.
Emma got out of her car and started towards the front door, Henry following behind her. Regina greeted them at the door with a small smile and led them to the dining room where the plates were already set for three.
Dinner was quiet and every little was said despite Emma's efforts to involve both Henry and Regina in some sort of conversation. They finished quickly enough and Regina gathered up the plates and glasses and took them to the kitchen. She came out of the kitchen shortly after and stood in the doorway.
"Do you think we could move to the study? I believe we have a few things to discuss." Regina said quietly.
Emma stood up but Henry remained seated.
"Henry, you should come too. This concerns you."
He nodded and followed them silently. Regina sat at her desk and pulled a few files towards her before shuffling though them.
"I need you to sign some things for Henry, Miss Swan, and I think it would be best if I explained what these are to both of you."
She signed one set of papers and turned them to Emma while handing her a pen.
"First off, these are the papers to make Henry legally your son. We really need a witness, but I believe that given the circumstances we can forgo proper procedure. You'll need to get a witness to sign the last page and date it for today before you file the papers with the government though. Try to use the same coloured pen, it raises less questions. Don't forget to change Henry's emergency contact at the hospital once the paperwork goes through."
Regina shuffled through the files again while Emma signed the document next to Regina's impeccable signature.
"Now then, I am transferring this house as well as a large amount of money into a trust fund for Henry that will be accessible on his twenty first birthday. Until then it is under your control Miss Swan and you will have access to it for anything Henry needs."
Regina read through the papers in front of her and signed them before handing them over to Emma.
"Where will you live?"
Regina sighed as she looked up at Henry. "I've already made other living arrangements."
"Where?"
"I think it is better that I don't tell you, Henry."
Henry scowled, making him look a lot like Regina. "That was always the problem though; you never told me the truth."
"And what good would it do now, Henry? You can't come visit me; you shouldn't even speak to me after tomorrow."
"It's not that bad. Why are you acting like it is? Why are you doing all of this?"
Regina stood and walked around her desk to kneel in front of Henry.
"I'm afraid it is that bad, Henry. I'll always love you Henry and I know you've had your doubts, but I've loved you from the moment I first met you. I'm just not very good at loving people."
She took his hands in hers and tugged on them until he looked down at her. Regina ducked her head, trying to hide her tears from him.
"I'll always love you, but after tomorrow I won't be me and that means that the woman who walks around town looking like me won't love you. She won't even know you. So yes, it is that bad, but this is what I need to do. You were named after a great man. One who could love the unloveable, and I had hoped to see you become like him. But I know with Miss Swan guiding you that it will happen. And that makes me happier than you could ever imagine."
Henry slipped off his chair onto the floor and pulled Regina into a hug. There wasn't a single word he could say to express himself, but Regina had been his mother long enough to understand.
"I love you too dear, and you've made me so proud. You'll be a great Prince one day."
/-/-/-/
Emma stayed at the apartment with Henry. He had refused to sleep alone last night and now lay curled up in her arms. Snow popped her head in the door and Emma just nodded to tell her to leave. They had decided to take Regina to the town line early in the morning so that there was less likely to be a repeat of the Belle and Greg incident. Snow smiled sadly and left Emma alone with Henry.
/-/-/-/
Regina answered the door at Snow's knock.
"I just need a few more minutes. I have to finish writing a letter."
Snow nodded and followed Regina up to her study where she sat silently while Regina continued to write. She finished the letter quickly and enclosed it in an envelope with another letter. She penned the name and address on the front and placed a stamp in the top corner. She lifted it to show Snow.
"I need you to post this. It needs to be posted, not hand delivered."
"Okay, I can do that." Snow said as she took the letter from Regina.
Regina picked a larger envelope off of the desk and held it out to Snow.
"I don't know what's going to happen, but one possibility is that I'll end up unconscious when my magic is ripped from me. Either way I'm sure I'll be confused. I need you to make sure I get this once my memory is gone. It has everything to ensure that I can start a new life here in Storybrooke. Or outside, depending on my preference."
Snow nodded and followed Regina as she left the house. Regina pressed the house key into Snow's hand after she locked the front door.
"This is for Henry and Emma. They know what it's for." She took a deep breath and headed down the path to Snow's car. "Let's do this."
Neither Snow nor Regina knew what to say as they drove towards the town line, so they didn't speak. There was a small group already there when they arrived. Charming sat on the bonnet of his car with Neal next to him. They needed someone who could cross the town line in case something happened and with Regina's request that Gold be kept away and Emma staying with Henry, it only really left Neal. Near her own car was the Blue Fairy.
Regina stood at the edge of the spray-painted line and took a deep breath.
"For what it's worth, Snow, I'm sorry. I still hate you and nothing will change that, not after everything. But I'm sorry."
Regina stepped over the line and almost instantly blue magic covered her body. Regina let out a painful moan as she fell to her knees. Her vision flickered between darkness and the obnoxious blue light. Eventually, just as her body started to pitch forward the darkness won and Regina fell into unconsciousness.
/-/-/-/
Emma grabbed her phone when it buzzed. A text from Snow simply saying 'Done', like that told Emma anything at all. She wanted to be angry and rage at everything, but the only other person in the apartment was Henry and she wasn't going to yell at him for this. He was still asleep too, which meant that Emma wasn't going to be able to throw anything around. Or dismantle the toaster. Emma sighed and turned her phone off, throwing towards the end of her bed. It was times like these that she used to run. When things got hard and it was impossible to not feel, she ran. It was simple, but right now nothing was simple. She had a son; a son who had just lost a mother and gained a father that Emma still wasn't sure wouldn't hurt him somehow. She had a son who needed her now more than ever and she'd be dammed if she gave up on him. Emma snuggled back into her bed and tucked herself around Henry.
She had a son but not girlfriend all because of her mother. Her mind was a mess of strong emotions but one stood out as the strongest.
Hate.
For this she hated Snow White and Prince Charming.
/-/-/-/
They spent the first day in bed. Neither Henry nor Emma felt much like eating. Neal came by at one point but they ignored his distinct knocking on the door. Emma didn't want to have to put up with his nauseating attempts to woo her so soon after Regina's forced amnesia.
On day two they were getting a little hungry and just as Emma was considering going out to the diner (she really wasn't in the mood to cook) Ruby appeared at their door with lunch. She smiled sadly at Emma and handed the food over.
"Hey, I figured with everything going down you probably didn't really want to talk to everyone else in town. David and I are handling the sheriff's station, so don't worry about that."
"Thanks Ruby. Henry and I really need the time away."
"If…" Ruby took a deep breath. "I can't say I like Regina a whole lot, but she was a good mom and she was good to you."
"You knew?"
"Granny and I both voted against the plan. You've done so much for us Emma. We just wanted you happy. If you want to talk I'm here and if you think it would help Henry, maybe I could talk to him? He's not the only one who has lost a mom at some point. Just … keep it in mind in case I can help. Okay?"
Emma nodded. "I will. Thanks Ruby."
"No problem Emma."
/-/-/-/
The room around her was white. She fluttered her eyes closed against the brightness of the light. It wasn't long before she heard the thumping of someone's footfalls.
"She's awake."
She closed her eyes even tighter. Whoever it was obviously didn't know how to be quiet. Their voice was so loud…
"Someone call Mary Margaret. Hey, can you hear me?"
She opened her eyes slowly to see a man hovering over her.
"I'm going to shine this light in your eyes, just keep them open for me."
She managed to nod before the light stopped her from seeing. She let a pitiful moan. Her throat felt like it was stuffed with cotton and she wanted to throw up.
"That's good. Let's just check your vitals. Try and stay awake for me."
She nodded again and watched the doctor move around the room to look at all the machines attached to her. After a while he moved forward with his stethoscope and placed it on her chest.
"I just want to listen to your heart. Breath in and hold it."
She did as he asked.
"Now breathe out."
She breathed out.
"Can you talk?"
She coughed a few times. "Yes. Can I … have some water?"
The doctor nodded and got a glass for her and then helped her into a sitting position.
"Here you go. My name is Doctor Whale. Do you know where you are?"
She drank the glass of water quickly. "No, I don't."
Doctor Whale frowned slightly. "You're in Storybrooke. It's a small town in Maine. Do you know who you are?"
"I'm … no, I don't know who I am."
/-/-/-/
It was two days after Regina had crossed the town line that Snow got the call from the hospital to say that Regina had woken up. She picked up the manila envelope that she had been given and headed straight to the hospital, only stopping once along the way to post the letter Regina had given her. It had been addressed to Emma, and Snow had considered handing it over, but posting it had been one of Regina's last requests, and in a way it was easier than confronting Emma. Snow stood outside of the hospital for a few seconds before pulling out her phone. She dialled Emma's number, not surprised when it went straight to voice mail. It hurt that Emma and Henry were taking this so hard, but if they needed time Snow would give them that.
"Hi, Emma. I just thought you might want to know that I got a call from the hospital about Regina. They said she's woken up. I'm going to see her; I have a few things she said she'd need to start a new life. I hope you're eating and looking after yourself. If you could call me back, that'd be great. Either way I'll call you once I'm done at the hospital and tell you what I know. See you, Emma. Give Henry my love."
Doctor Whale met her almost as soon as she walked in.
"Snow, I think it would be best if you come to my office first."
Snow nodded and followed him down a few corridors.
"So?"
Whale sighed. "She seems to have no memory of anything, much like Belle. She's had a fair amount of physical exhaustion to recover from, and I think that's from her losing her magic. That or she just hasn't slept for the last few days, either is quite possible. One other thing, she overheard someone say your name and asked who Mary Margaret was, so we told her that you were the one that found her. I figured it would be the easiest lie to stick to."
Snow nodded. "No, that's good. I can work with that. Can I see her now?"
Whale nodded and stood up. "I'll take you to her before I start my rounds again."
When Snow entered Regina's room she was flicking through the channels on the TV with a bored look on her face. A quick glance at Snow though had her turning the TV off and giving Snow her full attention.
"Hi." Regina smiled slightly. It was a nice smile too.
Snow blinked. She was pretty sure that Regina hadn't smiled at her nicely in several decades.
"Oh, right. Hi. I'm Mary Margaret."
Regina nodded slowly. "They said you're the one who found me after my … um … accident, I guess."
"Yeah, right. I was, yes."
"Well, thank you I guess. Is there something I can help you with?"
Snow took a few steps forward and held the manila envelope out to Regina.
"These are yours. When they told me you had woken up I thought you might like them."
"Oh, thank you." Regina took the envelope and sat it on her lap.
They stared at each other and it creeped Snow out. There was nothing left of the Evil Queen or even Mayor Mills left in the woman's stare. There wasn't really anything at all.
"Well, I had better let you rest then. I'm sure you're tired."
Regina nodded. "Um, thank you for coming by."
Snow muttered "you're welcome" as she fled the room. Dialling Emma's number again.
"She … she doesn't remember me. I don't think she remembers a thing. She's really not … her. I don't know who that woman is, but it's not Regina. I … I'll call you later Emma."
/-/-/-/
Not much had happened since she had woken up. The nurses had come in and out of her room as they saw fit and occasionally Doctor Whale would pop his head in to see if she was okay. Someone had brought her some sort of lunch, but she hadn't really been up to eating much and had just eaten a few bites of the meal in total. One older nurse came in with a small glass vase and a single red rose and wished her well before telling her that roses had always made her smile and that she had to get back to work. Another nurse suggested the TV and another one offered a book. It appeared that they had just wanted to help, but to her it felt like they pitied her. After a while she faked being asleep so that the nurses stopped. Once they had, she opted for the TV. At least it had variety.
She stared down at the large envelope that Mary Margaret had left her. She had been nice, if a little weird and she guessed she owned her life to the woman so she should be nice. At least she had broken up the monotony that had been her day so far. She unsealed the envelope and tipped everything out of it onto her lap.
There was a key with one of those luggage tags that you wrote you name on for a key ring but instead of a name was an address. Apparently she had some sort of a house or something. There was another key on a separate keychain which simply had 'car' written on it. Hopefully the car would be at her mystery house; otherwise she had no idea where it would be. The black wallet had a credit card, an EFTPOS card (with the pin number helpfully post-it noted on it) and a driver's license that said her name was Regina Mills. It was her photo in the license, but she wasn't sure she believed it.
There were also two smaller envelopes. One held a simple gold ring and a note that told her to always wear it. Shrugging, she slid the ring onto her right ring finger and opened the other envelope. A small club matchbook fell out along with another note. The note was simple enough; 'Just look at it' scrawled in neat script. She picked up the matchbook and stared at it. It was read with a white rabbit surrounded by the club name 'Rabbit Hole'.
It only took a second and her eyes widened as images flashed though her mind too quick to really comprehend.
She remembered who she was.
She remembered that she was Regina Mills.
/-/-/-/
Regina waited patiently in her room until Doctor Whale made the rounds again. She had packed everything in the envelope from Mary Margaret back up and sat it on her bed side table. She amused herself watching the crappy daytime TV that she would normally never even consider watching, but waking up in hospital allowed a few unusual activities. Normally Regina found it difficult to just do nothing but she had already checked her body for injuries and coming up with nothing, there wasn't much else to do. Calling a nurse would draw attention to her and if there was one thing Regina didn't want to do it was draw attention to herself. She just wished that attention didn't tend to stick to her as much as it did. It took a few hours, but Doctor Whale finally poked his head in the door.
"How are you feeling?"
Regina smiled. "I'm fine, thank you. Just a quick question. When can I be discharged?"
Doctor Whale shuffled his feet under Regina's stare. She wasn't the same woman, that was clear by her mannerisms and the way she talked, but she still seemed to give off the same regal feeling she always had.
"Well, until I'm sure that you're healthy I can't in good conscience let you go, I'm sorry."
"I'm perfectly healthy, Doctor. There's not a scratch on me, nor am in in any pain. And I've remembered who I am. So, could we speed this up? I don't really like hospitals."
"You have all of your memories back?"
Regina frowned slightly. "No, not all of them. I remember who I am but not much of whatever accident I had that ended with me here. A friend set me up with a house here, this is my first time in town, I've just moved here. I don't remember entering town, just waking up here I guess that I had the accident on the road?"
Whale hummed noncommittally, neither denying nor confirming Regina's question.
"Right, well I'll go get the forms to fill out. I'll need some personal details."
"Of course, Doctor."
Whale left the room and headed straight to the nurses' station.
"I need a new patient form and a discharge form." He said quickly before grabbing the phone on the desk. He dialled Snow White's number and waited.
"Hello?"
"She has her memories back. I mean, she has some sort of memories back. She's not acting like she used to, but she says she knows who she is."
"Regina?"
Whale sighed. "No, Gold. Yes, Regina. She's asked to be discharged and there's really nothing I can do to keep her. This is just me doing my part and informing you."
"Thank you, Victor. I'll try and get to the hospital before she leaves."
Whale hung up and took the clipboard with the required forms that one of the nurses was offering him. Regina had gotten out of her bed and pulled on the blazer that had been left draped over a chair.
"Okay, name?"
"Regina Mills."
Whale paused for a second.
"Right, sure. Um, date of birth?"
"July the eighteenth, 1980. I think this would go faster if I just filled it out myself, Doctor. You can keep yourself busy with my discharge forms."
Whale relented and handed the forms over to Regina along with a spare pen. She quickly filled them out as Whale worked on her discharge form. He looked over Regina's form, checking that everything was filled in before nodding.
"Everything looks good. I'll get these to the nurses, you're free to go."
Regina smiled at him. "Thank you. Maybe I'll see you later Doctor."
She nodded at him once before heading out the door. It wasn't much longer before Snow came running in as Whale flicked through the papers of information he had on this new Regina.
"She's gone. You just missed her."
"What's she like?"
"She still thinks her name is Regina Mills, but she's a completely different person. Well done Snow White, you managed to do what she couldn't do to you." Whale glanced up. "I hope you're proud. Especially when your daughter can't hide from it anymore."
"What are you talking about?"
"Your grandson just lost his mother and your daughter just lost the love of her life. Why do you think most people voted not to sentence Regina? I hate her as much as, if not more than the rest of this town, and I still thought she didn't deserve that. Or at least, Emma didn't deserve that for breaking the curse. So congratulations on your victory, Snow White."
/-/-/-/
My Dearest Emma,
If you're reading this then I lost my memory when I crossed the town line and I'm afraid that I am as good as gone. I wish that for once in my life True Love's Kiss would solve my problems just so that you didn't have to go through this alone. But, as we've discussed True Love is a two way street and whoever I am now does not love you, though she is a fool not to.
I want you to assume that I am never coming back, and I want you to keep living and keep loving. You will have to remember for the both of us, and I hope that memories will be enough to sustain over the coming months. But before I leave you, I just want you to know a few things.
Do not trust a word Rumpelstiltskin says and do not accept a deal from him. He is more trouble than he is worth.
Do not trust a word the Blue Fairy says about anything. Especially magic. She is a manipulative mosquito who would do worse to you than Rumpelstiltskin.
My magic books are in the basement. Do not let Henry read them and only read them yourself if the situation is dire or if being the Child of True Love means you have magic.
Do not let Rumpelstiltskin or Blue train you if that is the case. The owner of the Pharmacy is a witch with considerable skill and would make a better teacher. For anything she cannot teach you, if you apply yourself and read the books in the basement you will pick up the rest.
Apply yourself.
And lastly, Emma, I love you. Never doubt that. Keep safe, even if it's only for my memory.
Regina