Disclaimer: I do not own Once upon a time.
The first time Regina took up a sword, she had been begging one of her family's soldiers for days in order for him to allow her. Everything started when Daniel, their new stable boy and her new friend, suggested that they played sword fighting. Like all other games Daniel had talked about, Regina had never tried it, but she agreed with a delighted squeak. They spent hours trying to poke each other with wooden sticks, between Daniel's slight taunts and Regina's retorts. After they had exhausted themselves, the little girl had told him she wanted to learn real sword fighting. However, Daniel had laughed and replied that that was not possible. He had a sad voice when he argued that he was a stable boy and she was a girl. There were things they were just not meant to be. Regina shrugged it off, because she did not understand yet those things Daniel sometimes talked about. She, being as stubborn as always, did not stop until the soldier allowed her to hold his sword. Although the strong fear of her mother, Cora, did not let the soldier give in to her other request: learn sword fighting.
The second time Regina held a sword, it also belonged to a soldier. But this time, she was the Queen and she demanded the sword and the lessons. Fear was still there and, again, not of the young monarch, but rather of the King. Risking to sound almost childish, Regina promised no one would ever know and so, they began the practices in an abandoned small room. Those times made Regina feel free. They allowed her to smile sincerely, to have a new skill to improve. They made her caged life more bearable. Of course, nothing was ever so simple for Regina.
Snow found out while she was wandering through the palace looking for her stepmother. The young Queen was afraid then another secret was going to be revealed. Another freedom was going to be taken away from her. She summoned the best part of her, that which could not hate the girl —at least, in the best days. She put her most radiant smile —although Snow thought that none of those had the light of the first ones Regina used to give to her. And she, once again, made Snow promise she would not say anything. By then, the young woman knew better than to offer nothing in return for a promise. She explained the child that the king, had he known, would never allow them to continue the lessons. Snow immediately asked for permission to join them, which Regina agreed to.
That decision was not a hard one, but later, as many other things, Regina would convince herself that she regretted it. At the beginning, Regina had to make a great effort to be nice with the princess for so long. They practiced the movements the soldier showed them and, if he had enough time, he would spar with the Queen while Snow watched. Eventually, the girl managed to persuade Regina to meet just the two of them and practice some more.
The woman forced herself to keep a strict control of her actions in order not to injure her stepdaughter. If the eleven-year-old appeared hurt by her hand, clandestine lessons would be the least of her problems. She was always so angry she almost scared herself; and the smiles of the childish princess only fuelled that anger. But when they fought, the world disappeared together with those troublesome smiles. For a few seconds, they both were concentrated on winning. For a few seconds, Regina could forget she was the prisoner of the child's father, as before she had been her mother's. For a few seconds, Snow could see the smallest glimpses of the woman she had first met. For a few seconds, they fought and they were more united than ever.
And when Snow found a weak spot on Regina's defence for the very first time, it filled Regina with unexpected pride. She felt her lips twitched upwards almost without her consent. It was the tiniest and briefest of the smiles, but it was the best congratulations Snow could have hoped for. From then on, the girl could smile at her small victories with no fear of souring her stepmother's mood. There may not be an openly noticeable change outside their lessons —Regina continued accompanying her to the gardens and to horse riding and tucking her in at nights—, but Snow felt her hugs warmer, as well as her words. She never confessed to the Queen that, at the beginning, she had soon grown tired of the sword fighting sessions, but she had stayed because those were the only moments when she had felt they belonged as a family.
For almost two years, it was that way. Revenge started to sound too unreal and the bonding with Snow fuelled her doubts about learning magic. But then, someone told something, the King found out and Regina was punished —and so, humiliated— with isolation. Daniel did not come back, she was too afraid and magic looked like the only thing she could rely on. The only way she could have absolute freedom at last.
Life is quite ironic, even when you do not see the future. For that reason, years later, under the spell of shattered sight and having agreed not to use magic, the first choice, the most natural one to fight Snow was a sword. Since the days of the Enchanted Forest, when they were a family and when they were not, the former bandit had learnt much. They had seen each other in many battlefields. Fortunately for Regina, in the battlefield, even in the most unusual one, promises were not always kept.
A/N: Phew, my first OUAT fanfic! What do you think? All opinions are welcome, criticism only helps me to improve!