Welcome back everyone! For those of you who are new and haven't read All That Follows, you'll probably want to do that first. This won't make much sense without it. For the rest of you, chapter 1 as promised. Only five more days until the season premiere! AHHH, it's. Killing. Me. I'm hoping this week flies by (but who are we kidding? It's going to crawl). Until then, we have kick-ass promos (Regina, anyone?) and sneak-peeks to keep us occupied. Onward! Chapter 1:
Regina sat up with a start. It was morning and the sunlight was filtering through the window, making her squint. She pulled the covers down and looked around her room, trying to process why this all felt so wrong.
'It must be a dream,' she thought, remembering that the house was destroyed; none of this was real. It was then that she remembered she'd cast the curse again.
She jumped out of bed, immediately thinking of Annie and Henry. The curse hadn't been carefully planned this time around, and she had no idea what to expect. Obviously, she still remembered, but would she be the only one?
Hurrying to Henry's bedroom, she called to him, "Henry? Henry?!" When she opened his door, he was sitting up, rubbing his eyes groggily.
"Mom? What's the matter?"
Regina's heart dropped like a rock. He didn't remember. "Nothing," she said, though the word sounded strangled. "Let's get you some breakfast before school."
He slid his feet over the side of the bed and stood up, shuffling toward her. "Do I have to? I'm still full from the first one, and I don't really feel like eating."
She stood completely still and silent, not daring to hope that she'd heard what she thought she had.
"Mom?" Henry got his own look of fear. "Please don't tell me you don't remember anything!"
Unable to say anything for the tears of relief that overwhelmed her suddenly, Regina bent to his level and wrapped her arms around him.
Henry laughed, relief setting in. "I'm so glad!" he said, returning the hug freely. "If I was the only one to remember, I don't know what I'd do."
Regina pulled back to look at him. Hazel eyes, brown hair, freckles. Her son. And he was okay; he remembered everything. He was totally and completely her Henry. She smiled and brushed a hand over his cheek.
"What's going on?" A voice interrupted, coming from down the hallway and both Regina and Henry jumped.
"Annie?" Regina asked. They stepped into the hallway and Annie came out of the spare bedroom looking extremely confused.
"I just woke up here, but I thought this place was destroyed?"
"Yes," Regina said. "But it looks like the curse worked. The house has been restored to its original state."
"If the curse worked," Annie looked down at herself, pulling down on the edge of her shirt, "then why am I here in my pajamas? And why do I have a room here?" She pointed to the door she'd just come out of. "I've been in this room before, but I'm pretty sure it never looked like that."
Henry and Regina, both still barefoot and in their pajamas as well, walked into the room.
"Whoa!" Henry said.
Before, there had been only a bed, nightstand, desk and dresser; all generic, just as a spare room would normally look. Now, it was different; there was a colorful bedspread, posters and paintings on the walls, little knickknacks on the dresser and desk, and a few framed photos scattered throughout the room.
"Hey, what are those pictures of?" Henry noticed them first. "Is that us?"
Annie reached out for the nearest one. "Yeah. But this never happened." Regina stepped up to look over her shoulder.
It looked like a recent photo. Annie and Regina had their arms around each other at the end of the table, both grinning. Henry was in between them with his arms out, gesturing excitedly. There was a cake on the table with lit candles. Judging by the number of them, it was Henry's tenth birthday.
"That is so weird," Henry said, coming over to look at the photo as well." It was only me and mom celebrating, and who took this picture?"
"Seriously, Regina," Annie said. "What's going on? I don't understand how this is possible." She was looking at the rest of the photos; Regina and Henry at her graduation, another of the three of them at the local Miner's Day celebration. The last photo her eyes fell on was on the nightstand by the bed. She walked slowly over, brushing her fingers over the glass as she picked it up.
It was a picture of her from when she was about ten; she barely recognized herself. In this picture, she looked happy, not something she'd ever truly been at that age. She was making a silly face, and Regina had her arms around her from behind, smiling widely.
Regina took the photo from her carefully. "The curse changed things," she said softly. "It must have sensed certain things from me and made alterations."
"But mom," Henry said, confused. "You never knew Annie when she was that young."
"Not in this world," Regina said quietly. "But it built us a whole new life."
"How come I don't remember this?" Annie asked.
"This was how it was the first time," Regina explained to them both. "When I cast the curse, I had no idea what was happening when I was brought here. Everyone else seemed to fit right in. They all had new memories of a life lived here β though they were foggy β and I didn't. I had to learn everything. It was strange; having to pretend to understand a world that was so foreign."
"Whoa," Henry said again. "So, like, you had never seen cars or a TV or microwaves or anything?"
Regina chuckled. "No. They took some getting used to."
"People must have thought you were so weird, not knowing how to use all that stuff. But, wait." He looked between Annie and Regina. "How come Annie's here now? She was only your assistant last time you cast the curse. And you've been way nicer to her since you guys got back. Why?"
Annie looked to Regina to answer the question. She wasn't sure how much Regina wanted to share.
Regina took a deep breath. "We should sit down to talk about this. How about we get dressed and then go down to the dining room?"
"Okay," Henry agreed, racing back toward his room.
"Is it alright with you if I tell him?" Regina asked Annie.
"I guess." Annie sounded hesitant. "I just thought that you didn't want to tell anyone."
"To keep you safe." Regina smiled faintly. "I don't think Henry's going to be any danger, and it appears that the curse worked." That was a thought that had been bothering her since realizing this was true; where was Cora? Did the lack of magic hinder her efforts to come through to this world? Regina had been through so much recently, she thought saving that worry for later wasn't such a crime. She deserved a break, didn't she? Besides, without magic, Cora wouldn't be much of a threat. "We'd better get going. Henry's going to beat us down there, and he's not always the most patient person."
Annie nodded as Regina left, but she couldn't wait to spend more time exploring what was in her room. There were so many pieces here that belonged to a life she'd always wished she'd had. It would have to be later; Henry would be waiting.
Sure enough, Henry was sitting at the dining room table, swinging his feet, tapping his fingers on the surface with barely contained impatience when they entered. He stilled immediately and sat up straight as they took seats across from him. He didn't say anything, waiting for them to start.
"Henry," Regina began. "In your book, was there anything about my past?"
"You mean, like, before you were Queen?"
"Yes."
"Umm, not very much. You liked riding horses."
"I did." Regina nodded. "What it doesn't tell you, is that there was a stable boy who worked for my family. He and his little sister came to live on the grounds when I was about sixteen. We became very close."
"What were their names?" Henry was leaning in curiously. There really hadn't been very much about his mother in the book from before she'd become the infamous Queen.
"Daniel and Annie."
Henry looked at Annie, wide-eyed. "Are you the same Annie?"
"I am."
"But I thought the curse changed everyone's name? And wasn't yours Rapunzel in the other world?"
"It's a long story, Henry. I'll tell you another time."
"So you knew my mom when she was younger?"
"Yes."
Henry was sitting so far forward on his chair, he was nearly falling off. "What was she like?" He looked at his mom, who gave him a small smile. They hadn't had a chance to talk about any of this since the curse had broken and she'd admitted to being the Evil Queen. He realized he really didn't know very much about her at all. What he did know had come from the book, and that wasn't a lot.
"She was the kindest person I'd ever met," Annie told him. "When we first arrived at her family's home, I'd just lost my parents." She swallowed hard. Although it had been many years, those memories were still recent and it stung to remember them in such sharp and vivid detail. "Regina was the first person to make me smile again. She spent a lot of time with me and my brother, and we were very happy."
"So what happened?" Henry knew that it must have been something bad. His mother surely would not have transitioned so easily from her younger self to what she had become.
Annie was staring straight ahead. She could see the scene playing out before her and it took the oxygen out of the air. She dug her nails into the palms of her hands, fighting the memory with all of her strength, but she couldn't keep it away. The screams echoed in her mind and she found herself drowning in them.
She jumped as she felt Regina's hand on her back, blessedly bringing her back to the present. "Breathe, Annie." Doing as she was told, she gasped for air, not even realizing that she'd been holding her breath.
"My mother killed Daniel," Regina finished quickly. She felt herself on the edge of breaking down again, which was not something she wanted. "βon the same night we were running away to be married. I was told Annie had died as well, in a terrible accident. I didn't know she'd survived until we went back for her memories a few days ago."
Henry found himself getting to his feet and going around the table to wrap his arms around Regina. "That's really terrible, mom. I'm sorry."
She gave him a quick squeeze, kissing his forehead.
"Is that when you married the king?" Henry asked innocently. "And why would your mom kill Daniel?"
Regina brushed his bangs back out of his eyes. "How about we save that for later? It's hard to talk about, and you at least know about me and Annie now."
Henry wanted to argue, but he could see that she was fighting tears, so he nodded. "Thank you for telling me."
Regina cleared her throat. "We should get going; you're going to be late for school."
"Do I really have to go?" Henry whined. "I want to find out what happened to everyone else."
Regina sighed. "Alright, you can come with me today, but just for one day." She cut off his shout of joy by holding up a hand. "You'll go back tomorrow, no arguments."
He nodded vigorously. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" he danced around happily, making Regina laugh.
"I'll have to call Ms. Blanchard to excuse you, and then we can get going."
Henry noticed how easily his mom could slip back into their old routines, as if nothing had changed. It worried him a little, but he pushed those thoughts aside, thinking instead about the day ahead. There was no telling how others had been affected, and he was anxious to go out and see.
I'm so excited for this story; I have so many things planned! There's some tweaking to be done for chapter 2, but it should be up soon. I'm in the middle of auditions for my college play this week, so depending on if I get a part or am just working backstage, my quick updating may change a bit. I promise, though, to do my best. I know it's sucks to wait - it sucks having to wait to write it, too. Until then, reviews are always appreciated.
