Regina Mills sat alone. Another desolate evening. After all, why should today be any different? The brunette poured herself another glass of cider and sighed. Another year, another cold winter evening spent alone. The woman was unable to remember the last time she'd had someone to spend her birthday with. The mayor found her book of matches and tried to recall the last time she'd been able to celebrate anything with family. She knew she hadn't always been as alone as she was that cold February evening, but she couldn't summon any happy memories that night. In fact, she was unable to summon any memories at all. As she tried to think back, Regina realized she'd lit the match she had absentmindedly removed from the rest of the pack.
Before the fire reached her fingers, she lit the candle on her cupcake. Normally, she would not even consider ingesting something with as much sugar as the apple flavored dessert she'd baked for herself earlier that day, but the normally health-conscious woman allowed herself to splurge for special occasions. Baking was one of Regina's favorite activities, but she hardly ever had anyone to bake for.
As the lone candle began to drip wax down on her food, Regina closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and thought of her wish. "This year for my birthday, I want something. I don't need anything material, and as for reelection, the lack of competition doesn't exactly have me worried… but for once, I want something. Anything. Anything other than the monotony I've been cursed with for as long as I can remember. I just want… something new this year." As she finished the thought and released her breath, she opened her eyes and noticed the blob of half melted wax where the candle had once sat.
Just as she turned to dispose of the misshapen lump, she was startled by a rather intrusive noise: her doorbell. She looked in confusion at the grandfather clock she kept in her office. It was 8:15 PM. No person in their right mind would think to disturb the mayor in her home, let alone at such a ridiculous hour. Perhaps they had already realized their mistake and ran off? She returned to the task at hand, discarding what used to be the candle, and resumed her small birthday celebration. She began to eat the apple flavored delicacy she had prepared for herself earlier that day, but as soon as the cupcake reached her lips, the doorbell rang again.
Annoyed, the woman put down her food and crossed the foyer to address the unwelcomed intruder. When she went to open the door, Regina had every intention of reprimanding whomever dared to disturb her, on today of all days. The only person who ever payed a visit to the mayoral mansion was Mr. Gold, usually requesting some sort of convoluted favor. Regina was the only person in the small town of Storybrooke, Maine who would dare go toe to toe with the intimidating old man, so she was usually the first person he would turn to when he needed anything done.
However, when Regina opened her door that night, she was startled to be face to face with a stranger. Being the mayor, she knew every single person who resided in her town, including all of the children. However, the boy in front of her was an absolutely unfamiliar person. He looked as if he couldn't possibly be older than twelve years of age, and she was certain she had never laid eyes upon him prior to that moment. Shocked by the arrival of a new face, a new child nonetheless, the brunette hardly noticed when the boy crossed the threshold into her home and went straight for the kitchen.
"Excuse me, but what do you think you're doing?" The woman who was already thrown off guard by the unexpected intrusion was utterly perplexed by the boy who was rummaging through her cabinets. "Where are your parents?"
"Wow, these cupcakes are even better than I remembered!" The strange boy, not paying any mind to the woman's question, managed to choke out through a mouthful of food.
"That did not answer either of my questions," the mayor responded in a clipped tone, becoming increasingly annoyed that he was paying her no heed.
Laughing, the boy shot her an incredulous look and simply exclaimed, "Oh, don't worry Mom-"
"-Excuse me? Mom? I think you must be confused," the normally composed woman interrupted nervously. The familiarity with which he strode through her house was off putting to say the least. For some reason, the boy gave her an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. "I don't even know your name."
"Yes you do!" The child answered with absolute certainty, his eyes burning brightly. "Think hard to six months ago. You gave me up and sent me to live with The Savior, so that everyone could get back their happy endings!"
"The Savior?"
"Yeah, you know, my other mom!"
"I do not have time to play games. What is your name? If you don't tell me I'll have no choice but to call the sheriff-"
"-No, you can't call her!" The boy interrupted quickly. His voice was panicked suddenly. "She can't know I came to see you."
"Sheriff Glass is not a woman, I can assure you of that." Regina was getting more aggravated by the second, finding the boy's prank obnoxious. She did not want to spend the rest of her evening arguing with the petulant child who refused to cooperate with her uncharacteristically soft tactics, and decided to take a different approach to the situation. "Now, you will tell me your name, or I will call the sheriff to drive you to Boston so they can find an appropriate home for you to stay in until you decide to tell them who you are."
"I can't tell you that. You've gotta remember on your own!" The urgency in his voice was deeply unsettling to the brunette.
"Alright. I see you've made your choice." The mayor began to walk towards her phone to dial the sheriff, seeing no other logical option. She did not particularly want to see Sydney at that moment, wishing for anything but a confrontation with the man. As she began to dial the number, the woman began to feel a bit lightheaded. She sat down on a stool at the island in her kitchen, attempting to ground herself. "Why do I have to remember? Why can't you simply tell me?" Regina did not know why she was so suddenly tempted to play along, but she was intrigued by the boy who seemed so sure of himself.
The child stared intently at her for a long moment. "Well, because of the curse, duh," he said slowly, as if he were talking to someone who lacked the capacity to understand his message. The look which crossed his face was uncomfortably familiar, as if she had seen it thousands of times before. The expression held, and the woman was suddenly alarmed by the sight in front of her. It was almost as if she were gazing into a tiny mirror.
"Curse? What curse?"
"The one you cast to take away everyone's happy endings?"
"What are you talking about?" Regina began to question if she had too much cider that evening. This kid was speaking nonsense, and yet she continued to listen. "How could I possibly cast a… curse? Curses aren't real," she said skeptically.
"Magic." The boy stated matter-of-factly.
"Magic?" The elegant woman raised an eyebrow at the sound of the claim. The youngster seemed to be positive about everything he'd had to say. He was not young enough to be unable to differentiate reality from fantasy, but he seemed so positive about the ludicrous claims he had made since invading her home. "There is no such thing as magic."
"Of course there is! You're the Evil Queen, and you were a powerful sorceress, and you wanted to get rid of Snow White and Prince Charming, but then The Savior was born and she was the only one who could break the curse, but she ended up over here, and-"
"Nonsense," Regina cut him off. Magic? Snow White? Evil Queen? "Those are simply stories. Fairytales. Works of fiction. What makes you think I am this 'Evil Queen'? Do I really come off as vain enough to kill an innocent girl who was under my care simply because she was prettier than me?"
"Actually, that's not why you wanted to kill her. It was way more complicated than that."
"Fine. Let's pretend for a moment that everything you claim is…true. Why are you here?"
"Because I need you to remember."
"Why?" Regina asked, exasperated.
"Because this time, when you cast the curse, you were more careful than you were before. You made sure that there were no loopholes. You're the only one who can break it."
The brunette squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, trying not to lose her patience. "If you won't tell me your name, will you at least answer one other question for me?" Regina was starting to feel more woozy, but was still alert to the stranger in her home.
"...Ok, fine."
"How did you get here?" Regina hated how her body had begun to betray her, causing her head to spin, and her thinking to fog. The world seemed as if it were spinning beneath her; it was as if she was floating above her own body, watching as someone else conversed with the strange boy in her kitchen while she tried to make sense of the situation.
"I hitchhiked," he stated plainly.
"That is incredibly dangerous! You could have been seriously hurt!"
"Oh, don't worry, I only did that from Boston until we got to the town border."
"What do you mean, only?" The woman was drifting dangerously close to the edge of consciousness, and she shook her head to try and clear it. "That's a good four hours away!"
"Yeah, I know. I took a train the rest of the way. But there aren't any trains that can go here, so I figured I'd catch a ride."
Her head was swimming, and she was suddenly all too aware of the fact she was alone with this unfamiliar boy. "The rest of the way? Where were you before you were in Boston?"
"I was here, I thought I already said that." He popped another of her baked treats into his mouth, oblivious to the fact the mayor had begun to sway in her seat.
"I meant, where did you take the train from?"
"Oh, right. New York City."
The nonchalance of his statement did nothing to comfort her. While he had answered one question, he presented the brunette with countless more. New York City? Why would anyone travel so far to the sleepy town of Storybrooke, Maine, especially in the dead of winter? Better yet, how did he even know how to get here? The modest bed and breakfast which was the only form of temporary lodging the town possessed hadn't seen a single visitor for countless years, and there were no landmarks or monuments worth visiting on a day trip. Visitors never came to Storybrooke – this was a well known fact.
The implications of this boy who claimed to be her son finally sent her over the edge. As her eyes fluttered closed, she was overcome with a rush of images, none of which made sense. The life of a woman who appeared to be her flashed before her eyes. Countless scenes flooded her vision: various citizens of the town she oversaw dressed in elaborate costumes and mythical beasts in dark forests. Herself as a young woman, the limp form of a man she had never seen before splayed in her arms. She saw herself on horseback, followed by armies, a malicious glint in the eyes she could not recognize as her own. She watched as purple smoke engulfed everything as far as the eye could see, transforming into the town she called home. The visions blurred with her memories before taking a sharp turn, as she watched the woman who could be her take a baby in her arms.
The last vision she had was of her and a handful of others, standing in front of a red line on the edge of town. The boy who had shown up at her door was in her arms as she cried, the same purple smoke approaching from behind. The child went with a blonde woman, pain streaked across her features. As the two strangers drove off towards the horizon, the smoke consumed her entire existence, replacing the images she had with a hollowness which threatened to swallow her whole. Overcome with a sudden grief, she allowed the dark nothingness which was pawing at her mind to drag her out of consciousness.
Before Regina fully slipped out of awareness, she managed to muster enough energy to mutter one word. "Henry…"
Special thanks to my wonderful beta, writers-dilemma! Without her, this never would have been published.