AU: After Cora's death, Regina found herself at a dead end. There was no one left in this world for her to love and no one left to love her in return. She decides to cross the town line leaving all her memories behind. Unknown to her, when she enacted the curse, it brought Daniel to this world—alive and memories intact but not in Storybrooke, Maine. On the streets of New York, true love prevails.
Dear Henry,
If you are reading this it means that you've finally come home. However, home is not where you will find me. I'm sorry that I can't be there to welcome you.
I want you to know first beyond all else, that I love you. I have always loved you. Henry, you may not be born of me but I loved you as if you were my own. I once said to you, that I don't know how to love very well. It was not that I loved you little; I love you just as purely and fervently as other mothers love their children. Please remember that.
As a mother, I understood that my task here in the world was to do you good. I failed you Henry. I tried so hard to be the best mother I knew how to be. I hurt you and I'm sorry. You brought happiness into my life and all I did was take away yours. I realize that now.
I shall cherish those early years, when you only knew me as your mother. There were times that we were okay, wasn't there? I hope so.
I wish I was strong enough to be the mother, the person you wanted me to be. But I'm just not, Henry. I have lost so much in my pursuit of finding happiness and along the way, all I have achieved was hurting the ones I loved most. I'm tired of losing. But please understand, my reason for leaving has nothing do with what you did or didn't do. I just want you to be happy.
Don't be frightened and sad because I am not coming back any more. Learn, my little prince, to look at life early as a serious matter. Life is hard, it does not pamper anybody, and for every time it strokes you it gives you ten blows. Become accustomed to that soon, but don't let it defeat you. Decide to fight.
Henry, I hope now with me gone, you will have the family you always dreamed of. You will always be a part of me Henry. I carry you in my heart, as I always have. I love you.
Your mother.
He found the letter on his bed. He wonders now how long has it been lying there. A frown begins to form as he is trying to recall in what state he found the letter. He rubs the pads of his fingers hoping that there may be some sort of imprint of dust to indicate a timeframe. There was none.
Staring at his door way, "Mom?" he chokes. Disbelief clouds his thoughts as he dashes towards the master bedroom. He continues calling out for her, his voice growing frantic as he drew nearer. He pushes her bedroom door and it swings wide open, the hinges creaking at the force.
It's so empty, he thought as his eyes dart around the room. The pale tones of her bed accentuating the emptiness enveloping the room. The flowers were wilted and yellow, its life fading away. "Mom?" sounding like the child he was not too many years ago, asking for comfort on those nights the shadows got the best of his imagination.
"Maybe she's just taking a short trip," he says to himself. "Like I did when I went to New York," he thinks optimistically. But he finds her closet is empty, her vanity stripped of its adornments. With his head hung low, he heads over and sits on her side of the bed, a sign of defeat. He doesn't cry.
The loud noise that echoed throughout the mansion prompted the Sheriff to check on her son, who wanted to grab a few things from his room. Under any other circumstances, she knew that treading upstairs in the former Mayor's mansion would have been suicide.
She finds him in the master bedroom, Regina's room, sitting on her bed while absently staring at a piece of paper. Three times it took for her calling his name to get his attention. The look on his face as he turned to face her was heartbreaking but she knew that look all too well and it made her stomach turn. "She's gone".
Please review! I'd love to hear what you think! ~parilla-adkins~
A/N: part 1 of 3