"The child…?" The queen's voice was hoarse, dangerous, in an attempt to try to hide how afraid she actually was; afraid, she might fail after all. Maybe Snow White and her stupid prince had found a way to get their baby out of harm's way. Probably they had been worried sick and sleepless, desperate to find a solution. "She is next door," one of her knights said and relief flooded her body. She needed to kill her, she knew she did. It was the only way to secure her curse, to make sure that, after all, she got her well-deserved happy ending. Just one more murder, one more death. Having slayed enough people to have lost track of the actual number years ago, how much more of a difference would it make? How hard could it be? A cakewalk.
As she hovered over the little bundle, she looked at the small figure, really looked at the baby girl beneath her, who wasn't the least afraid or terrified; all she did was study Regina. Study Regina with big eyes, colored in the most perfect mixture of blue and green imaginable. They reminded her of the lake at which Regina had first kissed her true love, her Daniel, a long time ago. A time when she had been blithe. And had still believed in happy endings. But now all there was was hurt. Bitterness. Solitude. And the craving for revenge.
She raised one hand, holding it just mere centimeters over the child, Emma, apparently, ready to use her magic to end the pathetic life before it could even really begin, when the little girl reached up to grab Regina's slender pointer finger with her own chubby ones. A giggle escaped her lips, toothless smile on her face. Regina froze completely. This was supposed to be easy; it should even be fun to be able to finally take away Snow White's happiness. But it was not; not even a bit.
This tiny human being had done nothing wrong, whatever she might do in the future aside. Her only fault had been to be born to the wrong parents. Or maybe it was just the wrong time. With another family, in another era, she could have been happy, she could have lived a long, fulfilled life. Unfortunately, not here, not now.
Regina could feel the curse coming closer, evolve its magic, and she knew she needed to do it, needed to kill her enemies child; now or never. It was hard, though, with the baby still holding on tight to her finger, smiling, babbling. Again, she focused her gaze on Emma, forced herself to hate this innocent person enough to use her cruelest magic on her. She couldn't.
In her head, she could hear the voice of her mother. Her mother, who had tormented her her whole life, had forced her into a loveless marriage for her own good. She was telling her how weak she was, how much of a coward. That she was not good enough, had never been good enough and would never be. Regina hated her; she hated Cora for all she had done to her. She was the one who deserved death, not Emma.
A single tear escaped Regina's eyes, making its way down her cheek, finally falling from her face and landing right on the baby's forehead. Surprised, she squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, contorting her face. Without another thought, Regina picked the petite bundle up. She was stunned by her own empathy, which she thought she had long lost, but this was different; Emma was different.
Pressing the girl to her chest tightly, she could feel the curse hit. The ground was shaking, everything around her was falling apart, while she was taken to another land. A land, where she would finally and ultimately get her long-awaited happy ending.