It's Nice to Have Family in Town
AU: Regina leans forward, a rather serious expression on her face. "I want to know your side of the story." The redhead blinks. "Why? So you can pity me?" "So I can understand you."
AN: First OUAT fic I've written. Lana Parrilla mentioned in the OUAT Q&A panel at Spooky Empire that a line was cut from S03E20 during the jail cell scene between Regina and Zelena where just before Regina leaves, she turns back and says "it's nice to have family in town" hence fuelling me with a lot of feelings and I just wanted to write this to sate my angry soul because tHAT IS A BEAUTIFUL LINE WHY WOULD ANYONE CUT IT OUT. I'd been meaning to write a Regina x Zelena fic but I kept putting it off then Lana said that and it set me off so here we go.
It's nine in the morning and she's about ready to leave home with a basket full of red apples in one hand and her purse in the other. She grabs her keys and steps out the door, then heads towards her sedan. The basket is quite heavy, she thinks, but she couldn't think of anything more perfect to bring. It clearly didn't help that she was wearing her usual six inch heels and tasteful form fitting dress but she wasn't going to leave her exquisite style behind, even if it was just for a brief visit.
It's a short drive from her house to the sheriff's office. There were no cars around so Emma was probably out dealing with some silly thing, she figures. Better that she wasn't around, anyway. She preferred speaking with her sister alone.
As she walks in the building, she recalls the last time she had family in town. A flashing image of her mother's last moments in her arms comes up which stops her in her tracks. She takes a deep breath before continuing inside.
She'd always felt conflicted when it came to her mother but at that moment... The way Cora had used her last breath to tell her she "would've been enough", the way she was trembling as strength left her body, was something she could never imagine. She disappeared just as quickly as she appeared back in Regina's life, faster than a heartbeat. Then all of her blood relatives were gone and Regina was alone again.
Until Zelena came around.
"Regina," Zelena says as she turns around upon hearing the clacking sound of heels on ground. Her crystal eyes trace the weight that Regina was heaving and she scoffs.
"Good morning." The mayor puts on a radiant smile on her face, as if she hadn't been thinking of something awful just seconds ago. "A gift."
Zelena's eyes follow Regina as she places the basket on one of the desks and takes one pristine red apple out. She brings it over and offers it to the redhead. She considers it for a moment and lets her sister stand there with her hand stretched out for a beat or two before taking the fruit from her hand. She doesn't take a bite and instead examines the unflawed red skin. She has to hand it to Regina, she sure knows how to take care of her apples.
"I'm assuming you didn't come here just to drop off your gift," Zelena says with her eyes still glued to the apple.
Regina takes out a tupperware container from her bag and drags a chair near the cell. "How very astute of you." She opens the lid and helps herself to a slice of an apple.
"Then why are you here?"
Zelena turns to look towards Regina, noticing the sliced apples in her hand. Of course, she'd brought a portion of sliced apples for herself. The queen - always stately and graceful. Unless it was just Regina's very subtle, passive aggressive way of saying she was undeserving of her apple being sliced for her.
"I'm here because I have a question to ask you."
"And what's that?"
"In this world, there's a well-known story of Snow White and The Evil Queen. It's a story about the queen who made Snow White take a bite from a poisoned apple—" Regina takes one crunchy bite of a slice with perfect timing. "—which put her into a deep sleep until her Prince Charming gave her true love's kiss."
"What exactly does your failure to take away Snow White's happy ending have to do with why you're here?"
"I'm telling you this because in this story, they left out all the history between Snow White and the Queen, and apparently, the reason why Snow White was poisoned, was because the Queen was jealous of her beauty." The brunette cocks her head to the side a little with her eyebrows raised and half a laugh. "Whoever thought of that story was clearly delusional." Regina leans forward, a rather serious expression on her face. "I want to know your side of the story."
The redhead blinks. "Why? So you can pity me?"
"So I can understand you."
"Understand me? You never will. Not when you grew up as a princess and became queen. Not when you grew up with your parents, when they wanted you. Not when people fawn over you like that thief. As I said, you know nothing, Regina."
"I may never experience what you felt but I can try to understand where you're coming from. You said you saw everything that happened to me. It's my turn now to hear your side of the story, it's the least you could do."
Zelena scoffs and turns away. "Your sense of entitlement is astonishing. I don't owe you anything, certainly not a retelling of my past."
She knows Regina's trying to get through to her. She knows that she's simply trying to see how she became green with jealousy. She knows but her walls were up so high she wasn't sure if she could ever take them down. It was futile, anyway. The last time she tried with Glinda, well, that worked out pretty well, didn't it? Her whole life was basically one failed attempt after another and she was about done with it. Allowing Regina in would just be another failed attempt and she wasn't sure she could take it without her magic, her sole source of relief. The only way she knew how to vent her anger.
"Zelena, you've seen what happened to my family. I have no more blood relatives left except for you. As much as you've tried to kill me and I've tried to kill you, it's still nice to have family in town."
Disbelieving of what she heard, Zelena turns to face her sister, whose face is weary and honest. She's slightly taken aback but a small part of her is happy, a feeling she's forgotten for a long time.
"Killing each other seems to run in the family, anyway." Regina manages a smile.
Zelena's expression softens a little, a shadow of a smile on her lips. Maybe this time, it'll be different, she wonders. Maybe sisterhood is different.
The redhead starts to say something when Emma walks into the office while tying her hair in a ponytail. "Oh, sorry, am I interrupting something?"
"It's fine, I was just leaving," Regina says as she gets her things together. She takes another look at Zelena and nods before she leaves.
The words find their way back into Zelena's throat and are soon forgotten, but not quite soon enough. She takes a bite of the apple still in her hand and finds that she doesn't mind the sweet taste spreading through her mouth.
AN: This should be a three chapter thing but that depends on the reception? I purposely ended it the way I did so it could be a one shot too. I apologize for using the line "it's nice to have family in town" so repetitively but I love the line a lot, a LOT, A L O T. Okay, thank you very much for reading, bless your soul. - Syd.