A/N: This is a one-shot set after the episode "The Miller's Daughter". The idea was created by Café au Lait while I, as usual, edited the story and pitched in a bit by adding a few things here and there. We hope you enjoy this one-shot!
Reviews are extremely welcome. Also, if you have the time to, please go check out our other story, "Love, Faith, and Hope". We would love to thank everyone who has supported us in "Love, Faith, and Hope". For our first fanfic, it was a great success, getting more than 550 views! It might not be a lot to some, but it is a wonderful amount for newbies like us. It's probably not the ideal place to thank you guys here, but I just couldn't help myself. (:
-Skye
One Mourn Left in the Family
Looking at her mother's body, Regina couldn't help but think back to the day when Cora apologized to her for mistreating her. She took what was left of her strength and disappeared in a puff of purple smoke along with the body. Snow, with guilt in her eyes, watched as the smoke fade away. Charming was about to say something when the bell chimed. Emma, Neal, and Henry walked in, intent to finish their fight with Cora. Henry hid behind Emma with fear in his eyes.
"Where is she?" Emma demanded.
Emma and Neal instantly knew something was wrong when they noticed Snow in tears. The solemn look on Charming's face made them even more curious.
"What did she do?" Neal asked, directing the question towards Snow and Charming. "Did she hurt you?"
Charming escorted Emma and Neal outside, and started explaining what just happened to Cora. Emma then simplified the explanation to Henry, wary to keep the horrific details as minimal as possible. Once Charming finished explaining, they all went back to Rumple's room, and told Snow to stand up. Charming, Emma, and Neal had decided the whole group was going to Regina's mansion.
The five approached the mansion. As they came closer to the door, they saw that the door was unlocked. They walked in, only to find every mirror shattered. They panicked. What if something happened to Regina?
"Mom, where are you?" Henry shouted, worry evident in his voice.
"Regina!" Emma screamed, looking around for any sign of where Regina could have been.
They were quiet for a moment, straining their ears for the smallest of sounds. Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
"Maybe she needs some time to grieve. Maybe she needs some time alone," Snow whispered, trying to reassure herself that Regina was safe and sound.
Charming was a little annoyed with Snow's attitude towards finding Regina.
"Time?" he said, finally letting his anger out. "If you simply give up on finding Regina, not only will the blame be bigger, you will also feel much, much worse. You just don't want to be blamed for, 'cause if something happens to Regina, you will be the one responsible. So no, we are not going to leave Regina with her mother alone. Sometimes, you just need to face it. Now let's go."
The group of five arrived at the graveyard, knowing that this was the only place left for Regina to be. They approached the coffin that stood in a small, run-down shack. Snow pushed the coffin to the side and went down the narrow staircase. The rest descended the stairs slowly, one by one. They heard some noise behind one of the doors, so they knocked on the door lightly and went in.
There, they saw Regina on the floor in front of three graves. She was sobbing quietly, hardly noticing the eyes on her. They were silent, not daring to say a single word. A few minutes went by before Regina finally spoke.
"It's almost finished," she said quietly, talking to herself.
"What are you talking about?" Snow asked, voice quivering.
Regina glanced at where the five of them stood, finally realizing that there were people in the room. She wasn't disturbed by this, however. She made no attempt to try to hide the fact that she looked awful, with tears uncontrollably streaming down her face, nose red and runny, hair tangled and messy. Everyone stared in utter disbelief. It had never occurred to any of them that Regina could act so torn, so disoriented.
Snow broke her gaze away from Regina's face and looked down at Regina's family tree, painted and recorded carefully down on a canvas. She saw Cora's name, just in time to see the letter 'a' in her name turn black. Black was a sign to show that a loved one had passed away, or died. She looked to her right and saw Henry, Regina's father's name, also in black. Right below was Regina's name, still in the color of purple. Purple had symbolized life, meaning that the person was still alive. Beside it was Daniel's name, also in black. Seeing this, more waves of guilt came over Snow, and she began to whimper, tears streaming down her face.
"Why is my name at the bottom colored so lightly in purple?" Henry asked timidly, unsure of how to act.
Regina refused to make eye contact with her son.
"It's fading because you're leaving me for Snow and Emma, you won't be part of my family tree anymore" she said, voice flat.
Emma could feel the hate and loneliness emanating from Regina, but she didn't know what to do. After having a small argument in her mind, she finally got the courage to ask,
"Why did you break all the mirrors?"
"I... I couldn't stand seeing myself, the only one left alive."
Regina's voice was flatter than ever.
"I'm so sorry for your loss," Emma and Neal blurted out at the same time.
Hearing this, Regina couldn't help but remember the times she has heard the phrase after the deaths of her 'husband', her father, Daniel, and now, her mother.
Henry took a step forward, but stopped looking at the plaque below Daniel's name.
"Who is Daniel? Why does it say beloved fiancé?" he asked, forgetting all about Cora's death for a moment.
A new batch of tears started pouring out of Regina's eyes. Henry caught this, and bowed his head down. The only emotions he could now feel were extreme sympathy and endless amounts of shame.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to," he said, apologizing. The apology was barely heard over Regina's sobbing.
A familiar sound drew everyone's attention - including Regina's - to the door of the room. A cane was heard, accompanied by footsteps. The footsteps of Mr. Gold's.
"Why, dearie, Daniel was your mother's true love," Rumple said, entering the room as if he was there all along.
Regina looked at Rumple, clearly hurt. Rumple didn't react to Regina's heartbroken face. Instead, he looked at Henry with an undecipherable expression on.
"Henry, I think it's time for you to see why your mother became who she is. You don't know much about her life before the Evil Queen persona came, anyway."
Rumple changed the door of the room into a giant mirror. Snow, Charming, Neal, Emma, Henry, and Regina gathered around the mirror, waiting patiently for something to mirror created an image.
The mirror showed scenes of Regina's life in short cutscenes, each lasting a few seconds long.
The young version of Regina falls in love with the man in the stables, hiding their love from her mother.
A king proposes to the young woman with worry in her eyes.
The young woman with eyes filled with hope asking her true love to marry her.
Regina chasing after a little girl whose horse went wild, and then asking for her to keep a promise after explaining how true love was magic, and that it created happiness.
A broken promise, leading to the death of her fiance.
A heartbroken woman being forced to marry a man she doesn't love while being forced to take care of a little girl who led to the death of her one and only true love.
A woman who was about to kill herself with a bite of a snake.
A woman who now wants revenge lets the anger and hatred take over her.
Casts a curse because of her desire to have a second chance in life.
Thinking this new life is her only happiness, she kills her own father.
In this new land, she finds happiness in a baby.
The years go by, and her son begins to hate her.
Emma coming to town, destroying her happiness.
"Do you think I am capable of doing such horrible things?" and having the reply "Of course, you're the Evil Queen."
Having the curse broken, and the little girl she saved so many years ago, having her happy ending again.
The road to redemption.
The accusations of murder.
Finally, the love of a mother.
Lastly, the scene where Snow was holding her mother's heart. "You don't feel loved, because she doesn't have her heart in her."
The thought of a mother's love, giving her heart back to her.
Seeing her mother dying in her arms, just like the day her true love died.
Having the same person who broke your promise, trick you to kill your own mother look down on you. The same thing repeated again and again.
"Love is weakness."
The mirror fades back, and almost everyone was now in tears.
Henry hugs Regina tightly by the waist.
"Don't worry mom, I still love you."
Henry's name on the family tree begins to glow a dark purple once again.