Hi everyone! Just a warning about this fanfiction: THERE IS A MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH.
So this idea came to me when I saw the new sneak peek for 3x11. I have a feeling that Regina is going to do the same thing she did in 2x22 when she was willing to stay behind in the mine to save Storybrooke. And thus...this fanfiction. Everythig written in italics happened in the past. While I was writing this, I was listening to "Unconditionally" by Katy Perry. It is a great song to have playing in the background when you are reading this. Just a recommendation! :) Enjoy the story!
She had almost lost him. He was the only reason that the hole in her heart had disappeared. The sole reason that that hole from the curse was now filled with light instead of darkness. The story that she used to tell him just before he went to sleep at night suddenly came to mind. It had become his favorite over the years-until he got the storybook that had been the beginning of the end.
Now, there was no time to tell him how much it had all meant. Yes, Henry knew she loved him but she had never really told him how much she considered it to be an honor to be his mother. Despite all the pain she had inflicted on him through her actions, he still loved her and looked past all of the darkness to who she used to and wanted to be. Her little prince always made her want to be the best version of herself. In that way, he would always remind her of Daniel. However, things never did turn out that way.
Regina raised her hands to the sky, calling forth her magic. She heard Henry calling out her name from just a few feet behind her. Just before she had stepped away from the group, she had told Emma to not let go of him for any reason. No matter what was about to happen to all of them. She closed her eyes and let a single lone tear fall. She was doing this to save him…to save ALL of them.
"Regina, wait a moment." Gold called out to her as the Charmings, Belle and the rest of the group turned to walk away from the Mills mausoleum.
"What? You just said we have to figure out where Pan is in case we can stop him in time. We don't have time to dilly dally Gold. This better be important." Regina said taking her arm off the shoulder of her son's temporary body. Henry cast a swift look to her face and she simply smiled at him. He hesitantly smiled back and turned to catch up with Emma. Gold waited a few more moments before he spoke again.
"There are some more details I wish to share with you about stopping the curse." He said casting a look towards the retreating group. Gold seemed to be making sure they were all out of earshot.
"What details? We don't have time to stand around and do nothing. If we hurry we may be able to catch up with the rest of them, and you can tell me on the way…" Regina muttered frustratingly turning away from the irritating man.
"REGINA…" Gold yelled out to her almost panicking. She stopped in her tracks and looked over her shoulder. Her former mentor's face was stern and almost….remorseful.
"What?" Regina declared loudly with a sense of dread as she turned around to face him. She folded her arms in front of her chest, the position she exhumed when she was afraid to let her true feelings show.
"To stop the curse, and save Storybrooke…it will require a GREAT deal of magic," Gold stated in a flat voice. "As the original caster of the curse you are the ONLY one who can stop it. However, it will come with a price." He glanced up from fiddling with his cane to look Regina directly in the eye. He didn't need to tell her what the price was.
It only took her a moment to understand. A moment to let it all sink in-the fate of every soul in Storybrooke, the people she had all cursed to this place in the first place, now depended on her. The life of her son was now in her hands. It was the diamond all over again-and just like before it was her fault. She kept Gold's gaze and thought she saw a bit of regret in his eyes. Regina had to look away. She felt tears well up in her eyes but blinked them away as she hugged her arms closer to her chest. She looked back up to Gold and nodded her head. With that, she turned around and held her head high all the while slowly coming to grips with her demise all over again.
As the billowing green cloud came towards the small group gathered in the town square, vibrant jolts of purple shot out of Regina's lifted hands. It drove forward meeting the curse head on. Regina grunted from the effort-feeling the strength of the curse push back. She just kept thinking the same thing. Rumplestilskin had always taught her that magic was fueled by emotion. Before, her magic had been driven by her anger and vengeance. Now, there was a new source, one more powerful than any other emotion-LOVE. The love she had for her son. Regina closed her eyes pushing forth all the magic at her disposal as she brought up memory after memory of Henry growing up in her mind. She smiled as they flashed through her head.
Henry taking his first wobbly stops through the foyer in the house on Mifflin Street. His first cut knee from falling of his bicycle when he was five. Every night that he would ask her to tuck him and tell him a bed time story. The first time he had said 'Mama', his first laugh, his first day of pre-school when he had rushed back to hug her for the fifth time. All the memories up to the night she had rushed out of their house to pull him tightly into a hug after he hadn't come home from school that day. The night that had changed everything in her life-when he muttered the words "I found my real mom". Following all of those wonderful, unforgettable moments were the painful ones as well. But then the past several days of having him back and knowing that he still loved her despite everything pushed the harmful ones away. Regina felt a smile play on her lips as the tears she had been withholding finally started to fall from her eyes.
Regina opened her eyes with a sense of finality. Her eyes glowed purple with her magic as she pushed against the curse with every ounce of magic within her system.
Suddenly, there was blinding light from where the curse and Regina's magic collided with one another. The curse was overtaken as streams of purple woven into the green cloud and transformed it into a glittering cloud of mist. As the last bit of light left her hands, Regina felt her body falling to the ground. She whispered out loud "I love you Henry," as her head hit the pavement. For a few seconds she knew the feeling of what it was to be a hero before her world turned black as her eyes closed.
A mighty wind blew through the center of town as the mist began to clear. Those gathered in the middle of the town square squinted through the mist searching for the source that had saved them all. A small boy standing in his blond mother's arms saw it first. A small body lying on the ground in the same spot he had last seen her.
"NO!" Henry yelled pulling and pushing away from Emma's grip around his shoulders. When he got free, he ran and fell to his knees at Regina's side. He took a hold of her limp hand. It was cold to the touch and then he knew. She was gone.
"Mom? Mom…no…no please. It wasn't supposed to be like this. Don't be dead…PLEASE DON'T BE DEAD. MOM!" Henry started sobbing, holding on even more tightly to his mother's hand.
He let go for a few seconds to wrap his arms around her shoulders. He heaved and finally pulled her head into his arms as he started to rock back and forth. He kept yelling her name-the first word he had ever said aloud. Henry didn't know how to process what was happening. She had saved them-ALL of them.
The Charmings, Rumplestilskin, Belle, and Neal all stood back letting the small boy grieve for the loss of his mother. It was finally setting in that the Evil Queen had risked her own life to save all of them. Snow stood in Charming's embrace with her head on his shoulder, while silently crying for the woman that had been her stepmother for so many years. Emma glanced at Neal and held out her hand. He grabbed a hold of it and squeezed it lightly. They knew they would have to pick up the pieces of today for their little boy. Gold kneeled by Belle on the ground, who had collapsed earlier after thinking she had lost him just before he had stabbed Pan, and placed his arm around her shoulder . He looked at his grandson holding his adoptive mother's body so tightly in his embrace.
He gently squeezed Belle's shoulder and stood up. Gold approached Henry as silently as possible so as not to startle the boy. He got down on his knees next to Regina's body and placed a hand on Henry's shoulder. Henry looked up from crying into Regina's hair and jerked away from Gold's touch.
He just shook his head and whispered quietly in an anguished voice, "It isn't fair. Why didn't she tell me? Just…WHY?"
Gold waited a moment searching for the answer. Then it came to him. He had thought that his former pupil would revert back to her old behavior when he told her what it would take to stop the curse in the cemetery. He had expected her to leave town with Henry and never look back. But she had surprised him-she had surprised everyone. It had come to down to one thing-her son. She wouldn't let him be alone. Regina had believed Henry could go on living without her. She had chosen to give up her life in the fear of losing him.
"Henry, she knew if she told you, you would have tried to stop her. As to why she chose to do it-it's because she loved you. My boy….you were her everything. She loved you-it's as simple as that. Her greatest fear was losing everything. So she chose to do the only thing she could to protect it." Gold said bringing up a hand to push Regina's brown locks out of her face. With a sad smile and a heavy heart, he stood up and walked back towards HIS everything-the son and true love that he would die for. He understood why Regina had made her choice. He knows, given the same circumstances, he would have done the same.
Henry looked down at Regina's serene face. She looked so peaceful and content-like she did in sleep. But the truth was staring at him-his mother was dead. She had died for him, for he could be safe. When he had been in Pan's body, she said she feared he didn't need her. But he did. He would always need the woman that knew everything about him, the role model that taught him right from wrong, and above all the MOTHER that meant the world to him. He sniffed his nose and gently bent his head and placed a kiss to Regina's forehead.
"You are my everything too Mom. I love you." He whispered.