Snow walks quietly through the gated fence, bundled against the chilly winter air. She carries a single tea colored rose. It has been five since the funeral, but only Henry had come to see her since, but even that stopped after the first year. No one really thought about it after returning to the Enchanted Forest, even though it was always an option to travel between the two realms after Charming and the dwarves started growing the magic beans again. At first, Snow had resented her for what she had done, but now, she only felt a heaviness on her shoulders as though she could have done something to stop it. Snow comes to a stop at her destination: behind the Mills mausoleum. She sits in front of the tombstone, legs crossed, and set the rose gently on the ground. She takes a breath, then begins to speak.
"Hello, Regina." Her voice sounds almost as it did when she greeted the same woman on the day she ate the poison apple. "It's been a long time. This visit is long overdue. I would have come earlier, but I... I was just so angry. I was angry that after everything, you would just take the easy way out- go down without a fight. It was so unlike you, the way you just... left. And even with Henry still around, you left him too.
"But I realized what angered me the most, was that you left me. I darkened my heart and you shoved it back into my chest. You said you were going to have it all- that you were finally going to win. But then you just left. I'm sure that you thought that everyone would be happy about your death, and it's true that most of the town was, but not all. Emma wanted you around for Henry. And Henry... well, I know he loved you. He still does, even when he's mad. I hear him crying himself to sleep sometimes, and I know he's thinking about you. I know, because I do it too.
"When you left, it felt to me as though even the Regina that I knew so long ago, had died too. She would have kept fighting. She had good in her, and so did you. You just couldn't see it. I can't help but continue to feel the guilt of what I did to you. You were so angry for so long and you did so many terrible things, and I know that I could have helped you. I know that now. But I missed my chance. Long before the curse, even, I missed my chance.
"Do you remember when you disguised yourself as a commoner to see what everyone really thought of the Queen? I saved you from your own guards, and healed your wounds. Of course, I didn't know it was you at the time. I even told you how after everything that you had done, I would still want to be a family. But then we stumbled upon that village of innocent people that you just slaughtered because they helped me, and I took back every word that I had said. You tried so desperately to change my mind. I thought you were just some kind stranger, looking for the best in the Queen until I realized who you really were after your slip on the details of my runaway horse. I realize now, that I could have saved you then. You were so hopeful that I could still love you after everything that you had done, but I was so angry that I refused your happiness, just like everybody else. I made you the Evil Queen.
"I am so sorry, Regina. Things should have never come to this. All you wanted was to love and be loved in return, but you could never have both until it was too late. Maybe if all the odds hadn't been stacked against you...
"You and I are not unlike each other, Regina. I was so blinded by anger towards you that I refused to love you until it was too late to make a difference. You were so blinded by anger towards me that you forgot how to love until Henry. He just didn't know how to love you yet. And neither did I."