"Whatever my fate is... I deserve it," Cora said bravely as she stood before both of her daughters.
"Mother, you don't have to..." Regina begged her mother to reconsider.
"I can face it. Knowing I brought the two of you together, that's... that's all the peace I need."
"Mother..." Regina sobbed.
"Just promise me you'll hold on to each other. In the real Storybrooke, when I died... we never got the chance to say goodbye." She embraced Regina so tightly.
"And we never even got to say hello." She threw her arms around Zelena for the first and last time, it was a bitter sweet moment for both. "Oh, I love you both."
With that she stepped towards the edge of the pit and awaited her fate, the ground shook and the pit below grumbled into life. Within seconds she was engulfed in flames, the heat so intense she had to shield her eyes. Then there was silence and she felt a new warmth, kind and inviting, as a bright light appeared before her. She took one last look at her darling daughters and stepped into the light smiling.
In a swirl of purple smoke, the sisters materialised in Regina's living room. They held onto to each other so tightly, their embrace the only thing holding the other up, as deep sobs wracked their grief-stricken bodies. Robin and Hades were dead. One man ripped from this life in a final act of heroism to save Regina's life, the other banished from this mortal realm in an act of sisterly love. Hades had given Zelena a choice and she choose hope, she had already said goodbye to one family member and she was not prepared to sacrifice another. Especially when Cora, their mother of all people, had used her final moments to bring the two women together.
"Just promise me you'll hold on to each other."
Those words echoed around Zelena's head, as Hades urged her, that her only chance at happiness was with Regina dead. Now, the only thought swimming around Zelena's head was of the trust Regina had put in her, to change Hades, to hold on to her love. "I am sorry, Regina," she whispered as she pulled away from her sister, "I truly thought I could change him," But Regina's grip only tightened around her. "I know…..please don't let me go just yet." They stood there in each other's arms for what felt like an eternity. It would have been so easy for either woman to blame the other but all they did was draw each other closer, clinging to hope with every fibre of their being.
Neither woman aware of the other presence in the room, a woman they thought to be lost, watched as tears formed in her eyes. Scared to make herself known, scared to interrupt the moment, for fear her presence would startle the women. She thought about running, they had finally been at peace with everything she had done and here she was about to disrupt it all over again. Maybe they needed time, she had watched everything this evening from a distance, she felt their pain so deeply, pain such as this was all too familiar, it was second nature, always lurking in the peripheral. Her fight or flight responses kicked in and she chose to run, to give them time, however in her haste she knocked over a picture of Regina and Henry. As the frame hit the floor and the glass smashed the two women leapt apart, in search of the intruder. "Who is there?" their eyes fell on her as a fireball formed in Regina's hand, both women drew in a deep breath as she spun to face them.
"Mother? How is this possible?" Regina extinguished her fireball and began to slowly approach her mother. "What is happening? Are you really, here? Please be real," Zelena begged as fresh tears flowed down her face. "I am real….I am really here, sweetheart." Cora approached both women with caution and when she was finally close enough, she spread her arms and drew them in close. "Mother," both women whispered as they were engulfed in the embrace. "It seems I have been given a second chance to really make things right," Cora wept. "My girls…. I am so sorry you must go through this, I saw everything that happened and I know it is probably not what you want to hear right now, but I am so proud of you. So, proud of how you stood by one another…..God I never imagined, I would have you in one place again….together, there is so much I need to tell you."
The three women finally pulled apart and took each other in, "Mother, how is this happening? We saw the light, we watched you cross into it." Zelena questioned her mother and Regina nodded along. "Yes, you did but it wasn't what it appeared. I stepped into it, they sent me here and told they were sending me back, that this was my chance at redemption and to finally tell truth." The sisters looked to their mother and then at each other, none of this made sense. "There is a story left untold and with your father's soul gone, I am finally free to tell it. This isn't going to be easy but if you are patient, all will become clear. Maybe, for tonight we just rest? Both of you have already lost so much.
The sisters nodded in agreement, whatever it was their mother had to tell them, they could wait. It was clear from how their mother spoke, this was not a story they would enjoy.