You Saved my Mother
Regina disappeared in a cloud of smoke, clearly wanting to be alone after everything that had happened.
"She's back!" Snow exclaimed in utter excitement, while everyone else in the diner just stared at her as if she had grown another head.
"What are you talking about? Who?" Emma asked as confused as the others around her.
"You have no idea how long, I've waited for this to happen. Regina is back, the version of her that I first met. When she saved my life."
"Whoa, what are you talking about, I thought you were introduced to each other by the king." Emma was confused as usual in these situations.
"There's no crisis at the minute, do you want to hear the story before Regina was introduced to my father?" Snow looked hopeful, she wanted to tell someone.
"Okay" Emma was eager to hear about this story.
"Okay, so it all started out as a normal day and everyday just before tea time I was learning to ride a horse."
"Learning? How old were you?" Emma interrupted.
"Ten. If you want to hear the story stop interrupting," Snow snapped.
"I was finally allowed to ride on my own, but I got carried away. Literally by the horse. The horse carried me for what seemed like miles, until I heard another horse, galloping behind me. And at quite some speed. In a few minutes the other horse was in line with mine and the rider managed to grab a hold of me. My horse ran away and the mystery rider slowed her horse to a stop, lowered me to the ground and dismounted. She introduced herself as Regina and I introduced myself as well."
"Wow, Regina saved your life and in return for that good deed, her true love was killed." Snow's shifted uncomfortably as she felt responsible, "It wasn't your fault, and I'm just saying it's sad what happened."
"I know. After Regina defeated the latest villain she disappeared because it was today."
"Today? What do you mean?"
"He died today, if you're going to look for her that's probably where she'll be."
Emma smiled, because she knew Regina and she knew her mother was wrong. Emma went in a completely different direction and headed towards the stables.
Not many people went to the stables and Regina was always too busy as mayor and defeating villains to keep up her hobby of riding, right?
Wrong! She hadn't been riding for a while, but she taught Henry the basics during the first curse.
As Emma approached the stables (where the horses were kept) she could hear galloping from behind the stables, where people went to race or ride. She walked around to try and find Regina, but she was nowhere in sight. So she stepped onto the field for a better look. And all of a sudden she heard someone scream her name, Regina was on a horse coming straight at her. Regina did her best to stop the horse, but ended up being thrown off by the horse. At this Emma's eyes widened.
"Regina!" She screamed. In seconds Emma was beside her checking for injuries.
"Mom!" Henry yelled as he ran to both his mothers, addressing the one on her back. "What happened, you never fall off the horse?"
Regina smiled at this remarked. "I'm fine, though it's the first time since I was a teenager that I was thrown by a horse." She moaned in pain and got up off the ground dusting herself off.
"Henry, what are you doing here? You can't even ride."
"Actually, he's been learning since he was about seven years old." Regina responded. "With all of the villains in Storybrooke, we don't get to ride too often."
"Ms Swan, I'm sorry I disappeared, but it took you half an hour to find me and you didn't know that either of us could ride, so I assume Snow has already told you what happened years ago today."
"Daniel, yeah. I'm sorry. Does riding remind you of him?"
"Yeah, sometimes makes days like today easier." Regina smiled.
"You saved my mother." Emma stated.
"What?" Henry chimed in.
"Snow was 10 years old, it was her first time on a horse alone and she lost control. Daniel and I were nearby and I raced after. I was a great rider back then and I caught up with Snow and pulled off the horse before it through her off. It was how we first met."
"Why would Snow tell you about this now?" Regina curiously asked.
"She said you were back."
"Ahh, that makes sense, when I became evil Snow kept on wanting to give me chances to change. To be the person that innocent girl that saved her, when we first met."
"And it worked, even though you always insisted that she was gone. I knew she was still there." A voice came behind her.
"Snow" Regina knew who it was before she even turned around "you never lose hope, do you? Not even in the evil queen."
"Not in the woman who saved my life and taught me two of the most important lessons I've ever learnt." Regina, Henry and Emma all had the same puzzled look on their face. "True love is magic, the most power magic of all and when I nearly got killed on the horse you told me to face the fear."
Regina rolled her eyes. "I actually regret telling you that first one now and they all burst out laughing."
"Do you fancy a race for old time's sake?" Regina asked Snow, but before she could answer Emma butted in.
"Regina! You've just been thrown off a horse on to your back."
Regina and Snow both started laughing "What's so funny?"
They looked at each other and Regina answered "We both used to compete in competitions and have had much worse than that. My mother once healed a broken leg so that I didn't have to forfeit."
"Race then? Emma? Henry?" Snow asked.
"This is something, I've just got to see." He turned to Emma, "Who do you think is going to win?"
"Well, Regina just got thrown off her horse, so I'm going with mom."
"I'm going with my mom, you've obviously never seen her ride. Dinner at Granny's says Regina beats Snow."
Emma just smirked "You're on."
Emma was the one starting the race, to one end of the field and back. "On your marks, get set, go!"
It was a competitive race between step-daughter and step-mother and Regina only just won by the skin of her teeth.
"I've never seen anything more competitive in my life." Emma exclaimed.
"Mom's buying dinner at Granny's because she bet that Snow would win."
Regina gave Emma an evil look, "You bet against me Ms Swan." Then she smirked "It looks like we're going to Granny's to teach Ms Swan, that it's wrong to second guess my riding skills."
They led the horses back to the stables and headed to Granny's like a family and a strange one at that.