So many feels in the finale! I was giving up on the Regina/Henry relationship entirely, and then the show went and sucked me back in. I wrote a little one shot picking up from the scene where Regina and the Charmings are in the mines and continuing on as if Henry wasn't kidnapped.
He comes to her when the world is about to end.
Regina watches Henry ensconced in the Charmings' arms. She would have given her life so that he could spend his with the family he loves. Even as the diamond sucks every bit of life from her, she fights to give him a few more minutes with the people he loves before they're taken from him forever.
And then he pulls out of their arms, and he walks to her.
A sob bubbles out of Regina with a smile, because he's come to her in this last moment. Her baby.
She doesn't waste a second more, because he's here and he's listening. "I love you, Henry."
He holds her, wraps his arms around her like she is the one thing in this world he doesn't know how he will live without. She is the person that Henry will cling to until the bitter end, until the earth comes and swallows the town once more.
Henry clings to Regina like she had to her own mother, his arms begging her not to leave him. She wishes she could hang on for him, because she would give him anything, and if what he wants is her, then she can think of nothing better in the world.
He lays his head on her shoulder and closes his eyes. Just like he had as a baby, when she had soothed him in the middle of the night, when she had sung to him and kissed his soft, fuzzy hair.
The pain pulses through her body, but she hangs on and fights. Fights so they both can have this feeling a little longer. This feeling of knowing they are loved, that they are exactly where they belong. If she has to leave her child behind then she must leave him with the knowledge that he is so very loved.
And then Emma is there, and they're taking a leap of faith together, and they're saving this town for the child whom they love more than life itself.
Regina is thrown back, startled for a minute, until a terrified voice is calling her – "Mom" – and she pulls herself up like her body doesn't ache and burn.
"Henry," she whispers.
"I love you," he offers. The words feel like a treasure. Like the most beautiful treasure she has ever been given. He doesn't call her a hero or tell her that she saved them. He tells her that he loves her. It means so much more.
They emerge from the mine – all five of them together – a family of sorts. Charming has one hand on Regina's arm, probably because he has noticed that she is wobbling badly as she walks. And Henry – her darling Henry – he has his arm wrapped around her waist, as if he could hold her up should she fall. In his way he does.
"Everyone is waiting for us at Granny's," Snow says when they reach daylight.
Regina stops.
Charming – all regal nobility – speaks: "You were willing to lay down your life for them, Regina. You should come with us. They will want to thank you."
Maybe they will. Or maybe they will still want to crucify her. But now, Regina thinks, it doesn't matter at all. She isn't the queen anymore. They are not her subjects, and she owes them nothing more. She's saved their lives, and now there is no need for a regal decree, for a procession through the streets. She isn't the queen.
She smiles.
She had sought to die as Regina. She wonders – with a thump of nervous, joyous anticipation – what it might feel like to live as Regina.
"I'm tired, Mom," Henry says, surprising all of them that he doesn't want to go to the diner and revel in the excitement and heroism of the day. He had stormed into that mine announcing that Regina was a hero and that he and the Charmings would be too. And though they had won, though it felt to Regina like an impossible miracle, something had changed. They had faced the certainty of death, the certainty of Henry losing all of them. And something had changed.
"Me too," Regina says with a smile. She hasn't smiled like this in years, like she can't stop it, like the joy is bubbling up from within her. It feels something like freedom and love at last.
Henry walks to Emma and hugs her tightly. "I love you," he tells her.
"Love you too, kid. I'll see you tomorrow, ok?" She sounds just as spent as Regina feels.
Snow walks towards Regina, and for a minute Regina thinks that Snow is about to launch herself into Regina's arms. Apparently Snow thinks better of it. She stands before Regina: a woman, a mother. Regina wonders when the girl had transformed into these things. "Thank you Regina."
It makes tears well in Regina's eyes, a lump form in her throat. She nods curtly. "Thank you," Regina says. "I assume it was your idea to come back for me."
"We all wanted to," Snow says, but she's as bad a liar now as she had been when she had broken Regina's favorite vase at 14 years old.
"It was stupid of you," Regina says, before adding sincerely – because the fact that this woman still loves her is one of the great mysteries of Regina's existence – "but thank you."
Henry leads her home, his warm hand clasped in hers. When they arrive he opens the refrigerator and takes out the orange juice – the orange juice that only Henry drinks. Juice that Regina has bought every time she's gone shopping for the past 11 years. She never had been able to stop once he moved out.
"Are you hungry?" Regina asks.
"Can you make me a grilled cheese?"
"Of course," Regina says. It's been months since she has cooked for him. Longer since he has sat at the kitchen counter and grinned at her like he's doing now.
Regina steadies herself against the refrigerator as a wave of dizziness hits her. She feels for a moment like her legs will be unable to support her, but she manages to just barely hang on.
"Are you ok?" Henry asks, nervously.
"I'm fine sweetheart."
"I can cook," Henry offers.
"What do you say to ordering pizza?"
"Sure!"
They eat together, the two of them at the large table, and it feels just like it had when Regina had first adopted him. It feels like a house once so cold and empty is suddenly incredibly full of laughter and warmth and happiness.
"Mom," Henry asks when Regina walks into his room to say goodnight. "I know I'm too old, but can I sleep in your bed with you tonight." He fidgets a little, looks embarrassed at asking. Like he should be strong; should be a man.
But he's her baby. "Of course you can."
Regina lies down on her back and stretches out an arm to Henry, just as she had done when he was small. He cuddles against her, leaning his head on her shoulder. She wraps her arms around him, hugging him tightly.
"I love you, my darling."
"I love you too, Mom." He knows who she is, and he loves her anyway.
He came to her when the world was about to end, and it had meant everything to Regina.
And then, when the world continued on, he stayed.