Hello, So I did some reading and re-reading and decided to rewrite this story. I just got stuck and knew what I wanted with the story, I just didn't know how to put it into words. I own nothing but Katherine and Leonidas are mine.
"Momma!" Regina heard her little boy calling out to her in the distance. "Momma! Up!" She heard once more before she felt a heavy weight jumped onto her bed. She couldn't help but smile at the sound of his voice as she felt his small hands cup her cheeks.
She opened her eyes surprising him before she pulled down onto his back and overpowered her son with tickles. Her smile and laughter increased with his giggles. She stopped and gave him a kiss on the cheek before lying back down next to him. "Good morning little one."
Henry crawled into his mother's arms and put his arm around her stomach. "Momma, today Saturday?"
She ran her rand through his hair before placing a kiss on top of his head. "It is indeed."
He quickly jumped up and leaned over and with both hands he grabbed her cheek. "We go swim?" He asked with excitement in his voice. Regina nodded to answer his question and felt her son pull her face close to his before he planted a big wet kiss on her lips. "Love you momma"
They say that before you die your life flashes before your very eyes. If this is true, then Regina knew what fate had in store for her.
Regina sat at the desk in her office going over the town budget when she heard the door to her office slowly opening. She glanced at the clock on her desk and saw that Henry should be arriving soon. She couldn't believe that he was six years old now and was now half way down with kinder garden. He was growing up quickly and the one thing that frightened her most was will he still love her? She felt her eyes begin to fill with tears but she shook her head as if to shake them away. She heard the door slowly open again causing a small smile to form on her lips. She acted as if she hadn't noticed the small form slowly crawling into her office as she finished signing the expense reports. She slowly got up and walked over to the file cabinet to place them in their correct file slot.
She ran her hand through her hair as she heard her chair roll. She couldn't help but smile one more time before turning around to find her son sitting at her desk with a large lopsided heart that he had cut himself out of construction paper. Her smile grew even wider when she saw the grin across her son's face as he swung his legs back and forth presenting her with the card. She walked over to him and knelt down in front of him. "Is this for me?" She asked acting surprised.
"I made it." He said with a proud smile. She took the card and read it closely. "Happy mother day to my favorite mommy, love always, Henry." He said out loud as she read the card to herself.
She placed the card down on the table and pulled her son into her arms as she rose to stand. She held him close as she felt a tear of joy fall down her cheek. "I love it Henry. Thank you" She felt his tiny arms wrap around her neck as he laid his head down to rest on her shoulders. This was a moment she would cherish for the rest of her life.
Regina took a deep breath as the memory ended. She looked down at the diamond that floated in the air between her hands. She could feel the power draining from her body but she had to keep fighting. She had to make sure her son was safe. After all, this was her doing. None of this would be happening if it wasn't for her. But if she never enacted the curse, she would have never gotten Henry. He wouldn't exist. She wouldn't have gotten the chance to love him and know his love. God she missed the days when he would just let her hold him because he needed his mother. When Emma Swan came into town and the curse broke, everyone had forgotten that legally, she is henry's mother. She changed every diaper, spent sleepless nights soothing his cries of hunger, dealt with every temper tantrum he threw and raised him for the last ten years. Then, it was like she never existed and the last ten years she spent raising him where gone. She was nothing but a memory of a life that he didn't want. The woman who raised him was nothing more than The Evil Queen.
"Henry Mills!" Regina yelled as she shut the front door of her mansion. She received a phone call from school today that Henry had been misbehaving. Instead of doing his class work, he was drawing what looked like a knight killing a woman. He had labeled them as Prince Charming and The Evil Queen. She walked into the foyer and placed her purse and keys on the table before looking at her reflection in the mirror. She held the paper in her hand and looked at it once more before she heard stomping coming down the stairs. She turned to face her son who stood before her with his arms across his chest. "Care to explain this?" She held up the drawing.
Henry was now almost ten years old. Ever since he received a book of fairy tales from his teacher, he had begun to full away from her. His attitude and temper tantrums where out of control. She honestly didn't know how to deal with it anymore. "It's Prince Charming slaying the Evil Queen!"
She put her hands on her hips and took a deep breath to calm herself. "Henry, you're supposed to be focusing on your school work and not doodling. Go to your room, we'll continue this conversation during dinner."
Henry stormed off up the stairs in an instant. It was as if he couldn't stand to be in the same room as her anymore. The words that followed his escape broke her heart in an instant. "You're not my mother, you're the Evil Queen."
She felt the hot sensation of her tears slowly making its way down her checks as she took in a sharp painful breath. She closed her eyes forcing herself to concentrate. She could do this, save them all. She owed them that much. She took one final breath as she concentrated whatever strength she had left into stopping the diamond. Even though he had pulled away and fought her over the past year, she still loved him with all her heart. He was still her son no matter what anyone said. She saw the light from her hands glowing much brighter than before as the light from the diamond began to dim. She was doing it. It was going to work. She was going to save them all. She felt herself smile as she looked up and saw Emma running into the mines. "Tell him I love him with every fiber of my being."
Emma stood there in shock as she saw the light from the diamond disappear before she saw Regina's eyes close and the woman fell to the ground. "No!" Emma yelled as she ran to the side of the fallen Queen. She pulled her into her arms and began to check for a pulse. "Regina!" She yelled as she slapped the woman's face. She looked up to see her parents and Henry running in. Her eyes immediately went to Henry.
"Mom!" Henry yelled as she started running to Regina's side but he was quickly grabbed by David and lifted off the ground. "No let me go! Mom!" Henry began to cry and fought as David carried him out of the mines.
Snow dropped to her knees next to Emma who had placed Regina back on the floor and began CPR. "You are not going to die on us. You hear me Regina? Our son needs you." Emma said in between chest compressions.
Snow assisted Emma with trying to revive Regina but after ten minutes had passed and not a single movement or breath came from her, Snow tried to get Emma's to stop. "Emma." Snow said as she tried to grab her hands.
"No, we can do this." Emma said ignoring Snow's pleas.
"Emma, she is gone." Snow said as Emma stopped at the realization of her words. "Emma, she is gone." Snow repeated one more time, this time it was only a whisper.
They both sat there in silence looking down at Regina who lay motionless before them. They didn't hear David walk up beside them. He knelt down and touched both of their shoulders. "The portal is about to be opened." He said as he bent down to pick up Regina's body. They were not going to leave her here. Like Henry said, she is family. Even after everything she had done, she was still family.
Henry was fighting Ruby's hold on him as he cried for his mother. He couldn't get the image of her lying there on motionless on the ground. Not moving, not breathing. He wished he could have taken back everything he had said to her. Wished he could have taken back every tantrum he had pulled, every ungrateful stunt and hurtful words he had said. She was truly his mother. He was so blinded by the story of her being the Evil Queen from the enchanted forest that he forgot that she was and always will be his mother. He remembered the nights when he would sneak into her room at night because he had a nightmare and she would hold him until he fell asleep. Nights where he was sick with a fever and she would stay up all night taking care of him then going to work with practically no sleep at all.
Every year on his birthday, she would take the day off and they would spend it all day together doing whatever he wanted. He was so blinded that he didn't see how much she truly loved him. He looked up and saw Emma and Snow walking slowly towards them and not too far behind them was David. And in his arms he saw the limp body of his mother. Her head was hanging down and her arm fell to the side of her body. It just waved in the air, bouncing with every step David took.
"No." Henry yelled as Ruby held him tighter, turning him away from the sight of his dead mother. He finally pulled out of her grip and ran as fast as his legs could carry him. "No! Mom!" He yelled. He was grabbed by Emma and Snow and before he knew it, he was pulled back instantly. "No! I want to see my mom!" He began to throw his arms around in an effort to break free from their hold and it worked. He slowly walked up to David who had knelt down to the ground so Henry could be face to face with the woman who raised him. He took her hand in his and he felt the warmth that he remembered as a child gone from her hand. She was cold. He moved her hair from her face and used both of his hands to pull her head up as he placed his forehead against her. "Mom, please don't leave me." He said as he began to cry uncontrollably.
Emma and Snow watched the scene playing out before them. Their hearts broke as she watched the boy mourning his mother. They felt their own tears fall down their face. They paid no attention to the crowd that was now gathering around the fallen Queen and her son.
"I'm sorry for everything. I'm sorry I called you evil, I'm sorry for not listening. I'm sorry for tell you that you weren't my mother. I'm sorry I broke your favorite vase. I promise to be good. I promise to show you every day how much I love you." Henry said in between sobs. "I promise I won't pretend that you ever really loved me. I know you did. But I was so caught up in breaking the curse that I didn't see it. I didn't see the hurt in your eyes every time I called you the evil queen." He took a deep breath. "Please, mom. Please come back to me. Please don't leave me." He said still holding her head against his. He felt an arm on his shoulder. And he tried to shrug it off. "No! Don't touch me!" He held onto his mother.
"Henry, I won't let go of her." David's voice brought Henry's gaze to him. Henry turned and looked around at the crowed that had formed around them. Everyone was on their knees paying respect to the once Evil Queen. At that moment, she was no longer the Evil Queen, but the woman who saved them all. "I promise I won't let her go. I will hold her all the way through the portal."
"I'm afraid that won't be necessary." An unfamiliar voice spoke out loud. It was a voice that no one had ever heard before. Everyone turned to look to find the source of the voice and all of their eyes fell upon a bright glow next to David. When the light disappeared a woman stood before them. She was tall, dressed in all white and her long black hair flowing behind her in the wind. She looked at Emma and her piercing blue eyes made it seem like she was looking right through her soul. "Regina contacted me with her last wish. I will take her from here, Prince."
David stood up and took a step back from the unknown woman. He pulled Regina closer to him as Henry stood protectively in front of his mother. He felt the presence of the dwarves who came to stand at his side. "Who the hell are you?"
Snow took a deep breath before walking slowly up to the woman. "Katherine?"
The woman turned her gaze to Snow before nodding in acknowledgment. "Hello Snow." They embraced each other for a moment. "Regina contacted me this morning." She held up a crystal for Snow to see. She placed the crystal down on the ground and an image of Regina appeared.
"My Dearest Kat, my best friend. I have a favor to ask of you. By the time you see this, I will already be dead. I know you will try and come to my aid, Kat. This is something I must do alone. I am unsure of how to ask for this though so please bear with me." Regina took a deep breath as she placed her hands on her knees. "What I'm about to do will require all the strength I have left in me. After what happened this morning, there isn't much I have left to give. But I must do what I can to save the lives of the people I hurt so much, especially my son. Let him know that I truly loved him and I always will. In order for me to stop the fail safe, I must destroy it and in return, I will destroy myself." Regina's tears were now falling steadily down her checks. "Tell my son I loved him more than life itself. I hope he grows up to be a wonderful king. Do know that I will always be with your as long as you keep me in your heart. Miss Swan. Take care of my son." The image from the crystal ended and everyone was left in tears.
A man appeared next to Katherine and slowly walked to David. Henry began to push him away from his mother but he was grabbed by Emma. Grumpy pushed himself in between the man and David. "You're not taking The Queen anywhere, Mister."
"Regina belongs with her family." Katherine said as she stood tall in front of the dwarf.
"We are her family." Snow responded.
Katherine took a deep breath before moving her gaze back to Snow. "I know of your relationship with Regina, Snow. Have you forgotten? I was there for all of the pain that your father brought upon her. You were only a child, she could not blame you nor could she forget. She belongs with me." Katherine turned her gaze back to Grumpy "Leonidas."
The man took Regina from David's arms and held her tightly in his. Katherine looked at Henry, then to Snow and David. She returned her gaze back to Henry before walking up to him and kneeling down to face him. She reached into the pocket of her white jacket and pulled out a locket. She opened it and handed it to him. "Your mother wanted me to give this to you when the time was right." He took it in his hand and a smile crept across his face. "She wasn't always evil, Henry. Despite what you may believe or read in books, there are two sides to every story."
"Where are you taking her?" Henry asked as Katherine stood up.
"To her resting place among the Gods."
