To be destroyed by love.
It was her fate, or so it would seem. No matter how hard Regina had tried all roads lead to the same place.
She hadn't known. Not right away. The nature of her destruction had seemed insignificant in the euphoria of the curse. Her control had been absolute, her reign unquestioned. She had given little thought to the prophecy of demise that had seemed so far out of reach in this magic-less world. What hope was there? Who could oppose the fabric of the reality constructed neatly for them?
Then she arrived and piece by piece the truth came to light. It had begun with the defiance of her son. Perhaps she should have realized then. His birth mother the savior.
Her initial happiness experienced in precious few years became shriveled and beaten down by the lack of a child's love. It wasn't real. Like everything else in Storybrooke her son was an illusion. He called her evil and he spoke the truth, and it hurt.
The ache in her heart wasn't soothed in Graham's arms. He was a trophy, another illusion of a life constructed.
The ache deepened as she witnessed true love rear its ugly head in her town. Mary Margaret and David, names she had provided. She hurt with every moment the truth shone from their eyes. Snow White and Prince Charming would always find one another. That damned blue winged bitch had not been boasting after all. She had fooled herself for over two decades, into thinking that her power was greater. That nothing could defeat the blackness of her pain and rage. But she was wrong and that hurt too.
There were two things that Regina now knew were true in her life.
Her vengeance seemed old and tired and unappealing. Her rage which had carried her through was now an ember and the thought of exacting revenge on Snow White could no longer ignite her passions. The evil she had become was going through the motions, leaving a chasm inside her even she could no longer deny.
The second thing was that love would destroy the Evil Queen. Her destruction had been foretold and with her rage wearied, she could no longer imagine overcoming her destiny.
As David had reversed his truck out of her driveway, she had looked upon herself in the mirror. For the first time in almost fifty years Regina saw herself. Not the Evil Queen but Regina, older and beaten by the cost of dark magic and the loneliness that accompanied it. Looking upon herself she felt the pain of every rejection, every betrayal, every rotten thing she had ever experienced and her resolve shattered along with the mirror as she broke it. The image too closely resembled her mother, the very thing she had vowed as a child that she would never become.
Regina didn't want this. Not anymore.