I wonder what it's like in the shade of a tree, shooting the breeze, being care free. I wonder what I'd choose, given the choice between silence and noise, words or a voice.
Set during season 5, episode 2 'The Price' (Storybrooke)
(If you want to check out the song used in this chapter it's Beyond the Sun by Claire Guerreso – or you can listen to Lennon Stella's version) – I feel like this song is pretty much perfect for Regina.
Chapter 1
Henry tosses and turns in his bed, tired but not being able to shut his eyes and succumb to sleep. Lying on his back and staring up at the ceiling he hears his mother on the landing, opening the door to the room opposite his own, checking on Roland. Hearing his door slowly creep open he turns his head to see his brunette mother peeping her head around the door, he smiles at her, receiving a smile in return as she opens the door wider.
"You're still awake" she whispers
"Can't sleep" he sighs
Regina smiles softly at him and walks further into his room, quietly closing the door behind her. Ever since finding out Emma is now the dark one he has been having trouble sleeping. He smiles tiredly as she comes closer, letting his eyes drift shut when she places a soft kiss on his forehead.
"Do you think you could sing me that song? The one you used to sing to me when I was little?" Henry asks sheepishly, he'll talk with Emma tomorrow.
"Of course sweetheart" Regina gestures for him to move over, sitting down next to him, she leans back against the headboard and runs her fingers through his hair. His eyes drift shut as he listens to her begin to sing.
"I wonder what it's like, to live on cloud nine
Where everything's fine, all of the time
I wonder how it feels, to be unafraid
Day after day, after it rains"
Regina's voice flows softly throughout Henry's bedroom, the young teenager perfectly content and falling deeper into slumber.
"Someday, somehow, before too long
I'll say goodbye to my burdens,"
Regina looks down at her not so little sleeping boy, the one troubled with thoughts no teenage boy should have to worry about. "I'll fly beyond the sun" she whispers, carefully getting up from the bed before quietly walking towards the door, she casts one last glance at him and smiles softly, closing the door behind her.
"This way" David expertly avoids the roots rising from the ground but soon stops short, losing sight of Robin and whatever the hell it was that dragged him off.
"THERE IT IS" Arthur yells pointing towards the creature, hearing the screech. Snow turns to see Regina disappear in a poof of purple smoke, faltering slightly before catching up with David, Arthur and Leroy.
Regina watches as Robin is flung to the floor, feeling the anger rising and the heat of the fireball in her hand. "You're not taking him anywhere" flinging the fireball she watches as it completely misses and before she knows it she's being tossed aside into the tree with a loud thump.
"So you wanna do this the hard way?" she huffs getting to her feet conjuring fireballs in both hands "Good, because I love the hard way" but before she can throw the fire she's once again thrown back at full force, her head and upper body connecting harshly with the tree.
"Regina!" she can hear someone calling her name but it's distant, her eyes darting as she tries to keep track of Robin but her vision blurs. Letting out a small whimper she feels a sharp pain shoot through her head and something wet trickling out of her nose.
Mary Margaret runs past David, seeing Regina smash into the tree trunk. "Regina!" she hears the brunette let out a whimper "Are you okay?" bending down she watches gratefully as David stands behind Regina, hands on her shoulders keeping her steady.
"I'm alive if that's what you mean" Mary Margaret cups Regina's chin trying to get her to focus on her when she sees the blood trickling from her nose. "Oh she needs help" reaching into her pocket she pulls out her handkerchief, gently wiping away the blood.
"Leroy, get her to the hospital" David orders but Regina is quick to argue, he grasps her by the arms when she sways a little to the side
"No! No I have to go after… I have to go after that thing, Robin…" she pushes away Mary Margaret's hand but the persistent brunette grabs her by the shoulder "You have to get checked out"
Regina almost looks like she's about to admit defeat but then that little voice in her head tells her otherwise. "You don't believe I can do this" she watches the hurt and disbelief cross Mary Margaret features "That's what this is"
Mary Margaret leans closer to look her in the eyes "We won't let anything happen to him…" Regina's body spasms causing her to double over, letting out a sharp gasp feeling pain radiate through her body "But you need to let someone look at you" she insists firmly but softly
Regina lets out a heavy sigh in defeat. "Go" she cries watching as Arthur and David head off in direction Robin was taken
"Can you stand?" Mary Margaret asks. Regina looks up at her, wondering whether to snap back with her famous 'I'm fine' or admit that she needs help. The thought of how far her relationship with Snow has come occurs to her, gone the evil stepmother and stepdaughter and replaced by friendship.
Sighing Regina glances to Leroy warily and back to Mary Margaret who catches the look in her eyes, she smiles softly and holds her hands out in front of her. Regina places her hands in Mary Margaret's and squeezes tightly, looking up at her she sucks in a breath and nods. Mary Margaret pulls her up, gripping on to her hands and once Regina's on her feet a muffled cry escapes her lips. Leroy stands behind Regina, arms out at the ready as he watches her struggle to find her footing.
Mary Margaret's eyes are laced with worry as she tries to get Regina to focus on her, the blood still dripping out of the brunette's nose. "Regina? Regina look at me"
Her eyes widen with panic when Regina sways, her eyes rolling back as her body goes limp.
"Great, now what" Leroy huffs, catching the former Queen just before her body connects with the ground, lowering her down gently
"Leroy" Mary Margaret scolds, narrowing her eyes at the dwarf "We can't carry her all the way back" looking back down at an unconscious Regina brushing the hair away from her forehead "Go back to the camp get David's truck bring it as close to here as you can" she orders, hearing a "You got it sister" as the dwarf rushes off.
"What on earth happened?!" Mary Margaret whips her head around towards the booming voice to see Granny running towards her with a scowl on her face.
"Long story, but she's unconscious and there could be a head injury or bruised ribs I don't know" Mary Margaret panics. Granny kneels down beside her, checking Regina's pulse before giving her cheek a light tap, calling her name.
"I tried that" Mary Margaret huffs, hearing a car door slam behind her she whips her head around to see Leroy opening the passenger car door before coming toward her
Granny carefully takes the Queen into her arms, slowly getting to her feet. Mary Margaret takes the keys from Leroy thanking him. Getting into the driver's seat she looks over to Granny who holds Regina close to her with a frown, Regina looks frail, something she's never seen before but has a pretty good idea that Granny has.
As predicted, as soon as Regina began to wake she was demanding to leave the hospital to go look for Robin, anger flaring that Whale had sedated her due to her concussion, only calming slightly when Snow tells her that David and Arthur are still out there looking for Robin. Mary Margaret watches as the older brunettes eyes slowly droop closed, knowing it won't be long before she's awake and determined to leave.
"I wonder what it's like in the shade of a tree
Shooting the breeze being carefree
I wonder what I'd choose, given the choice
Between silence and noise
Words or a voice"
Henry rushes down the hospital hallway, nearing the room his mom is in when something stops him in his tracks. Singing, he knows that song, but this time it's being sung by a different voice.
"Someday, somehow, before too long
I'll say goodbye to my burdens
I'll fly beyond the sun"
"Mom's song" Henry announces from the open door, startling Mary Margaret. Walking into the room he goes over to sit on the bed where his mother lays.
Tearing his eyes away from the pale brunette he smiles warmly at his grandmother. "Did she sing it to you when you were younger?"
"Maybe, I'm not sure" Mary Margaret shrugs, her hand still wrapped around Regina's
Henry furrows his brows in confusion "Then how do you know it?"
"The year we went back to the enchanted forest I'd come down with a terrible fever. Granny took care of me at first but apparently I kept asking for Regina" she glances down at the woman with a small laugh "I was being clingy. But she came, and she stayed. It must've been during the last days of the fever, she was laying with me and braiding my hair to keep it from sticking to my forehead and she just started to sing. I never really paid attention to the lyrics until now"
Henry's mouth drops slightly in surprise, reaching down to hold the hand not encased in his mothers "She used to sing it to me when I was sick or had bad dreams. Always made me feel better"
Mary Margaret smiles at him, knowing now that that song also helps Regina feel better. She looks down at the woman she has so much love for, a woman she spent years battling, a smile covering her face when she thinks about how far they've come.
Okay so this is really bad haha, but I've had this on my laptop for ages and thought I might as well just post it. And for anyone reading my 'Little Mystery' story, I am so sorry about the huge delay in posting the next chapter but I'm working on it I promise.
