Apology:

A short one-shot that I've had in my head after the end of 6x02, Regina and Zelena:

Zelena was sitting in the kitchen of her small cabin making herself some waffles for breakfast when all of a sudden some knocked on the door. Zelena carefully picked Robin up out of the baby carrying she had been lying in next to the table and carried the baby to the door. Zelena opened the door and was surprised to see her sister standing there holding a brightly colored gift bag and a bouquet of sunflowers. Zelena blinked in shock, then blinked again, she wasn't certain what was going on, "Regina?" she asked uncertainly.

Regina bit her lip nervously, "Can I come in."

Zelena stepped to the side, "Of course."

Zelena moved over and allowed Regina to come into the home, the two of the walked back into the kitchen and Regina said, "Zelena I came here to apologize to you. I'm sorry I accused you of going into my vault."

Zelena gapped at Regina, of all the things she had been expecting, that certainly wasn't one them. Zelena knew what Regina was talking about (of course), but decided not to let her sister know about the Evil Queen, so she just asked, "So you realized I had nothing to do with it then?"

Regina sighed heavily, "Yes, I know exactly what happened. It seems that the Evil Queen isn't actually dead."

Zelena's waffle maker choose that moment to beep and Zelena stood to open it, "what do you mean?" Zelena asked, despite already knowing the truth.

Regina shook her head, "I don't know how this is possible, but apparently when I crushed the Evil Queen's heart after using Jekyll's potion to separate the two of us I didn't actually kill the Evil Queen."

Regina took a breath and said, "The Evil Queen is now here in Storybrooke, she is the one who broke into my vault, and she also stole some ingredients. The Evil Queen took control of a man named Monte Cristo, and I killed him." Regina finished the sentence quietly with a look of regret in her face.

Zelena felt a rush of sympathy for Regina, Zelena might not be happy with the choices Regina had made recently, but she also knew how important having a fresh start was for Regina and she didn't like seeing the pain on Regina's face.

Zelena said, "I'm sorry."

Regina shook her head, "I just don't know how we're going to face this one, but whatever happens it's going to be hard. I came here to say I'm sorry for blaming you, and also to warn you about this."

Zelena turned to Regina curiously, "Warn me?"

Regina nodded, "Yes, absolutely, the Evil Queen is dangerous. Zelena I know you think the Evil Queen is the part of me that is most like you, but I don't think that's entirely true. Ever since we have came back from the Underworld you've been different. Before all this the only thing you cared about was your revenge and getting the life you wanted, but now you're different, you've become a mother." Regina nodded towards baby Robin, "And you've become to care about others, you're not as much like the Evil Queen as you believe Zelena. You're becoming a better person. Still, even if you were just as bad as you had been when we first met the Evil Queen would still be dangerous to you."

Zelena starred curiously at Regina, she certainly hadn't expected to hear that. Zelena knew that things between the two of them had gotten better since the Underworld, but Zelena honestly hadn't expected Regina to say that she saw Zelena as a better person, and the Regina thought Zelena was changing for the better. Zelena swallowed hard, "You really think that I'm becoming a better person?" She asked in a hesitant voice.

Regina nodded towards Zelena, "Yes, I do. I believe it because I saw the same thing in myself once, and I recognize the signs. You're becoming a better person Zelena, and I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions and assuming the worst about you when my vault was broken into. I know how hard starting over can be, and I know that doing it is so much harder when everyone around you expects the worst from you, so I want you to know that from now on I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt. I also wanted you to know the danger you and Robin are now in with the Evil Queen in town."

Zelena wrinkled her forehead, she still didn't understand what sort of danger there might be. From what she had seen so far, the Evil Queen seemed to be more interested in having her as an ally as opposed to an enemy. Zelena shook her head, "I don't understand, Regina, what danger?"

Regina sighed again, "Zelena, I was not some paragon of good when you and I first met, and to be honest I'm still not, but I wasn't nearly as bad as I was as the Evil Queen. You see Zelena, you may have watched me many times during my life, but you didn't know me, really know me as the Evil Queen. Zelena when I was the Evil Queen al l cared about was getting what I wanted, and I didn't care who I hurt or stepped on to get my way."

Regina took a breath and Robin began to fuse, Zelena automatically stood and picked her up. Zelena was surprised to see Regina standing behind her asking, "Where's the bottles and formula?"

Zelena was so surprised she answered automatically, "I the cupboard right next to the fridge."

Regina walked over and started preparing a bottle, "It's been a while, but this is like riding a bicycle. Once you learn you never forget."

Zelena couldn't help flinching at the mention of a bicycle. Regina noticed and asked, "what is it?"

Zelena gave a sad smile as Regina started to mix the bottle, "Hades, when we first met he took me on a bicycle to find Dorothy."

Regina bit her lip, "I'm sorry, I may not have liked Hades, but I know he was important to you. And I know what it's like to lose someone you love. I didn't mean to bring up a painful memory."

Zelena looked down at her daughter and gave a weak smile, Zelena loved Robin very much. Zelena regretted the death of her daughter's father, but at the same time she couldn't help feeling a longing for what she and Hades had, as well as what could have been. Regina handed Zelena the bottle and Zelena instantly sat down and started to feed Robin. Regina smiled at them both, "You're natural."

Zelena looked up in shock, "You really think so?"

Regina crossed her arms over her chest, "Absolutely. It took me several tries, and help from Granny before I was able to feed Henry properly. Just don't ever tell Granny I admitted that, she'd never let me hear the end of it."

Zelena looked over at Regina, "don't worry, your secret's safe with me. I still don't understand why you think the Evil Queen would be dangerous to us."

Regina took a deep breath, "Well there are several reasons. One reason being you are one of the few people in this town who could defeat the Evil Queen when it came down to a battle of magic. The Evil Queen knows that, and she might come after you just to eliminate that threat. The other danger is that the Evil Queen might come after you in the hope of making you an ally,"

Zelena jerked her head up, partly in shock that Regina had guessed exactly what had happened, and that Regina said the Evil Queen's actions were putting Zelena and her baby in danger, "why would the Evil Queen trying to make me and ally put us in danger?" She asked incredulously.

Regina shook her head, "When I was the Evil Queen, the only thing I cared about was getting my revenge and destroying Snow White. I didn't care about who else I hurt or stepped on to get what I wanted. There were several people who I was 'friends' with as the Evil Queen who I screwed over to get my way. Probably the most notable of them was Maleficent. Not long after I became Rumplestilskin's student I became frustrated, I felt things weren't going as quickly as I wanted them to go, so I decided I needed to seek out a new teacher and Maleficent is the one I went to. When I found her Maleficent was probably at one of her lowest points in her life. Mal wasn't able to use her magic, or turn into a dragon, and she was dosing herself with small amounts of sleeping potion to make life easier for herself. I helped Maleficent regain her powers, and she flew me back home and gave me some sleeping potion as a 'thank you'. Later on I traded her the dark curse for the recipe of the sleeping curse, which I then used on Snow White. After David woke Snow White I went back for the dark curse, but I didn't trade Maleficent anything for it, I fought her and took it. I didn't care that we had been friends, and that she had helped me in the past, I just cared about what I wanted."

Regina paused and said, "After I cast the first curse, I didn't just take Maleficent's memory's and have her live in this town like everyone else, I kept her in her dragon form trapped under the library. Eventually, Emma killed Maleficient just before then first curse broke, then Maleficent became a mummified beast."

Regina shook her head as Zelena put Robin over her shoulder to burp, "when our mother died I wanted to destroy this town and everyone in it, the fail safe for the curse was beneath the library, Hook and I went down to get it. We fought against Maleficent in her mummified form, and we won. Even though Hook had helped me, and even though he and I had worked together before I still betrayed him, and left him down there to die. To this day I still don't know how the hell he managed to get out of there, but that's not the point. Maleficent was defeated, and she remained." Regina paused then shrugged, "Well dead, until Rumplestiltskin came back to town after Belle banished him, and brought Maleificent back to life."

Regina shook her head, "Maleficent had been my friend, and she had helped me, but I still did all that to her, and she wasn't the only one. Sydney, came to my kingdom because of my late husband. I knew he loved me, and I used that to get him to kill Leopold for me. As soon as Leopold was dead I was ready to simply throw Sydney away without a care. Then of course, Sydney made himself my magic mirror, but despite everything he did for me over the years I still screwed him over multiple times."

Regina shook her head, "Then of course there was Hook, he and I worked together several times, but I still screwed him over more than once. When our mother took my father to Wonderland I went to Jefferson, the Mad Hatter, and convinced him to help me go there to get my father. Jefferson did bring me to Wonderland, and I wouldn't have gotten my father back without him, but I still left Jefferson behind so I could take my father back with me. I knew Jefferson had a daughter who would be left without a family, but I didn't care. Then of course there was the worst thing I did as the Evil Queen."

Regina swallowed hard and shook her head in self-disgust, "In order to enact the dark curse I had to crush the heart of the thing I loved most, my father. That is exactly what I did. My father had been with me my entire life, he did his best to help me, and he stood by me. No matter how bad I got or how cruel I was he never left my side. Despite all that I still killed him because I was so hell bent on revenge that I wasn't willing to let anything stop me, even if it meant doing something so terrible."

Regina shook her head, "That's why the Evil Queen being her puts you and the baby in danger. She may come after you either to eliminate a potential threat or to seek you out as an ally. If she does try to gain your trust Zelena." Regina stopped and raised her head so they were looking each other straight in the eye, "You need to be very careful, as the Evil Queen I had several tried and true methods used to get people on my side, on some ways I would use their loved one to manipulate them. That's what I did with Jefferson, and with several other people I worked with. The other thing I would do is simply offer my alliance to them, or tempt them with something I knew they wanted. The last one is how I got Hook on my side. I knew he wanted his vengeance and I offered him the chance at it. Once I had someone in my sights I would often test them somehow."

Zelena jerked her head up at this, "What?" she squawked, remembering her most recently encounter with the Evil Queen.

Regina nodded, "Yes, I would ask them to do something for me or I would give them information no one else had, if they accomplished the task I set, or kept the information to themselves then they were officially my ally, but like I said before that didn't necessary keep them out of the crossfire. When I was Evil Queen I was not someone to be trusted, I betrayed many people and I destroyed many lives, and that is why you have to be careful Zelena. Whether the Evil Queen sees you as a threat or wants you on her side you and the baby will still be in a great deal of danger." Regina reached into the gift bag and pulled out a potion and rolled up scroll, "that's why I brought you these."

Zelena tilted her head to the side as Robin gave a large burp, "what are those?"

Regina took a deep breath, "A protection potion, one that can't be broken or undone by blood magic. I know that you can use plenty of magic and that you have a lot of knowledge and skill with magic, but this spell isn't just any ordinary protection spell. I got this from blue and the fairies when Emma was wandering around as the Dark Swan. I knew that even at her worst it wasn't likely she would hurt Henry, but I wasn't going to take the risk. The potion is powerful, obviously it wasn't powerful enough to stop the magic that Hook unleashed when he opened up the Underworld, but it will stop the Evil Queen's magic, and most importantly of all it will make it impossible for a persons' heard to be stolen. It's for you and Robin, the spell written in this." Regina held up the scroll, "Will protect the house as well, and prevent anyone with a magical connection to the Evil Queen from entering the house. That includes anyone whose heart she's stolen. Now Zelena, I am giving these two you, if you want to use them that's great. If you decide not to, then I respect your decision."

Zelena cradled Robin in her arms as she looked curiously back at Regina, "Just like that?"

Regina nodded, "Just like that."

Zelena pointed to the scroll, "If I enact that spell, will it keep you out as well?"

Regina shook her head, "No, now that I've separated myself from the Evil Queen my magic is different from hers, so the spell won't keep me out. Still, even if it did I would still want you to use it to keep her out."

Zelena bit her lip, she wasn't sure what to think. On the one hand everything Regina had just told her was whirling through Zelena's head. Going over everything the Evil Queen how she had reached out to Zelena offering her exactly what the Evil Queen knew Zelena had always wanted (a family that would accept and love her as she was) and then tested Zelena with the information about breaking into the vault. All of that fit perfectly into what Regina had just shared, was it possible that Zelena and her daughter were in more danger than Zelena herself had realized?

Regina reached over and grabbed Zelena's hand, "I know this is a lot to take in, it's hard for me to. I keep thinking of the what if's. What if I hadn't separated myself, what if I had done more to make sure the Evil Queen was really dead?" Regina shook her head, "But right now the important thing is to keep the two of you and Henry safe. I've already had Henry take the potion and he's got additional protection spells around him to make sure the Evil Queen can't hurt him. I wanted to make sure you have it available as well."

Zelena looked back at the potion and the scroll containing and bit her lip as she nodded, "Thank you." Then she looked at the bag, "Is that all that was in there?"

Regina shook her head, "No." she opened the bag and pulled out a little Robin Hood teddy bear, followed by a plush wicked witch teddy bear.

Zelena smiled at both bears, as Regina reached in pulled out a green baby blanket, it was made in similar way to Emma's baby blanket, with the same sort of hand done work. The green blanket had a red ribbon on it and Robin's name stitched in silver on the edge. Regina said, "I asked Granny for a favor."

Zelena felt a rush of warmth run through her, "they're perfect."

Regina smiled, "It seemed fitting."

Regina pulled one last item out of the bag, it was small bright blue photo album, Regina opened it and Zelena found herself looking at a picture of Regina smiling at the camera with a baby in her arms. Zelena knew instantly that the baby had to be Henry. Regina said, "I realized that even though you've used magic to spy on me, a lot, I've never voluntarily showed you anything from my past. So Henry and I got together and made copies of some of our favorite pictures for you. This way you can have pictures of your family in the house. And there's also this."

Regina reached into her jacket and pulled out a picture of Cora, that was inside of a dark green frame. Zelena gasped, "How?"

Regina ran her hand along the frame, "I took it after our mother came to Storybrooke. I don't know why I took it, I think part of the reason was that I realized I didn't have any pictures of her, but I can't explain the rest. Still, I took it, and I kept it, and I made a copy of it for you."

Zelena felt a rush of warmth go through her, this meant just as much to her as the rattle the Evil Queen had given her (maybe more) because it was a connection to her mother, her sister, and her nephew. Regina nodded at the photo album "There's pictures of Robin and Roland in there to, and I don't know how you feel about this, but there's some illustrations in Henry's story book of your father so if you wanted..." Regina trailed off.

Zelena shook her head adamantly, "I don't, my father lied to our mother, and he abandoned both of us before our mother even realized she was pregnant. Then when he found out he blackmailed her. He never tried to find me, and he was a liar and thief. I don't want a picture of him, but I will treasure these." Zelena carefully placed Cora's photo down then gave the photo album a loving squeeze."

Regina said, "I've got a brand new digital camera at home still in the wrapping paper. If you wanted that to, we can use it to make some new memories."

Zelena said, "I think I'd like that."

Regina squeezed Zelena's hand, "I know we have problems, and we have a long way to go Zelena, but we're family, and I'd like us to at least try to make things work between us. Maybe living together all of a sudden was too much for both of us, maybe we just need to take this slow and see where we go, but I would like us to go forward together. I think you were wrong when you said the Evil Queen is the part of me that is most like you. It's true you've made the same kind of mistakes for the same type of reasons I did, but Zelena the one thing that makes you different from the Evil Queen, and from me. Is that you have always been looking for love, and it's something you're still looking for too this day. Even if your methods aren't always the best, the quest for love in and of itself is an honorable thing, and if there's one thing I never understood as the Evil Queen it was the power of love. I can also assure you that my intentions where never honorable or rooted in anything as admirable as seeking love in any form. I wanted revenge nothing more, nothing less. Even when it came to Henry, part of the reason I adopted him was to prove RUmplestiltskin and the dark curse wrong about never being able to find happiness. You doing what you did was the same, but there was, and is, more to both of us than just the Wicked Witch and the Evil Queen and I think that's a good place for us to start from."

Zelena nodded, "I think you're right Regina, maybe we can try, and maybe starting small is a good idea. So how about, you, me, Henry, and Robin having dinner at Granny's this Friday?"

Regina said, "I think that sounds perfect, Henry can bring his story book and maybe we can just talk."

Zelena said, "Just talk."

Regina stood up and the two of them gave each other a quick hug. Zelena walked Regina to the door and as Regina got into the car Zelena lifted Robin in her arms and puppeted the baby's arm in a 'bye-bye' wave. Regina smiled and waved back as Zelena whispered down to Robin, "Do you know who that is Sweet Pea? That's your auntie, yes that's your auntie."

As Zelena walked back into the house to her now ridiculously cold breakfast she still felt unsure about how she felt towards the Evil Queen and where she stood in regard to her future with that particular part of her sister, but Zelena also realized that her entire life she had been looking for someone to love her exactly as she was, and Regina was looking for precisely the same thing, and as Regina already said, that was a good place to start. Zelena carefully put Robin back in her basinet and then reheated her waffle on a frying pan. Sitting down to eat Zelena starting thumbing through some pictures in the album, she stopped cold when she came across her own image. The picture didn't show Regina as she looked now, but rather as she had looked as a little girl, next to her was Regina, and the two of them were wearing the exact same dress-up outfits they worn the only time they had been together as children.

Zelena starred at the picture incredulously for several moments before realizing Regina must have used magic to make a photo of her own memory. It wasn't a particularly complicated spell to master, but most people didn't bother because it took a great deal of focus and concentration, as well as magical energy to do that. Still, Regina had gone through the effort for Zelena. As Zelena continued to look through the album she saw several other pictures of herself thrown in with images of Henry, Regina, Emma, Snow, Charming, and even a few that featured Hook. Zelena looked over at the potion and the spell then back at the album. 'Yes' she thought to herself, 'this is a good start indeed.'

The end

What do you think? Had it in my head since the last episode ended. Updating other stories soon

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