Regina looked down at the heart that lay beating in the red wooden box. Her mother's heart. If she gave this back to her would everything be better? Would she finally feel the love that she has always wanted? She had no idea.
"Regina you need to do it. Give your mother her heart back. She can't love you without it Regina." Snow said. All she wanted was to make Regina see sense and to make all the fighting stop. It needed to stop and Snow knew if Cora had her heart she would stop leading Regina back down the dark path she was headed. "That's why you have felt she has never loved you Regina." Snow said as she moved round to the front of Regina.
Regina just continued to stare down into the box. Her mother's heart was black as coal with the tiniest red spots. It was worse off than her heart and she never thought she would see one worse than hers. But she so desperately wanted her mother to love her. She wanted to feel what everyone else seemed to feel from their mother. She wanted to have what she had always dreamed of. But what if it didn't work? "Why are you doing this? Why are you trying to convince me to do this?" Regina asked, looking up and frowning at Snow.
They were long time enemies, why would this young woman want to help her? After everything she had done and put her through. Why would she try and give her another chance? Another chance to have a good life. "Regina think about it…what would happen if Cora had her heart back?"
"She told me she took her heart out to protect herself." Regina said quietly.
"Did it work? The person she was before, when she had her heart, do you think that person is her now? She can't love Regina. So she can't love you." Snow said. She then stepped forwards slightly and placed a hand on Regina's arm.
Regina tried her hardest to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall. Of course she knew that without her heart her mother couldn't really love her. Of course she had known that but it was something she had chosen to ignore. Something she had denied. She had spent so long trying to convince herself that even though her mother didn't have her heart, she did love her. She did what was best. Regina looked back up at Snow and shook her head slightly. "She always wanted the best for me. That is love." She swallowed back the tears. She wasn't sure if she was trying to convince Snow or herself of what she had just said.
"Imagine real love." Snow said in a kind of whisper. "You'd have a mother and a start on making a family that Henry could be a part of." Snow said knowing mentioning Henry would really get Regina's attention. "A second chance Regina." Snow said squeezing Regina's arm slightly.
Regina stared down at the heart thinking over everything. A second chance, she had wanted one for so long. To start a new. She could have the family she had dreamed for Henry to be a part of. He could have a loving grandmother, she could have a loving mother. There was only one thing for her to do.
Cora stood over Rumplestiltskin, his dagger in hand. She was ready. She was ready to become the dark one and have all the power she had always dreamed of. This was what she wanted. She smirked and as she went to lower her hand and driving the dagger into Rumplestiltskin she froze. She gasped. All the air left her lungs. She felt so much pressure.
The dagger slipped from her fingers and fell, clattering to the floor and she stumbled back slightly her hands clutching her chest and trying to get her breath back. She looked around her and suddenly her eyes landed on one person in the room. The only person she wanted to see and she didn't even really know it.
Regina stood in front of Cora watching her with a worried look on her face. She wasn't sure if her mother was okay. Had she hurt her? But then Cora looked up at Regina and a big smile formed on her face as she looked into her daughter's eyes and felt a whole rush of love run through her.
"Mother." Regina said with a smile on her face. She watched as her mother just stared at her with a huge smile on her face and then Cora began to move towards Regina.
She stood in front of her and placed a hand on Regina's cheek and for the first time in a long time Regina did not flinch at her mother's touch. Instead she leaned into it resting her cheek against her mother's warm hand. She felt the warmth run through her body at her mother's loving contact. This was how it was meant to be. This was how she was meant to feel with her mother. "Regina…my baby." Her mother said and Regina smiled at that.
The two women were so caught up in what was happening between them that they didn't see Rumplestiltskin was no longer injured and was moving off of the bed. He picked up his dagger and stood just to the side of Cora. He needed to do this. Regina would thank him one day and with that he held the dagger up and plunged it into Cora's back and straight to her heart. She gasped as she felt the dagger enter her and pulled away from Regina slightly.
Regina frowned and moved towards Cora. "Mother. What's going on?" she looked around and it was then she realised what had happened, being so caught up in her loving mother she had not even seen Rumplestiltskin with his dagger. Cora fell forward into Regina's arms and Regina fell to her knees holding onto her mother tightly. "Mother…" Regina cried slightly as she stared down at Cora.
Cora stared up into her daughters big brown eyes, her love for her finally coming out. "This would have been enough." She stumbled her words out trying to find her breath. "You…you would have been enough." A tear fell from Cora's eye as she finally realised all the power she had been chasing was not what she would have wanted if she had kept her heart. If she had had her heart her daughter would have been everything she ever needed. She would not have needed anything else.
"Mother…" Regina said letting her tears flow now. She couldn't hold them back.
"I wish…I could have given…you the life…you deserve Regina." Cora stuttered. "I wish…you…you could have a second chance…to be you…" And with that Cora's eyes fluttered shut as she took her last breath and her body went limp.
"Mother…" Regina whispered as she stared down at Cora. She then looked up at Rumplestiltskin. "What's going on?" She cried. She couldn't lose her mother. Not now. She looked back down at her mother letting more tears flow down her face. "Don't leave me please." She cried and she hugged her mother closer to her, holding her tightly.
Rumplestiltskin watched on, trying to bury the guilt down as he watched the woman clinging to her mother and crying. He watched as she pulled her mother closer to her a tear fell from her cheek and onto her mothers. Then bright lights began to sparkle around Regina and Rumplestiltskin frowned. Snow, Charming, Emma and Bae ran into the room and gasped at the sight in front of them.
"What's going on?" Snow asked.
Nobody answered as the lights moved around Regina going faster and faster, growing bigger and bigger until she was completely surrounded her blocking her from everybody's vision. They held their arms up to shield their eyes from the brightness of the lights. They waited for a moment as they heard a small thud and all of a sudden there was no bright lights. Everything was back to the dull lights of Gold's shop. They moved their arms away from their faces and they all gasped at the sight before them.
There was Cora lying on the floor and beside her in the place of Regina was a little girl. A little girl with shoulder length dark brown hair with a gentle curl. Her face was hidden in her hands. Everyone looked around at one another as if to question one another about what had happened. They then looked up at Gold who was just staring down at the little girl wearing a black dress on the floor.
"What the hell has happened?" Emma asked quietly breaking the silence that had taken over the room. "Where has Regina gone?" She dropped her voice to a whisper.
Snow shrugged her shoulders and pulled out of David's grip. She slowly walked over to the little girl on the floor, moving Cora's body slightly she crouched down in front of her and gently placed a hand on the little girls upper arm. The little girl gasps and flinches away from the touch and Snow turns to look round at everybody else who motion for her to continue. She turns back round and looks down. Surely this isn't…It couldn't be Regina… "It's okay sweetie." Snow says softly. "I'm not going to hurt you." She watches as the little girl moves her face from her hands slightly and looks up at her and as Snow looks into the big brown eyes of the little girl she knows right there and then that this small little girl is Regina. But how can this be possible? What happened? She was very aware of Cora's dead body behind her and she didn't want a little Regina seeing that so she moved forward a little blocking the girls view a little more. "Can I take you through to the other room sweetie? And we can talk."
The little girl looked up at the young woman in front of her. She didn't know any of the people that were staring at her. She was scared. She wanted her mommy of her daddy. She needed them to help her. "I…" She started and then stopped. looking down at her little hands.
"Go on sweetie. What were you going to say?" Snow asked her softly giving her a little smile hoping to make her feel more comfortable than she was.
"I not 'pose to talk to strangers." the little girl said quietly looking up at Snow.
Snow smiled at her and then leaned forward moving a big of the girl hair away from her face. "Okay…well how about I tell you my name and then you tell me yours? Then we won't be strangers."
The girl put on a very cute thinking face, consisting of a small frown and pouted lips and then nodded her head and flashed a little smile. "Okay." she nodded.
"I'm called Snow. What's your name?"
"My name called Regina."
Snow laughed a little at how the girl introduced herself. "Well it's nice to meet you Regina. See we're not strangers any more are we?" Regina shook her little head, making her hair fly about her face. "Now why don't we go into the other room? Come on." Snow said. She leaned forward and picked Regina up, smiling as Regina was more than happy to let her pick her up. Snow shielded Regina's eyes as they left the room and David, Emma, Bae and Gold all followed her wanting to find out what had happened. Gold placed a blanket over Cora before he left the room knowing he would have to deal with her later.
They all entered the main part of Gold's shop and Gold limped over to the door and placed the sign round to display he was closed. He then limped over to see Snow gently setting Regina to sit on the counter. Nobody could stop looking at little Regina, all wondering what had happened.
Bae was the first to speak. "So…this is Regina?" He questioned still trying to work his head round what he had seen.
Snow nodded her head. "It appears so. But I don't understand. What could have happened to turn Regina into an…" Snow looked down at the little girl trying to judge what age she was. Looking at her she couldn't have been more than three of four years old. "An infant."
"It was Cora." Gold said drawing everyone to look over at him.
"Cora? Why would she do this to Regina? Before she…well you know." Emma said looking over at small Regina who was watching everyone very intently.
"She had her heart back." Gold stated.
Snow nodded. "I convinced her to give her mother her heart back, to try and stop Cora. To see if having her heart back would make her stop everything she was doing."
"It worked." Gold said staring over to the room where Cora now lay motionless. "I didn't realise…I thought it best to stop her once and for all. When she was dying she made a wish."
"A wish?" David asked. "What kind of wish?"
"She wished that she could give Regina the life she deserved, she wished to give Regina a second chance." Gold replied sighing slightly.
"A second chance?" Emma asked and then looked over at Regina who was now looking up at Snow. The little girl had not let go of Snow's hand since she had been sat on the counter. "So judging by how she is now an infant I am guessing her second chance means starting over again…"
"Looks like it." Gold nodded. He then frowned and limped away from everyone else and through to the other room. He walked over to where Cora lay and pulled the blanket from her. Leaning down he saw that there was something in her hand. He prized her fingers open and took a necklace from her hand. Hanging from the necklace was a red stone. Limping back through he held up the necklace just staring at it.
"What's that Papa?" Bae asked.
"It's a wishing stone. It's a very powerful piece of magic, an ancient piece of magic. Something that I didn't think really existed anymore." Gold answered. He then looked over at Regina. "I can't change her back."
"What?!" Emma asked eyes widening. She wasn't sure if she had heard the man right. "Did you just say you cannot change her back?"
Gold nodded. "There is no way to change her back. Only the person who cast the wish can and since she is…no longer around then it can't be done."
"There must be some sort of loophole." David said running his fingers through his hair looking from Regina to Gold. "I mean look at her Gold. Regina is a child."
"I can quiet clearly see that thank you." Gold snapped back. "But there is no way for me to change her back. This is ancient and powerful magic. No loophole here dearie."
Everyone just stood in silence looking over at Regina who was now playing with the necklace Snow was wearing, blissfully unaware of what was happening. She had become bored with whatever the adults were talking about. They couldn't believe it. Regina had been changed into an infant and there was no way to change her back. There was no way to fix the situation they found themselves in. Snow looked down at Regina and Regina looked up at her and gave her a little smile. Snow couldn't help but think how adorably cute little Regina was. Her shoulder length hair with a gentle curl, hr big brown sparkling eyes and her toothy grin that could make your heart melt.
"Well if there is no way to turn her back then what do we do?" Bae asked breaking the silence. "I mean her mother is…" He didn't finish that sentence as Regina looked over at him with her cute little face he couldn't finish that sentence.
Gold shrugged his shoulders and Emma sighed. "You are sure there is nothing you can do? How am I gonna tell Henry?"
"There is nothing Miss Swan. Regina will remain this way. As for Henry all you can do is tell him the truth. With everything he has seen I am sure he will understand." Gold replied.
"Oh yes of course, by the way Henry you know the woman who raised you for ten years, the woman you call your mom well she is now a toddler because any kid would understand that." Emma replied sarcastically.
"I really do not know what you want me to say Miss Swan. There is nothing that can be done to fix this." Gold said anger in his tone.
Snow continued to stare into Regina's eyes, finding herself lost in them. She thought about everything. She thought about why Cora would make the wish. She obviously wanted a second chance with her daughter, a chance to show her daughter the love she should have been shown. She wanted to give her daughter a second chance. A second chance at life by the looks of it. Perhaps they should respect the woman's last wish and give her daughter exactly that. Snow pulled her gaze away from Regina and looked at the rest of them who were beginning to bicker. She sighed. "Stop! Stop arguing. There is no point arguing. Gold has told us there is nothing he can do. We just have to accept that and maybe it is for the best."
"For the best? What are you talking about Snow?" David asked leaning on the counter.
"Well maybe we should respect Cora's last dying wish. She wanted her daughter to have the life she should have had. She wanted her to be shown the love she should have been shown. She wanted to give her a second chance…A second chance at life. To turn out the way she should have." Snow explained. "This is Regina's second chance."