Will you still love me
When I'm no longer young and beautiful?
Will you still love me
When I got nothing but my aching soul?
I know you will, I know you will
I know that you will.
Will you still love me when I'm no longer beautiful?
-Lana Del Ray
"She can't love you, you know? She doesn't have her heart. With it maybe she can." Snow suggests
Regina looks at Snow startled.
"That's why you never felt she loved you. She doesn't have her heart but I do."
"You're doing this for me?" Regina questions
"Think about it? What would happen if Cora had her heart back inside her?"
"She told me she took it out to protect herself."
"Did it work? The person she was before do you think she survived? She can't love, so she can't love you."
"She always wanted the best for me. That's love."
"Imagine real love. You'd have a mother and a start of making a family henry could be a part of." Snow looks down at the box carrying Cora's heart presenting it to Regina. "or you can let her be the Dark one? The choice is yours."
Regina takes the box from snows hands and transports herself in a cloud of dark purple smoke back to Rumplestiskin's shop. She watches as Cora stands before the dying man her hand rising with the dark dagger. She looks down to the wooden box. She opens it. The enchanted heart pulses with a red glow. All the possibilities, all the happiness, all the love that Cora ripped out of herself; Years of criticisms', neglect, mistreatment, she watched as her heartless mother ripped Daniel's heart out and walked away, the lies and plots she made for her daughter. She wanted what was best for her but what Cora didn't realize was that her mother was enough, the love of Daniel was enough, the life of simplicity, of kind honest happiness was enough. So she grabs her mother's heart walks towards her mother.
Cora gasps and stumbles back the moment her heart beats within her once more. The love that voided her body filled every inch of her. Her surprised eyes widen as she looks at her daughter standing there with tears in her eyes. A hand pressed on top of her thudding heart she smiles breathlessly. Regina smiles with her "mother" she says happily. They laugh together. Something that has never happened. A brief moment of unadulterated joy.
The heart with in Cora starts to pound wildly until a pain shoots through her whole body. Clutching the fabric she stumbles again. Regina running to catch her.
"Mother?" brown eyes widen with panic.
Cora and Regina fall to the ground. "What's wrong?"
Cora looks at her daughter and raps out "this would have been enough." She stares in to Regina's eyes "You. You would have been enough." Dark teary eyes slip shut.
"Mother…."
Regina turns back to look at rumple "what's going on?" she asks sounding incredibly young.
"Mother. Don't leave me please." She cries in to her chest. rocking her body. "What am I going to do?"
"Your mother did you no favors." Rumple's raspy voice says
Regina turns with venom "shut up! You stole her life!" her voice cracks "you cast some spell."
Looking down at her he says, "I did nothing."
At that moment of realization, snow comes running in with charming right behind her, "REGINA, stop." She stops moving when she sees Cora dead in her daughter's arms.
"You did this.." Regina's eyes flicker with the long forgotten rage.
Snow. Once again Snow was to blame for the Death of someone she loved. "What did you Do?!"
The pixie hair woman stands there with Charming standing behind her, sadness filling his eyes. "I-I We had to stop her."
"You tricked me!" Regina seethes through her teeth her knuckles white clutching her mother's body.
"Regina." Emma's voice whispers as her eyes bounce between the brunette and her mother. An anger fills her body as she stares at the back of her mother's head. "Snow what did you do?"
"Emma." She starts and stops when her daughter raises her hand to stop her. She brushes past her parents and walks towards to crumbling Queen. Kneeling down she places a hand on Cora and cups Regina's cheek. The former mayor bottom lip trembles. The blonde's green eyes filter her sadness "I know Regina. Let's go."
Snow snaps out of her shock and walks towards her daughter "Go?" she questions "You are not going anywhere with her." she points at her former step-mother.
"Don't you dare come any closer." Says the White Knight. She turns to look at her mother with blazing anger "You've done enough."
"I was trying to protect my family! Cora and Regina destroyed us. I was doing this to save us!" she pleads desperately
"David! Keep her back!" Emma says as she stands again to look at her parents. "You betrayed her Snow and Daniel died. You betrayed her again and now she played a part in killing her mother! Don't you see you are no better? You are so lucky Snow that Regina is trying to change! Because if I was her, my hand would be crushing your heart as we speak."
Snow looks at her incredulously. "Stay away from my daughter! You must have casted a spell!"
"Oh, I assure you dear I did no such thing." Her lips twitch in to a smile.
"Regina didn't cast a spell, Snow. She didn't do anything that I didn't want." The sheriff pauses and looks back at her lover. A small smile paints their faces. "She's the mother to my son. She is the only one who understands me. She is the voice of reason and what kept me here. I lo- Care. I care about her deeply."
"What about Neal, Emma? Hmm? Henry's father. You and him are my grandson's real family! Not her. She stole your childhood as she took your son!"
"Listen to yourself! You are the villain here today."
Emma walks towards Regina and lowers herself behind her. Placing her hand around the Queen's waist. Lips kiss the crook of the Regina's neck as her hazel eyes look defiantly at her mother. "Let's go, Regina." She whispers in to her ear.
The evil queen leans in to her lover and closes her eyes as the smoke surrounds them "Yes Dear."