A/N: Hey all! So this is my take on Regina's side of the flashbacks from The Evil Queen. Inspired by the song "Human" by The Cheetah Girls. I don't know if I'll leave this as a one shot or do something with it. Maybe I'll let you guys tell me with reviews... ;P. Anyway, hope you like it, let me know what you think.

Disclaimer: Once Upon A Time and all character's and familiar dialogue from the show belong to Disney/ABC and the show's brilliant creators and writers. No profit is being made from this just having fun with my favorite show.

Not Too Late

They stood outside the former princess' makeshift hut in the woods, just looking at each other for a moment after Snow handed off the spear. Snow was the first one to drop her gaze and forge ahead into the woods. Regina watched her receding form, one hand gripping the sphere shaft, and the other dangling limply at her side as she tried to wrap her mind around what had just happened. Snow, her worst enemy, had just armed her. With no qualms or hesitation, she'd handed over the weapon that could ultimately mean her death.

Why would she do that? Regina wondered. But as quick as the thought had come, she shook it away. Of course Snow wouldn't think twice about handing her a spear. They were off to hunt, and she thought Regina was a lost, lonely traveler, nothing more.

The queen smirked. She'd never intended this as part of her plan, but toil let this opportunity slide would be ludicrous. Her enemy had armed her. The irony of their current situation was just delicious.

Regina pulled her arm back and raised the weapon above her head, taking extra time to relish in the devilish silence and blissfully innocent posture of her receding prey as she readied herself for the throw. One stab with the javelin and the snobby little girl who had cost Daniel his life would finally get what she deserved. One simple thrust, and Regina would have all the power she could want. She licked her lips as her malicious grin widened and tightened her grip on the weapon.

Just as she stepped back and centered her aim to deliver the fatal blow however, Snow's tale of the day she'd recued her from the horse reverberated in her mind. When she was nothing more than a terrified child, and Regina had no other motive but to help her. It seemed like a lifetime ago, but remembering it now, the queen lowered the spear slightly. That little girl loved her. She was so full of life and joy, and she'd looked at Regina in a way no one had ever beheld her before. She'd admired her, not for her title, but for her person. For doing something just for the sake of doing good. Could she really ruin the last person that might still have faith in her? Could she snuff out the life of a guiltless child just to seal her own grievances?

She's not guiltless, you twit. A voice scolded from the depths of her mind. She killed Daniel. Regina pressed a hand to her temples and sighed in frustration. She'd spent years going after the little cretin, waiting to exact her revenge for her True Love and all the sniveling little spoiled brat had taken from her. She'd never gotten close enough; Snow was too quick. Always outwitting her before she could strike. Well, not this time. By some miracle of fate, a golden opportunity lay right at her feet. It was perfect. At least, that's what she thought a few days ago.

Regina awoke the feeling of damp pressed atop her forehead. Sweat was beading down her face, and the world was nothing more than a blur of colors when she opened her eyes. "Mmm…" she murmured. She felt the buckskin mattress underneath her and guessed she was lying down on some kind of cot, if you could call it that. She groaned and tried to turn over, to make sense of her surroundings, but a firm hand gently pressed her back down. She remembered being attacked. Fighting off the guards because they no longer held any respect for her.

They'd given it to that retched little princess.

She'd gone into town to win back their trust, but all magic comes with a price, as the imp would say. This one, apparently, had been giving up her magic. Rumple enacted a cloaking spell and transformed her into a peasant so she could approach Snow White without suspicion.

"Shh. You need to lie still," whispered a soft, soothing voice. "You have a fever. Fight wounds do that."

Regina looked up at her caretaker. "Snow White…" she rasped. Her throat was dry as the desert and she couldn't think clearly in her fever-induced haze.

Snow smiled. "What's your name, honey?"

Somewhere, in the back of her mind, Regina knew she hated this girl, that if she were healthy she'd have her pinned to the wall at sword point with only a flick of her wrist. But at the moment, all she felt was tired. Tired and…something she couldn't quite place. Delirious? No. Released? Mmm… that wasn't it either. Finally it dawned on her. That calm, easy feeling pulsing through her veins as she lay in this strange bed in the middle of the woods while her sworn enemy tended to her illness, was peace.

She couldn't help it. The last time she had received such endearing treatment, she was little more than a squealing infant in her mother's arms. As much as she loathed admitting it, even the circumstances being as ironically twisted as they were, being coddled and cared for felt… nice. So for now, she pushed back those nagging feelings taunting her subconscious, finding it an easier feat than she'd anticipated without her dark magic influencing her thoughts. She let herself be coddled, because, who could say if she would ever have it again?

The jokes they'd shared and the far away look in Snow's eyes when she talked of the day she and Regina met seared at the queen's memory. The woeful expression in the princess's soft, chocolate eyes when she recalled confessing that she had indeed conversed with Cora and asked her to stop the wedding, and the confusion Snow felt when Regina told her the stable boy had run away. The wistful, unspoken wish in her voice as she described how much Regina had changed since then. What struck her most though, unless she misinterpreted, was the hopeful smile graced Snow's face when she admitted how badly she trusted that Regina would come back to her some day.

It made Regina wonder why she was ever so resentful toward someone who at the time was just an ignorant little girl only wanting those around her to be happy. The queen realized with a jolt that, voluntarily or not, she wanted their relationship back as much as the princess.

"Are you coming?" Snow asked, trudging ahead.

Now, she lowered the spear completely to her side, vowing to try another way. Snow had offered her second chances before. She could only hope she wasn't too late to accept them.

"If the stories are to believed," Regina said as they lumbered further into the undergrowth, " the Queen sent her huntsman to kill you."

"She did." The frankness with which she confirmed Regina's deed tugged at her heart.

"How horrible," she sympathized, truly meaning it. Then she bit her lip, contemplating whether or not she dared to ask her next question. She didn't want to, but she had to know. She had to say it before she lost her courage. "If you, had her in front of you now," Regina paused, afraid to say they next part because she feared what her stepdaughters answer might be, "would you kill her for it?" she finally managed to gasp out as Snow helped her over a fallen tree.

Snow paused, of her hold on Regina's and walking a few steps ahead of her. Her stepmother said nothing, letting only her shallow breathing puncture the silence as she waited anxiously for a response.

"Regina likes to hurt people," Snow finally said. "I think she's in constant pain and is always trying to find someone to blame for it."

Tears pricked the corners of Regina's eyes. Snow White had no idea how right she was.

Every single day since that night in the stables, she had had to wake up and feel as the immense sadness and anger attempted to overwhelm her. Every day she tried to find a new purpose for her life, but so far she saw no other choice. Her own dream had been spoiled and she knew all her mother ever wanted was for her to Queen. But it was all a façade. The only reason she even cared for power was because power numbed the pain.

She remembered when she was younger and Rumpelstilkin had just started teaching her. She'd nearly fallen off the palace balcony and befriended a fairy named Tinkerbelle, who had saved her. Tink claimed fairies could find what others needed. According to her, Regina needed love. She'd even gone as far as to steal pixie dust to lead Regina to the person who was supposedly her next True Love.

She'd almost met him, but she'd let fear overtake her. What if Tink was wrong? Her mother had always said love was weakness. What if this man made her too fragile to do what needed to be done for Daniel?

She ran that night. And regretted it ever since. Maybe if she and Snow could rekindle their relationship, she cold finally have again the thing she had tried for so long to push away. The thing she most desperately craved.

"She wanted revenge more than she wanted love," Snow was saying. "And I can't imagine living that way."

Regina wanted desperately to tell her she was wrong. That revenge and power were the only ways she thought she could have love. But that would mean revealing herself, something she wasn't ready to do. She had to be sure Snow would see her the way she hoped to be seen. Not as the Evil Queen, or the Wicked Stepmother, but just as Regina.

"So no," Snow finished, " I wouldn't kill her."

"No one's that generous," Regina scoffed, "people aren't that good." At least, she'd never met anyone.

"I think they are," Snow insisted stubbornly, "Even her. She's just afraid to look vulnerable."

Regina couldn't believe her ears. Did Snow really have that much faith in her? Did she still love her that much, even after everything she'd done to try and make her life miserable? "You…you believe there's good in her?'

"I know there is. I've seen it." Snow shook her head slightly, "I wish she'd give herself a chance to be that person again."

You really want me back? Regina wondered. "You don't think it's too late for her?" She was incredulous. After everything that happened, could Snow really forgive her like that? Could they really start over? A small spark of hope began to brighten inside the queen.

"I don't think it's too late for anyone." Snow sounded so sure that Regina couldn't help but believe it.

"So if she-" Regina started to ask, her voice catching "if she wanted to change…? If she wanted to be a family again, if she wanted to be good, would you forgive her? Would you let her back in?" She couldn't believe this was actually happening, that she was actually saying this. That she was daring to hope again.

"If she really meant it yes," Snow replied earnestly, "I'd love that."

Regina made a decision then. She was gong to do it. She was ready to face her stepdaughter. She was ready to be loved again.

Finally.