Title: The Lost Story
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters I just love Once Upon a Time
Rating: K
Summary: Post curse, loosely placed sometime after Regina is accused of killing Archie. Henry stays the night with Regina and is asked to read him a bedtime story. What happens when they discover not everything is as it seems.
This is my first fanfic so I'm a little nervous posting this so be gentle with me.
Lilies, white lilies. Those were the flowers Regina had in her hands walking to her family's mausoleum. She usually laid flowers on her father's grave on Wednesday but today was Saturday but she was there for another reason. Today was the day, the day she lost the one person who truly loved her, the one person who always saw her for who she really was and the person who's life was taken far too soon. She pushed her father's grave aside and descended the steps and stopped to take in a deep breathe before opening the double doors into a room with a single clear casket.
"Daniel" she whispered under her breathe as she walked to her dead lovers casket and placed the flowers on the top of it.
Since the curse broke this was the only place she could go to forget about how everyone in town wanted her head on a spike for the crimes against her, whether she was innocent and guilty of them. Even in her home she only had her thoughts since Henry basically never visited anymore.
"I don't know if I can do this anymore Daniel. Being without you is becoming more than I can bear. I only wish Henry could understand why I turned out the way I did and how much I want to change for him and for you. No one knows I was just like them once. Not having someone truly is the worst curse imaginable. Not having you put a giant hole in my heart but it began to fill it with Henry's love but now Henry wants nothing to do with me. My heart can't take it anymore Daniel; I would give anything to have you and Henry back." A single tear ran down her face as her confession she has kept in for months finally comes out of her mouth. She hatting letting her wall down but being around Daniel always made her think of a life beyond the madness of her day to day life as the Queen.
Regina took one last look at her lover, wiped her tear away and walked out of Daniels room. Before closing the door she said in les then a whisper. "Good bye my love, I love you."
Waking out of her family's mausoleum and getting into her car, she notices that it's already pitch black out. She must have lost track of time but she looked at her clock and it reads 8 o'clock on the dot. Regina drives quickly back to her beautiful lonely mansion but just as she begins to drive up into her driveway she sees that ugly yellow death trap that is Emma Swans' car. Seeing Ms. Swan was never a good sign for Regina, she probably wanted to accuse her of something new that she had nothing to do with. Shaking her head, she putts on her mayoral face and gets out of her car ready for the new accusation Ms. Swan is going to throw at her. But as she walks toward the younger woman she notices the confusion and slight fear in her eyes. Immediately Regina forgoes all her pretenses and says, "Ms. Swan what happened. Is Henry alright?"
Reluctantly Emma takes in a deep breath but before she gets to explain, Regina catches out of the corner of her eye Henry running out of Emma's car. Regina turns just before almost being trampled to the ground by the force of Henry grabbing her waist into a death gripping hug.
"Henry! What's going on?" Feeling the death grip Henry had on her faced directly goes to Emma Swann.
"Henry has been having restless nights for the past few days, he hasn't had a good night sleep in weeks and he has been asking to see you. " The blonde woman said to the brunette who had not looked more ashamed than anything else because she had no other option and was unable to fix Henry's restlessness herself.
Understanding what he young woman said she was able to unhook Henry from her waist and got down on her knees to get gown to his eye level. "Henry I'm so glad you're here, I've missed you so much dear."
"I've missed you too mom. I can I stay with you tonight? You always know how to make me feel better when I can't sleep." Henry says looking for approval first from Emma who gives a silent nod and then to his mom.
"Of course you can sweetheart; your room will always be exactly where you left it. Go upstairs and get out of those clothes I will be up shortly to check on you."
As Henry walks into the house Regina gets up off the floor and faces the young blonde. But instead of a death glare, Regina gives Emma a small smile. "Thank you Ms. Swan. I will call you in the morning so you can pick him up. I know I can't have him forever."
Emma only says your welcome and walks away and into her car and drives off. Regina shuts the doors behind her and goes to check on her son. After she ascends the stairs she tops in front of Henry's bedroom and knocks on his door.
"Come in, mom."
Opening the door Regina Regina's heart swells at the sights of her son in his old bed despite the reasoning for his being there. Having her son for just one night was not enough to fix her broken heart but it is certainly a start. Walking to his bedside, Regina starts to tuck Henry in when she notices his eyes begging to ask her something.
"What's wrong Henry?"
Henry's eyes start to fill you with tears. "I'm sorry mom. I never should have said I hated you and never wanted to see you again. I know you're trying to change for me and I appreciate it more than you know. I just couldn't get past all the lies but now I see that you we just trying to protect me because you love me…"
Before Henry could say another world Regina pulled h I'm into a giant hug. "Henry you have no need to apologize, I am the one who needs to apologize. I never wanted to you to find out about me because I never wanted you to look at me the way you do now. I never thought I could love again and once you were put into my arms for the first time I knew I could fill that hole in my heart. I wanted to give you the life I never had but I ended up becoming like my mother, pushing you too hard to be better and trying to keep you all to myself. When you hold on to much they only grow farther and farther away. I'm so sorry for doing that to you Henry and I hope you can forgive me. I know I can never take back my past mistakes but I promise you that I will be better for you."
Releasing Henry, Regina wipes away Henry's tears that have finally fallen from his eyes. "I love you mom."
"I love you too Henry. Now do you want me to read to you before you fall asleep? "
Henry knew his mom loved reading to him when he was little so now was the perfect time to put his secret plan to action. He gave a small nod and reached over the side of the bed and took the one book Regina hated more than life itself form his back pack. The enormous leather bound book with the title Once Upon a Time, was the book Henry so wanted his mom to read to him. Henry thought that maybe if she read parts of her story and his grandmother's maybe her could finally find out what made his mother the way she was since his book only gave a quick overview of that entire part of the story.
"Henry you know I can't stand that book, why would you want me to read that of all books?"
Looking down at the book Henry took in a deep breath and instead of giving an answer she looked up at his mother with the biggest puppy dog eyes he could muster up and replied, "Please Mom."
Regina couldn't resist her son when he was like this and Henry knew it all too well.
With a sigh "Alright Henry, I'll read it to you but just this once. Now witch story would you like me to read?"
Searching through the pages to find the part of the story where Snow first met Regina, Regina already knew where this was going and she wasn't sure how to proceed with his enviable questions at the end of the story but she took a breath and started to read the story that she has had burned into her memory for almost 4 decades.
As she read Henry's beloved book and was surprised how little of her story there actually was. It mentioned how Regina saved young Snow's life from a runaway horse and that is the reason why Snow's father proposed to her. It mentioned that her hatred for Snow White began because she was forced to marry the king and how her mother was the driving force of that union but it never mention the one person how could have saved her from all of the pain and anger, Daniel, and how his death started her down a dark path that no one could ever imagined. Of course they would skip that part; it's not about the villains it's about the hero's. No one cares how the bad guys end up that way. They all assume they were evil from the start. Regina thought.
As she finished the story with the Royal wedding of his grandparents Regina had just about had enough of the story. She already lived through this part of her life and now she was reading it to her son in a narrative that made her look like the Evil Queen everyone feared and hated even though she was dedicated to change.
Regina read the fairytale until there story was cut off by the missing pages Henry ripped out a year before the cure was broken.
Henry tried to gage his mother's reactions on reading the fairytales she could have told herself but her facial expression confused him. He notices the disgust and anger whenever she read about Snow and Charming's relationship but he could not understand the pain and sadness undertone throughout the entire beginning when she read about first meeting Snow and her time as queen.
Henry was about to ask his mother a question when he noticed his mother staring the inside back cover of the book. He jumped out of his bed to sit next to her and look at what she was so focused on.
"Nothing is ever as it seems." Henry read the small imprinted saying. He never noticed it before but it was a simple quote with that small indentation of a circle almost like a ring underneath it. Regina was mesmerized by the etching under the phrase and was continuously running her finger around it.
"What do you think it is mom? Nothing in this book is ever insignificant maybe it means something. Maybe this is like a key that holds more secretes to be uncovered." Henry said looking back at his mother. Regina never even looked at Henry but continued to stare at the etching; she knew she has seen this before but where. That's when Henry noticed the ring on his mother's left ring finger.
"Mom, why are you wearing a ring on your finger? You're not married." Looking at his mother holding his breathe.
Finally snapping her back to reality, she noticed Daniels ring was still on her finger from the time she put it on before she went to go see him today. Taking it off and holding it out for Henry to see she replied with a heavy heart, "No I am not sweetheart. This ring was given to me a long time ago by someone who is long gone. I forgot to take it off when you came home tonight."
"Can I see it?" without even receiving an answer Henry took the ring for his mother and took a close look at it. "This simple engraving looks exactly like the etching. Who exactly gave this to you mom?"
Before she had time to formulate an answer to appease Henry, Henry placed the ring on the etching on the back cover and noticed that it was an exact fit. And suddenly the book under the ring began to glow with a white light that even Regina was taken aback by. Who knew Henry's book held magical properties.
The book slowly began to dim but the back page was no longer bond to the hard leather backing and several pages fell all over Henry's bed. After a few seconds of pure shock Regina reluctantly gathered the pages from Henry's bed and started to read the pages to herself just to see what story was so important that it was hidden with Daniels ring. The first sentence of the first page made Regina leave her sons side and walk to the window on the other side of her son's room. She glanced at each page and as she did tears began stooling down her face. She reluctantly tried to compose herself knowing Henry was right behind her in his bed looking at her with a confused look. She knew that her son would not handle the suspense any longer so she wiped away her tears and turned back to his bedside.
"Mom what wrong? What's on those pages that have gotten you all shook up? I've only seen you this upset once in my entire life, when I was in the hospital right after the course broke." Henry said looking at his mother.
"Henry, these pages are not like any other pages in your book."
"What do you mean? Please read them to me."
"Henry this story is about my past and it directly involves the person who gave me that ring." Regina said as her eyes threaten to spring a brand new set of tears.
"Mom its ok whatever it is I can handle it. You can tell me. I know you did some terrible things in your past, nothing you did can change the fact that you changed. Whatever horrible thing is written on those pages won't affect the feelings I have for you just don't shut me out." Henry said putting his shoulder on this mother.
Taking Henry's hand off her shoulder and into her hand she looked right in his eyes and said, "Henry this story is not about my life as the evil queen. It's about the one person that could have kept me from becoming the woman I am now. I was never the wicked and evil person everyone believes I was born to be."
"What are you talking about mom? Who is this person you are talking about?"
Regina looked back at the pages in her hand and took a deep breath," His name was Daniel."
Letting his mother gain enough courage to tell him the entire story, Henry only looked into his mother's eyes and waited for her to continue.
"Henry, Daniel was my one true love." Henry could only gasp at the words that just came out of his mother's mouth. "The story I hold in my hands is the story of my life with him."
"Mom, if he was the love of your life why isn't it in the book? This book is all about everyone finding their true love?"
Regina gave him a sad smile and answered in the simplest way she could think of. "Because I am the villain and no one cares about how my happiness was ripped form me right before my very eyes."
"Please read it to me mom or at least tell me about it." Henry looked at his mother with is big puppy dog eyes.
Looking into his eyes Regina knew that is was time to tell Henry about her life, her real life, before she was molded into a life she never truly wanted.
"Daniel was the stable boy at my family's estate. As you may or may not know I always had a fascination with horses. When I was in the stables I felt free from the world around me and when Daniel came along I could not help but fall head over heels for him. He was hansom strong and had the same love for horses that I had. He also taught me how to really ride not just sidesaddle that my mother had insisted I learn because that is how she believed girls of my stature should ride."
Henry noticed the anger in her voice when she brought up her mother and wanted to ask about it but he decided against it because he knew it would get his mother off topic. He never saw him mother so open before and was not going to allow this moment to slip away because of something he did not understand… yet. So he sat there as she continued her story.
"We quickly formed strong feeling for each other and neither one of us wanted to be with anyone else in the world. But like all go things that happen in my life something always has to go wrong. My mother always wanted me to have power and that meant to marry as high up as I possibly could, and being in love with Daniel I was going against everything she had set for me. I could never tell my mother about Daniel because of the fear I had of my mother. She used magic on me constantly whenever I was disobedient I could not imagine what she might have done if she ever found out about Daniel and me so never told her. This is where the book starts to pick up. You remember how my mother accepted my marriage proposal to the king right? "Regina questioned her so partly because she wanted to see if he was still following her.
With a nod henry answered." Yeah after you saved Snow from a runaway horse."
"I didn't know who Snow was at the time when I saved her but once my mother informed me of Snow's identify it was too late. I had king Leopold on one knee in front of me asking for my hand and in a split second my mother got exactly what she always wanted, for me to be queen. I was so distraught that I ran to the stables that night to try to find the one person who could calm me down. Daniel was finishing his work in the stables when I ran in to his arms crying. When we finally parted I told him to marry me. He did not understand my sudden rash of judgment until after I told him the entire story with the king. Daniel was conflicted because he even said to me the being married to a stable bot is a far cry from a life a queen. He was trying to do what's best for me even if that meant letting me go to marry the king. I told him I couldn't do it and all I cared about was him. So he did the only think he could think of, he went over to one of the saddles placed near one of the stalls and took off one of the small rings attached to it and placed it on my finger. It wasn't adorned in diamonds or rubies but it was more than I could ever hope for."
"And that's this ring; you kept it all this time? What happened to him mom why aren't you still together, everyone disserves their happy ending." Henry interrupted with tears running down his face from the beautiful but foreboding story is mother was telling him.
Running her fingers across her sons checks to wipe away his tears Regina mustered up a half smile and said, " Dear, I am almost finished with my story and then you will understand everything. " Henry nodded and Regina continued.
"I was so happy in that moment that I could not help but kiss him with everything I had left after one of the most horrid afternoons of my life but we were interrupted by your grandmother Snow. She did not understand why I was kissing Daniel when I was supposed to marry her father so she bolted out of there and I had to stop her so I ran out of the stables and caught up to her. She fell on her knees and tears welled up from her eyes from shear hurt from the scene she just witnessed. I told her that her father was a kind and fair man but I could never love him. She gave me a confused look and asked why not and I told her that love does not work that way, love true love is magic and not just any magic the most powerful magic of all it creates happiness." Saying that sentence out loud made Regina chuckle that not even Henry could understand why.
"You know I never realized that I actually was the one that taught Snow White about true love, it's ironic that I was the one who continually threatened to take it away."
She shook her head after she knew she was beginning to go off topic. "Anyway, after she realized I loved Daniel with all my heart she was going to tell her father that I could not marry him. I began to panic because if my mother ever found out she would be beyond furious. I asked Snow if she know what a secret was. I told her that she could never speak of this and she could never tell my mother. I even specially told her not to tell my mother. She promised to keep my secret and we departed after I gave her one last hug. The next night I met Daniel in the stables, we were about to leave when my mother was standing in the door way not allowing us to leave. She trapped us in the stables with her magic and began to scold me on my decision to leave with her stable boy. She was not going to allow all her work to go up in flames. Daniel stood behind me giving me words of encouragement to stand up to my mother and stand up for our love. I told her that I loved Daniel and nothing she could do would keep us apart, and how wrong I was when she deceptively allowed herself to cope with the fact that I was not going to marry the king. She got Daniel away from my side and told him that if he wanted to have a life with me and have a family he would always have to put his family first like "she" was doing now. But instead of giving him her blessing she pushed her hand into his chest and ripped his heart out right in front of me. I caught him as he fell to the floor and my mother crushed his heat to dust as he was in my arms. He died in my arms Henry, the love of my life gone just like that. My mother dragged me out of the stables and informed me that she had enough of my tears that were falling from my eyes and that I was to become queen." Regina could no longer keep her eyes from keeping back her tears. She immediately put her hands to her face to avoid Henry seeing her so broken. She never told anyone about Daniel and remember and telling Henry was becoming all too much for her to handle until she felt small warm arms around her and a small head nestled in to the crock of her neck.
"Shhhhh… mom it's ok. Please don't cry." Henry said as he held onto his mom with a fear and sadness for his mother's true sadness she had in her for almost 4 decades. He held him mom until he heard her calm down but did not release his hold on her but instead moved his hands to around her neck. Holding him close Regina took in a deep breath and looking to her little boy's eye. She could not believe how fast Henry was growing up and how he could be calming her down.
"I love you Henry. " She said with nothing but sincerity in her voice.
"I know mom, I love you too… You don't have to continue if you don't want to."
"I would not have started I planned on not finishing the story and I thinks it's time you learned everything about my past. You are old enough to learn the true reason why I despise Snow and I don't think there is anyone else I would rather share this with." Giving him a kiss on his forehead she continued.
"A few days after, Snow informed me that she told my mother about me and Daniel. My head was going a mile a minute when I heard young Snow's confession. She told me that she did not want me to lose my mother like she lost her mother. I was so upset and angry at Snow but I could not tell her about the severity of her actions and how her betrayal cost Daniel his life. I was not so evil so I spared her feelings and said that Daniel decided to run away and that we were never truly in love and it was just an infatuation. I then informed her that I was going to marry her father and become her step mother. The look on her face was beyond ecstatic that it made me want to retch. She was so happy that she was going to get a now mother that she did not even question how I was feeling and why would Daniel just disappear on me. So you see that's where my hatred for Snow first came to be. "
She stared directly into Henry's eyes, "You see Henry everything was taken from me all at once, my free will, my true love and my life all at once. I was so hollow and alone after Daniel died and was forced to mother a girl that had a major role in the destruction of my life and had to be a wife to a man who could never love me like he did his first wife. I ended up falling into a deep whole that I could not get myself out of."
Henry was trying to comprehend everything his mother the just told him. Truth be told he know that Snow had no idea that Regina's mother would kill Daniel for loving Regina and his mother revenge should not have been put on a little girls lack of judgment but now at least he got the real reasoning for the most infamous feud in all of fairytales. Henry was not going to forgive his mother for trying to ruin Snow's happiness but he understood that his mother's evilness stemmed from a human emotion that no one in her land ever had to experience because everyone got their happy ending. She was never given the chance to be happy with the one person who loved her for everything she was.
"Henry…" Regina called his name effectively shaking him out of his thought and quickly his eyes found his mothers.
"I'm so sorry mom. Losing Daniel must have been the worst feeling in the world. I could not imagine how anyone could have coped with losing a loved one. And watching him die right in front of you…." He could not finish his sentence instead he hugged his mother for dear life feeling so sad for his mom.
"Oh my sweet darling boy its ok. Shhhhh ." She whispered to him rocking back and forth lightly effectively calming the little boy down.
"Loosing Daniel was one of the hardest and most painful things I have ever experience but there is one thing that was even worse..." Regina told her son who was staring at her with such a confused face on that was begging her to tell him.
"Seeing you in that hospital bed, lying there unconscious and basically dead to the world was the worse pain I have ever felt. When I cast the curse and brought everyone here I thought that beginning a new life would help me forget and give me a start at a new beginning and finally have my happy ending, but it didn't. It only changed when you were placed in my arms. I instantly loved you Henry like you were my own. You began to mend my broken heart the minute you were placed in my life. Every day you were mending my heart and showing me that I do have the capacity for good and that I can love again. Maybe not in a romantic sense but love all the same. Knowing that I had a hand in what had happened to you and knowing that you might never wake up from it made my heart shatter for the second time. I know that if I could not fix what I had done than my life would spire in to oblivion."
Hanging on to his seat, Henry finally let out his breath he was not even aware he was holding in for so long he could not muster up the courage to ask him mom about any questionable divisions she made after Daniels death for he knew it would only upset her he instead looked down at his book that was almost forgotten about after his mom started her story and picked up his mother's ring and placed it back in her hands. Closing her hand around the ring Regina just stared at her closed hand.
"Daniel will never truly be gone, he's live right her." Henry said while placing her hand holding the ring right up to her heart. "He lives within you now and as long as you keep hold of that he will never be gone and you will see him again in the next life because when souls are meant to be together they always find their way back to each other."
"Thank you Henry. I can't believe how much you have grown. You are so much wiser that an 11 year old should be.' She told her son and again placing a single kiss on his forehead.
Henry beginning to close his beloved book noticed something else. A single piece of paper folded up where the rest of the pages were. On the front of it there was a single name on it, Regina.
Ummm, mom I think this is for you." He said as he handed what looked like a note to his mother.
She took the paper from him and immediately opened it. Nothing could surprise her now after seeing Henry's book magically open with Daniels ring and reviling her missing past, but she was wrong again what she saw on the page made her place her hand over her mouth to stop a gasp from coming out of her mouth. Henry becoming concerned about what was on the page scooted next to her and questioned her was making her so upset.
"Henry, this is a letter Daniel the night before he died, after I left the stables with the ring her gave me." Henry's eyes widened by pure shock by the news his mother had just given him.
"Read it mom, read it" his shock replaced with pure excitement waiting for his mom to comply with his request to read it out loud.
As she began to read it to Henry she could not help but hear Daniels voice reading it to her in her mind.
My beloved Regina,
If you are reading this that means that I am no longer with you. I wanted to write this to you because I have no idea what will happen next in our lives together. When you came running into the stables tonight crying in my chest I could not help but die inside. I hate it when you cry, it's like my world is coming to an end but once you told me you wanted to run away and gat married I could not help but feel pure joy. You are the one person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with and I would die before I had to live my life without you but you and I both knew that your mother would never allow us to be together. And if you truly are reading this than we both know your mother has successes on keeping us apart no matter how she was able to do it. I wanted to write to you to tell you how much I love you Regina. You were the love of my life and I will be with you always watching over you until you find your way back to me on the other side. I miss you so much Regina and I hope that you will never forget the love we once shared. Your mother probably got you to marry the king but I want you to know its ok. You need to carry on with your life. It might not be the same without me but you'll do just fine my love. Remember that you always found your escape in the stables with me so if you ever need me I will be there waiting for you. Goodbye my dear Regina. I love you
Daniel
Both Regina and Henry were fully in tears by the end of the letter. If only she had this letter before her life turned upside down. She could have avoided all of this if she just knew about this letter. Taking a deep sigh of relief that maybe just maybe that she could finally turn her life around for not only Henry but for Daniel, she placed the ring up to her lips and kissed it and whispered " I love you Daniel." And then she placed the ring back on her finger.
Rubbing away his own tears Henry tucked himself back into bed and looked at the clock. It was almost 11:30 but he didn't care. He was hit be a huge yawn that made him feel tired all of a sudden, probably just mentally drained by the information that bombarded him in the last few hours. Regina noticed the sudden tiredness that was on Henry's face
"Henry its late and I think that that's enough stories for one night don't you think?" She said not expecting an answer from her son. She began to stand but a tinny hand took her wrist by surprise. She turned her head to Henry looking up at her with those eyes again. Henry knew she could never refuse him with that look.
"Can you stay with my tonight mom? Please."
Giving in she climbed in next to him under the covers and held him close to her. The gentle breathing of him mom made him really tired really quickly. Just as he felt himself falling asleep he whispered to his mother, "I wish I could have met him. He sounded like he really loved you."
"He did sweetheart and I know he would have loved you." She answered moving the hair from his eyes.
"I love you mom"
"I love you Henry."
They both fell asleep, Regina holding Henry in her arms with the note from Daniel in between them. Regina dreamed of Daniel that night and all the wonderful times that they spent together. She finally realized that her love for Daniel will be with her forever and that she could become the girl he fell in love with all those years ago again. She vowed that night to truly make an effort to change not only for Henry but for Daniel as well.