Cora looked up at Regina, a dazed smile on her face. "You-You would have been enough." And for a moment her life was a moving picture; like the one's Regina had showed her in that little magic box. She saw a baby Regina in her arms, looking up at her with cute little brown eyes. She saw her daughter grow into a woman… a woman she wished she could have taken credit for. And she realized all that she had missed out on by removing her heart. She had missed truly loving her daughter, being there for her through the ups and downs. She had missed being the parent her baby girl had deserved. She had missed so much… and she would never get it back, there was no chance to make it right.
She saw a tiny little boy, in her mind he looked just like Regina, and he smiled at her and waved. She knew who he was and she smiled back, love shining in her eyes. He held out his hand but before she reached for it, she opened her eyes one last time and saw her daughter, her oh so broken, so tragically beautiful, such a beautiful mess of a daughter and she reached with all her strength to put a hand to her cheek, "Yes… you would have been enough."
And with that her hand fell, and her eyes closed. And Regina mourned… for the mother she'd never known, never would know, and all she knew was pain and hatred and bone deep sadness. In that moment… she was broken. Her mother, albeit in a terrible, terrible way, and perhaps too late, had finally gotten her wish. It's just too bad she wasn't around to see it.
