Okay guys, so this is a one-shot suggested by Addicted1, who very much wanted to have Henry rip into Snow for everything she did to his mother. I hope what I wrote is a fulfillment of what was wished for, I gave it my best. Enjoy, and comment of course!
Henry hated not understanding.
He had always strived to comprehend phenomena, may it be at school or in everyday life, and he knew he was a smart kid –he had figured out the curse all by himself, hadn't he? In his eyes, that was proof enough that he could solve any mystery if he set his mind to it.
So to say that he hated not knowing what was happening to his grandmother was an understatement.
Snow White was a hero; she was a kick-ass kind of princess-turned bandit-turned princess again; she spoke to birds, laughed and smiled a lot and was very, very optimistic.
Snow White did not stay in bed all day, curled up under the covers; Snow White did not remain silent even when spoken to; Snow White did not shut everybody out.
Henry didn't understand what was going on, not with her nor with his other grandmother. Except he wasn't exactly supposed to think of her in that way, was he? It was all so confusing. First he had been told that Cora was incredibly dangerous and had to be stopped even if it meant putting Emma and Snow in danger by placing a death curse on the wishing well. Then he heard that she had been able to make it to Storybrooke and that he couldn't be left alone –he still wasn't sure what Cora had wanted with him: hurting him would hurt her own daughter, right? He vaguely gathered that his mom had joined her mom, but that was a bad thing because they were on a power trip of some kind. And now… nothing. Nobody was telling him anything about what had happened two days ago, Emma and David tiptoed around the flat, stealing worried glances at the hunched form under the covers, keeping their voice lowered and interrupting whatever conversation they were having whenever he approached them. It frustrated him to no end.
What bothered him the most though was that his mom had not tried to contact him in any way. Ever since he had left the mansion with David, she had phoned at least once a day to talk to him even just to exchange a few awkward and stilted words before he found an excuse to hang up. She had always texted him to wish him good night, she had constantly tried to get to accept to have lunch or ice cream with her. She never imposed her presence on him, but she let him know that she was there, that she wanted him back.
Now… she was gone.
He had sent her a text last night and even tried to phone her that morning but he only got through to voice mail. Her voice, slightly distorted by electronics, had made his chest ache just a little bit more. He would never admit it, but he missed her, especially now when everything seemed to be spiralling out of control. He was in an apartment with three grown-ups and he didn't feel safe or even remotely comfortable; they were at a loss, without a clue as to what to do about whatever was going on right now, and the level of discomfort was slowly but surely getting to him. And, honestly, there was only so much cereal and fries a kid could eat before craving something a little more elaborate.
Like his mother's lasagne.
He wanted to sleep in his own bed, he wanted to have his comics, he wanted to feel comfortable and safe again.
He wanted his mother's arms around him again.
He wanted home.
That's it, he thought, rising up from Emma's bed, I'm leaving and I'm gonna make sure she's alright. Anything to assuage the knot in his stomach that told him that she was far from being okay.
Careful not to make any suspicious noises, Henry slowly inched his way to the door, opening it silently and peering out of the crack, hoping he would have a clear run to the front door.
No such luck.
Emma had her back to him while David and, surprisingly, Snow, sat facing him. They were all gathered around the kitchen island, an ushered conversation going on between them, their respective mugs of tea turning cold as they remained untouched. Henry felt a pang of utter frustration and nearly gave himself away by slamming the door, when he realised that this was the opportunity he had been waiting for. This time, neither Emma nor David could shoot his questions down or try and distract him with cookies and video games –did they really think he had the attention span of a three-year-old? This time, he was going to understand what exactly had taken place.
"Snow, you have to eat" David said, pushing a plate of what seemed to be an unappetising looking omelette towards his wife. Snow simply shook her head, turning slightly green at the sight of the food on the plate. Henry saw his grandfather push a hand through his hair as he let out an aggravated sigh. "You have to keep you strength up. We have no idea what Regina is going to do now, you can't just give up and wait for her retaliation like a sitting duck!"
"Hey!" cried Emma, "it's been two days, I don't think she's planning on coming here to rip her heart out. She just lost her mother so cut her some slack, okay?"
Cora was dead?! Why the hell had no one told him! He could leave the apartment without a bodyguard now and…oh. His mom's mom was dead.
"No offense, but we have known her for far longer than you have, and if there is something that I have learnt during my years of warring with the woman, is that she never backs down, especially not when she's hurt. After what Snow…huh…"stealing a rapid look to his wife, David quickly amended, "after what happened at the pawn shop, she's not going to let it go."
"You mean after she killed her mother?" Snow finally lifted her head up, her gaze no longer unfocused but piercing, staring right into Charming's eyes. "You mean after she lost someone she loved because of me? Again?"
"Snow…" David started only to be interrupted by his daughter
"Hang on, what do you mean 'again'?"
Snow looked down again in an attempt to hide the tears welling in her eyes and the tremble in her lower lip. She slumped down upon the counter top, hiding her face in her hands.
"I never told you. I never told anyone. God, she didn't tell me before giving me the cursed apple."
"Snow" David's voice was gentle as he lightly put his hand upon her arm, "what are you talking about?"
It seemed like the whole room held its breath as she let out a defeated sigh, waiting for her to reveal the meaning of what could only be described as very cryptic words.
"Nobody believes me when I say that she wasn't always the Evil Queen. Nobody understands who she was before she married my father, and absolutely no one comprehends why I believed she could change, not even you Charming. Don't deny it", she added lifting her head, effectively cutting of her husband before he could protest. "You never understood why I stopped her execution or why I insisted that I could still see the good in her."
Huh, what? They had nearly killed his mom? That wasn't in the book, Henry though with more than a little bit of unease. The book was his bible, the key to everything that happened in Storybrooke. What does it mean if it doesn't contain all the information?
"The reason no one understands" Snow continued, "is that no one in this town has known her as long as I have. I can still see the day I met her." Henry could see that she had closed her eyes and he noticed a tear trickling down her pale cheek all the while a wistful smile graced her lips as she added in a murmur, "So clearly".
The room took on an eerie quality as all kept their eyes fixed upon the woman who seemed transfixed about the scenes playing behind her closed eyelids. The ticking of the clock that hung upon the kitchen wall was the only sound to break the silence until Snow's eyes flickered open, as if she was awakening from a deep slumber.
"When I was almost thirteen, I went traveling throughout the kingdom with my father. My mother had died over a year ago, he was looking for a bride to replace her at his side. We were riding close to the estate that belonged to Regina's parents –although back then I had no idea where we were- when my horse got spooked and I lost control." Snow let out a self-deprecating laugh, "I had never been so frightened in my entire life. My mount galloped on and on and I was slipping off, I thought I was going to fall and break my neck. I was about to let go when I heard a thundering sound of hooves coming up from behind me, and next thing I knew a voice was telling me to hold on and then I was lifted off the saddle and safely tucked into a pair of strong arms. My saviour put me down upon the ground before kneeling down in front of me, checking me for injuries and asking me if I was alright. That was the first time I could look at her face."
Here Snow paused, trying to find the words to convey what that meeting had meant to her, how much it had changed her life. She looked at David's serious and concerned face –of course he had noticed her distress- before turning to her daughter, who seemed utterly fascinated by the tale she was hearing.
"Regina…she leaves no one indifferent. You've met her, you know how wherever she goes, people notice, people stare. Here it was because she was the mayor, and now because they recognise her as the sorceress who cursed them to this land. Back in our world, she was the feared Evil Queen, and she wore such elaborated costumes that you couldn't help but notice her. Hell, I'm sure more than a few men and women would have sold their souls to gather her favours." She shook in slight revulsion at the images those thoughts evoked; thinking of Regina as an object of both male and female fantasies was not something she wanted to do with any more depth.
"So I gather she didn't exactly put you under a sleeping curse because people thought you were the fairest of them all, then? What?!" Emma exclaimed seeing the scolding looks both her parents sent her way. "Have you actually seen the woman?"
"Yes, Emma, I know she is beautiful, and no, she did not poison me because of my looks. She was famed throughout all the neighbouring kingdoms for her beauty, so much so that my father actually increased the guard he had on her to make sure no one would abducted her."
Emma frowned slightly at that. What did she mean guard on her? Weren't guards there to protect royalty? But Mary Margaret started talking again before she could formulate the question.
"What I meant is that Regina always makes an impression on whoever happens to be in the same room as her. The girl I saw in the field that day…she's not the woman everyone sees today. She wasn't a queen in a sumptuous dress, she wasn't a mayor stylishly garbed. She was eighteen and wore a muddied pair of riding pants coupled with a blue jacket. Strands of raven hair had escaped her plaid and she…she was pure light. Laughter danced in her eyes and her smile was so wide and bright…she was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. She taught me never to give up that day, and by the time my father found me I knew I never wanted to leave her side. She was everything I wanted to be: gracious, funny, caring, as if love poured out of her. I couldn't stop talking about her and that is what, I think, convinced my father to ask her to marry him."
Henry could see the puzzled looks David and Emma were sending each other upon hearing such a description of Regina. He could understand their confusion, but what Snow was saying didn't surprise him that much: he had seen such glimpses of his mother, although they had grown further in between the older he became. He remembered afternoons spent at the park, his mom chasing after him, peals of laughter escaping her when she finally caught him, spinning him around until they both collapsed on the grass. Or that time she had found him jumping in the puddles that were forming in the back yard and how, instead of telling him off, she had joined him, both of them dancing under the rain until their clothes were soaked through and stuck to their skins. And all the small things too, such as the smile that would appear on her face when she saw him after a long day in the office, or the warm, loving way she held him in her arms.
Yes, he could very well guess why Snow White had wanted to keep his mom, especially if she had acted so unguarded not only rarely, but constantly.
"From then on, things accelerated. My father proposed, and he told me she had accepted. I was thrilled; not only was I getting a mother, I wasn't losing the best friend I had ever had. I wanted to see Regina again, and I saw her slip out of the manor to run to the stables. I went after her, and I caught her locked in an embrace with the stable boy. Daniel."
Snow put her face in her hands again, refusing to meet the other two's gaze any longer.
"I ran off. I didn't understand. My father had told me she was going to be his wife, that she was coming home with us, and I found her kissing someone else! She ran after me, and she told me that she…she didn't love my father. She loved Daniel. I was hurt, and angry, but she made me understand, she told me…she taught me about True Love. She said it was the most beautiful thing, a magic stronger than any other, a force that could transcend realms and last beyond death. She told me that once you have it, you cannot let it go." Snow's shoulders were shaking now with withheld emotions. "She made me promise not to tell a soul, especially not her mother. She looked so happy that night, her entire face bathed in gentle moonlight, and so I agreed to keep her secret."
"But I didn't."
"Her mother. Cora. She tricked me, saying that she only wanted Regina's happiness. I had just lost my mother, I didn't want Regina to lose hers so I told Cora everything. Next thing I knew, Regina was being fitted for a wedding dress. I…" Tears starting streaming down hand covered alabaster cheeks, "I thought it was for her wedding to Daniel. I remember how she looked at me, utterly shocked when I didn't understand why she said it was a dress for my father, and then I mentioned Cora. In hindsight, I guess that is when she realised what I had done. I could see there was something different in her eyes, they didn't shine anymore, but I didn't understand what had caused it. When she looked at me…something was gone. She told me Daniel had run away, that it had been a silly infatuation on her part and that she was over it. I never thought more of it, until the day she handed me the apple."
Henry didn't want to hear anymore. He didn't want to know what had happened to Daniel, he didn't want to find out what had occurred to change his mother so drastically that her eyes lost their light. He had never thought that she could have been in love at some point in her life; to him she was only mom, he had never really realised that she could actually have a love life, nor that maybe she hadn't wanted to marry the king. After all, every little girl wanted to be queen, right? Except that it seemed that what his mom had wanted was love.
"She had called me to a kind of parley, telling me to meet her where 'it all started'." Snow's voice forced Henry out of his thoughts and he was sucked into her story again. "I found her in the stables, staring at a spot on the ground. I startled her, and then she took me to a small hill on the estate, near the place where she had rescued me. There was a tomb stone under an oak tree, and she finally told me the reason why she was so hell bent on killing me." Snow was openly sobbing now, her voice shaking and mumbled as she kept her head bowed into her hands. "She said that because I had not kept my promise, because I had given her secret away, her mother had confronted her and Daniel as they were about to run away, She said that Cora…that Cora ripped Daniel's heart out and crushed it before her very eyes, forcing her to watch as he crumbled to the stable's floor."
Thick silence descended upon the loft once more, its deafening roar regularly shattered by the sobs that still escaped from the distraught woman's lips. Henry felt sick to the soul, he desperately wanted to unhear what had been confessed in the previous half hour. He couldn't take it, he couldn't grasp the implications of all that had been told, but he felt lost, a small part of him withering as he felt a shadow of the pain that his own mother had suffered. Slowly, he slid down to the floor, the adults in the adjoining room too distracted to hear the small thud his body made as he tried to control the shaking that was overtaking his limbs. He couldn't, he just couldn't.
"He came back" David eventually whispered, causing both women's head to sharply turn towards him. "Daniel he…he kind of came back."
They just stared at him.
"It was while you were in the Enchanted Forest. Whale went all Frankenstein on us and he stole one of Regina's hearts as well as Daniel's corpse; turns out she had kept quite a few things in that vault of hers. Whale, by some miracle or curse, managed to bring Daniel back. Except it wasn't really him, he went completely berserk, literally ripping out Whale's arm before running off to the stables. It was Regina who figured out where he was, and we arrived just in time to stop him from, well, strangling Henry. I wanted to dispose of him straight away, but Regina implored me to let her talk him, to let her speak to her fiancé."
Henry nearly let a whimper escape him; they were going to get married.
"I agreed and went to check on Henry. When I came back, both of them were gone. I didn't see her for three days after that, and she never said a word about what had truly taken place." David didn't add that the only testament to what had happened was a bloody trail upon the white wall of the Storybrooke stables.
Henry finally understood what had happened that day with the strange man at the stables. He had been so relieved to see David and his mom, but she, in a move that was completely out of character, had barely looked at him, instead fixing her gaze upon the man who had just tried to kill him. It had hurt at the time, but now he knew: she was seeing the man she had never ceased to love come back to life. And he had died, again, probably at her hand. Henry's head started to pound in earnest as realisation upon realisation crashed over him. How could he have been so clueless?
"Shit" Emma ended up murmuring. Feeling highly uncomfortable sitting still for so long, she reached for her now very cold cup of tea and lifted it up to her lips. "Did she find even a little bit of happiness in her years as queen? How old was your father when he married her actually? Around thirty-five?"
"More like fifty-five," Snow said before recoiling as she was suddenly covered in spittle.
"Wh…What!" Emma coughed as she tried to recover from her unexpected tea spurting. "He was more than three times her age?!"
"Why do you sound so shocked?" her father asked with a frown. "It isn't anything unusual for where we come from."
"That doesn't make it right! She was eighteen! She had just lost the man she loved and she was forced to marry a man that could have been her grandfather! Have you got any idea what he probably did to her?" Emma was shouting now and had stood up from her stool; Henry could see her shoulders quivering with rage. He wasn't exactly sure what she was implying the king had did to his mom, but he had the distinct feeling it wasn't something he wanted to find out if he ever wanted to sleep again at night.
"What do you mean what my father did to her?" exclaimed Snow, sounding indignant. "She is the one who killed him."
"Yeah, and you cursed her mother's heart and then tricked her into putting it back, effectively killing her in the process, so I would say you're even."
Snow opened her mouth to protest, however a loud bang and a below preventing her from doing so.
"You did WHAT?!"
All three adults turned to stare at the eleven year old who stood in front of them, the door still banging behind him, paled faced and wet cheeked, his entire frame shaking with rage.
"You made her kill her own mother?!"
"Henry…" Emma cautioned, taking a tentative step toward him.
"NO!" he yelled at her before facing his deathly white grandmother. "Why would you do such a thing to her?"
Snow stuttered. "I…I…Cora was too dangerous, we had to stop her. She was about to become the Dark One, and we simply couldn't take the risk", the last part coming out in an almost begging tone.
"That doesn't mean you had to make my mom be the one to kill her! It isn't supposed to be this way," Henry cried out. "You are the good guys, you aren't meant to go around hurting people! You made her suffer! Again!"
"Henry," Snow whispered sending a pleading look to her husband, "please, you have to understand…"
"No, I don't understand! Her mom is dead and it is all your fault! You were older than me when you met my mom, and you told her secret! Even I know you mustn't do that. Ever! She had to watch the heart of the man she loved crumble to dust, all because YOU couldn't keep ONE lousy secret! It's your fault she's in pain!"
He was practically hysterical now, hiccuping through his accusations as his chest heaved for breath. Emma, worried, tried to reach out to him only to have her arms swatted away violently.
"It's your fault my mom is broken! It's because of you that her eyes don't shine anymore or that she doesn't want to laugh with people around to see! You were supposed to be good but that's a lie, and the book is wrong, and everything is just WRONG! And I…I hu…I hurt her too," he finally blurted out, his breathing now completely erratic as the most crippling realisation of all hit him. "She loves me and I left. She loves me and I hurt her." The last word came out as a wail as tears started to pour down his flushed cheeks. Emma made another attempt at wrapping her arms around him only to be rejected again as Henry screamed.
"Don't touch me! I WANT MY MOM!"
Purple smoke suddenly appeared in front of the entrance door and there she was, the very unevil looking Evil Queen. Clad in a pair of black skin tight jeans and simple white tee-shirt, none of the adults could remember ever seeing her in such simple attire. Face devoid of make-up, she looked exhausted, dark circle marring her red-rimmed eyes. Eyes that were currently opened wide in fear.
"Henry?" she voiced in a panicked tone, gaze fixed upon her sobbing son, now restrained from approaching by Emma arms, not paying any attention to Charming who, recovering from his surprised, had unsheathed his sword to point the blade at her throat.
"What are you doing here?" he growled angrily. She flickered her eyes to him, a derisive sneer forming on her lips.
"Don't wet your pants shepherd king, I'm not here to kill your precious wife. Put your stick away, you might hurt yourself."
"The only one getting hurt here is you."
"Oh please, as if that could stop me." With a snap of her fingers, Regina watched the sword droop. The look on David's face when he realised she had turned his prized weapon into a rubber toy would keep her chuckling for days, but right now she was far too focused on her son to pay him any more attention. "Henry" she said again. Making the most of Emma momentary distraction, he managed to slip under her arm to throw himself into his mother's embrace, sobbing uncontrollably.
Regina buried her nose in his hair, breathing him in. She had missed him, so much. She simply took in his presence for a few precious moments before coming back to the matter at hand. Looking up, she glared at the three pairs of eyes currently staring at her.
"What happened?" she asked in a menacing tone. She didn't trust the bunch of idiots she was facing, but she had at least thought they could take of her son. Turned out she had been wrong about that as well. "What did you do to him?"
"Wow, calm down!" Emma hastened to say, "We didn't do anything. I'm not sure what happened, but I think he overheard us talking and he got upset."
"Upset? This is what you call upset?! Miss Swan, my child is currently crying in my arms to the point of being ill. I doubt a conversation about God knows what had the ability to put him in such a state."
"It was about you." Everyone except Henry, still too worked up to be aware of anything except his mother's strong embrace, swivelled to stare at Snow. "The conversation, it was about you."
Regina frowned. "I don't understand how that…."
"It was about your mother."
Regina tensed. "You were discussing what you made me do to my own mother in front of Henry?"
"Of course not!" exclaimed Snow, suddenly throwing her hands up in the air. "We thought he was busy reading or playing a video game, not listening in on what we were discussing! We never would have talked about Cora or Daniel otherwise."
"You talked about Daniel?" Her voice was cutting, yet the others had to stop from flinching at the obvious pain underlying each word. "You never change, do you Snow? Even after all this time you still don't know when to keep your mouth shut. You continue to share secrets that aren't yours to..."
"Mom…" came a small muffled voice. Regina immediately looked down to peer at Henry.
"Sweetheart, please, tell me what's wrong," she implored, gently pushing her hand through his dishevelled hair to keep it from falling into his eyes.
"They hurt you" was the response as fresh tears escaped to cascade down already soaked skin. Regina just blinked at him, at a loss for what to say. She hadn't been expecting that, not by a long shot. She couldn't deny the statement though, it's veracity cut right through her
"I know everything now, about how you lost your True Love, how you had to become queen when you didn't want to, how you were tricked into killing your own mother."
Regina closed her eyes, trying desperately to prevent her own tears from making an appearance as the images evoked by his words started to assault her.
"And then I made it all worse." Shocked, Regina's eyes snapped open. "I left you, Mom. I called you evil and I didn't believe you loved me even though you made me so happy ever since the day you took me in. I hurt you in the worst possible way, but Mom," he said, desperately grabbing at her tee-shirt, "I am so, so sorry. I miss you, I'm sorry Mom, I'm sorry."
"Oh my baby boy" she whispered brokenly as she squeezed him against her heart, Henry still begging for her forgiveness over and over again. "Henry, you have nothing to be sorry about. My life has been hard, but I promise you that everything is alright as long as I can love you. You are all I need to be happy, do you understand?" she asked him, feeling him nod his head somewhat reluctantly against her chest. "I haven't been the best mother lately, but I'm going to make it up to you, okay?" Again, she felt him nod. Taking her hands off his back to put them on his cheeks, Regina tenderly wiped away his tears with her thumbs before smiling at him gently. "I've got you sweetheart, and I'm going to be alright. We are going to be alright."
"I love you Mom," Henry said, wrapping his arms around her neck once more.
"I love you too Henry" Regina replied as swirls of purple gathered around them, taking them home.