Goddamn Emma Swan, Regina thought as she marched through the woods following the familiar leather jacket. She stumbled every other step as her heels caught in the soft soil. It was undignified. This coven nonsense could have been dealt with ages ago if Emma hadn't gone against her at that stupid council meeting.
The forest opened into a clearing lit by a bright magical fire. The four magical girls they were hunting were at directional markers chanting. Just as Emma began shouting, the girls threw up their hands and a light beam shot out of the fire. It reached out to the edges of the wood and latched onto Regina. Emma turned to Regina and saw her wrapped in magic, frozen. Her clothes seemed to melt and transform as the lone grey streak in her hair evaporated.
The magic retreated back into the fire, but all eyes were fixated on Regina.
"Miss Swan?"
SQSQSQSQSQ
There was a fire and magic and then, all of sudden, Main Street. Regina rolled her eyes. All of that fuss and pomp for a simple teleportation spell. At least now she had a clear-cut example of why magical education classes needed to be instated immediately. Maybe the arduous discussions could finally come to an end and they could actually work on the logistics. Regina swept the stray hair that had blown into her face aside and debated teleporting back to the clearing. She eyed her muddy boots with distaste and decided to just go home. It would serve Emma right after dragging her out into the woods in the middle of the night. The girls must have clarified their intentions by now so she doubted Emma was worried. She reached for her phone anyway.
"Mom!" shouted a child's voice behind her and it froze the blood in her veins. That sounded like Henry, but Henry… She turned slowly and saw her son standing on the pavement outside Granny's. Oh my God, she thought, they sent me back in time. That wasn't possible. The fact her 17-year-old son stood in front of her, clearly not 17 any longer promised different. She studied him as he rushed her. He couldn't be more than 12 or 13. She didn't remember this. He wrapped his arms around her waist declaring how sorry he was. Her arms wrapped around him, but she felt uneasy. Regina searched her memories.
She was looking down at her young again son's head when Emma came out of Granny's. This really wasn't right. If this wasn't time travel what had those girls done?
"So, I guess the kid is staying with you tonight," this Emma said, pushing her hands into her pockets. Regina felt Henry nod his head vigorously into her chest.
"I guess so."
"Regina. Look I'm sorry. I never meant to…"
"It's fine. I think I should be getting Henry home," Regina interrupted. She didn't know what to do with this strangely apologetic Emma. It felt wrong just like the tight feeling of Henry hugging her felt wrong. Where was she? Emma sighed and went back up the stairs to the diner. Hook was standing at the top of the steps. He looped his arm around her and guided her back into the establishment. That alone confirmed her belief she hadn't traveled back in time because her Emma Swan would never have permitted that from the pirate.
Regina looked down at the young boy in her arms. He was studying her features with curiosity. He grabbed the grey lock of hair. "What is this? You didn't have this earlier. Your hair is shorter, too." His eyes narrowed on her face. "You look different." He pulled away from her. She stepped forward and gently touched his face. He flinched. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"Henry," she said, tilting his head up and looking into his eyes. "Something happened after I left the diner. I'm not sure what, but you'll help me figure it out, right?" she asked. He nodded still looking unsure. She looked back at the diner where a party seemed to be going on. Emma and Hook were visible and seemed close. Regina felt bile rise to her throat and her heart ached. She wasn't home.
"What story did you hate reading me the most?" Henry asked suspiciously, drawing her attention back to him.
She chuckled. "emGood Dog, Carl/em. It had no words and you always wanted Pongo to babysit after I read it to you." Henry laughed.
"Yep, you are my mom."
"Always," she said taking his hand. "Let's walk home and then we'll figure this mess out."
Henry squeezed it. "Ok." He smiled at her. Her heart seized seeing her son this young again. "You promise we'll talk when we get home?" he asked.
"Yes," she said, gripping his hand. "I just need the walk to process some things." He nodded and they started walking. The streets of Storybrooke were back to what they were during the curse. The modern touches the town had been added were gone. Was this Pan walking with her? Had they never figured out Henry was trapped in that box? She studied the boy walking with her. He was clearly older than Henry was when they went to Neverland. Their height difference was smaller and his voice was starting to change. They walked in silence through the dark streets still holding hands.
When they got to the door, Regina dropped his hand and pressed her palm to the door. This was going to be hard. If she was right, behind this door was the old sterilized version of her home; empty of the happiness it had gained the last few years. Henry watched her with concern. She dug out her house keys and slowly unlocked the door. Henry followed her in warily, watching as she took in their house like she hadn't seen it in years. Her eyes filled with tears before she shook her head and offered Henry a fake smile. "Let me make myself a drink and I'll meet you in the study." He nodded. Living in Storybrooke had taught him to accept weird, but this was especially weird.
Henry turned on the lights and plopped down on the comfy loveseat. He knew his mom was going to have a hard time with the Marian thing, but this was not going in the way he thought it would. He had no idea what this was about. His mom walked in clutching a tumbler of some amber liquid and juice for him. After she placed the juice in front of him, she waved her hand at the fireplace producing a warm fire. Then she flinched and looked at him. "Is that okay?"
"The fire?"
"The magic," she replied, looking over at the fire, remembering her avoidance of magic with the younger Henry.
"Well, yeah. You are using white magic right so…"
"I am," she stated, firmly. In her head, she thanked the heavens. She was using white magic here. Maybe at this point the town didn't hate her. She hoped so because she was going to need help. She settled across from him and after taking a long sip, placed the drink on the table. Folding her hands over her lap, she leaned forward. "Earlier tonight I think I got sucked into a portal. I found myself on Main Street when I should have been in the forest." She paused studying his face. His eyes were wide. She took a deep breath before continuing. "I believe I somehow ended up in an alternate universe to my own."
Henry blinked. That was certainly not what he was expecting. His eyes took in the little differences to her appearance. There was the grey streak and little crinkles near her eyes. His eyes widened again. She was even wearing a different dress and her shoes had mud splattered on them. "I was working with your mother on a disturbance and the magic grabbed me," she continued.
"You're older," he said. She raised her eyebrows. "How do you know you didn't time travel and you aren't changing everything by talking to me? Emma just did that and well you would know …" Henry took a sip of his juice. Apple. In New York, he had always been a fan and he wondered if it had been his subconscious missing his mom.
"She just did what? Time travel is impossible. No magic user has ever been able to accomplish the spell."
"It's possible," he said. "Emma and Hook did it tonight."
"How?" Regina frowned. "Is time travel somehow normal here?"
"It isn't. You really are from a different world, aren't you?"
"Clearly," she said taking a long pull from of her whiskey. "What happened outside Granny's tonight never happened in my world. I'm sure of it and despite the recklessness of youth I highly doubt a handful of teenagers could have managed time travel, even if your mother somehow figured it out," she said looking away. He tilted his head at the word mother.
"I'm still your son in your world, right? You adopted me when I was born?" he asked.
"Of course. You are forever and always my son." He smiled at her and she gave him a soft smile back.
"How old am I there?" He asked as he felt her eyes studying his features.
"You are 17. Almost a man."
"How were you so sure you weren't time traveling when you saw me?"
"It was Emma that gave it away. She was never on such friendly terms with the pirate in my world. He put his arm around her."
"Oh yeah. That's new. Maybe it doesn't last long and you never knew about it?"
"I would have noticed," Regina said. "The whole moment didn't feel right." She glanced away again. "You were hugging me tight like the world had ended." She paused. "I would have remembered that." Her eyes found his again. "How old are you, Henry?"
"Almost 13." She nodded her head, pulling up old memories.
"What was happening at the diner?"
"It was a naming celebration for Snow's baby."
"Daniel," she breathed out.
"Daniel?"
"Is that not the baby's name?" she asked. His brow furrowed.
"No. It's Neal after my father. They wanted to honor his memory."
"His memory?" Regina said, her voice heavy. She took a sip of her whiskey. "He's dead then?"
Henry couldn't understand what he was seeing on his mother's face. It looked like her best friend had died.
"Is he alive in your world?" he asked. She looked away again and didn't answer. This world she had fallen into was looking more and more bleak. Somehow her world had gotten the happy endings while this one was still suffering. Her son had lost his father before he even had a chance to know him. It dawned on her then that if Rumple knew his son was alive in another world, he would try to go there. He created the darkest curse to get to him before. What would stop him this time? She honestly didn't need two Rumpelstiltskins in her life.
She looked at her distraught son and was instantly up and drawing him into her arms. Knowledge of her world might hurt this world just as much as time travel would. He pressed his face into her shoulder. Her son was already hurting. Her hand rubbed circles on his back as he clutched to her. As much as she wanted to go home, she knew she needed to be home. Her presence could drive everyone in this world mad with what ifs.
Asking Henry more questions seemed suddenly dangerous. What if one of the decisions the other Regina had made differed from her own choices and ultimately led to Neal's death in this world? Henry would blame her. When they returned to their own lives, this world's Regina could lose Henry for good over a split second decision.
He was still so young. After the hugs from her now ridiculously tall son, this Henry felt tiny pressed against her. Henry still had the prepubescent baby fat that soccer had stripped from him in later years. She wished her Emma were here. It took her a long time to realize, but it was much easier when there were two sets of arms to hold Henry up.
Regina held her son. He didn't cry. He just held her tight like she might be the next to disappear on him. She didn't know that she already had, but held on extra tight because he was her son and he needed her to. The weight of loss felt heavy on his shoulders. He had lost his mom and father. He got one back, but lost the other.
Neal felt vague in his mind while Regina still felt vibrant. Playing with August in the park and getting pizza in New York were all he had with his father and he desperately wanted more.
"I'm so sorry, my little prince," she murmured into his hair. "You deserved to know him." His arms tightened around her, before he pulled back and looked into her eyes.
"You mean that, don't you?" he asked. She stroked his hair.
"Of course. I want you to be happy." She kissed his forehead. "I love you no matter what world I am in. You are my happy ending and it can only be happy if you are happy." He gave her a small smile. He knew she avoided answering him, but he found he didn't want to know. It would hurt either way.
"We need to figure out where our timelines changed," he said, sniffling.
"I agree, but maybe it's enough for tonight?" Regina said, still holding him gently. A conversation with Snow now seemed more appropriate than one with her 12-year-old son that still mourned the loss of the father she had lunch with yesterday.
"Will you really be able to sleep not knowing?" he asked. A chuckle escaped her.
"Probably not."
He pulled out of the embrace and turned toward her on the couch, folding his legs underneath him. "Okay, so Emma broke the curse after the turnover," he started, tentatively.
"Yes," she replied with a grimace, not liking this game at all.
"The wraith and the hat."
"Yes."
"The sleeping curse and the well."
"Yes."
"Archie and Cora." She nodded, but looked away. Neal was next.
"New York and my dad," Henry muttered.
"Yes," she said, reaching for his hand and giving it a squeeze.
"The trigger and Neverland." She nodded again still holding his hand. Maybe things weren't as different here as she imagined.
"The Peter Pan body swapping and the curse."
"The curse?" Their eyes met.
"He cast the Dark Curse and you sent us to New York with new memories to save us from it."
"No. He's trapped in Pandora's box somewhere in Mr. Gold's shop." She stopped. "So, that's what he was after in my vault," she muttered as her mind reeled with the possibilities. Who knew Pan even had something worthwhile to sacrifice. Was it Rumple? Did Pan sacrifice him to curse Storybrooke? "So, Pan cursed us, again?"
"No, you stopped his curse." Henry looked away. "But to stop it, you had to give me up. Hey wait are you sure I'm not the one still in the box in Mr. Gold's shop?"
"Yes dear. I was on board with the body swapping, remember? We figured that out. I realized you weren't you and knocked Pan out as Emma was freeing you from Pandora's box. We reversed the switch and trapped Pan."
"And lived happily ever after? No new curse, no year in New York or Wicked Witch and flying monkeys?"
"A year in New York?" Regina hesitated. Her heart broke for herself. It was a strange feeling. A whole year without Henry seemed unbearable. "None of that." She stroked his hair. "I'm pleased to say I'm the lucky first to be sucked into a dimensional portal in many years." She cleared her throat. "So, from the mentioned flying monkeys and Wicked Witch, I suppose Oz has somehow found its way to Storybrooke? Is the Wicked Witch still terrorizing the villagers?"
"You stopped her! She could only be stopped with white magic and Emma lost hers somehow and I believed in you and you did it!" The smirk that graced her lips couldn't be helped. It was nice to know she had gotten the chance to be the hero in this world. Finding white magic had been a grace she didn't think she deserved. It pleased her to know that even in this dark world, she had somehow found a way to connect with it.
"That's enough for tonight. I think we've established where our timelines diverge. It's bedtime for you. It's late," she said, looking at the watch her Emma had given her.
"Mom," Henry said slowly. It was not the tone of a child wanting to stay up. It was the tone of more bad news. "The Wicked Witch was your sister. Her name was Zelena."
"I don't have a sister," she said as trying to process what he was saying.
"You did."
"Did? She's dead?" She glanced at her drink. This world was so bizarre. A sister… "Did I kill her?" she asked.
"No! You're a hero now. I don't know what happened. You spared her life, but she's dead anyway. Everyone seems to think her death somehow triggered the time traveling spell."
"Oh." She swallowed the last of her drink and picked up Henry's. "It's definitely bedtime now. I'll call Snow in the morning and I can discuss the finer details with her." She hesitated. "Snow no longer hates me here?"
"I think she loves you," Henry said with a grin. She snorted.
"Go wash up and get to bed."
"Will you tell me a bed time story?"
"You want one?"
"In this world, I spent a year believing you didn't exist. This is the first night I've been home in a long time."
"Then a story you shall get," she said shoving him toward the door. "From your book?" she asked. His face pulled sharply into a frown.
"How about a new story from your world?" he asked as he left the room.
My world, she thought as she heard his footsteps head upstairs. What could she possibly tell him? Apparently, Neal was dead and Emma was with Hook. The new little prince was now named Neal and the other Neal was actually dead. She felt the weight of his death hit her. Her sister must have been responsible somehow.
With another wave of her hand, she extinguished the fire and flipped the switch for the light. She climbed the stairs, lightly running her fingers over the walls suddenly bare of family photographs. Henry came out of the bathroom in his pajamas and she followed him into his room. She pulled the blankets up to his chin and sat on the edge of the bed. Her fingers smoothed the wrinkles from his bedspread. "So a story. How about one about Emma?"
"Okay."
"Well, when I first began teaching Emma how to use her magic, she had a difficult time."
"Yeah! You collapsed a bridge on her to get it jump started."
"I what?!"
"Or not," he laughed.
"It saddens me slightly to say that most of our magic lessons were far less exciting than that," she smiled and began a foolish tale of how Emma had turned Pongo into a pig after a sneeze distracted her. Pongo the pig had escaped and Emma had to chase him down the street before she could manage to stop him. She had Henry in stitches with her descriptions of Pongo the pig giving Emma the run around. At the end of the story, she kissed his head. He threw his arms around her neck.
"I love you."
"I love you too, Henry."
"We'll figure this out and get you home."
"And your own mother back."
"Do you think she is in your world?"
Her hand slid through his hair pushed it out of his face. "I hope so."
"Why?"
"I have a very happy life full of love. Your mom could use that right now. Losing her sister must have been difficult." Henry frowned.
"She also broke up with her boyfriend." Regina arched an eyebrow. He smiled weakly. "Robin Hood."
"Wow. Such a famous name." She laughed. "Enough stories. It's bedtime. We can talk more tomorrow." She kissed his forehead. "I'll call your grandmother first thing and we'll get things figured out. Get some sleep." He smiled softly and she left him to his dreams.
The door to her bedroom was shut. The idea of a boyfriend made her wonder if she was going to find signs of his presence instead of the bits of Emma Swan she was used to seeing scattered about her bedroom. Since he was now apparently an ex-boyfriend maybe she would be lucky. Regina pushed the door open and was welcomed by her old cursed bedroom. It was the same as she remembered. Her old favorite silk pajamas comforted her as she prepared herself for bed.
She placed her phone reverently on her pillow as she changed. It was a newer model than the one she had in this timeline. With a wave of her hand, a cloud of purple smoke enveloped it and it now looked like her old phone and would fit her charger. She climbed under the sheets and unlocked the phone staring sadly at her lost-in-time family grinning back at her.
Her photo album was smaller than she remembered and her heart ached knowing that it was going to be her only connection to the life she loved for the foreseeable future. The Emma Swan in this world was a stranger to her and all she could expect from interactions with her would be a pain she would have to hide. With a groan, she pressed her face into her pillow. If Emma could see her now moping and sighing over pictures of her, she would be insufferable for days.
How was Emma handling this other Regina? How was the other Regina handling her world? She needed the whole picture from Snow. She wondered if it even mattered? She needed to focus on getting home. The thought of her having an evil sister was worrisome though. The woman had clearly found a way here. Who was to say she wouldn't find a way to her Storybrooke?
The bed was too big and the room too quiet. She reached over and placed her palm over Emma's spot on the bed. If she closed her eyes and concentrated hard maybe she could convince herself that Emma was just working the night shift and would be home soon. Thinking about what Emma Swan was really doing in this world was not an option so instead she thought about the first night Emma had shared her bed.
SQSQSQSQ
The lights were off and they were lying side by side facing each other. Light from the street streamed in through the window giving them enough light to see each other's faces. Eventually, Emma couldn't keep her hands to herself and reached out and pushed aside a stray lock of hair from Regina's face. After tonight, she could do it whenever she wanted. When Henry was trapped in the mine during the curse, she had grabbed Regina's arm and the woman had pulled out of her grasp in an instant. Time certainly had changed things, she thought as she felt Regina lean into her touch.
"Are we really doing this?" Emma asked. Regina's eyes fluttered open.
"If I find you in my bed in the morning, then I suppose we are."
"What if you wake up first?"
Regina smiled. "Do you want me to pretend to be asleep so you can make your getaway?"
"What fun would that be?"
"Not fun at all," Regina muttered.
"I don't plan on running, Regina."
"You say that now. The morning could bring regrets."
"And you never regret anything. How are you so sure that in the morning you won't be the one Miss Swan-ing me and kicking me out?"
"I want this," Regina said, closing her eyes again. "I'll only have regrets if you leave." Regina let out a long sigh. "As they say… no pressure."
"How long have you wanted this?" Emma asked after a moment.
"Does it really matter?"
"No." Emma leaned forward and pressed her lips against the full lips in front of her. "It doesn't. This should have happened a long time ago." Her lips twisted into a smirk against Regina's. "I can't believe I made out with a mayor on her couch like a teenager." Regina groaned, pulling back.
"I would think a Queen would be more impressive than a mayor." Their lips met again and their arms pulled each other closer until finally Regina pushed Emma back. "If we don't stop now, we won't stop."
Emma smiled. "This feels kind of inevitable. Do you think this was how it was always going to go?"
"I think we made a lot of choices and one wrong one could have made this impossible."
"I'm glad we made the right choices," Emma said, kissing her chastely.
"Me too."
