Thank you so much for all of the reviews and follows. They made my day. They've only seemed to inspire me to continue this story. I have an idea of where I want for this story to go but do not know how many chapters separate that from this. I'm also still debating switching the narrative around and really get into Regina's head some of the times too, to help better explain what's been going on but we'll see. Would love ideas about that and all of this! Anyways, here is the next one and do please continue to enjoy and review :)


"I can't take this anymore. I'm done. It's over."

Maleficent woke with a start. Instinctively she reached over to her wife's side of the bed. But unsurprisingly it was still empty. Just like it had been for the past three years.

When her wife had left, the nightmares had begun. It was the same one really over and over again. The constant reminder that she had lost the love of her life. She didn't really remember what happened in them. Only that Regina and she would be in the same room and that they'd get into a fight. It wasn't always the same fight, but it always ended the same. With Regina saying those words and then disappearing. Vanishing into thin air, like magic. But this was no fairytale.

And to make matters worse, Maleficent would wake with a start to an empty bed and have to face the truth.

Her nightmares were very real.

For the most part, Maleficent was doing as well as could be expected given that she hadn't seen or heard from her wife in over three years.

Their daughter Lily, was perfect. Even though it hurt Mal to have to look into the face of her wife. The girl was the splitting image of her mother. But Mal would never hold that against her. Especially since she was all that was left of Regina. Lily was the sweetest girl on the planet and Mal simply adored her.

Sure, she never thought that she'd be a single mother. When Regina and her and found a doctor who could take bone marrow from Maleficent and fertilize one of Regina's eggs, she never thought that meant she would have to do this alone. Regina had been so thrilled when she learned she was pregnant and Mal just knew her wife was going to be a good mother.

Regina was only a mother for a month, and Mal couldn't decide if she was or not. She didn't give Mal the chance to form a real opinion.

She wanted to hate her wife. She really did. It would be so much easier to hate the woman who abandoned her and their daughter. To make her the bad guy. But no matter what, she just couldn't.

She could never stop loving her either.

Her friends wanted her to move on. To find someone else. But every date she found herself comparing them to Regina. They never seemed to stack up.

She knew where her friends were coming from, it had been three years. But Mal was still holding onto hope that maybe, just maybe Regina would come back.

After all, they were still married. Regina had never sent divorce papers like Mal was sure she would.

That was something Mal would be forever grateful for. It was bad enough that Regina just left without saying goodbye, but it would be even worse if she had filed for divorce. Mal's heart would probably never recover.

But there was a small part of her that knew she should be the one to seek Regina out and file for divorce. Her friends were right, she was only prolonging her pain and suffering.

She hadn't even spoken to Regina since that night. No texts, or calls, emails, or letters. For the first couple of months, she had tried everything and got nothing. Once Regina's voicemail had been filled up and her letters started being returned, she knew she needed to stop. She was only hurting herself more.

But she just wanted answers. To hear Regina's voice just once more. She had always been attracted to her wife's voice, something she hadn't even know she could be attracted to before meeting Regina. But she was. She remembers fondly the way her wife used to whisper her name as she came down from her high or how she'd sound just waking up in the morning. It was pure heaven.

And now as she lay in her bed, alone, she wished it was her wife she was waking up to. She'd soothe her back to sleep and then proceed to curl into her arms.

"Mama?"

Her child's voice seemed to cut through her painful memories and she was glad for the interruption. With a quick glance at the clock, 3:15 a.m., she sat up on the bed and frowned. It was never a good thing if her child was up before eight.

Mal frowned and looked at the girl. "Lily, baby? What's wrong."

She looked like she was going to cry and her heart broke for her.

"Bad dweam."

Mal gave her a small smile and held her arms out, signifying that she'd like to hug her daughter. Lily happily ran into her arms. Mal picked her up and cuddled with her, gently rubbing her back. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Lily shook her head and nuzzled into Mal'a chest. She should take her back to bed, but she also liked being able to cuddle with someone in her own bed. Probably one of the things most she hated about being alone.

"Was it about school?"

Lily had been a little apprehensive to go to preschool. And it had taken a lot of coaxing and convincing on Mal's part to get her excited for it. And she was getting there especially as her first day drew nearer and nearer. She would start in the morning, and last night when Mal had put the girl down, she had been buzzing with excitement. But something must have changed since then. Mal was worried about her daughter.

She felt a small nod against her chest and Mal let out a soft sigh. Gently she combed through her daughter's hair with her fingers. It was so soft just like Regina's and maybe she shouldn't be cuddling with her when she missed her wife the way she did. But her daughter needed her so she brushed all of her hurt aside.

"Baby we talked about this. School is so much fun and you're going to meet so many new friends and have a teacher. School is great."

"School is yucky." She frowned and pulled away from her mother just enough to look up at her. God, she looked so much like Regina it was really painful. "No wanna go."

"Lilith.." Mal warned. She never really liked to use her daughter's full name, but she had to get her to see that this would be good for her. That she didn't need to worry or be scared about going to school.

Lily frowned and crossed her arms, a gesture that was such her wife she had to bite back a laugh. Regina didn't even raise her but it amazed her how many of her wife's mannerisms she seemed to pick up. Maybe that could squash the whole biology versus environment debate.

Mal gently kissed her daughter's head and cupped her cheek. "Have I ever lied to you before?"

Lily shook her head at that.

"I know you're scared, but I can promise you that you're going to love it. Everyone will be just as scared as you. But being scared is okay. It just means you're about to experience something new. I still get scared sometimes too but do you ever see me stay away from anything that scares me?"

Lily shook her head again and Mal smiled. At least it seemed like she was getting through to her.

"And I promise I won't leave you until you tell me to, okay?"

"You pwomise?"

"Always baby girl. Now let's get you back into bed. You're going to want to be all rested up for your big day."

Lily gave her mother a hug and Maleficent moved to carry her back into her own bed. As she drifted back off to sleep once Maleficent had tucked her back in, Mal was glad that at least one of them could sleep so easily after having a nightmare. She wasn't going to be so lucky.

She headed downstairs and made herself a cup of tea. She was sure that she wasn't going to sleep again, she rarely could after having these nightmares. It was a wonder she was still functioning after all these years of little to no sleep most nights. But she managed and would continue to manage. Never in a million years did she think her life would just be described as "managing."

Never in a million years did she think her life would just be described as "managing."

She missed the days when she was happy. When she was doing more than just managing. And maybe she could have that for herself again. Maybe it was time to let go of the past and start over.

Regina clearly had and she needed to too.

As she sipped her tea she thought about calling that last girl she went on a date with. Of all the dates she'd been on, at least she seemed the most normal and down to earth. She was attractive and Mal found that she could grow to love her one of these days. It may never be close to the love she felt - feels - for Regina, but she can try. She'll call her once Lily was at school. Maybe she'll make plans for that evening and call a babysitter for Lily. Have a nice evening out and not dwell on her ex for once.

She finished her cup and was more determined to prove to everyone else that she was over her wife. Maybe she'd look into hiring a private investigator to track her down so that Mal could finally serve her divorce papers.

Then Mal would be free. And she'd be able to finally sleep through the night.

She went to bed a little more at ease and when her alarm went off a few hours later, she felt a little like herself. The old her anyways. She never realized how much of a weight carrying around Regina was and now she felt lighter. Like her wife wouldn't be able to bring her down ever again.

She got Lily up and ready quickly enough without too much of a complaint and maybe the universe was finally throwing her a bone.

She tried not to think of all the families Lily would be exposed to. Because sure enough, she knew her daughter would start asking questions about why she only had one parent when most of the kids in her class had two. She definitely wasn't ready for the pain that would come from that. Especially not today. No, today she was happy and feeling light. Nothing was going to bring her down.

She found a parking spot easily enough and held Lily's hand as they walked towards her daughter's classroom. She could feel people staring, but she paid them no mind.

She knew people always gave her looks when she was out with her daughter. Where Mal was blonde, pale, and blue-eyed, Lily was brown-haired, brown-eyed, and darker skinned, all of her mother's Hispanic heritage on display. She ignored them. They didn't get to judge her for having a daughter with mixed heritages. Lily was beautiful and through all of this mess, she was the one thing they had created together and she was perfect in every way.

There were times when she had terrible moments when she hated that Lily had been born because it seemed like Lily had been the cause of their marriage dissolving after all, but once she chastised herself she knew that she never regretted having Lily. Lily was the light of her life and one of the reasons she bothered to get out of bed each morning. No, she would never take her decision to have a kid with Regina back. Even if she knew that Regina wouldn't have left. She loved her daughter too much for that.

She gave her daughter a soft smile and knelt down to her level. "Are you ready?"

Lily gave a weak nod and a small smile. Maleficent stood and opened the door. As she walked through the door, she felt a certain unease for some reason. Not because she didn't trust that the school was good - she spent countless hours researching every preschool around them and chosen this one because it was simply the best. Even though the teacher, Raina White, was new this year, she still trusted that Lily would be in good hands and wasn't worried about that - But she still couldn't explain this feeling.

At least not until she saw the teacher. She felt as if she had been punched in the gut and she wanted to take Lily and never look back. But she couldn't. It had been too late.

At least the teacher seemed to have the same reaction as the two's eyes met across the room. Maleficent licked her lips as she started to walk towards her. So much for her light-hearted feeling, she had this morning.

She took a small breath and pulled Lily close when the woman stopped right in front of them. There was something in her eyes that Mal couldn't read and she was startled.

Because there before her stood no one other than Regina Mills.

So many unanswered questions and emotions ran through Maleficent and she did everything she could not to make a scene. But her eyes never left the brunette's, cataloging everything that was different about her from the last time they had seen each other. Regina's hair was shorter, and she wasn't wearing her signature pantsuits to work. It was a strange change to see her dressed down, but still Regina pulled off the look well. Plus there was the fact that apparently she now had preschool teacher on her resume.

Before either woman could say something, Lily gave the other woman a smile. "Are you my teacher? I'm Lily. You're really pretty."

Regina tore her eyes away from Maleficent and knelt before their daughter. No, Maleficent's daughter, since Regina lost that right when she left them both behind. More than anything, Maleficent wished she knew what her wife was thinking as she saw Lily for the first time. She hoped that Regina realized in that moment what she had been missing out on.

But instead, Regina gave her a bright smile. "I'm Miss White. It's so lovely to meet you, Lily. There are other kids over there if you'd like to play with them."

Lily gave Maleficent a hug and ran off. There goes their buffer. Maleficent watched as Regina licked her lips. She hated herself for still being so damn attracted to her even after all this time. She was trapped in her wife's spell and couldn't figure out a way to get out of it.

"Regina.." Mal finally said with an obvious disbelieving tone.

Regina shook her head and looked around. "Not here. Please. We can talk after school but not now." She pleaded with her silently. And even after all that this woman had put her through, she found herself nodding in agreement. There was a time and place for everything, and yelling at her daughter's teacher on the first day of school, would definitely not help make Lily like school. She should have agreed with Lily and just stayed home. They could have tried school next year instead.

A pang of something went through her as she watched Regina make her way through the classroom. It was worse when she knelt down and started to play with Lily.

It was a moment she thought about since Regina had left and yet it was way less satisfying than she could ever imagine it to be. Before, she hoped that them reuniting would bring her happiness unlike anything else she'd ever felt before and yet that wasn't the case. Instead, she just felt this unease in her stomach and she wanted to know why that was. She would be there later to talk this all out. Maybe she'd get rid of this unease. And maybe she could work towards getting her happiness like she so desperately wanted. Because she didn't even know what she had now.

All she had now were more questions.