SUMMARY: Regina and Daniel's story, pre-"Stable Boy."
DISCLAIMER: I don't own "Once Upon a Time," Regina, Daniel, or any of the supplementary characters, and I'm not making any money from this story.
WARNING: Angst, nongraphic allusions to child abuse.
Once Upon a Stable
by Alicia
Chapter 3: Happily Ever After
"Light it," Regina's mother said.
Deliberately ignoring what she knew her mother wanted, Regina knelt to the wood, picked up the flint and steel set for the servants to use, and knocked the two together. She had a skill born from long practice. Satisfied with her work, she rose as flames rose.
Her mother's lips pursed dangerously.
Regina stared at her, communicating with her eyes that she'd done nothing wrong. At last she'd learned the way to endure her mother's punishments. She simply had to act as if her mother had no power, as if they were equals.
Her mother used magic to carry a bucket of water from the kitchen – where it presumably would have been used for dishes at some point during the day – and empty it over Regina's fire.
Regina schooled her features so that she looked bored. "If that is all, Mother…"
"I don't understand why you won't learn to use magic. Why you hate it so. Why you hate me so."
I won't learn to use magic because you use it to make my skin turn to invisible fire, Regina thought but did not say. She kept her gaze locked with her mother's, expressionless. Kept her power.
"Perhaps you need better kindling. Like that sweater you love so." Regina's mother used magic to lift the sweater that Regina had carelessly left lying on one of the living room chairs. She rotated it in midair a few times, then set it on top of the wet logs. She pointed, and the sweater gave a loud pop and burst into flames.
She was emotionless. She kept her power.
Her mother had not just destroyed the last element of the boy of her dreams. Because that would be unthinkable.
That night she did not cry. When her parents' breathing had been even for hours and still she couldn't sleep, she rose and slipped silently to the stables. Just once more. To clear her head.
The far bale of hay rustled, and a figure rose. Startling deep eyes met Regina's in the dark.
Regina did not hesitate, nor did she think about power. She threw herself into his arms.
"I found you at last," he said over and over.
"But I've been right here. Where did you go?"
He pulled back a little – hard to do when Regina was clutching him so desperately – and said, "I'll tell you soon enough. For now, just tell me your name."
"Tell me yours! So I don't lose you again."
He drew back, this time succeeding, gripping Regina's shoulders and meeting her eyes. "Daniel," he said. "My name is Daniel. And this means you have power over me, summoner of unicorns."
Regina managed to come close again, burying her face in his shirt. "Regina," she said. "I … have something else to tell you."
"What is it?"
"I lost your sweater."
He laughed, and she cried, and they held each other long past the reasonably safe point when Regina needed to break away and go back to bed lest her parents notice. But Regina's mother slept late that morning and Regina escaped unpunished.
Mid-morning, as Regina was doing her reluctantly-permitted riding lesson with her father, Daniel strode up the road to the front door and humbly asked for a job as a stable hand. Regina did not speak or acknowledge his presence in any way, and Daniel did not so much as look at her. He moved in that night, the first person ever to occupy the servants' quarters next to the stable, built to accommodate four in hopes of having many more horses.
The days stretched into weeks and then months, and Regina wondered how she had survived before her guardian angel had moved into the stables. He was warm and friendly and unassuming by day, lending a kind of color to Regina's outdoor work just by being there to watch. He was deep and full of fire and life by night, talking and laughing until the moon was high after Regina snuck out of her room to join him in the servants' quarters. She always left before midnight, unwilling to risk either of their safety when they always had the next day, and the next evening.
There were things about Daniel that surprised Regina. He didn't understand what it was to have parents. He had grown up an orphan with just his older brother, and Darrin had moved to … Daniel didn't say what, only that each had to find his own destiny now.
Regina found herself again weakening toward life with her mother. Her mother's harsh criticisms again went through, leaving Regina trembling and doubting her beauty and skill and worth. Her mother's physical punishments again left visceral trails across her forearms and back, and it became a struggle not to cry out where it had not been for years. But paradoxically, Regina found it all more endurable than it had been when she had her thick armor. Daniel was there to tell her that she was beautiful. Daniel was there to tell her that anyone who thought she couldn't create a good life with all her boyish traits was a fool. Daniel was there to hold her when the remembered pain grew to be too much. And he never tired of doing so. Even when he could only pick up the pieces, he was Regina's protector.
The hammer and the knife and finally the magic fire had taught her not to cry, but Daniel taught her that it was safe to cry.
Their first kiss was sweet and natural. Daniel had been telling some story involving mud wrestling, and Regina had been attempting to listen although her mother's voice in her head had been exceptionally loud. Daniel paused mid-sentence, tilted his head, and kissed her. Their noses bumped, and their lips weren't anywhere near each other's, and they laughed. And tried again.
"How did you get here," Regina asked, one night when the moon had almost completely risen and their conversation had reached a comfortable lull.
"Well, I rode part of the way, but after that I walked."
"No, idiot," Regina elbowed Daniel in the ribs, which was an accomplishment considering they were nestled up together and Daniel's arm was around Regina's shoulders. "I meant, how did you get back here?"
"Oh. Well, this is a long story."
"We have time." That wasn't true and they both knew it; Regina would have to be in bed before the moon rose any more or she would be sleepy enough to give herself away in the morning.
"We're Unicorn Riders. My brother and I. Well," Daniel gave a soft laugh, "I don't know how it all started. I know what Darrin taught me. Which sometimes wasn't all that much. Our job was to find all the unicorns. When the herd was all together again, our happily ever after was that we'd be able to ride them. We'd live in their world. Pretty much forever, I think."
"You keep saying 'was.'" Regina felt her own breath draw inward as she realized, "Is that where Darrin is now?"
"We did it. And yeah, Darrin chose to go. He and his wife are … well, goodness knows where by now. And I … chose to stay."
"I love you."
Daniel stared at her.
"I love you. And someday we're going to be married."
"I love you," Daniel said. "I made the right choice." Then he took her in his arms and kissed her, and the moment went on and on. They already had their happy ending, because they had each other.
