Thanks for all support, lovelies! You guys are all awesome and I'm glad people like this story so far!
Disclaimer: I don't own Once Upon A Time or any of the characters…I'm just playing with them for a little bit.
~*~Almost In Storybrooke~*~
The boat was getting closer and closer to home. Everyone was more than glad to see land once again but they were nervous. They know had a little Regina to introduce to everyone else in the town and they would have to deal with the new pint sized queen. Snow had hope that everyone would be understanding about the situation but Emma was sure there would be some out there with a problem about this new Regina. Hell, she had a problem with this new Regina but her reasoning was quite different than the townspeople. After Gold had worked his magic on Regina she went from being the shy and scared little girl they had brought on the ship to an outgoing and quite intelligent little girl that called David and Mary Margaret daddy and mommy. She was jealous and it as stupid but she was.
Henry was apprehensive about being around the small girl. He wouldn't talk to Emma or Neal about why but they could only assume it was because it was a lot for a kid at handle and they understood that and didn't push him in any attempt to talk about it.
Regina. Well she was adjusting as well as expected. They had told her that bad people that had grabbed Henry had also taken her and that was why she was on the pirate ship with the. She believed them of course and she was just glad to be back with her family. At the moment she was sitting near the wheel of the ship with Killian, she had surprisingly taken to the pirate, and with Tink. "When we get back to Storybrooke I'm gonna show you all my toys, Tink! And Hooky you can come too."
"Hooky? Love, I told you just Hook." Hook said with a roll of his eyes as he continued to carefully guide the ship to the docks.
"I likes Hooky more so there." She stuck her tongue out at him before she was grabbing Tink's hand and jumping up and down. "And we can plays all we want."
Tink was still a little apprehensive about the little girl but with each smile and laugh Regina was slowly winning her over. "And what are we going to play, Gina?"
Letting go of the fairies hand she ran down the steps and stood up on a cart. "Pirates and Fairies! I'll be pirate and you gotta be a fairy of course." She said that last part like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You can borrows my fairy wand if you want." She added with a kind smile on her little face.
The Charmings were off to the side with Henry, Neal and Gold as they listened to Regina talk. Henry couldn't help but smile at his pint sized mom. He had never seen her so happy before and he was slowly starting to realize that his grandma had been right. They would be able to give Regina this second chance at happiness. He was still a bit upset about losing her like this but having her as a kid was better than not having her at all.
"Charming, she's talking about all these toys that she has. What are we going to do?" Snow asked as she looked from the small brunette still playing around with the blonde fairy before she looked back to her husband. "We don't even have a bedroom for her." She all but hissed as panic began to rise in her chest. How in the world where they going to pull this off.
"Calm yourself, dearie. I'll handle it" Gold said as he looked away from the child that was still playing Tinkerbelle.
Emma raised a brow as she looked to the pawnbroker. "Why are you so eager to help out now, Gold?"
"Like I said I owe Regina a few favors." He shrugged his shoulders lightly before he was looking back to the child. "I'll use some magic to get her room just the way she's been describing it at the mayor's mansion." At the confuse faces of the other's he rolled his eyes. "Did you truly think there was a enough room in your apartment for your whole family? And besides, dearies, I do believe Ms. Blanchard is the new mayor."
Snow White blinked at this information and she quickly shook her head. "Oh no I couldn't..Regina she.." she darts to the small girl that's been calling her mommy for the past few days and she sighed softly. "Right of course."
"What this town doesn't have elections?" Neal asked with a raised brow.
"Well no. Regina was always the mayor just like she was the queen. Now that she is neither the duty falls to me. I could talk to the other monarchs and perhaps we could come up with a sort of council though. Give a bit of responsibility back to those who are used to ruling." Snow said as she started to consider it.
Charming went to Reply but he was all but tackled by an excited three year old. "Land a ho!"
Emma couldn't help but snort and smirk as she looked down to Regina. "You mean land ho?"
"That's what I said, Emmy" Regina said with an eye roll. She grabbed Charming's hand and tugged on it eagerly. "Look look! I see Storybrook, daddy! Hooky said we gonna be able to get off soon. Can we get ice cream and then go to the park?" she as speaking quickly and bouncing up and down on her feet as she looked up to her father.
"Regina. Calm down." Snow said with a laugh as she looked down towards the rambunctious toddler. "We have things we have to handle with the town before we do any of those things."
The toddler ducked her head at her mother's words and a turned slightly so she was burying her face into Charming's leg. "Yes, mommy."
At the sudden change in the little girl Snow raised a brow and looked to Charming. She hadn't really scolded her and was surprised at her reaction. "Regina, honey, I'm not saying no. I'm just saying we can't as soon as we get off the boat.." her voice soft as she moved down so she was level with Regina. "Okay?"
Regina was silent for a little bit before she tilted her head and looked at her mother with big brown eyes. "Okay, mommy. I'm gonna go play with Hooky and Tink now." She dashed away and playfully tackled Tink before she grabbed her hand an rushed over to where Hook was.
Snow watched her go before she stood up on her feet with a small frown on her face. "She does that a lot with me."
"Does what?" Emma asked with a raised brow as she looked to her mother.
"When I tell her something she sometimes closes herself off. She hasn't done that with David. Do you think it's because of our past?"
"I thought grandpa erased her past?" Henry spoke up for the first time as he looked to the adults.
Gold realized that Henry was talking about him, hearing the boy calling him grandpa was going to take some getting use too. He threw a pointed look before he glanced back to Snow as he said. "I did. But it is possible for small things that she buried in her consciousness that is making her react like that. And I do doubt that it has anything to do with your joint past, dearie. You have met her mother. You must know what Regina's life was like when she as younger. The first time I mean. She might be more comfortable around your Prince Charming until her subconscious can trust you."
Henry was the first to speak and he looked between his parents and hen hi grandparents. "What did mom…Regina's mom do to her? Why would it make her be afraid of grandma?"
"Henry. Cora wasn't the best mom. I'm sure she cared for Regina but well it is difficult."
"The best mom?" Rumple snorted at that as he said. "I've had my eye on that little girl since she was born. I've seen things. Trust me, dearies, Cora would not even be in the competition for a good mother. She wanted Regina to be a queen and to obey her and she did whatever it took to do so."
"That sucks." Henry muttered softly as he watched his mom. He was learning more and more about his mother when she was like this and it was hard on him. He loved his mom and he never got a chance to tell her that when she was older. It's all she wanted to hear and he couldn't even say it to her. He felt incredibly guilty and was going to say something but a small hand was tugging at his own. He looked down to the girl currently in his thoughts. "Yeah, kid?"
"Wanna play with me and Tink?" Regina asked shyly as she looked to the older boy. A part of her, a part she didn't understand, wanted his approval more than anything. To her immense relief he nods his head and let's her guide him over to where Tink was waiting for them. "I'll be the Queen now and you can be the prince and we are gonna fight mean dragon. Tink you gotta be the fairy."
"Alright bossypants."Tink muttered with a roll of her eyes before she was playing right along with the small girl.
Snow was silent was she watched Regina and Henry and their new fairy friend play together. A soft smile was on her face before it faded slightly and she turned to look at Gold. "Is there anything else from Regina's childhood that we should know about that you failed to tell us?"
"It was not my job to tell you anything, Ms. Blanchard." he all but snorted. He wasn't going to delve in deeper but he get a look from his son and he sighed. "Nightmares. She had nightmares often. I'm not sure if they will happen here but they might so watch out for those. Also her magic."
"Wait Regina had magic at this age?" Emma exclaimed as softly as she could as she glanced towards where the young girl was playing with their...her son. Henry was her son now.
"Well yes. She's had it since birth but her mother blocked it most of the time and Regina always refused to use it." Gold replied with a shrug of his shoulders as he looked back towards the young girl playing whatever blasted game she had come up with.
"Why did she start using magic?" Emma asked, she was still unclear of most of Regina's history and the more she learned the more she started to understand the woman. Well the girl now.
"Me." Gold said as unimpressed as he could. "I needed her. I needed the Evil Queen so she could cast the curse so I could get to my son." His eyes darted towards his boy before looking back to Emma.
"So what you are saying is you're the reason why she became what she did?" The blonde spat out as she looked to the man before her.
"I played a part. Just as Snow White played her part and her mother played a part and King Leopold played a part. It was a group effort really. Now before you start yelling I suggest you all get ready. We are about to greet the crowd." He stood up and gave a nod to the growing crowd that was waiting on the docks. He moved past the Charmings so he could go greet Belle and get the hell off this ship.
"I don't trust him around Regina, David." Snow said softly as she gripped her husband's arm.
"Nor do."