I hope you enjoy the last and final chapter to this oneshot. Thank you again for reading, it's been my pleasure.
At the mention of his name, it was as if time stood still. Flurries of snow were caught in mid-air, his face unchanging from the sorrow of his declaration and a single tear lay stagnant on his cheek. An onslaught of memories rose within her, invading her mind and inflicting her heart with pain and happiness all at once.
Memories of a young girl playing at her grandfather's court, her father's soothing voice reading to her at night, her mother bounding her to her chair for disobedience; her eyes closed shut at that as though she could feel her mother's magic grip on her body. Then in an instant there were memories of her and Daniel, their stolen glances which soon led to stolen kisses, their plans to elope after the King's proposal. There was happiness.
She feared what came next. Her mother walking in on their escape, her mother ripping the heart out of her true love and her tears falling relentlessly onto his face as she kissed it fervently. Love is Weakness.
Daniel reached his hands out to her reflexively when she stumbled backwards, as he had watched her go through something that he didn't understand. He had expected a reaction from her, one of surprise at least. But instead, she stood still in front of him, eyes shut and arms gripping tightly around her coat. At the touch of his hand on her forearm, her body flinched leaving him standing there with his hands in the air as a show of surrender.
She dared herself to open her eyes and at the sight of him, butterflies fluttered in the depths of her stomach as it always did.
Daniel. Her Daniel.
She wanted to touch him, to throw her arms around him — but something held her back. Maybe it was the fear that her arms would pass right through him, only to find a ghost staring back at her.
As though he'd been able to read her thoughts, he slowly angled toward her. He raised his hands and held his palms out to her. "Regina, it's alright. I'm sorry I scared you like that. I don't know what I was thinking. I just—I just can't believe it's you," his voice hoarse as he fought the urge to cry.
She held his gaze as she neared him. He looked older, rougher around the edges, his sideburns showing signs of gray but it was definitely him. He stayed silent as he watched her study his features. A small smile crept upon his face when her hands cupped his face.
She felt a rush of warmth course through her, a relief as pure and sweet as spring rain. He was real. This was real. She had found him. She could touch him. She could feel him. Finally they were together. "Daniel…Oh Daniel…" she says with tears in her eyes.
He drew her close. She leaned into him and she felt him press his lips to her forehead in a kiss. Her tears fell harder at the intimate gesture. Still in disbelief she raises her hand to rest on his chest and sure enough, she felt the beat of his heart, thumping softly.
Knowing what she was thinking about, he took the hand that pressed on his chest and kissed the inside of her hand, "I'm here. I love you Regina".
It's been a few weeks since that night at the park and since then, Regina had moved into Daniel's apartment. She brightened up the apartment instantly, just as she brightened his soul. Waking up by her side became his most favourite thing in the world. Her hair lightly tousled from the previous night's twists and turns, her face slightly scrunching when his stubble grazed her skin and her hand never leaving its resting spot on top of his heart.
In the early hours of the morning, as he watched her sleep he couldn't help but wonder where she had been all these years. He knew that she was in New York for barely a month before they met but when he questioned her, she refused to answer. There were days that she closed off on him entirely when he asked her about her past.
She was very much the Regina he had fallen in love with but it unnerved him on the days he found her standing by the window, deep in thought and her eyes darkened with sorrow. She would be so quiet that sometimes he'd forget they were in the same room. He tried comforting her but it only made her angry. It was difficult for him as he found himself lacking the ability to deal with her when she was like that, a side to her that he never knew and he assumed it was due to her past.
"What do you remember?" he asks her one evening. They were seated together on the window-seat, and all at once she relaxed and her head fell on his shoulder, and she began weeping. It was one thing to cry, he has seen her cry in her sleep when her nightmares overtook her dreams, his heart sunk further at the sound of her weeping. "Sshhh, sshhh, my love I didn't mean to make you cry," as he rocked her in his arms.
"No… Daniel it's not you," speaking through her tears, "I—I don't know what to answer you. Before I met you, it was just like this. I knew who I was but there were some parts of me missing. I don't remember how I got here, I don't remember my life before coming here," her voice pleading to him, to the world, to understand what's happened to her. Gripping tighter at his shirt, her voice cracking with emotion, "Maybe I'm going to wake up tomorrow morning and remember everything," she hiccupped, "but right now you're the only thing I'm sure about."
He hadn't asked her about it again after that. They promised each other that they will take one day at a time and enjoy each other's company making up for time lost. She discovered that she knew how to cook and that she had a specialty dish, one that Daniel pointed out to her as lasagna. She was far better at cooking the dish than pronouncing its name.
One morning, a tugging sensation at her finger caused her to wake up much earlier than she had hoped. Ready to express her annoyance at Daniel, her words remained on the tip of her tongue as she realized that Daniel had slipped a ring on her finger. "Finally I can do this properly. Regina, I love you so much, I never thought I would get this chance again, will you do me the honour of marrying me?" his eyes filled with love for the woman he thought he had lost forever. Her answer came in a passionate kiss.
To celebrate, he insisted on bringing her to the Equestrian center where he worked, the snow had fallen and it would be perfect to take the horses out. He also hoped by bringing her to the stables, it would help her remember. She hesitated at first because to her, the last memory she had was in a stable and it still haunted her.
As they were grooming the horses together, Daniel noticed that the saddle rings looked similar to the one he had given her back at their land. Their makeshift ring that symbolized simplicity, their humble beginnings and their love for one another. Sensing his silence, Regina turned to him asking if there was anything wrong. He only smiled in response, admiring her beauty, appreciating her presence, "Regina, it was so easy to love you." She beamed at him, eyes wide and shining with tears.
In the spur of the moment, he took her hand and slipped in the ring as he had done before, with the same look of adoration emanating from his eyes. As the ring went over her knuckle, she jerked her hand away from him, frowning at her hand when she felt a burning pain as though the ring had left a searing mark on her.
That feeling from that cold winter night was there again. The world had ceased to move and everything froze at its spot. The memories that came back were more vivid this time as it continued from the last memory she had of Daniel.
Rumplestiltskin teaching her magic, Snow telling her that it was she who told her mother about Daniel, the image of her mother gripping on the sides of the Looking Glass before she disappeared into it and the feeling of magic at her fingertips when she ripped and crushed the heart of an innocent for the first time. She shuddered at the thought of her darkened heart engulfed by magic in its evilest forms. The lives of many that had perished as she tore villages apart in her path of vengeance against Snow White.
An unbelievable pain tore through her body when she saw her very own hand plunge into her father's chest, her tears pooling in her eyes as he fell to the floor. I'm sorry. Suddenly, she felt the ground beneath her shake, a strong wind billowing around her and a familiar sense of victory creeping up within her. This is MY happy ending. And then, all was quiet.
She was the mayor of Storybrooke, Maine, living among those cursed by her to live without a happy ending besides her own. However her life was monotonous and empty, as she searched for her happy ending. Memories of a child's laughter soon were heard, her son, Henry-the one person that drew love from her heart since Daniel. Henry squirming away from her embrace, hurting her as his words rung in her head, I found my REAL mom.
The world she built around her crumbling at her feet, as True Love's kiss woke everyone from their cursed state leaving her helpless and at the mercy of her enemy. She only felt pain afterwards when the memories flashed at a faster pace. Her hands outstretched from the dark magic she absorbed in efforts to save her enemy, Henry seeking comfort from his birthmother when he believed she was incapable of change, her mother returning to her with promise of redemption and finally, her mother lying in her arms as she took her last breath. You would've been enough.
Her back was against the wall, her chest heaving as she struggled to control her breathing, feeling sick to her stomach from her ordeal. Daniel had his hands on her upper arms, trying to comfort her the best way he knew how. It frightened him when she didn't answer his calls, when her face contorted in pain, when her eyes turned hard and cold and most of all when tears streamed relentlessly down her face.
Breaking away from her trance, her eyes spoke of an unforgiving emotion that he couldn't comprehend. "No…Daniel. I know who I am. I remember," her voice barely audible as she fought to speak from being overcome with sadness. His smile of relief soon faltered when she broke out of his grasp and ran out of the stables. He ran after her but when he caught up to her, it was too late as he saw her drive away in his car. "Regina!"
The same moon accompanied him as he waited for her return as it did the night he found her. He forced himself to believe that she would return. He had looked for her in all the places they had been, his mind racing at the thoughts of her being out there in the city, alone and afraid, and God forbid, in any sort of danger. But the darker it became, so were his hopes of finding her. He just hoped she would find a way back to the apartment. Soon.
He didn't move from his place on the window-seat when he heard the front door clicking, signaling that she had returned. He expected her to head straight for the bedroom but he soon felt the cushions of the window-seat dip underneath her weight. He moved slightly to face her and his breath hitched at the sight of her. Her hands lay still in the curve of her lap; her head hung low, and her eyes rimmed red from hours of crying.
He lifted her face to his and planted a lingering kiss on her forehead, pulling away hesitantly, he whispered against her hairline, "I was afraid you were not coming back." She thought there were no more tears left in her, but it fell nonetheless. His thumb feathered across her cheek brushing off her tears. "What happened back there?" he asked her softly, careful not to pressure her into telling him.
She turned away from him as she blurted out everything that had happened since his death. Her spiral into darkness as hate and vengeance took over her heart, the love she found in the eyes of a child, the pain of unrequited love from her son as time and time again he rejected her and of the momentary look of unconditional love on her mother's face before she breathed her last breath.
"You don't want to love me. I'm not the same person you fell in love with, not after everything I've done," she said before getting up to leave. His hand flew to her wrist, pulling her back down to sit next to him. He could feel her quickened heartbeat underneath his fingers. "Regina, no. You are right, you are not the same person but neither am I. You say all these things, evil things that you've done but all I see is how far you'd go for love."
"How can you love me so much? How can anyone love so much?" she asked him incredulously. After fighting for so long to be loved in return, it's hard to accept when someone finally does. And not just by anyone, but by her true love. "Oh Regina, I've loved you for so long, I've always looked up to everything you are, there's nothing you could do or have done that would change that because to me, you're still you."
Nothing else mattered to her at that moment, he believed in her although she never asked him to, he loved her despite her faults and despite her past. Nothing could compare to what she felt as he held her in his embrace, nothing felt better than to settle in the crook of his neck and inhale the scent of him.
Pulling away from her slightly, he looked to the moon before turning to her once more, "My breath was incomplete, my heartbeat was incomplete," gesturing to his heart, "I was incomplete. But now the moon is full, complete in the sky and now I have become complete as you are with me. True love only happens once in a lifetime, you're lucky. You get to have it happen to you twice. I love you Regina."
Please review! I'd still love to hear what you think! :D ~parrilla-adkins~
