Quatre
Regina was stunned. She certainly hadn't expected this confession when Tiana began to explain herself, and the pure surprise of it left her at a loss for words, which was admittedly a rarity for the Evil Queen. She could feel the sincerity radiating off the women before her, and as a response, a small part of her, a part that she often had to quell, started stirring within. She felt…surprise, relief, hope. And with that hope immediately came an anger. How dare this woman claim she wants to help me. She knows nothing about me, my past, what I've been through and what I've done. She understands my pain? Hmmph. She can't possibly begin to know pain.
Tiana could read Regina's face and watched the flicker of emotions play out. She saw the shock, the surprise, the sudden glimpse of vulnerability and hope, and watch it leave as soon as it appeared as her face contorted with anger. She spoke up quickly to try and stop the direction of Regina's reaction.
"Look, Regina—"
"How dare you 'Regina' me. You don't even know me. I am a queen, and as such you will only address me as 'Your Majesty.' You think you know me so well? You think I would be swept into your tale of love lost and suddenly want to befriend you? Well let me tell you something. I delight in love lost. Why do you think I made this town? Why I came after Snow and her precious Charming? You speak of wanting to control your destiny, being more than who others want you to be and instead being the person you yourself want to be? Well I have taken control of my own fate with my own bloodied hands. I have killed far more significant people than you to get what I want, and all by myself. This town is the fruit of my work, and my work alone. No one can have a happy ending. No one deserves it. Your inclusion in this curse may have just been an accident, but as far as I'm concerned, I could care less what happens to you now that you are here."
With that, Regina abruptly removed herself from her chair, and briskly set out towards the exit. Tiana remained sitting at the table trying to process the explosion she just witnesses, before deciding to go after her. She started running through the house calling her name, until she felt a firm hand grasp her wrist. She abruptly stopped, and looked down to see Mama Odie at her side.
"Some people don't like hearin' what dey need. Give her some time." And with that, she turned back into the house, Juju trailing behind her.
Tiana remained standing in the doorway, watching the retreating form of the Mayor. When she could no longer see her, she sighed, and head back inside, gumbo long forgotten.
A week passed.
Regina tried to put the encounter out of her mind.
At first, once she had initially calmed down, it had been easy. When thinking of Tiana, and her strange plea, she scoffed at the notion that she had been desperate enough to call upon the Evil Queen as a potential ally, not to mention the audacity of offering to be a friend. As if she needed that. But as the days passed, she found herself unable to let it go.
On Friday, when she went to work at City Hall, she found herself distracted the entire time. A part of her couldn't let the woman and her tales go. There were questions she needed answered. Who was she, really? Was Tiana even really her name? And why couldn't she seem to remember ever being in that part of town when nothing changed in Storybrooke for 28 years. As she obsessed over the growing questions, she found herself in the Records Hall. She spent her lunch pouring over public records searching for mention of a Tiana, or Naveen, or even Mama Odie anywhere in the various consensuses or any other records, and when that yielded nothing, she scoured town maps to try and locate where that strange area could be hidden. She found nothing, and by the time her exhaustion caught up to her exasperation, she realized it was nearly eight at night and left for home.
The following two days proved especially challenging as it was the weekend. Ever since the curse broke, it had been dangerous for Regina to be out and about, especially alone and on the weekends. Without a clear start and end point to her venturing, she found it was best to avoid unnecessary time outside; she was begrudgingly allowed to resume business as usual as Mayor of Storybrooke, but any extra time spent out, and people started to get itchy about showing how much her presence wasn't welcomed. Regardless, she was Regina Mills, the Evil Queen, and she would not back down from a fight, nor let meager peasants bully her in her own town.
As she went about her errands this weekend, however, she found it that much harder to endure their stares, her guilt that much harder to cage. At home, it wasn't much better as her mansion was hollow and cold, empty without the warmth of her Little Prince. True, he had been cold since before Emma's arrival, but she had never been so completely…alone. Henry was everything to her, and now, he had traded her in the second he met his birth mother. Emma Swan. The Savior. The daughter of the two idiots. What couldn't they steal from her, besides her life? Snow wasn't content enough to take Daniel from her that she had to birth another being to steal her own son away.
Needless to say, Regina spent the weekend spiraling.
But come that next Monday, she put on her best face and geared up for another day versus Storybrooke. Luckily, the resident delinquents had just contented themselves with teepeeing her house, and so she could take the Benz to work. On the way, however, she got the strangest craving for something sweet, and made her way to Granny's for a morning pit stop, which is what I should've done last Monday and I would've never met that strange woman, she thought.
When the door chimed, the few people in at that hour looked to see who had entered, only to scowl in disgust, or quickly look away in terror. At least I haven't lost my touch, she thought. She made her way to the counter, which was unusual considering she typically took a booth in the back, but ever since she no longer shared her mornings with Henry, it had been too painful to sit there. Once seated, Ruby soon came over to her, cheery as ever. If there was one thing that both baffled and made the Mayor smile was the fact that she received the same cheerful service she received from Ruby during the curse even after it had broken.
"Good morning, Madam Mayor. What can I get ya?" Regina gave a slight smile before answering.
"I'll have a coffee and some assorted fruit." Ruby nodded and headed off to put in the order and help the other customers. Sitting there alone, Regina found herself uncommonly restless, and let her eyes wander around. She noticed a tray on the counter with an assortment of donuts and before she could stop herself, she found herself gravitating towards them. She hovered looking at all the shapes and colors, but none seemed to jump out. She craved…something. But, she couldn't place what it was. The taste of it was like a faint echo on her palate, and the desire to quench it steadily grew as she stared. Just as she started to pull the memory of what it was from the back of her mind, Ruby interrupted with a less than elegant throat clearing.
"If you get any closer Madam Mayor, I might just have to give you a bib."
Regina suddenly snapped out of the strange trance, pulling back from the donuts so quickly, she almost stumbled. Almost. Cheeks slightly turning pink, she composed herself to face Ruby who had a glint of amusement in her eye.
"I'll have you know Miss Lucas, I—" but whatever rebuttal Regina had on her lips died with the sound of the Diner's door chime ringing. Regina looked up to find David standing in the doorway with Henry close behind. Henry hadn't seen her yet and she watched with bated breath as Charming tensely stared at her. Soon Henry made it inside, and seeing his grandfather frozen on the spot, followed his gaze. As soon as his eyes set on his mother, he let out a simple "oh," and averted his gaze, making his way to a booth. Their booth.
Regina remained standing frozen in place, staring at her son. He didn't even look back her, continuing to talk to Charming as though nothing happened while looking at his menu. She took a minute to gather herself, donut craving completely gone, and decided that she want to say something, anything to her son. She made her way over to their booth and cleared her throat. David looked up at her with a mixture of defensiveness and…sorrow. She put it out of her mind—she wasn't here for him, and focusing on the idiot would only make her lose her temper. She spoke.
"Henry?"
Silence.
"Henry. Please." With every second passing, Regina was losing her strength, her façade cracking. Her voice almost broke on the last word. "Please, Henry, look at me. I'm your mother."
With that, Henry put his menu down and looked up to Regina with hard eyes. "You're not my mother. You never were. Emma is my real mom. And as soon as she and Snow get back, we will be a real family, and I'll never have to see you again."
With that, he turned back to the menu and silently continued looking at all the same items that had been listed since before his birth. She was frozen, too afraid to move from fear her legs would give out from beneath her. The blow had been low, and with everything going on, it hurt more than usual. David continued to stare her, but this time she noticed it was with…pity. Looking around the diner, she noticed a couple of faces showing a mixture of secondhand embarrassment and pity. Her eyes ended on Ruby, her eyes bright with unshed tears, and that was the final straw.
With one last look at Henry, she briskly made her way towards the exit of the diner, poofing the money for her now cold coffee on the counter, and walked out without looking back.
/ SQ /
As soon as Regina made it into her car, she let out a long hard cry. She threw up a soundproofing and visual distorting spell over her car quickly, hoping no one witnessed the beginning of her meltdown, and continued to cry by herself, retreating into herself. It had been nearly two months since Snow and Emma disappeared, and hardly much longer than that since the curse broke, and yet things remained as stagnant between her and her son. I thought eventually he would give in and come back to me. I gave him space. I haven't tried to forcibly take him again. But rather than warming back up to me, he's only grown colder. She looked at herself in the rearview mirror. The docks. I just, need to go to the docks and get some fresh air. Think this out. Make a plan. He is my son. He will always be a son. He just needs to remember that.
Regina put her car in reverse and began the drive to the docks. After driving for fifteen minutes however, she realized that what should been a five minute drive, was surely not that. Looking around, she realized the landscape was unfamiliar, and she was confused as to how she got where she was. The more she drove however, she realized there was, in fact, something familiar about the landscape outside her window. She had been here before…
Then it dawned on her—she was headed to the wretched yellow house and its inhabitant, Tiana. She was not in the mood for this right now, but, if she was making her way there, at least she could take her frustrations out on someone.
She pulled up to the house, the only one on the block, if you could call this quasi-swamp a block, she noticed, and knocked on the door. A soft "I'm coming" was heard from inside, and some light shuffling could be heard until the door swung open. She was ready to let Tiana have it, until she realized she was nowhere in sight. Confused, she peeked inside, looking around, and moved to walk in, before hearing a loud hiss below. Looking down she noticed a large green snake staring at her with luminous pink eyes. She let out a small yelp and jumped back. It was then Tiana finally decided to make an appearance.
"Sorry about the shock, I hope Juju here didn't scare you too bad. My hands were a bit tied up and Mama Odie was having one of those moments when she pretends to be really blind, and so I sent Juju. Come on in." She moved aside and headed to the back of the house where the dining area was, Juju trailing lazily behind her, glancing back at Regina every so often. The intelligence and knowing behind his eyes unnerved Regina, but she entered the house head held high, closing the door behind her.
When she got to the back, she noticed a table in the corner where she had sat on her first visit had been set up, steaming beignets sitting on a tray with lots of napkins next to it.
"How did you—" Regina began.
"Oh, that? I knew you were coming, albeit, with some mighty short notice. I whipped them up since I had a feeling you'd want them."
Regina scoffed and found the whole situation entirely untrustworthy, but suddenly the craving from the diner earlier came back with a vengeance, and now in front of her mysterious source of the craving, she found herself nearly salivating over them. Her stomach gave a grumble of approval, which had Regina scrambling to cover it up.
As she sat down, she saw Tiana head over to her with another tray, except instead of carrying the various instruments used to make the extravagant French-drip coffee like last time, there was simply too whiskey glasses filled with amber liquid. Regina gave Tiana a puzzled look.
"Hot n' totties," she responded to the unspoken question. "I had a feeling we'd need something much stronger to drink than coffee this time around, and this was the perfect Southern remedy."
Regina eyed the glasses skeptically as Tiana sat them down, but after she watched Tiana take a sip of her own, she reluctantly took a sip of her own drink. It was spicy and warm and radiated throughout her. She found herself involuntary relaxing a bit and a slight smile made its way to her lips. She went in to take a bite of one of the beignets as well, grateful she had finally figured out the secret of eating them without getting powdered sugar everywhere.
Tiana watched Regina calmly, but warily. It was true she had known she was coming, but she hadn't known when until not thirty minutes before her arrival, which hardly gave her much time to think about what she was possibly going to say, as well as prepare refreshments. The emotional distress of the woman before her rolled off in waves, and she knew that this moment could make or break their future.
Regina took her time indulging herself in the simple bliss that was the beignets. She hadn't had a chance to eat her fruit, or drink her coffee for that matter at Granny's, and especially after her run-in with Henry, she was feeling quite drained. Not to mention she was gearing up to demand some answers from the suspicious woman in front of her. For her part though, Tiana seemed content enough for Regina to gather her wits and direct the conversation, the only slip that indicated her nervousness was the speed with which she was sipping her own Hot n' Totti.
"So…" Regina began," you know I have questions."
"And you're hoping I have answers," Tiana calmly replied.
"Well I want to make it clear now that I expect you to answer all of my questions truthfully, and if you don't, you'll finally get to experience just why they call me the 'Evil Queen' firsthand." Tiana didn't flinch at the threat, her amber eyes glowing with steely resolve. Though she wanted this conversation to have a positive conclusion, she knew that it was important to show some of her strength and determination if she ever wanted to gain respect with the woman before her.
"Let's start with the most pressing concern. What is this place? Why can't I find it on a map?"
Tiana let out a puff of air. She hadn't known where the Mayor would begin her interrogation, but she should've suspected her first response would be to question strange magic.
"It's my home," she replied.
Regina gave an Evil Queen quality stare, unamused with the vagueness of her response. "You must think me an idiot to accept that as your final answer. Now if you don't want your 'home' to be burnt down to cinders, I suggest you to tell me what I really want to know."
Tiana sighed before responding.
"This place…is my home." Regina moved to conjure a fireball. "But, you're right—it's more than that." Regina put out the fireball. "The house itself, is a replica of the home I built with Naveen in the Bayou. After we were human again, and after I made a successful career of my restaurant business, I felt a pressing…need, to be reconnected to the Bayou. Naveen as well. So we packed up our things and moved out the city to head back out to the country."
Regina took this in. While it explained the displaced architecture, it hardly explained the heavy magic surrounding the place.
"What else is this place? Why is the landscape different? And why does it not appear on any map or record in the whole history of Storybrooke?"
"Do you remember when I told you Naveen and I were turned into frogs?" Regina irritably nodded, as if that was something you could forget about a person. "Well, after we turned back human, things were normal, for a while. But then, strange things started happening to Naveen and I."
"What kind of strange things," Regina asked.
"Well, my restaurant got a marked increase in customers. It was already quite a popular destination in town, but over time people started exclaiming how my food could change them, change their life. Naveen started booking more gigs at different clubs around the city, and started gathering a following that proclaimed similar things. At first, we just thought it was nothing special, we had lucked out at becoming renown in our careers. But, people started getting obsessed. Hooked on us. People blackmailed and bribed to make reservations for my restaurant, fight broke out at the over-packed clubs Naveen was playing at. We started to fear for our safety."
Tiana paused and took a calming sip from her drink, thinking of those dangerous times.
"At some point we told Louis about our concerns—"
"The alligator?" Regina asked.
"Yea, that's him." Regina gave a scoff of disbelief, but Tiana continued unfazed.
"Well, we told him about our troubles, and he told Mama Odie, who told him to tell us that we needed to go see her. When we did she—well I'm not really sure what she did—but she determined that we now had magic."
Regina thought back to her own revelation of discovering she had magic—it is a harrowing moment, one where suddenly the whole world seems to be deposited at your feet, but without the know how to acquire it.
"She explained that the magic that was used to curse us was spirit magic. Since spirit magic was a magic that emanated outside of the self, anyone could potentially harness it, though some are more adept than others. When we were cursed, it was wielded by someone with dark intentions, and thus, it was dark magic. When we overcame the curse with True Love, however, the spirit magic surrounding us was converted into light magic. The spirits saw the potential for goodness in us, and bestowed each of us with gifts."
Though she hated the comparison Tiana and Naveen's story had with Snow and Charming, especially the whole "True Love" creating magic bit, she found the particulars of the magic origin interesting. She had never studied much spirit magic finding the spiritual conduits much to unruly and unpredictable to control, but the idea that a pure source of magic was devoid of morality but simply a slate waiting to be written on struck an unexpected cord.
"After that, Mama Odie suggested that for the time being, it would be best that we stay with close to her in the Bayou to learn more about our gifts and who we had become. So we built this house and made a new dream."
Though understanding the nature of the magic in this place, and knowing more of Tiana's backstory certainly helped shed some light on current matters, Regina didn't have nearly enough answers.
"That still doesn't explain what you're doing here though."
"The spirits, they can only be reached certain ways. In this world devoid of magic, it is practically impossible to access any magic, Storybrooke being an obvious exception. However, throughout this world's history, exceptions have been made through lay-lines—points in nature where magical energy converges to make magical events possible."
"And with magic returning to Storybrooke, it would've made the town a hotspot for magical connectivity," Regina thought aloud.
"Exactly," Tiana answered. "Back home, the bayou was our natural connection, but we—"
"We," Regina asked.
"Mama Odie and I," Tiana continued, "had to form a connection here as well. But magic works differently here. The only way we could make sufficient contact with the spirits was to create a sort of sub-reality, like a pocket dimension, within the town. It just so happened that we decorated it with a familiar setting, bringing a little bit of home into Storybrooke."
That would explain why the area was on no map, Regina thought.
"So how did I even end up here, three times I might add, when this place quite literally doesn't exist on…my 'plane'?"
"Honestly, the particulars remain a mystery to me. Mama Odie started creating this place while I was being discharged—"
"You were in the hospital," Regina asked confused.
"Yeah. Like I was saying the other day, when I was traveling through your land I was hurt, severely burned in fact. While I was at the castle I was still healing from it. I guess the curse brought anyone who needed medical attention to stay at the hospital, never getting better, and never getting worse. And since I wasn't known in your land, I was just another Jane Doe hoping she'd get better."
It was hardly new news to Regina by now that she hadn't fully understood the curse before she cast it, but every time she found out just how it manifested in this world, she was always taken aback by its cruel humor. This though, hovering between health and sickness for twenty eight years, with the exception of Charming however, was not a fate she could fully find it in herself to quantify. She took a sip of her own Hot N' Totti, using its liquid strength to throw-off any creeping bouts of guilt.
Tiana took in Regina's quiet turmoil with interest, but continued on. She would come back to that another time.
"Anyway, like I was saying," Regina refocused, "Mama Odie had practically done all the work to create this place by the time I arrived; I just gave some aesthetic touches. Her knowledge runs deeper than the oceans—she certainly isn't what she appears to be." Regina had no doubt about that. "But from what I do understand, this place it somewhat like a mirage. At the right time, with the right conditions, one can see it like a haze, beckoning to them. However, unlike a mirage, the closer you get, the more real it becomes. The transition is gradual, but before you even realize it, you're suddenly here."
"But why would one even be drawn to this place? Is it at random? But even that seems unlikely when I've been drawn here three times. And you mentioned earlier that you had even anticipated me," Regina responded.
"All magic comes at a price."
"Tell me something I don't know," Regina muttered.
"Well each type of magic has a different type of debt collection. For example, your elemental magic borrows from the natural world, using you as a conduit to sustain it, thus, the price to pay for containing it is often personal."
Regina was surprised she hadn't thought of it like that, but carried on with the same air of authority as before.
"Spirit magic, however, is fundamentally outside of the self. It comes from forces that cannot be tamed or ruled, but rather one can be blessed by or bargained with. Either way spirits, benevolent, malevolent, or ambivalent expect homage in return for their aid and gifts. Since the nature of my magic is good, the spirits who aid me require acts of goodness as payment. This space we have created, draws in people who need the most help, so that they can receive the aid they need—whether they are ready and willing to accept it, or not."
At that, Regina perked up. Am I to believe some nameless, faceless spirits have targeted me for some sort of cosmic charity case? If Regina thought her murderous intent had been piqued before, she suddenly had a dozen different ways she wanted to filet these spirit right now.
Tiana could tell the Mayor was none too pleased about the implications of what she had just revealed, but she knew it was best to let her know at least this much right now. Hiding the truth, or at least the major plot points of it never worked out in the end for anyone. Still, she felt it was best to give her a moment of privacy to take it all in, and excused herself to refill their drinks, this time with an extra shot of whiskey each.
When she returned, there seemed a cool acceptance about Regina. Tiana sat the newly refilled drinks down, and waited to hear Regina's thoughts on the new information.
"So, I've been…summoned here by unknowable forces, for what? A chance at my own happy ending?"
Tiana let out a tentative nod.
"Well let me tell you something, and whatever spirits might be listening right now: I never have and never will need anyone or anything to help me get what I want. I have the power to take what I want and I do, and when I get my happy ending, it will be of my own accord." Venom dripped from every word as Regina had reverted to Evil Queen mode, and she made a move to leave, before being stopped in her tracks by Tiana's words.
"I know Henry doesn't consider you his mother anymore."
Regina turned around and made her way back to Tiana, invading her personal space, but she was unperturbed. In fact, her fiery personality had begun to ignite as well.
"You may put up these walls, Regina, but I know the real you. I know how you drown yourself in town affairs to distract yourself from your own pain; how you carry the new edition of Henry's favorite X-men comic in your car each week, hoping you can give it to him in person; how you have to cry yourself to sleep every night if you don't just pass out from exhaustion or copious wine; and how, deep down, you hope Emma Swan never returns."
Regina stood extremely close to Tiana, face inches from each other, and Regina's eyes glowing purple with charged magic.
"I know," Tiana continued, "all the pain you have been through and continue to suffer from, and how tired you are. You are bursting at the seams, Regina, and if you don't get help now, there won't even be time for a happy ending at all."
Regina let out a long shuddering breath, and before she could register what was happening, she slid to the floor. Soon she started sobbing, quietly at first, appalled that she was unable to stop. The last thing she remembered was the gentle but strong arms of Tiana enclosing around her as the sound of her voice whispering soothing words led her into darkness.
