Motherly Love

Zelena was sitting in her room, it was similar to the other two, a desk, closets and a bed. Her walls in a shade of green and royal purple, on the wall a picture of what she could only assume was a younger Cora and herself as a baby. It was more of a painting than a picture, in the bookshelf there were books and magazines, in addition to some parenting books. She picked out one, a sigh escaped her and again she looked in the mirror, seeing her young one awaking and crying, she was crying for her mother and Zelena was not there to hold her. A tear ran down her cheek, she missed her so, her heart was aching for that little babe in the crib.

She heard a knock on the door and said, "Come in."

Cora entered saying, "Your room, is it okay?"

"It is…fine, that picture there," she nodded against that wall, "Did it really happen?"

"It did, giving birth to you was so hard, and I was all alone, but seeing you, holding you in my arms made me so happy. I didn't even mind that you cried, or that I had to change your diapers. Hades, he knows that is true, and that my heart it broke when I couldn't' keep you. I wanted to so many times, to go back and tell you how loved you were, but…" Cora turned away, it was harder to admit this than she ever thought it would be.

"Regina, did you love her more than me?" Zelena needed to know. All these years she had been green with jealousy over the fact that Regina got to spend more time with their mother.

Cora turned and looked her in the eyes, "No, I didn't love any of you two more than the other, I loved you both differently, still equally. Both of you have done things that have made me proud over the years, and both have had your fair share of mistakes, but I never stopped loving either. You are after all my children."

"But she got to keep you, longer than I did," said she with a heavy sigh.

"It was a different time, Zelena, having a baby out of wedlock…Your father, I meet him as I was working under false identity, I was a miller's daughter and I worked in a shitty tavern. He seduced me, said he was a prince and promised me the world. I believed it of course, foolish as I was, that he would marry me and that I would be queen and have a better life. Earthly one that is, my life is good when I am down here with my real husband. He lied, he just wanted to bed me, nothing else. He tricked me in the worst ways. It was how I meet King Leopold, he was a good man, and he would have married me I am certain, but I messed up. Then you were born and you know the rest," she explained.

"And Regina, what happened?" she wondered, even if she knew half, she needed to hear it from her mother.

"About four years or a little less after I gave you away, I was up on ground, doing my delivers of flour to the castle of King Xavier. Queen Eva, Snow White's mother tripped me and it went over the floor. I snapped at her and Prince Henry was amused. Of course I had to apologize to her, but they still wanted to punish me. I lied and said I could spin hay to the finest gold. They said if I could do so before the next day, I would marry Prince Henry. So there I sat by the spinning wheel, when he showed up. Rumpelstiltskin and he taught he taught how and so much more. I fell again hard and we slept together, I planned to run away with him. Hades knows, he hates him and I cannot blame him. In any case I tore out my heart to not let it make me any decisions again and then married Regina's father, right after. He knew Regina wasn't his, but he accepted her as his own. She knew no other father, she still doesn't. The Gods found out and I got punished so I could not see my husband and Godly daughter Macaria for about seven years. It was the longest years of my life and that is also why I sometimes let the anger take the best of me. I took it out on Regina, but I regretted it, but by then it was too late," she finished.

Zelena looked at her with wide eyes, not saying anything, not knowing what to say. In the end she asked, "Can I…can I hug you? I always wondered what it would be like?"

Cora nodded and held out her arms. Zelena for one short second forgot how much she resented this woman and crawled into them. Her tears, tears that was held back all these years started to fall. This was her, her mother, that had left her so long ago, she finally had the answers that she had been wanted for so very long and she loved her. She had wanted her. She held on tight and Cora let her, stroking her gently along the back whispering, "Shhh, my little one, I got you."

The older woman even pressed a kiss against the top of her head. She could allow herself to do that much, in fact she figured, it was the least she could do. In time Zelena let go saying, "You need to find her, Regina, she is lost."

"I know, if you need anything, call a servant, all you have to do is knock three times at the door. Don't be alarmed that they look creepy, they are nice, mostly," Cora said and vanished into thin air.

Zelena shook her head and for the fun of it, knocked on the door. It opened and a skeleton like servant in suit and tie opened, next to him was a skeleton dog, it wagged its tail and barked.

The servant looked at her and said, "You knocked, Miss Zelena."

"I would like a cup of coffee and some oatmeal cookies," she said and smiled at him.

"Anything else?" he asked polite.

"Yes this morning's paper, an English one please, and surprise master Henry with a cup of hot chocolate with crème and cinnamon and a piece of apple pie," she said.

"As you command, Miss," he said and vanished as fast as she had come. She shook her head and figured she could easily have gotten used to this.


Meanwhile in another part of town Regina was walking towards the city library, when she heard her mother's voice say, "You will not find the answers you seek in there?"

"I know, I know, I am just thinking, trying to make sense of you, all of this," she made a hand gesture around her. Cora was still wearing the dress from earlier. The shining light around her had changed into a light purple shade.

"Anything I can do to help, I am willing to answer any questions you have," she offered.

"Daddy, did he know about you?" was the first thing that came to Regina's mind.

"He did, he knew he could only have me for so long, still he loved me, even knowing you was not his own, he loved you more than anything in this world. Being with your father, no matter how it may have seemed was some of the happiest years of my life. I was stripped of titles for some time and the God's they wanted to make it permanent as a lesson, since I got you with your biological father, however they didn't something I am very glad off," she answered.

"It is Rumpelstiltskin isn't it, I am Baefire's half-sister?" she said, she had a feeling about it for many years. He seemed to always look out for her among other things. Her mother simply nodded.

"Where did you take the other's?" she asked next.

"My or our castle, all but Rumpelstiltskin, Hades hates him," Cora answered, soon adding, "Robin is waiting in your room."

"Oh great, just what I need, talk to him after what happened," she said with a heavy sigh.

"I thought you loved him?" her mother looked at her with concerned eyes.

"So did I, but now…maybe I was wrong all along," Regina said, looking at her asking, "Is love ever meant to be easy?"

"No it is now, which is why you have to be certain when you commit to someone. I will admit I wasn't too crazy about Hades when he first kidnapped me, but in time I learned to love him and now I cannot picture my life without him. Of course there has been three other men, Zelena's father, Rumpelstiltskin and your father, only two of them was I considering to leave my husband and give up my status as a goddess, but in the end of the day love won," Cora said with a small smile.

"How do I know it is the right choice?" she wondered, her brown, meeting the same eyes as her mother.

"When a person makes your heart flutter, when you think of them first when you wake and last when you go to sleep. When you don't mind them seeing you on your worst day, when you want them with you in good and bad, and you picture yourself grow old with them, that is when you know," said Cora and smiled at her.

"And Hades does all of that with you, hard to picture the God of the dead doing something like that to anyone. He seems so dark and grim," said Regina, feeling very confused.

"I think everyone living down here would be that, but he also has a softer side, he likes to surprise me. Sometimes he leaves white roses on places he knows I will come by, or mark a section of a book he reads he wants to share, or he picks up a flower he finds growing here, write little notes, it' the small stuff. It may seem like no big deal, but to me it is everything. Needless to say I return the favor," she said with a soft smile. Regina looked at her mother, this was a new side of her and it was clear that she really loved the god of the dead.

"It seems like he is a good guy, I am feeling a bit tired, can you take me to the castle please?" she said with a yawn.

Cora nodded and wrapped her arms around her, getting her there, then telling her which room she was sharing with Robin, before leaving her. A good night's rest would probably do her some good.


Thank you so much for reading this chapter, I would love to hear your point of view.