shaking things up a bit in this chapter...let me know what you think ;) xxx
Enchanted Forest; Missing Year
"You're missing your child, aren't you?" Fiona's voice startled her from her position on the balcony of her bed chamber, overlooking the fields below. Robin and Roland were engaging in a loud and rambunctious game of rough-housing and it made Regina's heart ache to hear the giggles and see the mop of brown curly hair. He reminded her much of Henry when he was that age and any thought of him was enough to send her into a dark place. But that's exactly what Henry wouldn't have wanted.
"Every moment," Regina replied quietly, keeping her gaze on the father and son. She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders, not making it a habit of speaking on vulnerable topics in front of the Fairy. "I wasn't expecting you."
"Yes, well maybe I missed you," Fiona replied in a playful tone.
Regina let out a chuckle and rolled her eyes at the notion of the woman being anything but self serving, "What do you want, Fiona?" She asked, missing the flicker of a hurt in the fairy's expression and the way she stiffened instantly.
"It's time," Fiona's tone was considerably harsher as she spoke bluntly and studied Regina's profile, "To start collecting children to undo this curse. That boy would be a good start."
"Why him?" Regina turned her head to look at her then at the mention of Roland, trying not to appear as uneasy about it all as she felt, "Why does he have to be one of them?"
"What's the matter? Worried about your thief?" She replied with a hard gaze, locking eyes with the Queen, "Why not him?"
"Because," Regina snapped back at her, "It has nothing to do with his father. I just would rather not lure I child I know to the depths of hell to slave for our curse."
"You don't want to take any child," Fiona snorted and rolled her eyes, clenching her jaw in irritation.
"Of course I don't!" Regina shook her head with a frown, "I'm not you anymore. I gave up doing evil. I have changed."
"If that's what you want to tell yourself," The fairy shook her head slightly and gave a bitter laugh, "You're weak."
Regina took a deep breath, becoming all too aware that she would not be able to hold up her end of the deal. She wanted her life with Henry back more than anything in the world, but not at the expense of others. She'd given him and Emma a good life with warm memories and he would be perfectly fine without her. She couldn't be selfish and take someone else's child to get back to hers. Henry would never forgive her or himself.
"I'm not weak," She tilted her chin up, squaring her own shoulders, "In fact sometimes it takes being stronger to do what is right and that is what I'm doing."
"Don't you want to get back to your son?" Fiona snapped, stepping up to her furiously at the thought of her plan falling through again. Her chance at freedom slipping away once more.
"That's all I want!" Regina yelled back at her, feeling her eyes gloss with fresh tears, "But I changed for him! I redeemed myself so that he would be proud of me. If I did this it would undo all of the progress I made. Right now Henry is happy and healthy and being cared for. I can't up end his life for my own selfishness. I can't risk him finding out how I got him back because if I..." Her voice cracked and she stopped, swallowing hard, "..if I had to see the disappointment, the hate in his eyes again, like when I was the Evil Queen...I couldn't live with myself. Yes, I want my son back, but I'd rather have him not know who I am and be happy than...to know who I am and that I've made the same mistake. Something I promised him I'd never do."
"He never has to know..." Fiona replied through clenched teeth, her own eyes stormy with emotion that she refused to show elsewhere in her expression. Her fists were clenched in rage and Regina could practically feel the malevolent magic begging to escape the angry woman. "If he does you can use a forgetting potion-"
"I will never use magic like that on Henry. I have tricked him before and I have paid the price," Regina replied firmly, "I can't do this."
Fiona's eyes glazed over, her shoulders squared with an eerie calm as she eyed the Queen intensely, "I didn't need you, anyways," She replied coolly, hating herself for understanding why Regina wouldn't budge, "But do know that when I succeed in getting to your realm, there will be hell to pay."
Storybrooke; Present Day
Fiona paced the old mines so furiously she was sure she'd bring them crashing down on her at any moment. It was the day of reckoning and she hated herself for feeling so weak and having a moment of doubt. She'd always taken pride in being ruthless and cold, not thinking twice before committing wicked deeds. That was until that goddamn Queen got into her head.
Regina didn't deserve to go down with the rest of them. She'd suffered more than anyone in all of the realms combined. The need to protect her reminded her of the day when everything went wrong back in the Enchanted Forest. She'd learned so much about her then but she was too angry to really listen.
And now Fiona felt that niggling feeling of guilt at the fact that what she had coming for this town would affect Regina. The mayor had fought so hard for her happiness, for her son and for some semblance of a family. Fiona didn't want to ruin what the Queen had worked so hard for, even though Regina had never reciprocated that sentiment. To take happiness away from someone who was so much like herself felt too personal.
She'd tried to stay strong and remind herself that Regina had clearly chosen the side of the heroes, but the way the Queen had cared for her in her vault made her change her mind. Shortly after she decided then what would happen to each and every person when the final battle began. All of them had taken it so literally, actually believing it would simply be a fight between she and Emma. She rolled her eyes at the Charming idiots and felt quite surprised Regina did not know there was almost more to it when it came to dark magic.
Fiona continued her pacing at the thought of what was about to happen, anxiety and excitement bubbling within her. Soon she would be free of the Dark Realm and living her own life. One that she had chosen and constructed. The heroes would finally pay the price for their stupidity and she'd be the most powerful being of all realms once she had extinguished Emma's belief for good.
Regina probably wouldn't be too thrilled with the fate she was about to receive. The resentment Fiona held over the Queen choosing the heroes side not once, but twice, had prompted her to give Regina's life a special little twist. Still, the Queen and her son would be much better off than anyone else in this town. She would personally see to that. It was time someone did.
Her heart started to thump wildly in her chest and she couldn't help the grin that spread across her face. She could feel the wedding had just been completed by the happiness of the unsuspecting fools that radiated throughout the town. All of them were so happy, except of course the mayor who was only pretending to not be heartbroken. Soon everything would be better for both of them.
Adrenaline rushed through her veins when her magic began to tingle and she knew the clouds were rolling in on the happy wedding party. It was time. Her life began again today. This was Fiona's happy ending.
"Thank god you remember me," Henry sighed in relief as he hugged his blonde mother after wandering into the town hospital and asking if anyone had seen her. When the curse had hit he'd found himself alone and immediately began searching for the rest of his family. The last thing he remembered was the wedding party standing, watching as the dark clouds of the curse came their way.
"Of course I remember you," Emma replied with a frown. She looked pale, dressed in plain clothing and a cardigan. Her look was usually minimal when it came to hair and makeup, but she'd done absolutely nothing with herself and it did nothing to ease his fears.
"Because I just looked all over town and I couldn't find the rest of our family...Snow, David, Hook," He frowned at her as she cut him off.
"No, no, stop," She put her hands up, her eyes widening in a frightened way, "I'm not going down that road again. I've worked way too hard for you to undo all of my progress."
"Progress?" His stomach sank and he saw the same disbelief in her eyes that she held when he told her about the storybook all those years ago.
"You know...Those people, Snow White, Prince Charming, Captain Hook," She shook her head as they set down at the table nearby, "None of them are real. My parents are not fairytale characters. There's no curse, this is just a regular town."
"Mom, what happened to you?" Henry's own memory was fuzzy and he had no clue where the rest were or what had happened once the curse hit. It was apparent that Emma's long term memories were even altered or wiped clean.
"I ended up in here because I started to buy into what you were trying to get me to believe," She ran a tired hand over her face. "This has to stop, Henry. I just want to get well so I can be your mother again."
"No, Mom that's not why. It's the Dark Fairy, she said she would take away your family and this is how, she cursed us," Henry shook his head when she refused to look at him, "All right, if what you're saying is true then how long have you been a patient in here?"
"You know how long I've been here," Emma frowned and crossed her arms, sighing when she saw he wasn't relenting, "Ever since you tried to prove that fairtyales were real by eating a poisoned apple turnover. You ended up in the hospital for weeks, barely made it through."
"That's now how it happened! I did eat the turn over but you saved me with true love's kiss!"
"No!" Her eyes widened as if she were losing her patience, "You weren't saved by magic you were saved by medicine," She calmed down when a nurse approached the table with her daily medicine, appearing as if she didn't want to make a scene. She was spooked from her time here and rightfully so.
"Stop, don't take that!" Henry frowned and grabbed the cup before setting the storybook on the table, "That's probably how the Dark Fairy is keeping you from remembering!"
"Henry," Emma whispered warningly through clenched teeth.
"Look, it's all in here," He said quickly opening the cover and showing her the note he'd scribbled that stuck out of the storybook, "Mom you have to start remembering so you can break this curse!"
Emma reached out and quickly shut the cover of the book, taking the medicine from him and mumbling an apology to the nurse who raised a brow and turned away. "You have to stop this Henry or your mom isn't going to let you come visit anymore."
"Regina, she's here?" He looked at her, his hope rising. His mom would know what to do about all of this. She always did.
"Who's Regina?" Emma asked cluelessly. The bewilderment in her eyes made his stomach drop at the fact that the woman who raised him didn't seem to exist here.
"Henry," An unfamilar voice called out behind him as he glanced up to see the Dark Fairy in a pantsuit, not unlike the type his adoptive mother wore, "There's my boy." His stomach sank dreadfully and he pulled the book into his lap to hide it. Something was very wrong here and he had the intuition to know if the Dark Fairy realized he remembered that he would suffer a cruel fate. Then no one could be saved.
"Madam Mayor I'm sorry, I didn't know he was coming today," His biological mother said in an apologetic tone that was so unlike her. What had happened to the bad ass sheriff Emma Swan?
"How many times have I told you? It's Fiona," The Dark Fairy smiled at the blonde and put a hand over hers gently, "No need for titles here. Now, Henry, shouldn't you be at school?"
"Uh, of course," Henry swallowed and glanced at the blonde before looking up at the brunette, "I just wanted to see my other mom."
Fiona's smile quickly faded as she zoned in on the object in his lap, reaching out the grab the storybook from him, "Oh no, I think I'll be holding onto this. Nothing but trouble seems to come with this book. Now, off to school. Emma and I have some business to discuss."
Henry rose from his seat reluctantly, mumbling a 'yes mom' before leaning down to hug Emma on his way out, "Whatever she wants you to do, don't do it," He murmured in his biological mother's ear before setting out to keep looking for the rest of his family.
Henry had tried the mansion but it was locked and all of the lights were off inside. So was David and Snow's apartment. Gold's shop now had 'Gold, Attorney At Law' painted on it and the inside looked like simple office spaces instead of piled high with antiques and magical items. Doctor Hopper obviously worked at the hospital now under close watch of the Dark Fairy, so he would be no help. Granny's diner looked to be a trendy restaurant by the name of Petite Rouge and even it had a sign on the door that it wasn't open until dinner hours.
His heart sank as he walked down the main street, seeing the locals who seemed to go about their business like nothing was different. Some of them waved at him like the used to and some citizens simply bustled about as if this was the way things had always been. He let out a breath as he shoved his hands in his pockets, looking ahead at the street signs and storefronts that were all slightly changed in one way or another.
Nearing the place where The Rabbit Hole used to be, he looked up to see that like everything else it went by a different name, too. The neon sign was lit up, giving him some hope that there would be a person in here that could help him. He didn't care if he wasn't old enough to walk into the bar or not as he reached for the door and swung it open. He'd deal with the consequences later. It's not like things could get much worse, could they?
"Welcome to Roni's-" A familiar voice came from behind the bar when the bell above the door rang with it's motion, "Henry? What are you doing out of school?"
He felt the door fall closed behind him but he couldn't move. The woman who raised him, the former mayor of this town, was standing behind the bar with a bright smile on her face at the sight of him. Except it wasn't exactly the woman who raised him. She had curly hair, slightly lighter in tone, gold hoop earrings and an outfit that the Regina Mills he knew would never choose to wear willingly.
"Henry?" Her brows furrowed slightly when he didn't answer and she tilted her head, throwing down the rag she was wiping the bar down with on the counter, "Babe, are you okay?"
Babe? He'd never heard his mother use that term of endearment in her life. The severity of the situation hit him like a ton of bricks and he felt overwhelmed that he seemed to be the only one in this town that knew what the Dark Fairy had done. Whatever it was, he had to do some research to see just what he was up against. Which meant he couldn't go around upsetting people with the idea they were cursed like he had Emma. The Dark Fairy would no doubt catch wind of that all too quickly.
"Uh, early release?" He forced a smile and shrugged as he slowly approached the bar. How did she know him? What should he say? All he could do was play along with whatever clues she gave him to how he should interact with her.
"Ahhhh, shit," His mother tilted her head back dramatically and put a hand to her forehead, "I'm the worst mom in the world aren't I? Was I supposed to pick you up? I was just restocking the liquor and forgot the time, damn it-" So the new Regina was not as punctual or schedule oriented as the real one was.
"No, no," Henry shook his head, silently relieved that he was at least still considered her son in this curse, "It's cool. I had planned to walk over here."
"Thank god," She gave him a grin, leaning onto the bar playfully to gently slap her hand on-top of his, "You know how uptight your mom gets about that type of thing. Our secret, hm?"
"Yeah, course," He mumbled with a forced grin, watching her turn to clear some empty glasses from the bar. He processed her words slowly, dread starting to fill him at a rapid pace. If the Dark Fairy acknowledged Emma was his biological mother and considered herself his adoptive mother, but Regina referred to herself as his mother, too, then what...
"Good, I don't wanna end up on the couch tonight," Regina replied with a wink and his stomach dropped, "Soon as David gets here for his shift we'll go home. Your mom text me and said she's making her signature lasagna."
