"Yeah?"
Emma had stopped in the middle of the living room, on her way to the ladder. She turned upon hearing her voice, her eyes half closed as she let out a yawn. Stretching her arms she waited for the woman to speak. "Thank you. I know I have not been very friendly towards you, and I am very sorry about that. I'd love to tell you more about the whole story tomorrow, talk about this situation and answer anything you want to know."
"Why don't we do it now?"
"What?"
"Now, let's sit down and just talk about it. I am not going to be able to sleep tonight, you know? Knowing that fairy tales are true and that I am Snow White's daughter is quite a shock..." she told, making Regina laugh. The brunette hugged her arms and looked to the couch, noticing a blanket neatly folded on one side. An idea popped to her mind, and she turned to look at Emma with a smile.
"What do you think if I make some hot chocolate, we sit on the couch and we talk about it? I always brought chocolate when I come with Henry, and I am sure I might have put some in my suitcase because of the habit..."
"Sounds great."
Sitting on the couch, the blonde waited for Regina to come from the kitchen with two cups of hot chocolate. She had decided to put on an old sweater she used as a pajama, since the night had become way colder than before. "Done." Regina spoke with a smile, walking barefoot through the living room and to the coffee table, where she left two white cups. Emma grinned and quickly reached for it, warming her hands. "There is more in the kitchen," Regina spoke with a smile and sitting down next to the woman. Before taking her cup she took the blanket and covered her legs and feet with it, then rushed to take a sip of it. "But you will have to go for it. Do you like it?"
"Yeah!" Emma grinned, licking her full of chocolate lips and turning to the other. "I'm so having another cup later. But first, I want to know about the curse. Why did you curse the Enchanted Land?"
"It was the Enchanted Forest, and… well… Vengeance."
"So original." Emma told with a raised brow. "Why?"
"I don't wanna talk about that."
"You lost someone, didn't you?"
"How do you know?"
"The ring you wear as a necklace."
"Oh."
"Yeah. I guess your husband died?"
"He was not my husband. He was my True Love."
"Oh."
"Yeah. He really loved me, you know? It was… the last time someone loved me. Probably the first time too." she spoke, the sadness obvious in her words. "His name was Daniel. We were young, he was the stable boy. He took care of Rocinante when I couldn't, and when I went riding he was always there. We fell in love, and he made me so happy." she smiled, almost forgetting that Emma was there. She felt that she could not stop talking, not until Emma knew everything. "But my mother did not like that I was in love with someone of a lower position than me, and she wanted me to marry a king. Well, Snow White's father."
Emma's mouth fell open. "That's how you ended up being Snow White's evil stepmother?!"
"How did you think it had been? That I had fallen in love with Leopold?"
"No, but… Well, it's a fairy tale, I was thinking of some meeting in the forest or some damsel in distress thing."
"Oh, I wish. But, I was not the princess of the tale, you know? I was the evil, vain stepmother. No matter how much I loved and took care of Snow White when she was just a girl, or that I did nothing but fall in love with a stable boy, my happy ending was not written." she spoke, taking a gulp of her hot chocolate. Swallowing down, she glanced at Emma. "Yeah, I've read Henry's book, and it doesn't tell the whole story." she added, this time with bitterness. "My mother wanted me to marry a king, and Snow's mother had died recently. I was still a teenager, I think I had not even turned twenty back then. She set up a plan to make me save Snow, then meet the king."
"And you let her? What about Daniel?"
"Me and Daniel tried to elope to a land far away from the kingdom. We met at night in the stable, we were ready to leave everything behind." she let out a sigh, feeling the tears start to pool in her eyes. "We were so happy that we were going to change our lives, that we would leave the abusive and horrible mother I had behind and we would start a family far away from her… It was like a dream, but it quickly turned into a nightmare. My mother came, Snow had told her about my relationship with Daniel. She had seen us kiss, and I had convinced her to not to tell Cora about it. But she did. Oh yeah, she did. That little—" she stopped herself, wiping away the tears that rolled down her cheek.
"Snow caused your boyfriend's death… That is why you got a vengeance."
"Yes. My mother killed Daniel without hesitating, because Snow White could not keep a secret." she told, leaving the cup on the coffee table and then wrapping the blanket around her body, sitting criss cross on the couch. Looking at Emma, she found the blonde on the verge of tears. "Funny, isn't it?" she added with a sad laugh. "We fell in love in the stables, and that's where my mother killed him."
