Regina had taken off her shoes, and was walking barefooted in the waters. The water was a bit cold, and she knew she was risking coming down with something, but she didn't care. The water made her feel close to her daughter, and a walk on the beach always calmed her down. Her mind was racing with thoughts; her daughter, her mother, Daniel, her transformation and the subsequent pain bestowed on everyone, and finally Snow. What Ruby had said about Snow, wasn't a one way thing; it was mutual. Snow was like a daughter to Regina for a while, she sought comfort in her when she missed her own baby girl. And in one split second; when she allowed her rage and despair over Daniel's death to take over, she allowed the piece of her mother's soul to take over, and all was lost. She buried her love for Snow, as well as her love for her daughter, deep inside of her; so it would stop taunting her, and pulling her back from the road she had taken; the very very dark road. Her own daughter still had faith in her, same for Henry, and maybe even Snow on some level. She sighed, as how much she had hurt Snow dawned on her. Yes, she told her mother about her Daniel, but Snow was just a child. And let's face it, her mother was a conniving woman who knew how to charm her way into getting what she wanted; God knows she fooled her into thinking she accepted Daniel and her pregnancy. And if charms didn't work, she used magic; which is what she used on Daniel, as well as Ariel, succeeding in one and failing in the other.
Regina smiled and her hand fell to her stomach, rubbing it longingly, as the memory of her daughter standing up to her mother played in her mind; the look on her mother's face when she told her she was pregnant with Daniel's child; and last but not least, the way she looked after some of the falls she had while pregnant. And as she searched her memory more, she realized that David was right; there seemed a few occasions where her mother acted weird.
She looked down at her feet, and saw how the water carried the sand to tickle her toes, she wiggled her toes in the water, and laughed at the sensation. She realized that she doesn't remember the last time she was happy; ever since Daniel, she wouldn't let herself feel the happiness out of fear of losing it, like she did with Daniel. She lost her way after he died, no actually; she lost it after she realized that as long as she's good, she won't be happy. She lost it the second she believed her mother's words, that power was the only thing that lasts. Her thirst for power nearly cost her own son and her daughter; one of them at least. Yes, Snow was her daughter, she raised her, and she may have forgotten about it, but she loved her. And in that moment, she knew that Daniel was right when he told her to love again. She realized that her love for Henry is what's keeping her together right now; that her daughter's love for her is what kept Ariel going all this time, is what kept her faith in her mother; and that said love is why she's choosing to stay away from her, to make sure that Cora doesn't reach her. She had to make things right, and she had to start with David and Snow, when she gets back, and take it from there. Maybe she can find a way to send the people back to the land, or let them leave Storybrooke, whatever they choose. She knew it wasn't going to be easy, but she will soldier on. She will fight; this time for what is right.
She turned around, and saw Ruby standing a few feet away from her, looking at her. "What's on your mind, Deputy?" Regina asked her.
"Deputy?" Ruby asked with a raised eyebrow, as she closed the distance between the two.
"Well, if David is the Sheriff, then I guess that would make you Deputy." Regina told her.
"No thank you, I am more than happy being a waitress in Granny's. But a bodyguard is good too" She joked, earning a laugh from Regina.
"I'm not sure I've ever heard you laugh." Ruby said.
"I'm not sure I ever did, since Daniel passed." Regina told her, as she felt the pain stab at her heart again.
"You really loved him?" Ruby asked.
"More than anything. I wasn't always the Evil Queen, I became like this because I believed my mother when she said that it was the only way to be happy, and that power is the only thing that lasts. But she was wrong, and so was I for believing her, and for hurting people to fuel my fake happiness, especially people I love."
"Snow."
"And Henry. God, what I did to him was awful. Actually what I did was awful, to him and to everyone. And I'm willing to face whatever price they through at me, as long as I pay it, not someone else."
"I don't think it's that black and white, Regina. Cora had a piece of her inside of you, which your pain and sadness over Daniel, as well as Ariel, fueled and you slowly turned into her. Yes, it doesn't excuse it all, but it makes sense of all the weird loopholes you left, you wanted a way out. Instead of killing Snow, you gave her a sleeping potion. And you bent over backwards to get David out of King George's hands, when you could've just let George kill him, so that at any time, you can set him free, and let him break the curse on Snow. And I'm guessing that day you left a loophole for him to work through. And on top of it all, you didn't enact the curse, till Snow had the baby. Again, a way out. And you gave it enough time for Emma to escape through the wardrobe; and so on. These things didn't make sense to me before, but now they do. The piece of Cora inside of you was doing all the dark stuff, and the true you, hidden deep in the catacombs, kept leaving opening, doors, alternate escapes. That counts for a lot. And I think that people will understand, especially if they saw what happened."
Regina smiled gratefully at Ruby, "Thanks Ruby." She genuinely said.
"No problem, it's the truth. When Ariel gets here ask her, I do not sugar coat things, nor do I compliment without meaning it." Ruby said, earning a chuckle from Regina.
"I appreciate that, I like honest people."
Ruby smiled at her, "Go ahead, ask away." She told Regina.
"Excuse me." Regina said, and as she looked at Ruby, Ruby noticed that the icy look Regina had, was no longer there; her eyes were warm and her face was a bit brighter, if you ignore the dark circles, from all the crying.
"I know you want to know things about Ariel, so ask away."
Regina smiled, and signaled for Ruby to walk next to her.
"How was her life with Triton and Athena?"
"Pretty great. They only had her, so they spoiled her. She was powerful, so they made sure she knew how to use her powers properly. As you well know she is incredibly stubborn, so they worried about her, especially when one time she was chased half way around the ocean, by a 5 foot shark." Ruby laughed as she recounted the story.
"You're laughing?" Regina mockingly accused, as she was also laughing.
"Yeah, Triton nearly caused the sea to move out of its place when he found out. She was unharmed and all, but he was still furious. For a week or so, he wouldn't let her move outside of the palace without guards, and she hated it. She hadn't turned 9, and she gave them hell. She was sneaky, and knew how to disappear."
"Oh, she's my daughter alright."
"Yes, I imagine sneaking around with a mother like Cora wasn't easy, and it may have passed onto her genes, so good luck." Ruby snickered, and Regina mock glared at her.
"When she went after the Pirates, who took the mermaid to Neverland, Triton was beyond furious. Especially that she disappeared for a week; when she finally returned, he seriously contemplated taking away her mermaid magic, but she managed to calm him down, as I would guess, by telling him that if he does that, she is as good as dead."
Regina was smiling, but tears were running down her cheeks, happy tears though.
"She doesn't hate you Regina, even after everything you have done. And believe me, I used to rant to her about it all, I never sensed anger or hate from her. Always sadness, and I thought it was about Snow, but now I know. It was for you too. She loves you, and from what David told me, she would rather remain in our land away from you, just so that Cora doesn't get her hands on you. And she wont let anything happen to Snow and Emma."
"I know she wont, but I don't want her to keep fighting. She's been doing that since she was inside of me. She needs to be safe, she needs to let loose and be herself, stop acting so mature, and act her age. She would have barely turned 20 when I cast the curse."
"Yeah, she had. That's why I saw her the day before the curse, I was giving her her birthday present."
"I just….I miss her, and I wanna hold her. I never got a chance to do that."
"You will." Ruby assured Regina as she put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"Come on we need to head back before David sends the cavalierly to look for us."
Ruby laughed and both started walking towards Ruby's car.
"Can we drop by Archie's office? I need to get my car."
"Sure. Let's go."
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David came back at the end of that day, and heard screams from one of the rooms upstairs, he immediately bolted upstairs, fearing the worse. He followed the noise to one of the rooms, flinging the door open, only to receive a pillow in his face. That was followed by sounds of hysterical laughs, and Ruby's apologetic voice, "Oops, sorry David." He looked around the room, and realized that he was in the master bedroom, Regina's room. Henry was on top of the bed, with a pillow in his hand, Regina and Ruby were on the floor, Regina with a pillow and Ruby without, they were both barefooted, and Regina had taken off her jacket. Regina was standing a few steps in front of him. All three of them had red cheeks, and were slightly out of breath.
"That was meant for Regina." Ruby explained, and David's eyebrows hit his hairline. Regina was having pillow fights now?!
"And here I thought you were training to defend yourselves using pillows." He joked.
"Nop. We were just having some fun. God knows we all need it today." Henry said, though he was out of breath.
"Yeah" David chuckled.
"Well, since you're here, I am going to head home. And I'll see you in the morning." Ruby said, as she tapped David on the shoulder. She waved bye to Henry and Regina and left, a few seconds later, they heard the front door close.
Henry plopped down on the bed, "I'm beat" he declared, earning a laugh out of his mother, as well as grandfather.
"Any news?" Regina asked David, as she located her shoes, to put them back on before they head downstairs for dinner.
"We still haven't found any dust, but the fairies told Granny that it can be used to use the mirror as a delivery service. We cant send people, but we can send a message. So now the dwarfs are working twice as hard, and don't worry, none of them know what is going on."
"Good, thank you David." Regina said, and relief was evident in her voice.
"Don't mention it." He told her.
"Henry, do you mind if you give me a minute with your grandfather alone?" she asked Henry, only to receive no reply. She turned around and found that he had curled up on her bed and fell asleep.
"Oh, well let's go downstairs then." She quietly told David, who nodded. She went to the bed,and twisted the covers around to cover Henry, before she ushered David out of the room.
They went downstairs and into the kitchen, so they can have dinner. After dinner was set, they both sat down and Regina finally said what was on her mind.
"David, I need to apologize to you."
"Regina, there's no need. I've seen and heard enough. You're already forgiven, and I know you regret it." David told her sincerely.
"That's sweet, but even if I don't need to, I want to." She told him, and he nodded.
Regina let out a breath, then started talking, "When mother ripped Daniel's heart out, I was devastated. She told me that night, that love was weakness, that it's an illusion, and that it will go away with time. And that all that will last eventually is power, that power endures it all. That power is true happiness, and that power is the only way to be happy. From that day forward, everything that happened seemed to confirm that idea. I thought I had no choice but to become cold, and not allow myself to love again. I buried Daniel's love inside of me, as well as my love for Snow. And all I saw was that her sweetness and love were what destroyed it all. I thought that I would only feel happiness, if she's miserable. But even when we were here, and I did manage to get what I wanted, I wasn't truly happy. A part of me always yelled at me to stop this madness, that she was a child, and innocent. To not hurt the only daughter I had, and to not destroy the image of the only mother she ever had. But every time I tried to do that, the pain of losing Daniel and my daughter came back, so I would crush inside of me, and it helped the piece of my mother's soul inside of me, to keep growing, as well as take over. I know that doesn't excuse it, but I want you to know that I am truly sorry. And I will try to make it up, although I know there are certain things, that I wont ever be able to make up for, and I will accept whatever price or punishment you two see fit."
"There will be no price or punishment. I think you've had enough of those. And Emma is right, Regina left loopholes for us to escape through, Cora was the one stealing everything away. It's like what I did as David Nolan, I still know I did it, but that doesn't mean I meant it. And like when Ruby killed people as the wolf. And like I said, I already forgave you, and by the looks of it so have Snow. But I appreciate the apology, and I'm sure she will too. She will be thrilled to get her mother back." David assured her, and smiled warmly at her.
"And I will get both my daughters back." Regina said, tears brimming in her eyes.
Henry sneaked back up the stairs, and went to sleep on Regina's bed; so as to not make it seem like he woke up, and smiled as he finally fell asleep for real.
Regina and David spent the rest of dinner, talking and laughing, and planning how to try to send a message, as well as run the town, now that magic is back. About an hour later, dinner was over and the dishes were in the dishwater. Regina turned it on, as David dried his hands on the towel.
"I need to move Henry to his bed." David said through his yawn,as they both walked up the stairs.
"Yeah." Regina said, slightly disappointed, which must have shown, "Unless you want him to sleep in your arms tonight." David added.
"If you don't mind, yes." Regina said, with a grateful smile.
"Of course not, good night Regina. See you in the morning." He told her, as he headed into the guest room, which he now occupied.
"Good night David." She said, and continued to her room. She saw Henry lying there, peacefully asleep, and couldn't help but stand there and watch him.
After changing into her silk pajamas, she climbed under the sheets next to him. He fussed a bit, and lazily opened his eyes and looked up at her.
She smiled warmly at him, "It's alright sweetheart, go back to sleep." She said as she moved his body properly under the sheets.
"Am I sleeping in your room?" he sleepily asked her.
"Yes, I didn't want to wake you by moving you, but if you want I can take you to your room." She offered, but her voice had hope that he will say no. And it seemed like her prayers were answered as Henry shook his head, snuggled up to her and immediately fell back asleep. She slid down under the covers, and wrapped her arms around him, and was delighted when she felt his arm go around her waist. She kissed the top of his head, then rested her head on top of it, and immediately fell asleep. But for the first time in a very long time, she had a smile on her face, and she slept soundly without nightmares, of any sort.
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Another long chapter for you enjoyment, and I will try to update again tomorrow, but I cant promise.
Carriemarie78….i hope you're happy xD…enjoy it.
Kcrane….ask and you shall receive xD….hope you like it.
Percybeth4ever….i'm guessing we both had the same names in mind xD
For all my reviewers, thank you so much for the feedback, and the support. Hope you all enjoy it.