Chapter 9

Regina barely slept that night. Truth be told, she sometimes felt as if she hadn't had a real, full night of sleep since Henry found out the truth about the first curse.

She had been thinking for days of how she could fix that entire situation, and she had come up with nothing. She had no idea about how to help her sister, but she also refused to back down and forfeit.

Maybe she should, though. Like mother, like son, Henry had also refused to leave his home and go to Emma's for a few more days, while things calmed down. Even though there had been no chance of Zelena using her new found magic on Henry —and since when would she have had it?— because Regina had always been present, the witch was still dangerous. People had made abundantly clear they needed no magic to hurt others.

And yet, she wasn't lying when she told her sister she wished she didn't have to put the cuff on her. She knew very well the feeling of helplessness one could feel with the cuff on. It was not only the suppression of your own magic, but also the magic around you. For someone as dependent on it as them, that feeling was terrible. But what else could she do? Her sister had managed to escape from her home within a week and she needed drastic solutions. If Zelena had been successful, she would have been as dangerous for the townspeople as the townspeople would have been for her. However, as she knew this thought would be of no comfort for the red-haired woman, Regina decided to save it.

Nevertheless, despite the risk, she couldn't just leave Zelena to rot in a cell. She just couldn't give up on her sister when she had been given so many chances. Still, her resolution did not make her feel less of a failure for not being able to transmit the hope that she herself had trouble believing in.

That morning after such a disastrous night, Regina carefully disentangled herself from Henry. Her son had suggested to sleep together in her bed and, for both of their sakes, she had not being able to refuse. She went down to the kitchen and started making breakfast for three.

When it was ready, she decided to let Henry sleep in and went to Zelena's room. The redhead was awake, although as the bed was made and the cover was a bit wrinkled, it was very possible that she had not sleep at all.

Looking at how pale and tired her sister looked, words failed to Regina when she opened her mouth to talk and so, the other woman took the opportunity.

"The door was locked."

After taking a second to process the words, Regina recovered swiftly and replied in her most neutral voice:

"I know. You're not allowed to wander around the house while Henry's staying."

"I see," replied Zelena coldly. "So is that the price for displeasing you and attempting to escape? My cell being smaller?"

Regina reminded to herself that her sister was still hurting from the loss of magic and ignored the provocation. The sting of knowing she really thought that remained, though.

"Come on, breakfast's ready. Remember what I told you. You can come willingly or I can drag you out."

Despite her look of complete contempt, Zelena complied. Once in the kitchen, she helped herself with the tea and the pancakes. Regina also chose to ignore the looks that from time to time, between bite and bite, she received. She didn't know if the other woman was looking for a trap or for a new chance to escape.

As they were finishing, Henry showed up. He offered a sleepy 'Morning' and a kiss to her mother. Zelena herself had probably not even been conscious of it, but she had jumped out of her chair the moment he had walked into the room. She hesitated, looking at the kitchen door as if it was an exit that she wasn't very sure she wanted to take. Henry seemed to solve her dilemma when he popped down on the chair next to her mother with a plate of pancakes and asked:

"Good morning, how are you feeling?"

Zelena had not forgotten that that boy had whispered reassurances while she had been in pain the night before. Instead of being afraid of the witch that had just managed to escape, he had come closer, had touched her and had tried to calm her down. It was not something that Zelena would have expected and she suddenly felt more than a bit awkward not knowing how to act in front of him. She expected mistrust, and hate, and even disgust. But all Regina and Henry had given her so far had been a cautious wish to know her better.

She hesitated again, her mouth hanging open for a moment. She turned to look at Regina, maybe expecting —even hoping— to see a glare of reprobation, but the brunette only lifted an eyebrow. She was on her own there. Swallowing, the ginger was not completely successful in hiding a slight tremble in her voice. The cuff and all those unpredictable reactions made her feel very vulnerable.

"I'm fine."

"Really? Doesn't it hurt anywhere?" Without waiting for an answer, he turned to her mother. "I thought you weren't very good at healing spells, mom."

It was a forced conversation, but why anyone would force a conversation to include Zelena, it was lost to her, too. Regina took a second to answer, but she managed a totally nonchalant voice when she did, lighting up their chat.

"And I wasn't. Light magic makes them a little bit easier."

Not knowing very well what impelled her —maybe just the awkwardness being increased by the fact that mother and son were sitting whereas she was still standing—, she took her seat once more.

Henry kept rambling on about his baby uncle Neal, the old friends from school he had seen recently and other common topics. Regina intervened from time to time and, even if Zelena uttered no word, she couldn't help listening, because somehow, she felt her nephew's words were also directed at her.

Regina did not know how or why, but breakfast seemed to relax everyone's nerves. Zelena had gone back to her room quietly when they had finished eating and Henry was gone after a while, too. He would have lunch with the Charmings later. And so, for the time being, Regina needed something to do.

She settled on cleaning up the ground floor, as she had neglected it a little recently. However, midway through it, she felt a nagging need to check on Zelena. After a moment of hesitation, she finally went upstairs. She knocked on her door and, out of habit, she opened it anyway when there was no immediate answer. She found the redhead reading a book, although she put it down at once, looking up at Regina from the window. The brunette realised her emotionless mask was seriously damaged, as she could easily see a hint of uncertainty creeping up in her blue eyes. She doubted for a moment whether asking her to come down or just ordering her to. She didn't want to give her the chance to refuse and try to extend her seclusion, which would lead to another argument. So, she chose a 'You're coming with me' paying special attention not to use a hard voice. Even so, she saw the red-haired woman gulping as she rose from her seat.

"Henry's gone, right?"

"Yes," she answered, her voice clipped. She couldn't help feeling defensive when the other woman mentioned her son, but she hadn't meant to sound so harsh.

Regina would be lying if she said she was not thankful for her sister being calmer, but her behaviour was starting to border on the wariness of who is waiting for the other shoe to drop and the danger to reveal itself. She didn't want to see Zelena despiteful or scornful, but she didn't want to see her defeated or fearful, either.

"I was just cleaning and thought you'd welcome to have something to do," Regina stated to break the ice as they went downstairs.

"So is that what I'm going to be now? Your housemaid?"

From behind her, Zelena's voice had begun to rise and Regina sighed internally.

"I'm cleaning, too," was all she clarified.

It was met with no answer. Regina turned her head around and found an indignant look fixed on her, which she replied at by lifting her eyebrows.

Soon, Regina learnt that Zelena was actually good at cleaning. That gave her an idea of what background her sister could come from, because Regina herself had been quite mediocre at it at the first moments of the curse all those years ago. They mostly worked in silence, although the mayor was secretly relieved when Zelena snapped at some of her remarks. Regina wondered if she would not be going as insane as the ginger.

"Don't you really have any injuries from the fall?" she asked out of the blue when it was clear that her thoughts would not leave her alone soon.

"You know I don't," grumbled Zelena without looking up from the vase she was dusting.

"I really wasn't that good at healing spells before. Well, you must know. After all, you were watching me for a very long time," the brunette said smugly.

"I was a better student," was the redhead's only comment. And yet, in it, she managed to convey all the hatred she felt towards Regina and Rumplestiltskin.

And Cora.

Zelena seemed to despise and long for Cora in equal measure. Regina was well acquainted with that feeling.

It was a conversation they needed to have and there would not be a better time —but there could certainly be worse ones. Thus, Regina decided to jump without a net and hoped that her next words would not send the older woman back to her room. That she would not burn the bridge even before building it —a persistent voice in her head kept reminding her how good she was at it.

"You can ask me about Cora, you know. If you really want to know anything at all."

There would have been a silence following those lines, but it was filled with the sound of a vase breaking into pieces. Regina paid no attention to it —she only had eyes for the redhead. Zelena took several seconds to look up and then, her gaze was plainly furious.

"So I can know what I lost?"

She was probably not expecting Regina's reply to be full of confidence.

"Yes."

Zelena said nothing. She looked like she was focusing on not staring at the brunette with her mouth hanging open. And so, Regina went on.

"So you know how lucky you were for not hearing your own mother saying she was destroying you for your own good. She gave you up, but she held me so close that it was impossible to breathe —it was impossible to grow out of her shadow. To grow up without fear. Neither of us was never enough for her, Zelena," and there, Regina tried not to think of 'You would have been enough,' because deep down she could never believe it anyway, "but it wasn't our fault."

By the end of it, both women had tears in their eyes that couldn't be held back for much longer. Regina dried hers briskly, allowing her sister privacy to do the same while she went to the kitchen and started to make lunch. Zelena joined her shortly after, with her eyes still a bit wet. The brunette waited for her to make some sort of comment, but no words came out of her lips. Regina respected that and both finished their lunch and the cleaning in an almost complete silence. The former Queen could only hope she was doing the right thing by waiting patiently for the other woman to make the first move instead of pushing. She might have done it before, but right then, the last thing she wished was to appear indifferent at her sister's eyes.

A/N: You're all so kind. Thanks so, so much to RoseRed, clearly-blue-eyed-witch, Resilient Heart of a Queen and anonymous for their reviews. They make me incredibly happy. :D

I truly promise the 'Zelena & Henry & video games' scene is going to happen eventually. I know things are moving slowly, but with such a stubborn couple of protagonists, what else can you expect? ;)

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy the chapter. Please, let me know what you think!