Calm Before the Storm

by LizzeXX

Hook/OC - When Emma and Mary Margaret enter the Enchanted Forest they stumble across one Captain Hook, though he isn't quite alone. In his company they find a young woman to whom he's given his heart, a woman that radiates innocence, yet has startling ties to the darkest of magic-users and a rather strong desire to return with them to Storybrooke. First in the Sorceress's Grimoire.

10. The Stable Boy

The Stable Boy

An 18 year old Regina glanced around cautiously as she entered the stables on her family's land, always fearing that, at any moment, she would look back and find her mother standing there, watching her. She couldn't risk it, not in the stables, not that her mother ever really stepped foot in them. She preferred carriage rides to horseback, unlike her daughter. But still, the last encounter she'd had with her mother just moments ago had shaken her terribly.

She swallowed hard, just thinking about it made her heart race and her body shiver, and not in a good way. She had just wanted to show her parents her progress in riding bareback, something she had been working on for weeks now whenever she could find time. Her father had been supportive and as impressed with her as ever, but her mother…well, she hadn't been pleased. She had called it riding like a man and ungraceful and had to remind her that she was getting older and ought to be married by now. It was just like her mother to make even horseback riding a disappointment to her. She criticized her about everything she did, every little thing, and as much as she hated it, hated being put down all the time, she still wanted to make her mother proud. Even when…even when her mother used her magic on her, to lift her into the air with invisible robes, even when her mother had nearly choked her for her 'insolence,' she still wanted to do what her mother said, though that was more out of fear than anything. She sometimes wondered if it was like that for her father, the man rarely ever stood against his wife, not even to really defend her from her mother's cruelty.

Worse yet, when Daniel, the stable boy, had tried to help, tried to offer her a saddle to assuage her mother's ire, she'd snapped at him.

She looked up, catching the latest focus of her thoughts standing before her, brushing down the horse she had been riding, the one she'd just chucked the reins to for him to lead away. And there he was, just tending to the magnificent creature as though nothing were wrong.

"Daniel," she called softly, though she knew he'd heard her enter, "I'm sorry I snapped at you."

The boy merely turned around, smiling softly at her, a mischievous glint in his eyes as he made his way over to her, "That's alright," he wound his arms around her, "You'll just have to find some way to make it up to me."

She grinned up at him, pushing herself on her toes to give him a gentle kiss…

Only to break away moments later when they heard a quiet giggle to the side.

"Lyssa," Regina called out, not sounding angry at all, but more fondly exasperated as she recognized the sound, "Come out."

They watched as a little head full of long ginger hair peeked out from behind one of the stalls, blue eyes sparkling up at them as a three year old girl beamed, "I didn't do anything," she defended, though she had to hide another giggle behind her hand.

Regina shook her head, crouching down as Lyssa took that as a sign all was clear and ran from around the stall, right into Regina's arms, "Oh, I missed you dear," Regina hugged her tightly.

Her mother had kept such a close watch on her the last few days that she'd hardly been able to come to the stables or even give the girl a passing glance when she caught sight of her trailing behind her mother in the dining hall during meals. Lyssa's mother was one of the servants that attended to the manor, though she worked in the kitchens mostly, cooking, serving meals, cleaning the dishes, sometimes helping out with laundry. She often sent Lyssa to Daniel in the stables whenever she was too busy. Lyssa was a curious girl, always wanting to explore and see new things, always trying to help in that way only a three year old could manage…which meant usually causing a mess more than a help.

With Cora as a mistress, none of the women were keen to keep their children around in a place where they could cause too much fuss or mess and would often send them out to stay with their other parents or friends for the day. Unfortunately, she knew that Lyssa's mother had no one else to send the girl to, no friends willing to take in another child for a few hours, no family to speak of, and the girl's father, well, that was a touchy subject to the woman. Regina had asked her only once if he was someone that Lyssa could be sent to and been firmly told that the man was not in the picture, nor was he likely even alive. She could tell it was a painful story for the woman and didn't ask again, but she had, admittedly, done a little snooping and discovered from the other servants that Lyssa's mother had been wooed by one of the wealthier men in town, that Lyssa had been conceived from that, and the man had refused to recognize Lyssa as his. Lyssa's mother had heard that the man had left town, with his family (because of course he HAD to have an actual family) and hadn't been seen since.

The woman liked to think that the man was dead and Regina hadn't had the means to continue asking about it. Whether he was alive or not, Lyssa's mother had kept silent about his identity and refused to talk about him. He was as good as dead to her.

She really had no one close enough to send Lyssa away to, no friends, no husband, no family. Well, she DID know that Lyssa's mother had a sister, but the woman lived in another kingdom, too far away to send Lyssa to. So she relied on Daniel to take her in. The stables were large enough, far away enough from the manor, and quiet enough that the girl couldn't cause too much trouble, and Daniel seemed to love her. He was teaching her how to care for the horses and feed them, how to brush the ponies and polish their effects. He was so wonderful with her, and he always, always made sure that she was hidden or away when Cora was around, which Regina appreciated very much.

Lyssa was such a sweet girl, she couldn't help but love her, and if her mother had caught sight of the girl 'mucking around' in the stables, well she knew it would set her off. Lyssa was too young to be forced to experience Cora's rage…though she knew the girl was precocious, already aware of the terrible things Cora did and could do with magic. She couldn't even begin to count the number of times Lyssa had witnessed Cora using magic on her own daughter, the girl was always so upset when it happened, always insisted that she 'examine' her as though she were Regina's physician. She was sure in her heart that, one day, Lyssa would make an excellent healer or midwife, she just loved to help people so much and take care of them. The girl had such a gentle heart that she had sworn to ensure it remained that way.

"What did I tell you about hiding in here and not telling me first, Lys?" Daniel sounded like a chastising father when he called her Lys, Regina thought vaguely, watching as he crouched down to look her in the eye. It was something he always did with the children around, he got on their level.

Regina appreciated it, after having been talked down to by her mother so many times, she loved how he never made the children feel like they were lesser than him, that he appreciated them enough to look them in the eye.

"Not to," she pouted, looking down and fiddling with her hands as Regina pulled away from the hug, "But I just…I heard Gina!" she beamed at the woman, "And I missed her too!"

Daniel gave a soft laugh, "As did I," he admitted, looking gently at Regina with all the love he had for her shining in his eyes, making Lyssa smile at the sight, he always made such funny faces when Regina was around, "In fact, I missed her so much that I thought the three of us could have a picnic up by the tree," their tree, the one far enough away from the manor that Cora couldn't see them, their secret spot to spend time together. And, while he would love for it to be just him and Regina, he adored Lyssa as well and the girl was so attached to them, she looked up to them, and she cared so deeply for them, he just couldn't bring himself to cast her out of his plans.

"Could we!?" Lyssa turned to Regina, her eyes so wide and hopeful that Regina could hardly say no to it.

"I'll see if I can get mother to agree to more 'lessons,'" was all she could offer though, maybe she could try and say she was going to work on her saddle-riding instead of bareback, that ought to get her mother to agree.

That HAD been one of the things she was complaining about earlier…it just might work.

~8~

Lyssa beamed as she heard a horse riding up to the tree she and Daniel were waiting by, just knowing it was going to be Regina before she even looked up. Who else would be there? Who else would know about their picnic? No on, just Regina.

And she looked so pretty riding her horse over to them. She hoped that, one day, when she was old enough, she would be just as good a rider as Regina. Maybe Regina would even teach her how to ride! Oh that would be wonderful. The horses were too big for her to start riding just yet, according to Daniel, but he promised that he would help teach her how to ride them too, just like he'd taught Regina everything she knew about horses.

"Gina!" Lyssa waved eagerly as Regina jumped off her horse and ran to meet them, giving Daniel a hug and a kiss first before she made her way over to Lyssa, kneeling down before the girl to see what she was working on.

"What have you got there, dear?" Regina peered down at, what appeared to be, a mess of flowers and weeds that looked like they'd been mangled.

"Danny taught me!" she held up what was in her hands, what looked like a circle of the flowers all knotted together at awkward angles.

"Oh, he's teaching you how to make a flower wreath?" Regina glanced at Daniel, amused, because he was clearly out of his depth with that and looked like he'd just told her to tie them all together.

"No," she huffed playfully as Regina sat down fully, "It's not a…a…weeth," she struggled to pronounce it, "It's a crown!"

"A crown?" Regina raised an eyebrow, though not in a mocking way but more playfully curious for a child's sake.

"Uh huh," Lyssa nodded, wiggling to her knees, peering up at Regina, before twisting and pushing herself to stand instead so that she was taller than the sitting woman, "It's a pretty crown for the most pretty lady. Cos that's what Danny says all the time."

And, with that, she placed the odd stringing of flowers and weeds onto Regina's head.

"Is that so," Regina hummed, though she was deeply touched, reaching up to straighten the wreath on her head, "Well, then I love it."

Lyssa beamed at that, Daniel chuckling as he moved to sit down beside the girls, reaching out to grab Lyssa around the middle and pull her into his lap, tickling her, "Trying to show me up, little fox?"

"Stop it," Lyssa giggled, squirming to try and get away from the tickle attack, "Stop it! Gina help!"

Regina laughed heartily at that, "I'll rescue you, little Lys," she reached out and managed to grab Lyssa under the arms, hauling her up and into her own lap as the girl struggled to regain her breath though she was smiling widely. They often changed names for Lyssa, calling her either little fox or little Lys. It didn't seem right to call her a vixen just yet, she was still so young, but cub was to broad a term, so they just called her fox, her hair reminded them of the ones they would see in the forests.

Lyssa, once she had recovered, crossed her arms and stuck her tongue out at Daniel, who just shook his head in amusement.

"Well, she's given me the most wonderful gift," Regina teased him, gesturing to her head, "What have you come to offer your lady?"

Daniel started to smile, "I thought we could take a ride to Firefly Hill. We can make it by sundown, have our picnic there and…"

"I can't go that far," Regina shook her head, sad, "I have to be back in an hour, tea time," she rolled her eyes at the concept, "A lady never misses her tea time."

"Tea is icky," Lyssa muttered.

Regina looked down at her, "You've never had tea before," she poked the girl in the stomach.

"It takes you away from us," she looked up at Regina with sad eyes, "So it's icky."

Regina could only give her a soft smile at that, "It is. It's a very icky thing."

"It's absurd is what it is," Daniel sighed, though Regina could tell he was talking about more than just the tea, "Stealing kisses between lunch and tea? When are you going to tell your parents about us?"

"It's not my parents," Regina said quietly, glancing at Lyssa and back at Daniel, dropping her voice as though it would keep the girl from hearing her say, "It's her," in reference to her mother.

"I don't understand. So, I work in the stables. She started out as the daughter of a miller. Wouldn't she, of all people, understand?"

"She does. But…but she thinks one's trajectory needs to keep moving up and…"

"And I'm down," Daniel sighed.

"She believes that, Daniel. I know better."

"Cora's a meanie," Lyssa muttered, reaching out to pluck some grass from the ground and twist them, breaking off a piece or two, "She's a big fat meanie."

Regina nearly laughed at hearing a woman like her mother, as unbearable and cruel and cold hearted as she was, being called JUST a meanie. But to Lyssa, she knew that being mean was as bad as being truly evil. The girl hated when she saw Cora picking on her daughter or saying things that upset her. To Lyssa, women like Cora, evil women, were meanies.

"Regina," Daniel reached out to take her hand, "Tell her. She'll get over it. What can she do?"

Lyssa shook in her arms, "Magic," the girl said so quietly Regina almost missed it.

Regina pressed a little kiss to Lyssa's hair, knowing the girl was scared of Cora, of the power she had, because she knew the girl saw her as a princess, as a hero, as strong and brave to ride a horse like she did, and if SHE was scared of her mother and unable to defeat her, then Cora had to be very scary indeed.

"Have you not seen her magic?" she agreed with the girl, "The real question is...what can't she do?"

"Who cares about magic?" Daniel said, his gaze flickering to Lyssa, making his voice sound more sure and strong than he actually thought, not wanting to frighten her more, hoping that, if he was brave enough to not care, it would reassure the little girl as much as it would Regina, "True love is the most powerful magic of all. It can overcome anything."

Lyssa looked up at Regina for that, "Like you and Danny," she smiled at the woman, even as young as she was, she could tell that they loved each other, just like princes and princesses did!

Regina opened her mouth to thank them for their words but continue with her fears, when she stiffened, hearing something that sounded like a shout for help in the distance, "Shh," she shifted, placing Lyssa beside her as she moved back onto her knees, looking around, "Someone's here."

A moment later a white horse flew past them, a girl clinging to the back of it, "Somebody, help me!"

Regina was up in an instant, carefully tossing Daniel the wreath as she rushed to her horse, leaping on, riding after the girl.

"Gina!" Lyssa cried, about to scramble after her, wanting to help, but Daniel pulled her back.

"Shh," he reassured her, "Shh, Regina's going to be just fine," he gave her a gentle squeeze, "She's the best rider ever right?"

Lyssa frowned but nodded, her eyes locked on Regina, watching her get smaller and smaller as she pushed her horse to catch up to the girl's. She held her breath, squeezing Daniel's arms around her…till she saw Regina pull the girl onto her horse and slow down to a stop, both of them safe.

She let out a breath, starting to smile again, "Gina's a hero!"

Daniel nodded fondly, watching as Regina made sure the girl was alright, "That she is."

~8~

Lyssa blinked blearily as she felt herself being shaken awake gently by someone. It couldn't be her mother, her mother was just a little more forceful when waking her up, and she only woke her in the morning, when the sun was dawning, it was still dark out from what she could see as she rubbed her eyes. She looked around, trying to see what had woken her when she saw Regina behind her, kneeling next to the bed.

"Gina?" she whispered, frowning in confusion, because Regina never came to the servants quarters, she never came to the rooms of the few that lived at the manor. It was mostly the kitchen staff that did, they had to be up so early to cook the food and get things prepared for the day that it made little sense for them to walk home or risk foul weather keeping the away.

"I'm sorry to wake you, little Lys," Regina gave her a tight smile but it only served to make Lyssa frown.

"You were crying," she reached out to touch Regina's wet cheek.

"Because I'm happy," she reassured the girl, taking her little hand, "Daniel has asked me to marry him."

"He did!?"

"Shh," Regina quickly quieted her, glancing over at the sleeping form of the girl's mother that she'd snuck past. She had visited Lyssa once or twice in the past, had realized quickly that her mother was a deep sleeper, dead to the world till the sun rose, but she couldn't risk anything waking her, not now. Though she couldn't help but smile at how excited and now wide-awake Lyssa was over the news, "He did," she repeated.

"Then why are you still sad?" Lyssa asked, her momentary happiness fading as she recalled the tightness of Regina's smile.

"Many things happened," Regina sighed, "Daniel and I…we're going to be leaving tomorrow night."

It probably wasn't the wisest thing to do, to tell the girl about their plans, she was so young and she knew young children tended to have the loosest lips. She was already putting much faith in Snow White to keep a secret, but she and Daniel both adored Lyssa and they would feel wretched and guilty if they left without saying goodbye to her or telling her what was happening. Just imagining what Lyssa's reaction would have been to waking up one morning to find the two of them gone with no idea why or what happened to them, it broke their hearts.

She doubted very much that Lyssa would see much of them in the morning or throughout the day. Daniel would be preparing, as would she, to depart, and they had to do it without her mother finding out.

"You're leaving?" Lyssa frowned, "Can I come with you?"

"No, dear," Regina gave her a most regretful look, "I'm sorry, but you can't."

"Why not?" she tilted her head, her lip starting to quiver, "Did I do something bad? Do…do you not love me anymore?"

"Oh, no, no," Regina quickly pulled the small girl into her arms, soothing her as best she could, "It's not that at all. You know Daniel and I both adore you…"

"Then why are you leaving me?"

Regina pulled away, reaching out to wipe a tear that had fallen from Lyssa's eyes, her heart breaking for the girl, for the confusion of all this happening so suddenly, "You know the king came earlier, yes?"

Lyssa nodded, "Mama wouldn't let me see him. She wouldn't let me visit Danny neither," she huffed, pouting, "Said I had to sit in the kitchen and not touch nothing."

"Well, the king came for a very important reason," Regina tried to explain, "He wanted to ask ME to marry him."

"But Danny!" she seemed nearly frantic at the idea of Regina marrying anyone but Daniel.

"I didn't say yes," she continued, "But my mother…my mother did. She accepted on my behalf. She wants me to marry the king," she looked at Lyssa pointedly, "And you know how scary my mother is."

"She's very scary," Lyssa agreed.

"I don't want to marry the King, I want to marry Daniel. And the only way we can do that is if we leave and leave soon. So my mother can't stop us. Do you understand?"

Lyssa gave a small nod, "But why can't I go with you?"

"Because your mother is here," Regina reminded her, "She loves you and…"

"Not as much as you and Danny do," Lyssa pointed out what might actually be the truth.

Regina knew the conditions of Lyssa's birth and conception left little room for joy, and she hadn't seen the girl's mother be entirely warm to her. Nowhere NEAR as bad as Cora was to her, she could tell that Lyssa's mother did love her daughter just…it didn't always come across to the girl or others. She cared, she was sure the woman cared, but at times Lyssa seemed to be more a burden to the woman than a blessing. She hoped it was just a frustration with Lyssa's age and curiosity and nothing more, she tried not to judge, she really did, but that girl was just so easy to love she couldn't understand how the woman couldn't love her just as much.

"She does love you, Lyssa, you know she does."

"Why can't you be my mama?" Lyssa looked at her with such wide eyes that Regina felt her resolve crack. But she knew, she couldn't just take the girl away from her mother, not like that and not for a life she wasn't even certain would be safe.

"I wish I could," she admitted, "But right now, your mother is here and she loves you, you need to stay with her where it's safe," she glanced over her shoulder as though expecting her own mother to be listening or standing right behind her, and turned back to Lyssa, "I promise you, when Daniel and I get settled, we'll find some way to get your mother and you to us. Ok?"

Lyssa let out a little breath but nodded, squeezing the hand Regina was still holding, "You won't forget me?"

"Never," Regina promised.

"Promise?"

"I do," she agreed, "Now, Lyssa, I need you to promise me something too."

"Anything!"

Regina gave a tense smile at that as well, "No one knows Daniel and I are leaving except you and Snow White…"

"Snow White?" Lyssa blinked, confused by the name.

"The girl I rescued? You remember her?" Lyssa nodded, "She's Snow White, the princess, the king is her father. That's why he wanted to marry me, because I saved his daughter."

"Oh," her face scrunched, "But…mommies and daddies should love each other and get married."

"Yes they should," Regina agreed, "Which is why I'm leaving with Daniel," she repeated, trying to get Lyssa back on track, she understood, the girl was young and it was the middle of the night, she was tired and SHE was trying to be delicate about the situation, to make her see how serious it was without scaring her, "She came to the stables when Daniel and I were making plans, and she saw me kiss him. She wants me to be her mother too, very much, and was going to tell her father, but I explained that I loved Daniel. I made her swear not to tell my mother, and you know why…"

"Cora's a meanie."

She nodded, "A very big meanie. You know how she sometimes hurts me? She'll hurt Daniel too, hurt us worse, if she finds out. So I need you to not tell her either. Ok?"

"I won't," Lyssa promised, nodding vigorously, not ever wanting her Gina or Danny to be hurt, never ever wanting Cora to keep them from being happy, "I won't tell anyone," she moved onto her knees and hugged Regina as tightly as her little arms could manage, "I'll miss you Gina, I'll miss Danny too."

"Oh we will miss you so much, dear," Regina closed her eyes as she hugged her back, "But we'll see each other again. I promise."

She could only hope she would be able to see it through one day.

~8~

Lyssa sat behind one of the large pillars in the manor's dining hall. A selection of flowers had been brought in for the wedding preparations and Cora was to examine them and decide which ones should be used for the most magnificent wedding in the realm, the king to Regina. Lyssa, however, was not sure it would be all that spectacular, and hoped it never even happened.

But still, the flowers were there and Regina and Daniel weren't. She had tried to find them from the moment she woke up, wanting to say goodbye to Daniel as she had to Regina and to give them something, a little gift, to remember her. Not that she thought they'd forget her, not Gina and Danny, but because then it would feel like she was still with them in a tiny way.

She was going to make another flower crown for Regina, one with much prettier flowers and bigger ones, like she deserved. And for Daniel, she had drawn a little picture of a horse and him on a parchment piece she'd taken from the rubbish and drawn in charcoal from the fireplace. She had gotten herself all smudged and when her mother saw her she'd forced her to wash up and then sent her out of the kitchen to keep out of the way. So she'd found herself in the dining hall, working on her flower crown when she heard the little girl Regina had saved enter, not seeming to notice her as the pillar was rather large, before she went to look at the flowers.

She didn't like the girl.

All she kept thinking about was what Regina had told her last night. The girl wanted Regina to be her mother and was going to tell on her and Daniel because of it. If Regina hadn't stopped her…she didn't want to think about what would happen if Cora found out or even the king. They were important people, she knew, they had men with swords that followed them, and you weren't supposed to break the rules when kings were involved.

She wanted Regina to be her mother too, sometimes, she liked it when they pretended to be a family together with Daniel, but she wouldn't ever do anything to hurt the woman, not like she felt Snow White had been about to do. Princesses were selfish, she decided, well, some princesses. Regina was very selfless and she was a princess, but Snow White wasn't like Regina at all.

"Careful, sweetheart."

Lyssa nearly jumped out of her skin as she heard Cora's dreaded voice speaking.

"A flower is a delicate thing. Be gentle. You want it to grow and not pluck it before its time."

Lyssa held her breath and quietly placed her flowers down, moving onto her knees, bracing her hands against the pillar to lean over the side of it and see that Cora really was there, speaking to Snow White.

"Sorry," the princess murmured.

"It's alright. You needn't fear me. I'm only trying to help," Cora took Snow by the hand and gently led her over to a sofa resting in the middle of the room, "Perhaps, you can be the flower girl at the wedding. I can already see how close you and Regina have become. She's going to make a fine mother for you."

"She is kind to me," Snow sat beside Cora.

Lyssa frowned at that but turned around to continue with her project, the people were just talking and Snow White wasn't in danger, Cora wouldn't be a meanie to her, not after her father wanted to marry Regina.

"Indeed. It warms my heart how you two share everything already. Perhaps, you could share something with me. Why has she pulled away from me?"

Lyssa stilled at that, a flower clutched in her hand as she waited to hear what Snow White would say.

"What do you mean?"

"A mother knows her daughter. Regina's pulled away. I love her so much, but she's not letting me help her. And I…I know she's unhappy. Has she said something? I'd do anything to make her happy."

Lyssa started to shake her head, even though Snow couldn't see it, that wasn't true at all. Regina had told Cora, repeatedly, what would make her happy, and Cora NEVER listened! Ever. She wouldn't do anything to make Regina happy…it wasn't true at all. She was lying just like the meanie she was!

"You'd do anything?"

No!

Lyssa wanted to shout it so loudly, but it felt like her throat had closed up, all she could do was sit there, her eyes wide, breathing very fast as she listened on, feeling almost powerless to do anything. And she knew what it was, fear. She was frightened of Cora, the woman who could make brave Regina afraid, and Regina was her own daughter. She was scared to think what Cora would do to HER if she angered her…

"Of course, dear. You know, I talked to the King about your mother. He told me how much she loved you. Losing her must've been so hard."

"It was."

"Hearing him, I realized he might as well have been talking about me and Regina. I don't want us to lose each other. If only I could show her how I feel. That, no matter what, all I want is her happiness."

Lyssa closed her eyes tightly, praying that Snow would keep quiet, that she wouldn't fall for such lies. Even SHE could tell the lady was lying. She knew she was little but she knew when Cora lied to people. She sounded nice when she lied, she sounded a lot nicer than she ever was to Regina when she lied…and she was being nice now.

And...more than that...why was Cora even talking about losing Regina? She'd JUST been talking about how Snow White had lost her first mother...and then she realized why. It wasn't about Cora losing Regina, she was trying to make SNOW think about losing her next mother instead. Why else would she bring up a daughter losing her mother only to turn it around and have it be about a mother fearing she was losing her daughter? It was never about getting Snow to fear that Regina would lose Cora, but that SNOW would lose Regina. She really, really hoped Snow wasn't going to be as selfish as she had just thought most princesses (besides Regina) were...

"Then, don't make her get married!" Snow suddenly cried, falling for it.

"I'm sorry?"

"She doesn't love my father. She loves someone else."

Lyssa gasped at that, her eyes snapping open as she shook her head, shaking from fright of what that would mean.

"She made me promise not to tell…but she'll lose you. She can't lose her mother. No one should."

But…but telling Cora would mean Regina would lose Daniel. She just knew it. Cora would send Daniel away, she would find someone else to teach Regina how to ride a horse and work in the stables. She would send Daniel to another house and then Regina would lose him, and so would she, but Regina loved him so much and, if anything came of it, she would rather Regina have Daniel than her mother.

She'd rather Regina have Daniel than even having her too. She wouldn't try to find them, she wouldn't go looking for Regina or Daniel, she wouldn't even mention them ever again, she promised herself she wouldn't, just so long as they were both safe from Cora.

"Oh, sweet Snow. It's alright. She won't lose me. You can tell me. You must tell me."

Lyssa quickly turned on her knees, the flowers forgotten on the ground, and moved to peer around the pillar once more, fear filling her as she heard Snow utter the words that would destroy everything.

"There's this boy, the stable boy…and she loves him very much…"

~8~

"Mama!" Lyssa practically screamed as she ran into the kitchens, rushing there right from the dining room just after hearing Snow White tell Cora about Daniel, the moment the two had left the room she had bolted out of it, "MAMA!"

"Lyssa?" one of the women cleaning the countertops looked over. She was tall, thin, with high cheekbones and blonde hair, dressed as all the servants were in brown dresses with white aprons. She hurried around the counters, "What is it child?"

"Mama, please, you need to help Gina!" she cried, nearly sobbing as her mother moved over to her.

"What?" the woman shook her head.

"Gina! Mama, Gina's in trouble!" she reached for her mother's apron, tugging on it, "You need to go help!"

"Lyssa, child, calm down," she tried to pull Lyssa back, "What's this all about?"

"The mean lady, she's going to hurt Gina!"

Her mother looked around as the other women started to look at her and quickly grabbed Lyssa's arm to pull her into the hall just outside the door, "Lyssa, I have told you not to call Mistress Cora that!" she whispered the woman's name, knowing that no one else knew that her daughter called the woman such a thing but herself and wanting to keep it that way.

"But she IS mama," she insisted, "She's mean and she's gonna hurt Gina and Danny!"

Her other shook her head, "Lyssa, go to our room and get in bed. There will be no supper for you tonight for your lies."

"They're not lies!" she started to cry, "The princess told the lady…" she cut herself off, not wanting to break her promise to Regina just like Snow White had done, "She told her something, and now the lady's gonna hurt Gina!" she had heard it, in Cora's voice, the lady getting madder and madder as Snow tried to talk to her. She didn't think Snow heard it, but SHE had. And she knew what Cora did to Regina when she sounded that mad, it was never good and Regina always cried after it.

"This is ridiculous nonsense," her mother shook her head, "I don't know what's gotten into you, but Mistress Cora would not harm Regina. Now go to bed, Analyssa, right this instant or there will be no leaving that room for a week."

Lyssa nearly sobbed at that, of course her mother would take Cora's side, not many of the servants had witnessed Cora actually using her magic on Regina, and not many were around in the same room long enough to hear how Cora spoke to her daughter. Cora was very keen about appearances even around servants. Still, she had to TRY.

"But you have to help…"

"Analyssa that is FINAL!"

Lyssa flinched at the anger in her mother's voice and turned to run away, doing as her mother ordered and heading for their chambers in the servants' quarters. She stopped, however, just as she reached the corner and rounded it, hearing the door to the kitchen slam shut as her mother went back in to work.

She couldn't just go! She couldn't go to her room and just sit there, not when Regina and Daniel might get hurt! Not when they didn't know Snow White had told Cora! She looked back at the corner, biting her lip, she was going to get in so much trouble for this…but if it helped Regina and Daniel, she would stay in her room for a month, forever if she had to.

She turned and ran in the opposite direction, struggling to get one of the larger doors open but managing to pry it just enough to sneak through it. The manor was very big and she was very small, but she knew her way well enough, she just had to make it outside and she would run to the stables as fast as her little legs could carry her.

She just hoped she would be fast enough to warn Regina before Cora got there…

~8~

Lyssa was near frantic as she reached the stables, finally. She was huffing and puffing, her face red, tear tracks dried on her cheeks, her knees and palms scraped up from where she had fallen a few times on the way. It had slowed her down, but she had finally reached the stables…only to find the doors and everything were locked, even though there was a light shining from within.

She knew it was a bad sign though.

Daniel never left a candle or a lantern burning with the doors to the stable locked. And if he was inside, the doors weren't locked to begin with. She looked around, feeling blindly in the darkness for the small broken panel in the stables, how she often snuck in to surprise Daniel. And managed to find it. She pushed it to the side, starting to crawl in when she heard Cora speaking from inside.

"This will make you happy?"

"It already has."

"Gina," she breathed, hearing the woman talking as well and tried to push a sack of apples that Daniel kept for the horses out of the way of her path at getting in. But the bag was so heavy and full and she was already so tired…

"Then who am I to stop you?"

Lyssa moved to the side, managing to move just a little of the bag in order to see Regina hug her mother, both women smiling. She frowned, wondering if she had been wrong to rush down there to warn Regina. Because she seemed to know that Cora knew, the woman was right there and Daniel was fine. But there was just…something…she couldn't shake how Cora had sounded after Snow told her about Daniel, something was wrong…

"Thank you, mother," Regina whispered.

Cora reached out to take Daniel's hand, leading him off to the side, to the center of the stables to speak to him herself, none of them seeming to notice when the bag of apples shifted or one or two rolled out, "Daniel," she began, "If you want to have a life together, a family…then, there's one important lesson I can impart on you. It's what it means to be a parent. You always have to do what's best for your children."

"Thank you," Daniel nodded, smiling, "I understand. Because that's what you're doing now."

Cora nodded along as well, "Yes. It is."

Before shoving her hand into Daniel's chest with her magic and ripping his heart out.

"Mother!" Regina screamed at the sight, covering the small, startled cry that came from behind the apples.

Lyssa pressed her hands to her mouth, her eyes wide as Daniel fell to the ground, Cora stepping back as Regina ran to his side, the little girl breathing heavily, nearly hyperventilating at the image of Cora holding someone's heart in her hand.

"No!" Regina dropped to her knees, trying to check on Daniel, "No! No, no, no…NO!" she screamed as Cora just crushed Daniel's heart into dust.

Lyssa's eyes filled with tears as she froze, watching, horrified as the dust drifted down from Cora's gloves to form a small pile on the floor…and Daniel's chest ceased to rise.

"Mother, why have you done this?!" Regina demanded, cradling Daniel in her arms.

"Because this is your happy ending," Cora said simply, no hint of guilt or remorse or any other emotion other than satisfaction in her voice.

"What?!"

"Oh, you have to trust me, Regina," her mother stated, "I know best. Love is weakness, Regina. It feels real now. At the start, it always does. But, it's an illusion. It fades. And then, you're left with nothing. But power, true power, endures. And then, you don't have to rely on anyone to get what you want. I've saved you, my love."

Lyssa felt like openly sobbing at what she was seeing and hearing, at the tears streaming down Regina's face as her mother stood over her, smiling like nothing was wrong. But she couldn't move, she couldn't do anything but sit there, shaking her head, not wanting to believe what she'd just seen.

"You've ruined everything," Regina sobbed, "I loved him. I loved him!"

"Enough!" Cora snapped, "I've endured this long enough. Now, clean yourself up, wipe away your tears, because now…you're going to be Queen."

Lyssa hadn't even realized she was starting to shove the bag of apples harder than ever, throwing all her strength and weight behind it till the bag toppled over and she fell into the stables. She looked up to see Cora had already stalked out, leaving her daughter crying over Daniel without a second thought. She scrambled to her feet, or tried to, but her legs gave out under her, and she half crawled, half scuttled over to Regina and Daniel.

"Danny!"

Regina looked up, her eyes wide in horrified shock to see Lyssa making her way to them, the girl looking like she had been through the hell she felt was swirling inside her, "Lyssa! You need to go," she tried to push the girl away, but Lyssa's gaze was on Daniel.

"Danny you can't go!" she cried, reaching out to grab his cloak with her little hands curling into fists, trying to shake him but not even managing to shift the fabric she seemed so tired, "You can't! You're the hero! You're supposed to rescue the princess! You gotta save her from her wicked mama! You can't…you have to get up…you can't be gone…"

Regina shook her head as Lyssa broke down in sobs, reaching out to grab the little girl and pull her into her arms, the terrible truth hitting her. There was no way Lyssa would know that Daniel wasn't getting up if she hadn't seen what Cora had done. Even a child, even one as young as Lyssa would understand that crushing heart meant you were dead, even if she might not understand the concept of life or death to that magnitude just yet.

Lyssa had SEEN Cora do that.

She'd seen Daniel die right in front of her.

And she was breaking down in her arms over it, and all she could do was hold the girl to her, rocking them both for what little comfort they could find, pressing kisses to her hair as Lyssa clung to her, openly sobbing as tears fell down her own cheeks.

Daniel was gone.

"I'm sorry," Lyssa wept into her cloak, "I'm sorry Gina…"

"You have NOTHING to be sorry about," Regina reassured her, stroking her hair, trying to find something to say that would make them both feel better, but there was nothing to be said, "This was NOT your fault…"

"I tried to help," Lyssa continued, not seeming to hear her in her grief, "I tried to stop it. I tried to find you first. I didn't tell, Gina. I didn't. She told Cora, she told, and Cora knew, and I heard it, and I wanted to help but…but…but…"

She couldn't even finish she was crying so hard.

Regina just held her tighter, closing her eyes as she too sobbed, hearing Lyssa's heart breaking just as her own was, and knowing that this little innocent girl had witnessed something so terrible and traumatic, because of her, because she was trying to help.

She didn't know what Lyssa was talking about, the girl was mumbling so much in the end that she wasn't sure exactly what she'd said, but she knew Lyssa was blaming herself for this, and that was not a burden the girl or anyone, not even herself, should have to hold.

All she could do was keep rocking them, trying her best to dry both their tears, but they never seemed to stop.

~8~

Regina stood, blank faced, on a small podium, in a large white gown, allowing the seamstresses to alter and fit her into her…wedding dress. But she hardly noticed, her gaze was, instead, on Lyssa, the girl sitting curled up on the ground next to the mirror. She looked haggard, more than a three year old should, her face pale, her eyes red, looking so scared and small and not like the bright and happy girl she had known.

Her heart broke more as she took Lyssa in, knowing that what had happened last night had done this to her. That Cora had done this to her. She hadn't slept at all last night, neither of them, they hadn't even left the stables till dawn started to peek out. She had left word with Lyssa's mother that the girl was with her, made up some story that she had a bad dream and sought her out and it was FINE, not wanting Lyssa to get in more trouble with her mother.

She couldn't help but look at Lyssa as she stood there, both of them were in a near daze, their minds constantly having them relive what they'd seen Cora do. All she wanted right in that moment was to scoop Lyssa into her arms and carry her off, to take her away from the manor and castles and kings and mothers and just…take care of her.

No one deserved to see what Lyssa had last night.

"Wow…" a voice breathed behind her and she spared a glance into the mirror to see Snow White had entered and was looking up at her, not seeming to notice any of the other seamstresses or servants in the room, "You are most certainly the fairest of them all!"

"Thank you, dear," Regina said softly, trying to keep her voice strong and full of any emotion at all save the empty one she heard in her ears. She looked down, frowning when she saw Lyssa flinch and close her eyes, not seeming to want to look at Snow at all.

"I hope for my wedding day I will be as beautiful."

"I'm sure you will be."

"I know you and Daniel will be so happy together."

Regina blinked, turning around, "What?" she breathed as she nearly gaped at Snow White…

She had NEVER said Daniel's name to the girl, she hadn't spoken a word of it…so how had Snow known?

"Well, I just knew your mother would let you marry him!" Snow beamed, "Once she knew how happy it'd make you, once she knew how much you love him. You have such a wonderful mother. She would do anything for your happiness."

"Snow," Regina swallowed, "Did…did you…tell her about me and Daniel?"

"Yes."

Regina let out a breath at that, feeling as though her world were caving in...and then Lyssa's words came back to her. The girl had been crying that 'she told Cora,' not Lyssa but someone else. She hadn't connected it then, not with everything that happened…but she had meant Snow. SNOW had told Cora about the stable boy…and Cora had told her it was Daniel. Lyssa had heard Snow tell her, she had tried to come warn them about it…when she'd been too late.

"But I…told you…very specifically not to."

She was trying hard, very very hard, not to start shouting at the girl. Because if she got angry now, she would yell, and she knew, in the back of her mind, that that was the LAST thing Lyssa needed right now was her to lose her head or her temper, not after last night, not after seeing what Cora had done.

"I'm sorry," Snow frowned, seeming to realize that Regina wasn't as happy about it as she thought the woman would be, "I just didn't want you to lose your mother. Like I've lost mine. Are you mad?"

Regina nearly said yes…till she heard a sniffle behind her that could only come from Lyssa, the girl was already blaming herself for not being fast enough, if she openly said, at that moment, that she did blame Snow…it would be like saying she blamed Lyssa too, and she would not do that to the little girl that had tried so hard to save Daniel, "No. I'm not mad at all. You were just trying to help me. However, I'm not marrying Daniel. This dress is for your father."

Snow frowned, "But…I thought…you were in love?"

Regina opened her mouth to defend their love…when she heard a door open on the other side of the room, behind her, and she could just GUESS who it was that had come to see her interact with the princess. If she said anything wrong now…she didn't want to know what else her mother would take from her next.

"So did I," Regina made very sure to keep her voice steady, "But I was wrong. Daniel has run away. What I had with Daniel wasn't real. It was an infatuation. You see, that's the thing about love. It can come in the most unexpected places. Your father and I have something even more special, because it's not just about the two of us. It's about all of us. We're going to be a family."

"We are?!" Snow beamed so widely at that that Regina nearly wanted to smack it off her face.

There had been another little girl that beamed like that when they would 'play family' and that was the only child she was sure she would ever be able to stomach smiling at the thought of her being their mother, a little girl that would smile and pretend Daniel was her father too. But right now, that little girl didn't seem like she was ever going to smile again.

"That's right," she nodded, "I'm going to be your stepmother, and I couldn't be happier."

"Me too," Snow beamed, leaning in to hug Regina as she stepped off the podium.

"Snow," Cora's voice sounded, making Snow spin around, startled, though Regina seemed to know her mother was there, listening, watching, though both women seemed a little surprised to see one of the kitchen servants with her, her blonde head bowed as she stood behind Cora, "You need to go to your room and help with the packing. Your father wants you ready for the journey, and we're heading to your castle first thing in the morning."

"You're both going to love it there," Snow looked at them.

"I know we will," Cora agreed, watching as Snow practically skipped out of the room before she waved the seamstresses off, leaving her and the kitchen maid alone with her daughter…or so she thought.

Regina glared at her mother as she moved to stand before Lyssa, the girl having froze at the sound of Cora's voice, starting to shake and appearing completely terrified. She was NOT going to let her mother get to the girl if she could help it. She had already lost Daniel, she was NOT going to lose Lyssa too.

"Well-played, dear," Cora observed her daughter, "You're learning."

"I should change," Regina muttered, turning around, "I wouldn't want to ruin the dress before my big day."

"I am so proud of you."

Regina froze from where she was about to pick up Lyssa and take her with her, not about to trust the girl to either of their mothers, not when Lyssa's mother was standing right there and not doing a thing about how her daughter was clearly upset and scared out of her mind. She turned, frowning at her mother, "You knew the King was traveling through our land, didn't you? That steed with Snow on it…it didn't go wild on its own, did it?"

"I have no idea what you're saying," Cora blinked as innocently as she could, which was not innocently at all.

"I should've let her die on that horse," Regina frowned, "You never would have found out about Daniel if I hadn't."

"Ooh," Cora tsked, shaking her head, "I'm sure I'd have found some way," she leaned over to glance at Lyssa, "Little girls never stay silent for long, it seems."

"What are you talking about?" Regina glared, stepping to the side to block her mother's view of Lyssa again.

"It seems another little girl decided to shout to the whole castle that you were in danger," Cora mused, almost sounding amused by the thought, "Oh I was able to pass it off as a dream, of course, but…there was one servant in particular that she said more to, wasn't there?"

"My Lady, I never believed..." Lyssa's mother began, finally speaking up, "She was ranting nonsense about Lady Regina and that Daniel boy being in danger from you, but I…"

Regina felt the air leave her lungs as Cora reached into the woman's chest and pulled out her heart, just like she had Daniel's, cutting her off, "Mother, no!"

She could guess enough from what had been said, from what Lyssa had wept to her, that she hadn't told anyone about their plans to leave, or even about them being together, and as far as Lyssa's mother was concerned, she had just thought Cora was going to hurt her and Daniel for no reason. Lyssa hadn't broken her promise, Snow had…but now the girl's mother was paying for it.

"Mama!" Lyssa tried to run forward, hearing Regina call out, and saw her mother's heart being held in Cora's hand.

"Don't!" Regina tried, grabbing Lyssa and pulling her back, but it was too late…Cora had already crushed the woman's heart. She quickly turned Lyssa away, hugging the girl to her legs as she sobbed, this was too much, this was FAR too much for a little girl to endure, "Stop it, mother!"

"I'll stop when I'm sure you'll listen to me," Cora nearly sneered at her, getting a headache from the constant yelling, "And there's only one way to do that, it seems."

"What…"

Regina's question was cut off when Lyssa disappeared from her arms in a swirl of purple smoke, reappearing across from her in Cora's hold.

"NO!" she screamed as Cora shoved her hand into Lyssa's small chest and pulled out her tiny heart, "Mother no, please!"

"I am SO disappointed in you, darling," Cora sighed as Lyssa fell to her knees, Regina scrambling over to grab the girl, "If this is what I must do to teach you a lesson," she started to squeeze Lyssa's heart, causing the girl to gasp in pain, "Then I suppose I must…"

"I've learned!" Regina cut in, her voice so desperate and agonized, "I swear, mother, I will do whatever you want, anything you want, without complaint, I won't fight you just…just stop! Just leave Lyssa alone! Spare her, please!"

Cora continued to squeeze the girl's heart even as she appeared to consider her daughter's pleas, "I suppose that will do, for now," she warned, striding over and crouching down just to shove the girl's heart back in as gently as a horse would kick a grown man in the chest, standing just as quickly, "I trust she'll be silent about this."

It wasn't a question but Regina nodded frantically, clutching Lyssa closer, knowing that the girl would likely never speak to anyone else again after this trauma, "Yes, mother."

"Good," Cora smirked, "Then I expect you to see to it that the dress doesn't soil too much before the big day. And do try to get some sleep, we can't have the bride-to-be showing up as though she's in need of a sleeping curse."

Regina just curled Lyssa to her, the girl clinging to her in pain and fear as she watched her mother stride out of the room, a wave of her hand causing Lyssa's mother's body to disappear god knew where. She closed her eyes, "I'm sorry," she murmured to the girl in her arms, feeling herself starting to shake as Lyssa was, "I'm so sorry," she sniffled, willing herself not to cry, knowing she needed to be strong now, stronger than she had ever been, for Daniel, for Lyssa.

She pressed a kiss to Lyssa's hair as the girl started to quietly cry in her arms, swearing to herself that this was the LAST time anyone hurt that dear, sweet girl again. Not while she was alive. Lyssa had endured more suffering at three years old in just the last 12 hours than anyone ever should and she would NOT let it happen again.

She swore on Lyssa's heart, she swore on Daniel's memory, she swore on her own soul, no one was going to hurt Lyssa ever again.

A/N: I was tempted to put another Hook/Lyssa flashback here, but I feel like after the revelation in the last chapter, this one was needed more ;)

Poor Lyssa though :( You'd figure, after this, she'd be much more against Cora than Snow, but to her, Snow was the catalyst for all of this. To her, if SHE, as a three year old could keep a secret (even if it was because she knows how dangerous Cora really was) then why couldn't Snow? Cora might have been manipulative and used her magic to hurt Regina at times, but to Lyssa, she's only seen 3 years of that, and barely remembers some of it. She's going to see her mother suffer much more while living with Leopold without Cora around and she's going to remember that more clearly, so she's going to be focused more on Snow as the reason it all happened than Cora hurting Daniel. To her, Daniel was one wound Cora inflicted that would sting all the years, but what Regina was left with, in being Queen, was something that she was going to have to endure every single day and that's because Snow wanted a mother and Snow couldn't keep a secret :(

A lot of why Lyssa is against Snow will come from the fact she was so young when it all happened. She remembers key moments where Cora hurt Regina but only bore witness to a handful of them. She's going to remember years and years of her suffering as queen and witness ALL of them :'( So to her, Cora hurt Regina, but Snow condemned her :( We'll examine a lot of the way she suffered with Leopold as the story goes on.

When we're hurt, we hurt and we lash out at and put blame on the ones that we perceive as the responsible party for our pain. To Regina, she always expected her mother to attack Daniel if she ever found out about him, it was why she kept the secret of her love with her life, to have someone else just blurt it out and giving her hope that the secret would last long enough to get her happy ending, and then have it ripped away...I think she would blame Snow more than Cora. Cora was always going to hurt Daniel if she found out, and she found out (after all that time) because of Snow :( In this story, especially in their minds, Lyssa clearly knew that the two were together, and if a 3 year old can keep a secret, so could Snow have, but Snow didn't :(

I had to wonder, as Lyssa did too, if Snow didn't tell Cora because, on some level, she felt like she would be losing her new 'mother' if Regina ran away with Daniel? The entire manipulation for Cora was first introduced as how hard it was for SNOW to lose her mother, not about a mother losing her daughter. So it struck me, as I was writing Lyssa here, maybe it was never about Snow wanting Regina to have her mother, but subconsciously Snow realizing she was about to lose her next mother just like she lost her first, and wanting to do something that would 'give' Cora her daughter back but also keep Regina in her life (because wouldn't Regina still be around if she could openly marry Daniel?). The way Cora phrased it, focusing on Snow and her mother and losing her, it sounded too much like she wanted Snow to think she was losing her next mother and pushed her to prevent that :(

Some notes on reviews...

It might actually take Lyssa longer than Regina to get on friendly terms with Snow lol :) But it's mostly coming from a place of her inner-child and what she experienced and thinks/knows from her childhood. Regina was older and knew more, and has experienced some level of revenge against Snow, where Lyssa is coming in without the 28 year victory and not wanting to be friends with Snow, she may come around one day but it'll take a while ;)

There will be a lot of talks and revelations about how many external factors came in to make Regina dark. There will be one crucial thing that Snow hasn't realized about the relationship Regina had with Leopold that Lyssa will bring up at one point. Something Snow SHOULD know or realize, but because of how young she was and how she saw/heard nothing of that particular aspect, she literally will not have even considered it till Lyssa throws it in her face and forces her to realize exactly how much hell Regina went through in being with Leopold. She won't be very quiet in defending her mother, that's for sure ;)

I'm glad you liked the chapter :) I felt like she was a bit of a scapegoat too at times :( I wish ABC was like Disney, they only do about 4 seasons, sometimes 5, of a show and that's it. I think Supernatural was meant to be 5 seasons but then got renewed for 5 more near the end. It's funny how some stories that need more seasons get cut off, like Merlin was also 5 seasons but had SO much potential for the storyline to go further, and OUAT is at 5 seasons and probably should have ended at 2 :/ Oh jeez, Lyssa around Robin and all of that mess? Oh boy. Lyssa isn't the sort to get manipulative or spiteful, but she is NOT going to be happy at all that Robin hurt her mother so much and she has a way of saying things where she's not actively TRYING to make you feel bad, but you still end up feeling bad or even worse lol. I have a handful of moments planned where Lyssa will explode yup, she's NOT going to be happy with the heroes and their reaction to the whole Archie thing. I can say I have a Crossover planned for Piper, Lyssa, and Graham's OC (once I get to her) so we'll see all three OUAT series combined in a one shot at the very least ;) I do have a Graham/OC planned, and it's killing me, because I want to get her out NOW but I feel like I should really finish Lyssa and catch Piper up first -sigh- The woes of having too many OCs and too little time lol :) Unfortunately the Daniel return already happened :( But Lyssa will hear about it and she's going to be devastated to know the events of it :'( No worries at all, I love reading any length review so ramble to your heart's content ;)

I understand your feelings on the show and Regina :) I feel like, given Regina had 0 idea about the fairytale thing Henry was going on about in the first episode, that Henry didn't start therapy because of that. From a personal experience, my thought is that he found out he was adopted and refused to talk to Regina, so she set him up with Archie so he'd have someone to talk to. It had nothing at all to do with making him think he was crazy in the very beginning. My experience is my cousins. I have 3 that are all adopted, different times, at different ages, and from different people. They all reacted differently to finding out they were adopted. One of my cousins pulled away, wouldn't talk to my aunt or uncle or his siblings, started getting very quiet and distant in school, and my aunt and uncle chose to take him to therapy so that he would have someone to talk to if he wouldn't talk to them. That's what I honestly think happened with Henry in the beginning at least. In this story, Lyssa being Regina's daughter will (not justify but) explain A LOT of how Regina reacted to Emma and the threat of losing Henry, which we'll see as the story goes. She's spent a lot of time and emotion protecting Lyssa from people that she felt were threats, people that were going to take her daughter away, having no idea what happened to Lyssa for her to not be in Storybrooke after the Curse, she's even more protective of Henry and 'threats' against him, the threat of Emma taking her son away :( This story will also take into account that we have 0 insight to what Regina REALLY was like as a mother in the 10 years before Henry found out about the adoption and the curse. If she can be a 'wonderful' mother to Lyssa WHILE being the Evil Queen, then there is no reason at all for her to be a poor mother to Henry when she's Just-Regina, which is something that the story will explore, if she was really a terrible mother before Henry found out about the curse/adoption or if he's projecting his current feelings back on past memories. That's actually what I really think happened, because everything Henry says about why he doesn't want to be with Regina or why it's so bad to live with her, it all sounds like it's coming from AFTER he found out about the curse, how he calls her the Evil Queen and other things, to me it sounds far too recent to be his entire 10 years with her before that moment. I can say though that, as for this story, there's going to be A LOT of things that the heroes think happened or things they think of Regina that are going to be completely wrong about her. 'There are two sides to every story' is going to be a very BIG theme in this fanfiction as will the thought that 'not everything is what it appears to be.' This story is going to explore what Regina would have done or been like if she HAD a child there that was depending on her, that she was raising, that was looking to her for everything especially love and care. Some events will still happen, but the reasoning and actuality of it will be VERY different. This story will follow Rumple as he is in the show so he'll be as redeemed as the actual writers make him, Hook will try to redeem himself like he does in the show but for different reasons than in the show ;)

Oh the RegalBeliever will be a big thing here, Lyssa is going to show not just Henry, but many others, a different side to Regina and her story ;) And maybe Henry's jealousy over having to share his mother might push him to actually talk to her and read her story ;) I love the suggestion for the pairing name ;)

I actually have it up on my tumblr and in the 5th chapter of this story, when I resumed it, that the DW stories will be resumed in April and Big Bang Theory will be resumed after I post the Lord of the Rings story once this one is finished ;)

Oh I can say there's a lot more to Lyssa's views on black and white and grey than just Regina being heroic and villainous ;) She's going to have a first hand view of things Regina does and an understanding of why she does them, HOW she does them, and what is going on during them that the heroes are lacking ;) That's something that will be explored in this story too. Regina isn't truly a villain, she was hurt and angry and scarred and made bad choices and that is HUMAN nature. But heroes point fingers at bad choices and call them villains. But if heroes are hurt and angry and make bad choices, it's human nature and that is ALL it is. Heroes are heroes, if they make bad choices then they are 'just human.' Villains are villains, if they make bad choices they aren't 'just human' they're just villains :( To Lyssa, she sees it more as what sort of human being are you than what is your label ;)

Lyssa's growth is something I'm very much looking forward to :) I think a lot of her childlikeness stems from how young she was when traumatic events happened and other characters trying harder to shield her from some things that would help her grow more. There's going to be some betrayal and major challenges coming for Lyssa, some very deep and important choices she's going to make that'll help her really start to grow :) Regina, I think, will try to pull a 'Oh, ok dear, I...understand, and I'm...happy for you' thing with Lyssa, being supportive, but the second Lyssa's turned her back and Regina's alone with Hook, the Evil Queen would come out, fireballs in hand, and threatening the removal of another body part if he hurts her daughter ;) ;)

I actually think it might be easier for Regina, having Lyssa and her father being the two she loves. I think, as life goes on, once people have children, THEY become the most important and the ones you'd do anything to protect. I think Henry I would see Lyssa as a granddaughter figure and volunteer to be the sacrifice so Regina won't have to kill her 'daughter,' essentially taking the choice and burden from Regina, making it so she won't have to choose. I like to think, if Emma had been in the Enchanted Forest when Regina altered Pan's curse, Snow would have had to choose between her husband or her daughter in terms of sacrifice and I can't see her killing Emma nor would Charming LET her choose their daughter over himself. So it's believable that she could have two familial loves to pick from, her old father who's lived a full life vs her young daughter that's only just begun to live her life. I can say that there will be more to Henry I and Regina's talks when the Curse is about to be cast that helps her make her choice and helps it be just the tiniest bit easier on her ;)