Chapter 11: Senses
In Wonderland, a 15 year-old Daniela is being dragged by guards through a maze to the castle of the Queen of Hearts. They stop before the Queen's throne where she sits with a mask covering her face. The Queen whispers into a horn the Knaves of Hearts has held against his ear.
"The Queen wants to know why you have come to Wonderland." He states.
"Your Majesty, I did not mean to trespass on your land. A fellow man named Jefferson was helping me find something," Daniela stammers.
After taking another listen to the horn, the Knave declares, "The Queen wants your name and what you're looking for."
"My name is Daniela and I'm looking for my family." As Daniela says this, the locket around her neck begins to glow a bright red.
The queen takes off her mask she is wearing and looks at the girl, studying her features.
"Leave us," she orders to everyone else present in the room.
Once they all scurry out of the room, the Queen walks down her pedestal to get closer to the girl.
"You shouldn't have come here. You aren't wanted," the Queen of Hearts, Cora, says.
"I'm sorry! I'll leave right away," Daniela promises, hoping the Queen will even let her get away.
Cora suddenly feels something she hasn't felt in 15 years, love.
"Daniela!" Cora exclaims, loosing control of her soulless persona.
"I can't believe it's really you!" She says as she goes to hug her granddaughter.
Daniela is very confused by all this.
"Your Majesty, I don't understand," Daniela says as her face is suddenly engulfed by the Queen's royal garments.
"Fifteen years and you have found me after all this time," Cora says, pulling back and admiring the girl.
"You've met me before?" asks a confused Daniela. For all that she knew, she had been in the tower most of her life. Certainly she would've remembered having any visitors.
"I held you in my arms as a baby. You still look so much like your mother," Cora says, running her hand down Daniela's face. "You have our eyes."
"You know my mother? How?" Daniela asks excitedly, hoping she has just come closer to finding her mother.
"Because I'm your grandmother," Cora smiles.
000
After spending the day with her mother in her office at the town hall, Lucia and Regina head home for dinner. They somehow managed to avoid the people of Storybrooke, resulting in a peaceful day. Once the kitchen is clean and they are ready for bed, Lucia sits with Regina on her mother's bed. She is sitting criss-cross-applesauce in between Regina's legs. Regina sits behind her daughter, combing her long, luscious locks. When she is finished, she puts the brush down beside her, pulls her daughter against her and buries her face in her hair, murmuring, "All done."
Lucia leans back into Regina, enjoying the comfort of her mother's warmth surrounding her.
"Mama?" She asks quietly.
"Mmhmm," Regina responds, enjoying her daughter's light weight on her. She was so tiny and easy to cuddle with, every mother's hope for her daughter.
"Would it be alright if I slept in here with you again?" Lucia asks timidly with a glimmer of hope shining in her voice.
"Honey, I was hoping you'd ask!" Regina smiles, pulling her and her daughter under the covers, not letting go.
Lucia lays on her right side, facing her mother. In opposition, Regina lays on her left to face her daughter. She can't help but to smile to herself when she feels her daughter put her arms around her waist and snuggle up to her mother. In response, she wraps an arm around Lucia's back, securing the girl into her embrace. She uses the other one to stroke her head, occasionally kissing it and murmuring words of endearment. Lucia soon falls asleep to the steady rise and fall of her mother's chest as she breathes.
000
In Wonderland, Daniela is thrilled that she has found her grandmother.
"You're, you're my Nana?" Daniela says as she goes to hug her. Cora subconsciously wraps her arms around the girl. She hadn't recalled ever wanting to be with the young girl so much, but now that she's here, all she wants to do is hold her. Remembering her reason for giving away the child in the first place, she pulls away.
"We haven't much time, follow me," Cora says as she leads her into the castle.
They are now in the Queen's bed chamber.
"Why are we here?" Daniela asks.
"I told you, we haven't much time," Cora says as she goes to her jewelry box, still not answering the girl's question.
"Here," she says as she hands Daniela a necklace with her mother's picture in it along with Cora's.
"It's beautiful," Daniela exclaims as she admires the necklace.
"Is this-" She begins.
"Your mother," Cora confirms, nodding.
"She's beautiful," Daniela says with tears in her eyes, lightly running her finger over the picture.
"All my life I wanted to know what she looked like, how it felt to be loved by-" Daniela says before Cora interrupts.
"What do you mean? You never felt loved?" Cora asked.
"The woman who raised me hated me. She cut my hair off because I wanted to go outside. She hurt me," Daniela says gently.
Cora feels her anger bubbling to the surface. She pushes it aside for now, knowing what she must, and will, do later.
"If there is one thing I know about your mother, it's that she loves you with every fiber of her being. You are the thing she loves most," Cora says. "But if I can give you a piece of advice, love is weakness; it gets in the way."
"With all due respect Your Majesty, I believe love is strength," Daniela says.
And with that, Cora poofs Daniela out of Wonderland.
"Goodbye, my love," Cora says.
000
Later that night, in Wonderland, Cora summons Gothel into her palace via magic.
"Well, Cora, it's been awhile! How are you?" Gothel asks as Cora's smoke evaporates away from her.
"You don't get to talk!" Cora snaps, approaching the woman, her anger from earlier boiling within her. "I gave you a baby years ago and you mistreated her!"
"If I recall, you wanted her gone!" Gothel says, getting defensive. "Why do you care what I did to her?"
"Because," Cora says as she shoves her hand in Gothel's chest and pulls out her live beating heart.
"She was special. She was the thing I loved most," she says as she crushes Gothel's heart into dust.
000
Around two o'clock in the morning, Regina wakes up to her daughter fidgeting in her arms. Lucia's eyebrows are furrowed, her head slightly nodding from side to side.
"No," Lucia murmurs under her breath.
"Shh," Regina soothes, cradling her head against her chest.
It doesn't work.
Remembering how she used to calm her baby down whenever she was upset those seventeen years ago, Regina lightly lays her index finger on her daughter's nose. Feeling her mother's touch, Lucia subconsciously calms down.
Regina can't help but to feel like the ultimate mother. She still has the magic touch when it comes to calming her girls down. Lucia tightens her hold around her mother and nuzzles her face into her chest as Regina feels her breathing beginning to deepen once more.
An hour later, Lucia begins to talk in her sleep again.
"Where are you going?" She says.
Regina wakes up to those words. She looks around the room in a slight panic, only to find that they were the only ones there. Confused as to who her daughter is talking to, she looks down to see that her eyes are still closed.
"Lucia, it's okay," she whispers, stroking her daughter's cheek.
"Wait! Don't go!" Lucia says, increasing her volume.
"Shh... Honey, it's alright," Regina kisses her forehead.
"Daniela!" Lucia screams, sitting up in the bed.
Regina is saddened by the emotion in her daughter's voice. She figures Lucia is reliving what happened the other night.
Pushing back her tears, Regina grabs her shoulders, waking up her daughter, and pulling her into her arms, expecting the girl to be upset. But she wasn't.
"Mama!" Lucia exclaims in joy as she pulls back from her mother's embrace, but not enough to break her hold.
"Are you alright?" Regina asks her daughter, perplexed as she cups Lucia's chin with her hand, looking into her eyes.
"Mama, Daniela is okay!"
"What?"
"She's alive!" Lucia squeals, grabbing her mother's arms.
"How, how do you know? Are you sure?" Regina asks, stunned at what her daughter has just said.
"Yes, Mama! She told me! She said she's in a safe place and she's bringing someone who wants to see us! She's coming home!" Lucia beams. Though, she has been having the time of her life with her mother, she missed her twin terribly. She couldn't help but to wish that she could be here, and now she will be!
"Oh! Darling, that's wonderful! How did she tell you? What happened?" Regina exclaims.
"I don't know. I was just sleeping when she suddenly popped up and we just started talking! She says she's sorry for making us worry and that she loves you," Lucia smiles.
Regina can't hold back her tears any longer. She just allows them to flow down her face. She grabs Lucia into a hug, laughing, "I love her, too!"
They sit there in each other's embrace for a minute before Regina pulls her daughter's face up so she can down into her eyes, places her hand on her cheek, and says, "I love you."
Her thumbs catch the tears that fall from Lucia's eyes.
"I love you, too," she whispers back.
Regina kisses her forehead, leaving her lips to her daughter's head for a few moments. In response to Lucia's yawn, she says, "Lets get a bit more sleep, we'll talk more about this in the morning."
"Okay," Lucia barely says, as she falls asleep while her mother pulls them both under the covers.
000
After letting Lucia know that she is okay, Daniela continues to sleep. Since she restored the house, Cora and Daniela were able to stay in the old Mills home. Cora slept in her old bed, whereas Daniela was fast sleep in her mother's old room. It made her so happy to know that every night, her mother used to sleep in the same bed. It brought her comfort, to an extent. Daniela suddenly begins to toss and turn in her sleep. She had been having a deep, peaceful sleep, until she suddenly saw herself in a situation she prayed she'd never have to be in again. In her sleep, she saw herself back in her tower, cowering into the far corner of her bed. Gothel is hovering over her, yelling at her for innocent childish actions. She then does the unthinkable and holds an iron rod over the fireplace. Once the pole is glowing a bright tangerine color, Gothel saunters over to Daniela, who was begging for mercy from her bed.
Daniela begins shouting in her sleep, "No! Please!"
Soon enough, she is crying in her sleep. Her screaming pleas are enough to awaken Cora, who comes running into room.
"What are on earth are you shouting for? Do you have any idea what time it is?" Cora scolds.
"I'm sorry," says a frightened Daniela shaking from her nightmare.
"Well, you've already awoken me, the least you can do is tell me why you were screaming," Cora scolds, crossing her arms in front of her.
Suddenly, Daniela grabs her arm, gasping in pain.
"What is your problem?" Cora snaps.
She then notices a weird red shape on Daniela's arm. Cora yanks Daniela's sleeve up her arm, alarmed at what she finds.
"Are those burn marks?" Cora asks, bewildered.
That feeling of love that she desperately tries to fight is rapidly filling her body, too quickly for Cora to fend herself.
Daniela's crying only confirms Cora's suspicions.
000
The next morning, Regina and Lucia are standing at the kitchen sink together, washing their breakfast dishes. After Regina gives them a good, sudsy scrub, she hands them to her daughter who was standing right by her side. Lucia dries the dishes and puts them back in their place.
She is reaching up to put a ceramic plate back up in the cupboard, when she looses her grip. The plate comes tumbling down and hits the floor, generating a loud crashing sound that pierces through Lucia's ears as it shatters to a million pieces.
The young girl looks up at her mother in fear, who had quickly turned at the sound, hoping that her daughter is alright. Regina leaves her dirty plate in the sink, dries her hands, and approaches her daughter.
Looking down at Lucia, she can see the fear in her eyes. She recognizes that fear. It's the same kind of fear Regina had whenever she knew her mother was about to release her wrath onto her.
Stepping over the shattered plate, Regina slowly decreases the distance between her and Lucia. She reaches out a hand for her daughter to take, but is shocked by her actions.
In response to seeing a hand coming toward her after an accident, Lucia panics. It was as if her brain went on autopilot, telling her to take cover, that she was in trouble and would pay. She flinched away from her mother's hand, exclaiming, "I'm sorry!"
Regina was slightly pained at the sight. Did her daughter think she was going to hurt her? She had been the Evil Queen, but surely her baby girl knew that she isn't the same person anymore. She has changed her, and until now, she thought Lucia knew that.
Upon reaching the edge of the mess, Regina comes closer to her daughter. The young girl cowers into the corner of the kitchen, shrinking down until she is sitting on the floor in front of her mother with her knees up to her face.
Covering her head with her hands, Lucia shrieks out, "Please don't! I'm sorry! It won't happen again!"
"Lucia," Regina says softly, but is drowned out by her daughter's pleads.
"Lucia," she repeats as she kneels down in front of her traumatized daughter, placing a hand on her shoulder and the other gently onto her head.
"It's okay, honey. I'm not going to hurt you, ever," Regina soothes, running her hand through her daughter's hair as Lucia hesitantly looks up into her mother's eyes.
"You're not mad?" Lucia asks, wiping the tears off of her face, shifting her position so she can sit up and face her mother.
"Of course not, sweetheart! I have 11 others plates like that," Regina tells her daughter, helping her dry her face of treacherous tears.
It's then that Regina actually gets a good look at her daughter. Of course she has already memorized her darling face, Daniela's too, but it's now that she allows her eyes to gaze over the rest of Lucia's body. The first thing she notices is a scar that lies underneath her hand, on Lucia's left shoulder. Taking a better look at the abusive stain, Regina realizes that there are many smaller markings around the original one. Gasping, Regina pulls Lucia's pajama top down her shoulder, her eyes widening. Her daughter is covered in scars, not just on her shoulders, but also down her back, her arms, and now that she is taking a really close look, Regina finds a few where Lucia's hair meets her forehead.
Lucia sits and allows her mother to discover her scars, one by one. She didn't want her to know about her past, but what could she do now? She certainly can't lie about it, she wouldn't do that, anyway. She tried to mask her emotions and stay strong for her mother, but her silent tears betrayed her attempt.
"Lucia..." Regina was speechless. She continued to rub her daughter's shoulder, looking into those pale green eyes for something to say. Both sets of eyes were flooded with tears that were being held back. When neither of them could find the right words to say, Regina pulls Lucia into her arms.
"Mama, I'm sorry," Lucia whispers into her mother's neck.
Regina lets out a silent sob.
"You have nothing to be sorry for," she murmurs into her daughter's hair.
They stay like this for a few minutes, gently rocking each other's tears away, when Lucia sits up and says, "They're from my father."
"What is, honey?"
"The scars," Lucia lowers her volume. It hurt her to have to tell her mother about this, but she had to at some point.
"After my mother died when I was five, my father, King Triton..." Lucia struggles for the right words. "He seemed to have lost all patience and love for me. Whenever I did something he didn't approve of, he'd hurt me, especially if he had been drinking, which he did, a lot."
"King Triton...," Regina says, trying to remember who he was back in their home land. "The King of the Seas?"
Lucia nods in confirmation.
"You were the Little Mermaid?" She realizes this, astonished that she has known of her daughter all along, but never knew that she was hers. She also now knows of her daughter's musical abilities; that warmed her heart.
"Yes," Lucia answers weakly, tears streaming down her face her as she reminisces on her past life.
"Oh, baby," Regina strokes her daughter's face with the back of her hand.
Lucia just looks into her mother's eyes. She sees such sorrow and regret, just what she feared.
"It's okay, I'm okay now," she says, touching her mother's face, trying to comfort her.
Regina lets out a chuckling sob as she pulls her daughter into her once more.
After the tears have subsided, Lucia slightly pulls away, saying, "No more mourning in the past; we have to prepare for Daniela's homecoming!"
Regina smiles. She remembers when Daniel used to cheer her up the same way. He would pull away from her hug and remind her of something she had to look forward to, the arrival of their daughter.
Remembering her thoughts from last night, Regina says, "I want to bring you to Mr. Gold. He may know why you and Daniela are able to connect and how to do it again."
"Okay!" Lucia smiles at her mother.
They help each other off of the floor, clean up the mess, and finish the dishes before they part ways to shower and get dressed.
000
After discovering the burn marks on Daniela's arm, Cora feels compelled to help her granddaughter. She wants to know who is responsible for causing her granddaughter so much pain.
"Hold still, this may hurt," Cora tells her as she attempts to heal Daniela's wounds with the purple glow of her hand. She is crushed to find out that she can't.
"Why don't you try to heal yourself?" Cora asks.
"If it where that simple I would have, but I can't heal myself. I can only heal others," Daniela explains.
"Daniela, I'm going to ask you a question and I want an answer. Is that understood?" Cora says.
"Yes," Daniela nods in response, not knowing what to expect.
"Who did this to you?" Cora asks, unsuccessfully trying to hide the concern in her voice.
"It was it was Gothel," Daniela tells her, getting a sinking feeling deep within her at the mere reminder of her adoptive mother.
"Well, dear, you don't need to worry about her anymore," Cora says with a smirk that sent chills down her granddaughter's spine.
000
Regina and Lucia enter Mr. Gold's Pawnshop, hand in hand. Regina had warned Lucia of the man's many ways of weaseling people into getting what he wants. She nodded in understanding; she would be careful with her words.
As the door opens, the little bell above it chimes, grabbing Mr. Gold's attention. He continues to polish the little trinket in his hand from behind the counter as he greets the two.
"Well if it isn't happy mother hen herself! Maybe this time your chicks won't stray too far from the nest!" Mr. Gold chirps.
"Gold," Regina nods, choosing to ignore the man's commentary as she approaches the counter.
Lucia can sense the tension between the two adults.
"Hello, Lucia," Mr. Gold smiles at the girl. "Where, may I ask, is your other half?"
"She fell through a portal," Regina answers, not wanting her daughter to get friendly with the weasel.
"Well, I wasn't asking you, was I, Your Majesty?" He quips.
Regina gives Mr. Gold a threatening glare.
"A portal?" Mr. Gold realizes what his nemesis had said. "What did you need a portal for?"
"To get rid of the wraith you sent after me," Regina snarled. "Because of you, my baby is in another land, unknown to us all!"
"I suppose that's where Emma and Mary Margaret are," Gold thinks aloud. "The town will be pleased to know that!"
The people of Storybrooke had been wondering were the two women had gone, especially David. Mr. Gold makes a mental note to inform the man of his wife and daughter's situation. He then turns his attention to the current state of the lost citizens of Storybrooke.
"How are you so sure that they are alive?" He asks.
"Daniela told me so, in a dream," Lucia answers.
"In a dream?" Gold asks.
Lucia nods in response.
At this information, Mr. Gold puts both hands on the counter, leaning forward toward the timid girl, saying, "She just popped up and you started talking?"
At his action, Regina instinctively puts her arm around Lucia, pulling her daughter closer to her and farther away from the conniving man.
She asks, "Do you know how she was able to see her?"
"Well, it's quite obvious!" Gold exclaims.
"What is it?" Lucia pleads.
"I can't believe you didn't think of this yourself!" The man continues to aggravate the small family.
"Gold!" Regina shouts at him.
"You and Daniela are twins, are you not?"
Lucia nods.
Regina rolls her eyes. "Yes, you should know that more than anyone else!"
"All twins have the ability to connect mentally. Some call it twinsense."
Lucia grips at her mother's arm, which is still wrapped around her chest, as Regina pulls her daughter closer.
"Being the product of true love and magic, the two of you have a stronger twinsense than any pair out there. It's quite a unique case."
The mother and daughter stood there in silence for a few moments, until Lucia softly says, "Thank you."
Mr. Gold smiles warmly at the girl as the two walk out of his shop. He has always had a soft spot for children. Though he likes to see the child happy in her mother's arms, it pains him to see Regina getting a shot at her happy ending, one he desperately wishes he can have.
000
In Regina's old bedroom in the fairytale world, Cora explains to Daniela what has come of her adoptive "mother". Daniela is stunned, but also can't help but feel grateful Cora has killed Gothel.
"You killed her? But, why?" Daniela asks, hoping to hear the loving words she knew her grandmother has for her.
"I owed you a favor," Cora says. "I took you from your mother and sent you to a-" Cora says before Daniela interrupts.
"It's okay, I forgive you. I believe that someone hurt you as well and you were never shown love and have trouble giving love to others," Daniela says, making sense of why Cora has a hard time showing love and affection.
"In time you will learn why I have done what I have done. I did what I thought was best because I loved your mother, but love is weakness," Cora says as she walks out.
Though Cora has yet to say so, Daniela knows she loves her. Why else would she have done all those things for her? She gasps as the truth hits her. Cora doesn't have her heart in her! She must not have a heart, but Daniela's special healing powers are slowly healing that.
That must be why she wasn't able to heal my burn, it was too deep for a heartless heal. She must find her heart so she can love again and feel loved in return.
"Love is strength!" Daniela says under her breath at her realization.