"What do you mean?" Emma asked. "Why doesn't she believe she deserves to be happy and what does that have to do with her being in a coma?"
"Emma, please, sit."
Again, it was the last thing she wanted to do, but she also wanted to figure out what the hell Archie was talking about.
"Since Regina has been coming to me, she has revealed certain things, mostly about her changing relationship with you. We have talked extensively about how you have become a more permanent part of her life," Archie said.
That made Emma happy, knowing that Regina had also seen how they had grown together. It was nice to know she wasn't the only one that had recognized it for what it was.
She wished Regina had been talking to her about these things and not Archie.
"Regina, I think without even realizing it herself, had fallen in love with you, but the problem was when she did realize it," Archie said. "Can you tell me what happened the weekend before the first attack? Anything you can remember."
Knowing there must be a purpose to the question, Emma tried to think back to that weekend.
"Nothing special," Emma finally said. "It was like any other weekend I guess. I mean I didn't even see Regina that weekend because it was Henry's weekend with her and so I wasn't bringing him back there."
"Correct, you didn't see Regina that weekend, which gave her a lot of time to think about you and how close the two of you had become. It was in that weekend that Regina came to the conclusion that she did have some sort of feelings for you. She was unsure what to do about it," Archie said.
"I think that is what prompted the first attack," he continued. "When Reign first opened up to me, not about the attacks, but about you and her feelings for you. One of the first things she mentioned was that she didn't think it mattered if you returned those feelings because any relationship would be complicated with you because of who your parents are. Surely, you see why she would think that."
"Of course, I do," Emma said. "But my parents get along with Regina now. They have all put the past behind them."
"Which I pointed out to her, but as she responded, it's one thing for them to have peace between them now, it's quite another thing if she were date their daughter."
"Ok," Emma shrugged, "It may have been strange for everyone at first, but I don't think my parents would be that big of a barrier."
"Like I said, Regina mentioned it as one of the first things. Now let's go back to what she says happened in that first attack," Archie said. "She said it was your parents who showed up at her door that morning."
Emma thought about what Archie was saying. But she still couldn't wrap her mind around it.
"That was the first time she was given the warning to stay away from you," Archie said. "And she tried to do so."
"Yeah and she did. The only reason I found out about the second attack was because I saw the bruising on her arm," Emma said. "So why did the second attack happen under your theory?"
Archie could tell that Emma wasn't ready to believe what he thought had happened to Regina. He didn't have any real proof that he was right, but the first step was to pass the insight on to Emma. If he was right, Regina wouldn't wake up without Emma's help.
"I'm not sure what prompted the second attack," Archie admitted. "But I think there was a message in it all the same. Regina's car, it's as much as a status symbol as her title as mayor or the mansion. To destroy it like that was a way of tearing down Regina's standing. As queen, she was practically untouchable yet much of that was nothing more than the façade of strength she exuded. She was defeated by the strength of numbers against her led by your parents. They united the people against her and that cloak of invulnerability disappeared from her. I believe that was the purpose of this second attack. Twice she was attacked in her home – a place she should feel safe, and the second time her car was taken from her by the dwarves – the first people to really support your mother in her quest to take Regina down and reclaim her crown."
"Are you sure you aren't reading a bit too much into all of this?" Emma asked.
"I could be," Archie said. "But tell me, you've been investigating this since the first attack, what have you come up with?"
Emma got to her feet, ready to tell Archie he better get to the point or she was out of there. She didn't need her own failures thrown in her face. She was well aware that it her responsibility to find out who had attacked Regina, but what Archie was saying made no sense.
But she hadn't come up with a single clue as to who could have attacked Regina.
"Ok, let's back up a bit," Emma said. "Did you point out any of these things to Regina?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because I was hoping that if I was right, that she would come to the conclusion on her own," Archie said. "Therapy works better if you let the patient come to their own realizations. Besides, I wasn't completely sure I was right. When Regina fell into a coma, I waited like everyone else to see if some plausible reason was given. It didn't take long for the story about the apple to get around town. That is what sealed it for me and why I sought you out."
"Why did that seal it for you?"
"It was the ultimate karma. The idea that she would lapse into sleep after taking a bite of an apple, surely the thought crossed your mind."
"I admit that I thought the apple had something to do with it, but we had it tested. There was no poison in it and no magic in it," Emma said.
"Oh, I think it was a perfectly normal apple," Archie said, then he paused. "Maybe I am explaining this poorly."
"Yeah, you lost me. Just give it to me straight. What do you think happened to Regina?"
"I think all the attacks on her were Regina doing it to herself. I believe she had no idea she was doing it, but I think she was unconsciously using her magic to make these attacks take form in a way that made sense to her mind. Again this was all in her subconscious. She believed she was being attacked by these other people, including you."
"But she didn't detect any magic. She checked."
"Again, she checked for it. Why would she check for her own magic?"
Emma sat down again. She started to think through what Archie was saying. Could it be possible? Could Regina have done this to herself?
"Why? Why would she do this even subconsciously?"
"Like I said, Regina doesn't believe she deserves to be happy," Archie said. "Everything she has done in her life, the lives she has taken or damaged. She can't look at herself and see someone who deserves a chance at happiness. And for all this time it hasn't mattered, but then you and her started to grow close and she saw the possibility of happiness so she sabotaged it. But you wouldn't let her just give up. And then you kissed her."
Emma started to rethink everything that had happened under this new lens. If her kissing Regina, getting Regina to admit there was feelings there on her part, what if that had been the catalyst for this coma. Regina had made her mother bite into a poisoned apple, which took her away from the man she loved.
If Regina truly believed she didn't deserve happiness, and was doing this to herself, it would be karmic retribution for her to choose a manner similar to what had been done to Snow.
"Let's say you are right," Emma said. "How do we wake her up?"
"I have no idea."
