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Johanna was tossing and turning in her bed. She had that dream again. No not a dream. She was remembering. It was a memory that came to her mind far to often now that she had Regina again.
Flashback:
It was a few days before the wedding of King Leopold and Princess Regina and Snow had a few doubts. Would her stepmother really love her? Was she good enough? The young girl was currently in the garden with her nursemaid Johanna. The old woman was awfully quieted that day but Snow didn´t really pay attention.
"Johanna, why aren´t you a mother?" the girl asked suddenly and Johanna was shaken out of her daze. She had been thinking about Regina again. She knew the soon to be queen was her daughter but she also knew that she could never tell her the truth. She had made a deal with Cora.
"Hm? What do you mean, Snow?" the old woman asked softly and looked down at the young princess who was picking flowers. Johanna wanted to shout that she was a mother but her baby girl had been stolen from her. However, she knew she couldn´t. Snow would never understand and if Cora found out that she had broken their deal it would be her death sentence. And she was sure it would be Regina´s as well. Her little girl had turned out to be a kind and lovely young woman, even though she had been raised by such a heartless person like Cora and for that she was grateful. Regina was in no way the snobby, spoiled royal she had expected.
"I mean, why don´t you have children? You would be a great mother. I know because you are such a great mother figure to me." the child explained curiously. It was such an innocent question but for the nanny it was terrible to think of. Her girl had been taken from her in such a cruel way. The child meant well in complimenting her about her parenting skills but the truth was weighing down on her shoulders.
She sighed before she finally found the words to explain it to the princess. Lying was not something she did often nor did she want to do it but she had no other choice in the matter. Cora´s power over her was too strong to risk being caught. She just had to lie even if she hated it.
"I was a mother once. My daughter was such a good little baby and so beautiful with a head full of dark curls. However, she …she … uhm… died after only a few days. I only had her for a few days and then she just died. She was too weak to last the cold winter. Her name was Rapunzel and I loved her so much. A few months after her death your mother came to our village in search for a maid and she hired me after hearing of my story." she lied with tears running down her cheeks. The story might have been a fake but her tears were true. She put all her feelings into all this.
Thinking about her girl all the time was just too much. For her it was like she had died. All the pain and loneliness she had concealed over the years came flooding back to her in that moment.
Snow was totally shocked and threw her arms around the ginger haired woman. She didn´t know how it felt to lose a child and hoped she never would know such a pain. She had lost her mother and it was one of the worst days of her life, however she would probably never understand how it felt to lose a baby. Johanna smiled sadly and kissed her head.
Regina woke up in Archie´s arms with Perdita laying on her feet. She smiled as she remembered the night prior. It was one of the best nights she´s ever had. Archie stirred and slowly opened his green eyes. They kissed and then the brunette stood up. "Good morning." she greeted as she pulled on one of his shirts and walked into the bathroom to shower.
Archie´s flat was nothing compared to her mansion but it was all she needed. She never cared for the riches that were tossed her way as queen nor the money she had here in Storybrooke. All the former queen ever cared about was love.
The therapist followed his girlfriend into the bathroom after getting up. He got into the shower with her and well they came out feeling dirtier than when they got in. After that they ate some breakfast together as something caught Regina´s attention. On the window sill sat a dark brown furred teddy bear. The brunette recognized it right away and stood up to get a closer look. There was no doubt that it was her´s when she was smaller. Cora had taken it from her simply because Regina was too old to have it but now it was back. Her adopted mother must have been in the flat during the night and that scared her.
"What is that? Who gave it to you?" Archie asked, shaking her out of her daze. The brunette shook her head, startled and looked up to meet his intense green eyes staring back at her.
"It´s from her." she sat simply before running into the bedroom and quickly getting dressed. She had to see Cora. The brunette knew it was probably a bad idea but she had to ask her some questions only her adopted mother knew the answers to.
Archie didn´t know what to say when he saw her leaving the flat in a hurry. The former cricket sensed that it had something to do with Cora and he didn´t like it. Regina was running directly into the arms of the devil and he had to stop her before it was too late.