Regina leaned against the door frame to Coal's room as Edith and Coal sat on Coal's bed.
"Are you sure you're ok?" Edith asked as she looked him over.
Coal gave her a soft smile and nodded. "I'll be fine." He told her.
Edith still frowned at his words. She had heard them more times than she could count and knew that more than half of them were just to try and comfort her worry. This time she was extremely worried. In all their battles no matter how close Morgana had gotten to Coal in battle, was she ever able to take his heart. Before now they had never even see it done before.
Both Coal and Morgana had the magic to do it, but Edith only figured that neither knew how. Well she most defiantly knew that Coal couldn't, but Morgana never, in all their years, was able to either. "How do you think she was able to do that?" Edith asked.
Coal shook his head. He was curious about the same thing. Morgana had many chances in the past, well their past to take his heart like so, but she never did.
Regina squinted her eyes as the two spoke. She was quick to place a few things together. Mostly at the fact that probably in the future no one knew how to take hearts.
"Come on Edith." Regina motioned to the younger sibling. "Let's let Coal get some rest." She added.
Edith nodded before turning back to Coal. She reached out and wrapped both arms around him tightly in a large hug. Coal patted her back before she pulled away and got up from the side of his bed.
"Are you sure you're ok?" She asked as she got to her feet.
Coal gave her a solid nod. "I'll be fine." He reassured her.
Edith gave him a forced smile before turning to leave with Regina.
Once out of the room, Regina slowly closed Coal's bedroom door. She turned to Edith, "How about some hot coco?" she asked.
Edith blinked and tilted her head, "Hot coco?" She asked.
Regina smiled and laughed a little. "You're gonna like it, I promise." She told her as she lead the way downstairs and to the kitchen.
As late as it was, Regina felt wide awake. As she poured tow cups of hot coco, she could recall all the times she had done the same for Henry. Especially when he couldn't sleep, or just needed some comfort. She smiled as she watched the cups fill up, only to glance up to see Edith watching her with bright eyes. She was curious, very curious. Even for someone who lived over a few hundred years, she found it comforting that Edith still had that spark of life. When you're young, the world is new and full of life and joy.
"So you never had hot coco before?" Regina broke the silence.
Edith shook her head.
Regina smiled, "I use to make this for Henry when he was younger." She told Edith. As Regina thought on the matter she realized that ever since Henry hit high school, she hadn't really made him hot coco in a hot minute. Her heart hurt from the thought. She really did miss those little moments.
He was still around and well enough in her life as much as she was in his, but Henry was growing up and almost graduating from high school.
Regina placed the finishing touches on the hot coco with a small sprinkle of cinnamon before sliding a cup to Edith. "It's hot to be careful." She warned her.
Edith took the cup and gave Regina a light smile as she blew onto the hot liquid. She took a sip and her eyes light up. She looked to Regina as if the woman just unlocked a world of secrets to her. "My goodness." She stated before taking a larger sip from the cup.
Regina couldn't stop the smile on her face as she watched Edith take a few more sips. "I'm guessing they don't have things like this where you're from." Regina swung and hit a home run as Edith shook her head no rapidly. "Nothing comes close to this." She told her.
Regina's smile slowly left her face as she wanted to ask Edith her next question, but wondered if it was a good idea or not. "What is the future like?" She decided to ask.
Edith looked up from her hot coco and the smile ran away from her face. She frowned placing the cup on the kitchen island they were both sitting at. She knew what Coal told her, about not sharing too much of the future, but... "War." She looked to her cup as she took in a small breath. "it's been like that for as long as I can remember." She looked up to Regina with a serious yet sad look. "We were all once happy... But it didn't last very long." She told her.
Regina felt bad for Edith. Before Regina could respond Edith continued.
"All... Of the realms are at war with Morgana." Edith told her. "Supplies are rare, villages burned to the ground... The forest..." Edith looked to her cup and turned the cup a little as she thought. "Tonight was nothing compared to Morgana's real magic."
Regina narrowed her eyes at this. "What is her real magic like?" Regina dared to ask.
Edith wished she had a clear answer to give Regina, but Morgana's magic was indeed unique. "She can raise armies of monsters and magical creatures." Edith felt a confused look on her face. "She can create storms... It's kind of difficult to explain." Edith confessed.
Regina held a concerned look as she nodded to the young girl.
"Why was the war started?" Regina tilted her head.
Edith shrugged, "No one really knows." She admitted. "I mean, she made smaller attacks throughout the years long before me and Coal were born, but she didn't really attack until Coal was ten and I was eight." She looked to Regina.
Regina found this just as confusing as Edith did. What was Morgana's intentions? What was the cause of such a war. Regina still had no real idea as to how bad the war was, but she held a great idea of it. After seeing Edith fight... "Who taught you how to fight?" She asked.
A small smile came to Edith's lips. "My father." she told her one day to be mother.
For some reason this made Regina smile too. She was very curious as to who their father could be. Regina went to speak and Edith cut her off. "I can't tell you." She smiled yet frowned at the same time. "If I did, you might never meet him or you meet him too soon." Edith looked to her almost empty cup.
"What can you tell me?" Regina asked.
"I'm actually not suppose to say anything really. Coal said it could disrupt the future." She told Regina.
Regina understood that part, but she felt like something very big was missing from the story. "Have you ever seen Morgana's face?" Regina asked as she finally took a sip from her cup of hot coco.
Edith shook her head. "Not even Coal has, and trust me, if anyone has gotten close to seeing her face it's him."
"What does that mean?" Regina narrowed and frowned her brows.
"Most of the fights with Morgana, she always targets Coal." Edith let out a sigh. "Similar to tonight, but on a much larger scale." She flicked her brows up before finishing up her cup.
Regina twisted her lips at this. "So she only really targets Coal?" Regina asked.
Edith nodded as she looked into her now empty cup.
Without even double thinking, Regina took the pot off the stove that still had a little bit of coco left in it and poured it into Edith's cup. after placing the pot back on the stove she picked up her own cup and took a sip as she placed more of the puzzle together. it was more confusing now than ever. What did Morgana want with Coal? And if she was making attacks long before they were even born? It didn't make sense.
"Coal's magic?" she questioned without even looking at Edith. Edith looked up a bit taken back from the incomplete question. "What about it?"
Regina pressed the tip of her tongue to her back molar. "How did he get it? Where did he learn it from?" She asked.
Edith felt like the answer was obvious. "He was born with it. You and father taught him how to use his magic too. Its more like a combination of your magic and fathers." Edith double explained her answer making sure things were clear.
"Like half of his magic is mine and the other half is your fathers?" Regina tilted her head.
Edith nodded and shook her head quickly. "Well it's yours and fathers." she shrugged.
"What about you?" Regina asked. "What about your magic?"
Edith laughed, "I wasn't born with magic."
This greatly confused Regina. "So only Coal has magic?"
Edith nodded. "It's ok though really." Edith smirked, "After all I did get the brains and the beauty." She laughed a little.
Regina rolled her eyes with a large smile at this. "And the sense of humor too." Regina added onto the list.
Edith looked to her empty cup and then back to Regina, "It's getting late." She told her.
Regina nodded before picking up Edith's empty cup.
Edith slowly got up from her chair as she watched Regina head over to the sink with the empty cup and the empty pot. Edith watched her back for a minute before rushing over and wrapping her arms around Regina.
Regina was beyond surprised at Edith's sudden hug. She didn't reject it, instead she turned around and returned the hug.
"Good night mom." Edith almost whispered.
Regina felt her heart freeze for a moment at Edith's words. "Good night... Edith." Regina looked down to find a smiling tired face. "I'll see you in the morning." Regina added before Edith removed herself from the hug and headed up stairs.
Regina watched her leave and once out of sight Regina felt her knees become weak. She had only been called mom by Henry, but hearing it from Edith... She felt her heart pound in her chest. She smiled as she regained her stature and continued washing the dishes. The thought of having Edith as a daughter warmed her soul inside and out. The girl was not only skilled in battle, but she was sweet and loving. It brought a smile to her face just thinking about her.
Regina narrowed her eyes and frowned her brows when Coal popped into her mind. He wasn't very trusting like Edith. In fact he was the opposite. She felt that he was suck up and arrogant. She shook her head. He probably got that from his father's side.
Once the kitchen was clean Regina made her way up the stairs to her room. She stopped at the end of the hall and looked down towards Edith and Coal's rooms. Just looking down the hall, knowing that two of her children were there sound asleep made her wonder more about the future. They grew up knowing nothing but war...
She frowned deeply before turning to her own room and heading off to bed. It was hard for her to sleep, but eventually she did.
She only hoped that the next morning would bring some better light into the situation.