Regina got into her house, slowly. She frowned, totally confused. She was trying to use magic, with Snow at her side, because they were kidnapped at the hands of Greg and Tamara. Why had she suddenly appeared in her house? Once the door closed behind her, she looked at her body. Her leg was healed, and she didn't feel any pain. Regina frowned, now frightened. She raised her eyes and walked to her living room, wondering if she was about to die, or if she was already dead.
What had happened to Snow? Suddenly, Regina turned around to hear a noise upstairs. She shook her head in confusion, and walked toward the stairs, looking up. She thought she was alone there.
"Hello?" Regina shouted, moving her head slightly to try to see who was on the second floor. "Who's there?"
The noise began to be heard more often, until Regina was able to identify the noise. It was the sound of footsteps. Someone was coming, but she couldn't even guess who it was. The house was so quiet that she could begin to hear those small steps start to repeat more often; the person was running.
"Who's there? Show yourself!" Regina yelled pulling away a bit of the stairs, ready to move her hands at any time, if it was someone who had intentions of hurting her.
But she wasn't prepared for what she heard later.
"Mama?!" A shrill voice shouted. Regina froze to hear that voice, and she couldn't help looking desperately towards the stairs. Her little girl appeared in her sight, with a big smile on her face and her black curls decorating her little face. "Mama!" Little Snow cried when she saw her. She started running down the stairs.
"S – Snow?" Regina said completely shocked. Within seconds, the little girl was clinging to her legs, as she often had done.
"I was waiting for you, where have you been?" Snow whispered, lifting her head to look at her with a frown on her face.
"You're here..." Regina placed her hands on both sides of Snow's face, looking at her with wonder. She smiled as tears pooled in her eyes. "You're here." She repeated, and placed her hands under Snow's armpits to lift her and hold her tight.
"Of course I'm here, as you told me." Snow whispered, putting her chin on her shoulder. "I obeyed."
"Good girl." Regina moved her away from her to look at her face and smile again. She really was in front of her. "I've missed you."
Snow smiled. "I've missed you too, mama." But she frowned when she saw the tears in Regina's cheeks. She reached out her little hand and placed it on her right cheek, confused. "Why are you crying?"
"I really can't believe you're here again." Regina admitted with a small smile.
"But I'm always here. I've missed you, but I think it wasn't long since the last time we met." She frowned, taking her hand to her chin, trying to remember. "Oh, yes. This morning... you told me I had to stay here because Emma couldn't take care of me, neither could David. And you couldn't take me with you because you were supposed to help them." Snow frowned. "What was what you had to do?"
"I – I don't remember." Regina said, frowning.
She was with adult Snow, both of them in a place she didn't know, kidnapped by Greg and Tamara. She'd not seen her little Snow this morning. Actually, she hadn't seen her since she became in adult Snow, because she hadn't even been able to dream about her.
Dream.
Regina's eyes turned to Snow's little face; she was talking about something she couldn't hear, because now she was immersed in her thoughts. She was dreaming… or she was dying. But this wasn't real.
"And then both of us fell asleep." Regina turned her attention to the little girl. "Henry and me." Snow repeated, thinking that Regina didn't understand who she meant.
"Henry?" Regina frowned, confused.
"Yes, he's upstairs. I just told you, he came after school, and he took care of me." Snow smiled proudly. "He's a great big brother."
"Mom?" Regina turned around with Snow still in her arms, and saw her son in the middle of the stairs, rubbing his eyes. She automatically smiled, and she wanted to run and hug him because she thought she would never see him again. But that wasn't real. She still hadn't seen her real son. Would she see him again? "When did you come?" He came down the last few steps, letting out a yawn.
"She just arrived." Snow replied with a small smile. Her eyes widened, forming a big smile and looking back at Regina. "Mama, could you make us hot chocolate? Henry has made me one, but not as great as you always do."
"Hey, I did the best I could." Henry fought back with a frown on his face.
Regina couldn't help but smile. She had her son in front of her, and she had her daughter in her arms. This was what she always wanted since her child was gone. Of course, she knew this was a dream, or maybe she was dying... but that was no longer in her hands. She was going to enjoy her time with her two children as much as she could.
"Of course, let's go." She said as Henry walked into the kitchen and she walked behind him, holding on to Snow to her hip as the little girl began to talk about something else.
"Snow, you should stay in bed." David said as he walked to her side.
Snow ignored his words as she tried to walk as fast as she could. He was right, she was still weak, but she had to see Regina. She'd been separated from her as they entered the hospital, and Snow couldn't stop thinking about how she would be. And she couldn't stop blaming herself.
Regina used her magic, but she was very weak, and all because she had insisted she should. She could remember the despair that came to her when Regina fainted, but she remembered that she knew Greg and Tamara could come at any time, so she had to drag Regina up outside the cabin in which they were. She was very weak, scared, anxious, but she was able to calm down a bit when she made it to the forest with Regina still unconscious, and she heard Emma and David's voices.
Moreover, she was grateful that Regina had used her magic, because if she didn't do that, they could never have come out of the cabin. Emma, David and Mother Superior would have never found them because the whole cabin seemed to be protected against magic. Mother Superior was doing magic to find them, tracking Regina's blood, and they even had managed to get to the cabin, but they didn't think in get in because her wand showed no recognition of Regina's blood.
If Regina wouldn't have done magic, they were never going to be found... but that didn't take the fact that because she made such an effort, she was weaker than ever. And Snow had to be at her side. Regina didn't want to use magic to save herself, and before she fainted Snow understood why she used magic.
"Now you get out of here."
She wanted her to get out of there. She wanted to save her. She'd made that sacrifice for her, and now she couldn't not be at her side after everything she had done for her. She just couldn't.
"Mary Margaret? What are you doing here?" Emma said when she saw her parents walking over to her
"I tried to convince her, but..." David tried to say.
"How's Regina?" Snow quickly said, with her eyes fixed on her daughter.
Emma sighed. "The doctors managed to stop the bleeding. They removed the bullet from her leg and now they are giving her antibiotics." She said, lowering her eyes gently.
Snow didn't pass by unnoticed her daughter's eyes. "But what's wrong?"
"She's lost a lot, too much blood. And she was electrocuted many times, and the magic..." Emma said, trying to be as gentle as possible. "They don't know if she..."
"She's going to die?" A third voice asked. The three of them turned to see Henry with a scowl on his face. His eyes quickly filled with tears. "She can't – she can't die."
Snow saw Emma quickly walking over at him, and Ruby walked to them, saying he threatened to run away if she didn't take him to hospital where they were. But Snow couldn't take her eyes off Henry, who was now sitting in front of Emma, as she explained him some things.
"Please, tell him how much I love him."
"Can we see her?" Snow asked, walking over to Emma. Emma frowned and shifted her gaze to her, a little confused that her mother didn't realize she was trying to comfort Henry.
"Uhm, yes, but..."
Snow quickly moved her gaze to Henry. "Come on, Henry. Let's go see her." She held out her hand and Henry took it hard.
"Mary Margaret, I don't think is best for him to enter there..." Emma said getting up from her seat.
"But I want to see her." Henry said, holding on to Snow's hand. "She needs us."
Emma lifted her gaze to her mother, and Snow didn't change her strong look. She turned to look at her son, and she could see his eyes full of tears, begging her to let him see his mother. She finally sighed and nodded, knowing that after all her mother wouldn't let Henry stay there if things got worse.
Snow went to Regina's room. It wasn't the room in which she had been when she woke up after being a child, but the walls were glass, and they could see everything. She slowly opened the door as she and Henry got in. Henry quickly released her hand and ran to Regina's bed, and Snow closed the door behind her and walked over to them.
A lump formed in her throat to see how Regina was. There were wires in her nose, and even a tube into her mouth that surely allowed her to breath. In her arms there was little wires connected to the machines, and she could hear Henry's sob. She pursed her lips, feeling her heart breaking. She'd never seen Regina so weak, so fragile... and her grandson's sob did nothing but break her heart more.
"She will be fine, Henry." She walked to him and placed her hands on his shoulders. "Just talk to her."
"She's not listening to me." He whispered and Snow sighed.
"Maybe, but what if she is? I'm sure if there's someone for whom she would wake up, it's for you."
Snow couldn't see Henry's face but she was sure he'd stopped sobbing. "Mom?" He whispered, moving his hand to wrap it around Regina's hand.
He began to speak, and although Snow was there at his side, she couldn't hear clearly his words. She was staring at Regina's face, trying to see if there was some kind of process, or sign she could wake up. But there was no change.
What if Regina died and she'd been so stupid to ignore and reject her love? She should have seen it before. This was what she always wanted; to get back to being a family with her, but she never thought that was possible. She was so wrong. Maybe she was right that Regina really loved that little girl that she was, but Regina was right when she said that she was that little girl although she couldn't remember it. She was truly sorry, and she just hoped that this time it wasn't too late for them.
"Mama?" Regina began to feel her arm being moved by a small hand. "Mama, wake up, wake up, she's here!"
Regina frowned, but she opened her eyes. She looked around, noticing that she was in room's bed. When did she arrive there? She couldn't remember. But she sighed slightly, remembering that this was a dream, or whatever it was. These things could happen. She sat on her bed and turned her gaze to her youngest child, watching the big smile that was on her face.
"Come on, mama! Henry is downstairs talking to her, but I want to talk to her too!" Snow said jumping up and down totally excited.
"Who are you talking about?" Regina asked confused, sitting on the edge of the bed.
"Grandma!" Snow ran to Regina and took her arm, pulling her away out the bed. "Let's go, come on!"
"Grandma?" Regina whispered totally shocked and confused.
Regina left her room taking Snow's little hand. She came to the stairs and started walking down, as Snow clung to her hand. She reached the bottom of the stairs, but no one seemed to be in sight. She frowned, confused.
"Snow, are you sure..." She tried to say, but another voice interrupted.
"Mom, look who's here." Henry said behind her. She turned and effectively, Regina froze to see who it was.
"Mother..." She whispered.
Cora smiled, but Regina felt a shiver run down her spine. That smile was the kind smile she'd seen all her life in her mother; it wasn't her real smile. Not the real smile she gave her seconds before her death. And that could only mean that the woman in front of her was her mother, but without her heart. She looked down to her son; Henry seemed to be quiet, with no worries. But she remembered who was clinging to her hand. And a lump formed in her throat.
Regina closed her eyes and tried to think that this wasn't real. Her mother couldn't do any real harm to her children.
"Regina, dear..." Cora finally said, causing Regina to open her eyes. Cora went to her and wrapped her in her arms. Regina returned the gesture, but didn't pass by unnoticed her cold voice. "I'm so glad to see you again."
"Me too, mother." Regina replied with a small smile, moving away from her arms. Cora gave her a weak smile, and she turned away again, getting closer to Henry.
"And I'm more than happy to see the family you've got to put together." She said, placing her hand on Henry's hair. "He's a very clever boy. Worthy grandson of mine, I must say."
Regina smiled faintly, thinking she hadn't realized Snow's presence. She should get her out quickly before that happened. "Can we talk alone, mother?"
"But mama! I've told you I wanted to talk to her too!" Snow protested, pulling Regina's hand for attention.
"Mama?" Cora repeated, looking down to Snow. She frowned, and walked slowly towards the little girl, with her curious look. "Oh, why do I have the feeling I've seen this child?" She said extending her hand and taking Snow's chin to move her face from side to side, watching her traits. "Who are you, child?"
"I am Regina's daughter. Snow." Snow gave her a wide and proud smile.
Regina lost no time in taking Snow's arm and putting her behind her legs to see the change in her mother's eyes. She swallowed and looked at Henry. "Henry, go with Snow to your room, please."
Henry nodded slightly and walked toward them, but Cora quickly put a hand on his chest, stopping him. "No, I don't think that's a good idea." Regina moved her gaze to her mother's cold eyes. "Why this child claims to be your daughter? She's not your daughter. She's Eva's daughter. She's Snow White, how dare you want to add Eva's daughter to our family? That's unacceptable!"
"Mother, I have to talk to you alone, you have to understand that..."
"No, I've raised you to things much better than this, Regina. I can accept that you don't have your own children, but you're not going to take any brat to be your child. I'm not going to accept any child of that despicable woman."
Regina opened her mouth to respond, taking enough of her mother's words, but Snow was ahead of her. "Don't talk that way about my Mommy!" She said with a frown on her face.
"Oh no, don't you dare talk to me like that." Cora said, clenching her jaw. She raised her hand and Regina knew what was going to happen next.
"Mother, no!" She tried to move her hands against her but Cora moved her hands quickly, sending her to the wall and pushing her against it with her magic.
"Mom!" Henry screamed and ran to her, but before he could reach her, his feet were stuck in the ground. He tried to move but nothing happened.
"Mama!" Snow cried in fear, trying to go to Regina. But when she walked a step, Cora raised her hand and Snow began to float in the air.
"Don't you dare call her Mama! She's nothing to you!" She smiled and shook her head. "And indeed, you are nothing to me."
"Mother, no! She's a child. She's mine now, you can't hurt her!" Regina screamed struggling against her mother's magic, but she had no success. "Please!"
Cora shifted her gaze to her. "I can accept that you have this boy, who's not even truly yours, but I'm not going to accept you have this girl. I'm not going to have anything to do with Eva's family, ever!"
"Emma is Snow's daughter. I am her grandson, and Eva is my great grandmother. You're actually related to her family now." Henry said furiously.
"What?" Cora frowned watching his eyes full of anger. "You're Snow White's grandson?"
"Henry, no!" Regina shouted again, trying more than ever to get rid of her mother's magic.
"Yes, I am." Henry said without taking his eyes off Cora. She half smiled and shook her head.
"I liked you, boy." She sighed slightly. "What a shame."
She raised her other hand, as Henry began to rise in the air, too. He began to twitch, trying to get out of her magic, but Cora clenched her fist, causing Henry to become rigid.
"Let us go!" Snow shouted trying to move as Henry, and to hear her voice, Cora turned her gaze to her, reminding her presence. "You are a bad grandma!"
"I'm not your grandmother." Cora said coldly, and Regina could see one of her hands begin to close slowly. Her eyes widened, knowing what that meant. She had done it many times to herself, when she disobeyed her rules.
"Mother, don't!" Regina cried watching Snow starting to move her head in despair, opening her mouth as wide as she could. She was running out of air. "No!"
"Please, wake up. I'm scared for you, mom." Henry finished saying with tears in his eyes. Snow sighed and tightened her grip on his shoulders. He turned and clung to her, resting his head on her chest. "She doesn't know I love her. I never told her, and..."
"It's going to be okay." Snow whispered, caressing his hair, watching Regina. "You'll be able to tell her."
A loud noise filled the room. Henry moved his head to Regina as Snow moved her gaze to the machines. The numbers were quickly going down, as the machines were still making noises throughout the room. Snow moved her gaze to Regina, unable to see if there was something wrong with her, but there was. Somethingwas wrong with her.
"What's going on? Mom?!" Henry said getting closer to Regina as the nurses and Dr. Whale entered the room.
"You have to get out of here, now." Dr. Whale said to Snow, running to Regina's bed with the nurses. Snow was in shock, but she quickly remembered that she wasn't alone in the room.
"Henry, Henry, let's go." She said taking Henry's arm and starting to move him away from Regina.
"No, mom, wake up, wake up!" He started screaming trying to get rid of Snow's grip. She took him by his back and wrapped her arms around him. "She needs us, Snow!"
"They have to do their job, honey. Please, stop." She said, clinging to him and moving closer to the exit. She managed to open the door with one hand and managed to get both of them out of the room.
"Kid, Henry..." Emma moved quickly toward them, trying to control her son as well. "Calm down, everything will be fine."
"I never told her that I do love her." He said, letting the tears fall down his cheeks. "I don't want her to die."
"She won't die." Snow said relaxing her arms around him. "She will survive because she has yet to hear you say that you love her."
For some reason, Henry began to subside, and when Emma tried to get close to hug him; he just turned to look at Snow. "How do you know?"
Snow moved her gaze to Emma for a second before returning to him. "She's a strong woman, Henry. She's had a hard life, but she is still on, and she will." She gave her a small smile and took her hands to both sides of his face. "We have to have faith. We have to believe in her."
"I believe in her. She's trying to be a better person... for both of us." Henry calmly said, nodding slightly.
Snow pressed her lips to feel the tears fall into her eyes. If there was someone who could feel what Henry felt, that person was her. He never told her he loved her, and she never told her what she really felt. She should have given her another chance. But it couldn't be too late. She'd fought for both of them; she just couldn't leave without knowing what they felt for her.
"Now both of us have to be strong for her. She's not going to leave us, I know it."
Henry slightly smiled before returning to her body, clinging to her. Snow wrapped her arms around him, lifting her gaze to Regina's room. She began to caress Henry's hair to see Dr. Whale trying to resuscitate Regina with a defibrillator. She closed her eyes and clung Henry to her body, trying to remember her own words. She couldn't leave them. She had to keep fighting. If what she said about that both of them were her children, she had to keep fighting, at least for the two of them.
Regina began to twitch in her mother's magic. She couldn't let Snow die, not again. Not by her mother. She clenched her jaw and closed her eyes, moving her hands against the magic that was holding her against the wall. She focused and concentrated, until she cried out as her body was no longer rigid and she fell to the ground.
Cora shifted her gaze to her, her mind getting decentralize about Snow. "Regina..."
"How dare you..." Regina whispered, getting up on her feet and feeling the fury in her veins. "They are children, my children!" She yelled at her, throwing magic against her mother, which Cora quickly turned away.
"I am your mother! These children are not truly yours, Regina! I'm doing you a favor; I'm doing the best for you." She quietly said and with a small smile, turning her attention to Snow.
"Leave them alone, mother." This time, she clasped her hand and created a fireball. "Let them go."
"You foolish girl." Cora laughed lightly, turning her gaze to her. "You really think you can beat me? I am your mother, and I know what is best for you."
"The thing is..." Regina said, clenching her teeth in fury. "I am their mother, and I know what is best for them." Cora opened her mouth to speak, but Regina shook her head slightly. "Staying away from you."
She launched her fireball at Cora; making Cora use both of her hands to deflect it. Snow and Henry fell quickly to the ground, and Regina didn't hesitate to run towards them, lifting Snow in her arms and taking Henry's hand. Before she could do what she wanted to do, her mother appeared in front of them again.
Henry clung to her hand as Snow screamed in fear clinging to her and hiding her face in her neck. "Regina, you have to remember what I always taught you. Love is weakness."
"Yeah, I know that..." Regina said, but then she frowned slightly and smiled crookedly. "But it's strength too. And I do love you mother, but I'm not going to let anyone, much less you, hurt my children."
Before Cora could say anything, Regina closed her eyes and concentrated on a place where she knew her mother would never find them. She could feel the magic around her, as she clutched Henry and Snow to her. After seconds, she opened her eyes and smiled as her plan had resulted. She was in the secret room of where she kept all the hearts that she'd ripped out.
"We're safe now?" Snow whispered, looking around.
"Yes dear, you're safe now." She said giving her a small smile to reassure her. Snow smiled back and hugged her as Henry began to walk around the room.
"Why are there so many mirrors here?" He asked, approaching a mirror and observing his reflection in it.
"Mama loves mirrors, Henry." Snow said as Regina left her on the floor. The little girl frowned and looked around and began to inspect the entire room. "Will we be here forever?"
"I hope not." Regina said sighing, walking over to a mirror.
She frowned and shook her hand in front of the mirror, trying to see if she could do what she wanted to do, and to her surprise, she could. In the mirror she could see the hospital, and she could see adult Snow hugging Henry. Both of them were with their eyes closed, sitting on chairs as Emma and David were standing away from them, talking about something. Regina moved her gaze to her little Snow and Henry, noticing that they were talking about something on the other side of the room, as Snow began to make funny faces in front of a mirror. She smiled but returned her attention to the mirror in front of her, moving her other hand so everything that could be said on the other side could be heard only by her.
Regina couldn't help but smile to see that Snow was fine. Clearly, she couldn't know how they had arrived at the hospital, but they were there and certainly Snow was fine. But she and Henry were hugging each other, with their eyes closed, and Regina knew that surely something was wrong with her.
She saw Dr. Whale leaving a room, and Emma and David quickly walking over to him as Snow and Henry got up from their seats and approached as well. "How's she?" Snow was the first to speak, and Regina frowned to see something different in her eyes. She was desperate, scared... for her? That was possible?
"She's fine now. She had..." Dr. Whale sighed slightly. "She had a heart attack, but we could stabilize her."
"She's going to be okay?" Henry asked quickly, and Regina felt her heart breaking to see his eyes filled with tears. Slowly, she placed a hand on the mirror, trying to feel closer to him that way.
"We have to wait." Whale said with his eyes on the three adults present. "We already gave her antibiotics; we did everything we could; now we have to wait for her to wake up in less than 48 hours."
"Why? What will happen if she doesn't?" Emma asked, confused.
"We'd have to put her in a coma, and... it'll be very difficult to know what might happen to her if we have to do that."
"She could die if she is in a coma, right?" Henry said with a frown, but Snow placed a hand on his shoulder and he turned his gaze to her.
"Remember what I've told you. We have to believe in her." Henry nodded slightly, and Snow gave him a small smile.
"She will come back to us. She has to."
Regina frowned, not knowing what was wrong with her now. She wanted to return. She really wanted to come back, why couldn't she do it? She closed her eyes and concentrated on awakening. She was hurting Henry, Snow believed in her, she had reasons to come back. She opened her eyes expecting to wake up in the hospital, but she snorted when she saw her reflection in the mirror that was in front of her.
She wanted to come back. Why couldn't she do it?
"Mama? Watch our reflection here!" Little Snow said from the other side of the room, jumping in front of a mirror as Henry laughed because of their reflections. She turned to see Snow and Henry's reflections; Snow was taller and thinner than Henry and Henry was shorter and bigger than her. "This mirror is truly magical!"
Regina smiled watching them, but her smile quickly disappeared. She frowned; beginning to understand what it was that prevented her from returning to her world. This couldn't happen again. She was happy here, despite what had happened to her mother, she could control what would happen here. This was her own world; here she was with her children, as she always wanted, without anyone else that could interfere with each other. But if she came back to reality, she would still have Henry, not only for her, but she would continue to have him, and it seemed that Snow believed in her, and maybe things could be better between them. But there was something she couldn't have in reality that she had here, and she didn't know if she could let it go again.
Regina sighed, watching Snow and Henry laughing with each other. How would she do to let go of this perfect life she had here? Or worse, how could she let her child go again?
A lot of information to process, I know. Long chapter, yeah. But I really hope to see what you all think about this! I mean, the idea of Regina in her own world as she was interned came to me, and I began to think about what could she dream? What she most wants or her worst fears? I couldn't help but do both of them.
And I couldn't help also, knowing that if I would do Regina's dreams about what she most wanted, little Snow couldn't help being there. And once I made her appear, I couldn't take her away. But the good thing is that I could keep writing adult Snow with her feelings towards an unconscious Regina, and on the other hand, little Snow and her Mama Regina.
So I would be very happy to see what you all think about this! Snow's feelings, Snow and Henry, Regina with little Snow and Henry? And of course, what you think will happen now. :)
As always, thank you for your review, you know I love them, each of them.
Sorry if there's grammatical errors!
And thank you for reading! :)