David and Claude called an hour later, and told them that people are gathering at City Hall. They had all showered and ate by then, and Leopold managed to slip the file to David before leaving, telling him to get rid of it before Regina sees it. David had tried to argue that she had a right to know, but he told him that it wasn't their decision to make.
They all showered and ate, with Regina still avoiding even meeting her mother's eyes. The emotions in them hurt her, they made her longing to be in her arms increase, same as her guilt towards Daniel and Stella. The latter had been on her phone from the second she left the bathroom; apparently since she had thought she was going back to Boston, she had scheduled a few things and was on the phone trying to reschedule them or get them out of the way and done with. She had told them to go ahead, and go to the meeting, and that she was going to catch up.
And so, Leopold was now driving Stella's car, she said she was teleporting- with all four women with him. Regina was sitting next to him, with Ruth, Snow and Cora sitting at the back. She was aimlessly staring out of the window, watching as they passed by the town that she had been ruling for two decades. She was thinking about what Leopold and Stella told her about her mother, and how she feels. On one hand, she desperately wanted to know what it feels like to be held by her, and on the other she felt like she was betraying Daniel and Stella. Even though Stella had already told her that it is not what either of them wanted, and flat out told her to let Cora hold her, she still couldn't bring herself to do it. And if she was going to be completely honest with herself, that wasn't the only thing holding her back. She was scared. Scared that if she did get to know what it feels like to be held by her mother, that it will hurt even more when Cora does something. It is true that she had her heart back now, but what guarantees did she have that she wont rip it out again? What guarantees did she have that she wasn't going to go back to Rumplestitlskin and fall back into her old ways with him? What was her guarantee that her mother wont cause her any more pain?
Nothing. She had no guarantees, and that was terrifying. It is true that she sort of knew how her mother felt, it is how she feels about Stella and everything that happened to her. She lost her own child because of her, she grew up believing that she was never going to see them again, she had to tell people that she was abandoned so that they would stop calling her crazy, she let Travis get away with attacking her just because he backed off of her. She saw all the pain of the previous years in her eyes when they first met, the guilt as she told her that she didn't remember her life before she was eight, the silent plea for recognition. She knew how her mother felt, because the first thing that crossed her mind when the curse broke, was her daughter. She couldn't think of any thing, except how much she wanted, how much she needed to hold her. She saw the same longing in her mother's eyes, the same pain and guilt that she feels for everything that Stella went through, but she still couldn't give her what she wanted.
She was so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't realized that they made it to City Hall, till she felt Leopold's hand on her knee. She looked at him, and saw the white building which housed her office standing behind him. She saw how almost all of the residents were gathering around on the lawn. She silently, and almost robotically exited the car, and just stood there staring at the people.
Cora stood on the other side of the car, watching the spectrum of emotions as they flashed across her daughter's face, her heart wrenching with each one. She saw the fear, the anticipation, the pain, the need to hide, the urge to fight back, all jumbled up together.
Regina jumped slightly when a hand was placed on her shoulders, "you don't have to be in there if you don't want to" Ruth said gently. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Leopold and Snow about to object and when Regina looked towards the people once more, she shot them both warning looks, and they wisely kept their mouths shut.
"Let us handle this one" she said softly and Regina only nodded before she picked a direction and walked away from them without even a single word.
"What are you doing?" Leopold asked.
"We don't need her in there, and she shouldn't be in there, not when she's like this. Right now, she's not the Mayor of Storybrooke, she's not their queen, right now she's a mother who is still not over everything that happened to her child at the hands of her mother. Especially, that she cant bring herself to hate said mother" Ruth stated firmly.
They waited till everyone went inside, before they followed suit. They could hear the commotion of the crowd as they approached the room, they all stopped outside the large double doors, where David and Claude were standing.
"Ready?" Claude asked.
"No, but that's besides the point" Leopold answered, and Claude smiled sympathetically at him. David had already filled him in as they rounded up the people.
The room fell silent when the doors opened, and revealed the King, his daughter, son-in-law, his mother, and the woman who started it all.
"What is she doing here?" Leroy growled.
"I appreciate you all coming on such short notice, and I appreciate your patience with us. I am sure that you all have questions, and I appreciate that you gave me and my family some time together before you demanded answers. And now, I am asking you once more to be so kind and be patient for a bit longer, as we explain it all. Once we are done with the story, we will answer any additional questions you may have" Leopold spoke gently. He was glad to see that the people still respected him, and had all nodded their approval. They all took their seats, and gave them enough room to pass to the podium so they can address them all.
"Where's Stella?" Claude asked.
"She had some business to take care of, she said she was teleporting" Snow answered, "but I think we should start without her" she added.
Before anyone could argue, the doors opened once more and in walked the brunette in question, "sorry I'm late everybody, I know you all want answers and I promise that I will try to provide them as best as I can" she exclaimed as she walked over to her family, her eyebrows furrowing when she didn't see her mother.
"Where's Mom?" she asked.
"She's sitting this one out" Ruth said softly, and she nodded solemnly.
"Sorry to cut in on the family meeting, but we were under the impression that you were here to talk to us, and not eachother" Whale snapped.
Stella rounded on him, and her eyes narrowed dangerously at him, "if you think that I don't know exactly who you are, and what you did to my mother, then you are very much mistaken! So I strongly suggest that you back off!" she warned.
"I understand that you are all confused, and that emotions are running pretty high right now, so why don't you all let us finish our story before you ask any questions or throw punches" she suggested, and by the irritated expressions on many of the faces, she guessed that they agreed.
"First off, even though Cora was the one to cast the curse, she was not the one who created it" she started.
"Then who did?" a baffled Archie asked.
"Rumpelstiltskin" she answered.
"Why on earth would he do that?" Granny pipped up.
"Because long before any of us were born, he made a great mistake and the curse was his attempt at fixing it" she started, and then proceeded to tell them the tale of how Rumple became the Dark One, and how he chose power and magic over his own son, only she failed to mention that his son was actually Neal. She still hadn't told Neal himself that she broke the curse, and she still needed to talk to him before it becomes public knowledge that he is the son of the Dark One.
"That still doesn't explain why that witch cast it, or why you're protecting her?" Leroy yelled.
"I'm protecting her because she's not the same person any more" she was interrupted by a scoff from Whale, "what did she suddenly grow a heart?" he snapped sarcastically.
"For a lack of a better term, yes" she deadpanned, and the room fell silent.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Ruby chimed in.
"You know how everybody always said that she must heartless?" she asked, and they all enthusiastically nodded.
"Well that part was actually true, literally. Cora ripped her heart out a very long time ago, and that is why she was so cold and dead on the inside" she explained.
"Care to elaborate?" the woman, whom she knew as Kathryn Davis, spoke up, and Stella only looked at Cora, who took a deep breath and released it slowly before she started her explanations. She skipped past the part about Stella's paternity issues, she only talked about why she cast the curse, what she sacrificed to enact it, and how Stella was able to break it.
"But why did you take Stella away from her mother?" Granny asked, "if you wanted Regina to be queen, wouldn't having the child of the King solidify that even more?' she asked.
"Not if she's not mine by blood" Leopold deadpanned, and the entire room gasped.
"Excuse me?" George- whom they hadn't even seen in the room till now- hissed.
"When I proposed to Regina after she saved Snow's life, I didn't know that she was in love with her stable boy, Daniel. When Cora found out about them, she killed Daniel so that he wouldn't get in the way of Regina becoming queen. What she didn't know, was that Regina was already pregnant with his child" he started, "I married Regina with the full knowledge of the baby, and her lost love. Cora didn't know any of that, since I had decided to claim that the child was mine to protect Regina and the innocent child from Cora's wrath. So when Cora found out about Stella really being Daniel's and not mine, she thought that if I ever found out, that I will banish Regina, which will ruin her chances of one day becoming queen" he added.
"How did you find out?" Claude asked.
Cora once again found all eyes on her, and she once again found the words tumbling out of her mouth once more. The whole room was surprised by the amount of emotions showing in her voice, she was choking out the words, barely holding back the sobs, as the occasional tear rolled down her cheek. They could all see that she was no longer the cold, heartless monster they knew and feared. They saw the remorse and pain for what she had done, but were still cautious about her.
"Why was Gold hell bound on keeping you away from Regina?" Johanna called from the back of the crowd, and both Snow and Stella smiled at her.
"That part we still don't know" she answered softly, as she made her way over to the woman who had raised her for three years, followed by Snow.
Once she pulled back from Johanna's arms, her eyes darted around the room in an attempt to find the imp in question.
"And if your magic was so strong then how come you didn't stop the curse?" George spat.
"She was eight! Her magic was still developing" Cora growled, and when he looked at her, he flinched and shrunk back in fear at what he found. Her eyes were dangerously narrow and dark, but they weren't cold as they used to be. They were daring, daring him to make a move towards her granddaughter so she can rip him to pieces. And in that moment they all knew the horrifying truth, that if Cora was ruthless when she was heartless, now that she has her heart back, she will be even worse with those who hurt her loved ones.
"Does anybody have any questions?" Snow called, since Stella still seemed to be preoccupied, and they all shook their heads.
Once the crowd started clearing out, Stella walked back to her father, "where the hell is Rumplestiltskin?" she asked. Before any of them could answer, the sky darkened suddenly, and the wind blew with a horrifying and chilling sound. The building shook, and the crystal chandelier swung from side to side. They all turned towards the window in time to see a dark figure swift by, leaving their skin crawling in its wake.
So, even though the reviews were not what I was hoping for, I happen to be in a good and generous mood so here is the next chapter.
Thanks to all who read, followed and favorited and of course special thanks to those who reviewed. I appreciate it very much.
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I will proof read this in the morning and correct any mistakes.