Regina stood still as she waited with her sister and Emma for Cora to arrive. She tried not to be distracted by Zelena's pacing or Emma's foot tapping. She had called Cora and told her to meet her there at Regina's office the next day. She had wanted time to think this through and even as she had spent hours thinking about it, she still was unsure what to expect from her mother.
She knew that Cora's instinct would be to try and manipulate her or Zelena in some way. Heart or no heart Cora couldn't be trusted – of that Regina was sure. What she was unsure of was if Cora had it in her to change. Regina had hardly believed that she herself could have the capacity to change, yet she had. In both timelines she had found something that helped her make that change. Could she and Zelena be enough for Cora to change?
About a minute before the scheduled time there was a knock on the door and Emma unholstered her gun and readied it. She nodded at Zelena who went to the door and opened it.
"Hello Zelena," Cora said smiling at her. She walked in like she owned the room. Regina had used that ability as well and it wasn't until that moment that she realized that she had learned to exude confidence from her mother.
Cora walked right up to her.
"Hello Regina, Emma," she said. "I hardly think your gun is necessary here."
"I will be the judge of that," Emma said.
"Of course," Cora said. She hadn't even looked at Emma during the exchange, keeping her eyes instead on Regina.
"You wanted to meet so why don't you tell us what you want?" Regina said to her. Already she was feeling like this was a mistake. Her mother must have a plan and the fact that Regina didn't know what it could be suddenly made her feel again like the little girl who had been dominated by this woman before her.
"I want us to be family," Cora said simply.
Zelena made a dismissive noise which earned her a look from Cora.
"I know how that must sound after all we have been through, but even you two must admit that all my plans for the future have always involved you," she said. "I have always wanted you at my side."
"Wanted one of us at least," Zelena said.
"I am sorry," Cora said. "I know it is my fault for making you feel unwanted. But I did want you. If I didn't I wouldn't have let even your future self convince me to keep you. I don't know why I gave you up in that other timeline but I am sorry that I did it. You see, I think the reason you and I clash so much Zelena is that you and I are more alike than you or I may want to admit."
"We are nothing alike," Zelena protested.
"I don't expect you to believe me. I don't expect this meeting will make much difference in how you view me. I certainly don't think Miss Swan is even willing to give me much latitude in anything, but the only reason she hasn't made a move against me is because I suspect that Regina has told her not to and she isn't going to go against what Regina wants," Cora said. "You however would if I gave you even the slightest reason to and you would feel justified in doing so. Justified. It's a great word to describe your motivations. In the original time line I am sure you felt justified in your quest to destroy your sister. After all she got what you wanted. In this time line you feel justified in hating me because of the way thing have been between us so you in your mind, your actions don't matter because you feel justified. I too have felt that way."
"So you were justified in treating us like you did?" Zelena said. "You were justified in waging a war against the kingdoms all to grab power for yourself?"
"In my mind yes," Cora said simply. "It didn't make what I did right however."
"We can debate right and wrong all night, but that doesn't explain what you really want," Regina said. She didn't like the idea of Cora engaging Zelena in this discussion. She was studying her mother's face and she could tell Cora was carefully crafting what she was saying, which meant there was a purpose behind it. But what was the purpose?
Cora again turned to face Regina.
"Right now I don't want anything. Asking for anything would be pointless as you would not believe anything I said. Or am I wrong?"
"You aren't," Emma said chiming in. "So why don't you get on with it."
Cora ignored Emma and kept her eyes on Regina. "I guess I would ask what your intentions are in regards to me," Cora said. "You three are clearly in the power position here. I have no desire to fight you, but I would like to know what you intend to do with me."
All of her senses were telling her there was something not right about all of this, but she didn't know what her mother's angle was.
Regina took a few steps away from her, even turning her back on her. "How does it feel mother? To have your heart back after all of these years?"
"Different. It feels different," Cora said. "It's hard to explain really. It's not as if I was not capable of feeling before. It's just that you don't feel things strongly and after a while you forget what real feelings are. But having it back doesn't mean I am overwhelmed by feelings once more. It's like I am relearning how to feel."
"And what are you learning exactly?" Zelena said.
"That I was wrong. I have been wrong about so much. I should have been content to live with you and your sister and your father," Cora said.
"My father," Zelena said. "Except he wasn't my father."
"Yes he was," Cora and Regina said at the same time, causing everyone in the room to be silent.
"Henry may not have been your father by birth, but he was in life," Cora said.
"Did you kill him?" Regina asked.
"What?"
"You heard me. Did you kill our father?"
"I did not," Cora said.
Regina looked over at Emma, but Emma shook her head slightly. They had talked beforehand about how Emma for whatever reason had trouble reading if Cora was lying and since she assumed that Cora was lying all the time she hadn't given it much thought. Regina wished Emma knew if Cora was lying now. She had come to believe that Cora had probably killed her father. Yet the way Cora had said she did not was now making Regina wonder.
"Did you ever love him?" Zelena asked.
This time Cora took a few steps away. "I did in my own way," she said. "Henry was a kind man, and he was unusually accepting – even of me." She gave a slight smile as she said it. "He would insist on putting you to bed every night. He'd put Regina to bed first when she was a baby and the he would pick you up Zelena so that you could watch her as she would sleep but it wasn't too long before you too would drift off and he would take you to your bed and lay you down. I think seeing the love he had for you two was what I loved the most about him."
Zelena laughed and then clapped her hands. "Bravo mother," she said. "You know, I may have actually believed something like that if you had ever bothered to say it when it mattered. But we are far past that now."
Zelena walked up to her mom to the point where they were standing only inches apart. "You want to prove something, give Regina back her heart," she said.
"Ok," Cora said and she waved her hand. A box appeared in her hand which she held out to Zelena. "Your sister's heart safe and sound."
Zelena took it from her and walked it over to Regina who accepted it. She walked around her desk and placed it in front of her, her hands pausing a moment before she opened it. There is was – her heart.
She stared at it.
Once she put it in she would no longer be under her mother's control. She would be free. And soon she would be free to be with Emma. She looked over at Emma and smiled.
"Wait," Emma said as Regina lifted her heart out. Emma walked up to Cora and grabbed her by the arm. "The ring. Where is the ring?"
"You believe you are her true love?" Cora asked.
"Yes, but even if I weren't, the ring belongs to her, not you," Emma said.
"Fair enough," Cora replied. This time she unhooked a chain from around her neck – it had the ring hanging from it. This she handed to Emma who backed away from her and walked behind the desk, but keeping her eyes on Cora. She had holstered her gun before grabbing it, but she kept her hand resting on it in case she needed it.
Emma wished she could take her eyes off of Cora to be able to hand Regina her ring, but she didn't trust Cora enough to do it. Instead she laid the ring on the desk next to the box that contained Regina's heart. She wasn't planning on kissing Regina with an audience anyway she figured.
She was surprised that Regina had returned her heart to the box and had yet to pick it back up.
Regina walked around the desk to face her mother once more. "Why are you being so agreeable?" she asked.
"Is there something wrong with being agreeable?" Cora said in return.
"When it's you, most certainly. There hasn't been a day in my life that you haven't been planning or scheming so why would today be any different?"
"Well now that you mention it, I was hoping that you and Zelena might assist me with something," she said giving them a smile.
"I knew it," Zelena said. "This show was all for what? What do you want? Is this more of you fantasy of taking over Storybrooke?"
"No. I only wish your assistance in returning to Oz."
Regina and Zelena exchanged a look.
"Why would you want to go back to Oz?" Regina asked crossing her arms.
"Clearly I can't go back to the Enchanted Forest and I don't suppose you would let me stay here, so I see little choice except to return to Oz," Cora said. "For that to happen I would need your assistance."
"And you think because you gave me back my heart and my ring that we should do this for you?"
"No," Cora said. "I don't have any expectations you will help me in this because I gave you those things. I was hoping you would assist me however."
"What would you do if you returned to Oz?"
"I made my home there once, I could do it again," she shrugged.
"Let's lock her up," Zelena said. "Bind her powers and lock her up."
Regina looked back at Emma. "I am with your sister on this," Emma said to her.
Cora raised her hands up in surrender. "If that is what makes you feel better while you decide."
It took them nearly two hours to figure out what to do with Cora, but in the end they put her in Regina's mausoleum behind a barrier that would keep her from doing magic. The entire time Cora had not fought them or done anything to resist them.
After she was secure they returned to Regina's house.
"There is something not right about this," Zelena said.
"Clearly," Regina said.
"What are we going to do?"
"Nothing," Regina said. "We aren't going to do anything until we think this through. I think we can all agree she has some plan; we just have to figure out what that plan is."
"I don't even like the idea of her being locked up without having guards to watch her," Zelena said.
"I know," Regina sighed. She had a headache just thinking about what her mother might have planned. She rubbed at her temples.
"You are being quiet," Zelena said to Emma who hadn't said a word since they left the mausoleum.
"Maybe we should give it a rest for the day," Emma said "Think about what she might be doing again tomorrow. Maybe interrogate her again. For now though let's you know take a break."
She glanced over at Regina with a smile.
"Perhaps you are right and we should take a break," Regina said returning the smile. "I have a bit of a headache as it is."
"Is that so?" Emma said approaching her. "Then maybe you should go lie down upstairs."
"I probably should," Regina said, taking her hand. "What about you? Are you tired? Maybe you need to go lie down too."
"And suddenly I feel like the third wheel," Zelena said. "No really, don't beg me to stay. I have other things to do. I am going to go somewhere."
"My place," Emma said. "You can stay there."
She didn't even look at Zelena as she said it.
"Thanks," Zelena said. "You two have fun breaking that curse."
Neither reacted as they were too busy gazing at each other so Zelena shook her head as she teleported out.
"So how do we do this?" Emma said.
"Hopefully in a manner that is nothing similar to your first attempt with my mom," Regina said. She let go of Emma's hand and stepped away from her. She opened the box that still contained her heart which she had sat down on the coffee table when she had entered the room.
"Did you have to remind me of that?" Emma groaned.
"Something tells me I will remind you of that a lot – at least when I am mad at you."
"Then I guess I can't let you get mad at me."
"Given our relationship, I imagine that won't be easy," she said. "But first thing is first, I need to return this to its proper spot."
She held her heart in her hand and Emma stared at it – fascinated that Regina could hold her heart in her hand as if it were a common occurrence. Emma watched as Regina closed her eyes and then placed the heart back in her chest. Regina exhaled deeply when she did it.
"Are you ok?" Emma asked.
"Yes," Regina said opening her eyes. "I am better now. It's a comfort to know that I have possession of my own heart again and that my mother is no longer calling the shots for me."
"Is it like she said, you know that you could feel without it?"
"Yes. She wasn't lying about that. You feel emotions but it's a faint feeling. If I had gone without my heart for a long period of time like she had I am sure I would have also found a way to merely ignore that I was feeling anything. I do wonder though," Regina said. "I wonder what it would have been like to have been raised by a mother who cared about me and not about what I could do to further her own desires."
Emma came over and wrapped her arms around her. "I saw the look on your face when she was talking about your father. You may not have had your heart in but I could tell you were feeling sorrow."
Regina nodded. "I loved my father," she said. "Even if he couldn't protect me from Cora's machinations I loved him. All he wanted was for me to be happy. If he were here now I know he would love you too because you make me happy."
"You make me happy too," Emma said. "Crazy isn't it?"
"What? You and me, I don't even know that crazy begins to describe it."
"I really want to kiss you right now," Emma said. "Are you ready?"
Regina stepped from her and picked up the necklace that held her ring and freed it. She handed it to Emma.
"You have to present the ring to me," Regina said.
Emma smiled as she pinched the ring between two fingers and held it up to Regina. "I believe this belongs to you," she said.
Regina took it from her and held it in the palm of her hand and stared at it. "I had given up on the idea of ever seeing this again," she said. "In comparison to the years I have lived I didn't actually have it in my possession that long but there was no doubt that I would know it if I saw it. I memorized everything about it – the way it feels against my skin, the texture of it – I used to spend hours staring at it, or holding it. Daniel was my first love. The person who taught me it was okay to open myself up to love. After his death I didn't allow myself to do that again until I took Henry in. And now … now I want nothing more than to show you how much I love you."
"Me first," Emma said, kissing her.
As soon as their lips met there was a burst of magic which if Emma hadn't been expecting it, it would have shocked her into stopping the kiss. Instead she kissed Regina even deeper as she felt it. The kissing continued for several more moments before Emma leaned back and smiled at her.
"I guess that answers the question of if I am your true love," she said.
"Yes it does," she said wrapping her arms around Emma's neck and kissing her once more. They continued this way, the kisses starting off slow and then growing in urgency and passion.
"How about we get to that bed now?" Emma said in between the kisses.
Regina broke it off and took Emma's hand. "It's this way," she said leading her out of the room and up the stairs. As soon as they were upstairs Emma whirled Regina around and again kissed her, moving her up against the wall in the hallway. She put her hand up Regina's shirt, resting it on her side as she pressed her body against Regina's. Regina wrapped her arms around Emma as she did so and Emma let her hand drop from Regina's side down to her butt, which she gave a generous squeeze to.
Emma began to attack the side of Regina's neck with her tongue and lips, relishing the sound of Regina's breath in her ear. The sharp intake of her breath was quickly revving Emma up and she sucked some of Regina's skin into her mouth knowing she would leave a mark that Regina may or may not be happy about later but for now she made an appreciative moan.
She returned to kissing her, feeling the lips of her true love tangle with hers. Regina however had other things in mind and forced Emma to back up, laughing a little as she did. She took Emma's hand and completed leading her to the bedroom where she promptly shut the door and pressed Emma against it. She pulled Emma's shirt up and off before again kissing her.
This time Regina backed up. She went to the side of the bed and placed her ring, which she had continued to hold her in hand, on the bed stand. She came back around to the foot of the bed and she paused near the edge. Emma watched as she slowly unbuttoned the dark blue shirt she was wearing. Emma had enjoyed how the dresses Regina wore back in the Enchanted Forest had accentuated her cleavage but seeing her take off a sensible button up was just a tad sexier in her mind. Regina was taking her time at it too, prolonging each movement and keeping her eyes on Emma who wasn't looking directly in her eyes.
No, Regina could only smile as Emma's eyes sought out each piece of her skin as it was revealed.
By the time Regina had removed her bra Emma had lost her patience for the slow stuff and she launched herself from the door, grabbing Regina and pushing her back onto the bed. Emma unbuttoned Regina's pants and pulled them and her panties off.
She stood there gazing down at her nude body before placing one knee on the bed between Regina's legs and lowering herself down on top of her, capturing her lips once more. While she darted her tongue inside, she let her palm graze over the top of one of Regina's breasts. She kept the touch light but she could feel the stiffening peak of her nipple so on her next pass she tweaked the taut nub which earned her a groan from Regina's otherwise occupied mouth.
She kissed downward and enveloped that tit in her mouth, sucking on it and pushing her tongue against the nipple.
"You are wearing too much clothing," Regina said, her breath continuing to hitch.
Emma kept sucking on her breast and then moved to the next to give it a similar treatment, except this time she used a little more teeth – causing Regina to arch her back.
"Seriously," Regina said. "Clothes off. This is your queen talking now."
Emma smiled as she rolled to the side and undid her pants and stripped them and her panties off and tossing them on the floor. She removed her bra just as quickly and was back on Regina picking up where she had left off.
She felt Regina's hands roaming all over any part she could reach. When Emma again bit down slightly on her nipple Regina dug her nails into Emma's back. With a surprising amount of strength, Regina pulled Emma off of her and rolled over on top of the blonde. She stared down into Emma's eyes a moment before bringing her lips down to meet Emma's. The kiss was forceful but the pace was slow.
"I love you," Regina said and then kissed Emma before she could respond.
Her tongue flicked along Emma's lips and then Emma opened her mouth for Regina to gain entry. Their tongues moved in a concert with each other. Neither was jockeying for control, just enjoying each movement.
Regina stretched her arm to its limit, touching Emma's thigh and moving it upward. Once she reached Emma's hip she left it there only a moment before shifting so she was now lying to the bed next to Emma, facing her. Her hand dropped from her hip – keeping the touch light until she reached her destination.
She brushed the outside of Emma's slit. She smiled into the next kiss as she again brushed along the slit, except this time she applied more pressure as she stroked upward. On the next pass she dipped her finger in.
She had already smelt Emma's arousal and now she could feel it. She circled Emma's clit, adding another finger into the mix.
As Regina began to stroke her clit, Emma reciprocated the move – bringing her own finger onto Regina's clit and pushing it up. She wasn't satisfied with staying on the outside and instead pushed two fingers inside Regina's pussy. Regina jerked at the sudden intrusion but it didn't stop her from the rhythm she had built up.
Normally Emma liked drawing things out, but this time she was ok if things ended quickly if only to move on to the next course. She had never felt this way about anyone before and the idea that she had proven her love for Regina and was now getting to lie there in bed next her, touching her and loving her.
Regina could tell Emma was close and the idea of pulling her over the edge with her caused her to speed up. Their breaths were coming fast and each was making little noises of pure arousal.
"Emma," Regina said, her breath hitching. "So close."
"God," Emma said. "I love you. I love you Regina."
The words were barely out of her mouth before the orgasm hit her. She had to force herself not to get too carried away by it so she could continue to please Regina. A few more quick thrusts and she felt Regina's orgasm flow through her.
They both laid there, breathing heavily. Emma was the first to move, kissing Regina once more before propping herself up on her elbow.
"Are you ready for round two?" she asked.
Regina smiled. "Give me a minute," she begged.
"Nah," Emma said as got off the bed. She moved around to the foot of it, earning a confused look from Regina, especially when she grabbed Regina's ankles and pulled her practically off the bed. She stopped from pulling her off the bed, but gave herself enough room to get on her knees between Regina's legs and she gave Regina a wink before she dove her tongue into her wetness.
