Zelena could neither sleep nor relax that night at Emma's so she got up first thing in the morning and went to the mausoleum. She walked up to the barrier where Cora was being held. Her mother had heard her coming and had also walked up to the barrier.
"What's your plan with all of this?" Zelena asked. "And don't tell me you just want to go back to Oz. I am not buying it, neither is Regina."
"Where is your sister this morning?"
"None of your business."
"So she is with the sheriff is she? Those two certainly didn't waste time. I am guessing that Emma is indeed Regina's true love and that she was able to break the curse?" Cora said. She had been smiling at Zelena the entire time and it wasn't something Zelena liked being on the receiving end of.
Zelena studied her mother for a moment. "You didn't put up any fight in giving Regina that ring back."
"As I said, that would have been pointless," Cora said dismissively. She took a few steps away from the barrier, no longer facing Zelena directly.
"No, you didn't say that. You said you were being agreeable because you wanted something from us," Zelena said. Her mind was processing their talk from the day before. It's not as if she hadn't thought about it all night but now seeing Cora and how relaxed and at ease she was Zelena realized that whatever her mother had planned it was already underway.
"I haven't hidden what I want," Cora said. "I want to go back to Oz, despite what you might think. There is clearly nothing here for me."
"What about Regina and I? Are we not enough as usual," Zelena said.
Again Cora looked at her with a smile. "Does that mean you and Regina want me to stay? Do you really think that the town people here would allow that? Will they even allow you to remain here? I don't think so."
Like the day before everything about this felt wrong to Zelena. Her mother wasn't being honest. She stepped away from the barrier, trying to do what she hadn't been able to do all night – put herself in Cora's shoes and think this through. She was trapped there in Storybrooke without Regina's or Zelena's help. To go home to the Enchanted Forest would be a death sentence for her. Would Oz be the only way out? No, Zelena rejected that thought. If Oz was where Cora said she wanted to be it was probably the last place she wanted to be, which meant she must want to be right where she was at. But why?
Why give Regina back her heart? Why give up that control of the one thing she could have used as a weapon against the citizens of Storybrooke? Why give Regina back the ring? Except she hadn't given Regina back the ring, she had given it to Emma so Emma could presumably give Regina the ring and break the curse.
"You wanted Emma to break the curse," Zelena said.
When she saw her mother's smile widen, she knew she was right.
"And she did. I felt it," Cora said. "Neither she nor I are immortal."
"Why would you do something that gave up your immortality?" Zelena said.
"A small price to pay for your sister losing hers," Cora said.
Realization spread across Zelena's features. She didn't say anything, she merely transported on the spot.
Regina woke to the comfort of Emma's arm around her. She let herself lay there and enjoy the feeling for nearly 30 minutes before she decided she needed to use the bathroom. She began to move, causing Emma to mumble something that may have been "stay."
Regina turned around and gave Emma a small kiss on the lips. "I will be right back."
She got up, putting on a robe before disappearing into the bathroom. She spent a small amount of time making herself look a little more presentable before coming back out again. Emma had her eyes open now, and merely patted the bed next to her, "Come back," she said.
With a smile, Regina walked over to the bed. "We do have things to attend to today, not the least of which is me getting to see Henry," she said.
"It's still early," Emma protested. "A little more bed time isn't going to hurt anything."
"Why do I get the feeling that this is going to become a reoccurring theme?"
"Bed," Emma said. "It's calling to you. It's saying, it's much too early to be up. Besides the kid inherited my sleeping in ability so he isn't even going to be up yet. It gives us more time to cuddle."
Regina shook her head but still ended up dropping her robe and slipping back into bed.
"Better," Emma said giving her a kiss.
She only got the one kiss before Emma laid back down and closed her eyes. If she didn't look so cute lying there, Regina might have been upset.
Regina rolled back on her side and Emma resumed her previous spoon-like position. As they laid there Regina thought about how things were going to change for her. She had done it – she had found her love once more. With the curse broken she no longer had too worry about the years stretching out in front of her for an eternity. But she still had the matter of her mother and the fact that Zelena had changed the time line to deal with. They would have to reset things, of that Regina had no doubt, but now she realized they needed to do it in a way that kept Emma's memories in tact. She wasn't going to lose her true love when the time line reset and time itself began again in Storybrooke.
She felt hopeful that these were not insurmountable issues. For once she was looking forward to the future. Even as she thought it, she saw the ring on the bedside stand where she had left it the night before. She reached over and took it in her hand once more.
She sat there staring at it, longer than what she realized.
"Are you thinking of Daniel?" Emma asked. She had propped herself up without Regina even noticing as she had been so focused.
"Yes," Regina said. Then she turned to look at Emma again. "Does that bother you?"
"Not at all," Emma said. "I get it. He was your first love. Just like Neal was my first love. You don't forget someone like that."
"I remember what it was like when he gave me this ring in both timelines. I remember being so happy and thinking we had our whole lives ahead of each other. Now when I look at it, I still think of those things, but I also think of you and how against all odds you found this. You found it and you brought it to me, just like all the tales that the bards would sing during Unity Days. You did that. You brought back a symbol of love that I held so dear and when I look at it, I will always think of you."
She gave her another kiss.
"Are you going to put it on?" Emma asked.
Regina held it between two fingers, looking at it.
"Regina! Emma!"
They both heard Zelena yelling from downstairs and were out of bed, trying their best to put some clothes on. Neither were dressed by the time Zelena was pounding on the door.
"Hold on," Regina said.
"Are you ok?" Zelena asked.
"Yes, why?"
She may have imagined hearing a sigh of relief coming from her sister on the other side of the door.
"I thought … I went and saw Cora this morning," Zelena said. "She said some things that had me worried."
"Alright. Go downstairs, we will be down in a moment," Regina said.
"Guess we should see what your mother is up to now," Emma said.
"I don't trust her," Regina said.
"Nor should you."
They both finished getting dressed, Emma being much quicker than Regina. Emma was at the door waiting for Regina who was putting on her shoes. Once finished Regina stood and took a step toward the door before stopping. She turned and picked up Daniel's ring off of the bedside table where she had sat it when Zelena had interrupted them. She looked once more at it before slipping it on her finger.
The moment it was fully on, Regina gasped. By the time she looked from the ring to Emma's now concerned face, Regina knew it was too late.
….
"Zelena!" Emma yelled as she rushed over to where Regina had collapsed on the bedroom floor. She knelt beside her even as Regina's skin began to take an almost grey-like pallor.
"Regina," Emma said touching her arm and then her face. Her skin felt cold. She leaned over, trying to hear or feel if she was breathing because by the looks alone she wasn't. When she detected no breath, Emma began CPR.
Zelena burst into the room but Emma barely paid her any mind at first as she concentrated on the CPR. She breathed into Regina's mouth, praying that it would cause her to breathe, but nothing.
"Call for an ambulance," Emma said as she started compressions again.
But Zelena just stood there looking down at her sister.
"Zelena, now!" Emma said giving Regina another breath.
She heard Zelena in the background calling for an ambulance and she could only hope that if she couldn't get Regina breathing again, the EMTs could.
She continued administering the CPR even as she felt like too much time was passing.
"Emma," Zelena said. "She's gone."
"No she isn't," Emma said, again doing another around of compressions.
"This is a spell," Zelena said. "A death spell. I've seen this before. There isn't anything that can be done."
Somehow Emma knew Zelena spoke the truth, but she wasn't about to give up. This wasn't the Enchanted Forest. This wasn't some magical world. They had medicine here; things that could heal her.
She kept the CPR going even as Zelena left the room to lead the EMTs up. Once they arrived, one of the paramedics took over and Emma was forced to stand and move back so they could work. She stood there next to Zelena, her eyes never leaving Regina.
When the paramedics stopped Emma was about to ask them what the hell they thought they were doing. In fact she had taken a step toward one, ready to grab and force him to begin CPR once more when the man looked at her and said, "I'm sorry, she's gone."
"No," Emma said. She felt a hand on her shoulder and she batted it away. "No," she said again.
Time seemed to stop. The words 'she's gone' echoed in her mind.
The EMTs draped a blanket over Regina's body and said something about notifying the coroner before exiting the room.
"How is this possible? She was just here. She was right there in that bed and …and she was happy," Emma said. "She was happy."
"What happened?" Zelena asked.
"I don't know. She … she um put on the ring and then she just …"
Zelena bent down next to Regina's body, paused a moment before pulling the blanket back and picked up her hand that had the ring on it. She passed her hand over it and felt the residual magic. She let it go and stood back up.
"It was the ring," Zelena said. "Our mother must have put the spell on the ring so that it would activate when Regina put it on. She let you break the curse that was keeping Regina immortal knowing Regina would put the ring on eventually. She played us."
Emma was listening to Zelena but keeping her eyes on Regina.
"If this is a spell all I need to do is kiss her. True love's kiss should break the spell," Emma said.
Zelena grabbed her before Emma could actually get down on the floor.
"It won't work," Zelena said, trying to keep a hold of Emma who was struggling to free herself. "Listen to me. It won't work. This isn't a curse. It's a spell that kills. It's absolute. Nothing can bring her back."
Emma pulled away from her. She used her hand to bat the lamp off of the bedside table, sending it flying against the wall in anger.
"I'm sorry," Zelena said.
"You should be sorry," Emma said. "You are the one responsible for this. You and your selfish plan. Tell me Zelena, is it working out like you hoped? I mean you got what you originally wanted, your sister dead. Well there she is!"
Zelena knew Emma was lashing out at her because of her anger, but she also felt the full weight of those words as well. This was her responsibility. Her sister, her little sister was dead because of her. She thought about all the times they had played together as kids. Regina following her around wherever she went. She thought about the first time she watched as their father helped Regina onto a horse for her first riding lesson or the time Regina came running to tell her about her first kiss with Daniel.
It seemed impossible to her now that Regina was dead.
She was no longer even paying attention to Emma who was still raging until Emma was suddenly in her face.
"Cora did this," Emma said. "And it's past time she pays for what she has done in this life and the one before it."
Zelena merely nodded, unable to even muster a response at this point.
"Take me to her," Emma said.
….
Zelena and Emma appeared in the mausoleum, with Emma wasting no time going up to the barrier where Cora stood with a smile on her face.
"Is the honeymoon over so quickly my dear?" Cora asked.
"You killed her."
"I did," Cora said.
Zelena watched as Emma's magic flared up and the barrier dropped. She was astonished when Emma used her magic to throw Cora up against the back wall, pinning her against it. She had thought Emma's use of magic was rudimentary at best, but with the emotions that were flowing through her currently Emma was able to use her magic toward a purpose. For a second, Zelena thought of Regina and how she too did her most powerful magic when she let her emotions rule her.
"Why?" Emma was asking Cora. "Why couldn't you just let her be happy? She was your daughter."
"She was a disappointment," Cora hissed.
Emma used her magic to begin choking Cora and Zelena moved quickly to stop her, pulling her away.
"What did you do that for?" Emma yelled at her.
"Regina wouldn't want this."
"The hell she wouldn't. She tried to kill her once before."
"I wasn't referring to that. I meant you; she wouldn't want you doing this. You are the savior so let's not pretend that you are a killer. You don't have it in you."
"I am pretty sure I do," Emma said knocking her out of the way and using her magic again to cut off Cora's air supply.
Emma was past the point of reason so Zelena did the only thing she could – she used her own magic to block Emma's magic. As she did it, Emma's magic almost busted through it and Zelena got a feel for exactly how powerful Emma could be. Cora fell to the ground trying to catch her breath and Emma came toward her, but Zelena put a barrier up between them.
"Lower it," Emma said.
"No," Zelena said. "I am not going to let you do this."
"She killed her!"
"I know. Do you think I am not aware of what she has done? Do you think I am not angry about it as well? I want nothing more than to see her suffer right now, but I won't let you do this. Regina would not want you doing this, so I won't let you. Leave her to me. I won't carry around the guilt and shame that you would if you did this. I am not a good person, but you Emma, you are," Zelena said. "Regina saw that in you and it made her want to be better for you. Don't ruin that. Now go. It won't be long before it gets around town that Regina is dead and you do not want your son hearing it from anyone else."
Emma had looked as if she was going to ignore Zelena until she mentioned Henry. She took a step back and then looked from Cora to Zelena. "Just keep her locked up here for now," Emma said with a hint of resignation.
"I will," Zelena said.
Emma left and Zelena expanded the barrier back to its original place. She stood on the outside of it, watching her mother as she recovered from almost having the life choked out of her.
"You are also mortal now," Zelena said to her. "You might want to keep that in mind."
"Do you think death scares me?" Cora responded.
"Yes I do. Growing up you were always on the search for an immortality spell. You said wanted it because you want to rule forever. But it wasn't about ruling, it was about fear," Zelena said. "You fear death. Look at you. You even found a spell to make you young once again so that you wouldn't have to look in the mirror and see your older self – a self that seems closer to death. Then you dragged Regina into that immortality. You cursed your own daughter to live years and years past the time she should have died, and for what? Was it because she hurt your pride when she bested you on the battlefield? And now you kill her as if it was nothing to you. How? With your heart back in your chest, how could you be so callous?"
"Are you quite finished my dear?" Cora asked.
"Don't think because I stopped Emma from killing you that I have any qualms about seeing you dead."
"We both know you aren't going to kill me," Cora smiled. "You need me."
"How so?"
"If time travel were easy, it would be done more often. I can only imagine the amount of magic it takes. You accomplished it once before, but I can't imagine you can do it again – not without some assistance, some magical assistance. Now with Regina dead, you need me and my magic. We both know you won't kill me because time travel is the only way to bring your sister back to life. Tell me you haven't already considered it, even in this brief amount of time."
Zelena took a step backward. Her mother was right, she had already let the thought enter her mind – that she could fix this, she could have Regina back if she activated the time portal again.
Cora saw the look on Zelena's face and knew she had guessed correctly. As much as her daughters complained about their upbringing, they always seemed to discount how well their mother knew them. She took a step closer to the barrier, touching it to bring Zelena's attention back to her.
"I will help you bring your sister back to life," Cora said. "But this time, I travel back in time with you. I will be the one to speak to my younger self and this time I will craft our futures. Like I said yesterday when Regina asked what I wanted – I want us to be family."
