It happened quickly at first, like a bolt of lightning touching earth. Her first breath was jagged and unnerving, a sudden revival of dormancy. For a few seconds, Regina didn't know where she was, the light so bright it was dizzying. She soon felt a warm embrace melt through her confusion, an embrace that could only come from one person- her son.
"I can't believe you're back," Roland said, exasperated, "I can't believe you're back."
Regina hugged him tightly in return, allowing the familiarity of it all to sink in. Looking around the room, she noticed Emma and Snow peering down at her, both with relieved expressions on their faces.
"How... how long was I gone?" She began, the sound of her own voice disorienting at first. Her mind began backtracking to the last thing she remembered- then, all the terrible things flooded back through her like a tidal wave, overwhelming her senses. "Robin and Caroline, are they-"
"You've been out for three weeks," Emma interrupted, warily facing her next question. "And... they're both still in the Enchanted Forest. We were able to make contact with them a few days ago. They were going against the Sorceress who wanted Caroline's powers- whatever happened, they aren't there anymore. Rumple said he sensed a portal activated in his castle. We... aren't sure where they are now. But, considering the fact that Zelena was after the ingredients for a time travel portal..."
Regina could feel her heartbeat quicken, rapidly recalling that night with Zelena. There was so much rage in her, such uncontrolled anger radiating from every fiber of her being. She knew that feeling well.
"Robin will keep her safe," Snow reassured, "they'll find a way to come back."
All the worries swirling around in her head would have sent her flailing off into oblivion if it weren't for Roland's embrace tethering her down. She gave him a fervent squeeze before pulling back so she could look him up and down.
"You've had to hold down the home all this time," she said, the pain in his eyes easy to detect, "I don't know how you did it."
He glanced up towards Emma and Snow, sending them a fast smile. "Everyone was there to help. Emma and Tink found the spell to save you."
Regina gave them both a look of sincerity. "You have no idea how grateful I am for you two. Thanks for getting me out of there, Snow."
Happiness dissipated as soon as the words left her mouth. Her glance became wary. "You remember?"
Taking a breath, Regina nodded. "I do. It's weird, I feel like that person was a total stranger, and I'm stuck with their memories."
Awkward silence fell between them. "Well we're glad you're back," Emma sincerely stated, "I'm sure everyone will love to catch up when you're ready- Henry should be here any minute."
The mention of her eldest son softened her tumultuous thoughts; yet it saddened her to know that he put his flourishing career in Toronto on hold to be by her side.
"And if you ever want to talk about those memories..." Snow began, giving her a cautious look, "I'm always here."
Regina met her glance and felt her heart tighten in response to Snow's undaunted kindness. The remnants of her eleven year old self still shone brightly within her, a steadfastness that rooted her life.
"Thank you, really."
Emma and Snow turned towards the door to leave just as Roland's dog, a stout beagle, came rushing in at a surprisingly fast rate for her age. The teenager let out a laugh as Jupiter excitedly wagged her tail at the base of the bed, anxiously waiting attention from her owner.
"She really missed you," Roland remarked, bending down to pick the beagle up and placing her in his mother's lap. Regina let out a warm smile as she scratched behind the dog's velvety ears, a routine she had become well accustomed to in the decade since adopting her. Then Regina attempted the thing she had been dreading; she swung her legs off the side of the bed and slowly came to a stand, adjusting to the new position. The feeling was odd at first, but quickly dissolved back into normalcy. It was astounding how resilient the body could be.
"I'm starving," she said, letting out a sigh, "everything sounds good amazing right now... we probably don't have any food at the house, though."
"No groceries, but lots of leftovers from Granny and Killian- he's really been into cooking lately."
The walk across the upstairs hallway and down the stairs proved uneventful- it seemed as though nothing had changed, just another day of getting ready for work and getting both kids ready for school. Yet still, flashes of darkness appeared from the corner of her eye, a shadow of doubt that reminded her of the trouble that she had helped to perpetuate. But she was alive, and reunited with her son- for that day, it was enough.
"You'll have to catch me up on everything that happened while I was gone," she said, watching him take the leftovers out of the fridge. Something about him had changed in her absence, that she was sure of.
Roland stuck a plate of Granny's lasagna into the microwave, still feeling a wave of disbelief about the whole situation. Three weeks of watching her lying motionless certainly did more to alter his reality than he ever thought possible. Having her back again made him want to push all of his past anxieties aside, including what happened with August.
"You missed a lot of stressing out and reading old spellbooks," he told her, soon presenting his mother with the lasagna. Regina eagerly took a bite, just as the front door swung open, revealing Henry, who, despite being out of breath, came rushing into the kitchen, immediately throwing his arms around his mother.
"I knew Emma and Snow could do it!" He exclaimed, squeezing her tight, "we were up for just about a week straight trying to find the right spell."
Henry had a million questions about the mysterious dream space she was trapped in, but he figured he would save the interrogation for later.
"I'm so glad you're here," Regina said with a smile, savoring his touch. "Now all we need is to figure out where Caroline and your father are and get them back home safe." She then locked eyes with Roland, suppressing all of her doubts so she could be strong for her sons, "I promise you both that I'll do everything in my power to get them back- this... whatever you want to call it between Zelena and I is going to end- I'll see to it that she never hurts anyone like she hurt Caroline."
Both brothers quickly exchanged a glance with one another as Henry took a seat at the kitchen table next to his mother.
"You do know the elephant in the room, right? That she's-"
"Cora's daughter?" Regina finished for him, annoyance rich in her voice, "I figured it out the night she trapped me in that hell. She... she wanted me to know so badly, like keeping it a secret was destroying her. It doesn't change anything, though, as far as I'm concerned I don't have a sister."
The grip she had on her fork tightened, the lasagna soon forgotten. "She'll pay for what she's done with Caroline, believe me."
For the first time since meeting her, there was no emotion behind Caroline's soft brown eyes. In the beginning, there was an undying adoration when she looked at Zelena, a passionate yearning to understand something she had never been exposed to before. That adoration transformed into hate when her secret was revealed, and that manifested itself in an icy attitude of obvious distrust. After witnessing a new side of her mother, however, all feeling seemed to extinguish entirely from within her.
Will, Robin, and Ruby were deep in a conversation about how to return back to Storybrooke up in their one room space, the uproar from the streets having long since died down. Zelena faded in and out of listening; their egregious ideas on how to get back all hit dead ends, making the whole thing seem futile. She thought about the pair of ruby slippers that were given to her in Oz, and how having them would be a perfect solution. But, like Walsh, the magical item was left behind in another time, completely unattainable.
These thoughts threatened to boil over into full fledged rage, which was why she began studying the ten year old who was sitting in a wooden chair across from her. The girl was staring off into space, detached from her surroundings. At the time, Zelena figured that she couldn't pass up the opportunity to let Caroline see the Evil Queen, the trueness of her mother's nature. Revealing her sister for the fraud that she was still thrilled her inside, but seeing how it affected the child in that moment in time countered any excitement felt. The room they were in seemed to get smaller and smaller, the words spoken becoming background noise.
"I'm going to get some air," Zelena announced, earning strange looks from her peers.
"Are we boring you?" Will shot towards her, "it's not like we're talking about anything important over here."
Standing to her feet, Zelena rolled her eyes. "Caroline, want to come with me? I could use the company."
Surprised to hear her name, Caroline glanced up at the woman.
"She's not going anywhere with you," Robin quickly interjected.
His daughter took a deep breath. "It's fine, Dad- she doesn't have her powers... I kind of want to clear my head anyways."
Her answer wasn't at all what he expected it to be. "Sweetheart, if you want to talk to us about what happened earlier, we can do that now."
"Maybe later. I think walking around will be good for me though."
Zelena couldn't help but smile smugly. Robin could sense the desperation in her voice, and knew she needed it. Still, letting his youngest child go out alone with a confirmed sociopath had to be the lowest point in his fatherhood career.
"Don't be too long," he told her, reaching forward to give her hand a squeeze that communicated everything he wanted it to- if it comes down to it, use magic.
The outside air still retained its warmth, making the nighttime feel more comforting. A few stray villagers were out walking along the streets, but almost all of the activity had been shut down for the evening.
"This is the first time we've been alone together in a while," Zelena mused, feeling victorious, "I had to get out of there for a bit."
When Caroline didn't respond right away, the redhead faced her, noticing her furrowed brow.
"We're still not friends, you know." Caroline softly said, bluntness to her voice, "I just had to get out of there too. I'm grateful you saved us from the Ice Queen, but that doesn't change what you did to my mom."
Zelena fought to find the right words- she hated how the girl made her feel. Regret wasn't an emotion she was accustomed to; everything in her life had been for the pursuit of survival, conquering all she could so no one could ever control her again. The man that raised her did everything in his power to keep her under his thumb.
"Do you want to talk about seeing her like that? As the Evil-"
"You wanted me to see her, didn't you?" Caroline shot back, keeping her eyes locked on the path in front of them, "you like seeing me mad. It makes you happy or something."
Such abruptness wasn't expected from the ten year old. When Zelena first met her, she was sweet and caring, not an ounce of abrasiveness to her genetic makeup.
"The portal was designed to go back forty years- I didn't make it that way. You would have figured it out eventually."
"Well you don't know my mom like I do," Caroline scowled, "she's changed. She's caring, and nice, and-"
"Maybe so, but that doesn't erase the past," she quickly countered, feeling her heartbeat increase. She took a deeper breath, choosing her next words a bit more carefully. "I'm simply asking if you wanted to talk about it- nothing more."
Caroline felt angry; she wanted to shout and let Zelena know how much she hurt her for what she had done. Yet the sadness of it all threatened to overcome her, making it hard to remain composed as they continued down the street.
"She... she hardly ever talked about things before Dad. I mean, I knew that all the things about her being the Evil Queen were true, but that wasn't our life. Our life is boring- school, dinner, piano lessons- everything was normal..." her voice began to tremble, causing her to stop walking and tighten her hands into fists, as if that could stop the flood of emotion. Soon there were hot tears freely flowing down her cheeks, uncontrollable and long overdue.
Zelena put a gentle hand on her shoulder, and to her surprise the girl didn't instantly pull away. Instead, she wrapped her arms tightly around her, emitting broken sobs and feeling lower than she had ever been. Zelena found herself hugging Caroline back, the closeness warm and comforting. Neither of them knew how much time they stood there in silence, the cold slowly setting in around them.
"They're probably wondering where we are," Caroline eventually said, wiping her face with the back of her hand. She let her grip around Zelena slacken, the warmth quickly succumbing to the chilly air.
The jealousy that resided within her only increased with every step she took- whether Regina deserved it or not, the unconditional love of a child was something so pure. She knew the ten year old's affection was fleeting, but it still made her feel like she was on cloud nine.
A fun comparison can be made with the end of chapter 12 if y'all want to check that out :) Zelena really has come a long way since then!
