Chapter 12

The Whole Story

"Remi, honey, I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere."

"You...you left us."

"Where did I go, Remi?"

"You...died."

In the Kitchen

A Few Hours Later

Regina leaned on the counter sipping her morning coffee in silence as she watched the love of her life and their daughter sitting at the dining room table in total silence. Emma had a full cup of coffee in front of her that had long gone cold. Her gaze was fixated on the table in front of her, clearly lost within her own thoughts. Remi pushed her food around on her plate but had not put a single bite in her mouth. The Mayor's mind raced with scenarios as to what it could be that will take her Savior away from her. All of these scenarios led to one conclusion: Cora.

"Remi, sweetheart, I think that it's time you tell us the whole story as to what happens to your Ma." Regina says softly.

This caught Emma's attention as she looked up from the table to her teenage daughter. For a moment, their eyes locked and there the blonde could see it again, that inner demon trying so hard to be the victor once again. The pain and the memories and the rage…all too familiar to Emma herself.

"You know the story of how I was put into the portal and sent to this world as a child?" Emma asked Remi.

"Of course. Everyone in the Enchanted Forest grows up hearing the stories of the Savior and the Queen and True Love." Remi answered.

"Then, it's time you knew the rest of the story. I grew up in what is called foster care. That is when I moved from place to place and stayed with different families. They were supposed to feed me and clothe me and care for me and a few of them did just that, however most of them did the opposite. Abuse is a common thing in the system. Mental, physical, emotional, sexual, just about every type of abuse there is. And I have endured every type at one home or another. They let me wear clothes that were too small or too big and the money that was supposed to be used to buy me clothes went right into the pockets of those that were meant to care for me. I have been beaten so badly that I had to miss school for weeks at a time so that I could have time for the marks to heal. I have been hit in the face, the legs, the back with almost any and every object you can imagine. The one that hurt the worst was the extension cord. It also left the worst marks." Emma looked at Regina as this was the extension of the conversation they were having the previous night. "I had it rough very early on and I didn't have a single person looking out for me. Not one. I was all alone in the world and I thought I would be that way forever. But now I have your mom and Henry and eventually I will have you. I was so angry at my parents for so long because I was under the impression that they just threw me away. I thought that they didn't want me and that I was given up so that their lives would be easier. At one point, I remember thinking to myself that the abuse was a punishment for not being good enough for anybody, including my parents. Now I know that it had nothing to do with my punishment and everything to do with the fact that monsters walk around every single day with the disguise of a regular person like me and you. I was so damn mad for so long. I didn't have friends or family so I didn't have anyone that I could talk to about it. That is why I turned to music. Music gave me a way to express my feelings of anger or sadness or rage or agony. The point is, you and are not so different but at the same time our situations are completely opposite. I see that there are demons in you that you must fight every single day just like me. I see the pain and the agony and the rage just like I had. I see the memories that you try so hard to bury because they are just too painful to remember just like me. But, unlike me, you do have people here for you. You have me and your mom and Henry. You have your grandparents and your uncle. And I have no idea what would cause me to put myself in a situation where I could lose my family, but I know it had to be for a damn good reason. What I need to know from you is why. Why in the hell did I do that?"

Regina wiped the escaped tears from her cheeks. The raw honesty, the courage that took, the pain of expressing those words aloud…Emma Swan was the love of her life and she wanted to cause unspeakable amounts of pain to those that had caused her such turmoil in her life.

"Cora Mills killed you. She took your heart right out of your chest and crushed it right in front of me and Mom and Henry." Remi began. "I was eight and I thought that I had trained enough and knew enough to join in the fight against Cora. You kept telling me that my time would come but it just wasn't now. I couldn't understand why you could fight, and mom could fight, and Henry could fight but I couldn't. It wasn't fair. I got so mad at you that I snuck out of the house one night and planned to join the next wave of soldiers that were planning their attack on the castle. As we were marching through the woods, and suddenly a purple cloud of smoke appeared right behind me. I felt someone grab hold of my arms and then the next thing I knew I was at the castle with her. She tried to break me just as she has tried many other times in the past. But I would not budge. She wanted to know where you were hiding us. She said that she has her ways of finding the information that she needs and that she would soon find out. She struck me, locked me in the dungeon, chained me to the floor. Once you realized I was missing you did a tracker spell to find me. The three of you fought for a good while but then she got the upper hand when mom was knocked unconscious. When she came to, she saw Cora's hand deep in your chest. She tried to get to you, but Cora had put a barrier around the two of you. She made sure we were all watching as she ripped your heart out of your chest and crushed it." A tear ran down the younger girl's cheek. "So, you see, I am not mad at you for dying. I hate myself for getting you killed. It's all my fault, Ma. You died because I was so stupid and reckless. If I had just listened to you and mom, you would still be with us. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Tears streaked freely down her face now. Sobs wracked her entire body. She shook with every sob. Emma rushed to her side and held her as she cried. She whispered that it was not her fault and that she was not stupid or reckless. Meanwhile all Regina could do was watch. Fury was building within her as she thought on what her mother would be doing to her love yet again. She would not stand for this. She would not let this happen. Come hell or high water, Cora Mills would not be taking Emma away from her. There was no way in hell this was going to happen. She would not allow it. She finally had her happy ending and nobody and nothing was going to be taking it away from her.