A few weeks later...
The whole family had gathered at the hospital since Henry was in a coma. Zelena was extremely worried for her son since Emma was supposed to be in his place. She knew she couldn't keep lying anymore and she couldn't keep the curse from breaking now as Emma had started to believe. There was no going back now and everything she and Cora had worked so hard for would be ruined.
Regina sat by Henry's hospital bed and held his hand. She was so worried for her nephew and hoped he would be okay. She stood up as Emma and Zelena entered the hospital room and went outside to get some air.
Suddenly the machines Henry was attached to started beating rapidly and then his heartbeat flattened. Emma and Zelena both started crying. "I love you, Henry" Emma sobbed and kissed his forehead.
A bold of light magic engulfed the room and started to engulf the whole town. Regina gasped when the memories hit her. Her mother, Robin, the twins, the curse. The curse! It was broken. She needed to find her family. The young brunette ran through town and stopped in the middle of Mainstreet when Robin and the twins came running in her direction.
"Mama!" The twins said in unison and ran into her arms. Regina got teary eyed as she held her children close to her and stroked their curls carefully. She couldn't believe they had been seperated for so long.
"Regina" Robin said and kissed his wife passionately and held her and the twins close as he also started crying. He was so happy to have her back.
Meanwhile at the hospital Henry had woken up and smiled at Emma. He was happy the curse was broken. They had done it. He got dressed and left the hospital with Emma to find their family.
Zelena had disappeared as had Cora. But they all knew it wouldn't last.
Snow and David had found each other again and walked up to Regina and Robin and hugged them. They also hugged their friends when suddenly Emma and Henry walked up to them. Snow was so happy to see her daughter. But Emma was all grown up. She had missed everything. "Emma...you found us." She said and got teary eyed as she hugged her daughter and stroked her hair.
Emma wasn't sure how to react. She suddenly had parents. She had always wanted this but she didn't expect her parents to be younger than her.
David started crying as he held his daughter close. Emma was all grown up. But he was glad they had eachother now.
Now they just needed to find their way back home.
"Mother, we need to do something. We can't just hide in here forever. Snow and Regina need to pay." Zelena pointed out frustrated as she sat in her mother's vault with her.
"Patience, my love. Rumple will bring magic into this town and then we will be unstoppable. They will pay." Cora answered and stroked Zelena's auburn hair carefully. "And you will get your son back. " she added and smiled. She was confident even now that they would win. It made her sick to see Regina so happy with her little family. She needed to stop this.
"What I don't understand is why do you hate Regina now? She was always your favourite. What changed?" Zelena said confused and looked at her mother with her big blue eyes.
Cora sighed. "Let's just say her mother and I have a history. One that isn't so pretty. Her mother Eva took something really important from me." She explained to her daughter. "I may have liked her as a child but she is too much like her mother. You are my favourite, Zelena. Don't ever doubt that. You have never disappointed me unlike your sisters." She said and then got up to get herself a drink.
Zelena felt like there was much more to the story but she wouldn't ask her mother again. She knew she wouldn't get answers anyway. She wouldn't push her mother as it would only end badly. She was just happy for now that she had her mother's love and approval.
"Mama, I'm hungry " Roland said as he finally let go of his mother and looked at her with his big brown eyes and his cute dimpled smile that was just like his father's.
Regina smiled and ruffled his hair. "Then let's go to Granny's and after that we can go home." She said though she wasn't exactly sure where exactly home was now. She wouldn't go back to the mansion but she actually had no idea where exactly Robin lived.
Robin sensed something was off. "Yeah we will go home. We live in a small house but it's enough for us. It's certainly more comfortable than living in the woods." He told her and smiled. He kissed her cheek and took her hand as they walked to Granny's. The curse was broken but it still felt like they were trapped.
After lunch Regina went home with Robin and the twins. She was so curious where and how they had spent the last 28 years without her. As she entered the house with them she smiled since it was clear Robin had dedicated his life to the twins. There were toys everywhere and the twins had a really nice bedroom. It was the perfect home for them.
"What do you think, love?" He asked her and smiled as he stroked her shoulder length hair carefully.
"It's perfect. " she said and kissed his cheek happily. In the Enchanted Forest she had never really felt at home after her mother started to be so cruel and cold towards her. She still wondered what exactly she had done wrong to deserve all this. However, now she had her family back and could be truly happy with them.
"Mama, look at all my dolls " Raelyn said and pulled on her mother's shirt. Regina smiled and went to play with her children. She had missed this so much. She didn't need anything else. Only her children and Robin. She just hoped her mother and Zelena would leave them alone now. She stroked Rae's long blonde hair and let her show her all of her dolls. She remembered having similiar dolls as a little girl. Her father usually brought her dolls whenever he went away on business trips and her mother kept up the tradition until the accident happened and everything changed between them.
"So what exactly is your plan, Mother? How do we get rid of Regina and Snow?" Zelena asked her mother curiously.
Cora smirked. "With a little help from the Dark One. With his dagger we can control him and he will kill the thief and the prince. Regina and Snow will lose everything. " she explained and laughed. She was going to win this time. She would ruin everything Regina loved. Just like her mother had done to her.
"Hello, dear" Cora said as she appeared in front of Regina.
"Mother...what do you want?" Regina asked scared as she looked at her mother. She started shaking as her heart started racing.
"Mama?" Raelyn asked and looked at Regina and Cora.
"Rae, go to daddy. " Regina told her daughter and waited until the little girl had left the room. She glared at her mother. "What do you want?" She repeated in a bitter tone.
"Why so hateful? I come bearing gifts " she said and smirked. She waved her hand and a blanket appeared in her hand.
Regina frowned. "My baby blanket? What is the meaning of this?" She demanded. She was getting really annoyed with her mother.
"This is just a reminder where you came from. You can't deny it even if you want to hate me we both know you can't. You never could. Not even when I treated you like trash. You may have run away from me but you can never escape me. I'm your mother. Don't ever forget that." She explained to her and cupped her cheek coldly. Regina shivered at the cold touch. She really didn't understand why her mother was doing all of this.
She had no time to progress all of this as Cora disappeared again in a puff of purple smoke. Regina needed to go to Snow and discuss a plan to stop their mother and Zelena.
Rumple was dying from the poison Hook had injected into his heart. He needed to stop this.
Snow came to him. "Cora needs to be stopped. There has to be a way to get my mother back. She was kind before. She can be like that again can't she?" She asked him.
"Her heart. It's not beating in her chest. She has ripped it out long ago when you were children. " He explained weakly.
"The accident..." Snow concluded. Her mother had changed so drastically after Regina's accident at the lake. "She ripped it out after almost losing Regina. But why?" She asked confused.
"Your mother and Regina's mother have a history. Cora always loved Henry but then he chose Eva. Cora couldn't bear loving Eva's child. It was a weakness for her so she ripped her own heart out. " He continued to explain.
Snow was shocked. "My mother knew Regina's mother? " she asked shocked and confused.
He nodded. "In the cabinet there is a candle. Hold it over Cora's heart and say her name three times. Then give the heart back to her. She will be able to love you and Regina again." He told her.
Snow frowned. "Why are you doing this? " She asked confused.
"Let's just say I also have a complicated history with your mother. " He said.
Snow nodded and went to the vault with the candle. She found Cora's heart and lid the candle.
Regina came to the vault after getting a call from David. She was worried about Snow. "Snow? What are you doing?" She asked her sister.
"Mother she doesn't have her heart. That's why she treated you so badly for all of these years. But she can love us again if we put her heart back." She explained to her little sister.
Zelena also entered the vault as someone had her mother's heart. She was surprised when she learned her mother had ripped it out. "What are you two doing here? You have no right " she growled as she saw her sisters. She grabbed the box with their mother's heart from Snow.
"Zelena, she needs her heart back. She never loved us or you. She can't love you. But if you put her heart back she can be the mother we all want. " Snow explained to her sister.
Zelena sighed. Snow was right. Her mother never truly loved her. Not after the accident. The accident that had been all her fault. If she hadn't taken Regina and Snow to the lake that day none of this would have happened.
They headed for Gold's Shop with the heart to stop Cora. The older woman stood over Rumple, holding the dagger, ready to kill him and take his powers.
Zelena walked up to her and put the heart in her mother's chest. Cora gasped as all her feelings suddenly came back. She looked at her daughters and smiled genuinely at them for the first time in years but then she collapsed.
"Mother!" Regina said and rushed to her mother, holding her in her arms.
"What's happening?" Zelena demanded from Rumple
"The candle. It wasn't to turn her good, was it? The poison Hook used on you is going to kill her, isn't it?" Snow realized and looked at her mother.
Regina shoke her head. It couldn't happen. She couldn't lose her mother now that she had her heart back.
"I...I love you. All of you." Cora said weakly as she looked at her daughters. She then closed her eyes.