By horseback, the young woman soon met the stable boy named Daniel in a field and she came off of the horse to greet him.
"I thought we could take a ride to Firefly Hill," Daniel smiled hopefully at the woman. "We can make it by sundown, have a picnic-"
"I can't. I have to be back in an hour; tea time," The young woman told Daniel. "A lady never misses her tea time."
"This is absurd. Stealing kisses between lunch and tea?" Daniel sighed at her. "When are you going to tell your parents about us?"
"It's not my parents. It's her." The young woman replied, referring to her mother.
"I don't understand. So, I work in the stables," Daniel replied. "She started out as the daughter of a miller. Wouldn't she, of all people, understand?" he then asked.
"She does, but... But, she thinks one's trajectory needs to keep moving up and-" The young woman tried to explain to the man who was clearly her true love.
"And I'm down." Daniel said softly.
"She believes that, Daniel," The young woman gently retorted. "I know better."
"Regina, tell her. She'll get over it," Daniel replied. "What can she do?"
Regina? Why did this random woman have the same name as Evie's mother?
"Have you not seen her magic?" Regina reminded Daniel. "Th-The real question is, what can't she do?"
"Who cares about magic? True love is the most powerful magic of all. It can overcome anything." Daniel coaxed.
But then suddenly, before anything else could be said or done, a distressed voice could be heard calling for help. "Help!"
"Shh. Someone's here." Regina shushed nervously before the two looked over to see a young girl with skin as white as snow with hair as black as ebony who flew past them on a very out-of-control horse.
"Somebody, help me!" The girl cried out.
Regina soon left Daniel without another word and got on the horse to chase after the distressed girl.
"Come on, please, stop! Help me!" The girl cried out, fearing for her life. "Help! Help me! Please help me!"
The young woman called Regina soon chased after the girl on the runaway horse on her own horse and soon held out her hand to the girl, going to help her out. "Give me your hand!" she soon told the girl.
The girl soon wasted no time in hesitating as she took the woman's hand and soon was pulled onto the other horse. The other horse continued to run as Regina brought her horse to a stop as the girl soon came off of the horse with the woman who had assisted her.
"It's okay, dear," Regina comforted the poor girl. "You're safe."
"You saved my life." The girl said with a small smile. She looked very familiar, almost like the younger version of a friendly face who had hope deep within her heart and soul.
"Are you alright?" Regina asked the poor girl.
"Yes, but I'll never ride again." The girl replied, still afraid of her experience.
"Nonsense. The only way to overcome fear is to face it," Regina replied, giving her some almost maternal advice. "To get back on that horse as soon as possible."
The girl looked soft before she beamed warmly. "Thank you." she then said.
"Regina." The woman then introduced herself to the girl.
"I'm Snow. Snow White." The girl said before hugging the woman.
"Evie? Evie? You awake?" A new voice suddenly asked.
Evie groaned and grunted before she sat up suddenly, gasping and panting.
"Whoa... You okay?" Melody asked her friend who was lying down on a mattress on the floor.
"Huh? Melody?" Evie asked before looking over and rubbed her eyes a bit. "Morning already?"
"Uh, yeah," Melody said with a small smile. "You were knocked out and seemed to be saying something about snow in your sleep. "Did you dream it was snowing?"
"Uh... Maybe..." Evie replied bashfully with a shrug. "You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Melody said with a nod. "Say, how about we get some breakfast with Grandpa? I think he's making pancakes on a school day."
Evie gave a small smile to Melody before they headed out of the latter girl's room and they went down to the kitchen to follow the scent of breakfast. Evie continued to wonder more and more about these strange dreams and would try to find out what was going on with her brain as it was really interesting and confusing at the same time.
"Evie? Do you want some more syrup?" Mr. Summerfield soon asked the girl.
"Huh?" Evie blinked as she looked pretty exhausted. "Uh... No thanks, Mr. Summerfield."
Melody's grandfather merely nodded before he respected her choice before he went to get his drink from the kitchen, having a cup of coffee for himself while the girls would have apple juice and milk.
"So, what happened last night?" Evie then asked Melody. "Why didn't you save me from what happened?"
"Oh, you mean when Mal made you play Seven Minutes in Hell?" Melody asked then.
"Well, obviously." Evie rolled her eyes slightly.
"Heh... Well... I-I can explain..." Melody chuckled sheepishly.
"Please do." Evie said with slanted eyes.
"Well... I was about to save you..." Melody began to defend herself.
"Uh-huh..." Evie nodded and crossed her arms.
"Well... It's like this... You see... After the door shut..." Melody then said bashfully as she began to tell Evie what happened after the "game" had started.
"Mal! How could you do that?" Melody complained to the dark girl. "Evie is my friend!"
"Well, too bad for you, huh?" Mal rolled her eyes with her hands on her hips before she smirked at the dark-haired girl.
"Why do you have to be so mean to everyone?" Melody then decided to ask.
"WHAT?!" Mal then asked firmly.
Everyone else in the room then gasped in shock as Melody had done something that was seen as suicidal by the other teenagers.
"I don't remember what much happened after that..." Melody then narrated as she bit her lip. "I remember mostly trying to run away and get some help... But then I ran into someone who distracted me."
"Lemme guess; that boy Alex I saw you with last night as the party ended?" Evie asked with a knowing look on her face.
Melody looked a bit shy and nervous about answering that question then.
"I'll take that as a yes," Evie rolled her eyes before smirking. "So glad to see I'm so important to you, Mel-Mel."
"I said sorry, okay?" Melody defended as she blushed. "I really did try to save you!"
"Uh-huh..." Evie replied sarcastically. "Sure."
"I did!" Melody retorted. "Alex has nothing to do with this! Really!"
"Say, who's Alex?" Mr. Summerfield asked as he came by with his cup of coffee.
"No one!" Melody squeaked nervously to her grandfather before she suddenly ran off.
Mr. Summerfield looked over in slight concern to his granddaughter.
"Oh, she's got it bad." Evie then said, smirking to herself a bit.
"What?" Mr. Summerfield asked, still concerned. "What has she got?"
"Isn't it obvious, Mr. Summerfield?" Evie replied before she made a kissy face and goo-goo eyes to tease her friend a little as she clasped her hands together. "Melody's in love~"
"Melody? In love?" Mr. Summerfield blinked curiously.
Eventually, Melody came back and apologized several times to Evie to apologize about leaving like she did and trying to get to know a cute boy better rather than helping her friend in need. Evie felt unsure about forgiving Melody, but she knew that sooner or later that she would since Melody was a very nice girl and not toxic, unlike probably Mal who seemed to only want to scare people away and pick on them, even those she said were her friends like Jay or Carlos. It didn't help that Evie was a personal target on Mal's hit list and it was hard to figure out what to do next from that. Soon, the girls finished their breakfast and went to go off to school for the day.
"Have a good day, girls!" Mr. Summerfield smiled from the door as he sipped his coffee as the girls walked off together to the school.
"See ya later, Grandfather!" Melody called out as she walked with Evie on the way to school.
"Bye, Mr. Summerfield, thanks!" Evie added.
"So long, girls!" Mr. Summerfield nodded from the door. "Stay out of trouble and have a good day!'
"We will!" The girls promised as they continued off together.
Mr. Summerfield waved them off as he took one final cup of coffee before he sighed and chuckled to himself, hearing about his granddaughter being in love. "Let's see, now... Oh, who could the lucky boy be?" he then commented to himself, seeming to be proud for Melody even if a little protective since he raised her from fancy after her parents "disappeared" after she was born on his way back inside the house.
The girls then walked off together.
"Mind if I take a quick stop at the elementary school?" Evie asked her friend. "I'm sure Mom brought him there, but I wanna make sure that Henry got to school okay."
"Sure, alright." Melody nodded as she understood that just fine.
"Thanks, Mel." Evie smiled in approval.
"Sure thing, Evie." Melody smiled back.
"By the way, you go swimming again?" Evie smirked.
"Oh, uh, maybe I can sneak some in next weekend," Melody replied quietly before chuckling. "You know I can't help it. I just love the water."
"I know you do," Evie replied. "Why don't you talk about your father going on The Swim Team? I think you'd do just fine on there."
"It does feel tempting, but I might need some help in telling him," Melody said with a sigh. "I love my grandfather and he loves me, but he can be very stern sometimes."
"Families kinda feel like that when you're in them," Evie nodded. "Especially with Henry and I and how Mom can be with us."
"Yeah, your mom can be a real Ice Queen sometimes," Melody strongly agreed. "Erm... No offense of course."
"No, no, that's okay... I just sometimes I wish I had someone else to talk about the situation with Mom at this day in age," Evie reassured with a nod. "Now I don't really have anyone to talk to about it. Henry's too young even if he sees Mom as The Evil Queen and that Ms. Blanchard is Snow White." she then stopped as that made her go wide-eyed and she was suddenly thinking about her strange recurring dream, though zoned out as she still wasn't sure.
"Well, maybe you can talk to Graham about it, huh?" Melody then suggested before she saw Evie zoning out and out of focus. "...Evie, are you listening to me?"
Evie didn't answer right away even though she was breathing and her eyes were open.
"Evie!" Melody then called out before waving her arms in the air and did a bit of jumping around suddenly.
"Oh... Uh... S-Sorry... My mind was elsewhere again." Evie then said bashfully.
"Man, you're having a lot of trouble today," Melody commented. "Did last night bother you so much? I mean... Not that being trapped in a closet with bear traps would be pleasant for anybody, but-"
"I-It's okay... Just something personal..." Evie then said as she rubbed her eyes a bit wearily.
"Well... Okay, but you better hope that Deley doesn't see you dozing off in his class... You know how he gets sometimes," Melody warned her friend. "...Is this something you could maybe talk to your mother about?"
"Oh... I don't know..." Evie said with a sigh. "I love my mother and she loves me, but... She's a little hard to talk to nowadays."
"I think I understand," Melody said with a slow nod. "Like me with my grandfather and I wanna talk to him about swimming."
"Hmm..." Evie frowned. "I guess we're not so different after all."
"Yeah, guess not... Same problem with talking about what's on our minds," Melody shrugged. "Maybe if I can talk to my grandfather, you can try to talk to your mother?"
"Oh, Melody, I don't know..." Evie said nervously.
"What have you to lose?" Melody retorted gently.
Evie sighed. "...I'll talk to my mom, but... Not right now, okay?" she then said.
"You have to talk to someone about this... With school, with your mother, with Mal..." Melody suggested. "You've been through a lot and Graham's death didn't help."
"No... It certainly didn't..." Evie said with a flinch as her stomach turned slightly at the mention of Graham.
"Well, maybe you can talk to him?" Melody suggested.
Evie huffed and pouted a little as that hurt a bit worse. "Melody, don't you remember? He-" she then began with a sigh only to get quickly cut off.
"You can still visit the cemetery and talk to him?" Melody countered and then explained what she meant by her suggestion. "That's what Jane does with her mother after all."
"...I suppose that's true." Evie then said softly once she understood what Melody meant about what she said.
"Exactly," Melody nodded. "Besides, you gotta at least talk to somebody about what's on your mind lately about this school year."
"Yeah..." Evie agreed as that was true. "I wish Ms. Blanchard wasn't in jail. She was the best when we were kids, I don't know why or how Mom could hate her so much."
"I don't know either," Melody shrugged. "Besides, who else other than Graham would you talk to about this?"
"I dunno... I guess Dr. Hopper?" Evie replied. "He talks to Henry all the time after all."
"...I guess you could talk to him." Melody then said, though she didn't think Dr. Hopper would be the top decision to go to for Evie personally, but would allow the other girl to try it out if that was what she wanted.
"Then that's what I'll do," Evie replied. "Now, let's get to Henry's school before his bell rings."
Melody nodded as she then followed Evie on the way to the lower school than the high school. Henry was shown to be sitting on a bench, almost as though as he was waiting for something or someone. Evie and Melody then came over to the school as Evie then came to see her little brother.
"Evie." Henry said with a small smile.
"Hey, kiddo," Evie said as she came to sit with him before she then hugged him. "I missed you last night."
"I missed you too," Henry said. "I was mostly hanging out in my room though. I wish Dee Dee could've come over."
"Ooh, right..." Evie nodded at the mention of Dee Dee. "Your new best friend."
"Yeah," Henry agreed. "She's a good kid."
Evie chuckled softly.
"I didn't see Emma last night either," Henry then said. "Guess she still had a lot of work to do last night."
"Most likely, yeah," Evie replied. "Glad to see you're okay though."
"Thanks, Evie." Henry said with a small smile.
"We'll do something fun after school today. I promise." Evie then told him.
Henry nodded, looking excited and hopeful about that.
"Guys." A familiar voice and soon called to them.
"Oh. Emma, hi." Evie said, looking over to the blonde woman.
Henry nodded his head once he saw his estranged birth mother approached them.
"Well, I found Mary Margaret." Emma said to the kids.
"Oh, that's really good, Emma." Evie said, relieved and thankful that Ms. Blanchard wasn't going through her worst-case scenario.
"How is she?" Henry added softly.
"She's okay," Emma replied. "Other than being on trial for murder, she's fine."
Evie still looked relieved, but it was still a shame that Ms. Blanchard was in trouble with what happened to Mrs. Nolan, but she knew deep down that the short-haired woman would never hurt anybody. A group of kids then walked by, passing the trio on the bench.
"Hi, Henry." One of the girls in the group said.
Henry nodded his head at her in response.
Emma looked curious. "Who is that? That's not Dee Dee." she then said.
"Her name is Paige. She goes to school with me and Dee Dee." Henry explained.
Emma nodded before she seemed to get an idea suddenly. "Henry, do you have your storybook with you? Can I see it?" she then suddenly asked.
"Never leave home without it." Evie lightly chuckled to her little brother.
Henry nodded before he looking curious. "Why?" he then asked Emma.
"I'm just curious about something." Emma said with a thought clearly in her face.
Henry then the book out of his backpack and gave it to Emma. Emma then flipped through the pages to look for a certain story.
"Emma, what's going on?" Evie asked.
Emma continued to flip through the pages before she stopped and she turned the page to who appeared to be The Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland. "...Nothing." she then said, seeming to be stuck on the page with The Mad Hatter.
Henry looked concerned however. "Emma? Emma?" he then called.
Evie looked curious as well with what was going on with Emma right now as she looked really distracted right about now. However, before anything else could be said or done, they suddenly heard the bell ringing.
"I gotta go," Henry said before hugging Evie. "See you at home, okay?"
"See you at home, Henry," Evie nodded. "Have a good day."
Henry then went to go along to school as Emma was still looking at the book, appearing to be rather coveted.
"Right. Can I hold on to this?" Emma soon asked Henry as he went to get to school.
"Absolutely." Henry allowed before he rushed inside with the other kids into the school.
"See ya later, Emma." Evie said before she walked back over to Melody.
"See ya, Evie." Emma nodded as she decided to get going.
Evie then came over to Melody and once the other girl saw her, the two girls then went to continue their way to Storybrooke High.
"So, who was that again?" Melody asked.
"Oh, that's right, you don't really know Emma Swan, don't you?" Evie replied. "Well, it's a bit of a long story, but let's just say she's trying to help Henry with something very important."
"Oh... She's that lady who had Henry in jail until your mom adopted him, right?" Melody then asked as she seemed to remember the newspaper article.
"Yeah... But let's not talk about that around either of them, okay?" Evie then suggested as that was a rather tender subject.
"Oh. Okay, sorry..." Melody said softly then as they continued on the way to school.
Evie nodded before telling Melody more about Emma and what she was doing in town, especially with the journey she and Henry took to go and find her in Boston of all places.
The Evil Queen was dressed in her usual riding outfit, Evie decided to call her The Evil Queen as she still couldn't think of the woman in her recurring dream to be her mother which would possibly mean that Henry was telling the truth about the curse. The young woman was checking herself in the mirror as her mother suddenly entered the room, meddling in her daughter's life yet again.
"No, this won't do." Cora said before magically engulfing her daughter in a puff of red smoke and soon dressed her daughter out of her riding outfit and into an icy blue gown with her hair down.
"What are you doing?" The Evil Queen complained.
"We have a guest," Cora informed. "He'll be here any moment."
"I can't. I have a riding lesson with Daniel." The Evil Queen denied.
"Well, that's been cancelled," Cora decided for her daughter before she began to smile expectingly to her grown daughter. "Now, smile. We don't want to disappoint him."
"Disappoint who?" The Evil Queen wondered.
"The King." Cora simply stated.
The Evil Queen looked even more surprised. "The King? Why is the King coming?" she then asked softly.
"Because you've finally done something right," Cora then said to her daughter hopefully. "That little girl you saved? Is the King's daughter." she then led her daughter out to the foyer where The Evil Queen's father was along with the mentioned king and his escorts.
"Is that her?" The Good King soon asked.
"Yes," The Evil Queen's father nodded before introducing his daughter to their guest. "Regina, honey, this is Snow White's father."
Cora bowed in response as The Evil Queen then started to kneel due to her upbringing.
"No," The Good King prevented The Evil Queen from bowing. "It is I who should bow to you. You saved my daughter's life. There is no way to repay that debt. It is an honor to meet you." he then told her gently.
The Evil Queen was then stunned silent for right now.
"Regina, dear, the King's honored to meet you," Cora prompted the daughter. "Say something."
The Evil Queen paused before she then answered the king. "The honor is mine."
"You're quite lucky to have a mother who looks out for you," The Good King said softly. "My dear Snow has many things, but a mother is not one of them. We lost her years ago."
"I'm so sorry." The Evil Queen said out of empathy.
"Since then, I have scoured the land looking for a wife. I've yet to find a woman with an interest in my daughter..." The Good King continued before he set his sights on her expectingly. "Until now," he then turned around to take a ring from one of his guards and soon got down on one knee. "Will you marry me, Regina?" he then proposed to the woman.
The Evil Queen's father shook his head, assuring his daughter that she didn't need to do that, but her mother thought otherwise as she ignored him.
"Yes. Yes." Cora quietly urged her daughter.
The Evil Queen looked around before she seemed to be torn on what to do before she was soon shown to be running into the horse stables.
"Daniel?"
Daniel soon stepped out once his name was called by his true love.
"Daniel!" The Evil Queen then called as she came to see him right away.
Daniel soon approached her as he could see that she had something urgent on her mind. "What is it?" he then asked calmly.
"Marry me." The Evil Queen requested.
Daniel blinked in surprise. "Regina, what are you doing? What's happened? Did you tell your mother?" he then asked.
"No. Now, I can never tell her. She won't understand. That girl I saved... Was the King's daughter," The Evil Queen explained to the stable boy. "And now, he's proposed to me."
"What?" Daniel blinked.
"My mother accepted!" The Evil Queen then continued to show that she would never fall in love with someone other than him. "The only way out is to run. For us to leave this place, for us to be married, for us to never come back."
"Regina... Do you understand what that would mean?" Daniel replied softly. "Life with a stable boy is a far cry from a life as Queen."
The Evil Queen looked soft before looking hopeful at him. "Being Queen means nothing. Daniel... All I care about is you." she then told him from the bottom of her heart.
Daniel looked soft before he gave a hopeful smile. "Then, if I am to marry you, we must do this properly," he then said before going over to one of the saddles and unclipped a ring before he decided to put the ring on her finger. "Here." he then said.
The Evil Queen smiled back at him before she shared a kiss with the stable boy who was her one true love, whether if a king wanted to marry her or not. However, they broke apart as a noise had disturbed them and they soon looked over to see a certain little girl looking right at them.
"Snow! Dear, what are you doing?" The Evil Queen asked the girl.
"You said to get back on the horse and-" Snow White began to explain until she saw what the woman was actually doing with the stable boy. "What are you doing with him?"
"Snow, I can explain." The Evil Queen said quickly.
Snow White then began to get ready to tell her father what she just saw as she firmly pouted.
"No, no, no. Snow! Snow!" The Evil Queen panicked before chasing after Snow White in the forest.
Snow White kept running until she suddenly tripped in the forest until The Evil Queen caught up to her who decided to help her again.
"Snow! Snow! Wait! Snow! Snow! Are you okay?" The Evil Queen soon spoke as maternally as possible before checking over the girl.
"No. No. Why were you kissing that man in the stable?" Snow White shook her head. "You're to marry my father. You're to be my mother."
The Evil Queen sighed before she tried to explain what was going on. "Oh, Snow, please. Listen to me. Hey. Your father, King Leopold, he's a kind and fair man... But I don't love him." she then explained as gently as possible.
Snow White just gave her a long look. "I don't understand. Why not?" she then asked softly.
"Love doesn't work that way," The Evil Queen explained. "Love, true love, is magic. And not just any magic; the most powerful magic of all. It creates happiness."
"And that man in the stables... You love him?" Snow White then asked.
The Evil Queen smiled before nodding. "With all my heart." she then said.
"Then you must marry him. I will go tell Father right away." Snow White said before smiling back as she decided to head off back into the castle right away.
"No, no, no, no. You can't." The Evil Queen then said, suddenly stopping Snow White right away.
Snow White then looked back over. "Why not? Surely he'll understand." she then replied calmly as she still had childish innocence.
"Perhaps, but not everyone will," The Evil Queen replied. "My mother, for one. She'll stand in the way."
Snow White then seemed to now understand. "That's why you're running." she then said softly.
"It's the only way our love can survive," The Evil Queen replied. "Snow, do you know what a secret is?" she then prompted.
Snow White nodded as she did.
"If you really, truly want to help me-" The Evil Queen then began to say.
"I do." Snow White reassured.
"Then, what you saw, what I told you, you must keep it a secret," The Evil Queen then continued softly. "Can you do that?"
Snow White looked thoughtful. "I think so." she then said.
"I need you to be certain," The Evil Queen replied. "You can never speak of this. And, above all, you mustn't tell my mother. Will you do that for me?" she then asked hopefully.
"Yes, I promise." Snow White told her future step-mother.
The two then smiled at each other as this seemed to be so far so good, but Evie knew deep down inside that something was going to prevent a happy ending between the two.
"Shall I repeat the question, Evie?" A new voice suddenly asked.
Evie was shown to be putting her head down on her desk and looked a bit sickly. Doug frowned and was soon shown trying to wake the girl up beside him in concern.
"Ugh! Snow White! The answer is Snow White!" Evie suddenly blurted out as she sat up in her desk, shifting and gasping.
The teacher, Mr. Cogsworth, sighed and shook his head as some students snickered at what Evie just said. "No, Evie, my dear, the square root of 144 is not 'Snow White', it's 12," he then said to her. "However, if I asked the question what color is your face right now, 'Snow White' would be the right answer. Let's try to stay awake from now on, shall we?" he then suggested.
Evie groaned a little as she looked very sick and out of place right now before she rubbed her head.
"Now I hope you all remembered to study your fractions so a pop quiz shouldn't be too hard." Mr. Cogsworth soon told his students before taking out stacks of stapled paper to give to his students.
The students then groaned in response about suddenly taking a pop quiz. Evie looked even worse as she took her test papers next, even if she didn't mind school as much as other students, especially the girls who would rather talk about boys for an hour and a half than do any actual work. However, upon looking at her test, Evie seemed to doze off again which was really unlike her.
One bright and early morning for The Evil Queen and her family was unlike any other. It had been a while since the meeting with King Leopold and Princess Snow White and Cora was eagerly awaiting making wedding plans for her daughter as marrying a king would be a great honor even though her husband wanted their daughter to be happy and marry for love. So the morning came bright and early for everyone due to The Evil Queen waking up and suddenly going right into the bathroom and she could be heard having trouble once inside. She seemed to spend the rest of the night and at the crack of dawn in the restroom as her stomach churned.
Once it was time to get up and start the day, Cora soon came to the door and knocked on her daughter's door. Beside her appeared to be a girl who seemed to have cat ears and even fangs, nearly looking like Doug's mother in Storybrooke, along with a pair of women who appeared to be ladies-in-waiting. However, there was no answer right away, so Cora decided to just open the door and came over to the bed.
"Good morning, Regina," Cora said as she came into the room before removing the blankets before beginning to look confused and concerned. "Regina?!" she then called before looking around the room and soon passed the private restroom door and heard someone in there. "Regina?!"
"M-M-Mother... Is that you...?" The Evil Queen responded weakly and wearily.
"Yes, it's me... Open up, it's time for breakfast and then you simply must get ready for more wedding planning for King Leopold." Cora demanded as she waited out the door.
"I... I don't know if I can..." The Evil Queen replied weakly.
"...Regina, what is going on with you?" Cora demanded before she opened the door instantly and gasped at what she just saw. "Oh, my word!" she then said, putting her hand to her mouth in concern for her daughter for once.
"Mother...?" The Evil Queen responded weakly as she looked over with bleary eyes. "Is that you?"
"Regina, my dear... What's wrong?" Cora asked as she came over to her daughter who looked very sick. "...You don't have the plague, do you?"
"I feel like I wanna die..." The Evil Queen groaned sickly before she seemed to pass out suddenly.
"Regina? REGINA!" Cora soon called, but her voice echoed in her daughter's mind who then blacked out before she left the room with the other women who had come to help out somehow.
Some time had passed and soon, The Evil Queen was suddenly back in bed and was properly cleaned up. She slowly opened her eyes as they fluttered before she looked around. "W-W-What...? What's going on?" she then asked wearily as someone began to tend to her. "Mother, is that you?"
"Shh... Shh... Just relax..." A man's voice said before a new face was shown, looking right at The Evil Queen after helping her up. "You should be fine for now... I was running a few tests on you. You were in horrible condition when your mother came in."
"W-What...? Who are you?" The Evil Queen then asked. "What's going on?"
"Just let the doctor do his work, Regina," Cora told her daughter. "You really scared me back there."
"Mother...?" The Evil Queen then asked before looking over at her mother who was standing beside her bedside.
"How long is this going to take, Dr. Grimhilde?" Cora demanded to the doctor then. "My daughter has to get ready for her wedding with The Good King and who knows how much time we have left for that?"
"Well... Erm... Ma'am, if I were you, I would probably consider bumping up the wedding date." The doctor suggested with a bashful chuckle.
"Oh? And why is that?" Cora then demanded.
"Well, ma'am, it appears that your daughter is pregnant." Dr. Grimhilde soon revealed shockingly enough.
This left The Evil Queen and her mother to be wide-eyed and startled at that reveal. The Evil Queen gasped, though her mother had more shock and a flustered reaction compared to her daughter.
"WHAT?!" Cora cried out suddenly.
"I ran my tests and that is what happened," Dr. Grimhilde replied before looking over at the younger woman with a nod. "Congratulations, Miss. You're going to be a mother."
"W-W-What? No... I-I can't be a mother... That's impossible..." The Evil Queen stammered shakily and nervously.
"She should try to take it easy and in the later months, she'll need to be off her feet as much as possible and have proper tender loving care," Dr. Grimhilde soon told Cora. "She won't be the same for a while, but hopefully this will be good for your family."
Cora merely narrowed her eyes in response, shaking chills and startling the doctor a bit.
"W-Well, my work here is done... Feel free to call again whenever you get the chance," Dr. Grimhilde then said before he decided to take his leave then. "Good day to you both, ladies-"
"Who is he?" Cora suddenly demanded.
"...I beg your pardon, Miss?" Dr. Grimhilde then asked as he looked at the older woman.
"Who is the father?" Cora continued.
"Oh, erm... I'm afraid I don't know the answer to that question," Dr. Grimhilde replied, nervous of Cora's wrath. "Surely your daughter does though?"
"I wasn't even talking to you." Cora said before she shot her daughter a firm pout and glare.
The Evil Queen gave the doctor a look as if to say 'Thanks a lot' due to his cowardice. He then decided to leave as quickly as he could, though Cora crossed her arms at her daughter.
"Well?" Cora demanded.
"I-I..." The Evil Queen stammered, trying to come up with a good enough answer to appease her mother and to not get Daniel in trouble as she had a very good idea of who the father of her baby really was.
"Answer me, girl!" Cora then barked, scaring her daughter even more.
"I... I don't remember." The Evil Queen then quickly spit out.
"You don't remember?" Cora then asked, nearly growling.
The Evil Queen simply nodded even though she knew it was a lie, but she knew Daniel would have a horrible fate if he was exposed.
"Either you are a slut or a liar," Cora scowled at her daughter. "Now tell me the truth."
"That IS the truth!" The Evil Queen squealed out before she panicked and tried to come up with a story as quickly as possible to defend herself.
"Is it?" Cora narrowed her eyes icily. "How could you be so stupid as to not know-"
"We attended a masquerade ball last year at Capulet Manor in Parenthia," The Evil Queen then quickly said to save her and Daniel's skin. "There were many new lords and ladies... Don't you remember that?"
"...Masquerade ball at Capulet Manor?" Cora repeated softly before she suddenly thought about it as that actually did sound right to her. "...Yes. Yes, we did go to that. We were going to meet Lord Capulet's daughter, Juliet."
"Y-Yes..." The Evil Queen quickly nodded. "I met one of the lords of the court and we ended up drinking too much punch. I'm sorry, Mother, but that's all I remember. I-I-I don't remember his name or his face... Or anything. It all happened so fast..."
"Hmm..." Cora paused as she gave her daughter a bit of a long look.
The Evil Queen bit her lip as sweat began to bead down her face as she hoped and prayed internally that her mother would buy that story.
"...I'm disappointed that you did not use proper protection or think about what you were doing," Cora began to say softly. "...But I suppose I can't be fully mad at you..."
"S-So... You believe me?" The Evil Queen soon asked as gently as she could.
"I believe you... I'm a bit mad and disappointed, but... I suppose you're off the hook for now," Cora then said as The Evil Queen internally sighed in relief then. "...We just better hope that King Leopold doesn't mind."
The Evil Queen merely nodded in response as she tried to keep calm and quiet.
"I'll go discuss this with your father... I don't want you to spend the whole day in bed though, but still take it easy," Cora then said. "Also, it might be best if you don't go riding today."
"Yes, Mother..." The Evil Queen then said quietly.
"Yes, of course... Just remember as I'm 'Mother' and 'Mother' knows best." Cora nodded as she soon left the room, giving her daughter some privacy for the time being.
The Evil Queen then began to get as much rest as she could before she would go and see Daniel again.
When enough time passed, The Evil Queen was able to walk around and soon went to one place right away to share some news with a certain someone who reacted with shock.
"You're... Pregnant?" Daniel asked with wide eyes, trying not to react in a way that would scare the horses.
"Yes... I am..." The Evil Queen nodded as she took his hands and let him feel her belly even if nothing would be felt there. "I guess it just sort of happened..."
"Heh... That one night when your parents were away and I had to keep you warm by the fire on that winter night," Daniel blushed and chuckled sheepishly. "I guess one thing led to another after that, erm... 'Sleepover'."
"I guess you could say it did..." The Evil Queen nodded. "I'm rather excited and nervous though..."
"That's very understandable... I love you just the same though... I know she'll be very beautiful like her mother if it's a girl." Daniel beamed warmly.
"Or he'll be very handsome like his father if he's a boy," The Evil Queen replied. "I never thought I would experience anything like this though and with you, my life is almost complete... If we could just figure out a way about this situation with King Leopold."
"We'll think of something, my dear... I know we will..." Daniel said as he comforted her as much as he could while bringing her into a warm embrace.
The Evil Queen sniffled and nuzzled into him instantly. "Oh, Daniel..." she then purred.
"Oh, Regina~" Daniel replied warmly.
"Evie!" A voice soon called.
Evie blinked and shook her head as everyone else took their tests and she looked very distracted.
"Evie... Are you all right?" Mr. Cogsworth asked in concern.
"Not really, Mr. Cogsworth." Evie said softly and rather miserably.
Mr. Cogsworth frowned softly as he could see that she was really unwell and would never lie about that. "You are looking rather pale. Maybe you better go home, dear." he then suggested.
"Yes!" Evie smiled hopefully before bowing her head a bit. "I mean... Yes. Maybe I better." she then said as she put her head down before she got up out of her desk and walked away, going to visit the nurse before going home early.
Mr. Cogsworth and plenty of the other students looked concerned as she soon wandered out of the classroom instantly.
After a while, Evie was resting until a phone call was placed and she hugged her stomach as she began to look worse for wear. Soon, Regina drove to the school and came to pick up Evie and it was then time to go.
"Now don't you worry, Evie," The school nurse said as she helped Evie out of the school to wait for her mother to come and get her. "The janitor will have my office cleaned up in no time."
"I'm sorry, ma'am... I think I'll go wait for my mom," Evie said weakly as she walked beside the school nurse. "I wanna get home and lie down."
"You got it, hon." The school nurse nodded as she let Evie get going out the doors of the school and went to sit on an outside bench to wait for her mother to come and get her.
Melody soon walked over and noticed her friend. "Hey, Evie, are you okay?" she then asked. "The other kids said you threw up. Is it true?"
"Yeah... But don't worry... I'll be fine..." Evie replied softly.
"No offense, but you've been acting really weird today," Melody said before she came to sit down next to her aching friend. "Do you wanna talk about what's going on?"
"It's really complicated, Mel. I'll tell you sometime, but maybe not today," Evie replied. "I really do think I should talk to someone too, but after some rest of course."
"Okay... I hope you get better," Melody then said out of concern. "I just didn't think you'd get so wigged out about whatever's bugging you that you would end up barfing."
"Please don't say that word right now." Evie grunted slightly.
"Oops. Sorry." Melody then said nervously as Evie nodded at her.
Soon, a familiar car rode up and the horn honked, telling Evie one thing.
"Look, I gotta go," Evie then said to her. "I'll see you later, all right?"
"Sure... Okay..." Melody nodded as she let Evie get going.
Evie soon opened the door and climbed into her seat beside her mother and buckled up, though she kept her head down low.
"Say... Wasn't that your little friend Melody back there with you?" Regina asked Evie as they began to ride back home. "I hope you two didn't get into a fight or something."
"No... Nothing like that... I just have a lot on my mind right now, Mom..." Evie said weakly. "I'm not sure if I could even talk to you about it right now."
"Evie, you know that I'm your mother and I will always be here for you," Regina reminded. "...This wasn't about a boy, was it?"
"No, Mom, it's not about a boy..." Evie sighed and rolled her eyes slightly.
"Boys... They say they'll be there for you, but you wake up a bunch of months later and where are they?" Regina continued to rant.
"Mom..." Evie grunted.
"Oh... Sorry, dear..." Regina then said softly. "Well... Would you like to talk about what's bothering you?"
"Maybe later, Mom... I just feel like my stomach is on fire right now." Evie replied.
"All right... You can go home and get some rest right away..." Regina then said as tenderly as she could.
"Thanks, Mom." Evi said wearily with a nod as she rubbed her eyes and looked a little dizzy.
The car then continued to drive off back to the Mills mansion. Evie knew the way back home wasn't very far away, but it really felt like it on a day like today. She knew she had to talk to someone about how she was feeling, but she still had to decide who to talk to. Once they got back home, Regina helped Evie to bed and gave her a cool cloth on her forehead and would check her temperature later and put her teenage daughter straight to bed.
"Now you get some rest, my dear," Regina told Evie. "You've probably been overworking yourself too hard in school. I just want you to finish up any homework that you do have before you go to sleep tonight at least."
Evie nodded in response as her eyes already felt heavy once she had ended up in bed.
"I'll see you later... Have a good rest." Regina said softly before kissing Evie's forehead and then turned out the lights as she left the room and gently shut the door behind her.
Evie then turned over and went to drift off to sleep and soon, the visions started again as soon as she shut her eyes and went to get the rest she deserved.
In the visions, the baby born between The Evil Queen and the stable boy was soon born and it was a beautiful baby girl with dark hair and chocolate brown eyes. Cora told her daughter not to tell the name of the baby until the coronation as she was going to marry The Good King and the baby would be seen as a princess even if a bit younger than Snow White who grew attached to the baby right away and tried to act like the baby's big sister as much as she could while keeping The Evil Queen's secret safe. Cora grew attached to the baby as well as the baby was her granddaughter and she often doted and spoiled the baby, trying to make the baby into a copy of her mother, but only time would tell if it would be effective or not. One day, Cora was taking the baby out for a stroll in the flower garden and soon spotted young Snow White was staring at the flowers in the garden and reached out to touch one, but was instantly stopped.
"Careful, sweetheart," Cora said as she picked up her granddaughter and set her down on the ground and out of the stroller so that she could crawl around. "A flower is a delicate thing. Be gentle. You want it to grow and not pluck it before its time." she then advised.
"Sorry." Snow White said softly as she felt nervous around the older woman.
"It's alright. You needn't fear me. I'm only trying to help," Cora replied softly as she approached Snow White. "...Perhaps, you can be the flower girl at the wedding," she then suggested. "I can already see how close you and Regina have become. She's going to make a fine mother for you and you'll even have a new little sister." she then added, referring to the baby born under mysterious circumstances as far as she knew. She then led the girl over to a spot for them to sit on to talk together.
"She is kind to me." Snow White then said softly about The Evil Queen.
"Indeed. It warms my heart how you two share everything... Already," Cora then said as she sensed something deep down. "Perhaps, you could share something with me. Why has she pulled away from me?"
"What do you mean?" Snow White asked.
"A mother knows her daughter. Regina's pulled away. I love her so much, but she's not letting me help her," Cora replied before she saw the baby crawling about before she knelt down and picked up her new granddaughter who looked constantly curious about the world all around her. "And I... I know she's unhappy. Has she said something? I'd do anything to make her happy." she then said hopefully to get young Snow White to open up.
"You'd do anything?" Snow White then asked as she looked down to the baby girl who looked at her, reaching out for her almost feeling an instant bond somehow.
"Of course, dear. You know, I talked to the King about your mother," Cora replied. "He told me how much she loved you. Losing her must've been so hard."
"It was." Snow White said with a nod.
"Hearing him, I realized he might as well have been talking about me and Regina," Cora then said. "I don't want us to lose each other. If only I could show her how I feel. That, no matter what, all I want is her happiness."
Snow White looked thoughtful before she abruptly stood up. "Then, don't make her get married." she then requested.
"I'm sorry?" Cora asked softly.
"She doesn't love my father," Snow White then admitted despite promising to keep The Evil Queen's secret from her mother, looking emotional as she already lost her own mother and didn't want her new friend to suffer from the same fate. "She loves someone else. She made me promise not to tell, but she'll lose you. She can't lose her mother. No one should."
"Oh, sweet Snow. It's alright," Cora coaxed as she gently bounced her new granddaughter in her arms. "She won't lose me. You can tell me. You must tell me."
Snow White then looked over at Cora before she would confess to what happened. However, the cat-like girl, who was Snow White's cousin and King Leopold's niece, Ebony Black, overheard the discussion and suddenly took off as Snow White was saying something she really shouldn't have.
"No! Wait! Don't tell anyone!" Evie cried out before she sat up and reached out from her bed as she instantly woke up. "WAIT!" she then looked around and saw that she was in her bedroom before she sighed and flopped back down on her bed with her head sinking into her pillow. "Ugh... What's going on with me?" she then complained.
"Evie? Evie..." Henry soon called as he gently knocked on the door and came into the room.
"Henry?" Evie replied before she turned over. "Come in." she then said since she heard him knocking.
Henry soon came inside to see his sister.
"...Is it late?" Evie then asked.
"You missed dinner, but I saved some for you in the microwave, you can just heat it up," Henry said to Evie. "Emma's gonna look in the garage."
"Oh, thank you," Evie said with a soft and thankful smile before looking curious. "The garage?"
"Yeah..." Henry nodded. "She's getting really close to finding out what happened to Mrs. Nolan because you and I both know that she would never kill anyone because-"
"Right... Because she's Snow White..." Evie then said in memory of what Henry's storybook told them.
"Yeah..." Henry replied. "Don't worry though, Mom's in the shower so Emma will be able to do what she needs to do to help out Ms. Blanchard."
"That sounds good..." Evie said before she rubbed her head. "I think that I need to get something to eat... Is it soup? I don't feel that hungry." she then asked softly.
"Yeah, Mom thought that soup would be good for you since you're feeling a little puny today," Henry said. "Did the nurse say why you got sick?"
"She thinks it was probably some kinda 24-hour bug, but not food poisoning," Evie shrugged before she slowly stumbled out of bed and then came on her feet, sliding on her slippers beside her bed. "I just haven't been feeling like myself... I keep having these weird dreams about Fairy Tales... Like... Like..."
Henry looked thoughtful. "Like Graham?" he then finished for her as he seemed to already know and understand.
Evie blinked before looking over.
"He told me that he had the same thing happened to him too, remember?" Henry reminded gently. "Being The Evil Queen's Huntsman and you're The Evil Queen's daughter."
Evie then began to look thoughtful herself, still unsure about the fairy tale theory, but it began to make more and more sense the more she saw these dreams/visions even if she was unsure most of the time.
"I can't find out anything about why Mal would hate you though," Henry then said with a shrug. "Maybe Mom did something to her mom and history is just repeating itself."
"I'm not sure about that, but I'd like to know what her deal is with me." Evie admitted softly.
"We'll figure it out eventually, Evie, I promise," Henry said wit ha nod. "Come on, let's get you that soup."
"Sounds good... I also think it's a little bit past your bedtime, Henry Mills." Evie nodded before she smirked slightly.
"Mom's in the shower, so I'm fine for a while." Henry smirked back a bit slyly before he walked down the hallway with her to go downstairs into the kitchen.
"Little stinker." Evie teased on the way down the steps.
Soon, the two came into the dining room to sit down and Evie would eat up the soup after heating it up. There was a knock heard on the door as Henry peeked into the room a little before going back over to Evie before anyone would see him.
"Who's at the door?" Evie asked Henry as she ate her soup calmly.
"Emma." Henry said.
"Ah..." Evie nodded. "We probably shouldn't let you see her since it's past your bedtime."
"Right. That would probably be dangerous for Operation: Cobra." Henry agreed.
Evie gave a small smile as she ate up her soup.
"So have you been having flashes like Graham do you think?" Henry asked Evie.
"Yeah... I did see a fairy tale life... Since you think Mom's The Evil Queen and that Ms. Blanchard is Snow White, I suppose it makes sense," Evie replied. "Plus there was Doug's mom who's apparently her cousin."
"Ebony Black, yeah," Henry nodded. "I was surprised to find that out too. I wonder why she's part-cat though? That would explain why she tries to eat fish in the tank in the hospital all the time."
"That's a very good question," Evie remarked before sighing as she thought about her flashes again. "Though that wasn't all... I also saw something I never thought I would see."
Henry looked over curiously.
"It was very strange... I just never thought about it before..." Evie said softly.
"What? Who?" Henry soon asked hopefully.
"Henry... I... I saw Snow White... The Evil Queen and I saw... I think I saw... My father..." Evie then said before looking at him.
"Your father?" Henry asked with wide eyes.
"Well... It has to be him, right?" Evie replied. "Though... He was a stable boy, I think. I don't remember a whole lot about my dad actually... Until you found that book that Ms. Blanchard let you have it seems like it was just me, Mom, and Graham before you were adopted of course."
"You mean... You never talked to Mom about your dad before?" Henry asked softly.
"I guess I never really thought about it," Evie said before shrugging. "...I guess I have more to learn than I thought."
"Then maybe it's time that you got to know him," Henry replied. "Do you know what happened to him?"
"No. Like I said I don't really know much about him..." Evie said before she looked out the doorway over to where her mother was talking with Emma talking about the situation with Ms. Blanchard. "...I think it might be time to learn more about him though."
"That sounds good for you, Evie," Henry replied softly. "I hope you find what you're looking for."
"Me too, kiddo," Evie smiled. "I think I'd like that very much."
Henry smiled back as he continued to keep her as much company as possible until she finished eating her soup and soon began to drink from the bowl to finish up the broth too.
"Well, kiddo, I'd love to hang out with you some more tonight, but it's very late and a kid like you needs some rest," Evie soon said to Henry. "You understand, right?"
"I do," Henry nodded. "I had fun at least seeing you before the sun came up."
"We'll hang out more tomorrow, I promise," Evie said as she wrapped him in her arms for a hug before she took her bowl to put in the sink. "Thanks for saving something for me to eat at least."
"No problem. What are good little brothers for?" Henry smiled.
"Lots of things like good big sisters," Evie smiled back before she kissed his forehead. "G'night, kid."
"Night, Evie. See you in the morning." Henry said before he went off to his room for the night before Regina would see him up late for his age.
Evie then went out of the dining room and looked over to her mother before sighing. Maybe later she would find the strength and courage to talk with her mother about her missing father, but just decided to go to bed right now. She was exhausted after today's experiences anyway and wondered if the flashes would come back or not. Of course, eventually, they did as she decided to go straight to bed.
Ebony was soon shown looking around for a certain someone before being stopped quickly.
"Ebony? Father wants to see us right away." Snow White told her cousin.
"But I need to tell Regina something." Ebony said, sounding a bit urgent.
"Father needs to see us," Snow White replied. "It can't wait."
Ebony looked nervous, but she soon walked off with Snow White to go and see what was going on as her personal task would have to wait. They then left just as The Evil Queen was leaving with a bag and was headed right for the stables.
Daniel was shown to be there and was cradling the new baby in his arms, deciding to wrap her up with his cape to keep her warm and cozy. "So, you're my little princess, aren't you?" he then asked her softly and sweetly. "It's very lovely to meet you. Tell me your name, young lady."
The baby girl cooed and babbled in response to him as she sprawled a bit in the blue cape before attempting to chew on it.
"That's a little hard to pronounce," Daniel chuckled, making a little joke. "Well, no matter what your name is, you are now and will always be my little princess because you give me life. You're as lovely as your mother."
The baby girl beamed as she looked hopeful at the idea of being a Daddy's Girl more than a Mommy's Girl once she got older.
"Don't worry, Princess," Daniel smiled warmly. "Once Mommy comes back with her stuff, we can go to a brand new home where no one will ever hurt us. We'll all live happily ever after together."
The baby girl seemed to give him a small smile back as she reached up and touched his nose. Daniel chuckled as he leaned in and nuzzled noses against his daughter after The Evil Queen had told him that he was the father when they were in private together and Daniel could see that their daughter was going to grow up to be a miniature version of her mother. Soon, The Evil Queen rushed over as she met Daniel and their daughter at the stables as agreed upon before.
"Are you ready?" Daniel asked once he saw his true love.
"Let's go," The Evil Queen nodded before looking over and then smirking playfully at the two. "I think that she likes your cape."
"She has good fashionable taste." Daniel chuckled before they went to go out and leave the stables forever so that they would be a happy family together, but were suddenly stopped.
"You could've at least left a note." Cora complained before she waved her daughter and the stable boy back into the stable with a wave of magic.
The baby girl nearly fell, but Cora decided to give the baby a soft landing. Though despite the landing, the baby girl broke down into tears and was in serious distress. Cora then shut all of the doors and locked them in, ignoring the cries of the baby.
"Mother, I-" The Evil Queen spoke up wearily.
"Don't," Cora interrupted coldly. "You sneak out of my house in the dead of night, and think I won't notice? How dare you." she then scolded.
"You're impossible to talk to," The Evil Queen firmly pouted. "Stop with the magic and listen to me. I want to be with Daniel and our daughter."
"Oh, you don't know what you want, but I do. I didn't make the sacrifices I did in life, to get you to the cusp of greatness, so that you could end up the wife of a stable boy," Cora scoffed. "I had my supsicons about my new grandchild, so she should be disposed of as well, especially since she is a bastard."
"She is not," The Evil Queen glared at her daughter being referred to as such. "Besides, this is my life." she then added.
"You foolish girl. It's mine," Cora retorted, acting like a true wicked step-mother. "After what I had to do... The deals, I had to make to get us out of poverty, to get us this life, and you just want to toss it away?" she then asked.
"Stay strong, Regina." Daniel advised as he soon came to tend to their daughter as she cried her little eyes out.
"Your magic can't keep us apart," The Evil Queen defended both Daniel and their baby. "I love them."
"And I love her." Daniel then added.
"And I love her, too." Cora replied, though still rather icy.
"If you loved me, you wouldn't try to keep us apart." The Evil Queen retorted.
"And if you loved me, you wouldn't try to run away." Cora replied then.
The Evil Queen frowned as she refused to let her mother win this. "I'm sorry, but this is my happiness. We're going." she then said as strongly as she could.
"No, you're not." Cora declined.
"So, what's your plan? You're going to keep us here forever?" The Evil Queen then asked. "Because that's what you'll have to do."
Cora gave them both a long look as they tried to stay strong and brave together while Daniel tended to their crying baby who looked scared around her grandmother now. She looked a bit soft and somber for a few moments. "So, this is... Your decision? This will make you happy?" she then asked them wearily.
"It already has." The Evil Queen replied softly as she also looked down at the crying baby before trying to coo and soothe her daughter.
"Then, who am I to stop you?" Cora then answered as she seemed to be apologizing at first.
The Evil Queen smiled before she then instantly hugged her mother. "Thank you, Mother." she then said calmly.
Cora gave a small smile back before approaching the baby girl who was slowly quieting down as she took a hold of her in her arm. She then decided to look back at the stable boy. "Daniel. If you want to have a life together, a family. Then, there's one important lesson I can impart on you. It's what it means to be a parent. You always have to do what's best for your children." she then advised as she looked at him while the baby girl quietly whimpered.
Daniel gave a small nod of relief. "Thank you. I understand and I hope to teach my daughter the same lesson someday. Because that's what you're doing now." he then said.
"Yes. It is." Cora replied before she then suddenly plunged her hand right inside Daniel's chest to do a certain dastardly trick.
Daniel then grunted and groaned as this was going to hurt a lot.
"Mother!" The Evil Queen then cried out as Daniel's blood began to gurgle before he gasped and fell to his knees on the ground as Cora ripped his heart out. "No! No!" She then wailed as Cora then crushed Daniel's heart into dust to kill him instantly as the baby girl soon looked ready to cry again. "No, no, no."
It was now too late as Daniel was now dead.
"Mother, why have you done this?" The Evil Queen cried as she knelt down next to her one true love who was now gone.
"Because this is your happy ending." Cora replied simply.
"What?" The Evil Queen asked tearfully.
"Oh, you have to trust me, Regina. I know best," Cora replied calmly. "Love is weakness, Regina. It feels real now. At the start, it always does, but , it's an illusion. It fades. And then, you're left with nothing, but power, true power, endures. And then, you don't have to rely on anyone to get what you want. I've saved you, my love."
"You've ruined everything!" The Evil Queen cried out as this was probably the worst thing to have ever happened to her. "I loved him. I loved him!"
"Enough! I've endured this long enough and you lied to me about where my granddaughter came from," Cora replied. "Now, clean yourself up, wipe away your tears, because now... You're going to be Queen."
The Evil Queen just looked emotionally crushed as there was nothing more she could do for herself.
"And now, this bastard should be disposed of next." Cora then decided as she took a firm hold on her grandchild.
"NO! You leave her out of this! She doesn't deserve whatever you do to her!" The Evil Queen yelled out.
It was too late as Cora already decided to leave with the crying and wailing baby.
"NOOOOOO!" The Evil Queen cried out as that seemed to be the end of that.
The last thing Evie saw right before she woke up was Cora going over to what appeared to be a wishing well before going to throw the baby right inside, perhaps to drown it, but she didn't see what had happened after that as she instantly shot up in her bed, shivering with wide eyes before sighing and frowning as she stumbled out of bed and decided to go downstairs.
Regina came downstairs as she heard the kitchen sink coming on and off from her bedroom. She covered herself up in her robe until she then looked over with wide eyes as she put her hand to her mouth in surprise. "Evie... What are you doing up so late? Especially at a time like this after today in school." she then asked softly.
"Sorry, Mom, I couldn't sleep..." Evie said softly as she took a drink of her glass.
"Do you want me to make you some warm milk?" Regina then offered.
Evie was about to decline until she thought that actually sounded pretty good. "Sure, Mom. I think that I would actually like that a lot." she then decided.
Regina nodded as she decided to make her daughter some warm milk to help comfort her. "Boy, you've had quite the day after your party, huh?" she then remarked.
"Yeah... It's a bit of a long story..." Evie said before sighing. "Especially with Mal hating my guts when I have no idea why."
Regina flinched with wide eyes as she knew exactly who Mal really was and probably why she hated Evie so much right now.
"Mom... Can I ask you something?" Evie soon asked as she looked over.
"Of course you can, Evie," Regina replied as she began to put the finishing touches on the milk and decided to add a little bit of honey. "I watched on Good Morning, Storybrooke with Hart Archer that you can tell me anything and I'm trying to be a better listener for you."
"Thanks... I've been thinking a lot about something and I've been trying and waiting to figure out ways to talk to someone about it," Evie said as she took a deep breath in and slowly let it out. "It's a little hard though."
"Well, you shouldn't keep it bottled up forever, it can be rather unhealthy," Regina said before she brought out the milk to give to Evie as she sat down with her, deciding to have some milk too. "That's probably what made you feel so sick today."
"Something like that, yeah," Evie admitted as she nodded to her mother. "You do have a good point about that, Mom. Thank you for the milk by the way." she then said before she picked up the cup and quickly took a drink.
"You're very welcome, my dear," Regina smiled warmly. "Just take your time and think about what you want to say."
Evie nodded as she sat there in silence as she tried to think over what was going on through her mind. She had thought about how she actually kind of missed Graham even if she denounced him after she first met him and she saw that he was rather creepy and felt gross whenever she saw him and Regina kissing together. She always knew he was never her father and he claimed that he wasn't trying to be, but was just trying to look out for her and Henry as they were growing up. Regina sipped her drink as she sat quietly with Evie and it was rather quiet. She thought about maybe saying something, but continued to be as patient as possible until Evie would say something. She was just about to give up and then her teenage daughter suddenly said something.
"Okay, Mom..." Evie soon said softly. "I think I know what I wanna talk about."
"Finally..." Regina whispered before taking another sip of her drink as she nodded and held out her hand. "Well, go on, my dear Evie. Don't hold back." she then requested and allowed.
"What can you tell me about my dad?" Evie soon suddenly asked, sort of fast though, so her words nearly ran together.
Regina then coughed and sputtered a bit after she took a drink from her milk just as Evie asked that. Evie winced a bit and Regina then wiped her mouth and cleaned up the mess she had suddenly made.
"Excuse me?" Regina asked softly and wearily as she wiped her mouth clean.
"S-Sorry, Mom... I shouldn't have said anything..." Evie said softly and nervously, wincing due to her mother's reaction.
"I-It's all right, dear... Really... It's all right..." Regina sighed and looked down to her daughter calmly. "So... You want to know about your father?"
"Only if I'm allowed to know..." Evie replied before she sighed and then looked back into her mother's eyes. "But I'd really like to know about him."
"...Why would you want to know about him?" Regina then asked softly, though a glimmer seemed to appear in her eye from nowhere.
"Please, Mom..." Evie gently urged as she frowned. "I don't even know what he looks like... You can't expect me to believe that the stork left me on your doorstop 16 years ago forever."
"...Evie, we've talked about your mother." Regina said with a nervous half-smile.
Evie was about to back off and give up in asking more about her father, but she firmly pouted as she decided not to back off this time. "No, we haven't. Not really," she then replied a bit sternly. "Mom, I'm not a little girl anymore, I'm a teenager. Face it, l need to know my dad."
Regina sighed as she puffed out her cheeks before looking soft and defeated. "You know what? You're right. You're absolutely right. You do need to know about your father," she then admitted as softly as she could. "...I'll tell you more about him someday."
"Not now?" Evie asked.
"Not now... But someday, I promise I will tell you more about him," Regina replied calmly. "You do remind me of him sometimes... Especially when you wear your blue cape."
Evie gave a small smile as her favorite accessory had a lot more meaning to it now. She then still frowned as she hoped to hear more.
"...You know what? I'll give you something special..." Regina then said before she got up and walked away for a while. "I'll be right back."
Evie looked over and then she sighed as she hoped and waited that her mother would come back and not just end up going back to sleep. She really hoped her mother wouldn't be that immature. She then took out her phone and sighed a bit as she decided to go right back upstairs to her room then. However, as soon as she left after a few moments, Regina came back out with something that was folded up as she smiled. She then looked around before pouting as Evie was suddenly gone and looked upstairs to see that her daughter's bedroom door opened and closed, so she sighed to herself until she suddenly had another idea.
The Evil Queen was being fitted for her wedding dress in her chambers as Snow White soon came into the room.
"Wow... You are most certainly the fairest of them all!" Snow White beamed to her future mother figure.
"Thank you, dear." The Evil Queen said with a sad smile.
"I hope for my wedding day I will be as beautiful." Snow White then said.
"I'm sure you will be." The Evil Queen nodded.
Snow White continued to smile and beam. "I know you and Daniel will be so happy together especially with your baby. I'd love to look after her though." she then added which made The Evil Queen instantly cringe.
"...What?" The woman soon asked, sounding rather broken.
"Well, I just knew your mother would let you marry him," Snow White smiled in excitement, not realizing that there was a problem. "Once she knew how happy it'd make you, once she knew how much you love him. You have such a wonderful mother. She would do anything for your happiness."
The Evil Queen looked at the girl almost suspiciously. "Snow... Did... Did you... Tell her about me and Daniel?" she then asked softly and urgently.
"Yes." Snow White simply said.
"But I... Told you... Very specifically not to." The Evil Queen reminded softly.
"I'm sorry," Snow White frowned softly. "I just didn't want you to lose your mother. Like I've lost mine. Are you mad?" she then asked.
The Evil Queen looked at Snow White long and hard. "...No. I'm not mad at all. You were just trying to help me. However, I'm not marrying Daniel. This dress is for your father." she then explained the problem.
Snow White quickly frowned and her mood changed from pure excitement to sudden despair. "But... I thought... You were in love." she then defended softly.
"So did I, but I was wrong," The Evil Queen then said softly, trying not to get angry as this girl was responsible for her depressing downfall. "Daniel has run away. What I had with Daniel wasn't real. It was an infatuation. You see, that's the thing about love. It can come in the most unexpected places. Your father and I have something even more special, because it's not just about the two of us. It's about all of us. We're going to be a family." she then explained before she looked at Snow White.
"We are?" Snow White then asked.
"That's right. I'm going to be your step-mother, and I couldn't be happier." The Evil Queen said with a small rather forced smile.
"Me, too." Snow White beamed before she hugged The Evil Queen.
Cora soon came into the room to get the young girl's attention. Snow. You need to go to your room and help with the packing," sh then informed. "Your father wants you ready for the journey, and we're heading to your castle first thing in the morning."
"You're both going to love it there and I just know that the baby will too," Snow White said out of excitement. "I can't wait to tell Ebony!"
"I know we will," Cora nodded as Snow White soon left the room and it was just now her and her daughter. "Well played, dear. You're learning." she then said softly.
"I should change. I wouldn't want to ruin the dress before my big day." The Evil Queen replied emotionlessly.
"I am so proud of you." Cora then said.
The Evil Queen suddenly looked like she had something all figured out. "...You knew the King was traveling through our land, didn't you? That steed with Snow on it. It didn't go wild on its own, did it?"
"I have no idea what you're saying." Cora replied innocently.
The Evil Queen scowled at her mother, feeling so broken on the inside as she didn't know what else to do or say right now even though she had her suspicions. Soon, she just decided to storm off as there wasn't much else she could do right now, plus there was a coronation to plan as well as a baby naming ceremony. "I should've let her die on that horse." she then growled out rather quietly and firmly, though Cora seemed to hide an evil and knowing smirk.
A bit of a while of time had passed once The Evil Queen and The Good King got married. It was also then time for something else due to having a baby around who was now a princess along with Snow White.
"Her name is Evelyn for she is our beautiful bird." The Evil Queen soon announced as she lifted up her baby girl in the air to show the crowd, standing beside her new husband.
King Leopold smiled as this was far from a happy ending, this was going to be a happy beginning as the crowd applauded and cheered for the young princess.
Evie's eyes cracked open then as she sat up and looked around. It was pretty close to time to wake up for school and she soon decided to get out of bed and get ready for the day over with. She then sighed to herself before she came to turn off her phone's alarm before she then saw a folded-up piece of paper on her nightstand and decided to open it up. She saw a rough picture of what appeared to be a certain man with dark brunette hair with blue eyes that she knew all too well. He was even wearing her favorite blue cape which probably belonged to him before she got a hold of it. It was the man from her visions before she turned the picture around and saw a note written in her mother's handwriting.
"EVIE
YOU WILL LEARN MORE AND I WILL PROMISE TO GIVE YOU A PROPER FATHER'S DAY IF YOU WISH. DON'T FORGET THAT HE WILL ALWAYS BE IN YOUR HEART. I LOST MY FATHER AS WELL AND YOU DESERVE TO KNOW YOURS.
LOVE MOM"
"...The stable boy is my father..." Evie said softly as she went by Henry's fairy tale theory and the visions/dreams she had been having for a while now. She then went to get out of bed and went to get ready for the day as she clearly had a lot more to learn before she held her stomach. "Wow... I don't feel nauseous anymore!" she then said softly and thankfully before she went to get ready for her school day as she began to slowly and surely feel a lot better now.