The following day, Roland, Andrea and Henry couldn't stop asking about what happened next in Robin and Regina's story. It made Regina's heart melt, knowing that her children didn't love her any less for the struggles she had gone through.
It was also a relief to see that it didn't seem like Henry pitied her at all for what she had been through. When she had first gotten out of the plane crash, she had been met with two reactions: pity and a refusal to acknowledge her or interact with her because of the extra effort it would take. It was encouraging knowing that her children still saw her as their mother, that knowing the details of how life had become more challenging for her didn't affect how much they loved her. It was a sign that she and Robin had raised their children right, and it made her heart swell.
That didn't mean that they didn't ask questions, though. By the time it was Roland and Andrea's bedtime, Regina knew she would have to satisfy their curiosity. The main thing they wanted to know that night was, as Andrea put it, How did you learn to talk with people again?
Knowing the beginnings of her transition into Deaf culture and the world of ASL wasn't easy, she finally sat down with them, both Roland and Andrea's heads resting on her shoulders, and began.
The day she went home from the hospital was one Regina hadn't been looking forward to, not in the slightest. She had been struggling with everything her new disability had saddled her with, and knew it would only get harder as the days went on- for a while, at least. Her mother certainly wouldn't be any help. She had barely spoken to Regina, verbally or otherwise, and while Regina enjoyed the lack of ridicule, she also didn't know what she was going to do now that she was going home. Growing up with her sister, she was used to an at least somewhat noisy house to live in even if there were just the two of them in the house at a given moment. What would she do about the silence now? It had been somewhat easier to bear in the hospital thanks to August and other nurses and people willing to go the extra mile to talk to her. Now, she feared that the silence would be deafening, so to speak.
The one bright spot, of course, was Robin. The promise of ASL lessons with him and Belle was the one thing she was looking forward to, the one ray of hope that would get her out of the despair she'd been in since the plane crashed. She didn't know how, but somehow he managed to maintain a positive attitude through everything they had endured, and while she hadn't been able to shake the flashbacks of the crash, his positivity had prevented her from wallowing as much as she maybe would've. Robin had gotten her in touch with Belle, and the three of them had started a group chat and collaborated to devise a curriculum for her. Both brother and sister had been thrilled to learn that she already knew how to finger-spell, explaining that the ASL alphabet, like the Roman alphabet she would still be using for writing, was the primer for most of the other words in the language.
She was on her way to meet them now, and though she hated the reason for the time spent with them, she had to admit she couldn't wait to see Robin, and to meet his sister. Belle seemed just as sweet as her brother, and although she was reluctant to form any kind of relationship with them, knowing what her mother had put her through anytime she tried to have anyone in her life, she couldn't wait to spend time with them. She had to be on her guard though, for their own good. She already cared about Robin a dangerous amount. What would happen to him and his sister if she got too close and her mother got her claws into them? Robin was too good a person for her to let anything happen to him.
She entered the library where they agreed to meet, spotting Robin sitting at a table in the back behind the fiction section. He waved and she walked over, greeting him and the brunette beside him with a simple, "Hi."
Robin responded with a wave, standing and giving her a hug. He pointed to the girl by his side and finger-spelled Belle. Gesturing back to her, he signed her name as well. Regina didn't know yet if there was a different way of introducing people in ASL, but she supposed given her lack of knowledge on the subject at the moment, it made the most sense for Robin to make introductions this way.
Belle gestured toward the table, where books were scattered on the desk, as if to ask, Are you ready to start?
Regina nodded, and the three of them sat down. Belle pulled one of the books toward her and pointed to a passage that, to Regina's horror, had been highlighted. She loved books and reading in general, and the idea of mutilating a book was scandalous, to say the least.
She read what was highlighted: a short passage on the basics of ASL. It was strange to learn that there was no symbol for spacing, and no articles to speak of, either. Sentences as she knew them were really the most important fragments of the sentence, which she supposed made sense. It was a bit jarring for the grammar nerd in her, to think that what she would be saying now wouldn't be the grammatically correct way to say it in spoken English. She had to get used to it though, unless she was finger-spelling. It was one of many changes that she was going to have to adjust to.
Belle gave her a thumbs up when she was done, as if to say, You got it? You understand?
Regina nodded, and from there, Belle and Robin started teaching her the typical simple phrases that people learn when they start learning any language. By the end of their time together, she knew how to ask someone how they were and how to ask for someone's name and tell them her own. The rest of their time together was spent reviewing and practicing the ASL alphabet- after all, she would need to use it much more now than she ever had before, given that in the past, she was using the language for fun instead of out of necessity.
They ended the lesson with hugs all around. In the time she had spent with them, Belle had already started to earn herself a place in Regina's heart, much like Robin had. After all, how many people were going to be willing to go the extra mile to interact with her now? As she got in the car, her heart filled with dread, knowing that the environment at home was nothing like what she experienced in Robin's presence.
Sure enough, she got home, and her mother started in on her. She, and from what she had learned, her father, had tried to convince her to learn American sign language so Cora was able to more easily communicate with her, but the Mills matriarch had refused. Why should I, when there are other, easier ways? she had written.
When she had read those words, Regina had thrown her hands up in the air and walked out of the room. The callous statement made her blood boil, made her want to find someone to stay with, leave her house, and never come back. It was impossible, though. How could she, when she was enrolled in classes full-time and needed money for them, as well as needing money for rent and food if she moved out? Her only saving grace was that she didn't go to school in the same town where she lived, so she could escape her mother's influence there for the most part. She just had to hold out for four more weeks…
That was much easier said than done, though. Regina might not be able to tell the difference in the way she once would've, the silence her norm now (much to her dismay- although it did have some perks). The tension in the house, though, she could feel, and it was as thick as a knife. She was sure the house wasn't completely silent- after all, Zelena was still there, trying to get her mother's attention, just as she always did.
She was Regina's half-sister, and had always been jealous that Cora paid so much attention to Regina, and had given her up for adoption. She had found her when she was a senior in high school, no longer at an age when the foster system was compulsory. Needless to say, they had all been surprised the day she showed up on their doorstep, but since that first moment of initial shock, their reactions to the newcomer to their family had been drastically different. Her mother, surprisingly, had been apologetic, but hadn't readily welcomed her into their home like Regina's father had. It was one of the many things she loved about her father, that his heart was always welcoming, much more so than her mother ever would be.
Regina wouldn't have minded sharing her mother in the slightest- after all, it was another person for her mother to focus on so Regina could regain a little more control over her life. There was a catch, though: Zelena was convinced that Regina had somehow gotten the better end of the deal in their situations growing up. Regina felt bad that her sister had grown up the way she had, of course. After all, she had seen what that life was like every year when she and her father went to help those less fortunate than them over the holidays, and every week they were able to throughout the rest of the year as well. However, she found it difficult to explain to Zelena that their mother's attention was not something she should seek, but rather, something that was nothing short of stifling. Time and time again, Regina had had to try to find the words to explain to her sister that her mother could be nothing short of suffocating when she wanted to be. It had been a fight for Regina to go to school overseas, and the only thing that had ended up winning her mother over was the fact that she was going to one of the most prestigious schools in England.
Zelena, though, didn't see the benefits of being ignored, telling Regina that she had gotten everything- and while she supposed that was true, there were certainly benefits to being the daughter who had once gotten none of their mother's time or attention. There were times that Regina would have loved to switch places with her sister so she could have a chance to discover what having a bit of freedom was like.
Their rocky relationship and Zelena's jealousy and, in Regina's opinion, delusions about getting the better end of the deal out of the two of them meant that Zelena was definitely taking advantage of the opportunity Regina's new shortcomings gave her. Regina might not be able to hear her sister's attempts to get their mother's attention anymore, but she knew that they had to be even more frequent now that she was interrupted less by Regina telling her to stop whining. Not that Regina didn't understand where Zelena was coming from, of course, but her methods were less than ideal. Regina had frequently found her asking Cora if there was anything she could do for her over the years, and each time, Cora always had a pinched look on her face like Zelena was a rag that had gotten brought in from the rain. Their interactions were no different now, except that all Regina had to do was walk into a room and see the look on her mother's face to know what was happening.
Unlike her mother, though, Zelena did try to communicate with Regina despite the new obstacles to achieving that end. Regina had no idea where her sister had learned sign language or who had taught her, but she knew Zelena was gleeful that she knew something Regina didn't. She was shocked that Zelena didn't tell their mother about her knowledge of the language, knowing it would mean the end of her interactions with Robin, and therefore take away something Regina enjoyed, which Zelena seized every opportunity to do.
At least, that was the case for the first couple of weeks Regina was home. She had lessons with Belle (and Robin, of course) as often as the two siblings could rearrange their schedules for her. She learned more about the language and culture and had the time of her life doing it. Neither of the siblings ever made her feel like she was less for what she wasn't able to do, and it made her wonder why the rest of the world wasn't like these two benevolent souls.
She walked in the door from their latest lesson to find Zelena with a wicked gleam in her eyes. She knew nothing good would come of it, that her happiness would be taken away from her somehow.
Then she saw a note from her mother. You're not getting lessons from that riffraff anymore. Zelena will be teaching you. I never want you to see that boy or his sister again.