Chapter 6: Shadows of the past

What happened?
It's what everyone wanted to know. But how could she give them any answer if she didn't even know why she's still alive?
The child she was carrying had some serious powers and it scared her to even think about it. Since the night Zelena has melted, she avoided talking about this to anyone, but it was more than clear that she wasn't the one who killed Zelena. Not to everyone, of course. The citizens probably thought Regina did this on her own, because they couldn't possibly know she's pregnant, not to mention powerless. It only made her look even better in their eyes and it was precisely what she needed at the time. If her magic was so pure, how could anyone question her position? But now days have passed and she was no closer to getting an answer to her questions. Why was her daughter so powerful? Who helped Zelena escape? Why didn't she die with her? They were linked, that's the price of transfering spell she got from Rumple. The only possible reason for this she could find was that the spell was supposed to protect the child, so it did. But what would happen once she gives birth?
"What about this one?"
Regina blinked twice and looked at Snow, only realising where she was and what she was even doing. She almost dozed off in that chair and she had way to much thoughts running through her mind to care about dressed.
"God, no." Regina crunched her face, seeing the dress Snow was holding in front of her face. "I wouldn't wear this even if you paid me to."
Snow smiled and rolled her eyes, but put the dress away without complaints. She still couldn't believe she managed to convince Regina to go shopping with her, but the truth was her former stepmother was in a desperate need of new clothing and she couldn't very well magic them onto herself at the moment.
Regina started growing faster than she could ever predict. She wasn't even five months along, but she already started showing. She jumped late into this pregnancy, that's true, but as a result of that she didn't have much time to get used to the fact she's going to get bigger and therefore none of her clothes is going to fit her. It only hit her once random people on the streets started to congratulate her, pointing at her her barely buttoned blazers. The news seemed to spread fast in Storybrooke, whether she liked it or not. On top of that Snow kept convincing her that, as a queen and as a mayor, she should make an official baby announcement, but nothing has ever seemed as ridiculous as this to her.
"You need to stop thinking about this, seriously." Snow said out of a sudden.
"About what?" Regina looked up at Snow, trying to sound normal.
"You can fool everyone, but you can't fool me." Snow kept searching through the hangers. "Remember, I know your secret."
Regina geniuenly laughed at that sentence. She didn't know if this was intentional, but Snow really managed to amuse her. Secrets - it's how everything started between them. Maybe it's also how it's going to end...
"No." Regina said again, shaking her head at her own thoughts. She felt stupid about it, so she pretended she's engaging into this conversation. "No. We're not talking about this now. And don't push me, remember you can't stress me now."
"Whatever you wish. Just remember that worrying about something won't ever make any good. You just have to believe that... fate is on your side now."
This time it was Regina who rolled her eyes. She sighed and slowly stood up, supporting her back with a hand.
"This one." She pointed at one of the maternity dresses in the shop. She gently touched the black silk fabric. A flash of light bounced off of the engagement ring on her finger and she smiled to herself. She fixed it on her finger and turned around to face Snow. "I think we have enough -"
The ground suddenly moved beneath their feet and everything in the shop started shaking. At first it wasn't even that bad, only after a while the "earthquake" intensified and both women looked at one another.
„Is that you?" Snow asked.
„Me?" Regina snorted. „How the hell would I do that without my magic?"
"Good point. Regina, where are you going –?"
The ground moved again, this time harder. Regina eventually emerged outside and looked around the town. It was dark and gloomy, the wind was howling. Snow was yelling for her to stop, but Regina couldn't do that. She kept walking through the street with the wind smacking her face and ruffling her hair. And then, in the middle of the street, she crouched and slowly touched the ground. She felt the power in it. It was magic. The ground only shook once more and then everything stopped. She shivered and a very bad feeling overwhelmed her. She got up and in the same moment she saw Emma walking with Henry into her direction.
"What was that?" Her son asked when the force of the wind slowly decreased.
"No idea."
"Are you sure?" Emma frowned.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"I don't know. What were you doing here just now?"
„Are you serious?" Regina asked again and crossed her arms on her chest.
„Emma!" Snow finally caught up to them. „Are you guys okay?"
„Yeah, we're fine. But that was pretty intense."
Regina only narrowed her eyes at Emma, but suppressed her anger. She knew what the savior was doing. She didn't try to control her, she was controlling the Evil Queen. She didn't like that, she didn't need that.
„The curse! It's -"
„Leroy!" Snow calmed the dwarf down before he caused a panic. He screamed that out of habit. And it was good thing she did it, because within two minutes some people already started coming up to them, looking for answers. Earthquakes didn't happen in Storybrooke. If anything, things like this often meant a new curse or... town's annihilation. Regina tried to hide from everyone's eyes, but she knew she was the first to blame. She did use the trigger to destroy the town once before.
Emma broke the silence.
"Let's just get inside and talk to them."
Both Regina and Snow nodded. Henry followe them, leaving Regina behind, standing in the fog. It was a split of a second, but she could swear she saw a familiar face in the back corner of Granny's front yard. She blinked and the face was gone. Was she going crazy?
They all went in to the Granny's Diner, where a crowd of people was lively discussing and exchanging their opinions.
„What was this thing?!"
„Is this another apocalypse?"
„It's the Evil Queen or her wicked sister!"
Regina felt dizzy. She couldn't care less about the accusations, but she did wonder what just happened and why was she suddenly feeling like she's in danger? She had a dificulty breathing, so she decided she'll let the Charmings do all the talking.
„There's no reason to worry, please! It was just a minor earthquake!" Snow screamed at them.
„How do you know that? It happened before." Leroy, also known as Grumpy, walked to the front with a face expression that was... well, grumpy. „How do we know someone's not trying to destroy the town again?"
Regina's heart kept on racing. She had heard this happens during pregnancy, but she shouldn't shake the feeling this was another warning. She had no idea what it meant, so for now she decided to ignore it.
"We don't." Emma answered to the question honestly. "But we're going to find out what caused this. We're... working on it."
"With her?" Someone pointed at Regina and she sighed.
"Yes, it was her the last time!" Someone else screamed and the crowd went off again. As everyone started screaming over each other, Regina turned to Snow and crossed her arms.
„So much for people's trust. It's pointless."
The brunette only shrugged, she wasn't really in a place to tell her otherwise.
"It could be the Wicked Witch!" Someone else screamed again and she just lost it. She turned back around to face whoever said that.
"No, it's not." She said irritated and everyone went quiet. "Zelena is dead. I know no one trusts me on my word and I can't blame you for it. But right now I couldn't have possibly done that if I wanted to, because I don't even have my magic."
A complete silence filled the room. She could only hope no one will throw themselves at her, having this information. The response exceeded her all expectations.
"Oh shit, then we're doomed."
"What? N-no." Regina was confused and annoyed to say the least. "It doesn't mean we're defenceless, morons. I only lost my magic, because I'm pregnant."
Oh god, she thought to herself, what have I done? She didn't mean to announce it, especially not like this, but she spit this information out so fast she only realised what she did after a few seconds. Snow put a hand on her face and laughed. The queen didn't know what she finds so amusing in all of this.
„Yeah, there's that, too." Emma said awkwardly to everyone. „Okay, let's just not panic. We'll get to the bottom of this and once we do, we'll be ready as always. For now we all should -"
Regina didn't listen to them anymore. All that dizziness she fought back for the last couple of minutes finally caught up with her with full force. She only managed to mutter „I'm going to be sick." to her companions and she quickly left the diner with a hand on her mouth. Luckily, no one paid that much attention to her anymore.
She got to the toilet bowl in the last moment. She was emptying her stomach, feeling weaker with every convulsion. I thought I was way past this stage - she thought to herself - a nice gift Zelena unintentionally gave me. She was almost exactly in the middle, the second trimester, supposedly the most magical and pleasent time for a woman. And yet she suddenly felt like her entire body was turning against her.
She finished throwing up and she got herself up from the ground. Then she opened the toilet cubicle and went to the sink to wash herself. She sighed deeply as she run the water and once she washed and moistened her face she felt much better. She lift herself up and..
She froze.
"Mother." She whispered, seeing Cora in the reflection. She was right. She did see her outside of Granny's.
And then she fainted.

xxx

"Where is she?!" Regina almost jumped out of the bed.
"Hey, hey!" Robin tried to hold her in place. "Easy."
She hated this. She hated being all weak and fussed over.
"R- Robin? My... My mother. Cora is here. She -"
"I know. Please, don't try to get up."
Regina frowned at him as he tried to force a glass of water into her hand. She wasn't actually in a bed. They were at the back of Granny's Diner. It seemed like someone laid her on a couch, she assumed it was Robin.
„What are you doing here?"
„I went inside the diner and saw you leaving. I knew something was wrong, so I followed you. I got there the moment you fainted and this is when I saw… her. I didn't even know it was your mother until Emma came and I saw the look on her face. I... Well, I thought Cora did something to you and I got pretty angry."
"Where is she now?"
"We clocked her up. The weird thing is… she didn't even resist us."
Regina took a sip of water.
"My mother... is dead."
"I know."
"How is she here?"
"Good question."
"She's at the sheriff's station?"
"With the cuff on."
"That won't hold her off for long."
It was a quick exchange of words, but it gave Regina a picture of what happened. Cora wasn't dead. Or was she? Whatever she was, she was here in Storybrooke and it only explained the way she felt. Her body - or maybe even her daughter - was sending her a warning. Why did her mother let herself get caught, though? There was only one answer to this question. That's exactly what she wanted. She wanted them to take her, so Regina is forced to talk to her. The worried expression on Robin's face only confirmed he came to the same realisation as she did. He just smiled palely.
"I wanted to beg you not to do this, but I know it would be for nothing."

xxx

When Robin and Regina arrived at the sheriff's station, Snow and David were already waiting for them in the hallway, discussing something quietly.
"Regina!" Snow called as soon as she saw her former stepmother marching through the corridor. "Are you okay?"
"Well, considering I'm four months pregnant and just saw my dead mother, I'm perfectly fine."
"You see? Exactly my point." Snow said to her husband, addressing their conversation, and then she turned to Regina. "You can't go in. You shouldn't even let her talk to you."
"It's my mother, Snow."
"We don't know that."
"I appreciate the concern, but if I were you I'd be more worried about yourself. You did kill her."
Snow only rolled her eyes, but it did make her stop talking. Regina knew she's still feeling guilty about it, but they worked it out a long time ago and there was no use in digging into this right now. Cora was there for a reason and everyone knew that, including Charmings.
Robin pushed the door and he let Regina go in first.
"Hey." Emma stood up and approached them. "Can you tell me what is going on? What is your mother doing among the living?"
"I have no idea, but I have a gut feeling it has something to do with this earthquake."
"About that… Regina, I didn't mean to..."
"Relax." Regina stopped her. "I know you meant well. Let's just… focus on my mother." She didn't want Emma to touch on this subject when Robin was there. Now they had more pressing issues anyway.
"Can you ensure Regina's safety?" Robin asked the Savior.
"At this point I'm not sure of anything."
"Fair enough." Regina sighed and put a hand on her belly.
As soon as they walked from around the corner, Regina felt the baby move, as if once again it wanted to let her know she's there to protect her. It seemed strange, but for once the baby's powers made Regina feel a little bit more confident. Now the only thing she really needed to be worried about was her mother's intentions.
Cora moved slightly when she saw her daughter and grabbed the bars. Regina couldn't move any further. They were just looking at each other for a few very long seconds. Regina didn't trust her own voice enough to speak. She was shaking.
„Regina." Cora spoke to her first.
„Mother." The queen said very quietly. „What are you doing here? H—how..?"
„I don't know. I'm still dead, I assume, but I'm here." Snow gulped loudly and realised Cora looked at her briefly. "I want to talk to my daughter alone."
"Not a chance." Robin moved slightly, but Regina was holding him in place by the arm. For some reason she didn't want him anywhere near her mother. He looked her in the eyes. "I'm not leaving your side, Regina."
That's exactly what she was worried about. She wanted to scream to him to run away and never look back. The thought of her mother laying even one finger on the love of her life was too much.
"I can see you made friends." Cora said and smiled.
"Mother." Regina stopped her. "No more games. You either talk to me now or not at all. How are you here?"
"Do you know what the Underworld is?" Cora responded with a question.
„Of course I do."
„Then you have your answer."
„Wait..." Emma said confused, but at least she managed to keep track enough to be so. „You came here form the Underworld? Like the land of the dead or something?"
„Not just a land, Swan." Regina looked at her. „It's a passage. Mother… how did you even manage to get out of there?"
„I really have no idea, my darling. But I realise now why I couldn't move on when I was still there. I still have an unfinished business here. You are my unfinished business. Maybe this is why I'm here."
„Why should I care? How can I even trust you after everything you did to me? At this point I just can't really believe there's anything you love more than power."
„There is. It's you."
„Too late." Regina said through the tears and turned around to walk away.
„I know you killed Zelena!" Cora shouted at her to stop her. Regina gasped and looked back at her. She was furious. Maybe Emma's plan to control her wasn't so bad, because she was definitely losing some control.
„Yeah, the sister you forgot to mention I had for my entire life." Regina said to her mother through clenched teeth. "Now she's dead because of you, mother! You made her who she was by tossing her away! You have no right to- Ah!"
Regina felt a sharp pain her belly which bend her in half. She was glad Robin was holding her, because the pain was too strong to stand.
„Regina! What's wrong, is it the baby?" He kept asking.
Regina just nodded with her eyes shut. It definitely wasn't caused by the stress, though, her daughter was reacting to magic. The queen's magic.
"What baby?" Cora frowned and everyone looked back at her. Then the witch put all the pieces together and looked down at her dauther's belly, now very much visible under layers of clothing. "Oh... Regina."
"Don't pretent like you didn't know." Regina hissed.
„I did not." Cora seemed to be genuinely moved.
„Robin." Regina gasped. „I need to get out of here."
„No!" Cora stopped her again. „I understand it now. It all makes so much sense."
„What makes sense?" Regina frowned and sat down in a chair.
„You're with child. This is the reason why I'm here." Cora slowly walked away from the bars and sat down as well. „So it's true."
„What is true?" Emma asked with her arms crossed. „Can you start telling us something that actually makes sense?"
„The prophecy."
Robin and Regina looked at each other with confusion. This wasn't something they expected to hear.
"I met a seer once." Cora began explaining. "I was very young and it was long time ago, but... I always knew what I wanted. Power. I asked her how could I get more of it. She told me I'd marry into a royal family and that I would climb that ladder as long as I can, until my last day. And that it still won't be enough for what I want. I got very angry, I didn't want to accept it. Then... she said something else."
"Well then, stop building that unnecessary suspense and just tell us." Emma was losing her patience.
"She told me my bloodline would keep climbing that ladder even after I'm gone. That the power I seek is in there. Especially... the firstborns."
"And you just went on with it, did you? You made me become queen so I fulfil your sick ambitions and some stupid prophecy."
"I never thought about this part ever after. I did want you to become queen, but what's good for me about the power if I can't have it? She just stated the truth I couldn't possibly know back then. The truth is Zelena was my firstborn, not you. And she was incredibly powerful, way more than you. And now, your child... She's another generation of witches from our bloodline, so she must be even more powerful than her."
It would make sense, Regina thought. This is how her unborn daughter defeated Zelena so eaisly. Could it be...?
"Now I know why I'm here." Cora continued. "This baby's power... this is something very rare. There're people who would do anything to have it and they will come for her. I think I'm here to protect her."
"I can't hear this." Robin shook his head and almost laughed. „You don't make any sense, lady. I don't trust you and most certainly we don't need you. We can protect our own child from any danger, if there ever comes any. Regina, let's go."
Regina was trembling with emotions, but she didn't move from her seat. Not only she was terrified, she was quiet. Oddly quiet.
„Don't tell me you believe this gibberish, Regina."
Regina was looking blankly into space.
„My mother... is right, Robin."
„What? How can you say that?"
„We… I..." Regina struggled how to put this into words. „I won't be able to protect our daughter if… if I'm not here."
Something she knew deep down from the moment her sister died only got confirmed to her. The connection between them… it didn't just vanish. It was put on hold. Now she knew she didn't die with Zelena simply because she was still carrying this baby. And the spell was always meant to protect it. So when the time comes... when she gives birth... The baby will be able to live on its own, so she's going to die just like her sister., because this is what she chose. She did the spell, chosing the baby's life over her own. Now not only had she realised it all, but she had to tell Robin.
„What are you saying, Regina? Why wouldn't you be here?"
„The spell. Robin, I'm… I'm so sorry I never told you. I am... The transferring spell connected my life to Zelena's. But… but I thought..."
„I'm sorry it did what?!" Robin opened his eyes widely.
„Oh my sweet girl." Cora opened her mouth as well. „Why would you do that?"
„Stop talking!" Robin yelled at her. „Regina, let's just… go outside."
They both quickly left the room, leaving the Charmings and Cora inside.
„Please tell me you're joking. Please say it's just your mother's manipulation." Robin was pacing around the hallway, holding a hand on his head.
„I wish I could. I… " The tears were streaming down Regina's cheeks. This was the moment she knew she destroyed whatever magic that was between them. „I can explain..."
„Do you have any idea what you mean to me?!" Robin shouted and she just jumped scared.
„W-what?"
„You heard me. Or maybe I didn't tell you this enough? You're my life, you're my goddamn soulmate! I'm scared to even imagine living without you and now you're telling me we only have five months left together? Than you chose to leave me? Do you even love me youself?"
Regina has never seen Robin so broken and angry. At least not with her. She never thought it was possible for them to disagree about something so much to fight like this. And yet here they were.
„How—how can you say that?!" Now Regina was the one who screamed. „Of course I love you! This is why I didn't tell you! I did this for our child! I won't apologize for that!"
„How could you decide this on your own and just not tell me?! Does the ring on your finger mean anything to you at all?!"
„There was no time, your baby was dying!"
„We could figure out something else, for god's sake!"
„No, we couldn't!" Regina screamed so loud she was sure the entire town can hear her. The lights in the room flickered slightly. Robin looked up and sighed.
Regina didn't want to cry. She was too angry with Robin and with herself. How could they let this happen? They had the same goal, this child's safety was their priority. The only difference was that Regina was ready to put her own life on the line to save it. Robin would never accept that.
„There's nothing we can do about it now." She wiped her face and took a deep breath, trying to hold herself together. Not being able to lean on Robin was tearing her apart. „I need some air."
She left him standing there without another word. Robin was just looking down at the floor with tears in his eyes. He was in pain, but he didn't want to let it go. Her decision wasn't okay and as much as he wanted to support her, he simply couldn't make peace with that just yet. So he didn't follow her. And that was the biggest mistake of his life.

xxx

It was already late in the evening when Regina was slowly walking outside the station. She got pretty far from it, because she wanted to be sure no one sees her crying. She didn't regret anything. She couldn't bring herself to regret this decision, because she knew it was the only way to keep her baby safe. It hurt her to think she's gonna have to leave Robin, Henry, the Charmings, and most importantly, their unborn child soon, but maybe that's what she deserved? For weeks she wondered why did she get so blessed? How did she deserve to have all of this in her life? The love, the family, a new baby on the way? This was an answer. Her job was to give her life for another. And she made peace with that.
She never noticed someone was quietly following her. She never thought about any danger, because she still wasn't used to being so defenceless. So when she was wiping her eyes again, she didn't even see when someone rose their hands over her head. She only felt her face being forcefully covered with a peace of itchy, harsh fabric.
She didn't even make a sound. She was hit in the head with something that seemed to be a piece of wood. She fell down with hot blood streaming down her forehead.
And then… darkness.