Hello!
First off: I'm sorry for taking so long to update. I am hoping to pick up the pace on finishing this fic, so fingers crossed :)
Also, before you start I just wanted to say: if you don't like stories focusing on Snow/Regina's relationship...don't read this! It will be centered completely on their love, history, growth, fights, etc. That being said, I've gotten some feedback that people think little Snow would be kinder and like David. Be patient. First comes conflict, then comes resolution. Thank you for the reviews and for reading!
Disclaimer: I don't own Once Upon A Time or any of the characters.
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Emma sat with her back against the library circulation desk, piles of books surrounding her haphazardly. When she had volunteered to go research with Belle, she had really hoped that the town librarian would have some idea of what to look for. No such luck, the bookworm was as stumped as they all were. She had offered her full support and started looking right away. She found at least fifty books on Magical Aging. True, some of them were totally fiction, but they were desperate here.
Belle clicked her pen methodically as she sat gracefully on top of the desk across the room. Her books were neatly organized around her and she had several color coded bookmark tabs peppering her stack of finished books. Her notes were covered in hastily scribbled additions of information, her penmanship graceful and curly despite the rush. Emma groaned just looking at the brunette work with seemingly endless peaceful dedication.
Belle looked up dazedly, having been sucked out of her concentration. Furrowing her brows, she asked "What's wrong? Did you find something?"
Again, the blonde sighed before shaking her head and slowly standing up. Stretching her limbs, she glared at the pile of unhelpful books and then gave the brunette a pleading gaze. Ever since Rumplestiltskin had come to drop off Belle's lunch, Emma had been begging her to ask him for help.
"Please, Emma, let's not start with that again. He already said he couldn't help."
"Yeah, to us. But you're his girl, he's got a soft spot for you." Emma reasoned.
"Be that as it may, I don't want to bruise that soft spot by asking too much of him. He already told me why he can't help, and I've accepted that we're on our own for this."
"Can't you at least share with the class?"
Belle gave her a confused look before Emma elaborated, "You know, tell me why he can't help?"
Belle finally shut her book and hopped down from the desk. She made her way over to Emma, making eye contact so intense Emma almost wanted to take it back, but she was already in this deep. "Emma, you need to understand that Rumple is deep down a good man, He's not trying to be spiteful or cruel by keeping this from you. In fact, he'd love to help. But he can't. That's all I'll say."
"Fine." Emma accepted for now, not believing it for a second. "You find anything useful yet?"
"Actually, I think so…" Belle started before the library door swung open and a rush of wind brought a swirl of dead leaves into the library.
"Oh, I just swept." Belle mumbled, turning towards the visitor. Neither Belle nor Emma could contain their shock when Maid Marian walked into the building. Emma's face flushed with guilt when she saw her, instantly reminded of Regina's heartbreak. This woman had taken Robin Hood away from Regina, possibly pushing her down another dark, dangerous path. In fact, if this de-aged Snow problem hadn't occurred, Emma might have been dealing with a murder investigation. Or David would be, if Regina had decided to take her out too.
And Emma couldn't exactly blame her. After all, she'd broken the number one rule of time travel and it was Regina that had to pay the consequences.
Still, in her heart, she knew she couldn't have done it any other way. Marian did not deserve to die. She deserved to live, and raise her son Roland, who was peeking at them from behind Marian's dress. So despite the guilt, Emma smiled at her.
"Hi Marian! Wasn't expecting to see you out and about so soon." Emma greeted, waving at Roland as she did so, her smile brightening when the little boy giggled shyly and waved back.
"Yes, well, I heard from one of the dwarves about a magical incident that happened with Snow White and I thought I might try to help."
"Wonderful!" Belle exclaimed, glad to have the help. Emma could admit that she wasn't exactly the best research assistant. "Nice to meet you by the way, I'm Belle!"
The two shook hands and Belle led her over to the stacks of awaiting books. As Marian skimmed over the titles, Belle darted to another section of the library and zipped back with a small bean bag and an armful of children's books. "Here you are, Roland. I recommend Dr Seuss."
Roland reluctantly moved forward and took the proffered items. "Thank you." He whispered, carefully arranging himself against the wall, positioned so that his mother was directly in front of him, unobstructed by the stacks of books. He began to read, but every couple of seconds he glanced up, checking that she was still there.
Marian, meanwhile, appeared reinvigorated. She shook herself off a little, and Emma decided to mention the obvious: "So Roland's been a second shadow today?"
"What?" Marian responded. "Oh! Yes, yes… the child had been very … close to me since I arrived."
"Well, we're glad for his company. And yours too, of course." Belle interjected, winking at Marian gratefully.
"Of course. Anything to help Snow White."
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David could admit that he wasn't the best planner. He rushed into things headfirst: fighting dragons, dealing with Rumplestiltskin, protecting his family. Usually Snow found some way to reason with him, or truthfully she was closer to the ledge than he was and that scared him enough to reel them both back.
Well, Snow wasn't around to smack any sense into him, which meant that he'd been stuck at the top of the stairs of Regina's vault for over an hour already. It was so ghostly quiet in there, even when Snow and Regina were chatting. The light sounds of their voices bounced off the marble walls of the crypt delicately, but any other noise stood out as glaringly wrong and out of place. A bit ago he'd shifted a little and his knee popped. It was damn lucky that Snow happened to sneeze a second later, otherwise he would have been absolutely crucified by Regina.
Yeah, he had no doubt about that.
He had learned more about her in the last hour than she would ever willingly share with him.
She knew how to play children's hand clapping games.
She sang wonderfully, with a deep, raspy grace.
She listened intently to Snow, and answered every single question the girl had- and there were many.
"How long has it been, since Father...?" Snow asked, trailing off before she could say the word.
Regina cleared her throat to stall for a moment, "Ahem, well. It feels like a lifetime ago, dear."
Snow nodded, "I figured as much. You're not wearing mourning clothes."
"Oh believe me, Princess, I have long since stopped 'mourning' the King." Regina spat out sarcastically, the venom in her words splashing over the calm atmosphere of the vault.
"What-what do you mean by that, step-mother?" Snow stuttered, her voice curious but fragile. David twisted around again, ignoring the shuffling noise his shoes made on the stone staircase. He needed to see this. He needed to be there when Regina decided her whim to indulge Snow was suddenly over. At least last time around, the jig was up when Snow was already an adult. She could stand on her own two feet, but such a stunt would destroy a child. He hovered at the ready. It was inevitable.
Regina seemed to come back to herself. She shook her head and zeroed in on the sad little face watching her. For a moment, she had forgotten that this Snow didn't know that Regina hated her father, or why. Although, when she thought about it, neither did the adult Snow. She'd never told her, just tried to punish her for what she'd done.
There was a reason she had gone after the King first, though. As much as she had despised Snow, it was because her actions had led to Leopold. The decrepit old man who had taken everything from her. A shiver ran through her body at the thought of him, and then her face flushed in anger. She hated what he had done to her, how weak he made her feel. Everything she had done was to cleanse herself of his poisonous touch.
Snow took a timid step back, but then steeled herself and rushed forward to hug her step-mother.
"I'm sorry I brought it up. It obviously causes you pain. We don't have to talk about it." She apologized, hoping that this wouldn't ruin their day together. Sometimes when she offended Regina, they wouldn't talk for what felt like eternity. But she'd been in a really good mood today, or maybe had grown kinder over time. Either way, Snow didn't want to sour it by bringing up touchy subjects.
Meanwhile, Regina gripped Snow's shoulders tightly, holding the young girl close. She didn't remember Snow being this emotionally mature at this age, but perhaps that was because she had wanted to see the very worst in her.
Something honest and demanding possessed Regina, and she found herself doing something she never thought she would do again.
"Snow, I have to tell you a secret."
"A secret?" the girl responded, worry evident in her voice. She hated secrets.
"Yes, it shouldn't be hard to keep. No one will even know to ask you anything about it."
"Okay, I suppose." Snow agreed, slowly smiling as she realized what this meant. Regina was letting her get closer. This was mother-daughter bonding!
"Your father...he hurt me."
"What!" Snow shouted in confusion, her eyes roving over Regina's body for injuries.
"No, no, Snow" Regina stopped her, forcing their eyes to meet and taking a deep breath before saying what she needed to say.
"This was a long time ago. There aren't any marks, anymore. In fact, there never really were. He would bring in a healer to hide away the evidence."
"Well, surely it was an accident then. He brought you a healer. He didn't mean it." The girl insisted, shaking her head as she tried to understand why Regina thought so badly of her father. She loved him, after all.
"He meant it, Snow. It was… a regular occurrence." Seeing the girl's face fall, Regina quickly added, " I'm not telling you this to hurt you. I just...I needed to tell you because I never told you the first time around."
"You mean, when I'm older I don't know this?" She asked incredulously.
"Yes. I hid it from you. I didn't want to seem vulnerable."
"You don't have to hide things from me! I can help!"
"That part of my life is long over, dear. I don't need you to fix anything. I found a way to fix it all on my own." She informed her, carefully leaving out any mention of how she fixed things.
"Will you tell me what he did? How did he hurt you?" Snow asked, desperate to understand what her father could have done to draw such coldness from Regina. Regina was the kindest, most loving person she knew, besides her mother Eva.
"No, Snow. It's too much for a child to know."
"I am 29, remember?" Snow smirked halfheartedly before giving up and acquiescing. "Alright, fine. Will you tell me when I'm older?" She asked, unaware of how big of a request she was making.
"I-I promise." Regina confirmed. She pressed a kiss to Snow's forehead and closed her eyes. For just a second, she wanted to pretend that things could stay this way, so she wouldn't have to tell adult Snow.
With her eyes closed and their movements halted, the crypt stood at a quiet standstill.
That's when she heard it. Short, panicked breaths that were most definitely not coming from her or Snow. She silently guided Snow behind her by the shoulders and called out "Who's there? Show yourself!"
The breathing hushed.
"It's too late, now, you pathetic excuse for a vigilante. I know you're in here." Her words were clipped, fury overcoming her surprise as she realized what the intruder must have overheard.
David's heart nearly seized. He couldn't see a way to get out of this one, nor a way to defend his actions. Regina had been nothing short of perfect with Little Snow. And she'd shared some of her deep dark secrets, intending them for a little girl who wouldn't remember but now they were a part of him too.
He had no course of action.
Come out with sword raised, defensive and sure that he'd been protecting Snow?
Apologetic and full of empathy? He never imagined that Regina had been a beaten woman.
Abashed and embarrassed? Because he was definitely those.
The choice was stripped from him as he felt Regina's magic curl around him. Thick, splintery ropes gripped his arms and legs and suddenly he was hanging upside down in front of the enraged queen. Behind her, Snow White watched him with a worried frown on her face.
He could barely see Regina's face, instead he was stuck staring at sharp points on her shiny black heels. The steady thrum of magic that pulsed through the ropes told him exactly how she was feeling though, causing him to groan out in pain as a particularly forceful tug knocked the air out of his lungs. "Regina, I'm-sorry." He bit out, the blood rushing to his head making eloquence difficult.
"You're sorry, are you?" She snapped back, her eyes sharp and accusing. Her entire body vibrated with what he was sure was barely restrained fury. She held eye contact with him, her eyes screaming obscenities at him, before she effortfully swallowed her words right down. Instead she leaned down to growl in his ear, "Get your sorry ass out of here immediately." She flung her hands back, for a second he could see them shaking.
The ropes that held him vanished, the resounding smack of his cheekbone on the concrete rung throughout the vault.
He dragged himself to his side slowly and cupped his now bruised face, hissing when he reached the scraped flesh. "Alright, alright, I'm leaving!" He held his hands up and made his way to retreat, glancing regretfully at Little Snow. Regina was on the brink of an eruption and as the subject of her ire, he'd prefer to be as far away as possible. An hour ago, he'd have stolen Snow away for her protection, but now he had a hesitant trust in Regina. He'd leave Snow with her even though it killed him.
"Wait." Regina choked out, her back facing him.
"What?" He asked, wondering why she wanted to elongate this already painful encounter.
"Take. Snow."
"What? Why?" It didn't make any sense, shouldn't she be using this as ammunition for how he was unsuitable to care for young Snow? Too thick-headed and tactless?
"Don't ask stupid questions, you idiot! Take her and get out of here NOW." The vault shuddered, the walls giving off puffs of dust. He didn't need to be told again. All of his protective instincts rose up and he snatched Snow's hand, practically leaping up the stairs with her. Old habits die hard, after all. Surprisingly, she didn't fight him.
As the vault door slammed behind them, he could have sworn he heard the beginning of an anguished scream.
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Chest heaving, Regina absorbed the fury that was involuntarily shaking her entire body.
No one. No one knew what the King had done to her. Every healer he had brought in, a different one each time, had been told she had caused the bruises herself. She had fallen. Her arm had gotten caught in a doorway. She had been knocked off her horse, as if Rocciante would ever do such a thing.
The King had been careful. Calculating.
Truthfully, she wondered if he was possessed when they were alone. To the Kingdom and his daughter, he was the picture of geniality and grace. Yet he only ever showed her brutish, forceful cruelty. She had taken it with a bowed head and demure voice, promising to do better for him. Through it all she had dreamt of his death.
It was what got her through the pain and utter humiliation that his fists rained upon her.
She was so strong, so willful, that no one had ever realized her strife, and that was the way she preferred it. The vipers of the court would have ripped her apart if they realized even their precious King did not value her.
She never wanted to revisit that powerlessness and that's exactly what Charming had done to her. She opened herself up a teeny, tiny bit for little Snow. Enough to sting, and then the shepherd stormed in and ripped open the entire wound.
Someone, an adult with a working memory, knew.
A ragged breath shuddered through her. Her magic ached to destroy. Which was why she had to send Snow away. It killed her to practically reward the shepherd for his spying, but she couldn't ensure Snow's safety if she stayed. She might have been collateral damage for the spasms of volatile energy that were growing larger and more unstable in her palms. Finally, she snapped her hands shut and allowed her anger to consume the room.