Notes:

Hello, this is my first story to publish and I am very excited for your thoughts.

English is not my native language so please forgive me if I have made any mistakes. This story is complete, I will upload episodes intermittently.
I have no rights over the characters, except for a few characters.

Enjoy!

You can follow my Twitter account for story updates and more: idilsakinci

The episode contains an element of suicide. If it is not suitable for you, please skip it.

The blonde woman let out a deep breath when opened the door. After making no sound throughout a few seconds, she pulled herself together.

"I knew this day would come."

"May I come in?" said the brunette woman. Her voice was strong, but the blonde woman was feeling emotions contained in. She steps aside from the door and let her come in.

"Henry isn't at home."

"I know. I wanted to talk to you." She took a step in wide hall of the house; took a glance at photo frames on the wall and fireplace, approached one of the photos but didn't dare to touch. There was just a bitter smile on her face.

It means she was so involved in their lives that she knew that her son was not at home. That day had finally come.

"I expected you to come a year and a half ago." said after they both settle into the armchair.

"I had things to take care of."

She didn't need to verbalize that the things she talks about are in herself. After a silence, it was the guest who finally took a deep breath and entered the conversation.

"Emma... I know he is very happy with you. I'm going to be grateful to you until forever for this."

"I know there is a 'but'. I see, Regina."

"I can't be without him anymore. I want him to know the truth. We talked like this already."

Emma nodded and approved her.

"Will you tell Robin?"

"I don't know. I want to talk to Henry firstly."

"Are you sure? I... I don't want to him to be sad."

"I don't want either, Emma, but I can't stand anymore, I'm exhausted. I've been trying to gather my courage for a year and a half, then thinking about what Henry will go through and giving up. I don't know how many times I came back through the door. But... I can't live with this pain anymore." A tear slipped from her eyes.

"I understand. I always understood you, Regina, but you understand me too. I've raised him. 15 years. I've been his mother for 15 years." Emma saw the pain that shined in her eyes when heard the word mother. She is feeling the same pain in her heart. She continued without waiting for her reply. "Regina, take me a little time, please. I want to explain to him some things myself."

"Of course. I don't want to leave you behind. We can find out the way go together."

Emma nodded slightly, approved. "I advise you to talk to Robin until I talk to Henry. I don't want it to be half when we explain the truth. I don't want to lie him."

"I'll think about it." She said while got up and straightened her royal blue dress. Emma thought that this color suits her friend very well; a color that suitable for royal, like its name.

After closing the door behind Regina, she watched through the curtain of the window when her driver opened the door of the woman's black Mercedes. After the car drove away, she put herself in her seat, put hands on her head, and began to think how to explain the facts to her son.

She took a deep breath before left the kitchen when heard the key turn in killite, tried to smile despite mess inside her.

"Mom, I'm home!"

"Hey, kid." She reached to get her son's bag.

"How are you? You seem tired."

"I'm okay, don't worry. The dinner is ready, change your clothes and come down."

"Okay, but you know I didn't believe in you." As the fifteen-year-old ran up the stairs, Emma was thinking about how to stall him until the end of the meal.

"Henry, I have something to talk to you about."

"Finally." He put his fork on the edge of his plate and lifted his head.

Emma tried to smile for the hundredth time this evening.

"It feels like we're going to talk about something serious. Did they call from the school? "

"No, it's not like that." She cleared her throat gently. "It's about your biological parents."

"I don't understand, didn't you tell me they were dead?"

When Emma made no sound for the next sentence, Henry combined the pieces with a trait he received from both his real mother and the mother who raised him.

"It wasn't the fact, was it? They aren't dead..."

"Henry, everything I did was just to protect you."

"By hiding them from me? Couldn't you see how much this will hurt me?!"

"There are things you don't know. Please let me explain."

The boy clasped his hands together as Regina always does when she gets angry. When Emma realized that, tried to lighten the growing lump in her throat.

"Your real mother had been my best friend since high school. When we learned she was pregnant... Her situation was... Complicated. She asked me to protect you until she gets things square before you were born."

"And what? Did she get things square now? Said sarcastically.

"She came here today. She wants to meet you."

"I don't understand why have you lied to me for years. Why did you say they died instead of telling the truth?"

"Because if you knew who she was ... "

"What would happen? Would I like to go to her? Would I leave you? What was it, mom?!"

"Do you remember the game we played when you were a child? With your cloak and sword? You were a prince."

"What does this have to do with a silly children's game?"

"Because, Henry... You are a real prince. Your mother is Regina Mills."

Henry's hazel eyes widened, his brows furrowed. The words his mother had said kept repeating in his mind.

"Henry..." Emma tried to reach for his hand, but the boy draw back.

"Are you trying to say that my mother is the queen of our country? The queen of Storybrooke is my mother?!"

"Yes."

Regina had been spinning around in her room ever since Emma texted that she was going to tell Henry tonight. The tips of the red nail polish on her perfectly manicured nails were peeling off because she has bitten off. If Leopold saw her state, she would have heard a long conversation about her behavior unbecoming of a queen. Fortunately, her husband could not speak out of his grave. And his hands too.

Her heels stopped eroding the carpet when her phone rang, she touched the green circle that appeared on the screen.

"Emma?"

"I told."

The brunette woman felt her heart beat almost in her throat. She asked none of the questions in her mind, fell silent.

"I don't even know what he is thinking, Regina?" said in desperation. "He went into his room without saying anything."

"Did he get angry?"

"When I said that his real family isn't dead. But when I said your name, it was just astonishment that I saw on his face. He doesn't understand, don't know why did you leave him. I thought you should tell this."

"Thank you, Emma. For everything."

"Regina... Will you take him from me?"

"Of course I won't. You're his mother as much as me... Maybe more than me.

After a little silence, Emma realized that her oldest friend was shedding silent tears from her breathing. She was able to suppress the hiccups, as she had witnessed many times in the queen's most painful moments.

"He will understand that we did for protect him."

"I hope so."

"I'll talk again tomorrow when everything is light. I will let you know."

"Good night." She could only say with her broken voice. The blonde woman heard the voice that the phone was hung up.

Emma was preparing breakfast when she heard footsteps behind her. With a short breath, she turned and found her son in front of her.

"Good morning." she said with a timid voice. She was feeling a huge panic because she doesn't know if he is mad at her, what he thinks of this sudden information. She had been tossing and turning in her bed all night. Would his son give up on her and run to his mother, he wants to see Regina? Is he angry with her for kept this secret?...

"Morning." replied without looking directly into her eyes.

"Are you angry with me?"

"Yes." he just said.

"Henry, I love you more than everything. "No matter what, you're my son."

"I have thought much about that." He raised his head for the first time and looked up at his mother. "That woman is going to remain only the queen of the country I live for me."

A spark of happiness was born inside Emma, but she regretted immediately. Knowing Regina's pain, her compulsion, she couldn't be happy that Henry thought of her that way.

"You should listen to her once."

"What will I listen to? How has she preferred the gaudy life instead of her son?"

"It wasn't like that..."

"How was it?!"

"Telling this is none of my business."

"According to I won't talk to her, that means I'll never find out about." got off the chair. "I'll be late for school."

He rushed out of the house before Emma had time to respond.

The blonde woman slumped down on the table, put her hands on her head, and stayed that way until the doorbell rang.

The door opened and revealed the queen, she was wearing a black dress and Even her heavy make-up couldn't hide the sadness in her eyes and the tiredness on her face.

"Come in." muttered.

Regina took off her red coat and putted it on the hanger. "I waited for Henry to leave the house." Her voice was broken like Emma's.

"Chamomile tea?"

"You didn't forget." She tried to smile.

"What my best friend drinks? No, I didn't."

Regina sat on the chair while her friend was preparing the tea. She touched the jacket whom Henry had left on the chair delicately. She had to stop herself and step away from the jacket to avoid lifting to the nose and smelling it.

"Thank you." said when a glass is putted in front of her.

"He is so angry with both of us." Emma thought it was easier to get straight to the point.

"We've been expecting this."

"He doesn't want to talk to you. He thinks you have preferred the royal life instead of him."

Her eyes widened, she held the glass in his hand tightly. "But..."

"I know it's not, Regina. I told him too, but his anger in front of his heart. I can't get my voice to him."

The brunette woman dropped the glass from her hands and sighed in the unworthy a queen of . "I have never wanted it to be like this. I've ruined all of our lives. Henry's, yours, mine... Robin's."

"It was not your fault."

"I wasn't strong enough to resist them." A tear from her eyes rebelled and ran away. "You and Zelena tried to help me, Robin did, but I… I was weak." At her last word, her voice trembled with anger and sadness. One word shouldn't mean so much.

Emma reached out and took her hand. "You are the strongest woman I have ever seen. Not everyone would dare what you have done."

"A courage that separates me from my son."

The sound of the front door closing suddenly broke the sad air. It can't be!

"I forgot my ja…" His word was left unfinished in front of the kitchen door when he saw the two women. The queen that he had watched and admired on television for years, the woman sitting in the kitchen chair of his house, his missing mother…

"Henry…" Henry and Regina keep looking at each other as Emma stood up and took a few steps toward her son.

The boy finally turned his eyes away from his real mother to his mother who has raised him. "What is she doing here?"

"Don't blame your mother, I came myself." Finally, Regina's velvet voice filled the room. Her years of pain was triggered when she heard he called Emma mom.

"I'm sure you knew I don't want to talk to you, your majesty. Why are you in our house?"

"I understand you're angry. You are right. But if you let me explain for once, I would be really happy." She barely suppressed the intense emotions that had accumulated inside her and enveloping her whole being. She wanted to pull the boy to her and hug him tight, never to let him go again, but she couldn't. Instead, the woman who can have made everyone knee before her, almost knelt down in front of a small child. She couldn't help the tears in her eyes and the trembling in her voice. The last time she was this close to her dear son, Henry was a little baby. A little baby in need of his mother's love, his little hands wrapped around the finger of the woman holding him in her arms.

"There are many people in your palace who care about your happiness. It's none of my business."

"The only I care about is your happiness."

"It's none of your business too. I already have a mom. The woman who has raised me while you were empowering yourself, thinking about which jewelry to wear every day. Remember? I don't need anyone else."

"I have not chosen the power over you, Henry." The boy felt a small wobble in his heart as her son's name came out from her lips for the first time. "I would never have. I was trying to protect you."

"From what? Your sumptuous clothes?"

"There's so many things you don't know."

"And I don't want to know! I don't want anything about you! Get out of my house!"

The Queen pressed her lips together. She didn't even know what to say. After a pause, "I understand." she muttered, took her bag from the chair. "I didn't mean to upset you. I hope one day I can have forgiveness in your heart."

"The only thing you'll have in my heart is anger."

Regina rushed out of the kitchen and left the house.

"Henry, I don't approve this behavior right at all. I've raised you better than that."

"That's the problem! You have raised me. She can't go out suddenly and claim motherhood! I don't want to talk about that woman again." He grabbed his jacket and stormed out of the house.

"Will we come back to the palace, Your Majesty?" After the queen of Storybrooke got into the car running so to speak, the driver asked.

"Yes." After her one-word answer, she pressed the button on the doorknob. When the thick glass rose between her and the driver and cutted off the sight and sound completely, she took off her black sunglasses and threw them on the seat, releasing the tears that had accumulated over the minutes and gave a small cry.

"I hate you two ! I wish I had strangled both of you with my own hands instead of letting you die of natural causes!"

The woman continued to cry until the black car entered the palace gate. She took the glasses she had thrown on the seat, put them on, and walked out the door with all his dignity. As she climbed the stairs of the magnificent building, which had been her prison for years, the man who was his right-hand man appeared next to her.

"Your Majesty." He saluted quickly . "Your meeting is at 2 p.m., then you have..."

"Cancel everything, Graham." She walked up the stairs to her room quickly. A sudden silence fell on the palace. The queen who overly committed to her mission has never been given a cancellation order before.

Graham kept running after her. "But the meeting…"

The queen stopped suddenly and turned to the man behind her. "I. Said. Cancel."

"Y-yes Your majesty."

She stopped the guards advancing behind her by raising her hand and continued on her way alone. A few minutes later, Graham had started making phone calls, when a woman came running down the stairs.

"Graham!"

"Not now, Ruby."

Ruby got closer to the man and checked around if anyone was listening. "The queen..."

"What happened?" said by looking up hastily.

"She's razing her room."

"What?!"

"There are sounds of tipping over and screaming from inside."

"Call Miss. Mills. Immediately! Damn it, what is happening? Hurry up, Ruby!"

While Ruby was rushing to an empty room to talk on the phone, Graham rushed to cancel meetings and run to his queen up as soon as possible.

The red-haired woman rushed into Storybrooke Palace. Graham and Ruby greeted her at the door.

"Where is she?"

"In her room."

"Did anyone hear? Did anyone understand?" She kept asking questions to those who followed her as she hurried up the stairs.

"No. She didn't show it until she entered her room. It's been half an hour since the sounds stopped."

"Don't let on anything." she said, and pushed the two-winged, inlaid door, but it was locked. She took a deep sigh and knocked softly on the door. "Regina? Darling, please open the door."

She tried again when there was no sound or movement. "Regina. I'm with you. Always. Please let me in."

The key could be heard turning several times in the lock, then the door opened slowly. The queen had taken of her high heels, and her dress, which had been flawless an hour earlier, was crumpled. She looked so vulnerable with her eyes red from crying and her messy make-up. Through the door gap, knocked down furniture, scattered colorful fabrics were visible.

The red-haired woman took the brunette in her arms immediately.

"He doesn't want me, Zelena."

"We will handle it sister, I promise we will."

She let her sister in again and closed the door. She could see the destruction in the room better now. Clothes were torn, jewels were all thrown away, seats were overturned.

"He thinks I prefer him to these." She picked up a torn dress. "To these worthless fabrics…" She threw the dress and picked up a necklace of emeralds. "To these stupid stones…" She looked around. "To this room, to this palace…" Her eyes found her sister's eyes again. "To this life…"

"He will understand that's not true. Henry is a very smart boy, Regina."

"Right. The very smart boy that Emma has raised." She smiled.

"None of us wanted what happened. Most of all, you didn't want it. Don't blame yourself."

"If I didn't want, why didn't I fight more? Why didn't I find a way? Wouldn't a mother do anything for her child? Why didn't I do it? I could have killed those two and held my son in my arms."

"You're not a murderer!" She grabbed her arms and shook them lightly. "You're not bad person! You are a woman who sets herself on fire to protect your loved ones. I will not let you be unfair to yourself."

"None of this matters. I lost my son. I'm a killer, I'm not, I'm bad, I'm good, I'm in the fire, I'm in the water, what does it matter?"

"Much."

Regina shook her head negatively. "For years I have lived for today. You know. I endured all, one day I would meet my son again. But it's over now, Zelena."

Zelena frowned when the exhausted woman's eyes barely opened halfway, and she couldn't stand. "Regina?"

"Don't try to contact him. Let him be happy with Emma. I gave permission... I gave my final decree, Zelena." She completed her sentences breathlessly.

"Regina, what have you done? What have you done?!"

She grabbed her sister tightly before she fell to the ground. She put her head in her lap, laid her on the ground, and screamed that echoed throughout the palace. "GRAHAM!"