"I see that you've been the Evil Queen so long, you're having trouble seeing yourself as anything else" Archie said to Regina during one of their therapy sessions "but we can always reinvent ourselves".
"How would you know?" Regina said, frustratedly "you've always been everyone's conscience, you've never experienced the darkness or the guilt, never had to be forgiven for anything!"
Archie was slightly hurt by Regina's assumptions. But then again, he had been everyone's conscience since long before Regina, or even Cora, had been born so he couldn't blame her for not knowing. After taking a pause to compose himself, he responded.
"Regina, how do you think I became who I am? Guiding others to follow their consciences?"
Regina thought for a moment. She had never asked herself where Jiminy Cricket came from, if he even started as a cricket or a human. "I don't know" she admitted "I guess I just assumed the Blue Fairy appointed you from on high".
Archie hesitated for a few moments. The only people who really knew his origins were Rumplestiltskin, Geppetto, and Blue. He kind of wished Rumplestiltskin didn't know. Should he open himself up to the Evil Queen. He shouldn't think of her as the Evil Queen now, he reminded himself. He was here to help Regina. Yes, he decided, it would help Regina to know. It would help her see a path to redemption.
"I was a very different person once" Archie confessed "Hardly anyone else knows this but I trust you. Like you, I once saw myself as the person my parents made me and I didn't think I could be anyone else. My parents and I were thieves. We put on puppet shows across the lands, and stole from the audience while they were distracted. We also conned people out of money by selling potions to cure non-existent diseases. One day I went to Rumplestiltskin, looking for a way out. It was the biggest mistake of my life. He gave me a poison that I intended to use on my parents. They switched the bottles. I helped them con a nice couple into buying the poison. A young boy's parents were turned into wooden puppets. Even the Blue Fairy couldn't reverse it. It's my fault Gepetto's parents were taken from him at a young age. I have spent the rest of my life since then atoning for that. So, Regina, I think we all have things we are atoning for".
Archie hung his head, ashamed of what he had done all those years ago. Regina put her hand over her mouth in surprise.
"Forgive me" Regina said "I have been so focused on my pain, I always assume everybody else is happy, I never really consider other people's pain. I realize now how much of a burden your past must be for you".
"We all live and learn" Archie said "I only told you about all this in hopes that now, it will be easier for you to confide in me about your past".
Regina nodded. "Thank-you for that" she said. After that she was able to open up to him more about her guilt over past deeds. She remembered this during the many times she struggled to be good over the years.