Every one of Regina's nerves was on fire, screaming for her to stop. She wasn't sure that this would work. She wasn't sure she would survive it. But she refused to let Henry down again. He was the only thing she hadn't ruined in her life, and if this was what it took to make him proud, then this was what she would do.
That much power didn't just go away. Gold had made sure that it was enough to take out her mother, and that meant it was more than enough to kill her. But he had also counted on Cora not suspecting it, so there were certain defenses she could put up, walls that at least kept the pain from breaking her mind as it tore through her body. When it had finally all gone through her, she channeled it into the ground and fell there herself, drained.
Really, the fact that she was alive was a miracle. But then Henry shouted, "No!" And nobody came out of the well. If they had tried to pass through while the spell was still up, maybe that explained why she was still alive.
"I'm sorry, Henry." I'm sorry it didn't kill me instead. I'm sorry I was never good enough for you. "I'm sorry."
She sat on the ground, unable to stand, and watched her son break inside. Saw the pain and heartbreak as his face crumpled. Had she become her mother, even after everything? Killing the ones that her son loved, thinking it was somehow for his own good? Tricking herself into believing it was anything more than her own fear. Fear of her mother. Fear that Emma Swan was going to take Henry away from her, for good this time.
There was still hope in his eyes, a small but unbroken fragment of Snow White's legacy in him. He still believed that good always won, that nothing bad could truly happen to you if you did what was right. He still believed that because she had raised him to. Because he hadn't had to deal with real loss. Because he hadn't done everything right and still been forced into the arms of a cruel, uncaring partner. His hope was as much a proof of her rearing as it was his genetics, but the longer he stood, staring at the well, the more she knew she had failed him. She was finally who her mother had always wanted her to be.
And then a hand grasped the edge of the well. His eyes widened, and that hope began to grow again. He took a step closer, and it seemed like everything was going to be okay. Until she saw whose hand it was.
"Mother."
She locked eyes with Gold, who quickly moved to Henry and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"We need to leave," he said, and her son disappeared from sight in a cloud of smoke. Henry was safe. That was all that mattered. She couldn't think about the dull look in his eyes where that hope had been. He was safe.
As Cora managed to gracefully extract herself from the well, Regina pulled herself into a standing position, still leaning heavily on the tree beside her. She never wanted her mother to see her weak again, but it seemed she had no say in the matter.
"I take it that was Henry?" Her mother was here. Her mother was stepping toward her, to be specific, and she was hardly sure she could walk, much less defend herself. "I had so hoped to be introduced."
"You will never get to see him, Mother." She put all of the strength she didn't feel into her voice. She didn't care what happened to her. Henry would not be hurt by this woman like she was.
"Regina. I have been through a lot to get here. To be with you." Cora stopped, a few feet from her. A respectful distance, according to the millions of etiquette lessons she had endured on how to stand, sit, breathe, and everything in between.
"I tried to have you killed!"
"I know. But I understand why you felt you had to do that. How I… drove you to it. Darling, I am here to apologize. For everything."
"Apologize?" The word didn't make sense, certainly not from her mother. "You have never apologized for anything."
"Then maybe it's time I start." She paused, lowering her eyes in something that Regina would have sworn was shame on any other woman. "I never should have made you marry the king. I never should have killed… I am truly sorry, Regina."
"Daniel."
"Excuse me?" Her mother's tone, so gentle and placating, pleading even, so quickly went back to her usual amused disapproval.
"His name was Daniel. The man you killed. The man I loved."
"Of course. Daniel."
"You are unbelievable."
"I have done… terrible things. To you, most of all. But I am here, now, trying to be better." Her mother took another step closer, close enough that onlookers would see it as intimate. Or threatening, if they saw the way that Regina was clenching her fists, looking for an escape.
"Are Snow and Emma alive?"
Cora's eyes lit up. "Perhaps."
"I am not going to play these games with you, Mother. You do not get to come here, beg me for forgiveness, and then not answer my questions. If you are truly here to do better, then you are going to have to prove it. Are they alive?"
Cora looked down at the bottom of her dress, which was caked with sand and mud. Her forehead crinkled with distaste as she cast a quick spell to clean it. Great. After everything it took Regina to make her magic work here, her mother could do it without a hint of struggle.
"Why don't we go somewhere more appropriate for this conversation? And then I will tell you everything that I know."
Regina sighed. It was probably the best that she was going to get.
"Fine."
She took off for town, not waiting to make sure Cora was following her. For once in her life, she was in control. More or less, anyway, and she was not going to lose this. Her mother was following her silently, probably scheming, but at least she wasn't making those little comments she was always so good at, the ones that cut straight to the bone.
They arrived at her house on Mifflin Street, and Regina was just praying Gold was smart enough to have kept Henry far away. Once the door was unlocked, Regina invited her mother in. Cora, of course, strode in as though the house was hers. Critical eyes surveyed everything, from the furniture to the coats on the rack by the door.
"Does Henry live here, with you? Ms. Swan wasn't exactly clear on the details of your arrangement." There was a blow. Even with his mother in another world, she was still just called over when there was a problem that Prince Charming, the bumbling fool, couldn't solve on his own. But she just fixed a casual smile on her face.
"Sometimes. But we are here for you to answer my questions. Not the other way around." They moved into the sitting room, where her mother sat in her chair. Between the fireplace and the window, with the best view of all the room's entrances. She had never liked to be surprised, but as the worst possible surprise had already found her way into the room, she supposed the other chair would suffice.
"You're right, of course. I just want to get a better idea of the life you've lived the last twenty eight years. Ask away."
A happier life, without you in it. She bit back the retort.
"Are Snow and Emma alive?"
"Unfortunately." Regina felt a sliver of tension release from her shoulders. "Though I don't expect they'll have much luck in getting back to this world."
"That's where you're wrong, Mother."
"Am I?"
"You are going to help them get back here."
"Really, Regina? After everything you went through to kill Snow White, now you are willing to let it all go? What exactly is your relationship to her daughter?"
"Snow is not the one who killed Daniel, Mother. I have far more reason to help her than you."
"Fine. I will help you bring Snow White and her daughter back to this—"
"I'm not finished. You are going to help Snow and Emma get back to Storybrooke. And then you are going to find somewhere to stay far away from me and my son. I'm sure Rumplestiltskin will be only too happy to make sure that you find a small, dirty little apartment to hide in."
"And why would I do that?"
"Because otherwise, I will let him kill you. As much as you liked to tell a different story, I doubt even you could stand up to the Dark One."
"Let's be adults here, Regina."
"No. Let's not. You have ruined so many lives. You turned me into a monster. So there is nothing you can say that will make this okay. You should have stayed in our world, Mother. Because this is my town, and you have no power over me here."
"Then I'll leave." Her mother stood, her face bearing that perfect, unaffected look that Regina had never quite mastered. Regina had always been fire and rage and pain. Cora was ice. Cold, unforgiving, uncaring. "If you don't want me, then I won't continue to bother you. But when you need me, you know how to find me."
And then she left in a cloud of purple smoke. Regina raced to the front door to lock it, as though that was somehow going to keep her mother out. She called up Gold, told him to take Henry and his little librarian and keep them safe.
Then she went up the stairs, as calmly as possible, to Henry's room. It was exactly as he'd left it, because even tidying up seemed like an admission that she'd lost him, that he wasn't coming back. But he still had faith in her, somehow. Faith that she was going to prove was justified. Even after everything, as long as Henry was safe, as long as he still believed in her… she would never be broken.