Cora's Scrapbook, Chapter Two: Junk
With the mysterious Snow Queen in custody, Cora grows suspicious about her motives.
Author's Note: My thanks to all of you who have been reading! It is an unparalleled joy to be writing about Cora again, and I hope you will enjoy this latest chapter.
Characters:
Cora Mills
Regina Mills
Robin Hood
Emma Swan
Ingrid, The Snow Queen
Marco
Emma sat down across from Cora at a booth towards the back of Granny's Diner.
"Good morning, Sheriff Swan," Cora said, offering a tentative smile.
Emma gave a polite nod. "Cora. You wanted to talk. What can I do for you?"
"Not a thing. Actually, I'm here to talk about what I want to do for you."
Emma raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Oh?"
"I understand that you've taken the Snow Queen into custody, and Regina told me that she happens to be someone from your past. I'm sure that her presence here must involve you in some way. What thought have you given to that?"
Emma frowned. "She's a crazy stalker who wants to make a perfect family with Elsa and I by getting everyone else in Storybrooke to kill each other."
"The Spell of Shattered Sight?"
Emma nodded.
"Here is my offer. You have her in custody. Allow me to speak with her. Her goal to get her family seems not dissimilar to my own intention when I first came to this town. If I can get her to relate to me, I may be able to talk her down, or at the very least, gain new information to prevent that spell from ever being cast."
"Don't get me wrong, Cora, I appreciate the offer…" Emma began.
Cora pursed her lips in annoyance. "But you don't want my help? Really, Miss Swan, after all I have done to help you and your family, do you still not trust me?"
"No, it's not that I don't trust you-" Emma said very quickly. "-Your daughter is already pretty mad at me for bringing back Marian. I'm not sure I want to make it worse by putting you in danger."
"My dear girl," Cora suddenly snorted with laughter, throwing her head back and startling a few nearby patrons. "Putting me in danger? You may be the Savior, but I've been practicing magic far longer than you or your daughter. The idea that a frosty fiend in a cocktail dress could pose any threat to me is laughable. And you let me worry about my daughter."
Emma shrugged. "You're right. I mean, what's the worst thing that can happen?"
"Mother, I really don't think it's necessary-"
"It's already decided, Regina." Cora increased her as though to lose her daughter. Robin was trying to keep up behind them.
Regina teleported in front of Cora, hands on her hips. "I'm not going to stand here while you go in there and come out in a deep freeze!"
"Why is everyone suddenly so concerned for my well-being?" Cora asked, rolling her eyes. "Can you possibly doubt me? Let's not forget, dear, I was the one who was able to deflect even your Dark Curse. There is no way this woman can be a threat to me."
"She turned my Marian to ice!" Robin interjected. Cora felt Regina bristle when he said, "my Marian."
"What if I can find out how to reverse the spell on Marian?" Cora asked.
Robin paused, and Cora knew she had him hooked.
"Can you excuse us for a minute?" Regina asked the thief, pulling her mother aside. Robin hung back as commanded. And then, whispering to Cora, "That's a low blow, Mother! Don't use Marian as a pawn to get him to agree with you."
Cora glowered at her daughter. "I'm not using Marian as a pawn! I simply want to talk to this woman. Emma's shackles have kept her under control. She may know how to reverse the spell, and if she doesn't tell me, we are no worse off. Don't let your personal feelings get in the way of us solving this problem." With a terse glare, she stepped into the sheriff's station.
Emma sat behind the two way mirror, eager to hear the exchange between Cora and the Snow Queen. The Snow Queen, or Ingrid, as Emma supposed she was called, sat with her hands folded, looking bizarrely sanguine given her circumstance. Cora stepped into the room and sat down across from her.
"Good day, Your Majesty," Cora said politely.
"And to you, Your Majesty," Ingrid replied coolly.
"You know who I am, then?"
"Yes, your reputation precedes you."
Cora offered a small smile. "I am the former Queen of Hearts, but I've reformed myself from my more nefarious ways."
"So I've heard," Ingrid said. "All to get back to your daughter?"
"Yes, and it was the best decision I ever made. I used to believe that love was weakness."
Ingrid frowned sympathetically. "Love is strength, Cora. I am surprised that it took you so many years to realize it."
"Change isn't always easy, but it was a change for the best. You believe that love is strength. Who is it that you love?" Cora smiled in a grandmotherly way.
Ingrid's expression grew cold. "Is this the part where you figure out my plan?"
Cora laughed. "You mean your plan to cast the Spell of Shattered Sight on all but Emma Swan and your niece so that you can be a perfect family?"
Ingrid narrowed her eyes.
"Take it from me, Your Majesty. Trying to reunite your family through bloodshed is never the solution. I tried it once, and it almost cost me my life. Speaking of which, you froze a woman not long ago, and it would be a show of good faith if you were to tell us how to reverse the spell."
Ingrid didn't change posture, expression, or tone. "If True Love's Kiss doesn't stop the enchantment, it's not worth her living without love."
It was all Cora could do not to gape. "I'm sure you've had some very bad experiences, but you won't get any closer to moving past them by hurting other people."
The Snow Queen remained frozen in place, and her quiet voice grew menacing. "You know nothing of what I've experienced. You cannot compare your road with the hatred, the isolation, and the struggles I have faced to find love."
"Perhaps and perhaps not, my dear, but hear me when I say that it will not turn out the way you think." She rose from her seat and turned to leave.
"You think these people really accept you, Cora?"
It was meant as a chilling parting shot, but it wasn't good enough. Cora turned and grinned. "Whether or not "these people" accept me is neither here nor there. I'm happy with my life. I have the love of my family. Do "these people" fully accept anyone? If that is really what you have chose to concern yourself with, you are going to experience a lifetime of being left out in the cold, and you will have no one to blame but yourself."
Ingrid scowled as Cora closed the door behind her. Emma was waiting outside of the mirror room. "That was nicely done!" she said.
"Thank you, dear," Cora said, sitting in a chair opposite the sheriff's desk. "I'm afraid the only thing we learned from this experience is that she is determined to follow through with her curse. She has no interest in anything that I have to say. I have a feeling that you would make more progress than I would."
"I'm not so sure about that."
Cora prepared to leave, but before she did, she placed a hand on Emma's shoulder and looked at her maternally. "Start with what you don't remember from your past. There must be a reason why she took those memories away from you."
"You know, you're pretty good at this stuff," Emma said.
"Good at what stuff?" Cora asked.
"Interrogating and fact finding."
Cora smiled before exiting the office. "Your parents aren't the only ones who are good at finding things."
Cora sipped from her mug of cider at The Rabbit Hole's bar. She wanted to give Regina a chance to cool down from earlier, so it seemed ideal to make a stop on the way home. Looking out at the jackets and sweaters on the other patrons, there could be no doubt that autumn was coming to an end.
She thought back on her days as a barmaid in the Enchanted Forest, which was how it all began for her. She had been the liveliest barmaid her town had ever seen, and she had felt beloved by all and sundry. Then came the so-called prince with his winning looks and straw promises. She thought, that night, that her life would be changed forever, which of course, it did, albeit not in the sense that she had originally anticipated.
After Jonathan left, there came Leopold, followed far to quickly by Eva, and ultimately Zelena. Disgraced, she used all of her savings from the tavern job to relocate her father and herself to an abandoned mill in the Southern Kingdom, where she sought to keep her head down to prevent further attacks from Jonathan or Eva. This had only lasted until she encountered Eva again, prompting her, in her rage, to steal a dress and appear at the ball on that fateful night.
Her whole life, it seemed as though she had been relocating from one disastrous situation to another, though she had to admit there had been some comfortable interludes at her old estate and in Wonderland. Was Storybrooke just another temporary haven until the next disaster? How long until a new disgrace would force her to leave her daughter, her grandson, and her friends?
"Hello, Cora."
She looked up to see Marco standing nearby. "Good afternoon, Marco," she smiled.
"You look troubled, my friend," he said, sitting on a stool next to her.
She chuckled. "No matter how nice the heels I'm wearing are, trouble always seems close behind them."
"At least you look nice in the face of trouble," Marco quipped.
Cora shook her head. "I'm not sure how much looking nice really matters, but I thank you for the compliment all the same."
"It certainly matters!" the workman insisted. "Take a box, for instance. There are so many kinds of boxes in this world, and they look very different. Cardboard cartons, plastic tubs, steel safes… We use them for different things, but at the core of it, they all exist for the same reason. They contain things that are similar or important or precious."
"They can also contain junk," Cora reasoned.
"True, but keeping junk contained is important too. Not to let it sit forever. What we call junk can be sorted, mended, repurposed, and put where it was always meant to be."
"Like into another junk box?"
"You are determined," Marco laughed. "Perhaps another junk box. But imagine, an item can go from junk box to junk box again and again until it sees more of the world than most people ever do."
"True, but again, we're talking about junk," she said, impressed by the metaphor but growing slightly impatient.
"Are we?" he asked. "My point is this: Everything, everyone belongs somewhere. It takes some people longer to reach the end of the journey than others, but that just means when it does end, it will be all the more beautiful."
Cora smiled as if in concession.
The next morning, Cora stepped outside to begin running her morning errands. Regina had been so busy chasing the Snow Queen and finding a way to save Marian that the pantry was growing, and Henry seemed determined to empty it all the way.
As she descended the porch steps, she saw a dark, wooden box with ornate heart-shaped carvings on the side sitting on the bottom step. She gently opened the box, which contained an inscription on the inside of the lid that read Junk.
Author's Note: Thank you for reading this latest chapter! If you feel so led, please follow, favorite, and review!