In light of the fact that there's no new episode tonight, I thought I'd go ahead and update this now. This is probably the chapter I'm most worried about, and I must have revised it a dozen times. But I think I'm happy with it, and I really do hope no one thinks this is too cheesy. It's definately the emotional climax of the story so I do hope I've done it justice.
There will be one more chapter after this, and it should be up in about a week.
Please understand that I do have a life. I have classes and other responsibilities, I cannot be writing this 24/7. I've had a certain reviewer who's been borderline harrassing me about this, and though I appreciate that you love this story, you need to understand that I can't update it every single day.
That being said, I hope you enjoy. :)
Never in her life had Cora felt so helpless.
Not even while growing up the daughter of a poor miller. Not even when she had been forced to spin gold without the power to do so. Not even when Rumpelstiltskin had threatened to take her precious baby from her.
None of that even compared to this feeling as she watched her daughter toss and turn in her sleep, all the while knowing that Regina wanted nothing more than to die. Cora had no idea what to do, or how to make it better.
She was here to help her daughter, wasn't she? So why did it feel like she had somehow failed her? None of it added up.
Cora couldn't stand this inaction. There had to be something she could do. Perhaps the little boy, Henry...her grandson. If she could bring him to Regina, perhaps then she would find happiness.
After all, Cora knew far too well the pain of being separated from one's child.
But then, she couldn't risk leaving Regina alone. What if she tried to destroy herself again and Cora wasn't there to stop her?
It was maddening.
Regina stirred slightly, and immediately Cora was at her side, fretting.
"Regina?" she asked quietly. Regina slowly opened her eyes, and much to Cora's chagrin they were devoid of any real life. She rolled onto her side, facing away from Cora. She moaned slightly, as though in pain.
"Shh..." Cora soothed, smoothing the hair away from Regina's forehead repeatedly. "I'm here. I'm here." This seemed to have the opposite effect from what Cora desired, as Regina began to cry. Cora had had just about enough of this, but instead of feeling angry as she might have in the past, all she felt was sad and tired.
She simply couldn't take this emptiness in Regina anymore. She wanted her daughter back- the spirited young thing who'd loved riding horses and fought fire with fire. The girl who when push came to shove was capable of being Queen and wearing her crown with grace. Cora wanted to see the light come back to Regina's eyes, but she no longer knew how to make that happen.
So long ago, she'd been so certain that Regina would learn that happiness and freedom resided in having power. She'd been so certain she had done the right thing. And when she had framed Regina for the cricket's murder, she'd been so certain that Regina would learn she could not depend on others, so certain that she could help her daughter pick up the pieces of her broken life. She'd been so certain her actions had been necessary.
But looking at Regina now, Cora was no longer certain. In fact, she was more uncertain than she could ever remember being. She doubted her every move, and everything she'd ever done. Just what had been the breaking point? What could have brought Regina to the point of self-murder?
Briefly, Cora feared the answer could be found in a mirror.
Regina sniffled softly, and Cora noticed her crying had ceased. She removed her hand from her daughter's forehead, moving to tuck the blankets more closely around her.
"Please try to rest some more, my love," she said gently, squeezing Regina's shoulder affectionately. Regina sniffed again and closed her eyes.
"Mother?" she asked, her voice hoarse from crying.
"Yes?"
"If love is such a weakness...why are you doing this?" Cora retracted her hand, surprised.
Love is weakness...love had been weakness for as long as she could remember. It had only caused pain and heartbreak and had only served to make her vulnerable to others. Weaknesses can be exploited, that's what she had been taught. They're a way for others to take advantage of you, to control you. They are not permissible, not if one's trajectory is to keep moving upwards and if one is to maintain power. Cora had learned that lesson the hard way, at the hands of one Rumpelstiltskin. Even so, when Cora remembered the mind-numbing fear she had felt watching the ocean swallow Regina whole, the answer to her daughter's question seemed painfully obvious.
"You are my weakness, dear," she replied, with all the love she could possibly muster. Regina sat up suddenly, her eyes dark with the shadow of a memory. Her gaze flickered briefly towards the rose in its vase. Cora gave a small, sad smile.
"Why did you really come all this way?" Regina asked, her tone flat.
"I had to see you," Cora answered, the words she had wanted to say (but had since felt unable to due to extenuating circumstances) finding themselves on the tip of her tongue. "I needed to tell you that I know why you sent me through the looking glass. And I know why you tried to have me killed." She smiled tremulously. Regina frowned.
"And it's...it's all right," Cora continued, tears welling up in her eyes. Regina inclined her head slightly. The ball of emotion that had so recently come undone in Cora's chest swelled.
"I love you," she whispered, the ball bursting. "I just...I've always shown it in all the wrong ways." And there it was, the truth that Cora had been fighting since she'd seen Regina throw herself off the dock- this was her fault. Her daughter's suffering was her fault. The guilt washed over her like a tidal wave, and she inhaled deeply in an attempt to steady herself.
"Mother-" Regina began.
"I'm so sorry," Cora interrupted, her voice breaking with emotion. "I never meant for this to happen." She swallowed hard, fiddling with the blankets and trying not to fall apart. It was time to lay it all on the line.
"I framed you. For the cricket." She lowered her gaze, ashamed for the first time in many years.
"What?"
"It was only meant to be temporary, so you could see what these people really think of you." The defense sounded half-hearted even to Cora. Regina could only stare in shock. Cora took another deep breath.
"He's alive, in the hold below deck. I disguised the body of another man to look like his instead." For a moment there was silence.
"...why?"
"When I came here, I expected that you would need me in the wake of your failed curse. But you didn't, and so I...I didn't want you to reject me. Not again," Cora said simply, the old hurt bubbling up to the surface. "But I never thought...I never expected-"
"Don't," Regina sneered. Cora looked up into her daughter's flint-like eyes and remembered a time when their positions had been reversed. She sighed, of course Regina was angry. But then it occurred to her that Regina was angry. She was feeling something beyond despair. The life had come back to her eyes at Cora's confession, and Cora knew then that she had done the right thing. No matter how it might pain her.
"Mother you are going to take me to where you're keeping him, and we are going to free the cricket. And then we are going to town," Regina said, throwing the blankets off her.
"It's the middle of the night," Cora protested weakly.
"I don't care," Regina hissed, standing up. "We'll wake them up. Emma, Henry, and the two idiots, and you can tell them how you lied. You owe me that." Cora found she was not able to disagree.
"You're right. For you, sweetheart…anything." And for once, she truly meant it. Everything had changed on those docks. And looking back, she could see the cracks had truly started to form long before that. Regina had always been her weakness, the one spot of light remaining to her. She'd simply been blind to it for far too long.
Regina's eyes melted a little.
"Do you mean that, Mother?" she asked, a shred of hope in her tone.
"Of course, dear," Cora affirmed, rising slowly from the bed. "I can do better. I won't push you away again." Regina's face softened, and she hesitantly placed a hand on Cora's shoulder. Cora stared at the ground, blinking rapidly as the tears threatened to fall.
"I am...so sorry Regina," she faltered, trying desperately to maintain her composure while simultaneously wondering just where she had gone so wrong. Regina paused for a moment, then stepped forward and slowly wrapped her arms around her mother's shoulders.
Cora gasped, stunned. This was not the reaction she'd expected. Even so she clung to her daughter tightly, reveling in this moment, and gave up on controlling her tears.
"I believe you, Mother," Regina whispered.
The dam broke, and Cora buried her face into the crook of her daughter's neck and wept. The pain of so many years of rejection and loneliness, and more recently, regret, suddenly poured out of her. It had been so long since Regina had reached out to her in this way. Cora could still remember the last time her daughter had embraced her first, so many years ago in a dark, musty stable, moments before everything had gone to hell. Her own fault, she now knew.
This was such weakness she was showing, Cora knew that. But then, as she herself had stated, Regina was her weakness.
And maybe that wasn't such a bad thing after all.
Regina did not know what the hell she was supposed to be feeling.
On one hand, this was her mother. The woman who'd made her life a living hell, who'd killed her true love, forced her into marriage, and now had framed her for a murder she did not commit. The woman who terrified her, who'd haunted her nightmares for years.
On the other hand, this was her mother. The woman who'd raised her, who, despite everything, had loved her, who had so recently saved her life and provided her with shelter when she'd had nowhere else to go. The woman in who's arms she'd always felt safest, warm and protected from the outside world.
The woman who was currently sobbing into her shoulder.
That one was new. Regina could count on one hand the number of times she'd seen her mother cry. Most of them had been in these past three days alone, but even then never like this. Never in her life had her mother openly sobbed. In fact, when Regina was growing up, her mother had been very disapproving of tears. Ladies were supposed to keep their composure and not let anyone take advantage of their emotions. Crying was a sign of weakness, and weaknesses could be exploited.
Something really had broken the formidable Cora Mills. Regina knew that she was to blame.
And for that reason, despite how cruel and manipulative she knew her mother was capable of being, Regina found that she believed in Cora's apology. She certainly believed in these tears. What shocked Regina most of all was how her mother truly seemed to regret what she'd done. Her mother had never been the type to regret anything.
In the same breath, Regina saw a bit of herself in her mother. How could she claim to want redemption for Henry's sake and not give her mother that same chance? She knew all too well the pain of having a child reject you. She would not put her mother through that, not when she seemed so genuine and had expressed such a change in her demeanor.
Regina also knew when and where everything had changed. She imagined what it would feel like to watch Henry attempt suicide and felt a stab of empathy for what Cora had had to see. No mother should ever have to go through something like that. And with the knowledge that Dr. Hopper was not dead and hope for the future renewed, Regina knew she wouldn't be trying it again in the near future.
But as for Cora...something still had to be done about her. Though Regina knew her mother wouldn't hurt her, that did not mean she wasn't a threat to anyone else, especially with her magic. She would have to be dealt with, and until she and the idiot family could figure out the proper punishment for her crimes, they'd have to keep her locked up in the jail.
Briefly Regina feared they would want her executed. After all, they'd tried it before with her. Then again, Snow had spared her...but Regina doubted she would do the same for Cora. Cora had done much worse and killed far more than Regina ever had. But no matter what her mother had done, Regina did not want her dead.
Especially not now, not after everything that had transpired and everything Cora had said.
They would find a way.
And perhaps…Regina had not really considered it a possibility before, but in light of all Cora had revealed of herself, perhaps it truly would be possible. Perhaps they could both redeem themselves.
A plan slowly began to form in her mind as she awkwardly rubbed Cora's back in an awkward attempt at soothing her. It didn't seem to work much as Cora tightened her grip on Regina and sobbed harder.
"My girl...my darling girl," she choked out. Regina couldn't help but feel incredibly touched at this display of emotion. After years and years of never being good enough, she finally had her mother's love.
And judging by the rose Cora had kept all this time, she'd had it much longer than she'd realized.
"It's...it's all right Mother," Regina murmured. Cora moved one of her hands to cradle the back of Regina's head.
"It'll be a while before I'll be able to forgive you," Regina said softly. "You framed me for murder. You abused me with magic, killed Daniel, and forced me to marry a man I never loved." She felt Cora flinch. "But...I still love you. I've always loved you. All I ever wanted was for you to accept me for who I am." Cora finally pulled her head away from Regina's (now very damp) neck. Regina searched her red-rimmed eyes and could see nothing but sadness in them.
"I only wanted to give you everything I never had," Cora said sadly. "I thought I was doing what was best, what would make you happy." She removed the hand from Regina's head and wiped her streaming eyes.
"You were wrong, Mother," Regina said, holding her ground. "And you've always been wrong." Cora's mouth twitched as if part of her wanted to protest, but she held her tongue instead and nodded.
"Get dressed," Regina instructed after a moment. "We need to leave soon." Cora considered her for a moment, and Regina could tell she felt conflicted about something. But then she leaned up, kissing Regina on the cheek.
"I love you," she whispered, and turned and disappeared into what served as something of a bathroom on the ship.
Regina touched her cheek in wonder. She felt a sudden rush of warmth at her mother's display of affection, and knew that no matter what had happened in the past or what would happen in the future, Cora would always be her mother, and Regina would always love her.
Out by the docks once more, Regina was beginning to feel more than a little annoyed. After recovering from Cora's miniature breakdown, they had gone to the hold where Archie was kept, finding him unconscious. Not wanting to waste time, Regina had simply transported him magically to the hospital, where she knew the nurses working the late shift would find him. They had then exited the ship, and, much to Regina's relief, found her car sitting right where she'd left it three days ago, albeit surrounded by police tape. An easy obstacle to remove. Regina now stood by the door of her car, watching her mother circle it suspiciously, as if she feared it might attack her.
"What in the world is this contraption?" Cora asked, looking nonplussed at the Mercedes. Regina rolled her eyes.
"It's a car, Mother," she said. "Stop circling it and get in." Cora stopped by the passenger door, but continued to stare at it warily. Regina sighed, unlocking it. Cora started at the noise.
"And what is its purpose?" she asked, hesitantly touching the handle of the door. Regina pulled it open on her side, demonstrating how to do so.
"You drive it, sort of like a horseless carriage," she said, sliding into the driver's seat. Cora fumbled with the handle for a bit, but finally figured out how to open it.
"Remarkable," she said incredulously, hoisting her skirts up so she could climb in. She did so with a bit of difficulty. "Does it require magic?"
"No, it burns fuel. Now fasten your seatbelt," Regina instructed.
"My what?" Regina exhaled irritably, grabbing her own seatbelt and showing her mother how to do it. Cora reached back and tugged on the belt several times before she finally got it to move.
"Now...click it into this little thing here," Regina said, pointing. Cora struggled with it, frustrated that she couldn't quite get it to work.
"I think it's broken," she huffed.
"Oh give me that," Regina relented, doing it herself. Cora sat back, annoyed.
And what are all these?" She asked, gesturing towards the dashboard.
"Those are buttons. They turn on various functions," Regina answered, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"And what's that?"
"The steering wheel."
"Steering wheel?"
"It lets me turn the car. Are you quite finished?" she snapped. Cora frowned, but nodded.
Regina stuck the key in the ignition, turning the car on. Cora jumped, startled.
"What is this noise? Why does it vibrate?" she asked, looking mildly terrified.
That's the engine running, Mother."
"The what?"
"It makes the car go. It's what burns the fuel." Regina shifted the car into drive, and they pulled out onto the main road. Cora looked incredibly uncomfortable, and Regina, for all her annoyance, had to fight back the urge to laugh.
"I don't like this."
"You'll get used to it." Cora looked as though she very much disagreed.
Regina kept her gaze planted firmly on the road, not particularly wanting to deal with her mother's confusion at the modern world. Suddenly she felt a blast of air hit her face. She whirled around to see her mother's hand on the air conditioning dial. Cora looked sheepish for a moment, and clicked it off, leaning back into her seat.
Regina scoffed lightly, shaking her head. It had been a long night.
Emma awoke suddenly to the sound of a sharp knocking on the apartment door. She sat up, automatically glancing over towards where Henry was asleep on the bed.
The knocking continued, growing louder and more persistent. Emma grumbled to herself, checking the clock. It was 4:30 in the morning. Who the hell would come here at 4:30 in the damn morning? But then, she figured it could be some kind of emergency. She was the sheriff after all. So she got up to answer the door.
On the other side were the two people she least wanted to see.
"You," Emma said breathlessly. "What...what are you doing here?" She left out the fact that she was secretly relieved to see Regina looking more like her old self.
"My mother has come to tell you something," she said crisply, gesturing for Cora to step forward. Cora hesitated, and Emma could not believe the defeated expression she wore.
"The cricket isn't dead," she said softly. Emma cocked her head in confusion.
"She means Archie," Regina clarified. Emma suddenly felt like she'd been doused in ice water.
"What!? He's alive!?" she cried, barely managing to keep her volume at a whisper.
"Yes," Cora confirmed, her eyes still refusing to meet Emma's.
"And what else Mother?" Regina prodded. Cora sighed.
"And I framed Regina for his murder. I disguised another man's body to look like the cricket's and kidnapped him in order to get information," she murmured. Emma thought she almost sounded...sad about it.
But then, Emma felt that her brain wasn't quite working properly.
"What...what kind of a mother does that?" she burst out, staring incredulously at Cora, who visibly flinched.
"Enough, Ms. Swan," Regina said sharply.
"Are you defending her?!"
"No. But she has shown me remorse." Cora glanced up at Regina, who gave her mother a tiny smile that showed that though all was not quite forgiven, it would be someday.
"Well...where...where's Archie now?" Emma stuttered. It was way too early in the morning for this shit.
"In the hospital, being treated for his injuries," Regina said. Emma nodded vaguely.
"So...what do you want me to do...?"
"Your job, Sheriff," Regina said with the critical tone Emma most knew her for. Emma glanced back and forth between Cora and Regina before realizing what that meant.
"You mean arrest her?" Regina nodded, and Emma had a hell of a time believing that Cora would actually come quietly. Was this same woman who had tried to rip Emma's heart out?
"On one condition," Regina said suddenly. Emma started, coming out of her daze.
"What's that?"
"She lives." Emma was completely dumbfounded.
"What the hell Regina? She's killed people, she tried to frame you, she-"
"And she will be punished accordingly. But she lives."
"Fine, whatever, do you even have a plan?" Emma asked, glancing back and forth between Regina and Cora, expecting either of them to do some crazy magic shit at any moment.
Regina opened her mouth to answer, but was interrupted.
"Mom?" There was Henry, rubbing his eyes and staring at Regina as though he couldn't believe what he saw. Emma watched as he suddenly barreled himself into her, nearly knocking her over. Regina gasped, catching him in a tight hug.
"I knew you didn't do it," Henry mumbled into her stomach. Regina gave a watery smile, gingerly placing a hand on the back of his head.
"You believed in me?" she whispered. Henry nodded.
"He did," Emma confirmed, "even when I told him otherwise." She paused for a moment. "I'm sorry." Regina just shook her head.
"Don't. My mother made an air-tight case," she said coolly, glancing at Cora, who remained silent in the shadows of the doorway. Henry looked up.
"Your mother? She's here?" Regina nodded, releasing him. Emma immediately stepped between them and Cora.
"You won't touch him," She threatened, glaring at the old witch. Cora blinked, drawing herself up to her full height. She met Emma's stare with an icy one of her own. She said nothing.
"It's all right Emma," Regina said. "She won't hurt him. She won't hurt me." Emma, however, refused to back down.
"How do you know that?" Emma asked Regina, though she did not break her stare with Cora.
"Yeah, I thought you said she would destroy everything?" Henry piped up.
"I was wrong," Regina stated simply. "My mother didn't come here for revenge." Emma narrowed her gaze further. Cora did not react in the slightest.
"So what do we do about you now?" Emma asked slowly, more so to Regina though it was Cora she addressed.
"Well I'd love to meet my grandson before I'm to be incarcerated," Cora said, "so I'd appreciate it if you'd move out of the way."
"Make me."
"Don't test me, Ms. Swan."
"Enough!" Regina snapped. "Emma, you can move out of the way, I assure you Henry is in no danger. Mother, do not forget our agreement." Cora's nostrils flared, but she did nothing. Reluctantly, Emma stepped back.
"Any funny business and I will rip your heart out the way you tried to take mine," she growled. Cora laughed.
"Oh my dear girl, you have no idea do you?" she smiled dangerously, before turning to face Henry. Immediately she softened. Henry looked terrified, but still curious. Regina placed her hands on his shoulders.
"It's all right Henry. This is your grandmother, Cora." Henry gave the tiniest of smiles, but did not move. Cora smiled at him.
"I've heard a lot about you, Henry," she said in a much gentler tone.
"Are...are you evil?" he asked. Cora looked taken aback, as though she had never considered the concept herself.
"Henry!" Regina scolded, tightening her grip on his shoulders. "We don't say that."
"But you were evil-" Henry protested.
"Henry," Regina interrupted. "That was a long time ago. Good and evil are not that simple, I thought I'd taught you that." Henry looked down, and then back up at Cora.
"I've made my mistakes, dear boy," she admitted. Once again Emma felt like something of an intruder in this family moment. But she refused to let her guard down- Cora could act at any minute. The woman had been unpredictable in the Enchanted Forest, who knew what she'd be like here?
"But you're sorry for them? Like my mom is?" Henry asked.
"You have quite a precocious son," Cora told Regina, who rubbed her thumb along Henry's shoulder.
"He's always been bright," she said proudly.
"Yes, Henry," Cora addressed him again. "I do...regret the things I've done to my daughter." To Emma, it seemed she had a hard time saying it, but the fact that she'd said it at all was even more astounding. Henry smiled, bigger this time.
"That's good then. You can change like my mom is," he said. "Not using magic, I mean. Being a better person." Cora's mouth fell open in surprise.
"You've been giving up magic?" Regina nodded.
"Yes. It's what Henry wanted. I owe him that," she said, staring pointedly at her mother. Cora looked very confused.
"And is that...what you want me to do?"
"I'm not sure you're capable of that, Mother," Regina said, moving in front of Henry. Emma quickly stepped over and grabbed him, pulling him to her chest. Cora glanced back and forth between Henry and Regina, as though she was considering her next move. Regina tensed, looking like she wanted to act, but did not move. Emma tightened her grip on Henry.
"You're right. I'm not." Cora suddenly lunged forward, reaching for Henry. Emma jumped back, not losing her grip on him, but Cora caught his arm, and Regina's as well.
"Mother, no!" Regina yelled, fighting to break her mother's grip. Cora smirked, and Emma struggled to pull Henry free.
"LET ME GO, LET ME GO!" he screamed, but then suddenly he vanished in a cloud of purple smoke, and Emma was falling through the air, face down on the floor.
Henry, Regina, and Cora were gone.