"No, no, no," the queen mumbled over and over as she paced the floor of her castle, the heels of her boots clicking against the hard surface. It had been at least five minutes since she had come to the realization that I was in fact her future daughter, and my mother was growing tired of the waiting game.
Letting out an annoyed huff of air, the older brunette broke the silence, "Come on, darling. I'm bring you home." As she spoke the statement, she extended her arm out from the glass surface of the mirror, the limb materializing in my world. After stepping forward towards the magical object, the queen's voice ordered me to stop. Halting my actions in fear of being punished, knowing that this wasn't the mother I was used to, I waited for the queen to speak again as my mother's eyes pleaded with me.
"This…this is impossible," the Evil Queen let out, her arms flying into the air to emphasize her point. "I drank the potion!" Immediately, my mother retorted, "The spell was broken," as she slightly signaled to the blonde woman standing beside her. The queen gaped at her older self's admission, letting the information sink in.
Seeing this as my chance to escape, I lunged towards the portal, my eyes glued to my mother's outstretched arm, only to be blasted back by a force of magic. When I landed, I watched in horror as the ropes from the curtains snaked around my body, effectively trapping me before the queen. Struggling with the restraints, I spat at the woman, "The mother I know would never do this to her own daughter!"
Immediately, the queen gaze snapped sharply towards me, fixing me with an icy cold glare, then turned back towards the mirror. "I don't know if I'm ready to release her quite yet," she confessed smugly as she assessed the state of her finger nails. My mother's nostrils flared out in anger at the queen's statement as Ma's hands bawled into fists.
"You release her now or so help me I'll–" my mother began, only to be cut off by the queen. "You'll what," the woman responded pompously. "You'll kill me?" A low growl emitted from my mother's throat, which only prompted the queen to stifle a chuckle in response.
Sauntering over towards me, the queen placed her hand on top of my head, stroking my hair softly. I attempted to jolt away from the touch, but was locked into place with a flick of her wrist. "Please, darling," the queen addressed her older self. "Would it be sobad if I were to watch the child for the day? I get so lonely in this tower as you must know." The queen flashed a challenging smirk towards my mother, resulting in her barring her teeth at the woman in response.
I could hear my Ma whisper something urgently to my mother, but I was unable to hear the conversation in its entirety due to being so far away. From what I could hear, I gathered that the mirror was only granted one trip to or from the future. Glancing back at my encaptured state, I sighed to myself. There was noway I could make it out of this alone.
When my parents made no attempts at penetrating the mirror further, the queen's expression evened out to a knowing smirk. "I'll be sure to take good care of her, dear," she addressed herself. "I promise."
As soon as the words left the woman's mouth, I thought back to all of the moments my mother and I had shared. I single tear formed in my eye, trailed down my face, and dripped down to the ropes. A second later, the ropes evaporated into thin air as if they were never there to begin with. I was free.
Hopping to my feet, I realized quickly that I now had the upper hand, the queen still focused on her future self's form in the mirror. My Ma's eyes locked onto my own and her expression lightened, then she quickly schooled her features to not give anything away. We shared a nod in understanding then I bolted to the mirror as fast as I could, grabbing my Ma's now proffered hand as she attempted to pull me through the object.
Once my torso had gotten past the barrier, I felt something latch onto my leg, pulling me back through the portal. Flashing my parents a horrified expression as they each pulled at my arms, I felt the grip on my back limb begin to slip, causing the queen's grip to shift to my ankle. My parents shared a look then counted down and pulled with all the strength they could muster to free me from the queen's grip.
Falling to the ground beside my mothers, I let out a deep breath that I had been holding. I made it back. Glancing over my shoulder at the queen's form through the other side of the mirror, I saw her gripping tightly to my boot, which had been pulled off by the woman during the struggle, resulting in her losing the fight. The queen was crying genuine tears of sadness and I couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt at the sight. Seconds later, the image faded to black then the mirror returned to its normal state, reflecting our own images back at us.
We were all still a jumbled mess of limbs on the floor of the master bedroom. My Ma attempted to sit up from her previous laying down position as I took notice of my mother's far off expression. A pained look adorned her usual loving face. I quickly realized that the memories from that day in her past must have caught up to her.
I noticed my blonde mother begin to rub soothing circles on my mother's back in attempts to calm the woman. Glancing at the blonde with a loving smile, the two melted into each other's warm embraces and shared in a soft, chaste kiss. I fought myself not to gag at the sight, having been far too accustomed to my mothers' usual PDA.
After the broke apart, we all shared loving looks as my mother said aloud, "No matter what happens in the future, I promise to always love you." Tears began to form in her eyes once again as she continued, "And if anything happens between your mother and I, god forbid, I promise to never keep you two away from each other no matter how hard it would be on me. Okay?" Nodding, I engulfed my mother in a large hug and felt as my other mom wrapped her own arms around me, joining in the embrace.
Once we broke apart, Ma cleared the air by proposing, "Anyone up for ice cream?" Both Mom and I chuckled in response, appreciating how the blonde always knows what we need, and in that moment, I have never felt so at home in my entire life.