Bittersweet Apples

"You're coming out of this hospital today, Zelena. You haven't been out in days and Doctor Whale thinks it's affecting your recovery."

Regina sighed in frustration as Zelena hadn't even made a sound of acknowledgement. It wouldn't take a doctor to tell Regina that Zelena was depressed. For days she hadn't ate anything and she had barely slept. She only stared at the wall, as if it held all the answers to her life. It had been a rough year for her... She had a baby, tried to commit suicide, been diagnosed with tuberculosis, and now she lay in the hospital with a broken heart. Regina felt a bit sorry for her sister and suddenly she got an idea.

"How about the boys and I take you out today. I'm sure Henry would love to show you his book and Roland is always asking about you."

The silence remained, but Regina wasn't about to take no for an answer. The two hadn't actually had any time to bond... Well, unless you accounted for their six week trip to Camelot, where Regina helped baby-sit her then-pregnant and cantankerous older sister. Then again, Zelena might've been more of a nuiscance then. To say they had bonded, would've been an overstatement to say the least. Nevertheless, it was time for Zelena to get out. Regina had made sure that Dr. Hopper would be unavailable and running around the entire day. Actually, he'd been running around every day as part of a personal punishment. Just because Regina wasn't the evil queen anymore, didn't mean she was going to let him get off so easily. She had seen the way Dr. Hopper had looked at her sister and she'd be damned if he was going to go through the rest of his life, without learning from this mistake.

"My milk's all dried up."

Zelena bit her lip until she tasted blood. Indeed, after all the stress and sickness she had been going through, it had dried up her mammaries. They had said breastfeeding was the most important bond between a mother and her infant child, now that bond would be broken. It depressed her, among so many other things.

"There's always formula, I'm sure she won't know the difference"

"The difference is that it won't be mine!"

With a wave of her hand, Regina magicked the clothes that had been sitting on her bedside table, onto her sister. Zelena didn't flinch nor did she give any notion that she was going to get up. Regina knew she couldn't force her sister to go anywhere, but she wouldn't let her off so easily. She went to the small closet and grabbed Zelena's camel colored jacket.

"Seriously, even you know that this is an abomination of a coat"

With another flick of her wrist, she set fire to the coat. The alarms began to go off and the nurses were coming. Regina shot Zelena a smirk and she could see a sparkle of mischief in her sister's cold eyes. She threw the coat into the waste basket. By the time the nurses arrived, it would be ash. In a puff of purple magic, the two disappeared.

00

"It's 'gina and Miss 'lena!" cried an overly enthused Roland. Regina smiled at the little boy, who had already attatched himself to her thigh. He peered at Zelena and gave her a a small wave. Unbeknownst to Zelena, the little boy had fallen in love with her as well.

"Mom! You're home... Just in time, there something I need to tell you about the book-"

"Henry, where are your manners and will there ever be a day when I'm not obligated to save Storybrooke?"

Henry politely acknowledged Zelena and continued to show his mother, what he had found. Zelena wandered off to the dining room, in search of her baby Merida. As she suspected, the baby was fast asleep in her father's arms. Robin looked up, almost suprised to see Zelena, but he didn't make a noise and Merida continued to sleep soundly. Slowly, he guided the baby towards her mother, but Zelena hesitated. Once her child awoke, she would be hungry and Zelena would have nothing to feed her. Reluctantly, Zelena took Merida in her arms. The babe still made no sound and was as peaceful as Zelena had found her.

Out of the corner of her eye, Zelena caught a glimpse of her favorite little hobbit. He hid behind the tables, peering at baby Merida. A sneaky thing, he was... Forever fascinated by the sight of a baby, yet respectfully keeping his distance at all times. Zelena motioned for him to come a bit closer, as she had before. He quietly, yet dramatically took several steps toward her. As he looked down, he noticed not one, but two pairs of eyes were staring at him.

"Hi Merida!" He whispered, waving his small hand to and fro. Merida followed his hand with her eyes and cooed at him with much delight until she heard the sound of heels clicking against the floor. Regina and Henry had undoubtably finished their conversation and now the whole family was in the dining room. Robin made his way towards Regina, kissing her on the cheek the moment he reached her.

"Zelena and I will be taking the boys out today... I don't suppose you'd like some time to gather with your Merry Men."

"Regina, you know I wouldn't be with my Merry Men unless I had my best men with me! How about we let you two have a day out to adventure?"

Regina and Zelena both scoffed at his statement. They didn't want an adventure, in fact, it was the least thing either of them craved. The two glanced at each other, knowingly and it didn't take Robin ten seconds to realize that the Mills were silently communicating with each other, via facial expressions. Sisters, indeed... Robin thought as he guided Henry and Roland towards the door.

"Bye-bye 'gina! Bye Miss 'Lena!"

The sisters smiled as the little boy waved goodbye, headed to do who-knows-what with Regina's outlaw.

00

"So you're saying some fairy namedTinkerbell helped you find your True Love? Well if that isn't the biggest load of..."

"Oh shut up, Zelena. I was a naive little girl who enjoyed riding horses and I didn't even ask her-"

"My turn to interrupt, are you guys going to stop bickering and why do you say Tinkerbell like that? I happen to like my name, thank you very much."

Zelena held her palm to her face and sighed. The more she learned about her sister, the more she was concerned. She couldn't believe that she used magic to try to find her "True Love" how preposterous... That was cheating! However, her day out with her sister (and Tinkerbell) was going very well and she was starting to feel a bit better. Zelena stared blandly at the lasagna placed before her. "Sister, do I really deserve this sort of treatment?" Regina flicked her wrist and the lasagna manifested into a sweet treat. A cupcake. Zelena thought back to when she was growing up... They were too poor for these delicacies. Not that her father would allow them anyways. She picked up her fork to dig into the small treat, but stopped mid-bite as she seen the worst sight yet. Mother Superior and the Cricket coming in for a bite to eat.

"What's wrong?" asked an overly-curious Tinkerbell.

"I'll be right back. Zelena. No magic."

"Of course, sister!"

She watched as Doctor Hopper pulled a seat for the nun. Subtly, Zelena used magic to move the stool a bit to the left. As if she'd pass up an oppurtunity to cause mayhem... It just wasn't her style.

I haven't updated in ages and I apologise! I've been working, plus chiropractor appointments and everything has gone so quickly my head has started to spin. Anyways, as promised... I gave you Mills sister family bonding time. Also, since OUAT has went in a completely different direction, I've decided to forget the whole Camelot and Underworld mayhem and focus on Storybrooke... Thinking about having a cameo of another Mills... You can probably guess who, but if you would like a cameo, let me know in your review. Don't forget to fav/follow... I'll try to start updating more frequently again!