Title: Vengeance, Sacrifice, and Forgiveness
Author: AoN
Word Count: 6,400
Genre: Drama, Adventure
Rating: PG-13
Feedback: Please and thank you! Let me know what I'm doing right or doing wrong.
Summary: With the curse weakening and Regina struggling to keep Storybrooke under control, hidden secrets and lies from a distant land surface with the arrival of a stranger from her past, thought to have perished long ago – and they want their happily ever after. With the curse weakening and Regina struggling to keep Storybrooke under control, hidden secrets and lies from a distant land surface with the arrival of a stranger from her past, thought to have perished long ago – and they want their happily ever after.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Returning back to the stables had taken them less time. Lucy had steadily become less insecure about her ability to ride and even allowed them to trot at a quick pace. Galloping, however, had been out of the question.
Small steps. Perhaps they would get to gallop in their next lesson – whenever the next lesson was.
Lucy pulled gently on the reigns, as she had been instructed, mindful that anything harder would result in her being bucked off. Again - Daniels' initial warning had not sunk in. Her horse came to a stop, and Daniels' besides her.
"Is something wrong?" he asked.
The natural animalistic instinct that protected and guaranteed her survival through many decades was telling her no, warning her that now was the time to flee. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end as a terrible chill ran down her spine. Yes, something was definitely wrong. Lucy pulled on the reigns, expecting the horse to turn around, just as she had been shown, but the horse did not budge.
"Daniel, what am I doing – Daniel?"
She turned her head over her shoulder. He was gone. Lucy's stomach turned over, making her feel ill. He had been right there, at her side, only moments ago.
"Daniel?" she repeated.
No answer.
A loud crack of thunder erupted overhead. Just as Lucy snapped her head back to look up at the dark storm that loomed overhead in a sky that was once crystal clear blue, the horse threw up its forelegs. The worn, brown leather of the reigns slipped through her fingers. Lucy reached out to grab a hold of them once more, feeling herself begin to fall backwards as the horse stood straight on its hind legs. She tumbled onto the ground, her back slamming against the hard dirt path. Before Lucy could pull herself up, the horse had taken off, galloping as hard as it could away from the stables, which doors had swung open.
Every fiber of her being was telling her to do the same – run. Escape. Flee.
But she didn't.
From where she stood, Lucy could make out three figures in the stable. One laid motionless on the floor. The second advanced towards the third who backed away slowly. Lucy's eyes widened as the second figure struck its hand straight into the third's chest.
There was a howl in the distance, another indicator telling her to take flight.
She still didn't.
Instead, Lucy bolted toward the stable. Drawing closer, she was able to recognize the unmoving body on the ground – Grandpa Henry. She forced herself to run harder, but by the time she reached the stable's entrance, Daniels' heart had been ripped from his chest, crushed into dust. Against better judgment, driven by rage, Lucy lunged at the attacker – the woman her mother had never wanted her precious Lily to be alone with for reasons she had not been able to understand until recently. With just a mere glare, Lucy was thrown aside, her legs pulled up underneath her.
She barely hit the ground before a second force picked her up and rammed her against the wall, pinning her there, hovering. Lucy tried to calm her breathing and narrowed her eyes, anything to make her seem less afraid than what she really was, but panic quickly arose as the woman came closer.
"Oh, Lillian, how you've grown."
xxxx
Emma, given her sporadic nature and gut instinct to always act on a whim, was no stranger to dangerous situations. Sometimes, she did not even have to go looking for trouble; trouble was pretty damn good at finding her reckless self. The trouble that usually found her normally took shape in aggressive bullies or police officers – it was not until more recently trouble looked more like werewolves and dragons. Emma did not really have too big of a problem facing trouble head on, which was why she often found herself in the principal's office, juvenile detention, and in jail, on occasion.
However, there were also times when the trouble did get too much to handle and in those situations, Emma had perfected a rather impressive disappearing act – so impressive, in fact, that she often executed the act whenever something simply became too much to handle, no trouble needed.
Since she was currently surrounded by people literally out of a storybook, standing just across the street from a burning house that she had just been in with a sorceress, and watching Ruby's red car, driven by her former roommate now supposed mother, pull over, Emma considered this a situation that she definitely could not handle right now.
Against every fiber of her being that begged to flee, Emma stayed rooted on the sidewalk, with Henry at her side, holding on tightly to her hand. Perhaps that was why she could not bring herself to leave: Henry. It was not just Emma's life that was being turned completely upside down, but his as well. Believing entirely in the possibility that everyone in the town he was growing up was a fairytale character could not and did not prepare him for losing his home.
As much as Emma wanted to just run off, go hide in some place where no one would find her, she could not. Henry needed her here.
She was not use to people needing her, far from it.
Ruby stepped up to Emma's side as Mary Margaret got out of the car. Emma's mouth grew incredibly, uncomfortably dry and her stomach tied itself into painful knots when Mary Margaret's eyes landed upon her. Emma could already tell, Mary Margaret was no longer the meek schoolteacher that she had first met. The way she composed herself was so different, she stood with more… confidence, instead of sulking away in the background.
Henry squeezed Emma's hand before letting it go as Mary Margaret approached; Emma, childishly, wished that he hadn't. She somehow felt a little alone now, everyone's attention directed on her. The spotlight made her squirm internally. No one said anything. The loud sirens and the constantly cackling of the fierce fire nearby, however, drowned out their silence. Ruby watched without uttering a single word, as did August who now lingered in the middle of the street.
It was a moment for which Mary Margaret had not known she waited for nearly three decades. Emma, on the other hand, was very much aware and never would have imagine this scenario if given a million years to concoct: she had not been able to find her parents because they were fairy tale characters, cursed into believing they weren't Snow White and Prince Charming.
Her parents were Snow White and Prince Charming.
Okay, this was a little too much to handle, but Emma continued to stand still, even when Mary Margaret stood in front of here, just inches away. Emma was only able to look her in the eyes for a second before looking down, but she had been in time to see Mary Margaret's face fall as a range of emotions overcame her. Happiness, sadness, guilt, and relief, all contorted into one. Mary Margaret placed her hands on Emma's cheeks, framing a face she was now seeing in such a new light. She pulled Emma close, placed a kiss on her forehead, just as she had the last time she saw her precious daughter, and grabbed her in a tight hug.
Fighting back a choked sobbed, Mary Margaret uttered, "You found us."
xxxx
"Ah, your Majesty, a second visit in one day. To what do I owe the pleasure?"
There was a slight taunt to his voice, one that succeeded in making Regina's blood boil even more than it already was. "What did you do to my Lily?" Regina demanded. Her late daughter's name parted from her lips with heavy, raw emotion; a sign of weakness marked on the most fearful queen in all the lands.
"Whatever do you mean?" Mr. Gold, standing behind the back counter, asked nonchalantly as Regina marched towards him. She was not going to play these little games with him, not when that smug smirk contradicted his pseudo-perplexed mannerisms. Regina held up her hand and gave her wrist a quick flick, a motion that should have easily lift him off his feet and pin him against the wall behind him.
Instead, Mr. Gold's shoulder was pushed back by the unseen force, which caused him to take a step back and served only to make his smirk grow. Regina, eyebrows furrowing, glanced down at her hand. Mr. Gold could not help but chuckle.
"Losing our touch, are we?" he asked. Emma's arrival may have awoken a small fraction of the town's magic, it was now faltering back to its non-existence state of this realm. "Or perhaps we simply wasted what little precious magic enchanting a necklace-"
"I would enchant it again and again, knowing that I would find myself in this moment. I don't need magic to bring you harm, you imp," Regina hissed, taking a step forward. Little did Gold know, she was only a phone call to the ward away from ruining him.
"Though I must say, the silver chain would match rather lovely with that… new ring on your finger," Mr. Gold pointed out, not taking the irate queen's threat to heart. "Does gold no longer serve your taste, your Majesty?"
"Even the lowest of peasants are aware of silver's effect on a werewolf and I knew the effects of… Lily's transformation," Regina stated, her glare still piercing as she hid Daniel's ring from Gold's view. He had plenty of time to admire the piece she had been forced to give to him over the last twenty-eight years and beyond. "She may not have seen it as such in the end, but I did what was necessary to protect her because I always have been and will always will be her mother."
"Always have been?" Mr. Gold repeated, fighting back a laugh. "Need I remind you, dearie, that you were more than willing to exchange her life for your own? Or do you not remember that third night of straw spinning as I do?"
"I was young and naïve," Regina quickly defended.
"The child rightfully was mine-"
"My father discovered your name fairly, Rumpelstilskin," Regina hissed. "Perhaps you should have been more careful prancing about and singing that information. That's what it was all about, wasn't it? You couldn't let it go, that's why you took her from me!"
As Regina rounded the corner of the display counter keeping the two of them a safe distance apart from each other, Mr. Gold turned and took a step back. He grabbed and held out his cane, pressing the silver handle that earlier burned through Lucy's delicate flesh against Regina's abdomen.
"Oh, your Majesty," Mr. Gold taunted, pushing Regina back with the cane. "She was never yours to begin with."
"Are you hard on hearing?" Regina snarled, swatting the cane away with her hand. She had just stated that she found out his name, that she had kept her side of the deal – it was he who went back on his word.
"Quiet the contrary," Mr. Gold replied. "You see, if you can recall correctly – I'm sure the moment was rather… hazy, especially after everything you had just gone through – we never struck an official agreement. There was no contract, no deal, nothing to bind me to the word I had no intention of keeping. Frankly, you should be thankful for the time I gave you with the child."
His words rang painfully in Regina's ears as every muscle in her body grew tense, willing to summon even an ounce of magic – just an ounce. She lowered her head slightly when nothing came, fists clenched at her side. An open case propped up against the display counter caught her eye. Regina forced herself to look back up. His slight caused her to grow more irate with each passing second.
He did it.
He drowned Lily in the river, left her, cold and frigid, for Regina to find. Not only that, but when the devastated Queen Regina came to Rumpelstilskin soon after to strike another deal, unaware of what he had done, he told her there was nothing that he could have done.
"You murdered-"
"Not precisely," Mr. Gold interrupted her. "There is no magic powerful enough to bring someone back from the dead. I simply… hid her away."
"Why?" Regina demanded, the corners of her frown twitching and betraying her composure. "What reason could you possibly have to keep her away from me?"
"You're smart, your Majesty, I'm sure you can figure it out," he replied.
Regina's eyes narrowed as she carefully watched him and he her. Neither moved. For a few moments, the only noises between the two of them were the sporadic ticking of the handful of clocks hanging from the wall. With each connection made, Mr. Gold witnessed Regina's expression grow darker and darker.
Then, she reached that epiphany – that reason – which caused her to snap.
In a swift motion, Regina leaned down towards the case she had found only minutes before. Her fingers wrapped around the hilt of the sword tightly before pulling the weapon free from its case. No, she did not need magic in order to injure the damn imp. Standing up, she swung the blade over her head and brought it hurling down towards Mr. Gold who blocked the attack with the body of his metallic cane.
She had sought him out when no one else could see how much she suffered with each passing day in a life she had never wanted for herself. He was the one who teased her with the idea of stealing away everyone's happiness, just like hers had been, when it had all become too much - watching Snow grow and blossom into a young woman, realizing that Regina would never see her own Lily do the same because she could not have kept a simple little secret.
Little did she know that the man from who she sought her revenge was the very one who caused her little Lily to drown. Rumpelstilskin had wanted Lily gone because he had wanted all of this.
How long had he allowed her to believe that she was in charge? For how long had she been a puppet in this obscure master plan of his? None of this was by mere coincidence, not with Rumeplstilskin involved. No, the events had to have been precise, carefully planned out to the last little detail. Lily's death was just one small part. The stings of control went even further back, to those three long nights Regina spent locked away in that tower with those mounds of never-ending straw.
Regina's stomach twisted into tight knots at the recollection. Rumpelstilskin knew she would be trapped and held prisoner by the king. He knew she would have been asked to complete a specific task that only he could manage.
What had lead her mother to swear to the king that her daughter was capable of spinning straw into gold? How did her mother discover about hers and Daniel's plan to flee into the night when the two of them had been so secretive, so careful?
Is that how far his reach had gone? Was Rumpelstilskin the reason why her life had never been her own? Her life was a ploy, a stepping-stone to this very moment, to them being here in this cursed town.
"You used me," Regina accused with a snarl, her eyes wild and ablaze with a fury Gold had not previously seen before. "You took her because you wanted me to cast this curse."
"And now that it's breaking and people are remembering who they are," Mr. Gold began, stepping towards the sword. As he did so, he felt Regina push her weight into the blade. She could try to strike me again, but she no longer had the surprise factor, not that it had done her any good to begin with. "They'll be coming for blood – your blood, to be more precise - and seeking revenge."
"The curse will not break," Regina stated defiantly, inching her face closer towards his.
"Whatever helps you sleep at night," Mr. Gold commented. "But allow me to remind you that half the library and, well, your own residence have been destroyed by your dear old friend. If her waking from slumber is not a bright neon sign that the curse is breaking, well, then, I'm not sure what possibly could be," he explained, using his cane to brush the sword to the side.
"You created this curse. The dark curse. The most powerful of all curses," Regina pointed out needlessly. "You should be more concerned of it breaking."
"There's no reason for me to be concerned."
"You want the curse to break," she concluded. "Why?"
"Now that, dearie, is none of your concern," Mr. Gold replied. "And you really should not attack the only ally you have left in this town," he chastised.
"You've made it perfectly clear that I never had any to begin with."
He chuckled, taking a quick glance to the damaged display case parallel to the wall adjacent to them. "Not even Lillian, who came here with your fiery temper, claiming to know your sad little story and demanding to know why I hadn't left her poor mother alone?" he questioned, allowing his words to cut deep and sting.
Regina found herself shaking her head. No, the last time she had seen Lily, she had been adamant about helping Snow White, about helping put a stop to all of Regina's doings. The look in her daughter's eyes… Lily had been disgusted, she could not see pass the Evil Queen. Her mother was gone. Lily would not have stood up for her.
"Such a shame," Gold sighed slightly. "You were so close to having all three of your original possessions back, weren't you? Your family's necklace, that sentimental ring, and the child, whose life you wrote away before she could even live. It appears that the only sweet mother daughter reunion taking place will be Snow White's," he taunted.
Her knuckles on the hand wrapped around the hilt of the sword had grown white from the tight grasp she held on the weapon. Lips trembling, Regina swung the blade once more, a raw cry escaping the back of her throat. Instead of evading the attack, Mr. Gold did not move, but as soon as the sword came into contact with just the fiber of his suit, he erupted into a cloud of purple smoke. Regina felt the blade swift throw the vapor and connect to the wall.
He was gone.
"Coward!" Regina found herself shouting into the empty shop as she pulled the weapon free from the wall.
Breath heavy, her eyes darted around the different, various possessions displayed on shelves and in cases, searching for anything useful. Many were just mediocre items, probably infused with as much sentimental value as the ring that was now back on her finger, a reminder of the happiness the former owners once had.
The former owners would, as Gold said, be coming after her now that the curse was breaking. Once they remembered who they were and what she had done twenty-eight years prior, there would be blood, without a doubt.
But before that, Regina would be certain that she had her own satisfying revenge against those who stole away her own dear happiness, once by water and another by fire.
xxxx
Emma felt as though an eternity had past, at the very least, while being embraced tightly by Mary Margaret. Her own arms remained at her side, awkwardly. She didn't know what to do, if stepping back would be at all appropriate, so she just stood there, giving her mothe – Mary Margaret, her moment.
"Snow?" Ruby finally spoke up, making Emma grateful for the interruption.
Mary Margaret placed her hands on Emma's shoulders as she pulled back. Biting down on her lower lips in an attempt to keep herself in check, she looked at her up and down, which only served to make Emma feel even more slightly uncomfortable. She would have preferred another prolonged embrace.
"I couldn't sit still for any longer," Mary Margaret replied, eyes still on Emma although she was addressing Ruby. "Not after Emma ran after a dragon – I'm so glad your safe!"
"Yeah, safe," Emma found herself mumbling, forcing herself to, at the very least, glance up. "Not everyone made it out."
Frowning and a bit taken aback, Mary Margaret looked over at Emma's side, where she found Henry. He was safe and accounted for. She turned back to Emma, shaking her head slightly. "Regina?" she asked, her voiced hushed.
Emma shook her head.
"Then who?" Mary Margaret asked, eyebrows narrowing. Taking a step away from her daughter, she gazed over Emma's shoulder to Ruby who was staring hard at the sidewalk. "Red, who?"
As much as she did not want to deliver the news, Ruby forced herself to say that one name, "Lucy."
Mary Margaret's shoulders fell. "No," she mumbled, turning to the manor. Then she was still inside and needed help, Mary Margaret rationalized with herself, because it was not supposed to end like this. She made a dash towards the burning house, but August quickly intercepted her. Both he and Mary Margaret tumbled to their knees.
Emma still remained frozen where she stood, but turned to Ruby for an explanation.
"In our world," Ruby began, trying to keep the shaking in her voice to a bare minimum. "Lucy was Princess Lillian. Regina's daughter – Snow's half sister."
Snow's sister. The words echoed in Emma's ears as she looked over towards Mary Margaret and August, and then to the flames that were starting to die down.
"One of the last things she promised," Ruby continued. "For Snow's sake, was to protect you from danger."
Now Emma was certain that she wanted to run. Her heart sank to the pit of her stomach. She felt as thought she was going to be sick. Emma vividly recalled Lucy's worried expression at the sight of that witch beginning to transform, one that was quickly replaced with determination as she tackled Emma to the ground, using her body to protect Emma as flames shot overhead. What happened after that, Emma couldn't remember. She had blacked out for a few seconds. When she came around, Lucy was gone and the fire had been growing.
"I can't do this," Emma finally admitted in a low whisper. Henry immediately grabbed a hold of her hand once more.
"You're the savior! You can do this!" Emma could hear it in his voice, how scared her was, how he needed her, in that moment, to be the person he built her up to be.
The skidding sound of breaks cut Emma off from pointing out that this was definite proof that she was no one's savior. Ruby quickly walked around Emma, murmuring the word 'Grumpy' under her breath.
"Grumpy?" Emma repeated, whirling around to watch Ruby take a few steps forward and Leroy bound out of his truck to meet her. Grumpy, as in, one of the seven dwarfs?
"The dragon went into the mines," Leroy stated, once Ruby did not allow him to step past. Whatever he was here to report, he could say to her. Snow was not in any condition right now. "The Evil Queen was seen heading inside not too long after."
"My mom?" Henry asked. Emma placed a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm going after her," Emma stated.
Ruby immediately turned to her. "Look at what just happened-"
"I know what just happened," Emma replied coldly, keeping her voice low so Mary Margaret could not overhear. "In a matter of seconds, I realized I gained a family and then lost one of them. And it was my fault."
"Emma," Ruby said.
"It's my fault that she's gone and that Regina went chasing after that thing," Emma pointed out. She's Henry's family, Emma caught herself thinking. "Kid, stay with Ruby," she ordered.
xxxx
The main entrance to the old mines had collapsed months ago, after Henry had run inside, Regina recalled. It was the first time the people of Storybrooke had seen their mayor as anything but composed and collective. That boy certainly knew how to frighten her. She had been ready to run in after him, but, in the end, it had been her to go after him instead. Deputy Swan at the time, unaware of the dangers she could have potentially faced.
A sleeping dragon.
Dear old Maleficent.
Now, here she stood, in front of the same entrance that was no longer blocked. Boulders had been shoved away, some still even glowing hot. Maleficent did always have a bit of a temper, easily offended, Regina remembered. By the end of their first meeting, Regina herself could recount the tale of her once dear and only friend not being invited to some event for her former land's new princess. With that in mind, Regina had invited her to every formal event centered around Lily, not that she ever made herself present to any, even though she did refer to herself as the little girl's fairy godmother.
Regina's grasp around the hilt of the sword tightened at the thought. Fairy godmothers, from her understanding, were supposed to help those who were desperate during a time of need – something that had been denied to both her and her Lily. They were supposed to help and protect, a task that Maleficent failed the moment she set the manor ablaze. It was a fire that not only took the life she constructed over the last, nearly, three decades, but it took her Lily from her all over again. Houses could be rebuilt and items replaced, but Lily? Lily had been given a second chance, and even if it meant her daughter would only detest her existence, at least Lily would have had the chance. Regina had wanted that for her – a life.
But Maleficent robbed that possibility, just as Rumpelstilskin had before her.
And now Regina was about to rush into an abandoned mine, sans magic, wielding a weapon she had never used before in her life.
It was far from a completely rational plan, but Regina proceeded anyway.
xxxx
Cora gently caressed Lucy's cheek with the back of her hand, a touch that made Lucy recoil. Cora immediately feigned offense, drawing her hand back.
"Is that anyway to treat your grandmother, dear?" Cora questioned. "After all this time, darling?"
Lucy did not response, afraid that any answer could possibly be incorrect and that she would end up like Grandpa Henry and Daniel. From her fleeing childhood memories, there were only few Lucy could remember vividly. Among them was her panicked mother, telling little Lily not to wander off with her grandmother without Mommy knowing. At the time, Lily thought it was an odd warning – why couldn't she go run off and play with Grandma? Grandma made Lily's toys come to life, as if they were puppets without strings.
Now Lucy knew better – that the puppets were far from her toys.
"After all I've done for you and your undeserving mother?" Cora added, tilting her head slightly as she stroked Lucy's cheek once more. "She failed to see what she and you could have been. If only she would have allowed me-"
"She wasn't-" Lucy snapped.
"Oh, don't you dare talk back to your grandmother," Cora retorted. Suddenly, whatever bonds held Lucy to the rigid wooden wall grew tighter and Lucy yelped at the sharp pain. Her head hung forward, but Cora lifted her chin with her fingers.
"Now, have you learned your lesson?" Cora asked, the sweet undertone of her voice causing her granddaughter's skin to crawl. Lucy forced a half nod, fearful that no answer would warrant a worse punishment.
"That's a good girl," Cora grinned, gently patting Lucy's cheek. "Shall I continue?"
With shaky breath, Lucy nodded slowly, keeping her eyes focused on Cora's, even though she desperately wanted to look anywhere else. Wandering eyes could mean another bout of magic, she warned herself. Don't look away, don't show any weakness.
None of it is real, a voice in the back of her mind reminded her – such a sweet, soothing, familiar voice. Nothing can hurt you. None of it is real.
But the pain is real, Lucy replied, shamefully feeling her eyes beginning to sting. This was not like her, far from it. When did she revert back to this little girl, scared of the present danger she currently was facing? Where was this terrified little girl when Lucy had stared down the blood thirsty Big Bad Wolf? Where did she suddenly come from?
It's not real, the voice repeated.
"If only she would have allowed me to teach you magic – you had such a talent at a young age, darling," Cora continued. "You could have been a powerful queen, more so than your mother."
"I never would have been queen. Snow-"
"She would have been taken care of-"
"I wouldn't have allowed you to harm her," Lucy remarked, against her better judgment. In only took a short moment for Cora to respond. A yell should have parted from Lucy's lips, but the sharp pains of what felt like needles puncturing her lungs rendered her inaudible.
"Hard headed, just like she was," Cora commented, pursing her lips together. "Neither of you aware of the lives I've given you."
Stay strong, Lily. Come back to me.
"Given me?" Lucy croaked , followed by a short, bitter laugh that she knew she would ultimately regret. "My life was over when I was five. The princess, your granddaughter, died a long time ago."
To Lucy's surprise, Cora appeared amused. A faint smile tugged on the corners of her lips, revealing that she was hiding a secret. "Who do you think you are now, you foolish girl?" she asked.
Please.
Lucy did not respond; Cora took a step closer. Only a few inches separated the two of them. "Why do you think you ended up in that forsaken town?" Cora asked.
Above your heart is my heart.
xxxx
With every step Regina took, wandering further and further along, she thought of Henry. She thought of him climbing and jumping over these rocks, tripping over the tracks the dwarfs had laid for their carts to transport the minerals they dug up. At least now, the exposed gems, waiting to be brushed into fairy dust, glowed, giving off a soft light. It had been completely dark down here before. Henry could have seriously injured himself, instead of emerging with a couple bumps and bruises. It had most likely come to light that her main concern had not entirely been the tunnels collapsing (dwarfs craftsmanship was rather sturdy), but the slumbering Maleficent who had been waiting within.
Maleficent was more dangerous now, awake, but Henry was no longer the one in harm's way.
Regina took each step with care, looking past the blade that she held out in front of her as she made her way down the narrow tunnel. She could see the path growing wider and wider, leading towards an opening that was emitting an even brighter glow than any of the gems she was passing.
He fought valiantly.
Her next step lingered as the mix of voices echoed in her mind, both Lily's and Henry's. They would both retell the story of Mr. Bear when they were younger, both wide, bright eyed while storytelling, excited. The brave stuffed animal slayed the fire breathing dragon and saved the townspeople. The difference between her and that bear was simple enough.
Regina was not concerned about the townspeople.
She stopped at the opening into the large cavern, allowing her eyes to adjust to the influx of light. There was an opening high above, allowing the sun to pour into the otherwise dark area through the grated bars that Regina had stood over after being reunited with Henry, and after discovering a piece of the glass coffin. She followed the trail of light down, the path that piece of glass would have taken after she had dropped it back into the mines. What Regina expected to see was that same piece of glass, perhaps covered slightly by dirt, not the entire, nearly intact glass coffin.
So that's where the damn thing ended up, the reminder of a failed second attempt. She had come so close.
Pushing the thought from her mind, Regina shook her head, but before she could look away, something at the edge of the coffin caught her eye. Her breath hitched in her throat as the blade fell from her hand.
A ghost. Her eyes playing a trick on her?
No.
"Lily?"
The fire, Henry shouting that they were still inside, and the Sheriff emerging alone – everything had pointed to the absolute worst.
Without sparing another second, Regina dashed to the end of the coffin that Lucy's unconscious body leaned against, her arms and legs outstretched as though she had been thrown around aimlessly. The thought of Maleficent tossing her around as if she were nothing was enough to make her blood boil. Maleficent had brought Lucy here; she wanted Regina to find Lucy. Although Regina should have been asking why and being concerned about the sorceress' intentions, Regina found herself preoccupied in other matters.
Regina knelt down and carefully scooped Lucy's upper body into her arms. Lucy's head lulled back, her neck hanging over Regina's bicep. Regina shifted her body slightly, allowing Lucy to lean against her torso so that Regina could properly support her. With Lucy's head cradled against her right arm, Regina used her left hand to feel for a pulse in Lucy's wrist. It was there, slow, but there. Regina allowed herself a second of relief, one that vanished almost instantly. Lucy was so hot to the touch, her face contorted. Regina recognized that frown, that still almost childlike pout.
How many times had she seen that pout before on her little princess? Lily, with that toy bear clutched to her chest, would stand either at the doorway of Regina's bedchamber or at the side of the bed, waiting for her mother to wake and notice her. Regina would wake, normally after a hushed whisper of 'Mommy' or a distraught whimper, and immediately gave the little girl the comfort she sought. It had been so long since Regina soothed away those fears and nightmares, but Regina was still able to recognize that fearful pout, after all that time.
"None of it is real. Nothing can hurt you," Regina said softly, a tone that was so foreign that she was a little taken aback. "None of it is real," Regina repeated when Lucy did not stir.
Why wasn't she waking?
Lucy winced, turning slightly into her mother. "It's not real," Regina continued to reassure. Her voice was beginning to betray her; she could feel the panic starting to take over. The situation was too frighteningly similar. Regina could feel herself reverting back to the completely helpless woman she once was, one who had not been able to save her sweet little girl. It was happening all over again, wasn't it? That's why she wasn't waking up. Regina was losing her. Again. And once more, there was nothing she could do.
"Stay strong, Lily. Come back to me," Regina begged, recalling how cold the little girl had been the last time she was in her arms like this. Regina had pleaded, tried so hard to get her to just open her eyes. Regina needed her to open them. "Please."
Gently, Regina cupped the side of Lucy's face and stroked her warm chin with her thumb. Regina could see her so clearly, of course she could, that baby girl she fought so hard to protect, the child who had given her happiness once more when Regina had deemed it all impossible. Regina had refuted the idea during their first encounter outside the sheriff's station, when Regina caught her rummaging through her home office, but Regina could see her precious little Lily in this young woman. Her chest ached painfully at the thought of all the times she willingly hurt her, her Lily, betraying every single promise she had ever made.
Why couldn't she have seen it before? Why didn't she allow herself to see?
Because Lily wouldn't have wanted the person she became as a mother.
The realization, one that she did not want to admit before, cut her deep. Fighting back the growing lump in her throat, Regina closed her eyes tightly and lowered her head, resting it against Lucy's chest.
"Above your heart is my heart," Regina muttered. The last verse of her Lily's lullaby lingered in the musty air, followed by a hallowing silence. Regina remained knelling, cradling Lucy close as the sword laid forgotten only a few feet away, along with the quest Regina had set herself on.
The lyrical verse, she was certain, had gone unheard, just like her earlier pleas, but as Lucy suddenly gasped loudly, Regina jumped up. Wide eyes of both mother and daughter met. With her good hand, Lucy had reached out and grabbed a hold of Regina's arm. Each were attempting to catch their breath. Regina had grown accustomed to seeing Lucy glare at her with such hard features. The sight alone of Lucy staring up at her with that child-like innocence she had long ago forgotten was enough to cause her to start breaking.
But it was what Lucy said, in such a small, soft voice, that completely broke her.
"Mommy."
To Be Continued