Chapter 8: The Daughter

Emma, Snow, and Charming stepped through the portal and into Regina's vault in Storybrooke.

"Emma," Snow said anxiously. "What's going on? What did Regina say?"

Emma turned to look at her parents, "It's a long story and I promise I'll fill you in on everything, but to sum up, Regina asked me to deliver a couple of letters."

"Letters?" Charming was just as surprised as Emma had been.

"Goodbye letters," Emma added.

Snow was confused, "Goodbye letters...Why?"

Emma's voice became very serious, "I don't think Regina is planning on coming back to Storybrooke."

Snow and Charming were stunned. They were both silent for a moment as they tried to process what Emma was telling them. Charming spoke first, "What does that mean, exactly?"

Emma shifted her weight, she was anxious to find a solution to this problem. "I'm not sure, but from what I heard in the council meeting, and from what she said just now, I think Regina is planning on destroying the portal before Cora even has a chance to get through it."

Emma's parents considered this. "She's putting herself out as bait," Charming said.

Snow couldn't believe it. "She's sacrificing herself?" She looked at Emma for an explanation. "Why?"

Emma hesitated, she didn't think she should tell them about Lillian yet. Not until the girl read her letter, it just didn't feel right. "To protect Henry." That seemed to appease Snow.

"So, what do we do?" Charming wanted to make a plan they could act on.

Emma shook her head, "I don't know. She seemed pretty determined."

"Well, we have to do something," Snow said plainly. "We can't just sit by and let her die."

Emma agreed, "I know." She thought about her son, Regina was also his mother, and she knew he would be so upset if anything happened to her.

Charming wasn't so sure they had it right. "What if we're wrong?" They both turned to look at him. "What if Regina's not sacrificing herself? What if she's joining forces with her mother?"

Snow knew, better than just about anyone, the ugly history between Regina and her mother. "No. She would never. As much as Regina has hated me & blamed me for ruining her happiness, she also blames her mother."

"Well, what about the letters," Charming offered. "Maybe we can get a better idea of what Regina is actually planning from them."

Snow liked this idea. "Yes. If we know, for sure, what she's doing then we can make a plan. Who are they for?"

"One's for Henry," Emma said. "I'm assuming to tell him goodbye & explain why she's doing this."

"And who gets the other one?" Snow asked.

"I think I'd better let that person read it first before I say anything. It's kind of personal," Emma said.

Snow nodded, "Of course. You're right."

Emma was tired of talking about it, she wanted to get out there and find Lillian. "Look, we'll figure something out. I agree, these letters could be the key. Why don't you guys go check on Henry and everyone else, and I'll meet you at the apartment. I've got to deliver this letter."

Snow and Charming agreed. They went upstairs to the surface and then their separate ways.

Emma stopped the police cruiser in front of a nice little yellow house. She held up the piece of paper with Lillian's address written on it to make sure she was at the right place. After confirming that she was, Emma got out of the car and walked up to the door. She knocked and waited for an answer. A few seconds later a middle aged woman answered the door with a warm smile, it was Marie.

Emma smiled at the woman, knowing she could see the cruiser and not wanting to frighten her. "Hello ma'am."

"Sheriff Swan!" Marie was surprised to see law enforcement at her door.

"I'm looking for Lillian."

"Is everything alright, Sheriff?" Marie put her hand over her heart, as if she was afraid it would jump out if her chest.

Emma was quick to assure her, "Yes, everything is fine. I just came to give her something."

Marie visibly relaxed. "Oh, of course. Come on in, she's out back." She opened the door and guided Emma through the house to the back door.

"She's just out there," Marie pointed the way.

Emma looked out the door to where she pointed and then turned back to the woman,"Thank you..."

"Marie." She extended her hand to Emma.

Emma smiled, remembering Marie's part in the story Regina had told her. She really did seem as kind as she had sounded. "Thank you Marie." They shook hands.

Emma pushed the screen door open and stepped out onto the large porch. She moved her eyes around the yard until she saw someone. Off to the right of the porch a teenage girl stood on a ladder, pruning an apple tree. Emma chuckled softly to herself, apples. The girl was petite, Emma guessed maybe 5'4", and slender. She had wavy, dark brown hair that fell half way down her back. She kept it off her face with a light blue headband that matched the t-shirt she wore with a pair of faded jeans.

Stepping down off the porch Emma crossed the yard to the tree. "Are you Lillian?"

Startling a little, the girl ducked down to see below the branches who had spoken to her. "Yes," she replied cautiously.

Emma came closer to the ladder so Lillian could see her better. "I'm Sheriff Swan." She thought it might make it easier for Lillian to talk to her after she read the letter if Emma were here on "official business".

Lillian was surprised, like Marie had been, to have the Sheriff at her home. " The Sheriff?" She started climbing down the ladder, leaving the pruning shears on the top step. "Am I in some kind of trouble?"

"No, no," Emma said, trying to sound casual. "Nothing like that." She walked in a semi-circle around the base of the tree, looking up and admiring it. Lillian watched her, feeling confused.

Still looking up at the tree, Emma said, "That's a nice looking Apple tree you've got." She had always been curious about Regina's fetish for apples, and found it even more curious that her daughter seemed to have a thing for them too.

"Thank you," Lillian replied. She looked up at the tree as well, proud of her work. "I had one just like it back in the enchanted forest. Had it ever since I was a little girl."

Emma noticed the locket around Lillian's neck. It was just as Regina had described it, a small gold heart with an Apple blossom on it and a tiny heart at the center. "Where did you get this one?" she asked, pointing to the tree, keeping the conversation going.

Lillian had to think about that question, after a few seconds she replied with a smile, "I don't know! It's just always been here I guess."

When she smiled Emma noticed how Lillian looked like both Regina and Snow. She had Regina's smile and Snow's blue eyes. The girl's resemblance to her mother was there but not so profoundly that someone would make the connection, unless they knew.

"So," Lillian said awkwardly. "If I'm not in trouble..."

Emma realized that she had let it be quiet for too long as she had been lost in her thoughts. She finished Lillian's sentence, "Then what am I doing here?" They both laughed a little, diffusing the awkwardness a bit.

Emma reached into her back pocket and pulled out the letter. "I came to give you this." She held it out to Lillian who responded the same way everyone else had.

"A letter?" She took it from Emma and examined it. "Who is it from?"

Emma wasn't sure how to answer that. Regina? The Evil Queen? Your long-lost mother? She settled on something more neutral, "It's from the Mayor."

Lillian's eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "Mayor Mills? The Evil Queen?" Emma winced when Lillian called her own mother what she had been known as in Fairytale Land. Of course she didn't know, but Emma knew that would have made Regina feel bad if she had heard it. The girl continued, "Why would she write me a letter?"

"I think I'd better just let you read it," Emma replied ominously.

Still confused, Lillian made her way to a small stone bench near the tree. She sat down, opened the letter, and with one last glance at Emma she began to read:

"My dearest Lillian," the first line threw her for a loop. Just what was this letter? She started over.

"My dearest Lillian,

You must be wondering why I have written you this letter. It is because there are some things you need to know, and I wanted you to hear them from me. Our world, the Enchanted Forest, and Storybrooke are both in serious danger.

The threat comes from my mother, Cora. She has very powerful magic and will destroy anything or anyone who crosses her path as she tries to get what she wants. What she wants is me.

As a child, my mother was very strict, and if I disobeyed her she would use magic to control me. As I grew up I often saw her do horrible things, she even killed people, to get what she wanted, power. It frightened me. I resisted her plans for me. I wanted desperately to be free from her, but the harder I fought the tighter her grip on me became. Finally, when I refused to marry the King like she wanted me to, she killed the man I loved and forced me to anyway. Heartbroken and fed up I used magic to banish her to another world. Now she is free and wants her revenge on me.

So, you see Lillian, I have to face her. She, will stop at nothing to get to me and the only way I can protect the people I love is to stay in our world and close the portal so she can never come to Storybrooke. It is very dangerous and I might not survive, but someone very wise once told me that the purest form of love is to do what is best for someone, even if it means putting your own life at risk. I am doing what is best for my children: Henry, who has been my son for ten years, and my daughter, who won't even know I am her mother until she reads this letter. Yes, Lillian, I am your mother."

Lillian gasped, she couldn't believe what she had just read. She read it again two more times just to be sure she hadn't read it wrong. She had always known that Marie had adopted her, but she was told that her mother had died in child birth. This couldn't be true. She read on.

"I know you may find this difficult to believe and possibly very upsetting. I know you are well aware of who I became and some of the awful things I have done. I certainly don't expect you to be proud to be the daughter of the Evil Queen, but I hope you'll give me a chance to explain my choice to give you up.

As I said before, my mother forced me to marry your father, the King, and I was very unhappy. I was also very angry with the King's daughter, Snow White, because it was she who told my mother about the man I loved. I held Snow responsible for his death, and became consumed by the desire for revenge. I started learning to use dark magic to gain that revenge and, ultimately, my freedom. It was then I learned I was pregnant with you. I was so confused, I had always wanted to be a mother but I had changed. I had started down a dark path and I was terrified that I would be like my mother. I didn't want you to fear me and be ashamed of me like I was of my mother, and most of all, I didn't want to hurt you. I wanted you to have the life I never had, but always wanted.

Despite what you may think, I loved you very much, and I wanted to do what was best for you even though it broke my heart to lose you. Your adopted mother, Marie, helped deliver you and agreed to raise you as her own. I knew she would take good care of you and I know that she has. Don't be angry with her for not telling you the truth, I placed an enchantment on her so she wouldn't remember that I was your mother.

I'm sorry that I can't be there to tell you this in person, you deserve more than just a letter. But if I came back to Storybrooke to tell you, I don't think I would have the strength to leave, and I have to. It's the only way to keep you safe. Goodbye, my sweet Lillian. I'm so proud of the beautiful young woman you have become.

All my heart,

Your mother Regina."

Lillian was in shock. She felt like she couldn't breathe. She re-read the words Regina used to close the letter, "All my heart". She set the letter on the bench beside her and picked up the locket that Hung around her neck. She opened it and looked at the inscription. It was exactly the same, even the handwriting matched.

She looked up at Emma for confirmation. "Is it true? Is she really my mother?"

Emma nodded, "Yes."

Lillian shook her head in disbelief and closed her eyes. This had to be a dream. Emma walked over to the bench and sat down. "You may not know this, but I know exactly how you feel." Lillian didn't respond. Emma continued, "Up until about a year ago, I thought my mom had abandoned me. But when I came to Storybrooke I learned the truth: that she saved me by sending me here. She wanted to give me my best chance. My mom is Snow White."

Lillian looked up at Emma, "Snow White?"

Emma nodded, "Yep. It was really hard for me to believe it, but it's true. It's hard to deal with the idea that your mom gave you up, you feel hurt, confused, angry, sad...but I've also been on the other side of the equation."

Lillian didn't know that Emma was Henry's mother, "What do you mean?"

"Henry, Regina's adopted son, is mine. I gave him up when I was 18." Lillian's eyes widened in surprise at this new piece of information. Emma continued, "I know how it feels to find out you're pregnant and feel incapable of being a mother. Regina wasn't in a good place and she didn't want you to suffer because of it. She wanted you to have what she didn't feel like she could give you, a safe and happy life."

Lillian nodded, she could believe that. But one thing bothered her, it was the same thing that had nagged at Emma, "Why did she adopt Henry?"

Emma could see the hurt in Lillian's eyes. Regina had explained it to her but she knew that the girl needed to hear it from her mother. "That's something you would have to ask Regina."

Without meaning to, Emma had given Lillian an idea with her answer. She would ask her mother. She wanted to see her, even if it was just once. She would find a way to get to Fairytale Land before Regina destroyed the portal.

"Did Henry get a letter too?" Lillian asked.

"Yeah, he did."

"Have you given it to him yet?"

"Not yet. I'm going to after I leave here." Emma looked at her watch, her parents were probably back at the apartment by then.

Lillian thought about Henry, her little brother in a way, and wanted to talk to him. She wanted to know more about their mother. "Can I come with you?"

Emma considered this, she hadn't been able to find out yet if Regina had told Lillian her plan. It might be a good idea to bring her along and talk to her and Henry together. "Sure, that'd be fine."

Lillian smiled and stood up, "Thanks."

Emma returned the smile, "No problem."

They started walking toward the house when Lillian said thoughtfully, "So, if you're Snow White's daughter, does that make me your aunt?"

Emma looked at her with a little grin and said, "Yeah, I guess it does."

Lillian smiled and shook her head, "This is crazy."

Emma chuckled, "You have no idea."