Chapter 9: The Son

Lillian kept running her fingers over the apple blossom on her locket nervously as she rode with Emma to go meet her little brother. She wanted to meet Henry and ask him about their mother, what she was like, how it had been to grow up in their home, anything to ease the ache in her heart. It hadn't been there before; it started the second she found out that Regina was her mother. Emma was right, she was finding it difficult to deal with this new truth and all the conflicting emotions that came with it.

Emma noticed that Lillian seemed nervous, and so was she. She knew that the second they walked in the door Snow and Charming would be all over her, wanting to hear the whole story and make a plan to help Regina. She had to get them to be patient a little while longer, Henry still needed to read his letter and she wanted to make sure he didn't hear the truth about Lillian before then. And then there was the letter itself, how would Henry react to everything? They continued to ride in silence, both preparing for what they were about to face.

They pulled up to the building and climbed out of the cruiser. Emma shot Lillian a quick smile, trying to assure her. They started up the stairs, Emma leading the way, and as they climbed Lillian's stomach began to churn. When they reached the top Emma stopped so suddenly that Lillian ran into her.

"Oh!" Lillian backed up and looked at Emma who was frozen just outside the door. "What's wrong?"

Emma turned around to look at Lillian, "Give me just a second, ok? I need to get a couple of people out of the way so they don't blow it before Henry has a chance to read his letter." She raised her eyebrows, looking for an indication that Lillian understood. She did. She understood better than anyone the shock Henry would be experiencing shortly and it had to be done right.

"Of course," she said. "Who do you have to get rid of?"

With a sigh Emma replied, "My parents." She opened the door and stepped inside, closing the door behind her.

Henry was sitting on the couch in the living room flipping through a comic book, too worried about his moms to really read it. His grandparents hadn't told him about Regina's decision or anything that happened at the council meeting, they wanted to wait for Emma. Snow was in the kitchen fixing sandwiches, trying to stay busy, while Charming tinkered with a loose table leg. The anxiety in the room was palpable.

As soon as Henry saw Emma he rushed over to her, "You're back! What happened? Grandma & grandpa wouldn't tell me anything."

"Whoa! Slow down,"Emma said with a smile. Henry's excitement and love for solving a mystery reminded her of herself when she was younger. "I promise I'm going to fill you in in just a minute, but I've got to talk to grandma & grandpa really quick first."

Henry nodded and sighed an impatient "Alright." He went back to pretending to read his comic book. Emma looked up at her parents, their eyes wide, anxious to know what she had found out. She nodded toward the stairs, indicating that they should follow her. The three of them went upstairs to the bedroom that the husband and wife now shared.

"Did you deliver the letter? What did you find out?" Snow was careful to whisper but her voice was still full of intensity.

Charming's voice matched his wife's, "Who is Lillian?"

Emma was mindful of the fact that Lillian was waiting for her out in hall so she decided not to beat around the bush. "She's Regina's daughter."

Her parents faces registered the shock of this revelation, and they exclaimed in unison, a bit too loudly. "What?!"

Henry's head whipped around to see what had caused their outburst. Emma shot them a look, reminding them to be quiet. After a few seconds of silence Charming repeated Emma's statement in an attempt to digest it. "She's Regina's daughter."

Emma nodded and looked at Snow, "And she's your little sister."

The look on Snow's face changed from one of shock and confusion to one of tenderness and melancholy as she realized what that meant. Lillian was the daughter of Regina and her father, King Leopold.

Relieved that neither of them seemed to have much to say about the subject, Emma took advantage of their silence and moved things along. "She's waiting out in the hall-"

"She's here?!"Snow interrupted.

"Yes," Emma said quickly. "She wanted to meet Henry. I'm going to go bring her in and then I'm going to give Henry his letter. I haven't had the chance to talk to her about what her's said yet so I thought we could just talk to them at the same time. But let's give them a minute before we pounce on them, ok?"

She looked at Charming first, who agreed. Then she looked at Snow who looked like she might burst into tears when she saw her little sister. That wouldn't be good. Emma made eye contact with her mother and said again, "Ok?"

Snow put her hands in front of herself defensively and nodded, "Ok, ok! I won't." Satisfied, Emma started down the stairs. Henry sat up eagerly, thinking Emma was finally going to explain what had happened. When she turned and walked to the door he was confused. Emma opened the door and looked out into the hallway. Lillian was sitting on the top stair of the last flight. She turned and looked at Emma who smiled and said kindly, "Are you ready?"

Lillian took a deep breath and nodded. She stood up and walked in the door.

Snow and Charming were coming down the stairs as Emma and Lillian entered the apartment. It took every ounce of self control she had for Snow not to gasp when she saw her sister for the first time. She was beautiful, with the same blue eyes Snow had also shared with her father. Lillian smiled, knowing full well who Snow was and their relationship to each other. That smile, just like her mother's. Snow hadn't seen that smile for many years, not since she and Regina were both much younger. It was the smile of the young woman who had saved her from a runaway horse, not the tense mask of the woman who married her father.

Lillian smiled politely at Snow and Charming, and then she saw Henry. She smiled tentatively at the boy who had no idea that she was his adopted sister. He gave a half hearted smile back and then looked at Emma for an explanation, "What's going on?"

Here we go, thought Emma. "Guys, this is Lillian. We're going to watch out for her for a while." Henry had waited long enough. He continued to stare up at his mother, she wasn't getting out of explaining what happened. Snow and Charming returned to what they had been doing in the kitchen while Emma sat down on the couch next to her son. Lillian sat in a chair to the right.

"Ok," Emma began. "The council made a decision, and your mom agreed." She paused, unsure how to phrase the next part. "She is going to face Cora."

Henry was surprised, the concern he felt for his mother was clear in his voice. "Where is she?"

"In the palace, in Fairytale Land, where the portal comes out," Emma replied.

"Is she there alone?" Henry was sounding more worried.

Emma hesitated, "Yes."

"What?! No, that's too dangerous. You've got to send somebody to help her. Mulan or..."

Emma stopped him. "We're trying to figure out a plan to help her."

Henry shook his head, "It's not fair, why did the council make her do that?"

"Henry," Emma said gently. "This is what she wanted." The boy's face reflected the confusion he felt. Emma knew he didn't understand so before he could ask another question she pulled his letter out of her pocket.

"She asked me to give you this," she said, handing him the letter.

Henry took the letter from Emma slowly. He was so confused, why had she written him a letter? Why did she want to fight Cora all by herself? Despite everything that had happened between him and his mom, Henry cared about her deeply and didn't want anything bad to happen to her.

He opened the letter and began to read

"My sweet Henry,

There is so much to say, I don't quite know where to start. I told you once that I wanted to redeem myself and I'm trying to prove that I meant that by doing the right thing now. That is why I have decided to stay behind in the Enchanted Forest and face Cora alone. It's not right to put anyone else in danger, I've done that enough in my life, but most importantly, I have to keep you safe.

I know I promised you I wouldn't use magic, but I need you to let me break that promise now. I need to have my magic to fight Cora and protect everyone. I hope you will understand.

This is going to be very dangerous, and I don't know if I will be able to come back to Storybrooke, if not, there are some things I need to tell you:

I'm sorry that I overreacted when you brought Emma to Storybrooke. I know that the things I did to keep her away from you pushed you farther away from me, but I was just so afraid of losing you. I've lost everyone I've ever loved and I couldn't bear losing my son too.

After the curse was broken and I tried to use magic to keep you with me you said that you didn't want to be like me. That upset me because I remember saying the same thing to my mother once, and I realized that I had become just like her. I was doing the same thing to you that she had done to me. You helped me to see that I had become what I had never wanted to be, and you made me want to change. Thank you for that Henry.

I know that you have doubted my motives as your mother, and have questioned if I even loved you. Please know that I have always loved you. Before I became your mother I was lonely and unhappy, but you changed all of that. You made me feel good and whole again. I wanted so badly to be a good mother to you, and it pains me, more than you'll ever know, that I failed. You don't know this Henry, but raising you was my second chance at being a mother. I have a daughter who I did not get to raise. Her name is Lillian, and she is sixteen years old. She was born in the Enchanted Forest and is in Storybrooke now. She never knew that I was her mother, but I have written her a letter, so she knows now. I don't know if you will, but if you decide you want to find her, you may. In fact, I would like that very much.

I hope you know that I mean every word I have written to you, Henry. I know that Emma will look after you so, in a way, I'm glad you brought her here. I don't know if we will see each other again, but if I can protect my children then it will be worth my sacrifice. I love you son.

All my heart,

Mom"

Without looking at anyone or saying a word, Henry carefully folded the letter back up. He sat for a moment, thinking about what his mom had just told him in her letter. Emma wasn't sure what to do, so she decided to let him talk when he was ready. Snow and Charming were holding their breath waiting for their grandson to react.

After a while Henry looked up, but not at Emma. He looked at Lillian. She had been watching him, just like the others, so their eyes met quickly. Several seconds passed as Henry sat studying her face. Then he spoke, "You look like her."

No one had mentioned to Lillian that she looked like her mother yet, and to hear it made her feel surprisingly emotional. Tears stung her eyes but she replied with a smile, "Really?"

Henry nodded and returned Lillian's smile. "When she was younger, especially your smile. But your eyes look like your dad, King Leopold's. And like my grandma's too."

Everyone was listening to Henry and they were all surprised at his reaction.

"How do you know that?" Lillian asked.

Henry picked up his storybook which was sitting on the coffee table. "Because of this." He handed the book to Lillian. She took it and ran her fingers over the letters on the cover. "She's in there a lot," he continued. "You can borrow it if you want."

Lillian held the book close to her, "Thank you Henry." He smiled a real smile at her this time, happy that he had made her happy. Then he looked over at Emma who was patiently waiting to learn what Regina was planning. His face became very serious and he looked down sadly.

"We've got to find a way to save my mom," he said quietly.

"I know." Emma scooted a little closer to Henry. "Did she mention any specifics about her plan?"

"Not really," Henry said.

"She said that she is going to destroy the portal before Cora can get through," Lillian offered.

Emma had been right. Henry and Lillian both went on to share the details of their letters, her reasons for doing this and what she thought Cora was after. Even with all that information they weren't really any closer to coming up with a plan. They realized that even if they went through the portal to try to talk to her, she could easily just knock them back through. The bottom line was that if Regina didn't want anyone else there to face Cora, it wasn't going to be hard for her to get her way.

Everyone was feeling frustrated. But then an idea clicked for Lillian: she was the key. If she went through the portal, like she planned on doing, then she could talk Regina into coming back to Storybrooke. Maybe if she saw Lillian, her mother would be motivated to fight harder, without destroying the portal. Of course, Emma and the others would never go for it, but she would need some help. She didn't know where the entrance to the portal was...but Henry probably did. He wanted to save their mother too, surely she could talk him into helping her.

Yes, it would work, it had to work. She still wasn't sure why she wanted to help Regina so desperately, after all, she had done horrible things as the Queen in the Enchanted Forest. But she was still her mother, and it sounded like she had changed. Lillian wanted to see for herself and, unless she went through the portal, she would never get the chance. She was determined that she would get through the portal and save her mother.