Chapter 16
Chapter 16Emma fell down beside the bed. She didn't realize that she was crying until her own tears landed on her hands. She reached out for Regina's hand, again, but Regina pulled away. Emma wasn't sure what to make of it but she knew that she didn't like it. There was something different in Regina's eyes. It was then that Regina finally sat up, slightly, in the bed, just enough for them to see her eyes. They were no longer brown, but a light shade of lavender.
"Regina?" Emma asked.
"I am fine, Miss Swan," she finally answered.
Snow rolled over and looked at Regina. She wasn't sure what to make of her step-mother. She looked over at her daughter's eyes. The green eyes met blue in pure wonderment. She could see the pleading look in her daughter's eyes. She needed to help her but she was the cause of her pain. How could she deal with the truth? How could she tell her that she was the reason that Regina died?
"Do not fear the truth, Dear. I am fine. I am more than fine. My dear Snow, thank you," Regina told her, as she blindly reached across the bed and took Snow's hand.
Snow turned back to Regina and looked into her eyes. She saw a clarity in them that she hadn't seen since she was a child. There was a peace behind them. Snow held Regina's hand. As she held her hand, Snow felt her pull her up to a sitting position on the bed.
"Regina?" Emma asked again.
"I am fine, Dear. I need to speak with Snow, alone. Please. I promise that I am okay. Can you go make me a cup of coffee? We'll be down shortly," Regina told them as she got up from the bed.
Snow stayed sitting. Emma watched them. There was something different about them. Emma knew that some happened between them but she didn't know what it was. She could only hope that they would explain it to her. Rhiannon stood by and watched the silent interactions, but she waiting to see who was going to move first.
"This is not over," Emma told them.
"I am sure, Dear."
Emma stood up, gathered Ruby and Rhiannon and led the way out the door. She knew that she needed to call Henry to let him know that everything was okay. Well as okay as it could be considering everything that she'd seen. She had no idea how to tell her …no, their son that his mother had possibly died. She knew it old be best for her to wait for Regina's explanation.
Snow could see the difference in Regina's countenance, but she didn't know what to say. She thought her lavender eyes were unsettling, but she still said nothing. She couldn't understand why after everything that Regina had just been through that she would push Emma away the way she did. But, again, she said nothing. She just watched her step-mother and waited…waited to see what Regina was going to do now that she had been pardoned and she had her powers.
"You can stop staring at any time, Dear," Regina told her.
"I am sorry. I just don't know what to say to you. I don't know what to make of this."
"I believe that is understandable considering everything that had happened today."
"You do realize that your eyes lavender, right?" Snow asked her.
Regina cocked her eyebrow at her. She didn't know. She hadn't looked in the mirror to yet to see what her death would have done to her body. She wasn't sure that she was ready for that.
"No, I didn't. But, that explains the look that Emma was giving me. I believe that it should go away."
"She is upset."
"Who? Miss Swan? I am sure that she is. I'll explain everything to her, later, when we are alone."
"She loves you."
"I know that, Dear. I love her, too, but there are bigger things to worry about right now than the color of my eyes. I am sure that you can agree to that."
"I did already, didn't I?"
"I only have one question for you, my dear Snow," Regina told her.
"What?"
"Did you mean it?"
"Did I mean what?" Snow asked.
"Did you mean it when you said that you were giving me a full pardon?"
"Yes, I did."
"Why?"
"You love Emma. She loves you. Obviously, you are good together. She has helped you find your way again. Who am I to stand in the way? If she is your true love, things would have worked out in your benefit eventually. You of all people should know that. She is living proof of that for Charming and me. It is the reason that I will give you our blessing, too," Snow explained to her.
"She may not understand," Regina told her.
"I know that."
"You need to talk to her as well. Maybe, we should talk to her together. I think if we tell her everything, she might actually believe us both. Don't you agree?" Regina asked.
"We don't know that she won't believe us."
"She is a Charming, after all."
"She is. She is just as stubborn as her father. She is as resilient as I am. She is the best of us both. She is most certainly a Charming, but despite that she is her own person. And, she is most definitely yours," Snow replied.
"How do you deal with that?"
"How do I deal with what?"
"How do you handle the fact that I am your worst enemy and yet I have the love of your daughter? That cannot sit well with you. I know how you must hate me."
"Hate is a very strong word," Snow replied.
"But still, I tried to end you."
"But, you didn't."
"I sought to keep you from your happy ending."
"Emma saved us all," Snow replied.
"I made you wallow in the misery of killing my mother," Regina replied.
"You forgave me."
"I killed your father."
"I know what he did to you."
Regina stopped. She never told anyone about Leopold's visits. She looked into the young Queen's eyes, trying to find the answers to the questions that she was afraid to ask. There was something that she knew that Snow wasn't telling her. She arched her delicately sculpted eyebrow at the woman before her and waited for Snow to say something else.
"You what?" Regina asked.
"I know what my father did to you."
"You have no idea what you are talking about, Dear. That is a subject that is off limits, even for you. I will not discuss him with you."
Snow crossed the room. Her heart was heavy with grief but she knew that Regina needed her, now, more than she would ever care to admit. Their shared history gave them a unique relationship. Even Snow had to admit that the relationship that they fostered before her father's death was tenuous at best but there had been some honest friendship underneath the veil of hatred that Regina wore. Even Regina couldn't deny that.
"Regina, you need to talk about it."
"You need to learn to keep things to yourself, Dear," Regina replied.
"I know what he did to you."
"You know nothing."
"I would have stopped him if I could. I could have spoken up. I could have asked that you stay with me, until…"
"Enough!"
"Regina, I didn't know. I didn't know."
"And, yet, you still don't, do you?" she asked her with all the venom she could summon.
"No, I don't."
"How did you get this information?"
"Rhiannon gave me your memories."
"Why on Earth would she do that?" Regina asked her.
"So, I would know what it felt like."
"To know what what felt like?"
"To have your heart ripped out of your chest," Snow replied.
Regina moved away from her. She couldn't look into her eyes anymore because she saw the pain of her life reflected back at her. The one woman that she wanted to hate, that she envied for all of her passion and emotion, the one woman that would have been her complete undoing knew was it was like to be her if only for a moment.
"Trust me, Dear. You don't know the half of it. And, if you did, you'd be begging me to take the memories back," Regina told her.
"I've seen more than I want of your past, yes, Regina. I saw what my father did you. I saw what your mother did to you. I know of the blood promise that you and Rhiannon have."
"How can you know?" Regina asked.
"She showed me."
"Show me," Regina demanded.
"I don't have magic. You know that. How can I show you something that I don't understand?"
"Give me your hand," Regina commanded as she took Snow's hand.
She felt the power of her memories flow through Snow's hands into her own. Her eyes glowed as she felt her memories coming back to her and the end of the Rhiannon's magic ebbing. She saw the light return to Snow's eyes. She knew the memories that Snow saw weren't the one that she would have traded so that Snow would learn from her past.
"Why would she give you those?"
"Because she knew that you weren't as tainted as you would believe."
"I am tainted."
"Emma healed your heart."
"Yes, she did."
"I forgave you."
"Yes, you have, Dear, but what part of that matters?" Regina quipped.
"In my forgiveness of you, I gave you back your freedom and your powers."
"That you have," she replied, arming herself with a fireball before extinguishing it in her hand.
"Regina," Snow stated in warning.
"Don't worry, Dear. I am not going to hurt you. You are family after all."
"Do you know how you freed both your soul and my heart?"
"No, but I am sure that you are going to give me a very lengthy explanation."
"No, Regina, I'm not. It was simple, so very simple. I wish I had thought of it earlier."
"What is that?"
"You forgave me."
"I don't forgive anyone."
"You did. You forgave me. It was your price in our little adventure. I know that you did it to help Rhiannon. You have always been a woman of her word. And, you are one to never back down from a fight. This is a fight that I think you know how to win, but you were being held back. I was holding you back. The darkness in your soul was holding you back. We freed your soul and your powers."
"Forgiveness doesn't eradicate years of heartache and evil," Regina told her.
"I can if you let it," Snow replied.
"Don't you know that I can't be redeemed? You said so yourself. You were willing to lock me away in the dungeon and let me rot for my crimes. You couldn't have forgotten that. What changed for you, Snow? How could I be pardoned by you so easily?" Regina asked her.
"Because you love my daughter."
"Love is weakness."
"Love isn't weakness, Regina. It is everything. It is the driving force behind everything."
"Love…causes nothing but heartache and pain."
"Love heals and gives us strength and hope."
"Love causes war and grief."
"Love gives us family when even blood can't," Snow told her.
"Family…"
"Yes, family, Regina."
"And, who would want me in their family? I am the Evil Queen. I am a murderer. I am not worthy of love. I never have been," Regina stated.
"And, yet, you've won the heart of my daughter. You raised your son with all the love and compassion that you could muster. Better yet, you defended the entire town because of love. Of everyone that I know that has been slighted in the past, Regina, you are the most deserving of love and forgiveness. Both of which I will give to you freely, if you will let me," Snow said.
"Why?"
"Because, you have saved me…countless times and even you deserve a happy ending."