"If it isn't the hero herself," Maleficent purred as she glimpsed Regina entering the Sheriff's station. When she saw Emma following her, she smiled but there was a hint of annoyance on her eyes, "And her dear puppy as always."
Regina felt Emma clenching her fists behind her and put her arm in front of her to stop her from stepping ahead and punching Maleficent's smirk off her face. "You have one chance, so don't blow it up."
"One chance for what?" she huffed.
Regina took a step forward and took in Maleficent's pose. She was imposing as always, but she wasn't putting her heart on it. She looked tired and weak. "Why did you do it?" she just asked, her voice stern.
"I really need to say it? Isn't because you trapped me in my dragon form for 28 years chained to a fucking rock underground enough reason for you?" Maleficent sneered, pressing herself against the bars.
Regina stepped closer, where she definitely could see something in Maleficent's eyes that she wasn't used to: fear. She heard Emma's boots against the floor behind her, walking closer but still maintaining a distance. She looked at Maleficent and raised an eyebrow, "One little advice. Cut the act and take the chance. You will only have this opportunity once in your life."
Their gaze locked. Maleficent was trying to maintain the power in the conversation, always using it for her benefit, but Regina just stared back, stoic. She could feel Emma radiating impatience next to her and silently told her to wait. She was close, she could see it.
Finally Maleficent glanced away and her red fingernail ran over the cell bars. Regina waited patiently in silence, knowing it would come now in any moment. And she wasn't wrong.
"You know, 28 years is a long time to lose."
"Storybrooke was frozen in time, so technically you haven't lost any time," Regina explained but Maleficent smiled ironically.
"It isn't my time I care about." Regina looked over at Emma whose eyes were up in surprise, like her own. Maleficent then looked towards the Sheriff too. "You're 28, aren't you?"
Emma frowned, taken aback by that question and nodded. Maleficent walked in the cell to get closer to Emma and stared at her, "Didn't you miss your mother all those 28 years?"
Emma's jaw visibly hardened and swallowed. She didn't like to talk about that, especially with someone who had technically killed her a few hours ago. She decided to go for the usual reaction and shrugged, "I didn't know who she was so I didn't really miss her."
"But you missed having a mother, especially growing up like you did. Thanks to softy over there by the way," she pointed at Regina with a nod, who hold her breath. She and Emma had talked about it, she had apologized about it and Emma had swore she didn't blame her and that it was forgotten, but she still felt guilty when the topic surfaced in the conversation.
Emma didn't hesitate to ignore Maleficent's attempt to put fire between them and continued, "Did you miss you mother or what? Is that why you did all that?"
"I missed my daughter." Regina was just as surprised as Emma when Maleficent spoke. The woman stared back and forth between them, "I missed her childhood, I missed her growing up, I missed everything about it because of you. She was just a baby and I was just getting ready to escape your stupid curse but you were just so impatient. You cast it too soon and I only could save her, sending her to this world with only the hope to find her here. But you just had to turn me into a dragon for all the eternity, didn't you? I was your friend!"
Regina swallowed and watched how the angry tears rolled down Maleficent's face as she stared at her with venom. Maleficent had had a daughter and she had separated them. She started to feel the now familiar tug of guilt in her stomach.
"And when I finally have the chance to escape, the stupid Saviour had to kill me. I had to start again, thanks to the magic left on this land. And what do I find when I come back? You being happy with your son," she hissed. "You! Who had taken my child from me. You didn't deserve it, nor him, nor the happiness you had. You betrayed me, you took my daughter and locked me up, and you still get a happy ending?"
Emma watched how Regina took a step back and clutched her stomach. She read the signs and knew she was about to crumble, so she took a step to place besides Regina to let her know she was there for support. She didn't need to tell her because Regina knew; she knew Emma believed in her.
Finally, Regina found her voice and when she spoke it sounded foreign for her, "I didn't know."
"Of course you didn't, when did you even talk to me besides when it came to the curse?" Maleficent spat and Regina gritted her teeth but continued.
"I was too focused on my vengeance, feeding of the feeling of betrayal and hate I felt towards Snow. You were my friend, and I wasn't there for you. If I had known, it wouldn't have been like that.
"I know how you feel; that's exactly how I felt. I lost someone I love dearly and blamed Snow for everything. I focused on killing her and making her life impossible. I was too focused on that to realise anything else. When I came here, it was great at first, but once I had achieved my vengeance, what had I have left? Hate? I found Henry, or he found me, and I realised what I had been missing for focusing on that. It is never too late to do it, Mal."
Maleficent raised her head and stared at her, "You have your son, your…" she glanced over at Emma and then back to Regina, "that. I have nothing. I don't even know where she is or if she's even alive. I only got a name and a birthmark."
Emma huffed, offended by Maleficent's comment but still offered, "My job was to find people. I've done better with less details."
Maleficent looked at her and Regina took a step towards the cell, "Don't dwell on vengeance."
"You're just going to forgive everything?" she said narrowing her eyes, eskeptic.
Emma tilted her head, "Well, you still killed me."
"You killed me before that. I'd say we're even."
"You still attempted to do the same to Regina and Henry and to end the town. You're under arrest under the grounds of….illegally becoming a dragon and try to murder everyone," she said frowning.
Maleficent looked at Regina, who shrugged, "You still have to pay the consequences. But we can help you find your daughter and bring her to you."
She glanced to Emma for confirmation and the Sheriff nodded. She didn't fancy the idea of helping Maleficent at all, but Regina was right. She had gotten a second chance, and the dragon woman deserved one as well.
Maleficent narrowed her eyes, still not quite sure about it, but when Emma nodded she decided to surrender. They really were willing to give her a second chance. She looked at Emma. "Her name is Lily. She must be 28 now, and she has a birthmark on her wrist."
It was Emma who took a step back this time and her burrows knitted together deeply. Regina reached for her worriedly when she saw her face but before she could ask, Emma asked Maleficent, "The birthmark is a star?"
Malficent looked at her with curiosity, "Yes."
"A star…on her right wrist?" Emma wondered. Maleficent just nodded.
Regina frowned, "You know her?"
Emma looked at her and opened her eyes, "It's…a long story but I know where to find her."
"What?"
"I know right? It's crazy!" Emma threw her hands up in the air as Regina tried to follow her pace. They were going to Emma's apartment, where she had the key to find the girl.
"No, wait a minute." Regina stopped and Emma took a few seconds to realise and walked back to where she was. "So you're telling me you and Lily grew up together?"
Emma grimaced, "Not together like sisters. We met when I was around 14 and we spend some time together running from the system."
Regina sensed there was more of the story and raised an eyebrow, "and?"
Emma shifted and shrugged, "and uh…we were together. Like, together together."
"She was your girlfriend?" Regina almost exclaimed and Emma looked around but luckily they were alone on that street.
"Yeah, she was my first girlfriend…wait, my first girlfriend is the daughter of your first girlfriend." She wrinkled her nose and stuffed her hands on the pockets of her jeans. "Weird."
Regina just stared back at her and blinked, "Weird indeed." After a beat, she took a breath, "So, your apartment?" Emma nodded and Regina returned the nod, "Okay then first you tell me where we can find her and then you tell me the story."
Emma laughed and kissed her on the cheek before walking towards the apartment.
Emma reached under her bed blindly and stuck out her tongue while Regina walked to the chair, but she found it buried under a ton of clothes so she opted for the bed. Finally Emma found a box and pulled it out. She sat next to Regina and handed her her blanket while she looked inside.
Regina observed the blanket. It wasn't the first time Emma had given it to her. When they had talked about their lives, Emma had showed it to her and told her how she secretly had held onto that blanket when she was younger. Regina brushed the knitted name with her fingers and remembered what Maleficent had said in the station.
Suddenly Emma's hand covered hers and gave it a small squeeze. When Regina lifted her head, she found calming green eyes. "It's not your fault, Regina."
The Mayor nodded, knowing Emma was right, but she still couldn't quite shake the pang of guilt she felt off. She knew Emma could see past her nod, and waited for her to roll her eyes and tell her to stop thinking about it, but instead Emma left the box next to her and turned her body to look at her.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
Regina shook her head and smiled weakly, "It's okay." Emma raised an eyebrow and grabbed both of Regina's hand, waiting until she spoke. Taking a breath, Regina let her shoulders fall.
"I know I didn't know and all that, but it could've gone differently. And maybe it wasn't entirely my fault, okay, but with you? It was."
"We've talked about this Regina. Yes, because of the curse I was sent here, and I didn't have a good childhood, but it has made me who I am. I survived and that made me see some things differently than I would probably had if I had grown up in that place." Emma watched Regina nod silently; she had told her many times before. She didn't mind though, but she wished Regina saw herself as Emma saw her for once.
When she noticed the Mayor's stare was still out of focus, she nudged her knee, "Besides, without you I wouldn't have known what television, grilled cheese or warm water were!"
That finally made Regina laugh and Emma smiled in return, happy to see the scowl disappearing from her face. When the laughter died, Regina smiled at Emma before leaning in for a sweet kiss. "Thank you," she whispered against her lips.
Emma grinned and kissed her again, never getting tired of those lips. "Speaking of gratitude. I believe I owe you something?" she teased raising an eyebrow.
She climbed on top of Regina as she leaned down on the mattress, until she was fully lying on it with Emma straddling her. Everything else forgotten, Regina's hand flew, grasping golden curls and kissing Emma deeply. They heard a sigh in the kiss, but neither of them could tell who it was from anymore as they melted into each other's arms.
Emma's mouth separated and quickly reattached to Regina's neck, biting and eliciting hisses from the woman beneath her. "God it's been so long," she whispered between kisses. She wasn't ready at all when Regina's nails dig in her back and growled.
"Too long. Fuck me Emma. Hard."