Hey you! Here is our chapter and I promisse I won't take too long this time... you all must be anxious to read this chapter. I just need your HELP! I created a POLL because I just can't decide how our girls will look like. So, please... go vote in my profile... is the first thing you'll see out there. Thanx!
Oh! About last chapter challange, oh guys c'mon! No one of you hit what was going to happen, seriously! You're terrible and I loved it, because I feel like I can surprise you. Just one of you got a little close... congratulations, anapcmesquita! (but you know you don't count huh? I tell you everything!)
To micheli puretachi; Hey pretty, saudades de você! Você sumiu. Não sei se você está lendo isso, mas espero que, se você estiver lendo, você goste dessa capítulo e eu consiga te surpreender. Beeeijos!
To CCangel; Yeah! here is your update ;** Hope you like it! Kisses ;D
To EvilRegalTwinnies; I loved that "filet the bitch". I hope I will be able to surprise you! Let me know what you think ;*
To anapcmesquita; So... go read this chapter... it's heartbreaking :/ and Lillina (:/) oh, my friend! Just go read! Lov u!
To snoopydoodles17; Thank you so so much! Hope you like this chapter :) Oh, our poor babies :/
To md88; I love when I'm able to surprise people! I hope this chapter surprise you the same way, even more, if it's possible. Go read this chapter! Kiiisses ;*
To MeMirellaVieira; Aqui está a sua atualização, Mirella ;) Espero que você goste. Eu acho que sua ansiedade não vai acabar nesse capítulo, muito pelo contrário. Esse capítulo é tão tão tão... ain :'( Just go read! Beijos. Ah, se não for muito, por favor, visita meu perfil e participa da votação. ;**
To emanu cristina; Ain, muito muito obrigada por reservar esse tempo pra vir aqui deixar uma review, é tão importante pra mim e você me deixam com um sorriso bobo no rosto, você não tem ideia. Algumas de suas perguntas serão respondidas nesse capítulo, outras muitas não. A ansiedade e a preocupação... ah, elas não estão indo embora agora, eu te garanto isso. Ah, se você puder, visita lá o meu perfil e participa da votação, preciso de ajuda! Evil kiiiisses :**
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To Kristy; Oh, my sweet friend, THANK YOU FOR BEING THIS AMAZING BETA READER AND PERSON YOU ARE! Lov u! ;* :D
Enjoy!
CHAPTER 45 – DON'T GIVE UP
Belle had spent the last two hours at City Hall looking through papers and more papers. She wondered how Regina could stand doing the same thing for so many years. Taking a break to breathe and maybe eat something, Belle rose from her chair and walked to the window of her office. It was monotonous. All that Belle was able to see from that window was a large yard with green grass and Regina's famous apple tree.
It was then that the apple tree caught her attention. It seemed that their leaves were falling. It was visible. The leaves were beginning to lose its green, then they started to dry out and simply fall from the tree, falling to the ground. She had never seen anything like it, but she was sure that if there was something causing it, it was definitely something magical.
She called Rumple and told him what was happening.
"The leaves are what?" She heard Rumple ask eagerly on the phone. As she explained again, he replied agitated. "Something is wrong with Regina." And in the next second, Belle was left talking alone on the phone.
Once Archie was out of Ruby's sight, the first thing the waitress did was call and tell Emma what was happening. Soon after, she ran after him.
It wasn't long until she could reach him, almost at the entrance of the mansion. Once they saw the front door, both ran towards the entrance of the mansion screaming Regina's name, but they were surprised by some kind of invisible wall or barrier to prevent them from entering the house.
"What is happening here?" They listen to Emma asking as she stops just by their side, stopping just to breathe. David is right behind her.
She opened her eyes slowly adapting to the ambient light. It didn't take long to realize that she wasn't at her home in Storybrooke. This place, the walls and the smell were more than familiar.
"Good morning, my princess. It's about time you woke up." She heard the soft voice and when she looked to her side, there he was. Her father was sitting on a chair nearby Regina's bed.
"Daddy." She said with a bemused smile. Her eyes were beginning to fill with tears. "What's happening?"
"I just wanted to see you. Do you remember the necklace?"
"The necklace with my magic?" She asked, but the tone in her voice was as if she had just forgotten about it. "I thought I was dreaming."
"You still don't remember, huh?"
"Of what?"
"Who has the necklace." He explained.
"No. I don't know of this necklace you keep talking about." She said with a voice still thick from sleep. She tried to stand, but the pain in her back made her more uncomfortable than she was before, she felt like she was heavier than normal. She frowned.
"In due time, you will know. You're a smart girl, you're my girl." He said as he got up and sat beside her in the bed. "I need to tell you some things and I need you to pay close attention to what I'll tell you." He looked deeply into that pair of brown eyes that had caught him since the time he first saw them. "Can you do that?" He ran a hand through her hair and stroked her cheek while waiting for a response. She just nodded, now intently watching.
"You are the strongest woman I've ever met in my entire life. You're smart, you're beautiful and you're determined. You never give up."
"Daddy," Regina called a little confused. "Why are you telling me these things?"
"Because you will need to know that." He said looking at her with sad eyes.
"Daddy?" She called again, this time the confusion and concern were present in her voice when she saw that his eyes were full of unshed tears.
"Don't worry, baby." He said with a reassuring smile. "I'll be fine."
"What are you-"
"Just listen to me. Don't give up, do you understand me? Don't give up being happy, don't give up fighting, and don't give up on living, no matter what."
Regina frowned again. If due to discomfort or due to the confusion that the words of her father were causing in her mind, she didn't know. "Daddy, you're scaring me. Why are you saying these things?"
"Because, my princess, this isn't going to be easy. But you are the bravest and strongest woman I know." He said and kissed her forehead. "Now, you need to wake up. Your girls are coming."
He had one of his hands on his daughter's cheek and she could feel that something was wrong. She still didn't know what it was, but her father's voice seemed increasingly distant.
"And do not forget," He whispered. Indeed, Regina had the feeling that he wasn't whispering, but his voice was only getting further and her vision was getting blurry. "The necklace."
It was the pain that sent Regina almost sitting on the bed. She had just seen her father and he said something like "your girls are coming" and then pain. She couldn't remember feeling something as painful as what she was feeling now and it terrified her. Whale had warned that they weren't ready to come, they needed more time to develop and she couldn't feel more worried and scared.
Perdita must have sensed that something was wrong because the next moment, she was on the bed next to Regina, barking at her.
She was alone and she needed help. She slapped her hand on the table beside her bed in search of the phone, but she couldn't find it. She then looked at the table and frowned again. Where was the damn phone? She was sure that Archie had left the phone there. She didn't have much time to think as another contraction hit her and this time she found herself screaming. Perdita looked very determined digging the blankets beneath Regina and it was then that she felt something wet on her sheets and when she looked down, even with her big belly in the middle of her field of vision, she knew that her water had just broke.
Desperate and afraid, she tried to get up, she needed to get out of bed and ask for help, but as soon as she was able to put her foot down, she couldn't remain standing as yet another contraction hit. They are coming at a very fast rate and the pain is only increasing, even though she thought it wasn't possible. That's why, lying on the floor, she starts crying and screaming for help. Perdita is beside her, barking and making strange noises. Regina tries to get up several times, but the pain and the weight prevent her and the fear consumes her.
It is then that she looks at Perdita. She really looks at Perdita and for a moment she is sure the dog can understand her.
"Go get help, Perdita." She spoke through the pain. The dog barked violently at her, which scared her even more. It wasn't a normal reaction of the dog. "Go." She ordered again and the dog ran out of the room.
"What is happening here?"
"The pie wasn't from Granny, she had a fever, and she was tired. She spent the day sleeping, it was the pie. Someone did something. The door… is blocked." Archie tried to speak in the midst of his own nervousness, but no one understood what he was talking about. He wasn't making much sense.
"Archie, calm down. Explain again." David tried to call the man's attention but he just pulled away from him.
"Regina is in the house. Someone brought a pie to her, saying it was Granny's, but it wasn't and now the house has some kind of magic that prevents us from getting in." Ruby explained the quietest way she could.
Archie turned to Emma who had nothing in his eyes but despair. "Emma, please... you have to try to get in there. Something is wrong, I know it is. Do something magical and drop that barrier."
And Emma tried. She really tried, but she just couldn't. To make matters worse, Pongo began to get restless. He was barking violently against the door of the mansion and it just bothered all of them even more.
"Gold." Emma said with wide eyes. "We need Gold." But even before she could make any move to leave, Mr. Gold appeared in a cloud of smoke and his face didn't look good at all.
"What is happening to Regina?" He asked with a frown and an accusatory tone. "The leaves are falling from her tree."
"What?" Everyone asked, uncertain about the relationship between Regina and the apple tree.
"Gold, please do something. We can't enter the house. There is some kind of magic blocking our entrance." Archie asks desperately.
Gold doesn't answer, he just approaches the door of the mansion, closes his eyes and concentrates. And then nothing. He looks at the door surprised. And at that moment, Emma knew something was wrong. The truth is that she had felt something different about this spell around the house, but she just couldn't figure out what it was.
"Something is wrong." He said staring at the door with his narrowed eyes.
"What? You felt it too?" Emma asks.
"He felt what? What is happening?" Archie asks anxiously.
"Looks like Regina's magic, but it's somehow different. It's pure." He says.
"Different? How so?" David asks.
"Why would Regina put a protective spell around her house?" Ruby question.
"She wouldn't." Gold says. "The only person who would have that power is Cora, but she is locked up and her magic is dark magic."
"Guys," Emma called their attention. She had wide eyes and they reflect only one thing. Fear. "It's Leroy." She says pointing to the cellphone. "Cora isn't in the mine. He doesn't know what happened, he thinks he was attacked or she used some sort of magic on him."
And the shock was evident on the faces of them all. Only one question going through their minds. How was Cora able to get out of the mine? How could she use magic there if even Regina and Gold's magic wouldn't work there?
She had been able to get up only once, but she wasn't able to take even two or more steps before falling back to the ground.
It was in this way that Cora found her, lying on the floor, sweating and crying in pain. The surprise on Regina's face was evident, but as soon as another strong wave of pain hit her, she closed her eyes and grabbed the bottom of her belly.
"Regina?" Cora called with concern.
"Mother, what are you doing here?"
"Oh my God, Regina. What's happened to you?" The older woman came over and helped her daughter to rise, albeit with difficulty, Cora was able to take Regina to the bed.
"I don't know, Mother." She started crying desperately. "It hurts. I need to go to the hospital, the phone was here and now-" She was interrupted by another strong wave of pain.
"My God, Regina!" Cora says with wide eyes. She had laid her daughter down on the bed, lifted her dress and removed her panties so she could take a look. "Your girls are coming."
"No!" Regina screams. "No, mother. They can't come now, it's too early." She was getting desperate, the words that Whale had said was circulating in her mind. "I can't do that here. I need to go to the hospital. They can't be born here. They won't survive." And to emphasize her opinion, she pressed her legs closed, only to be met with another wave of pain.
"Regina, I'm sorry, but there's no time. You need to push."
"What?!" Regina's eyes widened even more, if it was even possible. "No, mom. I can't do that. I need Archie here with me, where's my phone?" She shakes her head frantically and looks like she's crying even more.
"What is a phone?" Cora asks confused, but a cry of her daughter calls her attention back to what really matters. "Come on, Regina. I need you to start pushing."
"No, mom. I can't... I can't do that."
"You must, Regina. These babies need to be born now."
"They won't survive!" Regina cries amid the tears and pain.
"We need to try. Come on, you can do that, baby. You are strong, you are a very strong woman." She tried to persuade Regina.
"No! Damn it! I shouldn't have left the house!" Archie tried in vain to throw his body into the barrier.
David pulled him several times in an attempt to stop him. The only thing that Archie was getting with that was getting hurt.
"Archie, please, calm down. We'll find a way to get in there." David tried to calm him.
"Don't tell me to be calm." Archie shouted back, pushing David away from him. "I shouldn't have left her alone, I knew something was wrong."
"Cora is the only one that can cast that kind of spell, besides Regina, Emma and me. The problem is that this magic... it's not Cora's magic, it's so similar to Regina's, but more powerful. I don't understand."
"Undo it." Emma ordered. "You are powerful, you know how to do this, undo the spell."
"It's not as simple as that, Miss Swan. This is good magic and I can't handle it, you need to keep trying." He instructs.
"But I've tried." Emma almost cries of nervousness.
"You need to focus. You need to focus all your magic in undoing the spell and breaking the barrier." He speaks and approaches her. "But we don't have time for this, you need to let me guide your magic."
"What?" Emma asks confused.
"Just close your eyes, concentrate and I'll do the rest." He puts a hand on her shoulder and they close their eyes in concentration.
The cry that fills the room is deafening. Regina is sweating, she feels hot and dirty, but she doesn't remember any of this when the pain hits her. She doesn't remember feeling anything so painful in her entire life.
"Push, Regina." Cora orders again.
"I can't." Regina cries.
Cora doesn't care much about what Regina says now. She knows that the first girl is very close to being born and she needs to help her daughter. "On three," She begins to count, even though the startled look on Regina's face is asking her to stop, to not start counting. "One, two, three."
The force that Regina applies is so large that she is sent almost into a sitting position while pushing. She feels like she was being torn in half and she just can't control the scream that escapes her mouth. The feeling of a small body leaving her own is of relief.
Regina falls into bed exhausted. She is breathing wildly and her eyes are closed because she feels her own world spinning around her, but it's the sound of her daughter's crying that makes her open her eyes terrified. She can't hear it. There is only silence and all she can hear is the sound of her own unbridled breath.
"Mother?" Regina called hoarsely.
Cora is between her legs. She is looking down, but her expression is sad and at that moment Regina knew something was wrong, but she refuses to believe.
"Mom? Why is she not crying?" Regina calls, the desperation in her voice was very present a long time ago.
"I'm sorry, Regina." Cora looks at her with eyes full of tears.
"No..." Regina whispered with wide eyes. "No, mother. Don't say that. Let me see her. Give het to me. Let me hold my baby girl." She says extending the weary and heavy arms toward Cora.
And it's the look on Cora's face that makes Regina fear even more. She knows that look, she knows her mother and she knows that Cora won't let her hold her baby. She knows deep down that Cora is doing that to protect her from further pain and suffering, but she can't bear the thought of her precious daughter being dead.
"Mother, she's not dead." Regina insists amid tears. "Please, let me see her, let me hold her."
"I'm sorry, baby." Cora speaks with a voice choked with sadness and her eyes are filled with tears and pain. "She's dead."
"No!" Regina yells. "Don't say that. Please, mother. Let me-" But she can't end because she's surprised by a new wave of pain and she is sent screaming again.
"We don't have time for this, Regina." Cora said as she placed the dead girl next to Regina's leg. "You have to push again."
"No." Regina despairs and begins to cry.
The reality that she just lost one of her daughters fully hit her and she feels she simply can't recover from it. She knows she won't be able to overcome this loss. The images flooded her mind and they are painful. She remembers when she found out she was having twins. Then, a few weeks later, she knew that they were going to be two girls. She remembers the feeling of them moving inside her and how she couldn't wait to hold them in her arms. She remembers Archie and Henry talking, caressing and kissing her belly and she remembers the countless times she found herself talking and singing to her own belly. She remembers fondly the room decorated in minimal detail. Her twins' nursery. And now one of them was dead.
"Stop it, Regina." Cora commands when Regina keeps her legs closed refusing to push. "You just lost a daughter, if you continue with this stubbornness you will kill the other." Cora said. She knew she was being cruel now, but she knew how it worked with Regina. She needed Regina to be strong.
Regina just kept shaking her head, still not believing what had just happened and it was then that Cora knew Regina would do nothing because the fear had entirely consumed her. Cora needed time to convince her, but she didn't have this time.
Then, in the next instant, Cora and Regina disappeared from the room surrounded by a magic smoke.
Once the women disappeared, Perdita appears in the room and jumps in bed. She looks to the little motionless human being upon the bloody sheets and she starts to push her with her nose. The dog is just staring at her, waiting for some movement and it is like if she knew who this little baby in the bed is. It's as if she knew that this baby is her mistress' baby, the baby who was in her belly.
Perdita sits on the bed and starts making little noises that resemble cries. She tries again and again to play with the girl, but she gets nothing in return. She keeps turning around the inert body, but nothing. She stops her movements and looks at the little face smeared with blood and starts licking her face, waiting anxiously for movement. Then, to the delight of the dog, the little body, before lifeless, begins to shake and a strong cry begins to leave her lips. Perdita begins to bark and wag her tail, but the girl seems to get more scared and only increases her crying.
What Regina would never know is that Perdita had never gotten to make her way out of the house for help. Until now she was frozen in the hallway of the house, as well as Pongo once was.
They are still out there fighting. Some of them are trying to stop Archie to continue hurting himself while trying to overcome the cursed barrier and the others are discussing how it was even possible that Cora has gotten out of the mine.
Mr. Gold and Emma are still trying to think of something or someone that has that kind of magic, since not even Emma's magic was able to break the barrier. The person, whoever it is that has cast the spell, was trained and experienced and was using good magic.
And it is in one of those times where Archie collides violently against the door that he just falls to the ground inside the mansion. Everyone looks surprised and wide-eyed until Mr. Gold tells them the barrier was just gone.
The surprise in their eyes is gone as soon as they can hear the cry of a baby and what's left is fear and worry. It is a rush to say the least. The next second they're running toward the source of the cries.
"Oh my God." Emma whispers horrified when she enters the bedroom. There is blood, lots of blood.
The others begin to invade the room and Emma runs to pick up the crying child in her arms. Archie is paralyzed. He stares at the bed with grief in his eyes. He seems not to realize what is really happening. He just stares at the bloodstained bed and all he seems to think that time is that Regina is not there.
"Archie." Emma stands between Archie and the bed. She has the little baby crying and thrashing in her arms, and suddenly, as if he was coming out of a trance, he looks at the baby with eyes full of tears.
"Where is Regina? Is she... is she my daughter? My baby girl?" Archie asked with a sinking heart.
"She is, Archie." Emma tries a smile. "You should hold her." She holds the baby toward the still scared man.
Carefully and afraid to hold her, the man took the girl in his arms. She was agitated and crying a lot and she was so small. She was the smallest baby that everyone had ever seen.
"Shhhh." He whispered to her, his eyes filled with tears. "It's me, your daddy. Don't be afraid, I am here with you now." He kept whispering, not caring about anyone else in the room.
"What's goin- Oh my God." Snow almost cries when she enters the room and looks at the bed. The bed was full of blood and she knew by the amount of blood that Regina wasn't fine. She couldn't be. "Is she?" Snow said, pointing to the baby in Archie's arms and approaching him. "Where's the other? Where is Regina?" She asked, but Archie didn't take his eyes off the girl.
He was whispering and gently rocking the child in his arms. He kept whispering "It's me", "Your daddy's here", "don't cry" and the girl seemed to recognize her father's voice, because her cries became little moans.
"We need to find them quickly. If Cora is with them, she will do anything to kill them." Mr. Gold said to Emma, who still had her eyes on the little girl.
"Archie," Snow approached, catching Archie's attention, but he hasn't yet broke contact with his daughter. "We need to take her to the hospital. She is very small and you need to make sure she's okay." Snow whispered.
"But Regin-" He tried to speak but was interrupted.
"We'll find her. Snow goes with you to the hospital." Mr. Gold says.
"No, I can't let Regina-" He tries to speak again, but again he is cut off.
"You have a daughter now, cricket. When you become a parent, you must put your child first." Mr. Gold says seriously, and then he turns to Snow. "You and Archie go to the hospital and stay there. Find Belle and take her there too."
"Archie, I'll bring them to you, I promise." Emma tried to assure Archie. "I just need you to take Henry to the hospital with you and stay there. Don't leave until we get back and find out what is happening."
"Please, just bring them to me. Please." Archie pleaded with eyes full of tears.
"I will. I promise." She said seriously. "Now, go take care of your tiny little one." She smiled looking at the little gem in Archie's arms.
Raise your hands if you feel like your heart is being squeezed! o/ o/ \o/
POLL - Need your help, guys. You can help me by going on my profile and voting in the poll present there. Red hair, brown eyes or brown hair, green eyes?
So, that is it! Hope you liked this chapter. I will try my best to not take too long to update. Chapter 46 is already written, but I'm translating yet it so I can send it to my beta!
Kiiiiisses ;*