I didn't feel like walking, so I raised my hand and transported myself away from the sheriff's station in a cloud of purple smoke. When the smoke cleared, and I was surrounded by the familiar brick walls and bottled ingredients, I sighed in relief. Here I was in my element, along with my collection of magic. I wasn't sure exactly what I expected to find here, or if anything would help me defeat my mother, but it was certainly better than the station, with David breathing down my neck. I picked up a book and started skimming through the contents, hoping to find something useful.
It was about 20 minutes after I'd arrived at the vault, and nothing I'd looked at seemed promising. None of the spells in the first few books I'd thumbed through looked helpful. I sighed. I knew that Emma and Mary Margaret had been right; in order to find a solution to our problem, we needed to find out what my mother wanted in the first place, or at least some weakness we could exploit; and my vault was not going to give me answers.
Suddenly I heard a noise from the entrance of the vault; the noise of stone against stone. Someone was trying to get in my vault.
I shoved the book away and grounded myself, readying myself for whoever-or whatever-the intruder was. I heard her heels clicking against the stone steps, growing louder as she approached. Then, I saw her silhouette round the corner, and I raised my hands to defend myself.
"Whoa! Don't, Regina! It's me!"
I lowered my hands at the familiar voice. "Mary Margaret?"
Mary Margaret smiled. "Hi."
"What are you doing here?" I asked in a slightly annoyed tone.
"I came to help," she said in her usual optimism. Figured.
"I don't need any help, thank you," I responded.
She nodded. "I know. But I also wanted to come to apologize."
I was confused. "Apologize for what?"
"For how David acted earlier. I know it's not your fault, and so does he, but when it comes to Emma he can be a bit...overprotective." She sighed. "But it's still no excuse for what he said, so I'm sorry."
"It's quite alright, I understand," I said. I felt awkward just standing there looking at her, so I started rummaging in one of my chests. I was sure there was nothing there, but it was something to do.
She paused for a moment, and we just kind of stood there in the awkward silence. Then she spoke. "Regina...are you doing okay?"
"I'm fine," I responded automatically.
"Regina..." she pressed. Then her tone softened. "You know you don't have to do this alone."
I nodded, tears beginning to form in my eyes. I forced myself to hold them back; no need to show her I was getting emotional. "Thank you, Mary Margaret, but it's nothing. I just want to defeat my mother once and for all."
She smiled sadly and reached to grasp my hand in hers. "We will, Regina," she said with conviction. "We will beat her."
I managed to give her a half-smile in return. After a few moments, I pulled my hand away. "Well," I said in a louder voice, "I've looked through here, and I haven't found anything useful."
"Well, then, we can go find Emma and David and figure out a plan."
I nodded, and started to follow her out of the vault. Suddenly, she stopped me, looking at my shoulder.
"What?" I asked.
"I'm sorry, there's just a hair on your jacket."
"We're stopping for a stray hair that fell off?" I asked incredulously.
"Just hold on a second while I get it off," she said. She carefully plucked the hair off of my shoulder and examined it."
"Well? What are we waiting for? Let's go!"
"Wait...there's something off here. This hair is far too long to be yours, and too light"
"What?" I asked, looking loser at it.
"Maybe it's Emma's?"
"No, it's too dark for that." It was a dark caramel color, and longer than mine by a mile. Suddenly I remembered the only person I'd come into contact with in the past 24 hours that had that color of hair.
"Mother," I whispered.
"This is Cora's hair?" Mary Margaret exclaimed.
"Yes, it most certainly is!"
"But, how did it get here?"
"I'm not sure. I probably brushed up against it on my way out this morning." That had to be the explanation. "Regardless, we need to get Emma and David here quickly."
"Why?" she asked as she took out her phone.
"Because I may have a way to learn more about my mother, see why she's here, or maybe even find her weakness."