Chapter Two—"Love is Weakness"

October 23, 2011

"Henry!" Regina leapt forward and wrapped her arms around her son, pulling him in close and holding on tight. Just a few hours ago, she'd been worried that she'd never see her darling boy again, so right now, Regina could forgive anything just because Henry was home.

"Thank you so much for bringing him back," David spoke up from her side, holding his hand out to the blonde woman who stood just inside the doorway, her hands stuffed uncomfortably in her pockets and looking terribly out of place.

"Hey, you're his parents. It's the least I could do," she replied, shifting uneasily. But at least she accepted David's hand to shake.

"Yes, thank you," Regina straightened enough to say, forcing herself to let go of Henry. "You've given me back my life."

"Mom," Henry said in an undertone, looking embarrassed.

"Don't get to excited, munchkin. You're definitely grounded," David put in, and Henry sighed theatrically.

"I'm Emma Swan," the blonde introduced herself, and Regina's world rocked on its axis. Emma, she remembered a voice telling her. Remember that name. Seal it in your mind and remember that name.

Memories crashed in: riding horses, learning magic, arguing with her mother, fighting alongside her sister—Regina staggered under the strain, swaying woozily. The human brain, even one of a sorceress, wasn't quite equipped to handle a sudden influx of a second set of memories, a second life. Her real life. She was still Regina—she supposed she should thank her mother for allowing her to keep her name when no one else got to—and she was married to…

"Excuse me," Regina managed to say as she bolted from the room, her stomach rolling wildly and barely noticing as David introduced himself to his daughter.

15 Years Before the Curse:

They'd gathered everything that they could and run that very night, slipping out of town under the cover of darkness and heading east. Regina toyed with the idea of retracing their old route backwards and trying to throw off their followers that way, but in the end they had opted to put more distance between themselves and their onetime home. After a week of running, that method seemed to have worked. No one bothered to look their way for more than a moment as they rode into the next town, and Regina and Daniel exchanged a silent look. Regina nodded, and they both dismounted. She took the horses towards a public stable while her husband headed into a nearby inn.

Hopefully, Daniel would be able to secure a room without depleting too much of their savings, Regina reflected as she settled both horses into stalls and started untacking them. A stable boy offered to help, but she waved him away. They didn't have money to spare on a tip, and Regina was perfectly capable on her own. Money troubles aside, the mere thought of a hot meal was almost enough to make her drool, and sleeping in a bed would be sheer paradise. They hadn't dared stop for long during the last week, and had spent the eight consecutive days sleeping in the forest. Regina was prepared to face plenty of hardships in the name of love, but being prepared to do so didn't mean she enjoyed it. She was ready for something nicer.

"You look a fright, darling," a familiar voice said, startling Regina into dropping the saddle she'd just pulled off her chestnut gelding.

"Mother!"

In her worst nightmares, Cora always looked just like this: impeccably put together without even a hair out of place, gliding over the dirt floor like her expensive shoes never even touched the ground. Regina had not seen her mother in almost two and a half months, and she had hoped to be free of her forever. She loved her mother, but Cora had forced her to choose this life, and Regina would not look ashamed. Even if she knew she looked nothing like the beautiful and refined daughter Cora had raised her to be, dressed in worn and stained clothes she had bought from a peasant three weeks earlier.

"Regina." Cora stepped forward to embrace her before Regina could pull away. "I've been so worried for you."

"I'm fine, Mama." She returned the hug; Regina did miss home. She just wanted freedom more.

"Of course you are. You're my daughter, and you're strong." Cora pulled back to smile at her, and a chill ran down Regina's spine. She knew that look, and it never meant good things.

"I'm not going back," she said quickly. Forcefully. "You can't make me marry King Leopold. Daniel and I are already married."

"Oh, you silly girl," her mother laughed, her hands tightening on Regina's arms painfully. "Leopold doesn't want you anymore. You're tarnished goods."

Relief made her go a little limp despite the tight grip on her arms and her mother's caustic tone. "Good."

"Regina!"

Hearing Daniel's cry made Regina twist around, but she couldn't go very far with the way her mother still gripped her arms. Two guards in livery Regina didn't recognize held her husband, dragging him into the stable while he fought their hold. Regina swung back to glare at her mother.

"Let him go!"

"Now, why would I do that?" Cora purred, and then turned to the guards. "Bring him here."

"Daniel, I'm sorry," Regina whispered as the guards complied. Whatever her mother wanted, it would not be good.

Her True Love smiled. "Don't be. I love you."

"And I love you!"

"How cute," Cora interjected drily, letting Regina go…only to plunge her hand straight into Daniel's chest.

"No!" Regina lunged for her mother, but slammed into an invisible wall, bouncing off and having to catch her balance. Meanwhile, Cora withdrew her hand, now holding Daniel's still-beating heart. Daniel and Regina both stared at it in shock. How could Daniel be alive without his heart? What kind of horrible magic was this? "Mother, please!"

"Be silent, darling, and listen carefully," was the cold reply. "Because you're going to do exactly as I say if you want your dear Daniel to live."

"I'll do whatever you want," Regina vowed, her eyes flicking to Daniel. He still looked stricken, numb, too horrified to speak. But she would do anything to save him. Anything at all. "Just don't hurt him."

Cora smiled. "You will return home with me," she said bluntly. "You will resume your proper place as my daughter, and you will speak of this so-called marriage to no one."

"Our marriage is legal!" Daniel burst in. "A cleric—"

That made Cora snort. "It's amazing what elastic memories the members of the Holy Order have when properly compensated."

"You can't do that!" Regina objected.

"I already have," was the serene response. "Now, as I was saying: you will return home, and conduct yourself accordingly. Your marriage does not exist. My marriage will take place in three months, and you will attend with a happy smile on your face."

"Your…marriage?" Shock made it hard to get the words out. "But Daddy…"

"Oh, you didn't hear. Your father tragically died searching for you right after you disappeared. It was a terrible accident, but he was determined to bring your kidnapper to justice."

Regina felt like someone had punched her in the gut. Her father was dead? But he had always been there for her. Her father had been the one person whose love she was always certain of, the one who had encouraged her to follow her heart and be herself. He had taught her to ride, had taken her hunting, had introduced her to Daniel and never once argued when they spent time together. His arms had been the ones that held her when she had nightmares, and Regina had always known that he was the best father in the entire world. And now he was gone? Her whisper was ragged. "How?"

"A riding accident, of course."

"You did this!" Rage like she had never known before tore the words out of her, but Regina knew she was right, and her mother's smug smile did nothing to disabuse her of the notion. She moved forward again, furious and needing to hurt someone, but Cora's magic slammed into her once more and held her fast, tearing her feet off the ground. Regina hung there helplessly, staring at her mother's outstretched hand and hating magic more than ever. Once she'd calmed down a little, Cora chided her:

"Behave yourself, dear. You wouldn't want to get your dear kidnapper hurt."

"He didn't kidnap me!"

"Of course he didn't. But you'll never tell anyone that if you want him to live."

There was no way out. Nothing she could do. Her mother would kill Daniel if Regina misbehaved, and all she could do was throw her husband—he would always be that, no matter what Cora said—a helpless look and plead for his forgiveness. Daniel, bless his good soul, nodded to her, and she could read the silent look on his face. Do what you have to do. We'll find a way out of this. Together.

"Of course," she whispered, and was glad when her feet touched the ground. Her mother would expect an apology, and maybe if Regina could play the dutiful daughter long enough, she could figure out a way to help Daniel. "I'm sorry."

"Much better." Cora smiled. "Do you understand what you will do?"

"I will behave myself and come to your wedding. And smile. And tell no one Daniel and I are married," Regina recited mechanically. But she had to know, even though she was pretty sure she had already guessed. "Who are you marrying?"

"King Leopold, of course. He is desperate for a mother for his dear daughter Snow, and his old love for me has been reawakened." There was that smug and calculating look that Regina hated so much, and she didn't want to ask what 'old love' her mother was talking about. But then Cora's eyes went hard, and she looked at Regina coldly. "I will be Queen, and nothing, not insolent children nor disposable stable boys, will stand in my way. Do you understand?"

What else could she say to that? "Yes, Mother," Regina whispered.

She would save Daniel. Somehow. She would save him.

Gold locked up the shop late that night; he had been conducting inventory and hadn't precisely lost track of time so much as he simply did not care what time it was. He had intended to finish the inventory the next night, but given how he knew that the only person whom he cared to spend time with was busy that evening, remaining in the pawnshop was no loss. So, when he finished the inventory around eight, he found another several reasons to stick around; reorganizing his records, cleaning an old lamp, and then finally reading a bit of a book until his eyes were tired and he decided to head home. He'd skipped dinner again, but that really wasn't anything new.

Stepping outside into the crisp night air, Gold turned to lock the door without bothering to look down the street. Unfortunately, when he did turn away from the shop, the one person on the street was the last person he wanted to see at all.

"Good evening, Mr. Gold," she said, smiling a too-sweet smile that was designed to be seen right through.

"Madam Mayor," he greeted her coldly.

"Working late, are we?" Cora cooed.

"No more than usual."

Cora cocked her head at him, perfectly coifed in her business suit and still smiling that secretive smile. "And you forgot to eat dinner, didn't you? You always do when you're working too hard. You poor thing."

"I'm not looking for your pity, dearie," he snapped, and turned away, heading for the black Cadillac waiting in the lot beside the shop. For once, Cora didn't move to step in his way, and she didn't even object. She actually let him get a half-dozen limping steps before saying:

"Tonight, dear."

Gold stopped mid-stride, almost tripping as some invisible force seized a hold of him. For a moment, breathing was almost impossible. Electricity seemed to sizzle down his spine, and Gold found himself utterly unable to walk away. This had happened before, he knew, but it never made any sense. He never understood why, and that fact made him coldly furious as he turned to glare at Cora.

"Excuse me?"

"You haven't eaten dinner," she said, stepping forward to put a hand on his arm; it made Gold's skin crawl. "Come share it with me."

After a few minutes vomiting in the bathroom, Regina washed her mouth out and then headed back into the living room, where she found David and Henry entertaining their unexpected guest. Henry, as usual, clutched his favorite book—The book. The curse. Oh, my God. Regina almost fled again, but she steeled herself and pasted a smile on her face, striding into the room like nothing was wrong. There was so much to think about, so many memories to sort through, and so much to do, but none of that mattered right now. Henry had brought the Savior here…because the Savior was Henry's mother.

"Regina," David Nolan, Prince Charming, her bloody husband here in Storybrooke, turned to her with a smile. "Emma is Henry's birth mother."

Apparently they'd talked a bit while Regina Nolan had been busy being swallowed by Princess Regina, because David Nolan would never have figured that out on his own, and Regina didn't think Henry had said so before she'd rushed off. It was hard to remember; the first few moments after meeting Emma were a blur. Still, she nodded, lowering herself carefully onto the couch next to Henry. "I'd guessed as much."

Henry beamed at her, and David smiled blandly. He really had been turned into the perfect husband, hadn't he? Happy to be a stay at home dad, never one to criticize her, and always supportive of her career. He was a bit indecisive and seemed to want Regina to make the decisions for him, but that was what Mother would have wanted, wasn't it? She created her perfect little world, with me married to the prince she always wanted. It took all of Regina's self-control to keep smiling. To look at the wide-eyed blonde girl who was her niece —and not much younger than her!—and not say something that Emma would not understand. Or not point out that David was her father, and how messed up was it that Henry's adopted father was also his grandfather?

"So, if you don't mind my asking," Regina said carefully, mindful of the still-spooked look on Emma's face, "I thought you didn't want any contact with Henry? When we adopted him, the agency told us that the records were sealed and we would never hear from you."

"I found her on the internet," Henry volunteered when Emma floundered, obviously not wanting to admit in front of a ten year old that she hadn't wanted him. A surge of possessive satisfaction reared up in Regina—Henry was her son, not Emma's, and she wasn't giving him up no matter what—but she pushed it down. "I might have, um, borrowed Dad's credit card."

"Henry!" David chided him, but as usual, David wasn't terribly assertive. Cora had made sure he wouldn't be, hadn't she?

"You're definitely grounded," she told her son, accustomed to being the parent who had to put her foot down.

"But Mom, it was for a good cause!"

"That doesn't matter," Regina replied sternly. "You should have asked."

A ten year old pout: "You would have said no."

"You never know until you try, now, do you?"

"You would have said no! You always do!" Suddenly, Henry was on his feet and bolting up the stairs. The sudden tantrum wasn't terribly surprising; Regina could tell when her child was exhausted, which he was, and Henry did have a bit of a point. How many times had he tried to convince both his parents that his fairytale book portrayed the actual people who lived in Storybrooke, only to have his mother tell him that he was imagining things? Regina felt horrible for that now, but before she'd known who she was, the Regina Mills Nolan who the curse had created certainly wasn't the type to believe in fairytales.

"Is he okay?" Emma asked worriedly, glancing up the stairs.

"He'll be fine," David said in that soothing voice that so didn't belong to Charming. "He's ten, and he's tired. I'll go check on him."

David rose to do just that, and Regina almost asked him not to leave her alone with this strange woman who was also his child. But David wouldn't understand, so she kept her mouth shut and looked back at Emma. "So…do I need to be worried about Henry hunting his father down?"

"Nope." Wide eyes turned decisive on that one, and Regina felt a shameful flush of relief. "He doesn't even know."

"That's good. I take it that you…were surprised by this? And I'm sorry, by the way, that he dragged you out of your life. If Henry hadn't run off on his own, we could have made this a lot easier on everyone."

"Kid's having a rough time. I get it. Happens."

You have no idea. He's the only child growing up in this entire town, Regina realized, and pasted on another smile. "Yes. It does."

"You know…maybe it's none of my business, but the whole way here from Boston, Henry kept going on about how this entire town is full of cartoon characters from that book," Emma said in a rush. "You know. His dad is Prince Charming, his shrink is Jiminy Cricket…"

"Right. That." Regina really needed to take a closer look at that book. What did it say about her? She knew she'd not always been the best person; her mother had given her very little choice. But what did the book tell Henry she had been in the Enchanted Forest? "It's uh, complicated."

"Sounds like. Look, he's your kid, and I'd better be going."

When she comes, things will change. Don't let her leave! Damn him, the bastard had probably been right. Pre-curse Regina had never expected to adopt a son who turned out to be her step great-nephew, but here she was, and here Emma was. Their only hope of escaping her mother laid in making Snow's apparently hard-edged daughter believe. And stay. First, Emma had to stay.

"It's late," Regina heard herself say. "Why don't you stay the night, and get a fresh start in the morning?"

"I couldn't—"

"Nonsense," she cut her off. "We have a spare room, and it's no trouble. And besides, Henry will never forgive either of us if you leave now."

"I…all right. Sure. Thank you," Emma said a little awkwardly, and Regina tried to give her a reassuring smile.

This is going to take a lot of work.

15 Years Before the Curse:

"I always wanted a sister," Snow told her as Regina sat down next to the dark-haired princess on the gigantic bed.

Despite herself, Regina smiled; it wasn't her soon to be ten year old stepsister's fault that Cora had found her. No, the cleric who had married her and Daniel had apparently sold that secret, which wound up with Daniel locked deep in a dungeon that no one but her mother could reach. Cora had promised that Regina would be able to see her husband if she behaved herself, but after two weeks back at home, Cora had yet to let her. But that wasn't Snow's fault. Snow had kept her secret and allowed Regina to run away with Daniel, and Snow seemed to understand how badly hurt Regina was.

"Me, too," she admitted, surprising herself. There were seven years between them—almost eight, as Regina would be eighteen in a few months' time—but she'd felt a bond with Snow when she rescued her from her runaway horse.

A runaway horse that was obviously Mother's fault. Just like Daddy's death was. Regina still felt a pang of pain every time she thought of her father; she went to visit his grave almost every day, but it didn't help. She missed him so terribly, and no matter how many lectures she endured from her mother on the subject, she was not going to see King Leopold as her father. He seemed like a kind enough man—and had already decreed that Regina would be known as a princess by courtesy, as his future stepdaughter—but he wasn't her father. She'd had a father, who was now gone because he stood in the way of her mother's dreadful ambition.

But now she also had a stepsister, someone to talk to, and maybe, someone who would make her feel like she was not so dreadfully alone.

"I'm sorry about what happened with Daniel," Snow said quietly, looking at Regina with big eyes. "He seemed so nice."

"He's not dead," Regina whispered, barely daring to say the words out loud. The official story was that Daniel had kidnapped her, defiled her, and then Cora's men had rescued her. Daniel had supposedly died in the struggle, and Regina knew that if she ever came out and said otherwise, Cora would kill him. But Snow had kept one secret of hers already, and if Regina didn't share her pain with someone, she would burst. "Mother is keeping him to make sure I behave myself."

"That's horrible!"

"You can't tell anyone. Please. She'll only kill him if people know," she pleaded.

"I won't," Snow vowed. "Your secret is safe with me."

"Thanks." Regina hugged her soon to be sister, wanting to cry and refusing to let herself. She'd cried enough already, both for her father and for Daniel. The only way she was going to survive was to face the future with her head held high, and try to find some way to rescue her True Love before it was too late. Until then, however, she had to do what she'd promised her mother she'd do, and be the perfectly behaved princess.

"That's what sisters do. They stick together," Snow said, her smile innocent and pure. Still, it managed to tug on Regina's broken heart. At least she wasn't alone. Regina wasn't sure how she was going to face the future, but at least Snow gave her someone to face it with.

"And we will," she agreed. "We'll look after one another, right?

"Definitely."

"Thanks, Ashley," Lacey said to the pregnant girl as she handed her a pair of twenties. Ashley Boyd was chronically in need of money, and even though Lacey wasn't terribly well off herself, her job as the town librarian still paid better than Ashley's maid job at Granny's.

"It's good practice," Ashley replied with a shrug and a smile, gesturing at her stomach. "Besides, Renee was an angel. Ate her dinner like a champ and went right to sleep. I only hope mine is so well behaved for whoever adopts her or him."

"It'll take a few years, I promise," Lacey replied with a crooked smile. She couldn't imagine having given up her child, but it was Ashley's choice.

"Well, I guess I'll never be bothered by it," the other girl said with a casual shrug that Lacey knew was forced. "Good night."

"'Night, Ash."

Closing the door, Lacey leaned against it with a sigh. She and Ashley had never really been close, but lately they'd become better friends. After all, Lacey knew what it was like to be a single mother-to-be, though at least Ashley knew who her child's father was. Lacey had been all but ostracized in the town for refusing to volunteer that information, but the truth was, she didn't know. All she remembered was some very drunken nights where she had made some huge mistakes, and found herself left with someone's legacy in her belly. Despite Doctor Whale's best efforts, she'd refused to get a paternity test done, too; Renee was her daughter and no one else's. The most common theory in Storybrooke was that Renee was Tony Rose's daughter, but Lacey had never been able to see any traits they shared, and besides which, Renee absolutely hated Tony. Her daughter had always been a great judge of character, though, which was one of the many reasons why Lacey stayed single.

Her father never had accepted that, of course, which meant they spoke very rarely, except when he was trying to push her into marrying Tony for 'her own good'. Moe French refused to help Lacey pay for anything, including the high medical bills for Renee's care when she'd gotten pneumonia the year before; he seemed convinced that if he didn't talk to his 'loose' daughter, he could set her morals straight. But Lacey had managed, working an extra job in addition to the one at the library, and she'd gotten Renee healthy once more without her father's help. Still, the fact that Moe refused to even visit his granddaughter broke her heart a little bit every time.

Thinking of her daughter made Lacey need to check on her, so she crept back into the bedroom to make sure Renee really was still sleeping. She was curled up in her little yellow sleeper, cuddling her favorite stuffed crocodile, with curly brown hair obscuring her face. What Lacey could see of her expression was peaceful, and when Renee woke up, she knew her little girl would look at her with warm brown eyes that always reminded Lacey of someone she couldn't quite remember. Renee was a usually a cheerful child; she had tantrums sometimes, like any three year old did, but overall, she was a dream to raise. In fact, being her mother was easier than Lacey would have ever expected, particularly when she was doing it on her own in a small one room apartment over the library.

Leaning over to brush a quick kiss against her daughter's forehead, Lacey then quickly turned to changing into her own nightclothes. Something in her heart fluttered every time she saw her little girl, and Lacey didn't care what people thought. Her life was her own, and she was going to live it to the fullest.

Author's Note: Thank you to all the lovely folks who reviewed the first chapter! I'm floored by the response to this story. Obviously, this chapter starts showing you how different Cora's Storybrooke is from the one in the show, with more differences to follow.

Additionally, for anyone who is worried, this story is not Regina/Charming. Cora put them together under the curse. They don't want to be married to one another at all - Charming is actually married to Snow, he just doesn't remember it.

Next up: Chapter Three: "A World Unexpected", where time starts moving, Regina faces off with her mother, and Rumplestiltskin wakes up (at the most inopportune time).