Forbidden

Lily:

The drive to New York is long, irritatingly long. Especially when your head is full of thoughts. That stupid "almost" kiss is getting the better of her. Or, she's allowing it too much headspace.

What the hell was I even thinking? Why on earth did I suddenly decide that kissing Maleficent would be a good idea? Is that really how it easy it is to slip back into old habits, so to speak? She hasn't thought of Maleficent for years, then she comes back from the ashes, and suddenly, bam Regina's head is filled to the brim with thoughts she considered long gone.

Was it just a moment of nostalgia? A crazy impulse? Pure relief over seeing Maleficent back from the ashes? A ridiculous attempt of apologizing? Or is old feeling really beginning to re-surface?

What "old feelings"? She means nothing. Wasn't that what you spat in her face?

That wasn't true.

Of course it wasn't. That was just the Evil Queen being malicious and busy pushing people out of her life. Of course, Maleficent means something, Regina knows that now. She meant something, and the… the thing they had was strong enough to give them a daughter.

A daughter who has no idea who her real parents are, and probably don't believe a word Regina tells her. And Regina aren't gonna blame her. Daughter of the Evil Queen and the Mistress of all Evil. It sounds like a very bad joke.

Yes, the drive to New York is long.

Especially when you have one Emma Swan behind the wheel who spends less time looking at the road, and more time stealing glances at Regina.

The Savior keeps eying Regina, and Regina can't blame her. She has barely said two words since Emma turned the radio on and drowned their conversation in music.

Regina sighs quietly. She's getting a thumping headache somewhere behind her temples. Probably a "side-effect" from the memory potion. She's rattled because of all the new information, and she's still trying to wrap her head around that she and Maleficent have a daughter. A daughter conceived through magic. A daughter conceived because Regina was angry and her magic unstable because of said anger.

A daughter conceived through anger and unstable magic and filled with darkness.

Regina shakes her head. Okay, so the last part isn't directly her fault. The "filled with darkness"-part is all Snow and Charming's doing. And a small part of her, a small part she desperately tries to quieten, is enraged with Snow and David, because how dare they? How dare they steal her child, fill her with darkness and then send her through a portal?!

Because they were desperate. And desperation can drive a person to do the stupidest things.

And then there's the explaining matter. Suppose they're able to talk Lilith into coming back to Storybrooke with them. How the hell is Regina supposed to explain the truth to both her and the rest of the town? What's the easiest way to explain to her family that Lilith is in fact hers? That she and Maleficent created her together?

There are no easy way.

"I feel like I'm driving by myself."

Regina finally snaps out of it and looks at Emma. "Sorry. I just have a lot on my mind."

"Wouldn't it have been better to stay behind and work things out, then?"

Regina shakes her head.

"Look, I get that you want to make amends and make up for whatever you did to Maleficent, but bending yourself backwards in the process isn't gonna help, Regina."

"I'm not bending myself backwards," Regina firmly denies.

"I'm just sayin'.." Emma says as reach another turnabout. "You and Maleficent obviously have some stuff you need to talk about, so I don't understand why she wants you to go to New York."

"I want to help where I can help."

"Admirable," Emma acknowledges and smiles a little. "But with all due respect, it's Maleficent's daughter. Her being gone and filled with darkness doesn't have anything to do with you."

Regina almost laughs at that. Oh, this is turning into a bloody farce.

"I think I know her, by the way."

"Know who?" Regina asks distractedly. She's still recovering from Emma's last stunningly ironic statement.

"Maleficent's daughter. Lilith."

Regina gapes. "You do?" fucking hell, this world is just getting smaller and smaller.

"Yeah. When I was around fifteen I ran into her by chance."

Nothing is accidental. "What… What was she like?" Regina asks hesitantly.

Emma shrugs a little. "Funny. Smart. Wild. Acted a bit like she didn't fit in anywhere, and now we know why. Anyway, I caught her in a lie, and I was stupid enough not to forgive her, so we didn't see each other after that summer."

"That summer?"

"Mm, we broke into houses and pretended to live there," Emma grins.

Regina is more than a little shocked but suffocates the feeling before it grows. Instead she asks the question she has been wondering about the most: "And her adoptive parents? Were they… good to her?" that's probably taking it a bit too far, but Regina doesn't care. She has to know.

"Yeah, I mean, when they came to fetch her, they seemed pretty concerned and stuff. Why are you so interested in that?"

Regina shrugs. "Maleficent needs to know that Lilith was well taken care of while she was... prevented from doing so." by me.

"Right."

"What did she look like?" Regina asks. Now she's just desperate for more information. She needs to know everything. Especially because there's a fucking good chance that Lilith won't go anywhere with them.

"Dark eyes and dark hair, so surprisingly little like Maleficent," Emma frowns. "I suppose she takes after the father or something like that."

"Mhmm." Dark eyes and dark hair. Strange. Regina had pictured Lilith to be an exact copy of Maleficent with blue eyes, blonde hair and light colors. But now Emma is telling her, that's not the case. Does Lilith really look like her?

"Who even is the father?" Emma asks and adjusts the mirror. "Did Maleficent tell you anything about that?"

"N-no."

"Hmm, okay, well, maybe that is a weird information to share with your ex," Emma muses. "But I would like to be a hundredth percent sure that she isn't sending her out on some wild goose chase after the father, too."

"She won't," Regina says firmly before she can stop herself.

Emma raises an eyebrow.

"The father won't be a problem. Trust me."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely."

"So he isn't trapped in some other realm?"

"No."

"And he isn't a dragon?" Emma quips and chuckles. "Imagine that…"

"He's not a dragon."

Now Emma frowns again. "Okay. You sure know a lot given Maleficent didn't say anything about the father. Are you covering for her? Is there some sort bizarre dragon- mating-ritual I don't know about?" the blonde stops for a moment, and then her eyes widen as she jokingly asks: "Oh my god, did she kill him afterwards? Is that how it happens? Did she have the father for lunch?"

Regina feels tempted to either bash her own head in, or potentially bash Emma's head in. Her questions are getting more and more ridiculous. Regina has to put a stop to them somehow. "There is no father."

"Okay." Emma nods. "So it was a one time thing. She doesn't have to be embarrassed about that. We've all been there."

"Oh, I'm sure you have. But that's not the case here. There is no father."

"So that's what she's telling you? I mean, yeah, I was embarrassed about how and where Henry was conceived, but simply denying that there ever was a father is a bit extre…"

"No, Emma," Regina says very, very slowly and looks at the Savior. "Mark my words. There is no father."

She can almost see the wheels turning in Emma's head. The Savior frowns for a few seconds, then her mouth falls open as the realization hits her, and she very nearly wraps the bug around a tree.

"Emma!" Regina protests as she's slung forward in her seatbelt. "Are you trying to get us killed?!"

The bug comes to a screeching halt, and Emma twists her body awkwardly as she turns around in the driver's seat. "You?"

Regina nods in confirmation.

"But, I… What… How?!" Emma splutters and flails her hands. "You're not exactly a guy."

Regina palms her forehead. "That we can agree on, dear. But I am a wielder of magic, and a pretty decent one too, if I say so myself…"

"So, you're saying…?"

"Lilith was… conceived through magic." Regina says through gritted teeth. "And if you bothered to study once in a while, you would know that such a thing is in fact possible."

"You and Maleficent have a daughter. Together."

"Yes," Regina says. It would seem that she and Emma have reached the same level of disbelief.

"And you've never told us that because…?"

"I didn't know," Regina sighs. "Maleficent erased the… moment it happened."

"Why would she do that?"

"I'm afraid she had very good reasons," Regina mutters. "She was afraid. Of me. Afraid that I would see it as something that could prevent me from getting revenge. She was afraid I would come for her. And the baby."

Emma just looks at her.

Regina turns her head to avoid her gaze. "That's how dangerous I was back then."

"You're not that person anymore." Emma says firmly.

"That may be," Regina half-snips. "But that doesn't change the fact that I impregnated Maleficent and then prevented her from searching for her- our daughter for thirty years. Now you see why I'm bending myself backwards to make up for what I've done?"

"You didn't know she was pregnant. And I seriously doubt you would have done anything to harm her, had you known."

Regina scoffs. "No, but I might have accused her of lying and then killed her."

Emma silently acknowledges that. "And you don't believe she's lying now?"

"Definitely not," Regina says darkly. "She slipped a very strong memory potion into my drink. So strong it sort of transported me back to the moment it happened. No. she's not lying. I am definitely Lilith's other creator."

"How long have you known this?"

"Since last night."

Emma shakes her head. "Lilith is your daughter. Unbelievable. Suddenly, so many things about her makes sense."

Regina frowns. "What's that supposed to mean, miss Swan?"

Emma smartly ignores that. "She looks like you. A lot."

"She… She does?" Regina says, and her throat suddenly feels rather tight again, but she'll be damned if she starts weeping now.

"Yep." Emma is grinning now, actually grinning. "Almost spitting image."

Regina swallows something. "Maleficent will be pleased about that, I'm sure."

"You're still not very popular with her then? You appeared to get along just fine this morning."

Regina scoffs. "I got nostalgic for a moment, okay? Nothing happened."

"Maybe not, but what would have happened if I hadn't…"

"She would probably have tried to choke me again," Regina lies. Because she has a fairly good idea about what would have happened if Emma hadn't bursted in.

"If you say so," Emma says as she starts the car again. "Okay, lets get on the road again. We have a lost daughter to find."

Regina nods plainly.

To Be Continued?