Disclaimer: I don't own OUAT.
A/N: So sorry it took me so long to update! I had my wisdom teeth out on Monday and I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do for this chapter. I got halfway through it when I got stumped on how to let you all in on Regina's vampire past when this came to mind so I had to change gears and I cranked this out! It isn't great but I took what popped into my head and ran with it. So this is set in the past. It does mention two different town names and that's because Marysville, Oregon was renamed to Corvallis in 1853.
I was so excited to see all the follows this got on the first chapter! Thank you all for the reviews and to answer the one question yes, this is a Swan Queen fic! Thanks for sticking around and welcome to the new folks! Enjoy! Don't forget to review.
It was early fall of 1843 in Marysville, Oregon where The Mills gave birth to their one and only child. The Mills family was the wealthiest of all the families in the area. They owned the most land. Miles stretched on with horse farms and crop fields. Being a wealthy family they had many servants. Though two stuck out amongst the rest. Two of them had become the best friends of their daughter, Regina. Elsa and Daniel arrived together 13 years after their daughter was born. Elsa was around 12 and her brother, Daniel was about 16. They showed up on the doorstep of the Mills residence claiming their parents had been killed and they had nowhere left to go. They offered to be of service to the Mills in exchange for food and shelter. Elsa became a handmaid and Daniel a stable boy. Regina took a liking to them right away. Elsa was the same age as her which was nice. None of their other help were even close to her age and there weren't many children in the area as they owned most of the surrounding land.
As years had gone on Elsa and Regina had become very close. They told each other everything and did everything together. Elsa and Regina quickly became best friends which led to Regina and Daniel becoming close as well seeing as the brother and sister were almost inseparable. It was around Regina's 20th summer when Daniel and her had been walking through the stables to get Regina's horse ready for her lesson when he said "she fancies you, you know."
"Wh-what?" Regina stuttered out.
"Elsa, I believe she has taken quite a liking to you."
At first she was appalled. She was a woman after all. Women aren't supposed to like other women. It just wasn't heard of. Wasn't right. All she could say was "Oh." The rest of their day there was spent in silence as thoughts ran through her mind. She hardly paid any attention to her lesson. After about an hour or so of running the last several years of knowing Elsa realization hit her hard. It was then that she realized what she felt for Elsa was more than friendship as well. She found herself always wanting to be around her. Wanting to hold her. Sometimes she even caught herself staring longer than she should have at the other girl. She fancied Elsa as well. And she was going to tell her. Suddenly Regina hopped off her horse and ran to Daniel throwing her arms around him giving him a huge hug.
"Thank you!" She yelled as she took off running towards the house to find her. Luckily she found her quickly in the maid quarters tidying up her own side of the room. Regina just stood there in the doorway staring at the beautiful girl in front of her. She hadn't thought this part through all the way. She had no plan. She didn't know what she was going to do or say. Elsa finished what she was currently doing and turned to leave the room when she saw Regina.
"Oh! Regina, you scared me!" Elsa laughed. "What are you doing down here? Aren't you supposed to be riding?"
Regina didn't say anything but instead strode purposefully across the room till her and Elsa were only inches apart.
"Re-regina..wh-what are yo-" The rest of her sentence was cut off as Regina pressed her lips softly against Elsa's. She paused waiting for the other girl to pull back. To push her away and demand she left. Though to her relief Elsa deepened the kiss and pulled Regina closer. Finally they broke away for air and let their foreheads rest together while staring into each others eyes.
"I've wanted to do that for so long.." Elsa spoke first.
"Daniel told me you fancied me..and at first it shocked me..but then after I thought about everything..I realized that I too fancy you.."
"I'm going to kill that boy." Elsa laughed.
"Well, that's not a very nice thing to say after I helped you!" A voice came from the door. It was Daniel standing there smiling.
Regina took a few steps back from Elsa shaking her head and laughing.
It wasn't until Regina's 22nd birthday that she found out the two of them weren't really related and that they were actually quite different people than she thought they were. Regina had been thrown from her horse and was hurt very badly. She had a concussion and they suspected she had been bleeding internally due to the bruise on her stomach. The doctors all said there was nothing they could do and that it was best everyone make peace and say their goodbyes. Elsa and Daniel had waited till everyone else had left the room before coming in. However they weren't there to tell her goodbye. They were going to heal their friend. A tear slipped down Regina's cheek as she saw the two of them come in the room. She didn't want to tell her friends goodbye.
"I'm sorry.." Regina began.
"No, shh, don't." Elsa said as she leaned in and kissed Regina's head. "You're going to be okay. Everything is going to be fine I just need you to trust me."
"No..everything isn't fine..I'm dying Elsa..you need to realize that.." Regina did her best at holding back the tears.
Elsa and Daniel both just shared a look. Daniel nodded to Elsa confirming that now was the time. Elsa took a deep breath before she began.
"Regina..look..I know this might not make sense and you're going to think I'm crazy but..I can help you..I can fix this.." She motioned to Regina in the bed. Regina opened her mouth to protest but Elsa continued.
"No, listen, I..I have..powers..I'm..I'm a witch.."
Regina just stared at her not blinking for a moment before she started laughing.
"Elsa..a witch? Don't be ridiculous!" Regina laughed out.
Elsa just glared at Daniel silently begging for his help.
"She is Regina. She's a witch and she can help you." Daniel tried affirming.
"Right, and are you a wizard?!" Regina asked still laughing.
Growing frustrated Daniel bared his teeth revealing his pointed canines, his eyes darkening and veins growing more visible.
"No, I'm a vampire!" Daniel growled.
Regina gasped and then began to cough. Elsa rolled her eyes and smacked Daniel upside the head for losing his temper on Regina. When Regina pulled her hand from her mouth it was covered in blood. Quickly Elsa put her bag down and pulled a big book out. She tossed it at Daniel and told him to make himself useful and open it to page 397 while she continued to dig a few more items out that were required for her to do her spell before quickly setting to work on her dying girlfriend. She had done this before so she finished rather quickly. Once she was done she laid by Regina's side. Only time would tell of her success.
An hour later Elsa was curled up on Regina's side. The healing spell seemed to have went well but Regina was exhausted from the days events. When she finally woke Daniel was the first person she saw. He was sitting awake in the chair across the room. Noticing she was awake he made his way across the room so they could talk. Regina carefully sat up trying not to disturb her sleeping girlfriend. Her witch girlfriend. It was still all so strange to her. Her girlfriend was a witch, her best friend was a vampire, and she was no longer dying. Daniels voice pulled her from her thoughts.
"I'm sorry I scared you earlier. We just didn't have much time if we wanted to save you and I needed you to believe us."
"It's okay. You guys saved my life I can't be too mad." Regina laughed slightly.
"I know it's a lot to take in. And I know none of it makes sense. Before I was a vampire none of it made sense to me either." Daniel shook his head remembering his human days.
"Before? So, you weren't always a vampire?" Regina questioned. She was curious about her friends real story.
"Nope. I was a real human boy." He laughed. "I lived a normal life. Had a family and everything. I was 18 when it happened. I was walking through the woods one night collecting firewood when I heard a noise. I figured it was a deer so I thought nothing of it. Then the next thing I know something had a hold of me and is biting me. But not just biting me sucking on me. Drinking my blood. I blacked out and the next thing I know I'm in a cellar a day later with a horrible headache. There's a strange person in front of me. I try to scramble to my feet but I'm chained to the wall. My vision was slightly blurry but eventually it came back in full. The man was just standing there staring at me until he finally spoke up. He told me he was a vampire and like you I laughed in his face. He bared his teeth just like I did. I told him he was insane. Called him a monster and this time he laughed. When he finally stopped he told me I was a monster now too. He said he 'turned me'. I was now a vampire. His vampire. It took me about a week to come to terms with everything and get a grip on my new reality. He didn't really tell me much so I had to figure things out as I went. Finally one night he told me I needed to sever all ties with my previous existence and start fresh. I said goodbye to my family and that was that."
Regina just sat there wide eyed. She never in a million years believed in this sort of thing. Had never even heard stories until now! It was all so crazy.
"So, how did you meet up with Elsa again? If you said goodbye to your family?" Regina asked.
"Well, we aren't really family. She's simply like a sister to me. I met her shortly after I had been turned. My sire kept me in a cellar during the day because I couldn't be out in the sunlight without it burning my skin-" Regina interrupted him.
"Yeah, I thought lore said you were 'nightwalkers' or 'children of the night' you aren't allowed in sunlight, it can kill you but you're in it all the time with me.." It came out as half question half statement.
"I'm getting there." Laughed Daniel. "My sire had a ring that he never took off. It was spelled by a witch so that he could walk in the day light. One night he had me come up stairs to help him retrieve a large wooden box. It was heavy. We carried it downstairs and he ordered me to go back to my bed. He opened the box and pulled a bag out before reaching in and pulling something else out. It was big and odd shappen. Thats when I realized it was a body. I had just carried a body. He informed me she was alive and told me not to worry. 20 minutes later the girl awoke and he threw the bag at her telling her she needed to figure out how to make me a daylight ring or he'd kill her."
"No!" Regina cried out causing Elsa to to jolt awake.
"R-regina! Are you okay?" Elsa asked, startled.
"Yes, I'm sorry, my love. Daniel was just telling me about being turned and him meeting you."
"Oh? What has he told you?" Elsa arched an eyebrow as she looked over towards Daniel.
"I was just telling her about when Leopold left you in the cellar with me to make my ring." Daniel said.
"Ah, yeah. I remember that. I was terrified. The man had just killed my family in front of me and kidnapped and left me with a strange man who I assumed was a vampire that was definitely going to kill me. However, that wasn't the case. He was actually very kind. He even offered to help me. I had no idea what I was doing. I was only 8 at the time. I hadn't learned such difficult magic yet. But with Daniels help we managed to figure it out and I made him a ring. Though the ring wasn't the only thing Daniel helped me with." Elsa said with a smirk.
"What do you mean?" Regina asked turning to look at her girlfriend. They had shifted so she was in Elsa's lap while Elsa leaned against the headboard.
"I had made her a promise. I promised that if she let me help her and we made that ring that I would save her and get her out of there. I helped her learn a few spells and we did some reading on vampires and how to kill them and we came up with an escape plan. So on the day she made my ring when Leopold came back from a hunt we attacked. Elsa spelled him long enough for me to attack. She stopped him dead in his tracks while I staked him. We ran away that night and I couldn't leave an 8 year old orphan on her own so we bounced from state to state together for a while. Then we landed here in Oregon. This is the longest we've ever stayed anywhere." Daniel said with a proud smile on his face.
"What made you stay here in Corvallis?" Asked Regina.
"You." Elsa said with a smile as she leaned forward to kiss her girlfriend on the head.
Suddenly they heard voices down the hall. Elsa quickly scrambled out from behind Regina to sit at the foot of the bed. Regina's father appeared in the doorway a moment after Elsa got settled.
"Regina, darling. Your mother and I will be leaving in the morning to visit the the Edgeworths in Albany. We'll be gone 4 days. We love you." He kissed Regina on the forehead before turning to leave. Regina just sat there mouth wide open very confused. It was Elsa who spoke first. "Regina, are you alright?" Her girlfriend asked.
"I-I was on my death bed only hours ago and my father just came in here as if nothing was wrong..told me they were leaving and was not at all phased by my healed state.."
Daniel and Elsa both just laughed.
"That would be my doing." Daniel spoke. "Vampires can compel people. We stare into your eyes and tell you something and you believe or do whatever it is that we tell you. I compelled everyone that knew about your accident and condition to think that you fell but you were fine and were not hurt."
"That's actually really awesome." Reinga laughed. "What other things can vampires do?" she asked still very curious.
"Well," he began, "I can hear very well and I can heal people too. If they drink my blood it helps people heal. I can move very fast and jump great heights. If I wanted to I could turn off my emotions. It's like flipping a switch. Not a single bit of a pain or compassion. Just cold and empty. Feeling nothing. I don't know why anyone would want that. But it's possible. I can hold my liquor very well too." Daniel joked.
The next 4 days seemed to fly by with Regina learning more and more about the real Elsa and Daniel and being able to spend a lot more carefree time with her girlfriend while her parents weren't around. No one besides Daniel knew about them. They knew no one would accept or approve. Regina was in the sitting room waiting for her parents arrival. She was hoping they would have gifts for her. They usually did when they went away. The sun had just begun setting when their carriage finally pulled up. Regina greeted them at the front door. They hugged her and all went back to the sitting room.
"Regina," her mother began excitedly, "we have something very special to tell you!" Her mother had a smile on her face ear to ear. Whatever it was had to be great if her mother was this excited.
"yes darling," her father continued, "when we went to visit the Edgeworths we met their son Robin."
"Oh yes! Regina! He is such a handsome young man and is the same age as you! We discussed it with him and his parents and the two of you will be married in 6 months time!" Her mother exclaimed. Regina's heart sank. She felt as if the room were spinning and she was going to puke any minute. "Regina, isn't that wonderful news?" Her father questioned.
"I-I don- no, no it isn't wonderful! I don't want to marry him!" Regina cried out.
"Well you have to and you are going to! They're the richest neighboring family. It's only right the two of you marry!" Her mother yelled. Regina had nothing left to say. She just got up and ran straight to her room. She threw herself on her bed and just cried. She couldn't marry this man. She was in love with Elsa. She wanted to be with Elsa. Elsa. She needed to talk to Elsa. Drying her eyes she made her way down to the maids quarters. She found Elsa in her room alone writing in her spell book. Elsa glanced up and noticed her girlfriends tear stained face.
"Regina, wh-what happened? What's wrong?" Regina just threw herself into Elsa's arms and began sobbing on her shoulder. When she finally calmed down she told Elsa what had happened. If Elsa was angry she didn't show it. She was doing her best to stay calm and strong.
"We'll talk to Daniel. He'll know what to do. For now just come lay down. Everything will work out." Elsa led her girlfriend to her bed and let her rest against her chest.
About 45 minutes later Daniel was in Elsa's door way. He came to check up on her as he always did but he wasn't expecting to see Regina asleep in her lap. Before he could ask Elsa had already held her hand up to stop him. She explained the situation to him quietly trying not to wake her sleeping girlfriend. She finished by telling him she had no idea what to do or say about the situation. Unless she was going to kill someone there wasn't much she could do to stop this.
"We have to go. We have to leave and run. I know it's sooner than we planned but that's all I can think of." Daniel said. Elsa just shook her head.
"No, Daniel. We can't. I'm not prepared. We're not prepared!" Elsa began to raise her voice again. Her and Daniel discussed convincing Regina to run away with them however that was future talk. Nothing was fully planned out yet. They both just sat there in silence for a while before Daniel finally spoke again. "No, you're right. We aren't prepared. But we will be in 6 months. That will give us plenty of time to convince and prepare Regina." Elsa looked at Daniel like he was crazy at first but the longer she thought about it the more she realized how perfect sense he was making. Elsa agreed and the decided that as soon as Regina woke up they would tell her of their plan.
6 months came and went faster than any of them had expected. Robin had come to meet Regina and visit a few times. He was handsome enough but she was not attracted to him. He liked to talk about himself and show off his archery skills. Though Regina did enjoy the few times he let her try to use the bow.
It was April of 1865. The wedding was 6 days away. They were to run away the evening before the wedding. However, they hit a bump in the road when Robin and his family showed up early. There were more people there now. Getting everything together and getting away was going to be harder than they thought. Elsa and Regina had just finished discussing the early arrival of Robins family (and making out a little) when they heard footsteps in the hall. Quickly Elsa gathered up the dirty sheets in Regina's room that she was supposed to be tending to and took off down the hall. It was Cora, Regina's mother, who had been coming down the hallway. Smiling to her Elsa quickly ducked her head to avoid Cora's gaze. The woman made her feel very uneasy. As she passed her she felt a hand grasp firmly on her upper arm causing her to stop and face the woman beside her.
"Elsa," she began "I'm not a daft woman. So I don't expect to be treated as such." There was a pause.
"Ma'am I assure you I don't think tha-" She was cut off.
"I wasn't finished. I see the way you look at my daughter. I know you have feelings for her. Very wrong very unnatural feelings and if you do anything to mess up this wedding I can assure you that you won't even live long enough to regret it." Cora's grip tightened on Elsa's arm through-out her speech and the venom she spoke with was terrifying.
"Do you understand me, Elsa?"
"Y-yes ma'am.." Elsa mumbled and looked down.
As soon as Cora loosened her grip Elsa took off down the hall to find Daniel. They had to leave and sooner than anticipated. After talking to Daniel and explaining things to Regina they decided that after the dinner between the two families they would take off to their planned safe house. Daniel and Regina would go bring a few things there on their afternoon ride that day to make travel lighter and easier that evening. Elsa also explained to Regina that she was going to have to stay away from her for the next few days to please her mother. She promised to come visit her every evening before bed though after seeing the sad look on her girlfriends face.
The next two days were kind of crazy. Everyone running around planning and prepping for the big dinner and wedding approaching. Regina was relieved to go to the stables to go for a ride with Daniel and just get away. They packed up their things and saddled up the horses and headed off on their ride to the safe house. It was an old abandoned mill by the river. It only took about 30 minutes by horse to get there. The place was very old and run down but it would suffice for the time being. Once they got all their things inside the mill Regina decided to do some exploring. There was an upper loft that had an old ladder leading up to it. Regina started up the ladder and had made it about halfway up when the rung her foot was on snapped under her weight. Daniel was quick enough to catch her before she hit the ground however, the split wood had torn a pretty big gash in her right leg and she was bleeding quite a bit. Elsa was nowhere around to heal her and Daniel wasn't sure he would get her back fast enough. Deciding it was his only option he bit his own wrist to open his skin.
"Regina, you need to drink my blood or you'll bleed out." Regina's eyes went wide.
"B-but won't that turn me into a v-vampire?" Regina stuttered out.
"Just don't die for the next few days till it's out of your system." Daniel said with a smirk.
Hesitating some more and then taking a deep breath she grabbed his arm and pressed it to her lips taking in his blood. Instantly the wound on her leg grew smaller and smaller until it no longer existed. Staring at her leg in disbelief Regina just shook her head. "Impossible.." Daniel just laughed.
"Come on, lets get you back before you do something worse."
They got back on their horses and rode back to the stables so Regina could get back and get ready for the dinner.
As the sun was setting they all gathered around the dinner table. Conversation was polite and casual but Regina's mind was focussed elsewhere. She kept dreaming about the life her, Elsa, and Daniel were about to have. She had a dreamy smile on her face through the whole dinner. Had she been paying attention she would have noticed her mother eyeing her suspiciously during the whole dinner. Afterwards Regina said her goodbyes and headed off to her room. She was to meet Elsa and Daniel under the big oak a little ways from where her window was at midnight. She had just tossed her bag out the window and was halfway out it when her mother came in the room.
"Regina." Cora said firmly as she walked across the room.
"Mother, no, please, understand..." Regina began.
Cora just eyed her daughter for a moment halfway out this second story window. She reached out and grabbed her daughters arms before she continued.
"You are in love with her, aren't you?" Cora asked incredulously.
"Y-yes, mother. Please, understand. I don't want to marry Robin! I love Elsa! As your only daughter don't you want me to be happy!?" Regina cried out.
Cora laughed dryly before pulling her daughters arms up further letting her hang just in her grip. She looked her dead in the eyes, her own void of any emotion before she spoke again.
"It is wrong and unnatural and not acceptable to be feeling or thinking that way." She paused, Regina shaking in her mothers grasp, feet trying to find purchase anywhere. Cora leaned forward shaking her head and said "I have no daughter" as she let go of her grip on her daughters arms. A small scream caught in Regina's throat as she fell to the ground. Daniel saw her falling from his spot under the tree and ran to catch her but the tree was too far he got there too late. Regina had hit the ground. Smashing her head and snapping her neck. She was dead. Elsa ran up behind Daniel letting out a blood curdling scream as she realized what happened. She looked up and saw Cora in the window. "This is all your fault. You should have left well enough alone." Cora spat before turning to leave. Elsa dropped to her knees at Regina's side trying to find a pulse and wracking her brain for any type of spell she knew to fix this. Daniel however, stood behind her unmoving. Frozen. His mind focussed on the days previous events. Regina falling, getting hurt, drinking his blood. He knew what was coming. What was going to happen. They needed to get her out of there. Shoving Elsa aside he bent down to pick Regina up.
"D-daniel, wh-what are you doing?" Elsa cried out grabbing his arm.
"We have to go. To the safe house. Now. I'll explain on the way."
Scooping up Regina and dragging Elsa to her feet and dragging her towards the woods until she finally began to run on her own they took off towards the safe house. On the way Daniel explained what had happened earlier.
"YOU DID WHAT!?" Elsa screamed and stopped running. They were about half way there. Daniel stopped as well and just stared at her. "Daniel..she..she drank your blood? T-today!? That means shes turning! She's going to wake up a vampire!" She shouted at him smacking him upside the head.
"Hey, how was I supposed to know her mother was going to toss her out a window!? Look, we have to keep moving. We can't let them find us and we need to get ready to take care of this when she wakes. You need to make her a ring and we need to figure things out now lets move."
Elsa just sighed and continued along the way to the mill. They arrived after not too much longer. Elsa made a makeshift bed for Daniel to lay Regina in. He sat watch over her while Elsa went to work on making the ring she had gotten to give her once they got here into a daylight ring. It pained her to know her girlfriend was going to wake up a vampire. She loved Daniel and all but if things weren't handled right they could lose her. Knowing the spell and having performed it several times in the last few years it didn't take her very long. It was morning by the time Regina had finally awoken. She sat up and quickly grabbed her head. She had a pounding headache. The movement awoke Elsa who then woke up Daniel.
"Regina! H-how do you feel?" Elsa asked hesitantly.
"My head hurts. Wh-what happened? M-my mother threw me out the window..d-did you heal me?" She asked. Daniel and Elsa both just shared looks. As if invisibly drawing straws as to who was going to break it to her. It was Elsa who spoke first.
"Here," Elsa reached into her pocket to pull out the ring "I wanted to give this to you when we got out here. I love you." She pressed her lips to Regina's as a single tear fell down her cheek.
"Elsa, why are you crying?" Regina asked. Elsa just stood up and ran out of the mill before the tears fell harder and faster. It was Daniels fault anyway. He could explain. Regina stood to follow her but Daniel stopped her.
"Regina, we need to talk." He sighed. "Yesterday, you know how I healed you with my blood?" Regina just nodded with a look of confusion on her face. "Well..last night..when your mother..well..you know..when you fell..you..you died.." Regina just stared at him for a moment blinking until realization hit her. She felt as if she were going to be sick. This wasn't happening. That would mean.. "Y-you mean..I'm..I'm a va-vampire?" She stuttered out. Daniel nodded.
"Regina, I am so sorry. I never in a million years thought you would die any time soon! I promise I'll help you. Elsa and I both. That ring she gave you will allow you to walk in the day time sun. You can feed off of animals or if you have to feed from humans just don't kill them and be sure to erase their memory with compulsion. I'll walk you through it but you've seen me do it before so you know it isn't hard.." he trailed off. A scream from outside caused them both jump cutting their conversation short. "Elsa!" they both cried out. They ran to the door and stepped outside where they saw Robin holding elsa hostage with an arrow to her throat her hands tied behind her back.
"Regina!? Your mother said you were dead! That it was their fault! You must come back with me. We're to be married and your family is grieving over a daughter who is not gone!" Robin spoke.
"I'm not going anywhere with you. Let my girlfriend go." Regina spat. Daniel went to lunge at Robin but he shoved the arrow pointed at Elsa's neck into it furthercausing her to drop to her knees and cry out again. With his hands now free he loaded an arrow into his bow aiming it at Daniel. Both Daniel and Regina's focus was on Elsa who was now bleeding profusely from the wound in her neck. They hadn't even noticed Robin release his wooden arrow until it had lodged itself in Daniels chest. Regina's eyes went wide as she watched Daniel clutch his chest and his whole body slowly turn gray and lifeless. Looking back to Robin she saw his focus was on the scene that just took place in front of him. He began to approach Daniel to further inspect the odd spectacle. Realizing he was distracted Regina took this as an opportunity to test her super speed. Quickly she ran up behind Robin to snap his neck but at the last minute she sunk her teeth into his neck deciding she wanted him to die slowly and suffer. She was going to drain him for what he had done to her best friend and she knew she needed to feed anyway. Dropping his lifeless body to the ground she heard a groan come from behind her. Turning she saw Elsa on the ground with a pool of blood around her. She ran to her girlfriend covering the leaking wound.
"No, no, no. Please, no. Elsa, I can't lose you both. I love you, please. Can't I heal you!? Or you heal yourself!?" Elsa shook her head.
"I can't be healed by vampire blood and I'm too weak to heal myself. I'm so sorry this happened to you, Regina. Please, get out of here. Go create a new life for yourself. But please don't turn into a monster. Don't let this control you take what you've learned from Daniel and I these last few months and use it start fresh..I-I l-love you.." Elsa choked out the last words before more blood came pouring out her mouth. Regina leaned in and kissed her anyways. "I love you too, Elsa.." A loud sob escaped her throat as she felt Elsa take her last breath in her lap. Her body shook uncontrollably as she cried. She lost her girlfriend, her best friend, and ultimately her life all in the same day. Suddenly Regina heard a rustling in the brush behind her. "Robin? Is that you? Did you find them?" A voice called out. She didn't recognize it. At first anger crossed her and she wanted to tear whoever it was limb for limb. But then she remembered Elsa's words. 'Start fresh. Don't become a monster. Leave.' Taking one last look at the woman she loved the last few years she leaned in and kissed her one last time. She then stood and walked over to the man who had been her best friend staring down at his open eyes, she leaned over and closed them. "Goodbye, Daniel." She took a deep breath before taking one last look over at Elsa. "I love you, Elsa." She spoke aloud before she took off into the woods in the opposite direction the voice had come. She was going to make a new life. Sever her ties. Regina was going to start fresh. As a vampire.