A month later found Regina sitting in a booth at Aesop's Tables, a small bar near the Rabbit Hole, but was much quieter and far more peaceful. She felt it suited her guest more than Granny's. She nervously tapped the table in front of her. The waiter came over and asked if she wanted to order anything. "Red wine please. The best bottle you have. I don't care about the cost. Oh, and some cheese fries please." He nodded and walked away. The door opened and drew her attention to the arrival of Maleficent. She almost forgot to breathe seeing how beautiful the dragon was. They hadn't seen each other since their last talk-well, argument. Maleficent was almost glowing. Long golden tresses were curled perfectly and a dark purple dress hugged every inch of her figure. Regina licked her lips, remembering how much she loved that figure. She quickly stood up as Mal approached and dipped her head, motioning to the booth. The dragon arched an eyebrow, but did sit down.
"Hello, Regina." Mal said.
Regina smiled as she sat down. "Hi, Mal. I ordered some wine for us. Unless you can't drink that anymore…"
"I'm not pregnant, Regina." Not yet. It was shocking that she wasn't yet, considering Regina knew that the Evil Queen would not stop at nothing to tie Mal to her, if only to hurt Regina. The bitch hadn't done anything unlawful in the past few weeks, but that was never a good sign.
"Oh, I thought...since your season was up that…"
"My mating season might be up, but that won't stop me from getting pregnant."
"Oh." Regina shrugged. At least she was happy. "So, um, what have you been up to lately? Besides the whole pregnancy thing."
Mal leaned back in the seat, crossing her hands in her lap. "Learning about our daughter and this world. Training her. She is improving substantially. So determined, like her mother."
"Mothers." Regina corrected, glancing up when the waiter returned with the wine and poured them each a glass. Mal's eyes lit up when she saw the fries and quickly leaned forward to eat. They shared the plate as they chatted. "Does Lily know how wild her dragon mother was back in the day?"
"Oh please, you weren't even thought of when it was back in the day."
Regina smirked. "Not true. I seem to recall you mobilizing your armies to attack King Midas in one of the craziest wars the world had ever seen."
Mal scoffed. "The man can turn things into gold with a touch. He could just replace everything I stole by going outside and picking up some rocks."
Regina rolled her eyes, enjoying the memory of the dragon returning with all the gold she had commandeered to add to her hoard. It never occurred to her to question just why Mal had done that. She could've attacked Midas many times, long before she actually had. Now that she thought about it, Mal had been particularly nasty during that time. "Did you do that because you were pregnant?"
"Yes, so I could have enough for Lily's hoard."
"How much gold does a dragon need?" Regina asked.
"All of it." Mal smirked.
Regina laughed softly. They ate and drank like old times, mostly talking about Lily. Their daughter was truly something else. It would take some time, but she was steadily coming into her own. Every day she was getting better and no matter what happened between them, they could both agree that their love for their child would never change. "I really wish we got to raise her." She found herself saying.
"What are you talking about? We are." Mal smiled.
"You know what I mean. I wish I would've known."
"Would that have changed anything?" Mal asked, sipping her wine.
"I want to say yes, but now I have no idea. It changed something for her." She said, referring to the Evil Queen.
"It did." Mal agreed.
Regina sighed and looked over at the dragon as she finished the last of the fries. She was purring softly and seemed to enjoy the wine. There was so much Regina wanted to say, so much she wanted to have again. "Mal…" The blonde turned those beautiful blues to her, an eyebrow arching slightly. "I want to apologize. The Evil Queen was right about me telling you to get over what the Charmings did. That was wrong on so many levels. No one was hurt more that night than you and Lily and I had no right to ask you to forgive them."
"It's fine, Regina."
"It's not." She said. "I know that things are probably always going to be awkward and weird between us now. I accept that. I… I ruined my chance. I don't want to just be your friend, Maleficent and I don't even deserve it, but if that's what it takes just to have you in my life again, I'll take it. I promise, I'll back off. I just...I miss you." Mal was too important to lose completely. She'd done it before and it was torture. It was just as bad now, watching Mal love someone else, but she would take that over being avoided and ignored.
"Do you think you can handle that?" Mal asked, tilting her head.
"For you, I can try. I will try." She waited while the dragon seemed to think over her words. She was more than willing to compromise with Mal now, but she wasn't sure what would happen if Mal or the Evil Queen were to produce a child, how she would deal with that, but she would do it for her dragon.
"So be it." Mal said, making her grin. "Now, more french fries." She ordered some more and Regina's thoughts turned to happier subjects.
"So, I've heard some things around town."
"Terrible things I hope." Mal said, smiling childishly as she pulled out a fry, stretching the cheese as far as it could go. Regina rolled her eyes at her.
"More about you buying those abandoned buildings near the docks."
"Oh. Why did you put abandoned buildings in Storybrooke?"
"Forgot to fix it. Don't change the subject."
Mal ate the french fry with a smile. "Well, Reina doesn't really have anything in this world. All of her things are still technically yours and after a dozen shopping sprees, she came up with the idea of creating something to give Lily."
"Wait, who?"
"Reina. Evil Queen. That's the name she chose."
Regina frowned a little. "And what exactly is Reina going to give Lily? An abandoned building?"
"A kingdom."
"What?"
"I'm not allowed to say anything more than that and honestly I don't really know more than that. It's apparently going to be amazing."
Regina was arched an eyebrow. What was she up to? Building a kingdom to give Lily? Was she planning to take over Storybrooke? Lily wouldn't want that. She wouldn't even care about it. That would only inspire a riot. Mal tapped the table, gaining her attention again.
"I wouldn't worry about it."
"Of course you wouldn't. You're not on her hit list." Regina replied.
Mal hummed. "Did the Dark One visit you?"
Regina arched an eyebrow, thinking of the last conversation she had with her former mentor. "He did, not long ago. He tried to convince me to kill the Evil Queen."
"Really?"
"He didn't say as much, but he didn't need to. I know him. He thinks the Evil Queen might be too unstable and might come after him. For what reason, I don't know. He still believes he saved me all those years ago. I think he was shocked to find out that the Evil Queen always hated him."
Maleficent's purring stopped instantly. "Excuse me." She pulled out her phone and made a call. Regina polished off her wine while the dragon spoke softly to Reina. After a moment, she hung up and stood up and Regina quickly did the same.
"Is everything alright?" She asked.
"No, I have to go have a chat with the Dark One." The dragon was growling now. Regina paid their bill and followed her as she stormed out, furiously strutting down the street for a moment before teleporting straight to Gold's shop. Regina couldn't help but feel a little excited watching her storm off like that. She had to see what happened next.
Maleficent burst into the pawn shop, all fire and fury. Gold walked out of the back and was instantly punched so hard he was sent straight through the glass counter. Regina gasped and quickly grabbed Mal's arm, pulling her back before she did something crazier. Gold's magic was already working to heal himself, but he had to pull out the glass shards in his abdomen one by one and the sound of his ragged breathing made her want to cover her ears. Mal pushed Regina away and grabbed Gold by his shirt, lifting his dead weight with ease. "How dare you? You think you can walk into my house, threaten my mate, in front of my daughter, and not expect repercussions?" She growled, eyes burning with dragon fire. "You've been dealing with heroes for far too long. I am not the Charmings. If you ever try something like this again, I promise you, I will spend the rest of my immortal life making yours a living hell. By the time I'm done with you, you will be praying for death." She dropped Gold and even Regina cringed at the thud he elicited when he smacked the broken glass. Mal turned around and walked out of the establishment without another word. Regina couldn't resist laughing out loud at the struggling man.
Gold flashed a smirk that twisted into a pained grimace. "She'll never love you. You've lost her. Forever."
"Wow. Getting slammed through a glass counter wasn't enough to shut your mouth?" Regina hissed, following after Mal. She found the dragon getting into her car, still growling under her breath. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I need to go before I blow that entire building up." Said Mal. "We can continue this another time."
Regina nodded and took a step back as the blonde roared off.
"Hey, Regina." She turned, finding Emma walking towards her. "I was just coming to find you. Was that Maleficent I just saw?"
"Yes."
"So, you two are getting back together?" Emma asked.
"Um, no." Regina shook her head, picking absently at her nails. "We're just friends. Forever will be now. If something doesn't happen, that is."
"You sure that's wise?" Emma frowned slightly. "You clearly still love her-"
"It's better than nothing." Regina snapped.
"Regina...that's just going to hurt even worse. Don't do that to yourself. She'll be moving on with the fucking Evil Queen of all people and you'll still be heartbroken. I know you don't want to hear it." She said, moving in front of Regina again when she turned around to avoid this conversation. "Look, Maleficent chose the Evil Queen, the darkest, most terrible part of who you were, over the woman you've become. You've made some mistakes, but if she can forgive the woman you were, then she doesn't deserve you now. You're better, you're brighter, you're a hero and you earned that."
"Miss Swan, I appreciate the gesture, but you don't understand. I can't just stop myself from loving her." She wished she could just turn off her feelings like the blonde seemed to be able to do, but her heart just didn't work that way. Considering she spent years with Mal and then another brief few months when she was brought back to life, there was too much history and love wrapped in those tumultuous years to simply forget. "Maybe one day…"
"It's been over a month." Emma whispered, glancing around to make sure they weren't overheard. It wasn't a good place to be having this conversation and they both knew how much this town liked to talk.
"Don't you think I know that?" Regina scoffed. "Believe me, I've noticed every second, every minute, every hour that has passed since I lost her. It's all my fault and I can't just drop it. Don't you think I wish I could? How long did it take you to get over Neal? Or Killian?" She almost wanted to take her words back at seeing the pain on her friend's face. It was obvious that the blonde hadn't gotten over her most recent breakup with the pirate. The split came out of nowhere for everyone else, but Emma seemed to feel it was coming. They decided to take a break, but that break didn't last long before they officially parted ways. Apparently there was history between Killian and Belle that moved them to a new relationship and the pair were happy together while living at a house near the sea. As much as Regina hated that her friend was sad about the situation, she couldn't help but be a little happy about the poetic justice inflicted upon a certain dark individual, who not only broke up his own marriage with his own stupidity, but pushed his former wife right into the arm and hook of his most hated enemy. "Sorry. That was a little soon."
"I'm just trying to help you." Emma shrugged, looking down. "I made you a promise."
"Thank you for that, Miss Swan, but no one can ever be Maleficent."
"So you're just going to never be with someone again?" Emma asked.
Regina shrugged. "I don't know. If I meet someone, then of course, but right now, I would just like to go home." With that, the brunette teleported back to the mansion.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"We'll need more tables. Maybe a chandelier, or even an ice dragon sculpture." The Evil Queen said. Lily wrote it down while her mother checked the steaks she had just made. Next to her was a plate of recently made french fries that Mal insisted on having with every meal now. "And a bar. Have to have a bar. Dragons love drink." She said, picking up a glass of champagne.
"Really?" Lily asked.
"Yes. It takes a while for dragons to get drunk, so they enjoy drinking. They make the best wine."
"What would our lives be like if we were around other dragons?" Lily asked, looking up at her half mother.
"Well, for starters, you would have a dozen more brothers and sisters."
"Seriously? A dozen?" Lily frowned.
"If not more." Reina shrugged. She smirked at Lily's frowning face. "You do realize that you are in fact a dragon? The average number of eggs a dragon has at once is usually three. It's actually pretty strange that you were the only child Mal had. Probably because you were her first."
"So lots of kids is part of being a dragon?"
"Large families are." Reina nodded.
"And dragons just have babies forever?"
Reina laughed softly. "Yes. Think of a lion. A lion's main goal is have to his own pride, start his own family, pass on his genes. It's sorta the same for dragons, but it depends on the dragon and the breed. Some can have multiple mates and dozens of children. There are a lot of factors that come into play. Age usually isn't one of them." Lily hopped onto the counter to ponder this new information. Reina watched her for a moment. "You know, if you grew up with others of your kind, you would be already be a queen. Leading armies, fighting off suitors, building your own kingdom, collecting your own hoard."
"Sounds time consuming."
"You're an immortal. You have all the time in the world." Reina turned back to the food and Lily thought about that. She wasn't sure how she felt about living forever. Of course her blonde mother had explained it all to her. Technically she could still die, after being killed or getting sick or anything of that nature. It was still so much to think about. Her whole life she thought she was human and now she had to learn how to be something else.
"So, what else don't I know?"
"Many things. Mal could tell you better than I."
"Is she still mad at Gold?"
"She's still down at the lake cooling off. He's lucky that I'm turning over a new leaf or-"
"New leaf?!" Lily exclaimed with a laugh. "So that hit and run a couple days ago on Leroy had nothing to do with you and Zelena?"
"Absolutely not." Reina scoffed with a small smirk. "However, I commend whoever did it."
"You really hate dwarves."
"I do. They're worse than ogres. Ogres smell better and are far less annoying." She cut off the stove and Lily looked down at the list in her hands. There were a lot of things Reina needed for this gift of hers. She had no idea what her half mother had planned, but she was excited for it. It seemed like it was going to be fun, and as long as Mal was happy, she was too.
"Have you ever thought about it?" The Queen asked. "Being a mother? Finding a mate?"
"I'd love to be a mom. Maybe find a mate." She shrugged. "Just have to find the right person, I suppose."
"So...your little friends…"
Lily rolled her eyes. "Aurora is just a friend and Liam works for you."
"So if I fire him...you would be happy?"
"No." Lily scoffed. "I am happy. Just seeing you and Mom happy makes me happy. You don't have to go out of your way for me."
"You do realize that I'm going to do that anyway, yes?"
"I know."
Reina smiled and turned back to the rest of the food. Lily watched her with a small smile. Without the occasional relapse into darkness and the homicidal tendencies, she was almost normal now. Just having her new name and being with Mal, she just seemed so happy. It was just crazy that Regina had done all of this just so she could be happy and the Evil Queen turned out to be the one living the dream. Lily didn't really know how to help her other mother besides being there for her, but she silently made the decision to do whatever was necessary to help her.
"I should go and check on Maleficent. Watch this for me?" Reina said.
"Sure." Lily got down and put away the notebook. A clash behind her made her spin around. "Mom?" Reina let out a ragged breath, one hand clutching at her chest. Lily came to her side to help her up. "Is it your heart? Is something wrong?" She grabbed at her phone to call her other mother, hoping she was in human form to answer. Reina put her hand over the phone.
"Stop it, it's...fine."
"Fine?! It's not fine!" Lily snapped.
Reina straightened up and leaned against the counter. "Mal is doing something. Your hearts…" Her words were cut off by coughs and Lily rushed to get her a drink of water. "Whenever either one of you feel really powerful emotions, I feel them too."
"What's Mom doing then?" Lily frowned, watching in concern as the Evil Queen pulled herself onto a chair and drank some more water. The answer to her question came when Mal nearly tore the door off its hinges in her haste to come in the house. She came into the kitchen and grabbed the Evil Queen to plant a heartstopping kiss on her lips. After a minute, Lily cleared her throat and Mal stopped, a big grin lighting up her features.
"I'm pregnant."
/
After lunch, the family sat down again in the living room. Reina was almost sitting under Mal and the dragon hadn't stopped purring since delivering her monumental news. "Okay, we need to talk." Lily said. "What should we prepare for?"
"I agree." Her brunette mother said. "I wasn't there the last time."
Mal nodded slowly. "We'll need a lot of food. When I get too big, I won't be able to hunt either."
"I'll keep the fridge stocked and I'll practice my hunting. Done." Lily said.
"I'll need herbs." Mal continued. "I have a list." She conjured it in her hand and Reina snatched it and read it.
"I know where most of this grows and Zelena has an herb garden. She should have the rest."
"We need to start thinking about names-"
"We can start tomorrow while I go look for your herbs. Lily, come with?" Reina cut in.
"Absolutely. We might need a bigger house too."
"I can design one tomorrow as well."
Mal laughed at their enthusiasm, but made sure to bid them to slow down. There was no rush. She would not be giving birth for many months. Both her lover and daughter were far too excited however.
"Does this mean you'll have three kids?" Lily asked.
"Why would you-"
"We've been talking all day about dragons." Her mate explained.
"Well then, it's a possibility. I could have less or more. I doubt I will have more though."
"There's so much to do now." Reina murmured. Lily could see the gears spinning in her brain, each turn counting off the list of things that would need to be done to prepare for the birthing.
"And it will get done. We don't need to worry right now."
"Of course not." Reina said, although they all knew she was just going to ignore that advice.
"Why don't I get started on the shopping today and go visit Zelena for the herbs while you guys figure out building a nursery and a den?" Lily suggested.
Maleficent nodded but tore the list in half before handing her a piece of it. "We'll go get the herbs in the forest."
Lily arched an eyebrow, but nodded anyway. She assumed it was just because they wanted to talk or something. "Alright, I'll get right on it." She teleported away in a cloud of red smoke.
Maleficent and Reina got dressed for a walk and Mal shifted, inviting the Evil Queen for a ride. It had been a long time since she was able to carry her mate above the clouds and it always felt good to stretch her wings. The Evil Queen directed her with taps on her flank to where the herbs grew and it took no time at all to cross the forest to their location.
"I haven't seen that thing in a long time." Reina commented after they'd landed and Mal conjured her staff to use as her walking stick, stirring up fond memories of their strolls through the Forbidden Kingdom.
"I haven't felt the need to use it besides training with Lily." Mal replied, smirking at the sight of the former queen who still wore her elegant long red coat that almost always accompanied her in her days in the other world. "Now that we are alone for the moment, I need to do this." She walked to the Evil Queen and pushed her against a tree, claiming her lips for her own. Reina moaned and surrendered to her immediately. Mal growled softly under her breath, feeling the flames in her belly churn, spreading warmth throughout her body. This was her mate, her bonded, her chosen, the mother of her children. She was a dragon's mate, a queen. After the last few months of constant fighting and warring, she needed to know that she was secure, that Maleficent was hers and would be until the day their bond was broken. "Come along, your majesty." Maleficent said, breaking the kiss abruptly. "The days are turning cold and I think a nice fireplace would sound wonderful after this." She started off, acutely aware of her lover following after her. The forest was beautiful in the evening light. The golden rays breaking through the leaves and branches overhead made for a stunning sight.
"Maleficent?"
"Hmm?"
"I am excited about this. You know that is my dream to give you more children, but...I am afraid." Came the soft admission.
Mal paused to pick a few of the herbs that resembled white flowers and slid them into a satchel she conjured on her waist. "Afraid of what?" She asked.
"You know who I am, what I am, where I came from." Reina said softly, bending down to pick some more. "I was not born in love and I was raised in harshness, hate and cruelty. The last thing I want is for another child to endure that and I do not want them to adopt my darkness, my hatred. What could I teach our children?"
Maleficent turned around and touched her cheek, placing a soft kiss to the brunette's forehead. "You will teach them that a mother's love is far stronger than her darkness. You will give breath to their first words, strength to their first steps. You will teach them all that you know. One day, you will wake up with so much love in your heart you will drown in it. All of that bullshit that came from Cora won't matter. Our children will not allow it to stay, because you will finally be you." She wiped a stray tear away from Reina's cheeks and kissed them. After a few moments, they went back to pick more of the flowers before moving on to find the next batch. "As for your hatred, my love, find another way to channel it."
"What do you mean?" Reina asked as they walked.
"I hated Stefan. I hated him with a passion bordering on madness. I hated him, his wife, his children, and every member of his kingdom. My hatred spanned decades, generations, and my wrath...nearly consumed an entire kingdom in flames."
The Evil Queen's eyebrows rose. "My father told me about the Great Fire. I had no idea that was you."
"The fire spread so quickly…" Mal whispered. "Too quickly to contain. Once my rage had passed, I saw the decimation and… my heart broke. That was my legacy. I would bring nothing to the world but fire and ruin."
"I would think your anger was justified. The man attacked you and killed your baby and then named his new baby the name you had chosen for yours. Had I known I would've laid siege to his castle myself."
Maleficent smirked. "I know you would've, but he would not have been worth the effort and lives lost. No, I needed a new purpose besides hatred. It was only destroying me. He was happy and loved, with a wife and child and even though I knew I would hate them all until my days are done, I decided to find something else to fuel the fire. That's when you came along and gave me the boost I needed. I wanted to bring Lily into a beautiful world and to do that, I had to forge it."
"As lovely as it is hearing about a man that I cannot kill, I don't understand the purpose of this. Besides, Lily didn't even get to see that world because of the fucking Charmings."
The dragon smirked again. "That is precisely my point. Purpose. That's what you need. Your purpose for so long was to rip out Snow White's heart. To be honest, I wouldn't even care if you did that now, but, our lives are more valuable and far more important than that bitch and her pet shepherd."
"My purpose is you. My purpose is Lilith. My purpose is our children. That's all I care about in this world."
"Well, I want you to also care about yourself." Mal replied, pausing to look at the queen. "I want you to do the one thing you have never been able to do."
"And what is that?"
"Enjoy yourself. Enjoy your life. That's why I want to take our time with this. There is no rush. We're free of that nonsense. Humans are the only creatures that rush to do this and that. Probably because you have the lifespans of fish. I'm over it. I want to just be."
"Then we will." Reina said.
Maleficent looked around at the quiet forest before taking Reina's hand. She teleported them home, throwing her staff and satchel across the bedroom and magically removing their clothes. The herbs could wait for now. She needed to have her mate at this moment. Reina let out a soft giggle when Mal picked her up and dumped her on the bed. She crawled across the sheets to her lover and pecked her lips. "I love you, Reina, my queen."
"I love you too, my dear Maleficent."
The dragon let out a soft purr. "Allow me to show you how much."
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Read and Review!
A/N: Next chapter is going to be a bit different in that I don't think I've done a real chapter from the Evil Queen's point of view, so next time we'll get a look at what's really going through her mind.