Chapter 9: Revelations

Only a moment went by, but it felt like forever. Cora was looking at her daughter expectantly.

"Come on now." She reached out for her hand, as if they were about to go through some invisible door. The Evil Queen knew she can't let her mother touch her.

"No."

"What do you mean "no"?" The older woman frowned. "Don't be ridiculous. Do you want them to find us?"

"Maybe I... Maybe I don't want to leave." The Queen didn't even know what she's doing, but one thing was certain - she wouldn't go anywhere with Cora.

"Stupid child! What's for you here? They hate you!"

"You said I'd get my revange." There was pure anger in the Queen's voice. „How will I get it when I'm in another realm? You lied about that and you're lying about everything else!"

"My dear..." Cora decided to try a gentle approach, but the Queen stepped back with her hand on the belly. "Okay. Alright. I wasn't exactly honest with Regina."

"Then be honest with me. How did you know about the baby's powers?"

"Hades... He runs The Underworld. He found out about the baby somehow. He told me that he would bring me back to life... permanently… if I brought this baby to him."

"Wh-what? You- you're leading me to him right now?!" The Queen was out of words, she almost gasped at how stupid she was to believe her mother ever had good intentions.

"No! Of course not!" Cora yelled, but at this point anything could've been a lie. "I would never do that! Don't you get it? I accepted the deal to get out of there, but I never intended to hand you over to him. Why would I give him all that power? She's my granddaughter, it is my own blood."

"You want that power for yourself." The Queen said quietly.

"I just want us to go some place safe where neither he, nor those stupid morons Regina calls family can reach us. And then we'll be invincible. We'll beat death itself. You just have to trust me. Come on."

"That's the thing mother, I don't trust you."

"If we don't go now, he'll find me." Cora was getting impatient, as if she could feel something bad was about to happen. "You don't want to sentence your mother to eternal suffering, do you?"

Cora kept reaching out her hand. In that moment The Evil Queen realised that if her mother had a power to take her by force, she would have. It could only mean one thing.

"You need me to go willingly, do you?" She frowned and looked her in the eyes. A soft smile appeared on her lips.

"That's how light magic works."

But the last sentence was not spoken by either one of them. Both Cora and The Queen looked to where the voice was coming from. Regina – the "real" Regina – was coming towards them.

"Oh, for god's sake." Cora rolled her eyes. "I told you they'd find us! It's your last chance to come with me, my daughter. You have to choose. Me or them?!"

Behind Regina there was Robin and Snow, both with arrows pointed at the enemies. Emma had a gun, whereas David and Hook were holding swords. Regina was walking at the front.

"What did you just say?" The Evil Queen looked directly at her doppelganger, ignoring her mother.

"You got that right." Regina looked at her mother, when she was walking slowly towards them. "She has to make a choice, that's what it's all about."

"Don't come any closer!" The Queen growled.

"It's okay."

"I'm not falling for your tricks. I'm finally free of you!"

"I don't have any tricks. Frankly, I don't know what to do." Regina responded honestly. "Other than to remind you the fact you keep ignoring."

When they found The Queen and Cora's whereabouts, everyone wanted her to wait with the confrontation before they came up with some kind of plan. But Regina knew she couldn't wait, she knew every second mattered, even if she was risking a lot by going in without a plan. Or without any magic. And she was right. If she waited any longer, Cora and The Queen could've been out of Storybrooke by now.

"All I know is that you love this little girl inside you just as much as I do." Regina continued. "We need to protect her and you know giving her over into Cora's hands is not the way. You know it."

"I can't do it alone." The Queen broke down. "I won't do it alone."

"You won't. Look at this." Regina made a circle with her arm. "We're all here to protect this baby. Our family will be there for us every step of the way. It took me a long time to understand, but we're truly not alone anymore."

"What about her power? Hades wants her. Everyone will want her. How can we do this to her? Maybe... Maybe Cora is right, maybe there's some place else where she'd be safer?"

"No, there isn't. She's the product of true love, she belongs with her family."

"Stop negotiating with them!" Cora was furious. "You want your child to be raised among the enemies? She needs someone to guide her and teach her magic, not to fuss over!"

"She needs someone to love her." Regina interfered. "But she's not the only one."

Something in The Evil Queen's face changed. She realized something and instantly made her decision. She looked at her mother. Everyone held their breath.

"Mother... What on earth, or any realm, made you think I would ever leave Henry?"

And then The Evil Queen sent a powerful wave of magic her mother's way. The light force knocked her down on the ground. The Queen started counting.

"You killed Daniel. You made a monster out of my sister, you made a monster out of me... You were never going to love my baby for who she is. I will not risk it."

"You foolish..." Cora moved her hand to conjure a spell, but she didn't finish. The earth beneath her started crumbling and shaking. Suddenly Cora was held in place by a bunch of black branches and something started to suck her below.

"No... No! He found me. Regina!"

Regina looked at her mother and then at her doppelganger. The Queen looked back at her and, ignoring their mother completly, without thinking much, she walked to her.

"You know what to do?" The Queen asked, looking deeply into her own eyes.

"No." Regina responded, somehow knowing what the question was about.

"Take care of her." The Queen said. "And... take care of us. This... she's can't be..."

"I know." Regina nodded. "Are... are you sure...?"

"Shut up and do it before I change my mind." The Evil Queen hissed and forcefully grabbed both of Regina's arms.

If Regina were to be honest with herself, she didn't expect anything to happen. It couldn't have been that simple. And yet it was. As soon as The Queen clenched her hands on her arms, the familiar feeling warmed her entire body. Their skin started glowing red where they were touching and the redness was building up by seconds. They were connecting. They merged back together, their flesh melting into one another. But what seemed to last for so long, happened relatively quickly. When Regina cought a first breath as one person again, Cora was still being sucked into the ground.

"Ah!" Regina gasped and her hand automatically wanted to move to her chest, but it was stoped by a large bump on its way there. She looked down in relief. She was pregnant again.

"Regina!" Robin ran to her. "How... how did you do it?"

"I guess she... I guess I made the right choice."

"Guys!" Emma screamed to them.

They all looked down. Cora wasn't there anymore, but something else was happening. There was a blue flame building up from under the ground. The stench of brimstone and rot was overwhealming.

"That's the Underworld." David spoke. "Isn't it?"

"We can't let it break through." Snow shook her head.

Regina felt it. In her entire body.

Magic.

She looked down at the palms of her hands and with a swift move she made a spell. The ground shook once more and the blue opening started to close. When it closed completly, everything went quiet.

"What just happened?" Hook was the first to ask.

"Regina?" Snow said.

"My magic." Regina looked up at everyone. "It's back."

"It may be back, but this..." Robin looked at the place where the portal closed and smiled. "This was her."

Regina looked down at her belly and frowned.

"Yeah."

xxx

It took a while for everyone to go back to normal. If there even was a normal at this point.

Regina, apart from having mandatory weekly check ups, started a therapy with Archie. When she merged back with The Evil Queen, everything she learned to control for all those years went back in flames. Her anger issues only intensified the guilt she felt. She now inherited The Queen's memories as if they were her own, so she remembered every moment of killing the woman in the cell. As much as it could come of as a surprise to some people, killing wasn't something she could just brush off nowadays.

She also had to finally resign as the mayor. She was barely in her office for the past weeks, and she couldn't deny she's not doing her job very well. Storybrooke needed leadership and she wanted it to have a good one. Snow took the mantle once again, swearing she'd give Regina the job back as soon as her stepmother gets back on her feet.

But it wasn't even the worst part.

Regina didn't really feel sense of doing anything at all. She was happy that the baby was finally safe and healthy, but with every day her pregnancy progressed, she was coming one step closer to her death. At least that's what she was sure of.

Robin suggested they get married sooner rather than later and she agreed. She knew where the rush was coming from. Robin wouldn't let her go without showing her his love in every possible way. And if making him a soon-to-be widower was something that would make all of this a little easier for him, she was more than willing to play along.

"You're not going to die." Robin said one morning when she brought up the topic. "I can't keep having this conversation." He was dressing up for his new job at the sheriff's station, still not quite used to this whole "nine to five" thing.

"We don't know that." She said quietly.

"You carry your own baby. Zelena stole it and you got it back. The rules don't apply."

"Listen to me."

"Regina..."

"Please."

Robin closed his eyes and put down the shirt. He turned back and went to sit beside her on the bed.

"We have to prepare our children and ourselves for the possibility I might be dead in less than 3 months." Regina chose the words very deliberately. "Your persistent denying won't change anything. We're not the Charmings."

"I know, I just..."

"I know it's hard on you." She stopped him from saying anything else. "It's me who should be sorry. Mostly about my behaviour lately. I love my baby, but please try to understand... Planning a future seems so pointless for me. All I'm focused on right now is bringing this child into the world safely."

"Is this why you're so against talking about names?"

Regina looked at him with pain.

"Robin..."

"If you do want to have a serious conversation, it has to be both sided." Robin took her hand and sighed. "Sorry, I just... you're asking me a lot. You want me to get used to the idea of losing you... Our daughter is the only thing that makes all of this bearable, but I'm tired of calling her "the baby". She will need a name and I would like to know your opinion when I still can. Whenever we try to talk about it, you change the subject."

Regina looked down at their hands and sighed.

„It's just… Naming Henry was so easy. But… a daughter? I don't know how to be a girl mom. Whenever I think about it, I'm just so afraid I'll ruin her, just like my mother ruined me."

Robin looked at her and smiled.

"Is that funny to you?"

"Truthfully? A little funny, yeah. Of all the reasons I thought you might be hesitant to talk about names, this is the most ridiculous one of them all."

"Oh, really? Why is that, thief?"

"Because you will never be like your mother. It's just impossible. And I'd like to remind you you're raising a teenager right now, and you're making magnificent job. How much harder a girl can be? Besides, until she's at that age, you'll have plenty of time to prepare."

"It's not just that! Robin, what if she falls in love some day and someone breaks her heart? What if I'm not able to stop myself from killing them?! I'm afraid because I remember what it's like to be raised by a controlling witch."

"Cora did not kill Daniel because he broke your heart. Quite the opposite in fact."

"You know what I mean..."

"If you're really that scared of yourself in the future, that means somewhere deep inside you you believe you won't die."

Regina looked at him pissed. He pointed a finger at her in a "I got you" gesture. It took a while, but eventually she smiled. It wasn't much, but she had to admit, she can't be scared of both of those things at the same time. It took a little bit of weight of her shoulders.

„There it is."

Robin kissed her on the top of her head and got up.

"I want to know your baby name ideas by the evening. Now hurry up, you don't want to miss an appointment."

xxx

"Is this really necessary?" Regina asked when she was dressing up in the doctor's office. "I mean... I'm seven months, what can happen at this point?"

"What can happen? You tell me." Dr Whale laughed.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, between magical baby transfers and you getting tortured by your former enemies, I think there's plenty of space for unpredictable events."

Regina looked at him for a while, but said nothing. He had a point.

"But from a medical point of view... everything is fine. Don't worry." He added, seeing her expression.

Victor turned the machines down and moved back behind the desk. Regina wached him as he printed some papers.

"I never thanked you." She spoke suddenly.

Dr Whale rose one eyebrow.

"For what?"

"For everything. You used to hate me."

The doctor looked at her and put down the papers.

"Yeah."

"What's changed then?" Regina pushed.

"Bold of you to assume I don't hate you anymore."

"I can see you don't." She smirked.

"I'm a doctor, I care for my patients. Nothing personal."

This time it was Regina who rose an eyebrow.

"Alright." He said finally. "I can only speak for myself, but unlike the Charmings, I was never a saint. You cursed all of us thinking you punish us, then the curse was broken and I still didn't see it, but... now I do."

"What is it that you see?"

"A blank slate. Which... you gave us. Unwillingly, but still. You see, this job... it gave me a purpose. It was a struggle to accept my past, especially once I knew what people of this world think about the name Frankenstein... But since then I saved so many lives. And it feels so good to be able to. I wouldn't change a thing. I wouldn't... go back."

"Well, I'm glad I failed then. At making you all miserable." Regina smiled. He wasn't very good at heart-to heart, but she couldn't count on more honesty than this. He handed her the prescription and she got up.

"Oh, and... Regina?" He spoke as she grabbed the handle of the door.

"Yes?"

"Don't tell anyone we're friends."

"Are we friends?" She laughed.

"We better be. I'll be the one to deliver your baby, remember?"

"Oh my god!" Regina's face went red and she left the office as quickly as she could. She could hear the doctor's laughter as she was walking down the hall.

"We really need another doctor in this town." She murmured to herself.

"Regina!"

The queen stopped, almost bumping into a certain blond fairy.

"Are you okay?" Tinkerbell asked.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Your face is red."

"Why are you here?" Regina asked, annoyed, ignoring the question.

"I was looking for you."

Regina frowned.

"Why?"

"Because I've been so preoccupied with fairy stuff, I never even got to congratulate you on your baby."

"It's... okay. We're hardly friends. I didn't expect you to..."

"No, Regina." Tinkerbell touched her arm, she got serious out of a sudden. "We should catch up. What do you say on girl's night?"

Regina narrowed her eyes. She understood Tink wanted to talk to her about something and she wanted to do it in private.

"Best I can do now is girl's afternoon. Preferably with a huge plate of onion rings."

Tinkerbell smiled widely.

"I knew it was still there." The blonde fairy said later, when they were walking through the park with a takeout in their hands.

"What was still there?"

"The kind of understanding only friends can have."

"I knew you wanted to talk in private, that much was obvious. The question is why?"

"I wanted to apologize." Tinkerbell said as they sat on a bench.

"What for?"

"When we came back from Neverland, I got back my powers and I went back to being a fairy full time."

"As I would expect you to. There's nothing to apologize for. Is this really what you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Yes. I mean... no."

"Tink... what is going on?"

"I'm responsible, Regina. For you and for all of this."

"I don't follow."

"I brought you together. You and Robin. The pixie dust. And then... I abandoned you."

"Don't... worry about it."

"No!" Tinkerbell grabbed her hand. "I screwed up. Again. Regina, you have to understand how fairies work. I used pixie dust on you. I was practically your fairy godmother. I brought you and your soulmate together. And now you're about to have a pixie dust baby. I should've been there for you when you were kidnapped. I should've helped you and most of all I should've protect the protuct of my magic."

When the fairy said that, she looked down at Regina's belly. The queen wondered about it for a while. To her it was kind of ridiculous, but maybe she did not understand how it works after all.

"Maybe I don't know how fairy magic works, but I can assure you one thing. None of this was your fault." Regina sighed. "For all I know, my baby's fate was sealed long before I was even born."

"How is that?"

Regina laughed in disbelief. And then she saw Tinkerbell is not joking.

"You don't know about the prophecy?"

"Prophecy?"

"Blue... How is this possible? You're one of them."

"Oh my god, Regina. That's it." Tinkerbell stood up. "For all this time... I didn't realise."

"You're scaring me." Regina put a hand on her belly.

"Regina, you're the number one topic among the fairies. They're preparing for something. They pushed me aside, saying I was too involved in this. I assumed it was about your merge with the queen. I thought it was about me screwing things up again, but this is something else. This is about your baby."

"What are you talking about?"

"Your baby is the child from a prophecy. The prophecy! Blue never told me that. They're not preparing for you, they're preparing for her."

Regina didn't answer, she just kept looking at her with eyes wide open. Tinkerbell continued.

"Is there anything that happened, anything that might have made them scared of her?"

"No. God, no... I..." And then Regina paused. She looked down and gasped.

"There is something, isn't it? You have to tell me." Tinkerbell sat back down next to her. "Please, let me do right by her..."

Regina's eyes filled with tears. She looked at her friend and then looked around.

"She... She killed my sister."

"Zelena?" Tink frowned. "But I thought..."

"That it was me? No, I didn't have my magic. She did it. She was protecting me. I don't..."

"How did it look like?"

"What?"

"How did your daughter do it?"

"I... I don't know... it was like a wave. It melted Zelena. It was this... warmth inside me."

Tinkerbell eyes went wide.

"Was there a light? Did you feel anything else?"

"Yes. I just knew... I knew she was protecting me. She's not evil. She can't be." Regina hid her face inside her hands.

"No, she's not!" Tinkerbell face lit up and then suddenly her expression changed back to a worried one. "Oh no… Regina..."

"What?"

"You are all wrong. Blue has it all wrong. Light magic can't kill."

"But it did. There was no other way..."

"No. You don't listen. Light magic literally cannot kill. It would've stopped Zelena and protected you, yes, but it would never kill a person. Blue thinks this child's fate is already dark, the fairies are preparing for the worst, they think it will become a villain. They're scared. They knew I would tell you... that's why they didn't tell me everything."

"Tink..." Regina stopped her and looked at her with terror in her eyes.

"Don't worry. We'll prove it. Your baby did not kill anyone, I've never been more sure of anything."

"Exactly." Regina whispered. "She didn't kill anyone."

Thinkerbell didn't catch it. How could she? She didn't know the kind of person Zelena was or what exactly she did to her. Her friend was right about one thing - she wasn't there when it happened. This is why Tink couldn't quite comprehend the seriousness of the situation. She was only focused on proving the pureness of the baby to the fairies. Which was amazing, but one fact remained. If what Tink was saying was true...

"Zelena didn't die." Regina spoke with wide eyes. "She's alive. And she's out there."

xxx

"Robin?!" Regina screamed as she walked inside the sheriff's station.

"Regina!" He ran towards her and put his arms around her immediately. "I heard. It's going to be okay."

"We need to find her." Emma said to them.

"But how? She could be anywhere." Snow added.

"I won't let her hurt my family." Robin growled.

"We don't even know if she's planning to hurt you." Hook spoke. "It's been months."

"Exactly. She's hiding. Using the element of surprise. She knew we would think she's dead." David said, looking at Regina and Robin.

"Do you guys think she's scared of your baby? She blasted her once before, she knows she can't get close to you."

"No." Regina said quietly and wiped a tear. "I think we're still connected. And I think she knows it."

"What are you saying?" Robin asked.

"She wanted me to believe she's dead, because she knew I'd believe this pregnancy is the only time I have left. She wanted me to be scared."

"The linking spell." Snow understood.

"Yes. She's alive which means I still have a chance to see my daughter grow up." She smiled palely to Robin. "But this also means she's out there and we have absolutely no idea what she's planning."

"We'll find out." Emma looked at her. "We have a leverage now. We know. And she doesn't know we know."

"Even if we do find her, we're back at the start." Robin shook his head. "We can't kill her."

"There are other ways." Snow said. "We trapped Peter Pan inside Pandora's Box, we'll figure it out."

"Maybe, but I won't take my chances."

Regina looked at Robin, confused.

"What does that mean?"

Robin looked at the Charmings and they all nodded. They left to give them space to talk.

"What is going on?"

"Regina... There's something you must know."

Regina rose her eyeborws. Clearly Robin and the Charmings shared some secret she had no idea about.

"What is it?"

"I don't work here. At the station. It's just what I've been telling you."

"W.. what?"

"The truth is... For the past two weeks we've been visiting the Enchanted Forest in search of... something."

"The Enchanted Forest?! Are you joking?"

"I couldn't stand seeing you so worried. And I would definitely never make peace with the fact you would die at childbirth. Not after Marian. And you so easily believed I'm okay with it."

"What is going on? What the hell is it you're looking for?"

"An object called Shears of Destiny."

Regina was out of words. She had so many questions, but she could only bring herself to ask the least important one.

"How?"

"Jefferson's hat. He managed to make one that works. The number of travels are limited, but we're so close to finding this object." Robin grabbed Regina's face in both of his hands. "The legend says it can cut away any magically sealed destiny from anyone who uses it. It will cut your fate from Zelena once and for all and you'll never have to worry about it again. You'll be alive, you'll see your daughter grow up and you'll be the most amazing mother."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Regina almost broke down into tears.

"Because I didn't want to give you false hope." Robin said with pain. "I'm so sorry it's come to this. But we have no time. If Zelena's out there, we need to find this thing as quickly as possible."

"Wait... No..."

"I'm sorry. I have to."

"You're leaving... now?!"

"I'm taking Killian and David with me. We'll succeed."

"Robin..."

"My love." Robin stopped her and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Remember when we spoke about names?"

Regina nodded, she was already crying.

"You were right. We can't plan a future until we make sure we have one. Once we cut your fate from your sister, we'll have plenty of time to think about everything, but right now... There's nothing more important than your life."

"Your wrong." Regina grabbed his arm. "She's more important. She'll need a father. Don't leave. Please."

"Zelena can hurt you any time, Regina." Emma spoke, interrupting them. "If she learns we know, she can just hurt herself just like she did last time. Robin is right, we're fighting against the time here. And if you're hurt, so is your baby."

"Can you protect her?" Robin asked Emma.

"Of course." The woman smiled. "We will. Though I'm pretty sure she can protect herself."

"Go." Snow said to Robin, but also to her husband and Killain. "Find those... Shears of Destiny and come back to us." She kissed her husband. Then they took a hat from under the desk and Regina realised just how much she didn't know.

Robin turned aruond to face her again.

"I'll be back."

"Wait." She said. "Give me a day."

"What?"

"Please. Just a day." She said with a pleading tone.

"Regina..."

"Marry me." Regina added quickly, looking into his eyes and everyone else looked at them with confusion, stopping what they were doing.

"That's my intention. I proposed, remember?" Robin smiled to her.

"What I meant is... marry me... tomorrow." Regina touched his face. "A long time ago I lost a fiancee and I will never do that again. So... I will let you go under one condition. You leave as my husband."

Robin looked into her eyes, battling with himself.

"Okay." He said finally. "We'll get married tomorrow. And then I go to save your life."