Chapter 3 – Broken Illusion

Henry's POV

She lay there on the hospital bed connected to various cords which were attached to machines monitoring her vitals. She looked peaceful if it wasn't for the stitched cut on her cheekbone. He remembered the past year and how it felt as if he were in an illusion because life without her felt unreal, reminiscing every moment of time without her...and slowly he broke out of the illusion the longer his eyes inspected the form of his mother. It was really her, she came back to him and at last he released a breath which he felt like he held in for the past year.

He just stood there looking at her, afraid that she would disappear into the shadows again. But he pushed himself forward and put a hand to her cheek and said "Hi mom I know you are asleep and maybe I should say this when you are awake but, I am afraid that I will break into tears and I don't want you to see me like that...I am sorry mom, I am so sorry for the way I had treated you...I am sorry that I made you feel like you always had to prove your love for me...I am sorry that I left you alone after I found Emma...I am sorry for the times I called you evil and I am sorry for not understanding your hurt and the reasons why you did what you had done...and I am sorry because at some point I had actually thought that you were beyond redemption, and I mentally kick myself for that everyday...I am sorry for all the times I recoiled at your touch or I distanced myself from you...I am sorry that I didn't hug you like you meant everything to me when you needed it the most...I am sorry." Tears cascaded like memories down his cheeks and onto Regina's forehead.

"Mom, I want you to know that I love you very much and I will never stop loving you or needing you in my life...this past year made me reflect on my actions and I hadn't realized what I had until I lost it...I am truly happy that you are back and I hope you wake up soon, and when you do I'll be right here waiting...I hope you can forgive me mom..." He finished as he kissed her on the forehead and sat on the chair beside her.

"Milady you need to go we haven't much time" he said

"No! I can't leave you here to fend for yourself, not after I found you again"

"You have to go Regina, if not for me then for our child...you need to go back and figure out what's wrong...don't worry about me I am not that easy to kill" he smirked

King John appeared on a raven coloured horse along with his men and narrowed his eyes on the Outlaw and the Evil Queen.

"What are you doing?" she said as he grabbed her by the shoulders

"I love you Milady" he whispered

And that was the last thing she had heard before being pushed through the portal and engulfed in green smoke.

.

A constant beeping sound had brought her to reality and she realized it was just a dream, slowly her eyes fluttered open. It took a while for her to adjust to the lighting, looking around she could see someone sitting down beside her, but she couldn't make out who it was since her vision was blurry. She moved to try and sit but the wound on her right shoulder made her wince in pain "Mom! You're awake" she heard the voice of her son "Henry, is it really you?" she whispered in a teary voice looking up to her son's face, seeing clearly now.

Henry moved to his mother's side with lightning speed and hugged her gently to assure her that he was really there all the while being mindful of her wound "It's me, mom I am so happy that you're awake" teary eyed she tried to sit up again but Henry stopped her movement "take it easy mom, your wound hasn't healed yet" he said in a worried tone "I am fine Henry you don't need to worry about me anymore, I am alive and well". "I know that you are the strongest one but you need to take it slow...ok" he replied gently "I wanted to tell you that I am sorry for the way I treated you mom" he said full of guilt "It's ok sweetie, I heard your words earlier but I had forgiven you a long time ago" she said with a smile "But it still doesn't make up for the hurt I put you through" he said looking down at his feet.

"Henry look at me, you are my son and nothing in this world can change that, I will always forgive you, love and care for you and that will never change" she said as she reached to cup his face "I heard you while I was asleep, and I want you to know that your words mean the world to me" she said looking deeply into his eyes "I love you mom and I missed you so much" he spoke with tears falling down his face "I love you too sweetie" replied Regina after breaking the embrace and kissed her son on the forehead.

The door to the room opened and in stepped Emma, Dr Whale and Mary Margaret. "Regina you're awake…how are you feeling" said Snow gleefully "I am quite alright dear" she said reassuringly "You are far from okay; can you tell us what happened?" said Emma in a worried tone. "I'll tell you everything, but first I need to know if she's ok" Regina said placing her hand worriedly on the slight bump on her stomach. Henry caught on that and questioned "who is this she, who are you talking about? I thought the only person who came through the portal was you?".

Regina looked towards Emma quizzically "I didn't tell him, I thought it should be you…I didn't want to take that away from you"

"Thank you for being so thoughtful Miss Swa…Emma" replied Regina with a slight smile

"Didn't tell me what?" Henry said worry evident on his face.

"That I am pregnant" she said in a rather soft voice looking at her son and hoping for a positive reaction

Henry's jaw dropped to the floor and he froze with astonishment. After a minute of silence had passed Regina started to feel that Henry was not happy with the latest development in his family and it made her feel disheartened "Henry, please say something" Emma also began to worry "I think he's in shock…snap out of it, kid!" she said while shaking him by the shoulders. That seemed to bring Henry back to reality and he looked at Regina with anger rising in him "did pan do something to you?!" Regina replied reassuringly "No, he didn't in that sense…just let me explain." Henry nodded and set down beside her to let her explain.

"After I was sure you and others got away through the portal I continued to fight to ensure that none would follow you back here, I couldn't risk them entering after you had so I fought them off until the portal closed."

Henry wanted to say something but Regina put a finger to his lips and silenced him. "let me finish" said Regina gently

"I grew weaker the more I exhausted my magic, holding off the shadow as well as Pan and the lost boys and it took a toll on me and I collapsed. The following morning when I woke up Pan was furious because I let you all escape. He told me that I would pay the price of going against him, his threat didn't bother me at all because I was at peace knowing that you were safe. But for two weeks he had left me alone, my magic started to rejuvenate and I thought that I could escape but I was mistaken. On day fifteen he came back with his shadow. His shadow settled himself around my left arm and began pulling out my newly restored magic."

Regina breathed deeply while remembering the first time it had happened, the pain was excruciating.

Emma took the opportunity "the burn marks on your left arm?" Regina replied with a nod.

"Show me" Henry demanded. Regina hesitated, looked at Emma who nodded indicating that she should tell him. Henry needed to know at some point and he wasn't a child anymore, he could handle it. Henry held his breath when he saw his mother's left arm. Her left arm had a burn mark on it like a serpent, from her hand to her shoulder.

"Does it hurt?" he murmured.

"A little" she replied.

Emma knew Regina was lying, just as she knew Regina had given the PG version of what had happened in Neverland after their escape. Emma felt guilty, why had she left Regina behind? She questioned herself.

"Every 10 to 14 days Peter Pan's shadow would return to extract my magic. After leaving me alone for long enough for my magic to restore itself. I was born with magic inside of me so I proved to be a bottomless pit of magic for Peter Pan, after every session it would take a certain amount of time for the magic to return to its full potential."

"But then one day I realized they hadn't come. I knew that this was my best opportunity to escape. It had been about three weeks since the last tort…" Emma noticed Regina wanted to say torture session but she caught herself just in time. "magic pulling session." So, I had come up with a plan to escape and it worked. I hid out on the island for a few weeks to try and figure a way out until I found a magic bean in one of Pan's home offices so I grabbed it and opened a portal after creating a diversion for Pan and the boys so they wouldn't follow me. I thought the portal would open to Storybrooke but instead it transported me to the Enchanted forest…Regina smiled for the first time with full force, since she arrived in Storybrooke. "I met my soulmate there and one thing led to the other and…well I got pregnant."

"Who is he" Emma asked curiously

Regina looked at Emma and raised an eyebrow. "None of your business Miss Swan. I have made the mistake of once trusting your mother and it ending with my true love getting his heart ripped out" she said looking coldly at Snow who shifted uneasily "I will not make that mistake again" Regina said in a stern voice that sounded very much like the Mayor of Storybrooke.

"But how did you end up here?" Henry wanted to know

"Well I wasn't doing so alright because my magic became different and highly unstable so I couldn't use my magic without causing explosions or other accidents and as I result I couldn't heal myself. Instead of getting stronger, I grew weaker physically and adding the fact that I got pregnant, I wasn't doing too good. The baby is doing something strange to my magic. The baby's father became desperate to find a solution and I made the mistake to mention that Rumple could have an idea of this issue and a possible solution. After that he became obsessed with finding a portal for us to come to Storybrooke. He found a way deep in Sherwood forest. He took a big risk taking me there, just as we were about to go through the portal we were attacked by king John and his men. He pushed me through and went back to fight alongside his men."

"Is that where you got hit by the arrow?" questioned Emma

Regina nodded. "it must have come through the portal with me after I jumped in…I didn't want to leave him but he pushed me" she said as tears welled in her brown orbs.

"You didn't want to come back to me?" Henry whispered

Regina looked at Henry and motioned for doctor Whale and Snow to leave after which she said, "You made it very clear that you only saw me as the Evil Queen, no matter how hard I tried to prove to you that I had changed, you always seemed to doubt me. I loved you so much and I will forever love you, but you hurt me deeply and I couldn't see you always disappointed that I was your adoptive mother. So, I saved both of us from these emotions and decided to remain in the Enchanted forest and so I chose to love you from afar. I missed you but I couldn't take anymore rejection from you, it was taking a toll on me."

Regina and Emma knew it was hard to say this to Henry but it needed to be done. He needed to know that words can cut deeper and hurt someone to the core. Henry looked down at his feet ashamed to make eye contact with his mother.

Emma left mother and son alone, they needed time to talk. Emma was relieved to finally know that Regina was being honest about her feeling with Henry.

After a whole Henry came walking out with his shoulders slumped down. Emma felt for him but it needed to be done.

"After all I said to her she still loves me and she forgave me"

"Yup"

Henry looked up

"You knew?"

"A mother can never stay angry with her child, no matter the amount of hell they put her through" and with that sentenced everything was explained. A mother's love is unconditional and eternal.

The rest of the weekend Regina was kept under observation in the hospital but was allowed to leave the following Monday morning. She was given instructions by to come by at least once a week and to eat whenever she felt like it so she and the baby would put on weight. Emma and Henry had spent the entire weekend cleaning Regina's house and just before Regina could come home they had one las thing to do…Grocery Shopping.

Emma and Henry made sure their shopping cart was filled to the brim with all sorts of things a pregnant woman would want. Emma and Henry both knew Regina was keen on good healthy eating but Emma figured she also must have some weird cravings so the cart was also filled with several different kinds of ice-creams, chocolates and then pickles along with other mouth-watering foods and snacks.

TBC…

Author's Note

Just wanted to let you guys know that Henry is actually thirteen years old going on fourteen in this chapter and he is a writer which is why he has a deeper perspective of things.

And I also wanted to appreciate the readers who have taken their time out to follow and review this story. Please do leave more reviews, it motivates me to write with all my heart.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of this story they belong to the creators of Once Upon A Time.

Thank you for reading 😊