Always and Forever

The Evil Queen

Regina's POV

"We've been through a lot today and learned much about ourselves. Do you really want to know about my past at this time, Emma?"

"I won't force you to tell me anything you don't want to tell me, Gina. All I know is what other's have said. I know about some of the despicable things you've done and it doesn't make me love you any less. You aren't your past. You're no longer a villain in anyone's story. You might as well be the Savior, because you are mine."

"How so?"

"You've given me True Love. You've raised our son to be a wonderful young man, when I couldn't. My past may not be the best, but I have everything I could ever want right now. I'd go through it all again to be here, with you, right now."

I kiss her deeply, until we have to come up for air. "Thank you. This feels so good. So right."

"It does. I wish it didn't take us this long."

"I guess this wait was our price to pay, however, it was worth it in the end."

"All magic comes with a price. I would give it all up for you, Gina."

"Hmm. I don't know if you'll feel the same way after I tell you my story."

"I promise you, nothing's going to change."

"The beginning", I say and she nods her head. 

"As you know, Cora wasn't the greatest person. Imagine what she was like as a mother. I hated magic, because she used it to discipline me. I wasn't allowed to be a regular child. She had high expectations, which were for me to grow up being proper, marrying a King and honing power. That was her goal for me. I couldn't have friends, I couldn't play, I couldn't do anything that was considered 'unladylike'. I got away with horseback riding because of my Father. I was absolutely in love with riding. It was the only time I felt free. The stable boy was Daniel. He would give me riding lessons and teach me how to take care of Rocinante, my horse. Spending all that time with Daniel, I easily fell in love with him. He was kind, trustworthy, caring, and he took the time to get to know me. I was comfortable telling him any and everything. He was a gentleman." I smile at the memory of him. "I wanted nothing more than to marry him and get away from my mother. We talked about it. We talked about running away and getting married, but mother had other plans. One day I was in the stable with Daniel, and I heard a child screaming. That was your mother. The horse was out of control and she was surely going to get hurt or even killed. I jumped onto Rocinante and raced after her. She was so beautiful, polite and thankful. She looked at me like I was her Savior, and I was happy I was able to save her. Soon after my mother told me Snow's father was coming to our castle. Apparently, he was looking for a wife, and I seemed to be the perfect suitor because I saved his daughter. What I didn't know was that mother had arranged for Snow's incident, so I can save her and meet the King. When he proposed, she accepted before I could say anything. She knew I didn't want to marry him, that I wanted to be free and live my life as I saw fit, but she said 'power, is freedom', and I couldn't argue with her. As you know, before the wedding, Snow told my mother about Daniel. The night we met in the stables to run away together, Cora found us in the barn. At first, with the way she spoke, we both felt as if she was going to allow us to be together, then before I knew it, she was ripping his heart out of his chest, and crushing it right in front of me." 

I feel the tears well up in my eyes, and Emma puts her arms around me, holding me and patiently waiting for me to continue the story.

"I tried to runaway again, when Rocinante and I were riding through the forest, Cora used her magic to have the tree branches pick me up off of Rocinante. Thus, I end up having to come back to the castle and prepare to marry the King. It was while I was getting dressed that I found out, Snow was the one who told my secret. Cora conned her into thinking she wanted to help make me happy, and so Cora told her about Daniel. I was already deeply hurt from the loss, but your mother's betrayal hit me even worse. After the wedding is when I called out for Rumplestiltskin, and convinced him to start teaching me magic Now that I had someone to blame for my unhappiness, it became much easier to succumb to the darkness. When I married the King, of course now I was expected to perform my wifely duties. I despised the King and I was still practically a child when I had to marry him. I didn't want him near me. I didn't want to be with him. He was mostly devoted to his daughter. After some time, I do believe he started to love me. One day, he gives me a brooch as a gift, which I believe is the one he had given Eva, your grandmother. It was sweet and kind of him, but I couldn't help the way I felt towards him and that marriage. To feel lonely, depressed and disgusted. I just couldn't dream of falling in love with the King. I loved Daniel with every fiber of my being. I lost my first love, forced to marry and perform my wifely duties as the Queen. I was expected to give him an heir. Cora wanted nothing more. If I were to have a child for the King, our family would remain being in power and that was her only goal. However, to hurt her and not give her what she wanted, I ended up hurting myself more. I drank a potion that would render me incapable of carrying a child, ever. I can't describe the hurt and regret that I felt immediately after I drank the potion, but I also knew if I had gotten pregnant there was no way I would have ever gotten my freedom. As the years go by in my marriage, I hate everything around me more and more. Which is when I start planning my revenge. I knew that I wanted Snow to suffer, because she was the root for all the events that took place, by telling my secret. Cora, I had gotten my revenge for when I pushed her through the looking glass, sending her off to Wonderland. One day, the King was out on a mission and ended up coming across a magical lamp, which is how he found a genie. I ended up getting the Genie to feel sorry for me, and eventually even falling for me. I was writing in my journal about a fake affair I was having so that The King could find it and read it. When he did, as I expected, he got angry and ended up being very rough and hurting me. The Genie witnessed his behavior and felt sorry for me. He agreed to help me get rid of The King. He brought 2 vipers into The King's room, and that's how The King came to his death. To make this long story shorter, from then on Snow was on the run. I've hired men to hunt her, I've tortured and killed anyone I suspected was helping her. The power eventually got to me and I ended up conquering territories too. I've done a lot of unspeakable things, Emma. I won't sit her and tell you each and every detail, but I've killed many people who didn't deserve it. I tortured so many innocent people. I chased your mother for nearly a decade. I always say, 'Evil is not born, it's made.' These were the events that led me to being the Evil Queen."

"Regina, you're not a terrible person. Yes, you should have probably made better choices, but everything you did was because of what you went through."

"I don't understand how you could dismiss it all. End the of the day, yes I should have made better choices, but I didn't. That makes me a monster."

"You are a hero, Gina. You're not a villain. You've saved all of us. You made the choice to be good, and you've had. It hasn't been easy, and you've had every opportunity to stay evil and get your way. But you never took the easy path."

"Can I tell you something?"

"You can tell me, anything."

"I never truly wanted to kill your mother. I had every opportunity to. I could have at any point of time. It was never that she slipped through my fingers. Even though I was hurt by her, I still raised her. She held a place in my heart from the day that I saved her from that horse. Yes, she still held some fault for her role in Daniel's death, but everything was set into motion by my mother. Snow was merely a pawn. There's something about your mother that I have always admired. And there are times when I look at you, and I see the 10 year old face of your mother, or I notice her in your behavior."

"I don't understand how you can think you're evil after this."

"I condemned everyone to what I thought was going to be a lifetime of misery when I casted that curse."

"Well, it was only 28 years, and if you didn't cast the curse we wouldn't be here. I wouldn't have met you, and Henry wouldn't have had the wonderful life you provided him with."

"I don't regret anything I did Emma. I would live it all again, because I got Henry out of this."

"I wouldn't want it to have been any other way. My life growing up wasn't great, but this is. What we have is amazing, Gina. I can't imagine a life without you and Henry. Everything bad that I felt growing up just disappeared once I had our little family. Just us three."

"I don't understand how one can be so perfect. I love you, Emma."

"I love you, too."

Sorry for the delay in writing guys. 

I had a hard time writing this chapter and figuring out how I want the story to go. 

I hope you guys like! 

Please let me know if I should continue or not.