Second Chance

23

Regina Mills-

"HENRY!" Emma yells through the thin walls encouraging him to stomp down the stairs jumping into the living room.

"No need to yell, you could whisper in this empty home and I'd hear you loud and clear" he scoffs with that very same eye roll I carry through my bloodstream. "What's all this seriousness about?"

"Regina and I need to talk to you" Emma announces, and suddenly my heart hammers deeply within my chest. We can't be having this conversation right now? I'm not ready. I'm not ready to be recognised as his birth mother, I'm not ready to be anything more than Emma's friend, the fun friend that Henry likes to visit from time to time. Just as I go to interrupt Emma speaks again. "You know when we was playing at Reginas house and suddenly appeared at your grandmas..."

"Yes..."

"It was magic" she seals, wondering how exactly Henry is going to react this way.

"Like when Regina used magic to get an apple" he squeals with excitement, "can you do it again?"

"We're actually going to do something bigger than an apple appearing" she slowly tails off looking in my direction, I shoot her a puzzled look.

"We are?"

"Regina and I are going to combine our magic to make all our furniture and belongings from Boston to appear here" she grins widely as Henry jumps up and down clapping his hands with excitement. I nod along and shake my hands ready, Emma and I hold hands and with our other, we flick our wrists at the same time forcing furniture to appear here, there and everywhere. Finally making this home look more like home.

"Oh my god this is incredible" Henry singsongs. "Can I see my room?" He asks. I'm shocked he isn't mesmerised about the magic, I'm shocked he's not craving more, instead he's more bothered about his room.

"Sure go ahead" I coo, giving Emma and I a second alone. He sprints up to his room and immediately Emma and I fall down to the sofa and I connect our lips. Within the soaring kiss my tongue dances with her before she pulls back in confusion, I guess I owe her an answer. "I'm so happy we're beginning to tell him the truth, I've been dying to show him all my magic, there's something I'd love to give him if you'd let me"

"What is it?"

With a flick of my wrist, a rather large leather brown book displays in my hands 'once upon a time' is engraved in royal gold writing showing all of my history. Emma is in it from time to time but only as a baby. The rest of her story become lost in Boston. She's only the daughter of true love, which provides her with magic but that's all. It's not like she's a character within our fairytale land. She isn't no queen, no villain, no saviour. She's just Emma but I love her all the world.

"Are you sure? This book shows you being a villain rather than the woman we all know now" she sulks, I pull further away giving us distance just in case little Henry decides on running in.

"I'm okay with that. I think Henry needs to know my past. He needs to know where exactly myself, his grandparents and even you, he needs to know where exactly we are all from Emma. We're not ordinary people, we don't belong in normal worlds, he needs to know who and what we are" a single tear runs down my cheek at the fear of Henry hating me from this book, but I can't lie about who I am. As much as I am good now and I do my best to fight back the darkness, the evil queen is a massive part of me and there's no hiding that.

"Then let's do it. Together" she vows.

"Do what?" His little voice enquires as he wonders through the sitting room door and soon sits opposite the two of us. "Is That for me?" He asks excitedly pointing to the book upon my knee.

"Yes it is" I hand it over and watch carefully as he turns a few pages. I wait and wait just wondering when he's going to notice and in 3...2...1...

"Wait? This looks like grandma and grandad, and you're in here regina" he frowns, turning a few more pages. "Mom is this you in the woolly blanket as a baby, it says Emma. I'm confused, why is there a book about everyone in this town?" He asks but before he even has chance reply he is following his question again. "Granny's in there, and ruby, and mom and grandma and grandpa, Regina and even wait... is that me?" He asks flicking towards the end of the book.

"Yes, Henry. You was destined and next in line to be the author but Emma was sent away in the enchanted forest for safety from a curse I had cast. She didn't know about this until I met her all those years ago. She never believed me and it taken a lot to put across but in the end, she did. We'd sit looking at magical stars I had put on the ceiling, I taught her how to use her magic. I lost my good side the day I ruined things with Emma all those years ago. that was when I become evil. We never knew who that image of the little boy was, we spent years waiting and finally we know. You're next to write our stories" I shrug.

"Why are you the evil queen?"

"All these stories are true Henry. I've done some awful things in my past and you're about to find out, but I don't want to lie to you henry. I'm a good person now, I'm not the same woman in the book" another tears runs down my cheek as Henry's soft thumb brushes over one specific page. The day I lost Daniel and I was crying in the barn.

"I see you was damaged. You was hurt, but now I see you're happy and I know you're not the evil queen in the book" he states, instantly making me weep more which results in him getting up and hugging me. I freeze into his hug but soon return.

"Thank you Henry"

"So grandma is Snow White? And grandpa is Prince Charming?" He asks, Emma nods slowly. "That's so cool."

As Henry takes his book upstairs he reads it page after page and it pretty much becomes his entire life: he will not let it out of his grip. He's such a clever open minded boy, normally any kid would shrug this off and never believe but not Henry. I guess that's why he's chosen to be the next author.

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a/n: so Henry knows about the enchanted forest, in this Story Emma is not the saviour, she's just the daughter of true love who has magic that she didn't know until first meeting Regina when they were young. Now that that's cleared up, vote and comment :)