Little Sparrow Mills

Chapter 9

       A few hours had past and I awoke from our nap. The fire had almost burned completely out but was still lit. I looked over and Sparrow was still sleeping next to me. She was so beautiful and looked to not be terrorized by her sleep for once. I couldn't help but smile and just stare at her. I could just watch her all day. But I didn't want to bother her so I decided I would grab a blanket and step out onto the balcony. My mind all of a sudden went to Henry. How I missed him so much! I wondered what he was doing and how his life was going with Emma. It was still hard to wrap my head around the idea that I would never be able to see him again. I looked back at Sparrow and just thought how thankful I was to at least have her. She was now my reason to continue on, with or without Henry. "Regina?" I vaguely heard. "Regina, you in here?" Snow said. I peaked around the corner, "Shh! She's sleeping." I said pointing over to the couch. "I'm out here." Snow then quietly made her way out. "Sorry. I just wanted to check on you two. How did it go earlier?" She asked as she took a seat next to me. I sighed as I rested my hand on my head. "That bad huh?" She said with a sympathetic look. I looked back over to make sure she was still sleeping, "Zelena showed up..." I said. "What!?" Snow exclaimed. "It turns out Sparrow used to live with her. She was able to escape from her weeks ago. I finally got her to open up to me a little. She told me, "Little bird" was a name Zelena used to belittle her and that's why she lashed out." I said with a saddened look. Snow then looked back to her and back to me. "Poor thing! I had no idea." Snow said very sadly. "We all had no idea. She had a complete meltdown! When I finally got her calmed down, I was going to tell her who I was, when Zelena showed up." I said as I stood to walk to the door and watched her. "You both are obviously ok so what did she want?" Snow said as she walked up next to me. "It was strange. I got the feeling that she wasn't there to hurt us but rather play games and torment. She said she was just checking on me and that she was always watching." I said turning to face her now. "I know Zelena definitely knew Sparrow was my daughter. But she never told her who I was and I get the feeling she doesn't want her to know or is at least trying to delay it." Why though? What is she up to? I thought to myself. "So when are you going to tell her?" Snow asked as we both walked back to take a seat. "Ugh! It's complicated Snow." "Whats so complicated about it? The longer you wait the more you risk how upset she will be." I rolled my eyes at her. Like I don't know that! "Don't you think I know that? I want to tell her! I want to be able to start that mother daughter bond with her. There's nothing I want more than to embrace her and tell her that her mother is here. But I don't know how much she knows about the "Evil Queen". I don't want her to reject me and with everything else going on and what she has been through, I just need the perfect time!" I said very agitated. Not so much with Snow, which was shocking. But just agitated with life and Zelena! "Hey. Calm down. I'm sorry Regina. I didn't mean to upset you. I just worry how she is going to react later. Don't let Zelena interfere with when you're ready to tell her." I nodded and gave a small smile. I was still trying to get used to the fact we weren't enemies anymore and could actually carry conversations. Just as I was about to speak I heard Sparrow start to stir.

I began to wake and could feel a coldness, like Regina wasn't there. I sat up and could hear someone talking by the balcony. When I looked over in that direction I saw Regina talking to Snow. Oh man! I hope she isn't too mad at me. I stood up to walk over to them but they both started making their way over to me first. "Snow, I'm..." I started to apologize when she cut in. "It's ok. Don't worry about it sweetie. I'm the one who should apologize." She said. I looked at her very confused and then to Regina realizing she had told her. "Oh! Please don't be mad at Regina. She didn't tell me everything you guys have talked about. You can trust her. She just told me the part about the name. I promise I won't do it again." She said with a very honest tone, and I really did believe her. I looked towards Regina and could see she was a bit uneasy. But I couldn't be mad at her. I'm kinda glad that she told Snow because honestly I really didn't want to have to explain that again. "I'm not mad." I said with a slight smile. "Thank goodness!!! I did not need to have another reason for Regina to hate me!" Snow said with a laugh. Regina then scoffed and looked at her. "I don't hate you." She said very plainly. When Snow gave her a puzzling look, Regina continued. "Well, not anymore!" She said with an eye-roll. I looked at both them with an odd look. I know that before the first curse the Evil Queen or Regina, was after Snow White. I had seen the wanted signs, but never really knew what she did. And I didn't really know much about the Evil....I mean Regina. Obviously I heard the rumors and stories circling about her but where I lived she never really showed face there. "I'll have to fill you in dear. I can see you're a bit confused. We'll have plenty of time to talk." She said matter of fact. "Well, I should get going. Charming is probably looking for me. I just wanted to check on you both and apologize Sparrow. Truly. I hope you will realize that you're safe here and it's like one big family. We take care of each other." She said as she made her way out. I didn't really know what to think about those words. It was crazy that I had actually found somewhere I could make a home. Have a family. This all seemed too good to be true. But there was this feeling in the pit of my stomach that told me I could trust them and eventually....open up. "I do hope you're really not upset with me for talking to Snow." I turned to face her, "Im not mad. In fact, Im kind of glad you did." I said with a slight laugh. When she gave me a questioning look I continued. "I felt really bad about yelling at her earlier. I wanted to apologize but I really did not want to have to tell someone the reason again." She stepped a bit closer to me and grabbed my hands. "I just want you to know you can trust what you talk to me about. You can always talk to me about anything. I will always be here for you." There was something about the tone of her voice and the motherly way she talked to me that made me truly believe that I could fully trust her. It was so strange and concerning how I had been here a little over a week and felt this weird connection with her. And this place! It was something I was definitely going to have to get used to. "It's going to take time to get used to this, but I....I trust you Regina. Thank you, for everything! Although it's going against everything I've known all my life, I feel like this could really be a home." I said giving her a hug. After a few moments she pulled away and said, "I'm glad you're finally starting to trust me." She said with a smile. "Well, I've got some things I need to do, if you're up to it you can go to library to keep occupied. I shouldn't be too long dear." I nodded and then off we went.

Authors note:
Thanks to all my readers and those who have waited for the next chapter. This is really just a filler chapter. I've been crazy busy with moving to England and getting all settled in. I've had some writers block with this chapter. I have ideas for later chapters. (Suggestions or input is welcome ☺️) I do plan for Sparrow to find out in a few chapters so be bear with me. Hopefully it wont take me as long to make updates in the future. ♥️