ONCE UPON A TIME X READERS

[REGINA MILLS DRABBLE]

Based on I'm Gonna Show You Crazy by Bebe Rexha, with some meaning manipulation since I'm unable to write angst anymore.

Word count: 417

When the curse broke, you were probably the only person in the whole town who didn't judge her. She had created a curse and mostly ruined a townful of lives, but you still remembered how she had visited your office once in a while. She told you feeling guilt about how she and her father parted ways and how it was killing her. How she felt like she's crazy and can't be fixed, she was always over-thinking and felt like she was driving herself crazy. That she had been that way before, what prevents her to take that path again?

She had told you about wanting to get better, be a better mother for her son and learn to be more empathetic for people in town. You had tried to question why she hates Mary Margaret so much, but dropped it when Regina told you that she had broken a promise, and that's all she has to say about it.

You had helped her to listen to Henry more, to try and get along with Emma and even with Mary Margaret and very slowly, she succeeded in it. She tried to be more accepting to people she had despised and thought of as a threat before - most people in town still didn't like her, but some started to warm up to her upon realising she actually tried to get better. For the first time in years, Henry hugged her and said he loves her and she even started to feel grateful that Emma could take care of Henry if she couldn't.

You kept seeing her, never judging even if she had messed up, and Regina admired you for it. You were just so incredibly determined to help her through it all, not abandoning her and with your help, Regina actually felt like she could one day be a person she wants to be, live without bitterness or anger. Or rather, she knew she would one day achieve it.

One day, people would love her like she had always dreamed they would. She might have lost track on how many times she fell down and failed, but this was a beginning. This was hope, something that no matter what else happened, she still held onto it. That was a feeling she had lost long ago, but had gotten it back again because of you.

She would never stop being grateful for you, and would reward you for all the help once your meetings would come to an end.