Just learning to fly

Chapter 9

Regina opened her eyes. She was in a dark room and she could feel the shackles digging into her wrists as they held her captive. As her eyes adjusted, she realized she was in a dungeon. In fact, it looked just like her dungeon back in the Enchanted Forest, only she was usually on the other side of the bars back then. She tried to use her magic to free herself, but failed.
"Hello, Regina." An all too familiar voice called out from the darkness. It was a voice that she thought she would never hear again, but also a voice that she feared.
"Mother." She replied, feeling herself revert back to her eighteen year old self.
Cora stepped out of the shadows so that Regina could see her. She looked just like Regina remembered.
"I see you've been busy. I am curious though. How did you lift your curse?" She questioned, coming right up to the bars that separated them.
"I didn't. Henry did." She replied, shrinking back from her Mother.
"Henry, really? Well I guess he is good for something. But how did he do it? He doesn't have magic." She sneered at her daughter, causing her to tremble. Regina knew that look. It means something terrible was coming her way.
She tried to steady her shaking body by closing her eyes. She thought of Robin, his gentle eyes and hands, practically worshiping her every time he touched her. And she thought of her baby. She needed to be strong for her baby. Cora proofed herself inside of the cell and pulled a whip out of thin air.
"You've been a naughty girl, Regina. You need to be taught a lesson. This is for your own good." She leered at her daughter, preparing to strike the first blow.
Regina closed her eyes and braced herself for the pain. She tried to protect herself and screamed, hoping that someone, anyone would hear her. Just as the whip was about to hit her, she bolted upright in her bed, a screaming tearing from her throat.
She looked around disoriented, trying to figure out where she was.
Robin was holding her, trying to soothe her as she continued to shake, unable to stop. She threw herself into Robin's chest and began to cry, tears streaming down her face. Robin rubbed soothing circles on her back until she began to calm down and her tears ceased.
"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked her, still holding her to his chest.
"It was my Mother. She had me chained in my old dungeon back in the Enchanted Forest. She was taunting me and I couldn't do anything. I was powerless. Then she came into my cell and was going to start whipping me when I woke up. It was more like a memory than a dream, though. She used to do that before I became Queen." She she said, starting to cry again.
"Robin, I can't do this! I can't be like her!" She cried, unable to control herself.
Robin kissed the top of her head as tightened his hold on her. He was angry that someone, especially her own Mother could do that to her.
"What your Mother did was despicable, but you will never become her, okay? You love this baby with your whole soul. Nothing in this realm or any other will change that." He told her, placing his hand over their baby.
"But what if it's a girl?" She asked him.
"What do you mean? Why would it being a girl be different from it being a boy?" He asked her, confused by why that would make any difference. In fact, he had been hoping for a girl to add to their household of almost all boys.
"I wouldn't know what to do with a girl." She confessed. "My only experience with raising babies and kids have been with boys. I've never had to raise a girl before."
"Hey, I think that you would be a wonderful Mother to our daughter." He told her, stroking the side of her face with his thumb.
She yawned, completely exhausted.
"Mmm." She murmured, closing her eyes picturing it. "A little girl with your beautiful blue eyes."
"And your dark hair." He finished.
"I think that she would also have your kind heart." She told him, placing her hand over it.
"But it would also be resilient, like yours." He told her.
She beamed at the thought of it. A beautiful little girl with the best of each of them.
Regina wrapped her arms around Robin and he did the same to her. She laid her head on his chest and fell asleep to the steady, soothing rhythm of his heart.
She hadn't told him the whole truth about why she was so scared that it would be a girl. She was so scared because she was afraid that she would not be able to love a little girl enough. She was afraid that her relationship with her daughter would turn out exactly as her relationship with her Mother had. But her biggest fear paled in comparison to the other unspoken truths. She was afraid that her daughter would be afraid of her. This last fear had been the one that had been haunting her ever since she had found out she was pregnant.
So, when sleep claimed her for a second time that night, it was a miracle that she dreamed of a beautiful little girl with raven pigtails and beautiful blue eyes. A little girl whose caring heart rivalled Snow White's and whose resilience in the face of trials and heartbreaks rivalled even her Mother's.
But when Regina awoke, one thought plagued her mind. What business did an Evil Queen have raising a child so perfect that she could only be described as the product of soulmates?