Prophecy (Once Upon a Time)

Chapter Three

"Are you sure you're okay?" Zach asked Elena, taking her hand in his. She nodded, watching the clock tower carefully as the hand moved to eight-sixteen.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little tired." She responded, finally tearing her eyes away from the clock. "Or I'm starting to go crazy."

"Starting? You were already crazy." He joked, making her laugh. "See? I know you've gone crazy when you start laughing at the stupid shit I say."

"Let's go. It's getting late." She shook her head fondly, still quietly laughing at him. He started walking down the sidewalk again, a satisfied smile on his face.

The next morning, Regina looked through Henry's book, flipping to the last pages to find them missing. Anything about Elena or her sister was gone, the torn ends being the only thing left. She shut the book in anger, knowing it was Henry who ripped out the pages.

She barged into his room, where he was fixing his button on the top of his shirt. "The missing pages. Where are they?"

"It's an old book. Stuff's missing. Why do you care?" He shrugged and started walking past her.

She grabbed his arm, stopping him from leaving. "I care because you think I'm some Evil Queen. And that hurts me, Henry. I'm your mother."

"No, you're not."

"Well, then who is?" She questioned. "That woman you brought here? I don't like what she or this book is doing to you. Thankfully, both are no longer an issue." Henry looked down, making her suspicious. "What?"

The clock tower chimed, making her turn around to the window. Her eyes widened and Henry took the opportunity to grab his bag and leave.

Regina stopped in front of the clock tower, glaring up at the moving hands. Archie walked up behind her, Pongo at his side as usual.

"Hey, how about that?" Archie smiled. "Guess those rusty old innards finally straightened themselves out, huh?"

Regina turned to him, looking past him to see Emma's bug outside Granny's. "Yes. How about that, indeed."

Elena sat next to her window as she ate her breakfast, watching the clock move for the first time ever. She thought she had imagined it the night before, but apparently not.

Once she was done with her cereal she got ready for work, knowing it would be a very long day. Whenever Regina was upset, she got everyone involved. Including Graham, herself, and sometimes even Zach. The entire sheriff's station could not rest until she was satisfied.

She understood her mother's anger. Growing up hearing the story of how Snow White ruined her life. At first, she didn't believe Regina whenever she talked about it, until the pieces started to connect.

That's when all hell broke loose. Elena realized that Mary-Margaret Blanchard was her birth mother and made it her mission to make her life miserable. Any time she was in Mary-Margaret's class, she would be an absolute nightmare, claiming it was the issues with being dropped off at Regina's doorstep.

Regina always told her that Mary-Margaret was already suffering, but seeing her smiling face every day struck a nerve. How she could be so happy after giving away her own daughter. Of course she had no memories, but it still hurt.

A knock on the door brought Elena out of her thoughts. She sighed and walked over to the door, opening it to see Regina standing there with a basket of apples.

"Good morning, mother." Elena smiled, opening the door further so Regina could come inside. "Did you see that the clock's working again?"

"Your clocks have always been working." Regina said, pretending she didn't notice the clock had started working.