She's My Daughter

31 Days

8 months and 3 days later
Selena POV
"Morning, Mum." I called as I walked into the kitchen and pecked Regina on the cheek.
"Good morning, sweetie." She smiled, placing a bowl of cereal in front of me.
"You need a lift to school?" Regina asked as she sat down opposite me with her steaming mug of coffee.
"No, it's okay. Henry and I are going to walk."
She smiled warmly at me but the happiness didn't reach her eyes. And I couldn't blame her. There were only 31 days left until my 17th birthday. 31 days until I had to make that fateful decision.
"I know you're worried." I sighed, pushing my cereal away from me. "But don't be. It's going to be fine."
"You shouldn't be reassuring me." She smiled sadly. "I'm just...scared."
"I know, but there's nothing we can do." I said softly. She nodded and looked down, tears welling in her eyes.
"Hey." I smiled, taking her hand. "These last 8 months have been awesome, right? This past year with you...it's been the best of my life and nothing that happens in 31 days is going to change that."
"Me too." Regina smiled, wiping a stray tear off her cheek.
"Anyway, I haven't given in to darkness at all in the last 8 months! I'm pretty much as prepared as I can be." I grinned, leaning back in my chair.
"I know, honey. You've done great. But -"
"But what happens in a month?" I frowned. "I don't know. I'm not even worried about what choice I'm going to make I mean we both know I'm not going to choose to be the Darkest One." I continued.
"Which is why we're both worried about what is going to happen on that day for there to even be a choice." Regina finished. I nodded sadly. What was I going to face on my 17th birthday that could push me into darkness? What was I going to have to do? Gold had no more ideas; we had tried multiple times over the last 8 months. Henry had delved deeper than ever into his book trying to find clues as well as looking everywhere for his quill with Killian. Henry was the Author and so if the worst happened, Regina believed he could just write me "good" again. Mary Margaret and David had been helping Belle read every book in the library, trying to find something that could help us but they had found nothing. Nothing but dead ends and more questions. Regina was no longer my magic teacher; she had passed me onto Emma. Emma had been training me with light magic for the last eight months and yet my magic was still purple, and instead of getting lighter, it only seemed to be getting darker. Although Emma would only tell me I was getting better, I could see her exchanging worried looks with Regina when she dropped me home or sometimes even giving her a slight shake of the head. I tried not to let this bother me, however, convincing myself I was not getting darker and darker by the second. Although I was. Anger seemed to flourish within me and my thirst for power had never been so high. But one look at Regina and the family I could have with her, Henry, Emma and the Charmings calmed me down. I focused on her when the urges were too strong but I didn't know how long that would last. Of course, Zelena was now also a part of these visions. Zelena and my mother had finally made peace after Regina saw how genuine Zelena was in helping me and how much she cared. And so, when I was not practicing with Emma, we three would sit cross-legged in Regina's vault, going through every magical book or artefact there was to try and find a way to contact the Black Fairy. She was the one Gold had said called me the Darkest One and so she was our one hope. Our one source of information. And yet that was a dead end too. We had no idea where she was, let alone how to summon her. But Regina wouldn't give up. Every time any of us felt like giving up it was her who motivated us. I smiled to myself, knowing that I was safe with her. Knowing how much I loved her. And yet fear gnawed at me, Gold's words haunting me. He believed Regina was my trigger into the darkness and although I tried to resist those thoughts as much as I could, I feared he was right.
"Anyway!" Regina exclaimed, jumping to her feet. "There's no reason to be upset. We can do this." She smiled as she kissed my head. I smiled back, but my mind was stuck on Gold's warning.
"I was thinking we'd go to Emma's for dinner today?" Regina asked as she walked over to do the dishes.
"Hmm?" I mumbled unfocused.
"Emma's? For dinner?" She laughed, swatting me with the towel. I giggled for real then and turned to her.
"Sure." I smirked, grabbing the towel out of her hand. "Oh wait, Mum. I can't, it's Thursday. My day to have dinner with Aunt Zelena, remember?" I asked as I began drying the dishes.
"Ah yes, I forgot. Tomorrow then?" She smiled.
"I thought you were seeing Robin tomorrow?"
"Oh." Regina laughed uncertainly.
"Mum, what's going on? You and Robin have barely spoken." I frowned, turning to face her.
"Nothing's going on, darling." She muttered, her face flushing.
"Oh, come on. You've been seeing more of Aunt Zelena than you have of him!" I pressed.
"Well, she is my sister." Regina argued.
"Whom you pretty much only put up with for my sake." I reminded her.
"No way, we're sort of friends now." Regina said indignantly. "Anyway, Robin's been busy."
"Busy doing what? He lives in a tent."
Regina laughed again but I knew she was just avoiding the question. I squirmed uncomfortably. Regina had been so focused on me these past 8 months that I was scared it was me who had caused the drift between her and Robin. Before I could voice these concerns however, the doorbell rang.
"That must be Henry." I said quickly. "He wanted to come and see you."
Regina smiled and washed her hands, following me to the front door.
"Hey, Henry." I smiled as I pulled open the door.
"Hey, sis." He grinned as he slipped inside. "Hey, Mom!" He smiled as he went to give her a hug.
"Sorry, Mom but we better get going or we'll be late." Henry said as she hugged him.
I rolled my eyes at him behind his back, causing Regina to giggle.
"Selena, no more detentions today please. I don't think I could bear another phone call from that incessant teacher." Regina groaned as she fussed over Henry's hair and he swatted her hands away.
"Yeah, Mom, honestly she's in detention more than she is in class." Henry chimed. I glared at him.
"It's not my fault! I've been to British schools all my life, I don't know how it all works here!" I said indignantly.
"I can assure you chasing a girl around the school field with a twig and yelling 'You're a lizard, Harriet!' is most definitely not allowed in American schools." Regina chuckled as she gently brushed away a stray eyelash resting on my cheek.
"We were just messing around! She was the one who gave me the twig to begin with!"
Regina just chuckled and I allowed her to give me a quick kiss as Henry and I headed out the door.
"Bye, Mum!" I called as the door closed behind us, the last thing I saw being Regina's face splitting into a wide grin as she waved her children off to school.