No One Mourns The Wicked

Chapter 13

Regina laid there, staring at the ceiling for several minutes. "I'm sorry about Zelena," she said, breaking the silence. "We never got along and I never knew her as you did, but if there's anything I can do, please let me know."

"It's not your fault," Morrighan said. "It's no one's fault. And that's what makes it suck so much."

"We have," she started. "In Storybrooke, we do have a therapist. Doctor Hopper. If you ever wanted to talk to someone privately about this or anything else. He's across from Granny's. I'll send some money to his office so if you want to go without telling me you can."

Morrighan was silent for a second. "Okay," she said. Nothing more.

"What happened between the three of you?" Morrighan asked. "I know some of it, but I also know there are things your not telling me."

Regina sighed. "It's not pretty."

"I don't care," she replied. "I want to know what happened. Do you really think I don't notice the way people whisper around me? I know it's not pretty. I know my mom made some bad choices. I just want to know what happened. Please."

"I'll talk to Robin," Regina said. "Come meet us downstairs?"

"Okay," she agreed.

Regina got up and went downstairs, finding Robin and telling him: "She wants to know what happened."

"What?" he asked.

"Morrighan. I was talking with her and Zelena upstairs, and Morrighan wants to know what happened."

Robin gave her a questioning look.

"She was talking with Zelena when I went up. Zelena asked me to join them so I did," she explained. "I think Zelena is trying to make amends or something and whatever is wrong is definitely getting to her, but that's not really the point. When the call was over Morrighan asked what happened. I said we'd explain it ina few minutes."

"What does she know?" he asked, concerned.

"I have no more of an idea than you," the queen replied. "But we should tell her something."

"I don't want to lie to my daughter," Robin said.

"We've been lying since she was conceived," Regina pointed out.

Robin sighed. "It's true. We should start with that. Everyone is at fault. Of course Zelena would have wanted to keep the child. We were basically sentencing her to the life we had, only she had to live with the knowledge that there was a child out there and she would have no one to help her through it."

Regina agreed. "Maybe she'll tell us what Zelena told her. We can keep our side as close to the truth as possible, as long as it doesn't conflict with her view."

"This isn't right."

"Do you have a better idea?"

"No," he admitted in defeat. "I don't. Why can't we just tell her about magic?"

"And then what?" Regina asked. "Keep her here forever? She idolizes Zelena. This would crush her. And what if she gives this place away to spite us, or are we going to keep her here forever? Like it or not, seven months from now she will leave here. We've got these seven months to make sure there's something worth coming back too. I highly doubt a town that hates her mother's guts will be high on that list. She had a good life outside. A great one. Whatever it may have been, Zelena is a good mother. She has something to go back to, something normal. It took Emma a long time to feel like she belonged and did not have to run away. And Morrighan has much more out there than Emma ever did. And she also has a whole lot less here."

Robin sighed, running his hands through his hair in frustration. "This is insane. Zelena is the villain. I don't care if you cursed her and redeemed her personality, she still did all that stuff. This new one might not deserve to be punished for it, but it does not change what she did. What she did to us, Regina. And now we're protecting her. For what?"

"For Morrighan," Regina reminded him, taking his hands in hers. "She only knows this new Zelena."

"And now we're the bad guys?"

"No," Regina said, surprising herself. "That's the fairy tale world. Here, there are no good and bad guys. Only morally grey people. This is the world she lives in. No one is pure of heart or wicked to the core. There's no magic, no corrupting evil, only bad choices and bad influences. Here, we are just a group of people who made some bad choices for seemingly the right reasons. Somehow, things worked out pretty well."

"How is all this 'pretty well'?"

"Robin, your daughter is amazing. We barely know her, but I can see it. She's moody but kind. She's understanding and a bit short-tempered. She had talent. So much of it. It's practically overflowing, like..." she trailed off.

"Like what?"

"Like magic," Regina said. "Like magic." She paused. "I wonder, you didn't see anything strange at Granny's when she sang did you?"

"No," he said. "What are you getting at?"

"Nothing," Regina said, "it's silly."

"No, it's not. Tell me."

"It's just something Rumple said when he was teaching me magic. About how it can manifest in certain ways. Not necessarily raw power. It still needs to be trained and harnessed and focused, but it can manifest differently in people." 

"So you're saying she doesn't have talent? Just magic making her good."

"No." Regina thought for a moment. "She would have to have a talent for this to work. And I have no proof of this. I haven't seen or felt anything magical form her. However, it's possible that's she learnt, whether accidentally, how to harness her own kind of magic through performing."

"And this helps us how?"

"It doesn't. But we can understand her better."

"I'm lost."

"I'll talk to Gold about it, I'm sure he'll have some idea. But right now we need to focus on what is right in front of us."

He finally gave in. 

Regina called Morrighan down. They sat down opposite each other in the living room, Morrighan with her arms crossed, leaned back in the chair.

"We will tell you what you want to know," Robin said. Regina squeezed his hand in encouragement.

~~~~~

Sorry for the late post, I've rewritten this chapter about seven times, I just wanted to get it right. Also, please vote and comment if you are enjoying this. I love hearing feedback and such. Thank you!

~Benetah_the_Willows