"Maybe it's destiny"

Reunion

Regina smiled and nodded her head. The younger boy grabbed a chair and sat down next to her. He placed his feet on the wooden table and stargazed the sky. It was a beautiful night... the tense around the room was slowly eliminating as both Regina and Henry relaxed and got more comfortable on their seats.

"Did you find the bad guy yet?"
Henry broke the silence and not looking at Regina at all.

"No, but I think we are close."
She lied. Things between them were messed up enough. She couldn't just add Robin's unspeakable actions in the conversation right now. Not to mention that Henry was the kind of kid who liked to become curious and seek for answers by himself. In this case that would totally risk his safety and Regina wouldn't take the risk.

They didn't have the relationship they had once upon a time ago, but Regina was still his adoptive mother and she would never stop loving him. The younger boy played with his fingers and finally turned around his head looking at Regina.

"I'm pretty sure you're gonna get to him soon. You're both really good at what you do."
Henry replied and grinned awkwardly.
The brunette woman couldn't hide the grin on her face... she could feel them bonding after a while and that felt good. She had almost forgotten how good it felt to have Henry around.

"I hope so."
She continued and bowed down her head landing her sight on her lap. She entangled her fingers between each other uncomfortably and swallowed hard.

"I'm sorry..."
She finally managed to spit out and looked at Henry in fear of what would follow next. The younger boy didn't seem to be surprise. In fact, he remained excessively calm and relaxed.

"Sorry about what?"
He asked her and narrowed his eyebrows. Regina knew... he was playing games. He wanted to hear her say it. He wanted to hear the sound of regret crushing her voice. There was clearly a mischievous look on his face now, as a smirk spread on his lips.

"I'm sorry for being a pain in the ass all these years. I'm sorry for being a bad mother and a bad role model to look up to. I'm sorry for making you feel unwanted... or even worse crazy. I'm sorry for the pain and misery I caused you and to everyone else. Trust me henry... I'm regretting every single minute of my past. The pain is too much sometimes..."

Henry just nodded his head pretending that he was listening. He crossed his hands behind his head and moved his feet on the rhythm he was murmuring for quite a few minutes now. Regina sat upright, and looked at him with a wary look on her face.

"Henry I'm changed. The woman you knew has nothing to do with the woman you see now."

"I'm pretty sure that's not true. I have heard you claiming that you're changed uncountable times! What makes you think that I'm gonna trust you this time? Especially after so many years."

"You have no idea what pain can do. Intolerable pain turns you into a monster... it can make you do things that you would never even dream of! It blinded me Henry... It made me forget who I was... it made me forget about all the things that actually had value for me!"

"You gotta be prepared for the consequences though. You were going through some stuff obviously but there were so many people that tried to help you and you pushed them away! You hurt us all! You separated us twice and now we are forced to live far away from each other without even knowing where the rest of our family and friends are!"

Regina bowed down her head and swallowed hard while the guilts she was experiencing were eating her alive. How was she supposed to make it up to Henry? He was right after all...he had no reason to trust her.

"I've had enough with being evil and hurting people around me. My new life in New York became my fresh start."

She claimed and looked at him with eyes filled up with tears. Henry examined her face and his face expressions became softer. He knew it was hard for her... he knew that his mother would barely show any sign of negative feelings towards him most of the time so the fact that she was about to cry signaled her luck of strength to keep her brave mask on.