The next day found Oliver and Thea standing outside of Iron Heights Prison as the gate opened and their mother, dressed far more casually than either of them had ever seen her, stepped out.
"Hi mom." Oliver said as he and Thea hugged her.
"How does it feel to be free again. And this time without anyone having to bribe anyone?" Thea asked.
"Like I don't deserve it." Moira said.
"Mom, this time, you managed to stop the undertaking all together. No one died." Oliver said.
"I know, but that doesn't erase what I did in the old reality." Moira said.
"Mom, you saved the city." Oliver said.
"No Oliver, you did." Moira said.
"Okay, enough of this, why don't we head home." Thea said and Oliver nodded as they guided their mom towards the car.
"Welcome home." Oliver said as he, Thea and Moira entered the mansion.
"I'm surprised there's no party." Moira said.
"Didn't think you'd want one. Though we are having a small get together. No one special, just Laurel, Roy, Quentin, John, Felicity and Emiko." Oliver said.
"Your sister." Moira said and Oliver nodded.
"She's a part of this family and it was wrong of you to make dad leave her out of it." Oliver said.
"I know. I do intend to apologize to her. And Oliver, I hope that one day, you'll allow me to meet my grandson." Moira said.
"I'll talk to Samantha, see if she'd be willing to bring William here tonight, since while she's come around on me being a part of William's life, I'm not sure how she'd feel about him meeting you." Oliver said and Moira smiled at her son gratefully.
"So, anyways, while I was in prison, I noticed that Queen Consolidated is doing a lot better under your leadership then it did last time." Moira said.
"Yes, but honestly, I think I'm going to hand the reins off to someone else." Oliver said.
"So you are planning on running for mayor again. I approve." Thea said.
"Really?" Moira asked.
"Believe it or not, Ollie was actually a great mayor. Only reason he got impeached is because he was set up by the big bad of the year. Any luck finding him by the way?" Thea asked.
"No, Diaz is a slippery one. But he'll show up eventually and when he does, I'm going to put him in the ground. Once and for all." Oliver said.
"Who is this Diaz?" Moira asked.
"Ricardo Diaz. He's probably the only criminal I fought who beat me. I had to surrender myself to the FBI in order to liberate the city from him and I went to prison because of him, exposing my identity. But this time, I'm going to kill him before he gets the chance." Oliver said.
"Okay then. So, who did you have in mind for running the company?" Moira asked, thinking she'd have to ask her daughter for more information later.
"Emiko actually. Queen Consolidated is a family company and she is family. Thea is busy with Danvers Daily News, so I thought that Emiko was a good choice." Oliver said.
"I'd like to talk to her first, make sure that it's a good decision, since the last time you trusted someone else to run the company, we lost everything." Moira said and Oliver nodded in agreement.
That night, as promised, Oliver was hosting a small get together at the mansion. In addition to himself, Moira and Thea, also attending were Laurel, John, Roy, Quentin, Felicity, Emiko, Lyla and Samantha and William.
"Welcome back Moira." Quentin said as he held out his hand to her, which she shook.
"Thank you Quentin. So, how does it feel to see our children together again?" Moira asked him with a smile as they watched their children interact.
"Honestly, I could not be happier. I know there was a time when I said hell would freeze over before I approved of Laurel dating Oliver Queen, but that was before the island. And the man that Oliver has become, that's a man I'm proud to call family, even if he isn't my son." Quentin said.
"You know he might as well be. From what I've heard, you always served as sort of a fatherly figure to Oliver, especially after I died." Moira said.
"Yeah well, not always. I did a lot of things I'm not proud of, namely to him, because of what happened to Sara. But in the end, he and Thea were there for me when I needed them the most. I tried my best to return the favor." Quentin said.
"I know." Moira assured him.
"Now, I believe there is a conversation you're avoiding." Quentin said, nodding towards Emiko.
"I know. I'm just not sure where to begin." Moira said.
"How about with hello." Emiko said as she walked up to them and Quentin took that as his cue to leave.
"Emiko. I have to admit, I was surprised to hear that you were coming." Moira said.
"I'm here as a favor to Oliver. Plus, I wanted to hear it from you. Hear why you forced Robert to abandon my mother and I? Maybe if you hadn't, my life could've turned out so much differently." Emiko said and Moira sighed.
"There is no good reason for it Emiko. When I found out about you and your mother, I was overwhelmed by anger and jealousy, but I didn't want to take it out on your father in front of our children, so instead, I took it out on you and your mother. You two were a reminder of Robert's mistake and the worst part was, he wasn't sorry for making it and I couldn't be mad at him for not being sorry, since how could anyone be sorry their child was born. Though I have to admit, in both realities, it was learning about you that led to Thea being born. Only difference is that in this reality, she's also Robert's daughter by blood." Moira said and Emiko nodded.
"I wish I could still hate you, but Oliver reminded me that I've done far worse things than you did." Emiko said.
"Yes, he told me that you dropped a building on him?" Moira asked.
"Yeah, I'm not proud of everything I put him through, especially since despite everything, even learning that I had the chance to warn dad about the Queen's Gambit and I didn't, he never gave up on me." Emiko said.
"Honestly, in a way I'm grateful you didn't." Moira said.
"What? But my inaction led to your husband's death. It led to Oliver having to endure 5 years of the worst kind of hell. How can you be grateful that I caused that?" Emiko asked.
"Because the Gambit going down is the reason Oliver is the man he is today. The hero who's willing to lay down his life to protect those he loves. And it's clear that he cares about you, since he brought you back." Moira said.
"Yeah, he brought a lot of people back. You, me, Tommy Merlyn, Quentin Lance, even his love, Laurel Lance. But I can't help but notice that there's one person that he didn't bring back." Emiko said.
"Believe me, I wish I could've brought him back." Oliver said as he joined their conversation.
"Why do you think you couldn't change what happened to dad?" Emiko asked him and Oliver sighed.
"I've been giving it a lot of thought and honestly, I think that I could only fix the things that didn't change him and honestly, while dad may have made a lot of mistakes, his sacrifice is what caused me to become the man I am today. I think that if that moment were changed, I might not have had the strength to survive all that time, let alone come back as the man I am now." Oliver said and both Emiko and Moira nodded in understanding, since that did make sense.
"So anyways, I came over because I wanted to make sure that you two were okay. As in not wanting to kill anyone." Oliver said, that last part directed towards his sister.
"I'm not gonna kill her, since you were right, I have done far worse things to her, but I would like an apology." Emiko said and Moira nodded.
"Emiko, I am truly sorry for what I did to you and your mother. I hope you can believe me when I say that if I could take it back, I would." Moira said.
"I believe you. I can't forgive you, at least not yet, but maybe someday, I can." Emiko said.
"Well, you are always welcome here, though I'm assuming you already were." Moira said and Oliver nodded.
"So anyways, mom, what comes next for you?" Oliver asked her.
"I don't know. I think I might do some traveling." Moira said.
"Traveling?" Oliver asked.
"See the world. Every time I've traveled before, it was for work or business or family. There are some things I've always wanted to see and now I think I finally have a chance to. And I think that it will be good for me to spend some time away to reflect and think about what comes next in life." Moira said.
"That actually sounds really nice mom." Oliver said and Moira smiled.
"But don't worry, if you or Thea or even you Emiko, should need me, just call and I'll come back. I'll definitely be back for the day you marry Laurel." Moira said and Oliver rolled his eyes.
"Seriously mom?" Oliver asked.
"Oliver, I know you love that girl, so what are you waiting for? Given your line of work, there never will be a perfect moment." Moira said.
"That is something to take into consideration." Oliver acknowledged.
"I'm guessing you don't want Thea to know about this discussion?" Emiko asked.
"Absolutely not. I'll never hear the end of it." Oliver said and Moira chuckled, knowing that was true as they got back to the celebration.