She saw him pacing nervously in the hallway and immediately knew he had the same idea she did.
"Roland!" She whispered, catching him off guard. "How long have you been standing here?"
He didn't look too surprised to see her unaccompanied by adults, aware they both only had a short amount of time before one of the adults noticed they both snuck off to talk to Zelena. "A few minutes- I thought you weren't gonna show."
"Mom's getting out soon," Caroline said, glancing towards the room she knew Zelena was in. "Why'd you want to talk to her again? It's not like you were there with us."
"That's my business," He responded, giving her a glare, "plus it's safer if there are two of us and one of her."
The girl rolled her eyes, tired of the anticipation giving her second thoughts. She pushed away the thoughts of self doubt, convincing herself that Zelena didn't leave because she couldn't stand being with her anymore.
"Ready?" She asked, not waiting for a response before opening the door. Zelena was reading a book when they entered, IVs still attached to her arm. She jumped when the door opened, a look flickering across her face before softening her features.
"I was expecting your father again," the woman began, setting the book down. "It's nice to see you again, Caroline. You too Roland."
Caroline realized her brother was practically frozen in place, so she nudged him towards the open chair and sat down, Roland following her lead. Studying her for a moment, Caroline struggled to figure out where exactly to begin. There was so much left unsaid.
"How is it not using magic?"
"Not that bad actually- there's a lot to do in this world." She answered, studying their nervous expressions for a moment. "It's only a matter of time before your parents realize where you both are. What did you really come here for?"
"Why'd you leave?" Caroline blurted out, "why didn't you at least tell me you weren't staying in Storybrooke?"
"I wasn't ready for the judgment from everyone- it was the easiest thing to do."
"Well it felt like you didn't want to be around me anymore. You can't just leave like that."
"I just needed time to myself," Zelena replied, keeping her real thoughts to herself: I didn't think you'd give me another thought once you were back with your family.
"Who's trying to kill you?"
"If I knew that, I wouldn't still be here. This place is so infuriating, they won't tell me what's wrong with me. Only that their test results haven't come in yet. There's nothing to do here except read this insufferable book about a vampire falling in love with a human."
"Did they really take Cora's wand?" Roland asked, not wanting to think about Zelena reading Twilight. "I overheard Dad talking with Emma about it."
"What were you planning to do with it?"
Another question she didn't want to answer.
"Doesn't matter now- I need to find whoever took it and... get it back."
Caroline paused before her next question, noticing a look of uncertainty flash across the woman's face. It wasn't an expression she was used to seeing. "We haven't told Mom about us visiting the house she grew up in. I'm not sure how she would take it."
"Well someone has to tell her," Zelena replied, matter of factly, "and it probably shouldn't be me. Lord knows she already has plenty of things to be angry with me about already."
"Dad hasn't told her yet. I thought maybe Will would be the one to do it, but he hasn't either."
"I'll tell you firsthand," the woman spoke, giving both children a set glance, "keeping secrets is never a good idea. Not in the long run, anyways."
Caroline thought back to the Enchanted Forest, and how she felt when she found out that Zelena had been lying about her intention towards her. How was she able to rebuild that trust so easily?
"Telling secrets to get information out of people is just as bad, you know."
The girl turned towards her brother, giving him a look of surprise upon hearing such confident words being spoken from him. She noticed his hand clenched firmly beside him as he continued to speak.
"Do you remember stopping me on the way to August's house? You were trying to get me to say something I'd regret later on. Or get information from me- one of the two."
Zelena studied the teenager for a moment, thinking back to that morning. "That feels like an eternity ago," she remarked, "truthfully, I didn't need any information from you. I simply wanted to see what you were like. Henry too, but he wasn't around."
"That can't be true," he replied, eyes narrowing, "you were on a mission to destroy my family and take everything from us. Getting information and using it against other people is what you do."
"Used to do," the woman corrected, "you can choose whether or not to believe me, but I did just want to talk to you. I could tell you were hurting inside."
"And how could you tell that? You didn't even know me- still don't."
"I know what it's like to never know who your real parents are, to have that neglect."
Roland paused for a moment, taking in her words.
"I remember feeling so... lost, after you talked to me that day. You brought up thoughts about my birth mom that I hadn't thought about in years. But, you're wrong about one thing- I don't feel neglected, not for a second. Regina is the best mom I could ever ask for. I do want to know more about who my birth mother was, but only when I'm ready. It was really messed up for you to give me all of those awful doubts about myself when I didn't ask for them."
The room fell silent for a moment, except for the light beeping from the heart monitor, a wave of reassurance acting like a soft blanket around him.
"You're right, I never thought I was doing you harm by talking to you that day. I'm sorry, Roland- really."
Her voice sounded different without the constant threatening undertones. Soft, almost.
"I assume everyone is hurting inside as much as I am."
She stopped herself from continuing her line of thought, remembering who she was talking with. Instead, she gave a soft laugh. "Whatever happened with the blonde girl, the one you had a crush on?"
A small smile crept onto his face. For the first time, he didn't feel embarrassed to talk about it. He felt brave.
"She's one of my best friends," he remarked, his smile spreading, "I actually met someone else who really makes me happy."
"That's great!" Zelena exclaimed, surprised at herself for caring so much about the topic. It gave her a warm feeling inside- despite all of the horrible things she put their family through, it was nice to know something good came out of it.
Caroline couldn't wait to ask her brother where all his sudden confidence came from. She was still at a loss of words, trying to catch up with all that was said. This version of her brother was unlike any version she had seen before; it was as if all of the negativity had dissipated from him entirely.
"We've been dating for six weeks now, and he's been such an amaz-"
Roland's rush of excitement was abruptly cut off by the opening of the door, causing his words to freeze mid air. Caroline's breath became trapped in her throat when she saw who emerged from the doorway- their mother.
Regina couldn't find words at first, petrified by the happy and energetic scene she had just walked in on. It all crashed down on her at once, threatening to break the confidence that she spent the morning trying to rebuild for herself.
'Mom, we-"
"Out, now," she demanded, her tone cold and strict. "Go find Will downstairs."
Both children didn't skip a beat as they rose to their feet, giving Zelena one last glance before leaving the room.
What was left was the two of them, dead silence with everything in between.
"I didn't expect them to come here," Zelena began, scolding herself for sounding so nervous. She wasn't prepared for the conversation they were going to have, although she had imagined how the scene would play out in her head. In the beginning, the scenarios always ended with her killing Regina or, admittedly, Regina killing her. Recently, however, the scenarios had changed.
"I don't want you ever talking to my kids without permission," Regina demanded, shutting the door behind her and taking a seat down where Caroline and Roland just were. "They don't need any more stress."
"Roland just told me the exact same thing," she remarked, "very bright young man, that one. He seems to take after you."
"How would you know?" Regina asked, "you don't know me at all. Somehow, you've managed to get to know everyone else in my family- but not me."
"That's where you're wrong- I know you better than most."
"Because you obsessively watched me throughout my life? You only saw what you wanted to see, not how things were."
Zelena set her blue eyes on her half sisters, deciding what to say next. It was true, all of it.
"And now, you've put my entire family in harm's way again- what the hell are you even doing in Florida?"
Anger bloomed in her chest as a reaction to Regina's accusative words. "Would you have preferred me to destroy Storybrooke?" She asked, narrowing her eyes. "I could have allowed the Ice Queen to kill your daughter and I could've gone back in time to make sure you never existed. I didn't do either of those things, now did I."
It was Regina's turn to be speechless. She was still trying to figure out her angle, her leverage in the mess that had been created.
"How did you get Cora's wand, by the way?" Regina eventually asked, switching the subject, "I haven't been able to get the full answer of what happened out there from anyone."
Hesitating for a moment, Zelena debated whether or not she should divulge the information that Caroline had brought up not too long ago. Hell, everything was already on the table already- what was one more thing?
"We... stumbled upon Cora's estate, actually. I was able to break through the blood magic protection and find her wand."
"You 'stumbled upon' my childhood home? That's impossible." Regina scoffed, her mind racing with millions of questions. "Don't tell me Caroline went in there too."
Zelena drew a quick breath, revealing the answer in an instant. "Robin did try to stop her if it's any consolation."
She hadn't given much thought to how they were initially drawn to the mysterious mansion- it got tossed by the wayside, replaced by more pressing matters. However those visions came to them was the reason they were able to return so swiftly. Without it, Zelena wondered if they would have ever been able to return.
The betrayal of her family keeping such a secret from her felt like a blow to the chest, but Regina had to remind herself that there was a bigger picture at play. "How were you able to create a portal to return? The wand wouldn't be able to bring all of you between realms."
"I found a pair of red shoes enchanted with the ability to travel between realms- they were given to me long ago from the Wizard of Oz himself. I thought I'd lost them, but... there they were."
"Just like that?" Regina questioned, her voice tightened with confusion, "and you have no idea who put them there?"
Her sister nodded, surprised at herself for letting such an important piece of the puzzle become forgotten. It wasn't like her to do so.
Drawing a long breath, Regina collected her thoughts. "So, you broke into my mother's house, stole her wand, mysteriously returned home, and now someone stole the wand from you while you were off doing... who knows what. Did I get everything?"
"Our mother's wan-"
"Don't," Regina warned, feeling her heartbeat spike in her chest. "We are all here because... you seem to have an insurmountable hold on my daughter. I don't want to get to know you or argue with you. I just want to get that wand back and go back home with my family."
After a brutal three seconds of silence, Zelena refocused on the pounding to her temple, the pain permeating right through her skull. "Do you not even care that someone tried to kill me?"
"I care about who hit you, and how they knew you had a powerful magical object in your possession."
Before she could formulate her response, a sudden bang pierced the room, followed by an abrupt darkness. After a pause, the lights returned, matched with an eerie quietness. The two women shared a wide eyed glance as a shout echoed down the hallway. Regina bolted towards the closed doorway, dread filling her vision as she raced back to more misery.