Author's note: So, is anyone still interested in this story ?
Regina blinked with surprise, not being sure she heard it well.
"But how... how is it even possible ? She asked. I mean... you're in a relationship with Briar Rose, right ? A woman. I mean, I knew magical pregnancies were possible, but... I didn't know... I didn't know it could happen to you. Well, it doesn't matter, congratulations for the two of you !
- Thanks Regina...
- Do you know if it will be a boy or a girl ? The former queen demanded to the two women.
- A girl, Briar Rose answered.
- Do you have any idea of a name ?
- In fact, yes. We think we are going to call her Lily."
§§§§
The day after this announce, an "incident" happened, kind of.
A man broke into Briar Rose's and Maleficent castle, trying to murder another man, claiming this one was the responsible of his fiancée's death.
The man's name was Edmond Dantès.
Regina became pale when she saw him.
She knew this man.
She met him some months ago, before she was defeated by Snow and David, before she redeemed herself.
She remembered talking with him, she remembered his hatred.
She remembered how angry and full of despair he could be, and at this moment, here, in this castle, she didn't hesitate any second before acting.
She came in his direction.
"Edmond ? What are you doing here ?"
The man gave her a cynical smile.
"What do you think I am doing, your majesty ? The same thing you tried to do before me : getting my revenge, of course !"
Regina gave him a look full of sympathy, before asking herself if she did look like him, when she was still full of anger, during her fight against Snow White.
But, she quickly realized, it was not about her, or about who she used to be, it was all about Edmond, and the fact he was going on the same way as her.
And she couldn't let him loose himself in darkness, as she herself did.
The other man was here too, screaming that Edmond was just insane, that he did nothing wrong, that nothing of it was true, but Regina knew it was not true.
And she felt the immediate urge to break his neck, here, right now, for all the sufferings he made live to Edmond, but she didn't.
She contained herself, but she did use her magic on him to knock him out, at the surprise of Belle and all the other.
"Regina ? What are you doing ? Why are you attacking him ?
- This man is a murderer, Regina explained to Maleficent with calm, I am certain of it. I can prove it. He killed a woman named Mercedes, this man's former fiancée, she said, pointing Edmond with her hand."
The man in question, accused both by Regina and Edmond, was put into prison.
And after that, Regina came to see Edmond, who had been arrested too, but who was not in prison, as, in fact, he was the victim in the story.
"Why are you here Regina ? The man asked her. She smiled.
- You see Edmond, not a long time ago, I was at the same place as you are. I was just as you are now. Craving for revenge. Thinking I could mourn the person I lost just by trying to make the one who killed this person pay. Even if, in your case, you attacked the good culprit.
- He is the last one, the angry man muttered. Of the three of them, he is the last one of them, those who killed Mercedes, took everything from me, and put me into this horrible prison in which I stayed for fourteen damn years !"
Regina looked at the man sitting on the bed, in front of her. She folded her arms on her chest, and she gave him a sympathetic look.
And she raised an eyebrow, asking herself a question, wanting to know since how many time this story – the story of Edmond's revenge – was lasting.
"Tell me, Edmond, how old are you exactly ?
He grinned.
- I'm thirty-four years old, he whispered, and Regina started.
This man was clearly older than her, of course, but she would have thought, regarding to the way he looked, that he was much older than this, because yes, he was still really young.
Imprisonment clearly didn't spare him...
"You're that young ? She asked, surprised. Really ?
- Well, I was only eighteen when my fiancée died and when I was imprisoned, and it lasted for fourteen years. I began my quest for revenge two years ago.
- You were alone in prison for fourteen years ?
- No, I was not totally alone, I met a man when I was in the Château d'If. His name was Faria and he was an abbot. And the only friend I get for all these years, and I can even add that he may be the only real friend I ever had. He taught me a lot of things when we were imprisoned together. But he died. Just as Mercedes did. He had a sad and broken laugh. And now, they are both gone, and I am all alone, with my revenge being purchased, and... And now, I just have my anger and my hatred. Nothing else.
- It's false Edmond, you're not alone. I am here."
Edmond looked up, and looked at the former queen. It's just at this moment that he realized how much she changed since the last time he saw her. There was not anymore this light of anger mixed with sadness, hatred and will of revenge that he always saw in his own look.
Now, she seemed... happy.
"What happened to you ? I mean.... Did you succeed to revenge yourself ? And did it bring you the happiness you thought it would ? He had a quick and ironic laugh. I personally don't think it will give me any happiness, even if my fiancee and myself are now avenged and that I can stop this, this terrible and long quest. And now, I have no idea of what I am going to do...
- You know Edmond, your life is not over. And to answer to your question, people helped me. They saved me from myself, and made me save myself from the darkness inside of me. Now, you're free to begin another life, now that your enemies are now all punished. You can try something you never did before.
- And what is it ?
She smiled.
- Now, Edmond, you can move on."
§§§§
The man gave her a sad smile.
"How could I ? I spent the last sixteen years planning this revenge, and now, it's over. What could I do now ? Where could I go ?
- Aren't you a rich count now ?
He chuckled.
- Yes, I am. Does it change anything ? I mean... it's like I stopped living when they put me in prison, it's like my life stopped at this precise moment where I was separated from the one I loved. My fiancee, my father... They are all gone now. I lived for revenge during so many time that I am not sure I still know how to live a normal life.
- What if you come with me ? I have some friends of mine who could welcome you in their castle, if you wanted to. You wouldn't be alone, and there, maybe you would find something new to do. Some other people to meet. What do you think of it ?"
Edmond looked at the former queen.
"Alright. I accept."
It would be much better than just staying on his palace, on his own, alone, and just remembering the old good days he had with his father, Mercedes or even Faria, when he was in jail.
§§§§
While Belle decided to come back at her own place, as she missed being in there, and missed being with Rumplestiltskin, Regina decided that she would go in Snow's and David's castle with Edmond, in order to make him meet them.
The young man had no one, and it would take time before he succeed to move on, but Regina was quite confident about it.
Being the fantastic people that they were, Snow and David immediately accepted the man's presence in their home, and it didn't take a lot of time for Edmond to adapt to this place and become great friend with the inhabitants of the castle.
Well, in fact, with one person in particular, named Charlotte.
When she realized how deeply Edmond was going to fall in love with the young servant, Regina realized she could let him here with no doubts.
He was going to be happy here.
§§§§
You may be asking yourself now where the hell Zelena was all this time. Or, maybe that you just don't care, but you just have to know that, after the wedding in which she went, she left Regina for a time, warning her that she was not going to be here during a long time.
There was someone she had to find again.
In fact, after she reconciled (in a way) with Regina, after she fix their former broken sister-sister relationship, she realized there was someone she lost since a long time and that she wanted to be with again.
Hades, the god of the Underworld, with who she fell in love in a time which seemed to be so far now.
That she met at a time where there was still so much anger and hatred in her heart.
But now, all of this was gone, and she asked herself, if, one day, they would be able to fix what had been broken between the two of them.
She still loved him, she was sure of this, but him... well, she had no clues about how he felt now.
After all, she rejected him.
What if he tried to find someone else who could make his heart beat again ?
What if he already did it ?
And by the way, would he ever be able to do as she did, that is to say, give up his revenge ?
She hoped so.
She was not used to hope but the thing is that, yes, be reunited with Regina after she lost her for so many time gave her the feeling that she could hope and think that things would get better, one day.
It was already the case, right ?
So, she came back to the place where they met, in Oz, using Jefferson's hat to do so.
She didn't miss this world, she realized.
In this world, people feared her, hated her, saw her as the Wicked Witch and they were bloody right.
In this world, she had a non-loving father, she had no friends, she was afraid of her own magic and she still had difficulties to control it, she didn't know why her mother abandoned her...
Everything was bad here.
The only thing which hadn't been terrible, well, it was her encounter and her relationship with Hades.
She get a smile when she thought about the man, hoping he would come here, at her side when she would call for him.
She missed him so much...
And she was going to do everything to get him back.
"Hades ? She asked with almost shyness, starting when she saw him immediately appear in front of her.
It looked like it worked like it did with the Dark One – former one – when you called for him, he must appear immediately. If the intention was to call for the god.
He offered her a surprised and also happy look.
"Zelena ? What are you doing here ? And why did you call for me ?
She just smiled, realizing that in fact, nothing really changed between them.
- I think we need to talk Hades."
§§§§
And now, here they were. They had talked together, time had passed, weeks passed, they passed themselves time together, and learned to fix what was broken and which was once something between them, and which was now back.
After some weeks together in Oz, Zelena decided to come back in the Enchanted Forest, with Regina, and she decided to present Hades to her dear sister.
She had no idea that Regina intended to do the same thing with her.
The meeting was kind of... awkward.
Indeed, there was them, the four of them, together, that is to say : a wicked witch (former), an evil queen (former), an evil god (form... well, he was still evil, kind of) and an outlaw (but a good one, of course).
After this visit and first meeting, some many things really changed, in fact.
There was a lot of problems in the different kingdoms, after the war between the Charming, king George and Regina, and even if some of them had been already fixed, it was not the case for all of them, and now, thanks to their combined powers, Rumpelstiltskin, Hades, Zelena, Regina, the fairies and Merlin too (as there was also problems in Camelot) began to really fix a lot of things.
Months passed.
And just as Maleficent and Briar Rose, a lot of couple began to be waiting for a child. A lot of these one were royals, as Snow and David, Ella and Thomas, and Regina and Robin.
During the two following years, these one gave birth to different children : Lily, Emma, Alexandra and Roland were one of them.
In Camelot, Guinevere divorced from Arthur and married Lancelot, but the two royals continued ruling together, as Arthur regained with time his sanity, thanks to Merlin and to his ex-wife.
Thinks were good for everyone in all the kingdoms.
Well...
Almost.
§§§§
Elsa's hands were shaking.
She looked around her, and just saw ice.
And it was her fault.
Because she was not able to control her powers.
The young queen then took a deep breath, and she tried to calm herself.
After some seconds, she succeeded to make the ice around her disappear, and she started when she heard her sister call for her.
She froze, before answering her that she was fine.
Which was a lie, of course.
She may knew how to control her power, most of the time, but now, it was not the case.
She tried to calm her breath, and she left the room, joining her sister and his fiance.
She needed help, so much help.
She really needed help.
Right now.
§§§§
Red tried to smile.
Though it was not that easy for her.
It was hard, pretending that everything was okay for her, while it was not.
It was difficult, to accept the fact that Regina, the Evil Queen seemed to get no damages in her, seemed to suffer from nothing, despite what she lived, while Graham still had some.
She still didn't know how she could do this, not to let her anger against her devour her.
Maybe that it was because she cared more for the Huntsman's recovery than for her persecutor's destruction.
She remembered what happened after they all went in Regina's castle, she remembered how Graham was at that time, how broken he was.
And what hurt her the most, was the fact that he still was.
She remembered everything which happened after they left the castle.
It happened three days after Red gave Graham his heart back.
The two of them, just like a lot of those who came to Regina's castle, then went into Snow's and David's castle, where they now lived.
The Huntsman didn't sleep during the two first days, still trying to be again used to have a normal life. So, insomnia touched him too, and, for these two days, things were... fine. Kind of.
Well, they were not horrible, as it was later.
As insomnia took him, he rapidly got bored, and, still not okay with the fact of living in a castle and not being able to go outside (as it had been the exact same thing when he was still the queen's prisoner), during these nights, he went out, in the forest next to the palace.
Not knowing that he was observed by Red, who also wanted to go in the forest during the night.
But, during the third night... it began.
Graham, being as tired as he was (after two nights without sleeping, even if he was used to it, it was easy to understand that he was exhausted) finally fell asleep during the third night in question.
He knew he should not have done it, because, just after he did, he began having nightmares.
All of them of course being about the Queen, who took his heart back and crushed it, or used it to torture him.
He woke up abruptly, breathing heavily and rapidly, before he realized that, in fact, he couldn't breath anymore.
The Huntsman's eyes were full of fear and terror, and he spent all the night in this state, being frozen on his bed, still trying (and failing) to breath correctly.
He tried to hide how wrong he felt during all the day, but Red (who was here, unlike Belle) and Snow remarked that of course, he was not feeling well.
Occupied as she was, Snow White didn't have the time to take a great time to talk with her friend (well, in fact, she did, but he pretended everything was okay), so she asked Red if she could go and check him.
So, the night after the incident, the same thing happened, and, needing some air, the Huntsman left his room, followed by Red, worried for him, but, being still unable to breath, he quickly fell on the ground.
He put his legs under his chest, trying to breath more normally again.
He was trembling, and Red firstly hesitated to come next to him, knowing how traumatized Graham was by the bad experience he suffered from in Regina's castle.
And she was certain of this, she made him live too horrible things in there, it was what caused him this panic attack he was having, and her anger and her hatred against Regina just became stronger.
But, seeing how terrified and alone as he was, she felt her heart hurt her, and she knelt next to him.
"Graham ? She told him, trying to be the most reassuring possible. It's me, Red. I'm here, if you need my help, okay ?
He nodded his head, still trembling.
"Alright, alright. Do you want me to leave ?"
He turned his head, almost in a frenetic way, and she had a sad smile, because he really looked like a terrified child, and she hesitantly put a hand on his shoulder, trying not to frighten him, but his breath then calmed as she did.
"Do you want to talk about it ?"
He again turned his head, and she put her arms around him, trying to put him into a comforting embrace. When his breath became less fast, and when he began to cry, she understood that yes, it was working, and she let a sigh of relief escape from her lips.
The crisis and the nightmares continued, and the only good thing that was brought from the situation, was that it allowed Red and Graham to be closer.
There was something between them since the moment where they met, the moment where Red was the one who put his heart back in his chest, but now, they had the possibility, not only to know each other, but also to help each other.
She was helping him with his crisis, he was helping her with her problems of self-acceptance.
Because yes, Graham was not the only one who was in trouble.
She was, too.
It was two or maybe three months after their first meeting.
It was during a sunny day, after a night where Graham had no nightmares or crisis, it was one of the rare nights where he hadn't, in fact, it was a calm one.
And they were talking together, as they usually did, except that this time, Belle and Snow weren't here.
"Do you have any family ? Red asked him with curiosity.
- No, he answered. I mean, I never knew who my parents were, I was more or less raised by wolves, well, I lived with them the most part of my life, before... before the queen found me, he admitted.
His hand trembled, and Red put hers in his.
- What about you ? He asked. I mean, except your grand-mother, or your friends Snow and Belle... Who do you have in your life ? Friends... Parents... A fiance ?"
It was not a really subtle question, but Graham never really was a subtle man, and if his interest for her was real, the fact is that he didn't want to try anything, before knowing if she had already someone in her life or not.
But, when he saw her hands begin to tremble too, and when he saw tears form in her eyes, he realized he must have made a mistake.
"Red... What is it ? Did I say something wrong ?"
She tried to smile, but failed.
"Now, it's not your fault, you... you didn't know. It has something to do with my story, and with who I am. Graham, there is something I never told you, about me... Something many people know, but, since the war ended, I stopped using it against enemies, so, I just did it on my own, alone.
- What do you mean ?
- I turn into a wolf under the full moon, at every month... I do it since I am a teenager, but I always had my cloak on me which stopped me from doing this. Until... Until I did it one night, and things turned in a terrible, bad and tragic way. I turned into a wolf, and I ate Peter, my boyfriend. Then, me and Snow had to flee, and I found my mother, who learned me to control the wolf in me, and to accept this as a part of me. But I had to kill her, before she killed Snow White."
Silence appeared between them, and Red wiped the tears which fell from her eyes.
"You see, Graham answered, under the queen's control, I made a lot of things of which I am not proud of. Just as you did when you couldn't control the wolf in you. And by the way, Red, he said, and she looked at him, as he was smiling. I would love to see you under your wolf form."
And Red felt like her heart was exploding, because since Snow and Belle, it really was the first time someone was accepting her as she was that easily.
She felt like she could have kissed him right now, but, remembering his bad experience with the queen, she didn't dare.
"Thanks Graham. Thank you, very much."
It was at this moment that she realized that she loved him.
Time passed, they became even more close, they confessed their feelings to each other, began a relationship, but...
But it didn't make it easier, because it was still hard for Graham to really do it, to learn to trust other people.
Their relationship began since some months, and yes, the former Huntsman was healing, but he still suffered from what happened to him, and it still hurt Red to see she could nothing for him.
He needed help.
That was the reason why she was here, ready to go to see Jiminy Cricket, the one who was so good to talk with people.
When she saw Gepetto and Pinocchio (who, as she heard it, turned into a real boy not a long time ago) who were here, she smiled to them, and she talked to them a little too, before she saw Jiminy come just there.
"Oh, Red, why are you here ?
- I need your help Jiminy. You heard of Graham, right ?
- Yes, of course, the former Huntsman of the queen.
- I want you to talk to him, if you can. I really think he needs to talk to someone like you, someone who could help him move on. I already tried almost everything, and yes, he is getting better, but... It is still not enough, and I can't handle this, to see him being still traumatized, and I just can't do anything for him... please, help him !"
The cricket nodded his head.
"Oh, don't worry Red, of course, I am going to help you and help him."
She sighed with relief.
"Thanks Jiminy, she said, smiling."