mother knows best {regina}

[Cora Mills]

Cora was not happy to be torn from Wonderland, where she reigned as Queen. But, she'd found herself in somewhere... better, perhaps? Immediately, she's appeared in a place called Storybrooke, which was completely ruined for some reason. After hearing who lead the town, Cora was quite sure why the town was in such a state of disarray. Regina had no idea how to lead anything without her to guide her. It was such a foolish move of her to push her into that portal. Did she really think she could do a single thing without her?

As Cora walked through Storybrooke, she glanced around at the nearby, destroyed buildings. Cora, followed by a small group of guards, continued on through the streets. Everyone nearby was either scared or perplexed by the troupe of armed guards heading towards Regina's home. Cora couldn't wait to see her daughter again, mostly to get her revenge for shoving her into the mirror... with the help of that imp Rumpelstiltskin, no less. Of course, she would go to him when she needed help. If she had anything good about her, it was... some amount of intelligence.

Cora soon reached Regina's home. She stood outside her home, the guard around her forming a half-circle behind her. Cora stepped forward and, with a wave of her hand, knocked the door right off it's hinges telekinetically. Cora, followed by her guard, entered the house and stood in the main lobby. That should have been enough to get her daughter's attention...

[Regina Mills]

Regina hated mirrors.

It was just another thing those wretched stories got wrong about her. Perhaps the whole 'magic mirror' bit had something to do with it - but that had been none of her doing; the Genie had trapped himself. Once she'd been able to use him to watch over her entire kingdom, she'd adorned the palace in mirrors - because they gave her power. But now, sitting at the vanity in her bedroom and glaring icily at her reflection, Regina didn't even recognize the woman staring back at her with dark, empty eyes. Mirrors told only truth; they held nothing back - and in this case, the truth was so painful that it made her want to shatter the glass into a thousand tiny pieces. The emptiness she saw inside herself reminded her of the person she'd sworn she would never become.

A sudden wave of intense, bitter self-loathing rose up in her until she could no longer bear it. She got up and rather violently stalked towards the door of her bedroom, intending to go downstairs and fix herself a very strong drink...when a loud bang came from somewhere in the foyer. What on earth...? It sounded as if the door had just been ripped right off its hinges! Her first immediate thought was that the townspeople, despite the orders they'd been given from their precious queen, were making another attempt on her life. The anger and hatred she'd felt only moments ago returned, this time redirected at whoever it was storming into her house below. She would not stand for this any longer.

Sweeping down the stairs, the former queen halted at the bottom of decent, looking downright murderous...until she took in the sight that greeted her. The foyer was filled with guards, all of them adorned in strikingly familiar attire...attire of a distinctive sort that she'd only ever seen in one place before. But they were waiting for something, waiting for orders, and for a moment Regina was confused - until her gaze fell upon the woman who led them. All at once, Storybrooke's mayor froze, all the color draining from her face. This...this simply was not possible! Her mother had been trapped in Wonderland long ago; Rumpelstiltskin had assured her that she would not be able to escape! This could not happen - not now, not on top of everything else. Regina didn't think she could deal with it.

Little seemed to remain of the greatly feared evil queen who had cursed the entirety of the Enchanted Forest. Instead, all that was left was an echo of the desperate, frightened young woman she'd once been. Instead of greeting Cora with a snarky comment or flaunting her superiority, the way she would have with any other intruder, Regina remained rooted to the spot for a moment longer...and then, abruptly, she swept her hand with the intent of magically knocking the guards nearest to her right off their feet - before turning and fleeing for the back door.

[Cora Mills]

Now that wasn't at all what Cora had wanted her daughter to do. It was disappointing to see that she had become some soft enough to just freeze when she saw something that scared her. Cora sighed and was about to scold Regina for being so weak until she apparently managed to get enough courage to knock some of Cora's guards into a wall. Still not exactly what Cora had been looking for, but she was getting there.

As she started to run away, Cora held out her hand. A dark blue orb of magical energy appeared in her hand. Moments after, the door Regina was headed for locked. "Really, dear, you know you can't run away from your mother." Cora said as she walked towards her daughter. The Wonderland Guards remained standing by the door of the house to make sure hat Regina didn't try to run away again. "I'm a bit disappointed, Regina. I gave you all that power and you cursed it away."

Cora looked around the house before looking back at her daughter. "And where is King Leopald?" She asked, crossing her arms. "Don't tell me you didn't marry him after you pushed me into Wonderland..." Now that would be disappointing. After all Cora did for her she not only got rid of her but she didn't marry the King? Oh, what a shame it was that her daughter didn't realize what real happiness was. Did she really expect her true love to give her happiness?

[Regina Mills]

Regina stopped short, barely avoiding running right into the door as it slammed shut and locked magically. She immediately lifted a hand and applied her own magic to the lock, attempting to blow it open - and then quickly drew the hand back, as if she'd been zapped by an electric shock. She'd forgotten how powerful her mother's magic was - and given that Regina had been out of practice for twenty eight years, Cora's magic seemed to repel her own with ease. Both physically and figuratively backed into a corner now, she slowly turned around, her expression now schooled into a calculating glare. "Yes, Mother," she practically spat the word out. "You've always made certain of that." If Cora had just been able to let her go all of those years ago, she wouldn't have had to endured years of misery in her marriage to the king. Things might have turned out differently then - much differently.

She hated herself for the immediate, overwhelming fear that had washed over, but knew that there wasn't much point fighting it - deep-seated fear stemming from years of endured abuse didn't just go away. But she'd managed to compose herself outwardly, at least. Squaring her shoulders and keeping her head held high, she regarded Cora in the most collected, regal manner she could manage. "It was never about power for me. That is the difference between you and I." Regina ground out. She'd never wanted her life as queen, had never cared for the subjects she ruled - everything she'd done had been in the name of avenging the man who'd been taken from her. She'd been more than happy to sacrifice her magic for that.

Her eyes narrowed further at the mention of her late husband. Despite the way he'd treated her, as if she were nothing more than an accessory to be tossed aside when she wasn't busy playing mother to his precious daughter, Regina hadn't thought of him in quite some time. But it wasn't particularly strange that Cora had brought him up - after all, the last thing she'd known in the Enchanted Forest was that Regina had been preparing to marry the King. Regina stiffened as the full meaning of what this meant hit her - Cora didn't know about anything that had happened afterward, particularly not in this world. Which meant she didn't know about Henry. There was still a chance to keep him safe. If she could only keep Cora talking while she figured out what to do...

"The King is dead." Regina told her smoothly, arching an eyebrow. "I killed him." Hopefully that bit of information would be enough to intrigue Cora, and keep her mind off of...other things.

[Cora Mills]

Cora smiled as Regina spoke. She liked to hear that her daughter did know that she knew who held the power here. She'd gotten so rebellious before that Cora honestly didn't know what to do with her. Really, finding Snow White riding a horse was the best thing she could have done for Regina, even if she somehow didn't realize it. Cora honestly didn't know where she had gone wrong with Regina. Honestly, she couldn't even horse ride like a proper woman by the time she was twenty. What a disappointment she had been before Cora managed to save her from failure by making her the Queen. Though, Cora was completely unsure what she was doing now. Apparently she'd lost her position as ruler of this small town somehow, which was.... even more disappointing than before. She couldn't even rule over a town as small as Storybrooke? Cora had no idea how she'd allowed her daughter to become this.

Cora's smug smile quickly turned into a disappointed frown when Regina spoke again. She had no idea what the world was really like, even after Cora had tried to tell her that magic and power were the only real pleasures in life. Things like 'love' were just standing in the way of the real power. But, apparently her daughter didn't want power. She wanted true love and all the benefits that would come from that. Cora believed that there were no benefits in true love, especially since Regina's so-called true love had been a mere stable boy who thought he could marry someone of Regina's status. It disappointed Cora that Regina had failed to realize how low the stable boy was and that she couldn't possibly be in love with him. But, her daughter was exactly the best at seeing what the world was really like, even after Cora had made her a Queen....

"Things are going to be different around here, Regina. Starting now." Cora said, starting to advance on her daughter. "You're going to reclaim your position as mayor of this town." Her voice was firm and commanding with a twinge of disappointment. How had she ever raised a daughter who actually allowed herself to lose complete control over something? After all the deals she'd made with Rumpelstiltskin to get her daughter Regina turned out to be this... rebellious person who just wanted love. But, before Cora could speak again, her daughter told her something that made her smile. "Very good, Regina..." Cora said. "You might be starting to understand, then."

[Regina Mills]

Regina bristled as her mother approached, instinctively fearing the worst - Cora wasn't very happy with her at the moment, that much was clear. On some level, it still hurt that her mother didn't approve of her, had never even really seemed to even like her - unless she was doing something Cora considered 'worth her time', like clawing her way into power. Being herself, and only herself, would never be good enough. Regina had long since become accustomed to the very conditional nature of the love between the two of them, but that didn't mean it had ever really stop hurting - still, she wasn't going to let that weaken her now. She briefly considered using magic again, perhaps to distract Cora or even to teleport out of here...but even if she did, it would have been foolish to believe that Cora wouldn't eventually find her again. And when she did, she'd only be even more angry.

The all-too-familiar feeling of being trapped because of her mother was setting in once more, and it was making Regina's blood boil. She had sworn to never allow this to happen again, and yet here she was. Glaring at the other woman, she was unable to keep her eyes from widening slightly when Cora announced what she wanted Regina to do. It...shouldn't have been all that surprising, she supposed. But how could she take power again now, of all times? She scoffed. "And who do you think will listen to me if I do?" she asked, scowling slightly. "I cursed these people, took their lives away, for twenty-eight years. I'm the last person they're going to accept as their leader." She could always force them to listen to her, true - but she had done that before, as the evil queen. And that was something she'd really rather not prefer to circle back to.

She nearly cringed at Cora's change in mood upon hearing that the King was dead. Of course, that was what it would take to make her mother happy. Despite the nagging thought that she'd regret this later, she lifted her chin defiantly before replying. "The only reason I did it was to escape the marriage you forced me into." She paused for a moment to ensure that her voice didn't waver, still glaring levelly. "I don't suppose you ever stopped to wonder what that was like? How scared I was? No, all you cared about was what you wanted, Mother." These were words she'd been waiting to say for so very long, and now that she'd started, she couldn't seem to stop. Not that she imagined they'd have very much effect - Cora was impossible to talk to, just as she'd always been. Still, venting her anger made her feel better than she had in...quite some time. Directing her anger at her mother was something she'd never been able to do, not once. She'd spent so long directing it at her stepdaughter instead that she couldn't help but feel just the tiniest bit refreshed by all of this.

[Cora Mills]

How was it that despite telling Regina so much as a child she had still learned nothing? Cora had been sure to make it clear that one doesn't just walk into power easily - you had to work for it. Cora had learned that through her many deals with Rumpelstiltskin. Regina apparently hadn't learned it yet, despite casting the curse that had brought all of the Fairy Tale Land there in the first place. Cora had thought that if she had done that, maybe she had changed for the better. But no, she was still the same naive child Cora had known. She probably still believed that true love was stronger than magic. Well, it looked like Cora was going to have to fix that. Cora would make sure that her daughter wasn't going to just let the whole town take away her power because they're mad.

"You have to make them listen to you, Regina." Cora said. "Have you just forgotten everything I taught you? I'd better remind you, then." Her voice was cruel as ever. A ball of dark energy appeared in the queen's hand. She was threatening to use magic on her daughter, something she knew that she feared and hated. But, that only made it a more effective punishment. "Power isn't something that anyone will just let you have. You have to take it." Cora was very disappointed that her daughter was still the same girl she'd been before Cora had been pushed into Wonderland. She was sure that she was different from her return to Wonderland. Apparently she was using magic more readily and had even killed some of her guards.

But, she'd either changed since she went to Wonderland or never changed at all. A pity, really. Cora had thought that she'd become much better. "I made you a queen, Regina." Cora said. "You should have known better than to think your life would be better living with that stable boy. You would be nothing if you went with him. I've worked too hard to allow you to live a life like that." It was as if Regina didn't know that she'd made countless deals with Rumpelstiltskin to get where she was... to make sure that Regina had any life at all. Cora didn't even know what Rumpelstiltskin was planning to do with her once he got his hands on her.

[Regina Mills]

Instinctively, Regina flinched back, bracing for the pain she now instantly associated with her mother's use of magic - but it never came, for Cora hadn't fired the dark magic at her yet. She drew a shaky breath. Why was it that her mother didn't even hesitate before threatening to inflict pain on her? After having Henry for ten years, Regina couldn't even imagine ever wanting that for her child. Even the thought of seeing him in pain tore at her heart, made her want to do anything in order to prevent it. So what could drive a person to deliberately hurt their child? It seemed unfathomable to Regina. Perhaps it truly was because she'd been such a horrible daughter - perhaps, as Cora had told her countless times before, she really wasn't good enough. The thought stirred both anger and feelings of hurt within her, and she glowered at Cora in response - as if daring her to fire.

"I don't want to take it." she stated coldly, but calmly. How many times had she told Cora this? Her mother never listened, she just...reverted straight to using magic as soon as something didn't go her way. It was why their relationship had always been strained. "I had power here for twenty-eight years, and it never made me happy. You were wrong." Power did not, by any means, lead someone to happiness. In Regina's case especially, it had only made her feel even more bitter and cold - and even more alone. Sometimes, admittedly, it felt good, making people fear you. Being in control. But it absolutely could not be compared to the happiness of having a family, of loving someone unconditionally, of curling up in bed with your child and reading him a bedtime story. All of those things were real. They didn't last forever but they were more than worth indulging in for as long as they could be.

Anger rose up inside her again, now more strongly than ever, at the mention of 'that stable boy'. Her mother hadn't even bothered to remember his name. Remembering that night, remembering how she'd murdered Daniel, was almost enough to make Regina want to lunge forward and rip out Cora's heart in return. But even if she thought she had a fair chance of succeeding, she wasn't sure she'd be able to anyway. She wasn't sure how this worked - how you could love someone who'd abused you and taken away everything you loved and forced you into some horrible, miserable new life. But Cora was her mother, and Regina...she just didn't know if she could ever bring herself to try and kill her. Still, though, the rage did not fade, and her next words were spoken in a snarl. "It's my life! Not yours!" And Cora had no right to tell her how to live it, no matter what deals she'd made. She wasn't some naive little girl anymore. "Do you know where I'd be right now if Daniel was still alive? Happy. In the Enchanted Forest. With my true love, and children, and far away from you." She was going to regret those last few words, Regina knew - but right now, she could not will herself to bite her tongue. Venting felt too good.