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Something was wrong.
Zelena wasn’t sure exactly what, but she felt a deep sense of dread as she returned to the Town Hall with a bag of baby essentials in tow. She should have been excited, after all, she and Hades were ready to start their lives in control of Storybrooke.
Emma was still outside throwing magic at the barrier, and she could see Belle flipping through a book, clearly trying to find some sort of magic spell or enchantment to get through, but Zelena smugly knew it was useless.
Still… Emma was outside , so she couldn’t be the one causing the feeling of dread. She wasn’t worried about the snow bird or the prince either - they likely were having a private reunion with their son, and honestly, Zelena didn’t blame them. In fact, it may have been the smartest move she had seen out of them.
Zelena had always thought Snow had the brains in the relationship.
There was one person though. Well, two people, actually, who could have been desperate enough to get to the baby, and as soon as she realized, Zelena knew that was where the sense of dread must have been coming from.
Regina. It had to be Regina, and more than likely, Robin.
Zelena moved faster, sprinting down the long hallway to the mayor’s office. As she approached, she could hear voices. Hades was gloating, Robin was a panicked father, and Regina was sounding more like the heroes than an Evil Queen.
Her blood ran cold when she heard Hades say “Olympian Crystal”. If that thing hit her sister… if it hit Robin… Zelena couldn’t imagine it.
Hades loved her, right? So there was no way he would use the crystal on someone she loved, right? Zelena had even told him that she wanted to work with Robin on co-parenting their little girl, so surely, he wouldn’t be willing to kill him too, right?
But he was.
There he was, holding the Olympian Crystal in his hand, raising it in Regina’s direction.
She saw Robin move, but Zelena was quicker, summoning the crystal into her hand.
She didn’t have any other choice. She knew if Hades would be willing to kill her sister, then… perhaps there was no way he truly loved her, or cared about her.
So Zelena did the only thing she could think of: She stabbed Hades, right in the back.
He gasped, horrified and managed to turn around.
“You - you said you’d never hurt me,” he choked out.
“So did you,” she sobbed, glancing in Regina’s direction. “You broke that promise first, Hades.”
Hades let out one last gasp, disappearing in the misty light, and that was when Zelena fell to her knees, sobbing and shaking harder than she ever had.
Regina was at her side immediately, pulling her into a hug that Zelena was all too happy to return. “Zelena, you - ”
“I know what I’ve done! I’ve killed the only opportunity I had at happiness!” Zelena shouted. “I know I’m going to be back in that damned asylum room.”
“You saved me,” Robin said quietly, the pink bundle in his arms. “I will never be able to repay you, Zelena.”
“I think you can,” Regina replied, looking at Zelena. “You did the hardest thing anyone would ever have to do. I think we can allow you your freedom, Zelena.”
Zelena looked up, wide-eyed. “Wh - you must be joking.”
“I’m not. Little green bean would want her mother… and you deserve to have a chance of happiness. I think you’ve atoned for your actions.”
More tears escaped from Zelena. Conflicted, hot tears rolled over her cheeks onto the floor. She was overjoyed, yes, but the cost was so high, and she was never going to be in love again. “I don’t know what to say.”
“ROBIN! REGINA!” Emma shouted, her footsteps drawing closer and skidding to a halt when she arrived in the doorway. “Are you both okay? What happened?”
“Zelena saved our lives,” Robin said calmly. “She defeated Hades.”
“And the baby?” Belle asked with a brush of her hand against her stomach that had Zelena raising a brow.
“She’s perfectly fine,” Regina said with a smile. “We’re all safe.”
“Not all of us,” Emma muttered.
Zelena noted the brief flex of Regina’s hands and the roll of Belle’s eyes behind Emma’s back, but said nothing.
“Well… since the danger has passed - again - perhaps it’s time we get some dinner?” Regina suggested. “Emma can call Snow and Belle, you can call Rumple and have them meet us at Granny’s?”
Belle smiled and nodded, heading back down the hall. Emma seemed more reluctant to leave, but eventually did so.
“You just wanted them out of the way, didn’t you?” Zelena asked with a weak smile.
“Yes. Fond as I’ve grown of the heroes, we were in the middle of something,” Regina replied with a shrug. “And that’s what you’re going to do now that you’ve managed to overcome your darkness.”
“I… I assumed I was going to never see my baby girl again,” Zelena admitted. “I don’t know what the next step is.”
“Not at all,” Regina said. “You can move in with Henry and I, if you like, so you aren’t so far away from the town in that big farmhouse of yours.”
“She should also probably have a name at this point,” Robin added with a small shrug. “So we can call her something besides ‘baby girl'.”
“I...think she should be named after you.”
“Me?” Robin asked, his face soft as he turned to the little girl in his arms. “I’m honored. Hello there, Robin… here, Zelena… you can carry her to the diner.”
Zelena managed to stand on shaky legs, taking Robin with a small smile. “My little Green Bean. You’re going to grow up so loved…”
Robin blinked up at her and let out a gurgle that nearly melted Zelena’s heart.
“Ready to go?” Regina asked.
Zelena nodded, following them out of the hall, and stepped into her new dawn.