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"Hi, Mayor Mills!" Eleanor waved to the older woman as they walked by each other on her way to school.
"Hello, Eleanor." Regina smiled politely. "Have a nice day."
Regina's polite smile turned into a sad frown once Eleanor had passed her. It'd been 28 years of her daughter not knowing who she was and it never hurt any less. Regina missed her little girl.
Magic always came with a price, and apparently losing her daughter was Regina's price to pay. But if the prophecy was correct then any day now the Savior should be here to break the curse… which was both good and bad. Regina didn't want her curse broken. She'd worked hard for it. But she missed her daughter deeply.
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Regina was pacing the room in anger thinking about Snow White's upcoming wedding when the doors opened and her knights came in dragging someone with them.
"Your majesty, we found this one wandering around the gardens." One of the guards said as he roughly threw the person down in front of him and they let out a cry of pain when they hit the ground.
Regina looked down to see this intruder was only a child. She took in the sight of the girl - long unkempt hair and a dress that was falling apart. She looked dirty and bruised.
"I will handle this." Regina said. "Leave us."
The guards nodded and left, and as soon as they were gone Regina approached the girl and knelt down in front of her.
"Are you okay, dear?" She asked the girl softly.
The girl nodded and lifted her head to look at Regina, who had to stifle a gasp when she saw her face. The girl looked like someone had hit her hard across the face and she'd clearly been crying.
She initially flinched when Regina reached towards her, but didn't move any further as Regina gently cupped her face.
"Who did this to you?" Regina asked.
The girl stayed silent and just looked back at Regina, trying not to cry again as she thought about what happened.
"I can't help you very much if I don't know what happened." Regina told her, but the girl didn't say a word. She couldn't. She was too afraid.
Regina sighed. "Well, alright then. How about you tell me your name?"
After some hesitation, the girl spoke in a whisper.
"Leora."
"Leora." Regina smiled softly. "That's a pretty name for a pretty girl."
Leora smiled. No one had ever said anything like that to her before.
"Can you tell me where you live?" Regina asked.
Leora frowned and shook her head vigorously. No way. She couldn't go back home.
"Why not? We need to get you back home, right?"
Leora didn't know how to respond. She just sat there looking down. She couldn't go back home. She couldn't.
"Is someone at home hurting you?" Regina asked, gently cupping Leora's face again and making the girl look at her.
Leora's eyes filled with tears and that was all Regina needed to know. Regina had been the victim of a cruel and unloving parent herself. She knew what it was like.
"You will not go back there." Regina said firmly. "You will stay here."
Leora looked at her in awe and confusion. The queen was going to let her live with her?
Regina was about as shocked as Leora was. She had no idea why she'd immediately jumped to let the girl live with her. But it was the right thing to do. Not that Regina ever really cared about what the right thing to do was… but it was a little different when children were involved.
"Here? With you?" Leora questioned.
"Yes. Here. With me." Regina smiled.
Leora leaned in and hugged the older woman.
"Thank you." She whispered.
Regina was surprised. She couldn't remember the last time anyone hugged her. But she hugged the girl back and wondered if she'd made the smartest decision or not.
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"Eleanor?" Regina called out as she walked towards the bench on the docks. "What's wrong?"
Eleanor sat alone, crying, when she heard Regina call out to her and soon join her on the bench.
She sniffled.
"Girls at school keep teasing me."
Regina took a deep breath to keep calm. Just hearing that someone was being cruel to her girl made her angry beyond belief.
"What are they saying?" She asked.
Eleanor explained how a group of girls continued to make fun of her everyday about anything they could, ranging from the way she dressed to the way she did her hair, and how sometimes they'd even push her around a little. She soon found herself leaning into Regina as the woman wrapped her arm around the girl.
The mayor of Storybrooke was not known for her kindness at all, but she'd always been kind to Eleanor. No one knew why, and it was definitely mind boggling as to why Regina sometimes even went out of her way to be kind to the girl, but no one was complaining. Eleanor was a sweet and meek girl and deserved all the kindness she could get.
"I wish I had a friend." Eleanor said sadly.
"I'm your friend, aren't I?" Regina asked as she rubbed the girl's arm soothingly.
Eleanor sniffled and wiped some of her tears away.
"Yeah."
"Sometimes when people are mean to you like that it's because they're jealous of you." Regina offered. "I'd bet they're jealous of you because they know they'll never be as good as you are."
Eleanor shrugged and smiled a tiny bit. She didn't believe that at all, but it was nice to hear.
"Would you like to go get some ice cream with me?" Regina asked, knowing Eleanor loved the treat.
"Yes, please!" Eleanor grinned and immediately got up, making Regina smile as well.
"Alright, let's go."
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Regina sat in Leora's room in her rocking chair with Leora curled up in her lap. The queen learned that Leora loved to sit in her lap and be rocked, so buying a rocking chair for her was the perfect decision. Every night the two would sit in it and just enjoy the quality time together. Oftentimes Regina would rock with the girl until she fell asleep there in her lap.
Regina had grown to really love the girl in the months she'd been there. She didn't like to admit it, because love was weakness, but Leora had quickly worked her way into her heart.
"Regina?" Leora said softly.
"Yes, dear?" Regina answered.
Leora hesitated a little.
"What is it?" Regina asked.
"Can I… can I call you mama?" Leora whispered.
Regina's heart fluttered. The thought warmed her and excited her. But she couldn't appear weak.
"If you want to." She said calmly.
"I do, mama." Leora giggled and snuggled in closer to Regina.
Regina smiled slightly and hugged the girl tighter against her. She had always wanted to be a mother before she became queen.
Regina held Leora until the girl fell asleep against her chest as usual. She stayed holding the sleeping girl for a while, just watching her and thinking. Taking in Leora was a good decision.
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As soon as the wave of magic swept over Storybrooke and Eleanor caught her bearings, she was out the door and running down the street as fast as her little legs could carry her.
"Hey, Eleanor!" She heard someone call out.
"Not my name!" She called over her shoulder as she kept running. She was desperate to get to Regina's house. She needed to see her mother.
She darted up to Regina's front door and banged on the door repeatedly. She tried the knob, but it was locked.
"Mama!" She yelled, hoping Regina might hear her.
A car soon pulled up outside of the house and the girl recognized it as soon as she saw it. She ran as fast as she could and as soon as Regina had gotten out of the car she had wrapped her arms around the woman's waist and was hugging her as tight as she could. "Mama!"
Regina was massively caught off guard and stiffened before realizing it was just her daughter. Leora.
"Oh, Leora.." Regina relaxed as she hugged the girl back. "I missed you so much, sweetheart."
"I would have missed you if I'd known." Leora replied.
Regina chuckled a little. "I know, dear."
Leora reluctantly let go of Regina so they could walk into the house.
"Come here, let me show you something." Regina said after they got inside and she began to walk up the stairs to the upper part of the house.
Leora excitedly followed her into one of the bedrooms.
"I had this room set up for you in the hopes one day you'd come back to me." Regina smiled sadly.
"It's amazing." Leora said in awe as she looked around.
She noticed a familiar face and wandered over to the bed where the same teddy bear Regina had got her in the Enchanted Forest sat. She gasped and picked it up, hugging it tight.
"Don't tell mama, but I'm happier to see you than I am her." She whispered to the bear.
"I can't believe you would say that, Leora!" Regina playfully scolded. "I suppose I can always just let you stay with your Storybrooke parents… you don't have to stay with me.."
Leora giggled and ran over to hug Regina once again. "I love you, mama. I don't wanna be apart ever again."
Regina smiled, and this time she picked the girl up and held her tight.
"I love you too. So very much. We will never be apart again. I promise."
Leora smiled and buried her face in the crook of Regina's neck, inhaling the familiar scent she'd learned to associate with her mother all those years ago.
It had been so lonely without Leora around. Regina had grown so accustomed to taking care of her and always giving her attention. She'd gotten used to waking up in the mornings to see that Leora had crawled into her bed at some point during the night. It was a hard change after she woke up in Storybrooke and discovered Leora didn't live with her and didn't remember her. But thankfully that was all in the past now. She was reunited with her precious girl and would never ever let anything separate them again.