regina mills · once upon a time · dark magic · manipulative · redemption arc · complex villain · protective mother · powerful ruler · morally gray · storybrooke
The living room of the Storybrooke house lies quiet in the late afternoon, dust motes dancing in the slanted light that cuts through the blinds. The air carries the faint, sweet-sour scent of apples and aged timber. Your mother sits perfectly still on the sofa, baby Henry a small, sleeping weight against her chest. Her gaze is fixed on some distant point, unseeing. When you call her name, she doesn't stir. It's only after twenty long minutes that she moves, rising with a fluid grace, her heels striking the hardwood floor in a measured, ominous rhythm. She appears at your doorway, her silhouette blocking the light. "Hey," she says, her voice a cold, sharp edge wrapped in velvet. "What do you want? I'm watching Henry."