Defying Gravity: 3/??
Title: Defying Gravity
Fandom: Once Upon A Time/Once Upon A Time In Wonderland
Characters: Zelena, Jafar, Robin and Cora in this chapter, more to follow but no spoilers here, dearies.
Rating: PG
Warnings: Spoilers for all of OUATIW and OUAT up to S4 but goes AU for S5.
Notes: For eternal_moonie - I couldn't have done this one without you. Chapter titles are all Defying Gravity lyrics.
Summary: What happened when Jafar's lamp was brought to Storybrooke in the curse, ended up in Gold's shop and Zelena accidentally let him out? In this chapter, as her wish comes true in a way she never imagined, Zelena begins to realise she should have been more careful what she wished for.
Chapter 1 is here: I'm Through With Playing By The Rules Of Someone Else's Game
Chapter 2 is here: Dreams, The Way We Planned'em, If We Work In Tandem
Zelena hadn’t been quite sure what to expect when she made her wish. But the one thing she hadn’t expected was to find herself waking up somewhere in the middle of the Enchanted Forest. Why had she ended up here, instead of married off to some prince or other like her mother had done with Regina? Instead, she was lying here in the forest next to - who the hell was she lying next to, exactly?
As Zelena slowly sat up, the man lying next to her grinned sleepily and said “Good morning.”
Zelena blinked. Robin Hood?
How the hell had this happened? Zelena had enjoyed flinging it in Regina’s face at the time that she was carrying Robin’s child. But the truth was, without Regina around, Robin held no appeal for Zelena. Even back in the days when Zelena was pretending to be Marian, once they were out of Storybrooke and not rubbing it in Regina’s face every day, Zelena had found their day to day life boring and had longed for the day which she had known had to come when Regina would track them down. When Zelena had taunted Regina with the revelation that it had been she and not Marian who had left town with Robin, she had felt alive again in a way that she never had when she was with him without Regina there to taunt.
Zelena looked around her. No kid. Maybe in this timeline Robin had never met Marian and they’d never had a kid together. That was the one blessing in this whole nightmare she had managed to wish herself into, that she didn’t have to play the doting stepmother to Robin and Marian’s brat. She often wondered how Regina had stood doing that twice, and that had been the one thing Regina had had that Zelena didn’t want.
“Is something wrong, sweetheart?” Robin asked.
Zelena shook her head. “I just had the strangest dream. My mother had another child after me. I had a sister, her name was Regina.”
Robin shuddered. “Your mother should never have had the opportunity to have had any more children. After the way she was with you, the way she never entirely forgave you for the fact that Prince Leopold married Princess Eva instead of her once Eva had revealed to him that Cora had already had a child, and then when she was going to marry Prince Henry but King Xavier found out about you and put a stop to the match...This Regina character is lucky that she only exists in your dream, because no one should be subjected to the childhood you had with Cora. You were desperate to escape her, after all. You don’t have to see her today, you know, we can make an excuse.”
Zelena blinked. “Today?”
Robin nodded. “Yes. It’s today that we’re supposed to be seeing her. I thought that was what had prompted your dream. You always have these nightmares when it comes to time to see Cora. But we can put her off if you like.”
Zelena shook her head. “No. I’ll see her.” The first time Zelena had properly met her mother, and this fool wanted to put her off? She had to see Cora, to know the truth of what Robin was saying. Regina had told Zelena in the past that she was the lucky one not to have been raised by their mother, could she possibly have been right all along? Zelena had to see Cora for herself, to know the truth, and to maybe see whether she could change things, to know what exactly she had let herself in for. What could have been so bad that Zelena could have chosen this life, a life with this wannabe hero, slumming it in the forest, listening to Robin’s brags about how he stole from the rich to give to the poor, not to mention the Merry Men and their drinking songs and smelly feet?
“What the bloody hell is this?” Zelena raged at Jafar when Robin had left to change. “My sister gets the life with a father, her own horse, a chance to be queen, and I’m stuck out here in the forest with Robin bloody Hood?”
Jafar raised his eyebrows. “Your wish was that Regina never existed and that you took her place in everyone’s lives. Since Regina was Robin’s girlfriend at the time, I thought that included him and that being with him was what you wanted.”
“Why would I want this life?” Zelena demanded. “And what’s all this about my mother? You must know I would never want the life that Robin has just described.”
“Then you should have been clearer with your wish,” Jafar argued. “If you had told me in your wish that you wanted a happy childhood with your mother, or that you wanted the opportunities that Regina had had to become royalty, then I would have been able to grant that for you. Instead, you jumped into your wish without thinking about what you wanted to say. Instead, you merely wished for your sister to have never existed and that you took her place in everyone’s lives. In fact, before you made that wish, I had intended to discuss it further with you. I had hoped that we could work together to change the past, to get what we both wanted. But instead, you did not give me a chance to speak, jumping in with your wish before I had chance to put my proposal to you. Is it then any wonder that the wish you got was not quite what you had in mind?”
“Okay, we’ll talk more about it after I’ve seen my mother. I’ll work with you to help you get what you want, but you’d better help me get what I want as well.” Zelena angrily strode off, only to find herself coming face to face with the woman she had imagined meeting so many times over the years, the woman she was determined that now she would build a relationship with: her mother, Cora.
“Zelena, my daughter,” Cora began. “I have a surprise for you.”
To be continued...
Fandom: Once Upon A Time/Once Upon A Time In Wonderland
Characters: Zelena, Jafar, Robin and Cora in this chapter, more to follow but no spoilers here, dearies.
Rating: PG
Warnings: Spoilers for all of OUATIW and OUAT up to S4 but goes AU for S5.
Notes: For eternal_moonie - I couldn't have done this one without you. Chapter titles are all Defying Gravity lyrics.
Summary: What happened when Jafar's lamp was brought to Storybrooke in the curse, ended up in Gold's shop and Zelena accidentally let him out? In this chapter, as her wish comes true in a way she never imagined, Zelena begins to realise she should have been more careful what she wished for.
Chapter 1 is here: I'm Through With Playing By The Rules Of Someone Else's Game
Chapter 2 is here: Dreams, The Way We Planned'em, If We Work In Tandem
Zelena hadn’t been quite sure what to expect when she made her wish. But the one thing she hadn’t expected was to find herself waking up somewhere in the middle of the Enchanted Forest. Why had she ended up here, instead of married off to some prince or other like her mother had done with Regina? Instead, she was lying here in the forest next to - who the hell was she lying next to, exactly?
As Zelena slowly sat up, the man lying next to her grinned sleepily and said “Good morning.”
Zelena blinked. Robin Hood?
How the hell had this happened? Zelena had enjoyed flinging it in Regina’s face at the time that she was carrying Robin’s child. But the truth was, without Regina around, Robin held no appeal for Zelena. Even back in the days when Zelena was pretending to be Marian, once they were out of Storybrooke and not rubbing it in Regina’s face every day, Zelena had found their day to day life boring and had longed for the day which she had known had to come when Regina would track them down. When Zelena had taunted Regina with the revelation that it had been she and not Marian who had left town with Robin, she had felt alive again in a way that she never had when she was with him without Regina there to taunt.
Zelena looked around her. No kid. Maybe in this timeline Robin had never met Marian and they’d never had a kid together. That was the one blessing in this whole nightmare she had managed to wish herself into, that she didn’t have to play the doting stepmother to Robin and Marian’s brat. She often wondered how Regina had stood doing that twice, and that had been the one thing Regina had had that Zelena didn’t want.
“Is something wrong, sweetheart?” Robin asked.
Zelena shook her head. “I just had the strangest dream. My mother had another child after me. I had a sister, her name was Regina.”
Robin shuddered. “Your mother should never have had the opportunity to have had any more children. After the way she was with you, the way she never entirely forgave you for the fact that Prince Leopold married Princess Eva instead of her once Eva had revealed to him that Cora had already had a child, and then when she was going to marry Prince Henry but King Xavier found out about you and put a stop to the match...This Regina character is lucky that she only exists in your dream, because no one should be subjected to the childhood you had with Cora. You were desperate to escape her, after all. You don’t have to see her today, you know, we can make an excuse.”
Zelena blinked. “Today?”
Robin nodded. “Yes. It’s today that we’re supposed to be seeing her. I thought that was what had prompted your dream. You always have these nightmares when it comes to time to see Cora. But we can put her off if you like.”
Zelena shook her head. “No. I’ll see her.” The first time Zelena had properly met her mother, and this fool wanted to put her off? She had to see Cora, to know the truth of what Robin was saying. Regina had told Zelena in the past that she was the lucky one not to have been raised by their mother, could she possibly have been right all along? Zelena had to see Cora for herself, to know the truth, and to maybe see whether she could change things, to know what exactly she had let herself in for. What could have been so bad that Zelena could have chosen this life, a life with this wannabe hero, slumming it in the forest, listening to Robin’s brags about how he stole from the rich to give to the poor, not to mention the Merry Men and their drinking songs and smelly feet?
“What the bloody hell is this?” Zelena raged at Jafar when Robin had left to change. “My sister gets the life with a father, her own horse, a chance to be queen, and I’m stuck out here in the forest with Robin bloody Hood?”
Jafar raised his eyebrows. “Your wish was that Regina never existed and that you took her place in everyone’s lives. Since Regina was Robin’s girlfriend at the time, I thought that included him and that being with him was what you wanted.”
“Why would I want this life?” Zelena demanded. “And what’s all this about my mother? You must know I would never want the life that Robin has just described.”
“Then you should have been clearer with your wish,” Jafar argued. “If you had told me in your wish that you wanted a happy childhood with your mother, or that you wanted the opportunities that Regina had had to become royalty, then I would have been able to grant that for you. Instead, you jumped into your wish without thinking about what you wanted to say. Instead, you merely wished for your sister to have never existed and that you took her place in everyone’s lives. In fact, before you made that wish, I had intended to discuss it further with you. I had hoped that we could work together to change the past, to get what we both wanted. But instead, you did not give me a chance to speak, jumping in with your wish before I had chance to put my proposal to you. Is it then any wonder that the wish you got was not quite what you had in mind?”
“Okay, we’ll talk more about it after I’ve seen my mother. I’ll work with you to help you get what you want, but you’d better help me get what I want as well.” Zelena angrily strode off, only to find herself coming face to face with the woman she had imagined meeting so many times over the years, the woman she was determined that now she would build a relationship with: her mother, Cora.
“Zelena, my daughter,” Cora began. “I have a surprise for you.”
To be continued...