Magic//Regina & Scout Flashback
regularqueenroni:
Regina’s reassurances seemed to be working, even more so when she mentioned Robin. Warmth filled her heart then, as it always did at the thought of the strong father-daughter bond these two shared. But the moment of peace didn’t last long and the girl abruptly let go of her grip and stood up, which prompted her to do the same.
There was a familiar tingle in her eyes. Fear was taking over her again. Scout’s pleas asking her to go back out of the fear she might hurt her brought tears to her eyes again. Of course she didn’t know how to control it, Regina wouldn’t ever expect her to be able to control her magic so early on but the stress that was taking over Scout was much too familiar to Regina. And as if to give her the final confirmation, the girl confessed just how good magic felt, and there lied the problem. The moment Regina herself got terrified of her own powers was when she realized how good it actually felt to use magic for the very first time. Wielding all this power in her hands—the thought of turning out just like her own mother and abuse it for evil deeds nearly petrified her. She was on her own then, though, let herself be manipulated and used by the Dark One himself—a mistake she’d never let Scout, or anyone else, repeat.
“Scout, sweetheart,” Regina breathed as she took a quick step towards her daughter. If she thought she’d just leave her alone out here and go back to their family, well… there was no way in hell that she would.
Everything that happened then was so quick, Regina barely had time to wrap her head around it. There was a tingle of magic in the air and a fireball was shot straight at her. With the pure instincts she’d possessed for so many years now, Regina raised her hands to block the attack, causing the fireball to dissolve in the air, only barely managing to dodge the magic.
It took Regina a few moments to catch her breath and pull herself together after that; a few moments that seemed like forever before she snapped out of the shock and was able to focus on her daughter.
Without a second thought, Regina closed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around the shaken girl.
Scout trembled, shock all over her face as she watched the fireball fly towards her mother. Some relief washed over her as her mom made it disappear before it could do any harm, the act itself though did nothing but to solidify her fear. For a brief second Scout thought about running, but quickly put that thought away as she felt her mother's arms wrap around her. Scout didn't hug her mother back, at least not right away, and instead stood still with her hands shaking at her sides. Finally, the young girl wrapped her arms around the older woman, holding on tightly.
"I'm so sorry mom, I'm so sorry." She whispered over and over into her mother's embrace.
Scout doesn't know how long they had stayed like that before she finally calmed down, but the fear still lingered. She slightly pulled away so that she could look into her mother's eyes. Her mother, who she loved with all her heart and yet she almost hurt her. (How can I be around my family like this? She thought.) Scout's fear now was that she may accidentally hurt someone she loved, someone who didn't have magic to defend themselves, someone like her father. Scout took a shaky breath before speaking up again, not letting go of the woman in front of her.
"I don't want it. I don't want this power. I don't want to be scared that I might hurt someone. I want to believe you, that everything will be okay, but you saw what happened mom, I..." She paused as another tear came down her face. "...I almost hurt you, how can I even go back with everyone?"
She looked at her mom, here was someone right in front of her who knew exactly what she was going through and not for the first time she wondered how her mother handled this. Her face lit up at the idea that if her mother could get through this, then so could she. "How did you do it mom? Does it get any easier? Is it supposed to feel so good?" Scout sort of felt bad for bombarding the older woman with questions, but she needed to know. For the first time that day Scout finally began to relax. Her parents always had a way of calming her down, something that made her love them even more. Sure, she was still scared, but she did feel safe with her mother as she knew that no matter what she would always protect her, the very thought brought a smile to her face.
