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once-upon-a-ouat · 6 years ago

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“Teach Me to Fly”

Summary: Mal, Regina and Lily are on the open grounds outside of Storybrooke where Mal is teaching Lily to fly. However, when they hit a roadblock, it turns out that the problems that are holding them down have deeper roots than it might appear. Canon Divergence post season 6. Regina and Lily bonding with a side of Dragon Queen and Lily and Mal.

For my 100 followers celebration on tumblr I got a request from @theonceoverthinker for a Dragon Queen fic in which Regina and Lily bond. I've never written Lily before so this was a fun experiment (although it got a little out of hand with the length). I loved writing this story and I hope you'll like it as well.

Word Count: 3485 words

Read on FFN or AO3

Lily was making circles in the air above their heads as she was readying herself to perform the maneuver she was trying to learn. Mal had showed it to her earlier and the two had made it a few times with Lily following her mom’s every move until she seemed to perfect it enough to try it on her own. And that was why Regina and Mal had their necks craned up, their gazes following the dragon in the sky.

Lily lowered herself down as she headed for the trees that were a couple meters away, having her wings at the precise angle Mal had shown her so that she’d be able to make a swift turn without slowing down. They’d tried the maneuver in the free space without anything they needed to avoid in the way and Mal had deemed her ready to try it with real obstacles. And she seemed to be doing great, executing everything just the way her mom had taught her, but when it was time for her to make the turn, she lost height and barely managed to avoid colliding with the tree trunks. She hit them with her wing, though, and the strong impact caused the thick branches to tear through her wing.

Mal immediately dissolved into thin air to reappear at the place where Lily made her abrupt landing, and Regina followed suit, letting her magic engulf her in a cloud of smoke and teleport her next to the two of them.

Lily’s own magic kicked into motion, too, and she turned back into a person. She was sprawled on the ground, clutching at her left arm and grunting in pain.

“Let me see,” Mal dropped down on her knees and helped her daughter to a sitting position. She pushed Lily’s right hand away, revealing the tear on her forearm. It was a deep wound–Regina could swear she could see the bone–that had Mal gasp in shock. “Are you okay?” she asked, her gaze jumping from the wound to Lily’s face and back again. “Regina, will you, please?” Mal barely looked at her before focusing her attention back on her daughter. She pushed the hair out of Lily’s face and stroked her cheek soothingly as if she was a small child in need of comfort.

“Yes, just splendid,” Lily let out through gritted teeth, crouching as if she was trying to hide from her mother’s worried stare. “Why don’t you heal it?” she managed to make it sound tart despite the amount of pain she was most certainly in. Still, she readily extended her hand, hissing in the process, when Regina knelt down next to her, her palm glowing in purple.

“Regina’s magic is more powerful,” Mal explained, ignoring Lily’s sharp tone. “It’ll heal it quicker.”

In support of her words, Regina’s magic did its job and healed the wound in no time.

Regina’s hand hovered over Lily’s forearm for a few extra seconds. She wanted to make sure everything was properly healed. “There,” she said when she assured herself she’d done everything in her power.

Lily nodded without raising her head to look her in the eyes, “Thank you.”

Despite the attitude, Regina knew she meant it. Things between them had been a bit bumpy when Lily had first learned about Regina and Mal’s relationship. The bad blood from one of their first interactions and the compromising position in which she’d caught Regina and Mal, thus learning that they were dating, were probably a big part of the reason why she hadn’t been keen on the idea at first. She’d stormed out that first night when she’d found out and hadn’t come back until the next afternoon. Mal had been worried sick and Regina had barely kept her form turning into a dragon and flying over the town to look for Lily.

Lily had come around, though, and the three were living together now in Regina’s mansion. Mal and Lily would have their late night talks during which Lily often times ended up braiding her mother’s hair since she was an expert in that area. She and Regina would go shopping – sometimes for clothes, other times for groceries, which would inevitably end in Regina buying the most sugary cereal they could find per Lily’s insistence and against her own will, but, at least, in exchange Lily had agreed to take some cooking lessons from Regina. It was beyond her how someone who lived alone could not have any cooking skills whatsoever, but when she first saw what a disaster Lily was in the kitchen, she realized why the girl preferred to stay away from all activities that could be considered cooking. Still, with some help from a professional she was able to get past both the darkness put in her and her mom’s genes and had learned to do some basic things. Unlike Mal who insisted that her dragon side was getting in the way of cooking and simply refused to try.

And what really warmed Regina’s heart was that Lily and Henry got along so well. Although she had to admit that Lily had a point when she stated how weird it was to be sort of a big sister to her best friend’s son. But they played video games and showed each other me... memes? Regina was never quite sure she’d gotten the word right, but they seemed to have a great time together. And she was happy to have such a loving family.

“What happened?” Regina asked while Mal was looking her daughter over for any injuries and used her magic on even the smallest scratches she could find. Regina could swear there weren’t even scratches at some of the places Mal was “healing”.

Lily was looking at her hands in her lap, fidgeting with the ring she was wearing. “I lost control,” she admitted quietly as she moved away from her mother’s touch.

“This is why I’ve been insisting on practicing more often, Lily,” Mal said calmly but with a certain firmness to her voice as she took her daughter’s hand in her own.

Lily had been doing her best to avoid practicing control over her abilities ever since she’d decided to stay in Storybrooke. She’d seemed excited at first, but had soon started avoiding the lessons with her mom, finding various excuses to do so – looking for an apartment, looking for a job, looking for her father. It seemed like the only thing she wasn’t looking for was the ability to control her magic. Mal had decided to give her some space but the spontaneous transformations that had become more and more frequent necessitated practice. Still, Lily had only agreed to learn when things had really gotten out of hand after she’d wrecked a building. Luckily, no one had gotten hurt.

“You need to learn to control this,” Mal said as softly as she could while also trying to get her point across. She was always extremely self-aware when it came to her daughter, afraid that anything she did could make Lily jump into a car and drive away, never to return.

“Well, excuse me if I didn’t grow up in a magical land and don’t have twenty-eight years of uninterrupted experience in being a dragon,” Lily snapped and pushed herself up, causing a piece of the torn sleeve of her shirt to rip off and remain in her mom’s hand.

“Lily,” Mal jumped to her feet, too, calling after her daughter who had already distanced herself from them, running through the clearing. She was ready to summon her magic again in order to catch up with Lily when Regina put a hand on her upper arm, giving her pause which she knew would last only a few seconds.

“Let me,” Regina said, keeping it short for she could feel the tension in Mal who was ready to bolt and chase after Lily if she had to.

“I’m her mother,” Mal almost snarled at her with viciousness that Regina had rarely heard from her.

“And you’re doing great,” she reassured, knowing exactly what dark thoughts were swirling in Mal’s head. “But right now she’s agitated and might find it easier to talk to someone who’s a bit more removed from the situation,” she laid out her reasoning. She had no doubt that Mal could handle the situation. But sometimes the best way to handle something was to step back and give yourself time and space to process your emotions. And she wanted to give the opportunity to do so to both Lily and Mal.

The coldness drained out of Mal’s gaze as it softened and she nodded. “Okay.”

“Everything will be fine,” Regina rubbed her arm soothingly.

Mal nodded again, not convinced enough to confirm it verbally, but Regina could understand that. She knew what it was like to worry about your child and the relationship between you. She hadn’t expected her words to have a profound effect on Mal and would’ve been surprised if they had, but still, she wanted to offer Mal as much comfort as she could.

“Here,” Mal took her free hand and pressed the piece of Lily’s shirt in her palm as if she was entrusting her her most precious treasure. And, in a sense, she was. “In case you need to track her.” That wouldn’t be necessary and they both knew it– there wasn’t anywhere for Lily to cover herself since they’d found the most open space that Storybrooke’s grounds could offer to practice–but Regina still took the piece of clothing in hopes that it would do Mal’s nerves some good.

She removed her hand from Mal’s arm when she made sure that her girlfriend wouldn’t fall apart if she let go of her and headed after Lily.

She found her sitting on the ground behind a bunch of trees, her back rested against one of the trunks and her thighs pressed against her chest.

Lily looked up at her, ready to start a fight, but paused when she saw it was Regina and not her mom. “I’m not going to apologize,” she said as she looked at her knees and started picking at her jeans.

“I haven’t asked you to,” Regina said as she moved closer now that she knew Lily wasn’t going to run away again. It was a start. And Lily’s language had changed a lot from when she’d first arrived. She’d lost the “shove off” for which Regina was grateful. Not that it would’ve deterred her, but it was good to see the positive influence life in Storybrooke had had on Lily.

“Good,” Lily said, not showing any reaction to her approach. “Because I’m not going to.” She did look up when Regina came to stand next to her, though, and could do nothing to hide her surprise when Regina sat down on the ground.

“Okay,” Regina said. “Do you want to tell me what happened with your magic?” she used the opportunity that Lily’s shock provided to ask.

“No,” Lily gave her curt response before she’d even finished her question, looking away again.

“Okay.” Regina readjusted her position to make herself comfortable. It looked like they’d sit there for a while which was fine with her. Her only concern was Mal who was probably going out of her mind already. But there was nothing she could do about it. Pushing Lily wouldn’t get them anywhere. So she prepared to wait as long as necessary and hoped that Mal had enough patience and faith in her to do the same.

She made sure not to look at Lily, giving her space, but also quiet reassurance that there was someone there for her if she wanted to talk. Out of the corner of her eye, though, she noticed Lily giving her a nervous glance from time to time.

That went on for a while before Lily finally spoke. “Will you stop that?” she demanded.

“Stop what exactly?” Regina asked, looking at her. The sight was concerning. Lily looked somewhere between throwing a fit or bursting in tears. Possibly both at the same time.

“Both you and mom are always so understanding and I just can’t stand it,” Lily said, her hands colliding with her knees in frustration.

“Why is that?” Regina turned towards Lily fully, inviting her to continue.

“Because I’m always left wondering if this last thing I did will finally make you explode, if this is the thing that will make you so mad at me... you’ll never want to see me again,” she finished in a hushed tone and angrily tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.

“Well, I can help with that,” Regina said, putting a hand on Lily’s own, thus causing her to look at her. “There’s nothing you can do–do you hear me, nothing–that will make either your mother or me give up on you.” They’d been through different versions of that a couple of times in the past. The wounds still seemed to resurface every time something went even slightly awry. But both she and Mal were ready to see Lily through every last one of her episodes of doubt.

“Just wait until I do something truly outrageous,” Lily chuckled, but it sounded more like a cry of despair. “I always do something outrageous,” she added quietly, staring at her knees. She looked like she was remembering all the horrible decisions she’d made and Regina couldn’t watch her walk herself down that path.

“Lily,” she said, “look at me and your mom. We’ve done more than a few outrageous things in our days of villainy. We’ve killed people.” She’d never thought she’d bring that up during a pep talk but there was a first time for everything. “You couldn’t possibly push us away.”

“I want to believe that, too. I do,” Lily said, sounding like she was trying to convince herself more than Regina. “But mom always looks at me like I’m the most perfect thing she’s ever seen, and I just... I’m not.” Her voice was getting shakier by the second. “I know I’ll do something that will disappoint her. Enough to push her away forever,” Lily was on the verge of tears. Regina could see them gathering in her eyes, waiting for the smallest push to start falling. She’d never seen her cry before.

Regina took a deep breath before asking, “Do you know what the price of casting the Dark Curse was?”

Lily looked at her and the confusion in her eyes seemed to force the tears back. She shook her head.

“I had to crush the heart of the thing I loved most,” Regina said slowly. It was painful to bring back the memory. But if it had even the smallest chance of helping Lily, she was willing to do it. “And that was my father,” she continued, feeling her own eyes welling up with tears.

Lily was looking dumbstruck at her. She’d already pieced together what was coming next.

“As you know, I cast the Curse so you can figure out what happened.”

Lily nodded, barely. But she still hadn’t run away so Regina supposed that was good. It was what gave her the strength to continue.

“I found him when we went to the Underworld, and do you know what he told me?” she asked, wiping away at the tears that had started falling down her cheeks at the memory. “He told me he forgave me.” She managed a smile as the tears kept coming. “I crushed his heart out of vengeance, and he found the strength and love to forgive me.” She looked Lily in the eyes. “Because he’s my father.”

Lily squeezed her hand while Regina conjured a tissue to wipe away the tears and her smeared mascara.

“Listen, Lily,” she shoved the tissue in her coat pocket and took Lily’s hand in both of hers, holding it tightly. “I know it’s hard to believe that someone can love you unconditionally when no one ever has. Because every time you let your guard down, life would slap you in the face.” She herself had had her fair share of that, losing everyone she loved over and over again. Hell, she was still scared to death that she’d wake up one morning and Mal wouldn’t be lying next to her and would be ten feet underground instead, leaving her with another gaping hole in her heart. “It’s hard to take a leap of faith when you’ve broken your bones time and time again because there was no one to catch you. But I can promise you that this time there is someone to catch you,” she said looking at Lily to see that the tears were filling her eyes again but there was also hope in there. And a dash of courage. “Your mother will never give up on you because that’s what parents do. No matter how hard you try to push her away, she’ll be there for you. And so will I.”

The tears started falling from Lily’s eyes, making room for the relief that flooded her. “Thank you,” she whispered as she squeezed Regina’s hands with her own once more.

“Always, dear,” Regina smiled at her and pulled one hand out of Lily’s death grip to conjure a tissue for her.

Lily took it from her, ending the hand-holding, and wiped her tears away as she laughed nervously. “I’m so glad I got over my jealousy of you.”

“What are you talking about?” Regina knitted her brows.

“When I found out you and mom were dating, I was acting like a real bitch because I was jealous.” She started bunching the tissue in her fingers. “I was scared mom would stop spending time with me because of you.”

“That’s-”

“Stupid. I know,” Lily nodded, the self-deprecation hitting Regina harder than she would’ve expected.

“Not at all,” she said, drawing Lily’s attention back to her. “When Emma first came to town, I was so scared that she would take Henry away from me. I would stop at nothing to make sure that wouldn’t happen.” She hated to think of those times. They seemed like another life that she had no desire to revisit. It’d been painful enough to live through it once. All the hatred, desperation and fear had made her more than a real bitch. “I understand,” she said, wishing to put a stop to the stroll down memory lane. It was pointless anyway. Things had changed for the better and she had people who loved her now, people she had to take care of.

“I’d just found my mom,” Lily added, feeling the need to further justify her actions or simply to share. Regina wasn’t certain. “I didn’t want to lose her.”

“That’s not going to happen,” Regina patted the back of her hand. “Your mom was ready to end our relationship for you.”

“I know,” Lily nodded. “That was what changed my mind, you know? I realized you weren’t a threat to our relationship and I wanted her to be happy. And you make her happy.”

Regina smiled at Lily’s words.

“How did you react when she told you she was ready to end things between you because of me?” Lily asked, a hint of worry in her voice.

“I understood completely,” Regina said without hesitation. “I would’ve done the same if Henry had asked me to and your mother knows that. You and Henry are the most important people for me and your mother.”

That seemed to reassure Lily. “I’m so happy mom has you.” She smiled at her.

“I’m happy to have her, too,” Regina admitted. “But we’d better get going because she’s probably completely out of her mind by now,” she stood up and dusted herself off. They’d been gone a long time. She was surprised Mal hadn’t come looking for them. She knew she would have if she were in Mal’s shoes. But then again, she’d never had much patience.

“You’re right,” Lily got up as well but didn’t bother to clean her clothes from any dirt that might have stuck to them. “She was already freaking out before I even left.”

The two headed back in comfortable silence.

“Can I ask for advice on magic?” Lily spoke hesitantly.

“Of course, dear,” Regina was ready to jump into magical lecture mode right away. “Tell me what happened before.”

“Well, you and mom were watching and I got scared that I’d fail and disappoint you,” Lily said, pushing her hands in the pockets of her jeans.

“Magic is emotion,” Regina said. She thought Mal would’ve mentioned it but even if she had, it might have slipped through the cracks. Either way, it was worth repeating. “When you fear that you’ll fail, that’s exactly what will happen.” She remembered her own countless fruitless attempts to master even the simplest of spells. Self-doubt definitely hadn’t helped. “Instead of putting your energy towards worrying, try to focus it on the task at hand. I know it’s easier said than done, but with some practice you’ll learn in no time.”

“I feel like that won’t be a problem anymore.” Lily grinned at her.

The two soon saw Mal pacing around like a caged animal. She immediately rushed to them when she spotted them, even forgetting to use her magic and teleport in her haste.

“Lily,” she threw herself at her daughter, wrapping her in a suffocating embrace. “Are you okay?” she asked as she pulled back to look at her. “I’m so sorry.”

“No, mom. I’m sorry,” Lily said as she held onto her. “You were only trying to help. I was out of line,” she said, causing Mal to give her a surprised look. “But I’m ready to practice again. If you want to?”

“Are you sure?” Mal asked, instinctively glancing at Lily’s arm to make sure the wound wasn’t there anymore. “You got injured.”

“I’m fine,” Lily said. “And I know you two have my back,” she added as she turned to look at Regina.

“Okay then,” Mal agreed. Her smile was as wide as it could get.

“Great.” Lily disentangled herself from her mom’s arms and took a few steps back before turning into a dragon and rising in the sky.

Mal followed her with her gaze before looking at Regina. “Thank you,” she said as she caught Regina’s hands.

“Of course.” Regina smiled. “Now go join your daughter.”

“Want to come?” Mal offered. It would hardly be the first time Regina had ridden on her back.

Regina shook her head, “I think I’ll sit this one out.”

Mal gave her a grateful look and a quick peck on the lips before turning into a dragon herself and joining Lily.

Regina watched the two dragons glide through the sky. She had no doubt that Lily would soon master all the moves. Soon she’d be able to fly without needing neither Mal, nor Regina’s help. But they’d still be there for her even when that happened. Because it was what family did for each other.

#regina mills #lily page #maleficent #dragon queen #once upon a time #ouat #fanfiction #my fanfiction #my writing #100 followers #operation end

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