Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time.

To my lovely Marytta. I shall make you pay for that night, just wait.

A/N: I usually put the author's notes at the end, but I'll make an exception to clarify this is a sequel to Of Heroes and Love. I think it is necessary to have read that first in order to understand characters' thoughts and actions here (character development, yay!). And just a little reminder, because throughout the story there are a few small coincidences with the show and it may be confusing. I haven't taken anything from the series canon post 3x20, not even flashbacks. Everything here is made up of my own headcanons —half of them are thanks to Mary, though.

Chapter 1

Her head hurt. Zelena slowly opened her eyes and the blurry shape of a pair of legs in a torn suit appeared before her. She looked up and saw with sudden daunting clarity Rumplestiltskin's face. He advanced towards her threateningly as Zelena found out she could not recoil. She could not even get up —it was as if she was glued to the ground. Frantically, she looked around, but there were no heroes in the barn.

Gazing up at Rumplestiltskin again, she tried to get out some words. It was not real. It couldn't be. There were other people besides them the last time. Last time, her sister had stopped the Dark One from getting his revenge on her.

Suddenly, she heard a noise at her left and, when she turned her head, she finally saw Regina. The brunette was standing at a short distance from them. Her face was stone cold, but she had the dagger in her hand and Zelena barely processed anything beyond that. She fought a relieved sigh, because everything was all right and so, she could allow herself to put on a good face. It took her several seconds to understand Regina was not going to move from her spot. She would not use the dagger. That time, the former Queen was not going to stop Rumple from killing her.

She turned then her head towards the Dark One. There was not much else to do. Gulping, she couldn't help it when her eyes filled with tears.

She did not want to die. She had —would have— a second chance. Things could really get better...

Rumplestiltskin raised a hand over her and...

Zelena woke up sucking air desperately, intense nausea threatening to overcome her. She sat on the bed, wishing her head would stop spinning but not daring close her eyes for a second. She barely stood there half a minute before bolting out. Her heart was still beating like crazy and she choked back a sob.

It had been a dream, a nightmare, nothing more. They were not infrequent, but they were still terrifying even after waking up. The replaying of the scene at the barn was a recurrent one, but other times, Rumple killed her before, back in the Enchanted Forest, or later, while she was locked in the cell at the sheriff's station. On some occasions, it was Regina who delivered the last blow, and those were the worst ones. She hardly dreamed of Glinda or her father anymore, but the latter left her equally sick.

Fortunately, that day the sun was already beginning to rise. It was always easier to chase away the nightmares with sunlight filtering through the curtains. She drew them back, smiling a little. Lately, she had been relishing the small pleasures of life more and more. It might have reminded her of when she was a child, but it actually brought her no bad memories.

As every day, she checked on the green spot on her skin. It had almost faded away completely by then. She still found it difficult to believe its disappearance was on her, but Regina had sworn she had had nothing to do with it. The other time that the green had disappeared, back in Oz, it had been more Glinda's doing than Zelena's, or so she had reckoned it. Now, the redhead could feel that second chance was truly in her hands.

Much calmer and slightly in higher spirits, she got out of her bedroom. As she went to the bathroom, she heard clatter downstairs. It puzzled her, because it was still early for her sister to be making breakfast.

Almost instinctively, she started to descend the staircase, wary of what she could find. She was torn between laughing and getting angry with herself a moment later, when she remembered Regina had told her the previous day that, as she would start working at the town hall again, she would leave early that morning. She kept going down, now at a normal pace.

Zelena found the brunette rushing around the kitchen, a coffee mug forgotten on the counter. She allowed a corner of her mouth to tug up slightly at the sight. The redhead leant against the door frame, willing to let her sister notice her on her own. She knew how much the other woman despised surprises.

"Zelena!" Regina predictably chided when she turned around. Her annoyance did not last much, though. "What are you doing up so early?"

"I just woke up." She shrugged off. "What are you doing cooking?" she asked in turn as she entered the kitchen.

"I'm making you lunch for later. I won't be back until 5 p.m."

Zelena nodded, busying herself with a cup of tea. It was nice to have someone cooking for her for a change. Even if it was just because the other person thought there was no other option. During the few months she had been living there, she had managed to learn how most of the appliances worked. Yet, she had not told Regina she could actually cook. If she had, she was sure the brunette would not let her cook for anyone else but herself. And so, it would be another proof that Regina did not trust her. A proof Zelena did not really need or want to have.

So this would be the new routine, thought Zelena, pushing aside her previous musings. People leaving earlier and coming in the evening. Henry had not slept there that night, but he had also started school at last, after having missed some weeks. Not that it really mattered. If Regina was not in the house, Henry couldn't, either.

"Zelena."

Regina's voice snapped her out of her thoughts when the brunette came closer to where she was standing, the cup of tea still in her hands growing lukewarm and untasted.

"Yes?" she replied, slightly startled.

"Something the matter? You seemed pretty deep in thought."

"I'm okay. Just thinking." It was a quite lame answer, but thankfully, Regina knew when not to keep pressing.

Her sister smiled at her softly.

"I was asking if you'll be okay."

At another time, that question would have upset her. At the time being, though, she knew Regina's concern was honest.

"Yes, of course. Why wouldn't I?" she replied, forcing a smile.

"All right. Here, this is my phone number. You remember how to use the landline telephone, don't you?"

At this, Zelena rolled her eyes. Sisterly concern could be obnoxious sometimes.

"Yes," she replied anyway.

Regina chose to ignore her exasperation as she hurried around the kitchen. She seemed to be running late but still, she stopped a moment next to the redhead to tell her seriously,

"Well, should you need anything, you call me, okay? I have to go now."

And with that, her sister was gone.

Once Zelena was alone, she let out a soft sigh. She took her time to eat breakfast and then, she busied herself with reading and watching TV to avoid thinking about anything in particular. Because even though she understood Regina had a life, she was afraid of feeling too jealous again. The green had not even disappeared yet! Controlling her jealousy felt a lot like controlling her magic during her youth: an impossible task. Nevertheless, in the end she had managed to do the latter. And so, she needed to believe she could do the impossible once more.

Lunch hour came and, although it was not the first time she ate alone, it felt somewhat different.

"You're just being silly," she scolded herself. But she might have spent too many hours on her own, because she could not shake off the strange anguish that weighed her down.

She walked up and down the house, nothing holding her interest. She ended up looking at the DVD collection in the living room. She had yet to watch a movie, but reading the summaries, they all seemed a little too weird to her liking. Next to the DVDs, there were some odd big books. She took one out and, opening it, she saw its pages were laminated and there were barely words at all. The book was used for keeping photographs.

They all were of a baby and of Regina with him. They were old pictures of Regina and Henry.

In awe, Zelena turned carefully the pages, reading the brief descriptions next to the photographs and staring at each one for quite a long time.

Without knowing why, her eyes filled with tears as she passed the pages and Henry's face became more recognisable. It may have been because that photo album felt like something sacred, a treasure that contained a small portion of the souls of the people who had been immortalised there. It may have been because it felt more intimate than any time she spied on Regina. And it may have been because, even if she had not realised before that they were a real family, she would have known then.

After that, there were more albums, each one with more recent photos and dates. There were not many pictures of Henry and Regina over the last two or three years, and Zelena wondered what had happened. Maybe it was when Regina's curse had been broken —those must have been some chaotic years. She realised how little she knew about some parts of her sister's life.

The last album did have photos of Henry and his life in New York. She swallowed the lump in her throat, thinking of Regina looking at those pictures as she knew they were the only way to see her boy during the missing year. Thinking then of the way they had treated each other both in the Enchanted Forest and in Storybrooke, Zelena closed her eyes. It felt like an eternity had passed since then.

She kept looking through the pictures, going back to the first albums, where Henry's and Regina's smiles were awfully bright. All of a sudden, she was aware she had lost track of time. Her head snapped up and she saw on the clock it was five past five. Startled, she began to put it all back in a rush. Even if she had wanted to keep it as it had been, she did not remember the order in which each item was arranged. Then, she got up from the floor she had been sitting on, looking around. She decided to switch on the television and went for a glass of water to the kitchen.

The adrenaline rush for trying to hide the fact that she had been looking through the family photo albums had almost managed to make her forget her own emotions regarding the matter. It had not been completely successful, though, and once again, Zelena found herself unable to stop thinking about it.

She was still in the kitchen when she heard the front door clicking open and familiar footsteps coming in. She went up to the kitchen door and was immediately greeted by Henry.

"Hi! We're having pizza tonight!"

Zelena looked at Regina for further clues about what kind of food pizza was.

"Henry thought we should celebrate my first day back at work," she said with feigned exasperation —her fond smile ruined the pretense. "I think you'll like it. There's nothing alike in our world."

The redhead nodded and then, realising she had yet to say something, she cleared her throat.

"Should we start to set the table?"

"I'll go to pick up a movie," offered Henry as he went to the living room.

"It's tradition we eat pizza watching a movie," Regina clarified, getting something wrapped in plastic out of the freezer. "Could you handle the table while I bake this?"

"Of course."

The brunette still seemed a bit nervous every time Zelena handled a few knives, but she always refrained herself from saying anything. The ginger was torn between appreciating the latter and trying not to mind the former. After all, she knew that nervousness was well deserved. Why Regina would put herself through it when she could just as easily forbid Zelena from touching the knives was beyond her. At first, she had thought it was some sort of test to see what she would do. However, days passed and nothing happened —the brunette did not even watch her more closely. And so, she had had to quit her theory eventually. Still, she could simply not fathom Regina's reasons. She wondered whether she would ever figure out how her little sister's mind worked.

Once the table was set, the pizza —which smelled wonderfully, truth be told— on it and the movie chosen, Zelena felt at ease again. That she knew how it went, despite the novelties of the film and the food. That calm went away too soon, though.

After having put down the pizza, Regina was the last one to take a seat. As she was doing so, something caught her eye. Zelena looked down, following her gaze, and what she saw made blood run cold in her veins.

"The photo albums aren't in order," the brunette commented, smirking.

It was the first time she feared Regina's smirk. The redhead did not think she could stand any amount of teasing over that particular topic, no matter how much the mayor had a right to be upset or how harmless her intentions might be.

"I thought that was you, mom," Henry cut in, confused. Then, he looked at Zelena and all seemed to fall in place for him upon seeing her taut face.

The former witch wished Regina would not keep talking, so that they could eat and watch the damn movie. But her sister looked her in the eye and opened her mouth anyway despite Zelena's wishes.

"Just try to keep the order next time, okay?" Her voice was a bit softer, but the smirk that had not disappeared completely was back in full force. "It's not so difficult —you have the years written on them." She had continued in a light-hearted tone and, all of a sudden, her expression did not feel threatening anymore.

Zelena found it very hard not to let out all the held air at once. She would have liked to keep it up with a sarcastic retort of her own, but she was still wrapping her head around the fact that Regina was neither upset for the invasion of her privacy nor taking advantage of the situation and teasing her for her own problems with family topics.

"Don't you think Henry was the cutest baby?" The brunette kept on when she saw her sister still needed another moment to collect herself.

"Yes. Yes, he was," she finally replied, forcing a smile.

"Mom," the boy whined. "Can we talk about my baby pictures later? I want to watch the movie and pizza's getting cold."

Both sisters shared another smile and, that time, Zelena's was more relaxed.

"Of course, Henry. Sorry."

Regina started to cut the pizza into pieces and that way, normalcy returned to the table.

The film had been an interesting experience, but Zelena still thought there were more entertaining inventions in that world and, therefore, she did not understand why Regina and Henry seemed so invested in it. Even so, the next night she supported the boy when he tried to convince Regina of watching another one again.

"No, Henry. You went to bed late enough last night. It was a one-time thing. Movies are for the weekends, you know that."

He pouted, but then complied with no further complains and helped Zelena set the table. It amazed her a little how natural all their interactions were. It was true that Henry was a very well-behaved boy, but she could not say anything regarding Regina's parenting —as much as that fact still puzzled her.

Yet, Henry's silence only lasted until they all were sitting at the table.

"And what about tomorrow?" he continued unexpectedly —at least for the redhead. It seemed Regina had seen it coming. "Won't we stay out until late then?"

"We will until a reasonable hour. It's still a school day."

Zelena looked up from her plate, confused.

"Is it some special day?"

Right away, Henry shot her a guilty glance.

"It's Emma's birthday," said Regina flatly. "We're celebrating at Granny's."

"Oh, okay."

That would mean the house would be empty even for longer. Zelena felt her stomach drop at the thought. She tried not to let any emotion show, though. It was hardly possible the event could go any other way. Emma Swan was the saviour and Henry's mother. It was natural for her birthday to be a great affair.

Henry looked like he wanted to say something, but could not decide what. In the end, they ate mostly in silence, each focused on their own thoughts.

Surprisingly, Zelena slept well that night and woke up late in the morning. She went down to the kitchen, feeling rather happy despite the silence that could have felt oppressive at other time. And then, she saw the note on the counter and thought the worst. She picked it up more anxiously that she would ever admit and was shocked when she read it.

"I didn't leave you any lunch because I thought I'd go home and we could eat together this afternoon."

She stared at the note for another moment. She had not expected that at all. It was not like Regina was going away for a week. It was only a day and Zelena had been trying not to make a big deal of it because it truly wasn't. Still, for that very reason, the gesture warmed her heart even more.

"You didn't have to do this. I'm fine," Zelena would say later, as Regina put down two paper bags from Granny's.

Regina's reply would be accompanied by a full smile.

"It's something I wanted to do."

A/N: By the way, I don't have a beta, but I'd be very happy if some native English speaker wants to beta-read this.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this first chapter. So sorry it took me so long. I know this fic should have been published months ago —it just turned out a lot bigger than I'd ever thought.

And please, tell me what you think. Opinions help me to keep improving my writing!