Author's Note: Hello everyone! I'm finally back with the last chapter of this story. I hope people still want to know what happened with the two sisters! Thank you all for still reading and reviewing! I really appreciate hearing what everyone thought and any questions you may have. To answer a couple reviews:

authorlouise: I personally believe that Regina didn't intend to take her life. She was just incredibly frustrated and in pain, and wanted to break something. This is answered in more detail in this last chapter.

Nic Coay: That's a really interesting idea! It would be nice for Regina to see everything Zelena went through as well. I may attempt to write this in the future, though anyone reading this is welcome to try it as well.

Don't forget to review! I'd love to know what everyone thought of this last chapter!

Zelena's eyes snapped open as she came to, inhaling deeply as she faced Regina, startled and wide eyed.

"I take it the memories ended?" Regina asked impassively.

Zelena nodded, still shaken. She couldn't get the image of the ground hurtling toward her out of her mind, and it made her dizzy. If the memory didn't stop there, she felt as if she might have hit the ground. Did Regina hit the ground? It was impossible. She was standing right on front of her. How did she survive such a fall? Did she dare ask?

"Regina, that last memory. I just have to ask…what happened? Were you trying to…" the words died in her throat as she clammed right up. She had exposed too much emotion, but it wasn't every day you saw your estranged younger sister throw herself off a balcony.

Regina shook her head. "Not consciously. I just wanted an escape. I needed to get out, to be free, and the castle was holding me back. I wanted out of the castle. I didn't realize I would be flying towards the ground. I just knew that I couldn't stand being in there anymore. I felt trapped. Its beauty and allure did not make it any less confining. The loveliest cage is still a cage."

Zelena nodded, gulping. It was a lot to process. "So, did you hit the ground? Did your magic kick in and stop you?" It was the only explanation that came to mind. There was no way Regina could have survived hitting the ground.

"Not my magic, no. Someone came to rescue me" Regina smiled tightly, her expression bittersweet.

"Who?" Zelena immediately blurted out.

"It's not important" Regina replied. "The point is, I survived, and I'm here today. My life was far from easy, Zelena, and I hope you can see that now."

Zelena stayed quiet for a few moments. What she saw certainly conflicted what she had believed her entire life.

"But you were Queen" she finally got out weakly. "How could you be so helpless?"

Regina looked at her sadly, her eyes glinting with a hard edge. "I wasn't Queen by my own will, and it was a long time before I learned to assume the power of one. Much of my life was orchestrated by others. I had very little control over what happened to me, and by the time I did, I was so consumed by my quest for vengeance that I sunk myself further down. It took me years to realize that revenge was not the answer."

"You were the Evil Queen, feared by those in many realms. You cast the Dark Curse and sentenced the residents of your entire kingdom to an unenviable fate. You had unimaginable power. Yet that's not what I saw. How did you get that power if you felt so helpless?" Zelena questioned, still perplexed by the incongruence between her recollections and those of her sister. A considerable part of her still doubted Regina's words.

"I spent many years trapped in that castle. I was miserable, lonely, but never resigned to my fate. The embers of hatred burned in my heart and kept me going. I bided my time. When the moment was right, I killed the king. No one ever traced it back to me. I played the part of the grieving widow quite well." Regina smiled grimly, something flashing in her eyes. Was it pride? Regret? Zelena couldn't tell.

"After that, I was in control. From that moment on, no one could run my life. I called the shots. I was too prideful to realize that Rumple was still playing me. He only taught me magic so I could cast the Dark Curse; which, believe me, was not all it was cracked up to be." Regina explained.

"What changed?" Zelena wondered, scrutinizing the mayor. She had seen and understood how the kind-hearted girl became a cold ruler, but how could she turn back from that?

Regina smiled warmly. "My son, Henry. He is everything to me. When I adopted him, everything changed. I had a reason to live again; someone to love. Henry helped me learn how to escape the darkness. He gave me the one thing I hadn't had in a very long time: hope."

Zelena looked at her wistfully. What Regina described sounded too good to be true. Someone to live for; a reason that didn't involve vengeance or malice, or the sheer stubborn desire to prove her own worth. Someone who would accept her. Love her, even. A…family. It couldn't be. She shook her head, pushing the option away. "Love is" she started.

Regina raised a hand to stop her. "Don't say weakness. I believed that for the longest time. Mother drummed it into my head. 'Love is weakness, Regina' she'd say, as she brushed my hair. As she laced up my corset. All the time, she told me that love was weakness. And I believed her. But all that earned me was a lonely life. I was alone and miserable. Aren't you tired of living like that, Zelena? I know you don't enjoy it. I see it. You want to care; you do. But you're not letting yourself. My love for Henry is what saved me from myself. So if you want to think my love is weakness, it's a weakness I will gladly accept upon myself, because Henry is everything."

Her impassioned speech had left Zelena speechless. If love wasn't weakness, what was it? She hadn't allowed herself to believe there was another option since she was a child. Zelena was conflicted.

Regina continued. "I didn't ask you to come here to argue with you. I believe I'm a fair person. I was given a second chance. There was someone who believed in me enough to see the good there, even when I didn't see any left. That chance meant the world to me. So, I'm going to extend the same opportunity to you. I'm giving you a second chance."

"A second chance" Zelena repeated skeptically. "Forgive me, sister, if I don't believe you."

Regina shrugged. "Whether or not you believe me isn't something I can control, but I'm giving it to you nonetheless. It's your decision whether you choose to take it."

Zelena mulled it over. "How do I know this isn't a trap?" She glanced around, less than subtly, wondering if something would spring on her at any moment. She wouldn't have put it past Regina. Everyone else in her life had betrayed her, so why not her sister as well?

Regina swept her arm around her office. "Look at us. We're alone in this deserted office. If I had wanted to kill you, I would have done it already. I know you, Zelena. If you had really thought this was a trap, you wouldn't have stayed this long. You're curious. You want to believe me; you're just not letting yourself. Am I wrong?" Regina raised an eyebrow, looking at her sister in anticipation. "That's what I thought."

"You say you won't kill me. Say I choose to believe you. How do you know I'll return the favor?" Zelena challenged, smiling triumphantly.

Regina rolled her eyes. "If you were going to kill me, you would have done so already. You don't waste time, Zelena. Your curiosity was greater than your desire for revenge. The fact that we're talking instead of exchanging blows is proof enough of that. You wanted to know what I could offer you. Well, here it is."

"So, this big gift you were offering me was a second chance?" Zelena wanted to laugh. If she tried to count the number of times people promised her change…

"I wouldn't push it away so quickly if I were you" Regina cautioned. "It may seem foolish, but it isn't."

"Oh, my dear sister" Zelena laughed sardonically. "If you only knew the number of people who promised me that. I could change, I could be a better person, start my life over. But they were wrong. I am who I am; wicked. Nothing can change that."

"You're wrong" Regina said calmly. "You can, if you want to. Our lives aren't charted out for us, Zelena. Where they go depends on the choices we make."

Zelena considered this. "But the prophecies…they said I would be the most wicked being in Oz. They said you were fated to cast the Dark Curse. All of that came true. Who's to say any of us can control our lives? This is our destiny."

"No" Regina countered. "I make my own destiny. And you can as well. It's your choice. I can't make it for you. Just consider it."

Zelena was breaking. Regina's offer was enticing, and it didn't seem as if she were lying. A second chance…she could start over, for real this time. She could control her own destiny. Decide where her life was going to go. It seemed too good to be true, yet Regina appeared to be serious.

"What's the catch?" She asked suspiciously. There had to be something in this for Regina. It made her wary.

"No catch" Regina replied simply. "It's exactly what it appears to be."

Zelena looked at her silently. She didn't know what to say to that.

"I was once a hopeful little girl. Life twisted me into someone I never wanted to be. Something tells me you and I aren't so different. I'll let you think about this. No need to decide right now." She waved her hand once more and unlocked the office door. "But I do hope you consider this, Zelena. It's a valuable opportunity."

Zelena nodded, dumbstruck. Regina headed to leave her office, but turned around in the doorway.

"Oh, and Zelena?" She smiled. "It's nice to have family in town."