Regina walked closer to the grave that she had dug herself. She hadn't used magic either, for that would, in her mind, mar the whole purpose of burying what was left of her sister. She dug the grave to bury the body, yes, but there was more to it than that. There was no body to bury, so she had to find a suitable replacement, and a suitable replacement she did in the form of the known items that bound them together in hatred rather than love.

Rumple's letter to her Mother.

The Slippers.

The Pendant.

She knew that it was a bit strange to be having a funeral for Zelena despite all that had happened between them. They hadn't known one another for long, and the few interactions that they had had been to fight. They were filled with bitterness and hatred, rather than love and friendship, as they should have acted as sisters. Or half sisters, as they had both thought most of the time, it was nearly the same thing.

Cora had seen to that.

She isn't quite certain as to why she is waiting to start the burial and the final words to her sister. No one else would be in attendance for the burial of Zelena, especially after all that she had done. Few even knew that Regina was doing something at all, and those that did know could care less. Zelena had done nothing but hurt them, so there was no reason for them to mourn her.

Still though, she waits. She waits for what she is sure is in vain, for the others were probably rejoicing in the death of the woman who had tried to ruin their lives while she was here, alone, trying to think of what to say in her sister's memory, only to find that she wasn't sure that there was truly anything for her to say that would be able to encompass their relationship in whole, or even the smallest fraction of all that they had gone through together, even separated into two different lands.

They may have only known each other while they were trying to kill each other, but they were both close and alike in a multitude of ways. Their mother had seen to that. She had ruined them both, she had abandoned one and had killed the others happiness. They both wished that they could have the life of the other once they had found it, but even then, she knew now that neither one of them had it any better. They were both broken and without love in more ways than one who wasn't like them could even imagine.

Both could have been good, but both had turned bad instead. She had turned evil, and Zelena... well, Zelena made sure that everyone knew exactly what she was. Wicked. Even now she wondered how she could have survived while everyone else hadn't. Her mother who had caused this entire mess in the first place. Her sister who had been just like her in the fact that she didn't really want the life that she had taken.

Ding Dong, the witch is dead.

The famous line from movie that had gotten Zelena's life just as wrong as Snow White and the Seven Dwarves had gotten her own life. She laughs at the unfairness of it all. Yes she had been punished, but Zelena did not have to die, least of all by her own hand.

And the others said she only had herself to blame for doing it in the first place. Regina on the other hand, well, Regina knew better than to fully buy into that. There was a different reason. There was always a different reason.

After seeing that it has been half an hour of waiting, Regina begins the ceremony alone, resigned to the fact that no one truly cares enough to be there.v

First she scoops the dirt back into the hole, scoop by scoop, returning what used to be there back to where it belongs to where it had been in the first place. Only this time, it has a bigger purpose than being merely the ground that they walked on. This time the dirt was covering something, hiding something, protecting something.

Protecting the fact that they didn't have to end in hate, as things always seemed to go for the both of them.

Hiding the symbols of the hatred and loathing that had bound them together, rather than the love they should have had as sisters.

Covering the fact that deep down they did, perhaps, really care.

If only Regina had discovered it before it was too late to change things.

Next, she tosses the shovel aside, taking a cold, hollow, sort of satisfaction from hearing the metallic clang of it hitting the ground. Good. It sounds just like she feels. Hollow, without anything inside.

Because in this particular instance, she no longer can truly feel anything.

Finally, she comes to the part that she's been dreading. Not because she doesn't want to make up words that make it look like she cares, but because she doesn't know what words describe how much she cares, enough.

She takes a deep breathe, managing to calm herself before continuing. "Zelena" she begins, figuring that using the person's name is always a good start. "I know that we haven't had the most... sisterly or loving relationship. That much is quite clear considering the fact that most of our encounters involved threats, or violence of some sort, but that doesn't change the fact that you are indeed my sister, and my last blood relative. I really will miss you, and what you, no not you, but what we could have been had you not ended it like you did. Goodbye. Wicked just couldn't win this time."

With a frown, she notices that she's crying.

She wipes the tears away with her sleeve before focusing on finishing what she started. Rather than a regular tombstone, for she knew that regular would never be able to describe any of the Mills family, Regina conjures a stone witch hat crossed with a broom.

It seems so cold, so... formal, that she knows that she needs something else to match the cold stone, a flower perhaps. She thinks for a few seconds. She could use a red rose, yes, but she had laid one of those on the graves of both her mother and her father.

This time it's time for a change. After several minutes of thinking, Regina decides on a white lily. She conjures one of them and carefully lays it in front of the witch hat, almost as if there is someone wearing the hat and holding the flower.

Then she simply stands there, very nearly hearing the time pass it is so still and silent, despite the fact that there is no clock to use in order to check the time.

She thinks on everything, and then she remembers the phrase that she's heard many, many times: no one mourns the wicked.

Zelena's death wasn't supposed to impact anybody, but then again, she supposes that evil sees things differently when it comes to it's synonymous counterpart.

So she, and only she, would indeed mourn the wicked in the still silence of the early morning.

So, I felt like I had to do something for Zelena, and then this thing popped out of oblivion. I do not own OUAT, otherwise Zelena would still be alive and this fic would not exist. Please review and let me know what you think, as it really does mean a lot to me!