#hyde queen turns Emma in a swan

[lamiaward]

She literally holds your heart in her hand (shit)

I don't own OUAT

Summary: season 6 au: Emma is missing ,and her family is unaware that the queen is in town. Emma is the only one who knows- but the queen turned her into a swan so she can't tell anyone. And now the queen also controls Regina's heart... without Emma's family being any the wiser.

(part 9 of this story, but you can read this one without reading the other parts :)

She would never associate that particular emotion with Regina, so that is probably why it takes her several minutes to see it there. But whenever Henry glances away- Regina's smile withers. Whenever Snow lets go of Regina's arm to wipe food off Charming's cheeks, or look at her grandson- Regina's eyes change.

Whenever Emma catches that look, her head aches and she starts to taste iron - her magic automatically sputters to live, and her entire body starts to tingle and burn at the same time. Emma finds it difficult to describe Regina's eyes - apart from no, terrible, she deserves better, no- but it reminds her of an animal with its foot in a trap and a hunting dog barking as it runs towards them.

And Regina is brave- brave enough that she uses herself as bait from sort of demon thing, brave enough that she would go undercover and risk the anger of some of the darkest people alive, brave enought that she would follow Emma to the Underworld. It is so wrong to see that look there.

Emma finally can't take anymore ( and she can't do anything else, she is useless) and leaves her own chair to walk towards Regina. She gently sort of taps Regina's leg with her mouth. Who starts to smile before her entire face concorts-

What the-

The laughter and her father's voice stop abruptly as Regina's chair is shoved back, the woman in question standing up. Someone's plate falls, and shatters, but everyone ignores it as they stare at Regina.

Emma can hear her family ask Regina if she is all right, and Regina's own cool reply - so very cool, almost like it had been but worse because now she is insul- shit. Regina still uses sarcasm like her first form of communication, and she will never stop calling certain people things like 'idiot, but it is all gentle now. Teasing. It is something they all roll their eyes at, and smile about. It is a family thing.

But Regina isn't like that at all. She is using her wit to injure- not as badly as she would have as mayor but still. And as Emma's skin drops, and she feels tiny shivers erupt all along her spine, she knows she isn't wrong.

She doesn't need the confirmation of Regina's too-rough hands squeezing her, nor the voice whispering " hello again Emma" to know it is the queen controlling her. The hands pulling at her feathers are the queen, and the soft chuckle is the queen but when Emma glances up-

The desperation and terror in brown eyes is all Regina.

" Mom!" she hears, before she is relieved from the slight pain as Henry takes her in his arms. "You are hurting her".

" I told you, I did not wish her at the table. And you did not listen".

He frowns. " But you gave me permission after I asked".

" After you kept needling, yes".

" Mom, I- " Henry takes a tiny step back, and Emma doesn't need to see his face to know his expression is a combination of hurt and confusion.

Emma stares at Regina's hand, which starts trembling as soon as she tries to reach for Henry. He doesn't see it, because he is studying her expression. Regina's eyes are cool now, and she arches an eyebrow at Henry's scrutiny

" You're being weird" he says.

" You are being disobedient. Now, place her in the kitchen and return to the table".

"But mom- ".

" Henry Daniel Mills, I do not need that creature at my table".

It is so clearly the evil queen that Henry freezes , having only taken one step back towards the table. Snow and Charming slowly stand as well . " Regina, why are you being this - "

" Yes Snow, thank you for your completely unwelcome opinion"

Snow freezes, then walks towards Regina while David just stares at Regina with the same expression Emma would have if she is trying to Rubik's cube. Regina yanks her arm away as soon as Snow tries to squeeze it. Snow does notice how fake her smile is. Everyone does. Emma thinks she is the only one who notices Regina's expression

Which is the exact opposite of the fake smile, and the fakely sacharine tone as she tells Snow " I am perfectly fine. I just do wish a wild animal to sit at my table".

Snow cocks her head. "You were fine with it yesterday".

" I was not 'fine' with anything. I was merely not adding to my son's hurt".

" But today you want to- " Henry questions. It isn't like when he was ten- it would have been angry, and an accusion- now it is just uncertain and hurt. She can see the second where it shows how much it hurt Regina, before she is forced to fake smile again. Henry scrutinizes her as she touches his chin gently.

" I would never want to add to your hurt Henry, but we still do not know who this swan is. She may be very dangerous".

"But she hasn't done anything bad- ".

"That doesn't mean she won't".

" But mom- I don't understand. You never said anything about it before".

" Henry, when I visited my vault there were some clues- ".

He steps back, and hugs Emma to his chest. " What, no!".

" I am afraid so. I did not tell you earlier, because I knew you have gotten attached to her".

"Are you saying that she is a villain?".

" I am not certain, but she may be"

You fucking jerk. She only has to see Regina's eyes to know how much that lie just hurt Henry. That, and she is slowly let go. " Mom- are you" Snow and Charming are both preoccupied by Henry, so that's probably why they don't catch Regina flinching badly as she tries to reach for him, the moment his voice breaks awfully.

" Mom- she can't, she hasn't tried to hurt anyone".

"Perhaps she is just biding her time. But before I am certain - I cannot risk you getting hurt Henry".

" W-what are you saying?".

"That for now, I am seperating the two of- ".

" NO!" Emma is kind of grateful for it, but she doesn't understand it when Henry sinks on his knees and throws his arms around her. She can hear him sniffing. Kid - it is okay. You still have your family, okay? And I - I am going to do everything to get back to you.

" Henry, let go of that germ-riddled- " .

" MOM" Emma tries to get her head away from Henry when he pretty much shrieks that one word, then lays it on his shoulder as she realizes he is crying. Kid, hey it's okay.

" Henry, it is just- ".

" No, it isn't! She isn't just anything. I don't mom- I don't know, but she isn't bad. I know that".

" Henry, I cannot trust her with you. I would never expose you to a ris- ".

" But she isn't bad, I know she isn't"

Henry had his head buried into her feathers just seconds ago, but now it snaps up. Emma isn't surprised : Regina would never laugh so cruelly around Henry, especially not when he is in pain. " And how would you know this? ".

She expects pretty much anything from 'I am the author' to 'I just do'. She doesn't expect to be let go and stagger back when there is a furious roar. She clumsily runs after Henry, but he is so incredibly fast.

She doesn't know whether the surprise is Regina's or the queen's.

Henry's hand are clutched at the lapels of his mother's pantsuit, and he is shaking her nearly as wildly as he is trembling himself. " WHAT DID YOU DO? WHERE IS SHE" he shrieks,

and Emma's heart falls, stops, and possibly breaks at the look that is undoubtly Regina's. Kid, you can't possibly mean you think-

" What did you do to my mom?" the expression is pure Regina - although she certainly wouldn't have expected Henry to have an ugly scowl like this.

She doesn't think Regina would've either; she tries to stumble back and her wide eyes are brimming with tears. She sounds awful, but she still tries to speak. " H-henry" she croaks, then sobs once when he shrugs away from her.

" Nice try" he spits, and feel like she is choking on a knife at how that sounds, and how Regina stiffens and looks- " But my mom would never be mean to me. So the tears are fake. You are fake".

And now he is crying too, and for some reason Emma thinks of a younger Henry - except Henry had been brave to the point of foolishness. She doesn't think she has seen him look like this, back then. " Y-you are not my mom. Y-you're an imposter" .

Regina's smiles- her hand on his cheek . " Principito int- " Emma hears the breath leaving Regina's lungs, the same way it might if someone pushed you in your stomach. Henry just narrows his eyes, and steps back( Emma doesn't miss his hand, that he clenches into a fist and presses against his thigh after it automatically reaches for Regina)

She nods, once. " Is that any way to speak to your mother?". The queen is back. Shit. I thought she was beating it.

" No. But you're not her"

He turns to Snow, who is pressing her hand to her mouth and looking from Regina to Henry, and Charming- who is standing in between Snow and Regina with a expression that looks too much like - Don't pity Henry, dad, I think he reacts pretty badly to that.

" Well, what are you waiting for? " he snaps. He is holding his head high, with his hand pressed against his body (like that would ever hide they're trembling) and blinking furiously.

Snow takes a few steps forward, David automatically taking her hand as soon as she leans into him and lays it on his shoulder. "Henry, we are all upset by Emma's disappearance, but- ".

" She hasn't disappeared, she has been taken" he snaps, then wirls around for a moment to gesture wildly in the direction of Regina. " By her".

" Stop this behaviour this i-insant, Henry Daniel Mills. I do not tolerate- " it's awful. The words are harsh, and the tone is too- but Regina's voice is breaking and trembling. Henry takes it for theatrics. Emma thinks it is just Regina's heart shattering.

She stands somewhere in between Henry, and Regina. She wants to squeeze Regina's arm, remind her she is not alone in this, but she also wants to hug Henry and remind him she would never leave him. She will never give him up again.

" Don't you see it? She has my mom! She may even have both of them! And they could be hurt and t-they could be really badly hurt and they could even be- they could even be, they c-could- " he breaks off, then turns to Regina again.

He is crying, but the expression he has is so furious. " Where are they?".

" Henry, I will not- ".

" Where. Are. THEY" Emma can see her parents flinching in her eye corners, but Regina is standing still and she is only moving forward. She thinks she is the only one who recognizes the impossibility Henry is about to do-

there is a flash of something and then her heart is stopping at the same moment her body is rushing forward-

(Regina realized it, too)

and she manages to catch Henry's leg, seconds before he tries to hold the bloody shard to Regina's neck.

" Henry!" it's Snow, but it's David who pulls him away. It is David who hugs him first, and places his hand on Henry's head as he cries ' I can't hurt her. She looks like mom ". And there aren't any words for a while, just soft sobs and David says " Of course you wouldn't, you would never hurt anyone" and Snow hugs him as well and talks about how good he is, and how they all know he wouldn't.

It is only when Regina collapses ( she had been fighting furiously with what Emma knows to be the queen, to take that one precious step closer to Henry) and falls to her knees with a desperate little sob that Henry pulls back from his grandparents' embrace.

He slowly walks towards her, then kneels down next to her. She slowly looks up, this really horrid contrast in her expression. He focuses on her eyes. "Mom? " he ventures. She nods. " I am sorry. I thought- "

Regina is hugging him before he has finished the sentence. "Te quiero, cielo". He lays his head on her shoulder, whispers it back. They stay like that until Regina pulls back with that megawatt Henry-smile. That rapidly dies as her gaze falls on his hands, and she gently takes them.

"Henry! Your hands, they're - " .

" Oh. I must've cut them when I had that shard in my hand".

Regina gently takes his hand. Emma's head hurts, trying to figure out whether that's the queen or Regina or both of them. " Do I have your permission to use magic?".

He stares at her, then slowly nods. " Okay ".

Regina waves her hand, and they watch the skin heal together. It is Henry that stands first, before Regina stiffly follows him. She only starts to smile again when he briefly squeezes her hand. "Thank you" he mutters.

Henry walks over to her, and picks her up. " Henry- " That is the queen, I think.

Henry turns around, Emma in his arms. " Can she really not stay with us?". Emma nearly wants to fight when Regina gently takes her from Regina's arms- Henry sounds so sad, and he keeps one hand on her head. Don't you worry Henry , it is not forever.

" It is not safe, Henry ".

Emma tries to turn in Regina's arms when Henry retracts his hand, and utters a really quiet "Okay". You don't sound okay at all.

Apparently Regina is thinking the same thing she is, because she can feel Regina's hands around her tremble. Emma really had thought the queen would've fucked off by now, but apparently she hasn't. Because Regina wouldn't sound all mayoral (okay unless she feels vulnerable or is trying to hide how much she is hurting, but that isn't the case now) like that with their family looking at her with sadness, and worry, and confusion.

" I will place her somewhere she is unable to hurt you, Henry".

But she is so strong - because Emma is pretty sure that as soon as someone has your heart, you can't really fight against that but Regina manages to briefly touch Henry's chin, and hold it as she smiles at him. " No one will take you from me, Henry". Snow's eyes are shining, like they are whenever Regina is loving, but Emma knows it's more sinister than that. Because if it is the queen speaking- then what is she planning to do with their son?

Regina is ripped away from their son- what Emma sees in her eyes makes her believe she has never hated Snow as much as she does the queen at this moment- and walks past Snow and David. She inclines her head, probably gives them a fake smile as she says " Snow. David".

" Regina, are you- " Snow immediately steps forward, and Regina is still carrying Emma on one arm so she uses her free hand to stop Snow. David immediately stops as well, staring at Regina with that scrunched up expression he has when Emma and he are working on a case together. " I am fine. If you would just- take care of the mess. Do you think you are capable of that, or should I be concerned about you hurting yourself worse than my son if I allow you to touch my cutlery?".

" Well, I - Regina, are you certain you are okay? You seem- " Snow glances at Regina's hand, which has just quite forcefully pushed her hand away. " Different".

" I am perfectly fine. Now, if you will excuse me"

Of course, Snow can never let anything go. So she steps in front of Regina, and lowers her voice. " Regina, you are seriously upsetting Henry, and I know that is not like- ".

" I am protecting my son, while you've done nothing but endangered him".

" Regina, we didn't- ".

" I do not care you did not know. You did not support me , did you? You just stood there and allowed everything to happen. What if Henry had hurt me- have you ever thought about how traumatizing hurting his mother would be? "

" Or is it still your hobby to have children murder their mothers?" Surely mom must know now that this isn't Regina. She wouldn't sound like that, not anymore. She wouldn't try to cut so deep.

Snow pales and stumbles back. "Regina, Cora was an accident. You said that- ".

" It was not an accident. It was a deliberate attempt to get rid of my mother, using me" Emma can see her mother's eyes glisten and widen when Regina steps forward, leans in close enough that Emma is pressed against her mother. " Just like your father".

It is Snow who follows her, but it is Emma's dad who pulls her back. " Regina. What is going on? If someone is threatening you- if someone is making you be like this- ".

" I am perfectly fine. I just do not tolerate your behaviour- it is Henry's mother who is missing, but you pretend like you are the only one who is hurting. It is selfish".

Regina? She suddenly almost stumbles, and Emma realizes it means the queen has finally stopped this when Regina immediately steps forward, and squeezes Snow's shoulder. " I understand you are suffering, and that it is your daughter, but Henry needs you to be the strong person he knows you are. You know how he reacts when he knows how much other people are hurting- how he thinks it is his job to make them happy, even when he is unhappy himself".

" I didn't think about that. I just- I just wanted him to know he is not alone. That we all miss Emma, so much".

" I am just concerned of the impact it has on Henry".

" You don't always need to hide so much, Regina" . It is at moments like these that Emma is kind of awed by her mother. Who is slightly judgemental at times, and still sometimes makes the mistake of thinking she is so right, so good- but who also has just been terribly hurt by Regina, and still somehow can smile at her like this.

" I know. I know - it's just- " Regina glances back at Henry, who is kneeling next to his grandpa as they clean together- they're both laughing as David tells some story with a lot of gestures. " I do not wish to burden him with my issues".

"He is only going to get mad if you don't tell him when you're feeling bad, Regina. Henry is a very caring person" she smiles. " Much like his mother, actually".

Regina's hair is shorter now, so her transparent attempt to use it to hide how she is slightly teary-eyed is pretty much wasted. "Well, and I always thought he got the type of bravery that is always tethering between 'courageous' and 'idiotic' from your side of the family".

Snow laughs. " True. He does resemble David, doesn't he?".

" And Emma " it is clear the queen isn't trying to control Regina anymore, or she wouldn't have let Snow hold her hand like this. " And you".

　

Emma is asleep on Regina's bed (what Regina doesn't know, won't make her hurt Emma) when the door creaks. Her mind registers it, but ultimately decides that possibly being hurt is not a strong incentitive to get away from dream- Regina, who is-

Gods, I hate the sound swans make. Henry bites his lip, and Emma is pretty sure he is holding back a laugh at the sound she just made. "Sorry that I just startled you".

She throws him a look, one that hopefully properly communicates how not okay it is to wake up your mother from a very good dream, especially not to startle her and then nearly laugh in her face. He just shrugs, and smiles at her. " Sorry".

Fine, I accept your apologies but can you at least ask me permission before you pick me up and- uh kid, where are we going? Henry tiptoes through the hallway, glancing left and right at certain intervals. Emma can't hold back a startled squaking sound when he races down the stairs with too much speed. Shit, I wish I had hands right now.

He is panting by the time he snucks into one of the rooms Emma hasn't been to yet, closing the door quickly. She glances around curiously; there are a couple of old-looking chairs, a wooden desk, supplies she thinks may be for painting, an old chess board with only one chair.

" It is one of the hobby rooms. Mom plays chess, and she speaks several languages, and sometimes she paints. She also has some musical instruments here" he explains.

(with a sudden lurch, she remembers how she doodled in a school book ones, and the teacher asked her whether she had ever thought about becoming an artist, and grinning until her 'parent' of those six months had thrown his beer bottle at her head. She wonders whether Regina gets the same calm feeling she remembers having the spare moments she got to draw on anything)

He takes her to the back of the spacious room. She tries to take everything in- she is sure she misses things- and feels like she sees new sides of Regina. She sees the shape beneath a sheet, and envions Regina behind the piano- would she sing as she plays, or was it Henry who played? There is a corner that could be from the Frankenstein Film, and she wonders whether Regina has ever let bread explode because she was curious what mixing chemicals would do(that teacher was furious. But she laughed, afterwards, because 'how did you even do that, girl?') There is a little oven that's so obviously Henry, and she grins brightly as she imagines his eyerolls whenever Regina would help him bake and say " careful, sweetie" she just knows Regina would be nearly terrified around him, but also proud at him.

There's even a table with hammers, nails, pairs of tongs, saws - Emma is half elated and half disappointed ( shit. One more thing she can probably do for herself, and doesn't need me for) . Unless it is just there, and Regina Mills isn't actually capable of fixing her own sink and-

" Oh that. Mom already taught herself some things- she doesn't really like to depend on people you know- but after the curse, uh the first one I mean, broke she had to learn some other things because there wasn't really anyone willing to help anymore and her magic was malfuncioning" Henry says when he catches her staring, missing the remaining items she wanted to stare at because her head is twisted so she can catch another glimpse off the tools.

It looks like a toy for a far younger kid, but they still manage to squeeze into the castle. Henry needs to bend his head, and he can't sit in a comfortable position but they fit. Sort of. He smiles at her. " I haven't been her since I was nine, probably. I decided my other castle was better, further away from- " his smile vanishes. " Anyways, she won't know we are here because even mom wouldn't guess it. And I took you to this place, because I know that isn't really mom"

Sometimes, Emma sees herself in Henry. He does the same shrug-and-smile thing around Violet, as she does around Ho- well actually, no Regina. Anyways, he has some habits, and he likes hot things like she does (even if they both get stomach aches) , and he likes drama classes like she used to. But right now, his expression is Regina's. Regina would have that kind of endearing slight arrogance, that did you really think you could fool me, you dumbass one.

" And I know you're my mom- I know it's you, Emma" he wrinkles his nose at the last word- he almost never calls her Emma now, unless it is something like 'yeah sure I will make my homework, Emma" ( only because she isn't good at finishing paperwork). But she doesn't even care, because you know. Henry, you brilliant little shit.

The little shit is pretty much only because he snorts when she raises her wing. Like, anyone can forget she is a swan, and swans don't give their sons one-armed hugs. Really Henry, stop laughing.

He doesn't stop laughing for another minute.

When he finally does, she forgives him immediately. Actually, she would be really happy if he would start laughing at her again, because now he just looks sad and scared and angry. "Who did this? Who did this to the both of you?".

Emma gives him a look, that has him roll his eyes. " Okay fine, you can't talk. Ehm so I need to use yes and no questions ".

" Was it any of the people from the land of untold stories? ".

She shakes her head. "Was it mister Hyde? I mean, he has caused some trouble these past weeks, but- ".

She shakes her head again. " Was it grandpa?".

Nope. He sags a little, smiles. " Okay. Was it anyone we even know?".

She nods. " Okay. Was it villain?"

Jesus, Henry, how am I even supposed to answer that. Because she sort of is, but she also isn't. And I thought you were done seperating the world into villains and heroes. She finally decides to shake her head, but also nod. "What is that supposed to mean- I know you don't like it when I talk about heroes and villains, and not just people but- "

"HEY! Don't walk away, what are you- "

he is probably crawling after her but she is already running towards the desk she saw at the beginning, then squeezes her eyes and pushes at her magic. She is prepared for the hurt this time, and that taste of iron but she still sways a little when the paper falls on the floor and- well holding that pencil in the air, using it to write- it is all more heavy than the weights she used to press as soon as she had enough money to go to a gym( she had always liked PE because you don't need fancy things to be good at running, and you don't need books that your 'family' doesn't want to buy to be able to do thirty push-ups)

Her 'Q' becomes smudged, unreadable when the magic pushes at her own, and she hangs her head. There are little black spots at the corners of her sight, and she falls down again when she struggles to get up.

Henry is pulling her into his arms before Regina even speaks. " Henry. I see that you did not quite believe me".

" Where is she?" .

" Which 'she' are you talking about, exactly?"

" Did you- " it is only when his voice fades, his breath hitching, and the list of her symptoms is expanded with 'no air, thanks to Henry squeezing me to death' that she realizes what he is thinking. She thinks of the week before the queen captured her- how Henry had either always been around her, or made sure someone else was. She thinks of that one night, of how Regina had been forced to sleep - a mixture of Snow's meddling, and how exhausted she had been because of everything- and Henry's eyes as he had admitted " I know there are still people who hate her".

Henry, do you think someone in this town would ki-

Regina isn't Regina right now, the laugh makes that clear. "mio chico intelligente" Emma is really starting to worry about her ribs - when did Henry even get strong enough to give crushing hugs by the way?- when the queen comes closer and Henry squeezes even more.

Henry's heart is thunkthu-thunk-thu-thunk-thu-thu- as the queen does the chin-touch Regina always does. "She will be safe, as long as you are good".

"I am good. But you took my mom, and you hid my other mom from me".

The queen smiles. Her eyes are happy in a way that has Emma throw away what ever little energy she has in a desperate attempt to use her magic, to take them both away from here. To at least take Henry away- please

" I do not mean 'good' like your insipid grandparents do. If you obey me, then your mother will be- "

Henry takes a small step forward when Regina's face contorts, and her eyes flash with purple. " H-Henry, g-get" - it like watching a video, only for it to get stuck in the middle of a speech. Henry does the exact opposite- and Emma wants to scream at him to get away, but she understands why he won't.

Who could ever just leave Regina Mills when she is terrified, and young, and obviously in immense pain?

She jumps from his arms the moment his grip lessens, and forces her heavy body towards Regina. There's pain, and this is the first time Regina's magic is unpleasant like this; her feathers ruffling and the closer she gets to Regina, the more it feels like getting electrical shocks ( except worse. Was this what that guy standing with a kite in the middle of a storm felt like?) and the more she smells wet hair burning.

They end up on either sides of Regina; Henry in front of her, grabbing her hands as she weakly tries to push him away, and Emma pressed as closely as she can manage without being burned.

Regina can't speak now, and she is sweating like she has a fever and they're in the middle of a heatwave. Henry only presses closer, muttering something that maybe doesn't even makes sense. Emma can't understand it, anyways. Regina finally crumbles, and hugs him.

" Principito " Emma hears, and Regina uses it enough she knows it means " little prince" ( Emma found out one night that she stayed because of a storm outside, and two glasses of Regina's crazy cider. And Emma had remembered New York, and muttering principito to him when she was half asleep after work so she had asked Regina about the happy ending she had given them)

" Mama" Henry whispers back.

Emma automatically jumps in front of him when Regina shoves him away. She tries to take him to the door, but she is too weak and Henry too stubborn and then it's too late. The queen returns with a vicious smirk and the smoothening of her expression.

(Emma is reminded of like, every movie that has dealt with demon possesion ever)

" Henry. Are you willing to obey me? Or should I just - "she makes a gesture, and Emma screams as her feathers start burning. Literally. " NO! STOP " Henry rushes at Regina, and grabs her hand. " Stop it!".

She calmly closes it, and Emma shudders as she no longer feels like she is standing too close to a fire. Henry slowly walks backwards, scowling at the queen, but before he can get to Emma, she is flowing in the air and gently lands in the queen's arms.

"You see , I do not wish to hurt Emma".

" You just did".

" She was merely uncomfortable. I am certain the scream was because she was startled. But you see Henry, I feel less inclined to hold myself back when it comes to hurting your other mother- " her lips curl. " Or your grandparents".

Emma struggles in her arms, despite her pain nearly being at the levels of guy-I-loved-abandoned-me-and-now-I-am-going-to-give- birth-in-jail. The queen tuts, and gods Emma hates how a part of her immediately feels better as that hand strokes her feathers. She wishes she could just write it down to the magic that is healing whatever using her own magic currently does to her.

"What do you want me to do? ".

Emma snaps her eyes open. Henry, no. She struggles again in the queen's arms, but it is all fucking useless; the queen chuckles and takes a step closer to Henry. " Nothing bad, I promise. I want you to visit her vault as soon as your family thinks you have gone to school ".

" Why?".

"I want to meet you there ".

The queen is pouring magic into Emma to keep the enormous amount her anger is fuelling from doing anything like ripping Regina's heart from the queen's hand, and possibly turn her into an animal that won't do awful things like manipulating their son. Henry, please, don't make the same mistake of risking yourself so you can be a hero. Regina and I will take care of it, and we will make goddamn sure you don't need to-

" Will you swear to not hurt anyone in this town in any way if I meet you there tomorrow?".

" That is a lot to ask, Henry ".

" No, it isn't ".

" I will not harm anyone in this town, bar Snow White, for a week".

" No. You will not harm anyone - or it isn't a deal".

" I could hurt your mothers".

Henry swallows, but he lifts his head slightly and says " still no deal" his voice is hardly trembling.

The queen laughs like she knows Henry would never let either Emma or Regina get hurt, but she nods. " Fine. I will not harm anyone".

Emma is still trying to figure out the catch in that when they shake hands and try to work out the specifics. Right when the queen walks Regina out of there, right when she glances back over her shoulder to say " oh and take Emma with you- and make sure she does not alert anyone" it is that Emma's entire body temperature drops like nine degrees.

The queen won't harm anyone-

but that doesn't mean she can't use anyone else to hurt their family.

　

[worryinglyinnocent]

Once Upon A Different Time - The Notes for 4B through 7

Here we go! These notes are nowhere near as detailed as the 4A notes and are very rumbelle-centric, but hopefully they’ll give you a good idea of what’s going on nonetheless. 

Under a cut because this got super super long. 

Season 4B - Queens of Darkness and the Author

General notes:

Maleficent is a major character this season, but only in flashback. Dead is dead, she’s not coming back.

In the past. Aurora’s parents (Stefan and Leah) made a deal with Rumpelstiltskin, the price being their first-born child. Stefan has a trick up his sleeve, as prior to his arranged marriage to Leah he had been in a relationship with Maleficent that resulted in a pregnancy. He plans to take his and Maleficent’s child and give it to Rumpel as his first-born. 

Stefan attempts to take Maleficent’s child (Lily), and goes up against Cruella and Ursula. In the scuffle, Lily, Cruella and Ursula all end up in the Land Without Magic, scattered. Lily is taken into care (where she will later meet Emma, call back to season 4A), Cruella and Ursula separately vow to find each other and Lily and return to the Enchanted Forest. 

Meanwhile, Maleficent swears revenge on Stefan and Leah and goes to Rumpel for a sleeping curse. He tells her that it’s best administered straight into the blood, and on seeing his spinning wheel in the corner, Maleficent gets an idea. 

In the present. Cruella and Ursula have found each other in New York, and have recognised Aurora there (call back to season 3B when Aurora and Mulan were hiding in Neal’s old apartment in New York). They track down the apartment and break in, surprised to find not Aurora (who is back in Storybrooke at this point) but Rumpel (he and Neal are staying in the apartment whilst trying to find a way to reverse Rumpel’s darkening heart). The three of them have a discussion about the idea of the Author controlling everyone’s fates, and they make a plan to try and find the Author. 

Neal and Rumpel return to Storybrooke, and Rumpel sneaks Cruella and Ursula into town. (Belle and Neal are aware of this going on and whilst not entirely happy about it, are also intrigued by the idea of the Author.) 

Cruella and Ursula also want revenge against Aurora for Lily. Aurora points out that since Stefan and Leah are both now dead, hurting Aurora will not cause them any pain and their vengeance mission is pointless. 

Regina infiltrates the QOD Squad, also intrigued by the idea of the Author; but her cover is blown when Cruella and Ursula threaten Roland and she jumps in to save him. 

Cruella and Ursula want to rewrite the story so that they stay together and stay with Lily. Regina wants to rewrite the story so that she never killed Marian and she and Robin can be together. Rumpel wants to write out the darkness. 

Being back in Storybrooke, Rumpel’s darkening heart takes a turn for the worse and he ends up hospitalised, much like canon 4B but without Zelena (who is definitely 100% dead). 

The Author creates a new story which creates a brand new Enchanted Forest (foreshadowing for Season 7). Everyone except Henry is transported there, as Henry was never a character in the first storybook. Henry and the Author fight it out over the quill, with Henry gaining the upper hand and becoming the new Author. He writes himself into the story so that he can go and rescue everyone. 

In the new story. 

Cruella and Ursula are living happily with Lily. 

Emma is a mad witch living in the forest; Neal is the anti-magic witchfinder determined to destroy her. 

Regina is a bandit princess a la Snow, Robin is the Sheriff of Nottingham type figure tasked with bringing her down.

Snow as the evil queen and Charming as her henchman.

Belle is the Dark One, Rumpel is the light knight destined to kill her. 

Henry convinces them to fight back against their assigned roles, ultimately allowing them to come back to Storybrooke. The New Enchanted Forest is not destroyed, and Henry decides to just let it develop as a new world naturally. After they are all back in Storybrooke, he destroys the quill, vowing that everyone has the right to choose their own fate and the Author is no more. 

Back in the present, everyone remembers Rumpel is in the hospital and they rush there to find him flatlining. Belle gives him TLK, which pulls him back from the brink but also untethers the darkness from him. The Dark One heads towards Neal as the next in the bloodline, but Emma jumps in to save him. 

Emma vanishes, and Belle sees the name on the dagger change. End season. 

Season 5A - Camelot and Dark Swan

Not gonna lie, I have NOTHING for the Camelot arc, other than Merlin arriving and being badass and not dying, and some Dark One history. 

Dark Emma is increasingly unstable and goes to Rumpel for help with controlling the darkness. Eventually she does something catastrophic but unintentional that sends Neal to the underworld (he was saving Henry) and triggers the march of the dark ones. Rumpel takes back the darkness from Emma with Belle’s blessing - he’s taking it back to save Emma and make sure no-one else experiences the pain of being the Dark One, not because he wants the power. (This is the moment when Rumpel becomes the Guardian although this is not revealed till season 7.) 

Together, Merlin and Rumpel stop the march of the dark ones (combined power of the Dark One and the Light One). 

The usual suspects decide to go on a road trip to the Underworld to find Neal. 

Season 5B - Underbrooke

Hades is not a villain. Persephone’s a bit of a trickster (she’s a bit bored and wants to liven things up a bit), but Hades is a neutral overseer sworn not to interfere. The drama comes from the characters trying to get to grips with things, there’s no real villain in this half-season. 

Although I do want to have an episode entitled ‘Ghosts of Villains Past’ guest-starring Cora, Pan, Zelena and Maleficent (all the villains who died in Storybrooke so far - potentially also Cruella since I don’t know what happens to her and Ursula at the end of 4B...).

Hades gives them a compass to help them navigate the underworld and find Neal. It will point to Rumpel’s son, he says. It immediately points to Belle. “It’s not wrong, it just takes the path of least resistance.” This is how we find out that Belle is pregnant with Gideon. 

Neal is found and everyone is returned to Storybrooke safe and well having done a lot of character introspection. 

During this season, Neal and Emma and Robin and Regina get their act together and couple up properly, and there are various relationship difficulties to be worked through in...

Season 6 - Gideon and Black Fairy

In the Past. The Blue Fairy, seeking to become the ultimate Good Being, uses a spell to separate her light and dark halves. The dark half, the Black Fairy, is banished to a realm of Darkness, but Blue wants to destroy her completely. Likewise, Black wants to destroy her light half. Both realise that the key to destroying the other is the sacrifice of a child born of both light and dark. This child is Gideon. (This also leads to some hilarity as the Blue Fairy is very concerned to know when Gideon was conceived - if he was conceived during the brief period when Rumpel wasn’t the Dark One back in 5A, then he’ll be of no use to her.)

In the Present. Black Fairy escapes the Dark Realm, bringing Hyde with her. Hyde begins to recreate the serum that split him off from Jekyll. 

Regina uses Jekyll’s serum to split off her dark half, the Evil Queen.

Belle is visited by a strange figure in her dreams who warns her about the darkness. Belle thinks that the darkness he refers to is Rumpel’s darkness, but she actually, you know, talks to him about it. Rumpel and Belle dreamwalk to meet the strange figure, who reveals himself to be Gideon and that this is the only way he can speak to them freely. 

Blue accelerates Belle’s pregnancy in the hope that Belle will give birth at the convent and she can steal Gid for her own purposes, but it backfires - she ends up giving birth in the pawnshop with only Rumpel and Henry present. 

Black steals Gideon and takes him to the Dark realm to prime him as her weapon of mass destruction. Shortly after Gid’s birth and kidnap, he returns as an adult and starts wreaking havoc.

Belle and Rumpel travel to the Dark realm to save baby Gid before he can grow into evil adult Gid. Regina and the Evil Queen go with them. Whilst in the Dark Realm, Regina realises she can’t separate herself from her bad deeds, she can only try to atone for them, and she rejoins with the Evil Queen. In the Dark Realm, Rumpel and Belle are confronted by their own Dark Halves (Dark One and Lacey), but emerge triumphant and save baby Gid. 

Blue and Black are forced to merge back together and are defeated. The series ends with a bunch of happy endings - Belle and Rumpel are happy with little Gid, Robin and Regina are together and Regina is pregnant (with the baby who will go on to become Margot in season 7), and Neal and Emma are happy together. 

We end with a flashforward to 20 years later with Lucy arriving on Henry’s doorstep. 

Season 7 - soft reboot

This season focuses primarily on the next generation alongside adult Henry making up the main cast. Regina and Rumpel are the only recurring characters from the previous seasons, but most of the others will guest at some point. 

An eighteen year old Henry decides to travel to the New Enchanted Forest that was created by the Author in season 4B, to see how the new characters are getting on. He meets and falls in love with Rapunzel (still Jacinda, she’s just not Cinderella in this setting), and the Rapunzel-Gothel story takes centre stage. Tiana and Tilly are also here because they’re awesome. Rounding out the rest of the main cast are the now adult Gideon, Roland, and Margot. 

Gothel casts the curse to bring everyone to Hyperion Heights from the New Enchanted Forest. Everyone in other realms is unaffected. 

Robin, Regina, Rumpel and Belle are all in the NEF at the time of the curse being cast - they were called in by Henry, Gideon and Margot to help with the Gothel problem. 

The curse splits up the couples - Regina and Rumpel are in HH, but Robin and Belle are elsewhere in the Land Without Magic, so we don’t see them as regularly. Lucy has to convince everyone to go on a road trip to find them.

(There is NO. TIME. TRAVEL.)

During this season the idea of the Guardian is mooted - Rumpel is already the guardian after the events of 5A, he just doesn’t realise until the powers are at rest and he’s mortal again. Belle and Rumpel have been travelling the realms to find the Guardian. At some point during their travels, they find Tilly.

Tilly is Hook’s daughter in the Land of Untold Stories (call back to season 4A). She is in the care of an unscrupulous guardian after Hook has been presumed drowned. He’s actually gone through a portal to NEF. Tilly is the Little Match Girl. Rumpel and Belle rescue and adopt her and she grows up alongside Gideon. 

(Gideon’s traumatic pregnancy and birth mean Belle and Rumpel are unable to have any more biological children.)

At the end, Tilly meets up with Hook and has a Railway Children ‘MY DADDY’ moment after the curse is broken. She still sees Belle and Rumpel as her parents, but she’s glad to have her birth dad back in her life as well. 

Gideon is Weaver’s detective partner which leads to much hilarity when Lucy tries to convince them that they’re father and son.

The curse is broken, everyone is reunited, and everyone gets a happy ending.  

Gideon and Roland end up in a relationship together, as do Tilly and Margot, and Tiana and Hook look like they’re headed that way too. (Got to pair the spares!)

And... that’s all folks! That’s all I got. Thanks for sticking with me to the end of this rollercoaster!

[donteattheappleshook]

Self Promo Sunday

In case anyone is looking for some quarantine-reading, I’ve decided to finally put all of my CS fics together in one spot on tumblr! Title links to the Ao3 page :)

Tagging @winterbaby89​ because you asked :)

Multi-Chapter

Stone Hearts 

Emma should have known. She should have known that they couldn’t just go to the underworld and not suffer any consequences. She should have known they’d bring something back with them. Cannon Divergent after 5x21 Last Rites. No Hyde. No serum. No Evil Queen split. No prophecy. No season 6. Rated E. Words: 91,937. Complete.

Of Cars and Bars

When Emma Swan is offered the chance to go on tour as an opener for one of the most popular up and coming bands of the decade, the last thing she expects is to find that the lead guitarist is the stranger she had a one night stand with five years ago. Musicians AU. Rated E. Words: 89,080. Complete.

Just Human Volume 2

SEQUEL A continuation of my CSSNS2018 story Just Human. Now that Killian is [redacted for spoilers] and Mary Margaret knows everything, what does life have in store for a group of supernatural misfits? With the threat of Gold gone, Emma learns that sometimes just being human is the most complicated challenge of all. Being Human AU. Rated M. Words: 19,555. Complete.

art by @djlbg​

One Shots - Smutty

A Little Death AKA Some Fairytale Bliss AKA Deflowering the Deckhand

Set during Operation Mongoose: Part 2. Missing scene. Emma decides to teach the shy deckhand a thing or two about swordplay. Fluffy smut. Cannon(ish). Rated E. Words: 6,336

More

Neverland Smut! Set between 3x07 and 3x08. Emma needs the reminder that Killian is alive and well. The fact that Neal is sleeping six feet away doesn’t matter. Neverland Renaissance. Rated M. Words: 3,798

Pillow Talk

A post-coital captain swan get talking which leads to some interesting discoveries on both parts. And some challenges. Cannon(ish). Rated E. Words: 7,726 TECHNICALLY A TWO-SHOT

Six Weeks

A Daddy!Killian one shot. Emma has been acting weird ever since they brought their daughter home. Not what you think it is. Cannon(ish). Rated E. Words: 2,555

A Woman of Action

Emma may not have been a woman of words but she didn't need to be – not with him. But she was definitely a woman of action. A little fic about Emma appreciating her man. Cannon(ish). Rated E. Words: 4,091

One Shots - Fluff and Angst

Just Human

After her death, Emma wakes up in her home, unable to be seen or heard by anyone. She resigns herself to this lifeless existence until one day, two men move into the house she haunts - and somehow, they can see her. A ghost, a vampire, and a werewolf living under one roof, what could possibly go wrong? Being Human AU. Rated T. Words: 20,012

The Gardener

Emma runs every morning, and the day she runs through the neighborhood where Killian is landscaping turns into something so much more than a daily bit of eye candy. Based on a prompt I can no longer find that was something like “You run by my house every morning and I make sure I’m outside every morning to see you”. Modern AU. Rated T. Words: 6,480

Check Ups

A series of missing scene from 2x12 "In the Name of the Brother". Emma keeps checking on Hook in the hospital. She just wants to make sure Gold hasn’t killed him. And that he hasn’t escaped. That’s it. She swears. Cannon Divergent: Missing Scene. Rated T. Words: 4,004 

art by @liloproductions​

[barbie-shoes]

Dark SQ fic

So after hopping back on tumblr for the first time in a long time today I got a little Swan Queen nostalgia and was looking through my WIPs and found this Dark SQ fic I started back some time around the Jekyll and Hyde arch. So I thought I’d share what I’d found and see if the SQ fandom is still interested in an idea like this, as sober living and corona got me with a lot of spare time on my hands lol.

———

‘Untitled’ Dark Swan Queen

“You're sure you want to do this?” Emma asked, nodding her head once to indicate the syringe in Regina's hand.

“Yes,” Regina replied resolutely. “I want her gone.”

“Okay,” Emma bobbed her head a few times as she held up a second syringe. “Then we do this together.”

“Together,” Regina agreed.

Of course, she had tried to talk Emma out of it. Emma was good, she'd always been good– that one little hiccup with Cruella and her time as the Dark One notwithstanding. Even so, both happened under the best of intentions. She protected Henry. And she protected Regina.

It was always a futile argument, she'd known from the start. Emma was as stubborn as they came, and her mind was made.

Emma had her reasons, none of which were disclosed to Regina. She still feared the potential for darkness in her heart, the things she felt under the curse of the Dark One. It wasn't that she didn't trust Regina, there simply wasn't enough time to get into all that before Emma's mother came looking for them. Emma was certain the woman would vehemently object to her daughter joining in Regina's endeavor to split from her darker half. So time was of the essence.

“On three?” Emma suggested, poising the needle towards her outstretched arm.

Regina pursed her lips, wishing Emma wouldn't do this. It was a risk she didn't mind taking for herself, but she hated Emma's willfulness to put herself in unnecessary danger. She was pretty sure the woman would go ahead with or without her at this point, and so she sighed and gave a sharp nod of her head in agreement.

“One,” Emma counted.

“Two,” Regina continued, placing her own syringe against her skin.

“Three,” they said in unison, both plunging the needles into their arms before either could lose their nerve.

The liquid burned under their skin as it flowed through their veins. Almost instantly their bodies began to cramp and convulse, wracked with a searing pain as if their other halves were being physically ripped out of them. It was more excruciating than childbirth, Emma thought. Regina wondered why it hadn't occurred to them that removing a part of yourself might be physically painful.

Then quite suddenly it all stopped. Not even a dull sting remained. Emma straightened her posture and opened her eyes to a positively terrified and stricken Regina staring straight ahead. Following the woman's gaze, Emma found herself once again face to face with the Evil Queen, hair piled high on top of her head with one silky curled section draped over her shoulder. Her black skirt bellowed in the wind under a dramatic black blazer with sharp, dagger-like shoulders. Her dark burgundy lips spread into a menacing sneer, and Emma's gawking came to an abrupt halt with a fireball instinctually springing to life in her hand.

“Ah, ah, ah,” another voice jeered just outside Emma's field of vision. Her head snapped towards the source, and her jaw dropped. It was her, but it wasn't her. Dressed in lacquered black pants and a distinguished black leather jacket, the woman had Emma's face but she was paler, with hair white as fresh snow. A braid snaked down the back of her head, around her neck and over her chest. She, too, held a ball of fire in her palm, red lips smirking dangerously. “I wouldn't do that if I were you.”

Regina seemed to find her wits again at that, hearing Emma's voice so cold and taunting.

“You're the Dark One,” Regina said, the words falling uncertainly out of her mouth of their own accord.

“Not technically, no,” the woman replied banefully, turning a sharp glare towards Emma. “Not since this one so stupidly let our power fall back into the hands of Rumpelstiltskin. But I suppose you could call me... the Dark Swan.”

“Could we put the toys away, girls?” the Evil Queen asked both Emmas like they were nothing more than naughty children. “Honestly, everyone on this rooftop knows how to conjure a fireball; they're hardly going to be of any use. Can't we all just have a little talk?”

Her voice was sickly sweet and Regina wasn't buying it for a second.

“You never want to just talk,” she said, heavy with suspicion. “Don't forget that I know your games.”

The Evil Queen laughed dramatically and clapped her hands together with delight.

“Indeed you do!” she cackled. “And yet, this is a most unique situation we find ourselves in, is it not?”

“Enough with the chit-chat,” Emma's counterpart sighed in exasperation. Then, turning to address the Evil Queen, “Have you already forgotten why they brought us here in the first place?”

“My, my! You do have a point, dear,” the Evil Queen replied with her usual flourish. “That is quite troublesome, isn't it?”

“You see,” the Dark Swan began, much more stoically than her newfound companion. “Up until just moments ago, we were still you. Which means that we know exactly what you're planning to do.”

“The problem is,” the Evil Queen picked up, apparently knowing just where this monologue was headed, “that we're stronger than you. Without us inside you, you don't have the gall to follow through.” She finished her statement with a furled lip, as though appalled by the shortcomings of the plain women before her.

“Regina...” Emma whispered to the woman beside her, feeling more helpless than she could ever remember since she was a child, hoping against hope that she was the only one. She desperately needed Regina's strength right now.

Regina just glanced at her with a hapless expression, her eyes conveying everything. They had made an absolutely terrible mistake.

It was at that moment that Snow burst through the door to the rooftop, immediately frozen in her tracks not by magic, but utter disbelief.

“Oh, Emma,” she bemoaned, woefully addressing the daughter she recognized. “What did you do?”

“What's the matter, mommy dearest?” the Dark Swan spat. “Can't face the other side of the little girl you abandoned? You two-faced hypocrite.”

“Oh,” the Evil Queen gasped gleefully at the admonishing, “I think you and I shall get along quite well. Care to join me in departing this wretched crowd?”

The Evil Queen extended her dainty hand and the Dark Swan surveyed the faces around her with aberration.

“Miss Swan?” the Evil Queen inquired, not exactly irritated but ill inclined to patience.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” the Dark Swan replied, placing her hand in the one proffered with a devious glint. “I would absolutely love to.”

With a wave of the arm and a cloud of purple smoke, they were gone.

Neither Emma nor Regina could quite process what just happened. The Evil Queen and the Dark Swan were now loose, uninhibited, and apparently newfound allies. Even worse, they were right. They were stronger than Emma and Regina in so many ways.

When at last they each found the courage to face the woman that discovered them in the midst of their faux pas, it was to be met with folded arms and a disapproving glare.

“The two of you,” Snow hissed slowly, “have a lot of explaining to do.”

———

There wasn't really much else to do than make their way back to Storybrooke. They couldn't exactly go scouring the entire world for their Dark counterparts. That was, after all, quite a lot of ground to cover.

They'd hoped that going home they might find some relief, both from the pains of their pasts and from the guilt of what they'd done. Days meandered by, and there seemed to be little relief in sight.

“How are you feeling?” Regina asked at the diner. It had been three days, to be precise, and she couldn't take not knowing if she was the only one any longer.

“How so?” Emma asked with a nonchalant shrug, though her tone belied her indifference.

“You know what I mean,” Regina rolled her eyes. “Since the split.”

It was strange, her interactions with Emma now. She cared for the woman a great deal, she always did. But her care had altered somehow in the past few days. She would die to protect Emma, and yet, it didn't feel the same.

“I feel,” Emma started, then stopped, uncertain she wanted to say how she truly felt. But this was Regina, she told herself, and wasn't she always open with Regina? She didn't want to question her hesitation, and so she powered on. “I feel... nothing. I mean, not nothing.” Her fingers worried at the base of her neck. “It's just... everything is dimmed, you know? Like it's there but most of the time it feels just out of reach.”

“Oh, thank heavens,” Regina said, sighing in relief.

“Uh, you're welcome?” Emma replied with a sideways glance and a curious frown.

“No, no,” Regina assured. “Not like that. I don't want there to be anything wrong with you, it's just... I feel the same way.”

As a similar sense of relief washed over her, Emma understood. Something had felt pointedly off kilter inside since the split, and though she wanted Regina's happiness even more than her own sometimes, a common ally right now was most welcome.

“We...” Regina began hesitantly, wondering why her faith in Emma felt so inaccessible. “Do you think we made a mistake?” She inquired, deciding a question was less off putting than her initial statement.

“Probably,” Emma drawled, equally uncertain. “I mean, maybe. Do you?”

Regina stared into her drink, unspeaking. Something was horribly amiss, and they both knew it. Their interactions felt foreign with a far away familiarity, like old classmates at their ten year reunion. They didn't understand why everything was suddenly so awkward, so hard to say aloud.

“I think,” Regina replied, ignoring the waves of incomprehension she felt, “that we need to find the books of this Jekyll and Hyde and figure out just what we've done.”

———

Emma walked home feeling listless, empty. As she always did the past few days. Everything bad was gone and yet... she felt hollow. Henry seemed to be the only thing that could make her shine anymore, but tonight he was with Regina and Emma was alone with her musings.

Or so she thought.

Opening the door to the home she was supposed to share with Hook she was greeted by a voice that was distinctly female.

“Welcome home,” it said with saccharine familiarity. “It's just you and me tonight, kid.”

Emma wanted to yell, but she didn't, frozen in place by her own voice vibrating through her ears though not in her throat.

“Where is Hook?” She finally demanded, cringing at the meekness in her voice. The Dark Swan scoffed.

“You realize how impersonal that name is don't you?” the woman sneered. “Oh, wait, of course you don't. You banished those thoughts to me instead of dealing with them.”

Emma recoiled briefly, foggy memories of uncertainty emerging in the peripheral of her mind's eye but too blurred to make any real sense of.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” she shrieked indignantly instead, still confounded by the way it all sounded so incredibly whiny and not at all firm. “And you didn't answer my question.”

The Dark Swan waved her hand dismissively with a rather unimpressed furl of her lip.

“I sent him off,” she replied like it was most mundane. Then, a wicked glint shone in her eyes. “He was awfully quick to comply when I explained who I was. Isn't it interesting,” she inquired, standing now and moving towards Emma, “how willingly he'll flee when faced with anything more than the most amicable version of ourself?”

It hit a cord, the Dark Swan’s observation. Emma felt it strum, but it was as though it played somewhere outside her, with earmuffs that muffled its tune and made it all too easy to pretend she hadn't heard.

“What are you doing here,” she asked, steering the conversation away from the man she was supposed to be sharing this roof with.

“I live here,” the Dark Swan stated simply, shrugging nonchalantly.

“Like hell you do,” Emma spat, finally feeling a tiny bit of fire ignite in her veins. “This is my home!”

The Dark Swan looked like she wanted to laugh, but Emma never laughed under the curse of the Dark One and neither did she now. Still, the amusement she saw in the woman's eyes practically bubbled over.

“I really did get the better end of the stick in this split, didn't I?” The Dark Swan mused, almost to her herself but definitely for Emma's benefit– or detriment, more likely. “You think you're the real Emma Swan, isn't that right? And that I am something other; a foreign entity out to destroy you.” Emma was stricken at the assessment, and at the notion it might be false. “News flash, kiddo. You may not like me, but I don't particularly like you either. And neither of those things make one of us more real than the other. We are equal parts of the same whole. You are merely the version of us that we wanted people to see. The one we tried so hard to become. Which–” she paused thoughtfully, “–would actually make me the more accurately ‘real’ of the two of us.”

“You have no idea–”

“I have every idea,” Dark Swan hissed. “Every single one you don't want to look at, I have it,” she paused menacingly. “Oh...” she drawled dramatically. “The things I could tell you.”

“I don't want to know,” Emma replied staunchly. “I don't want anything to do with you!”

The Dark Swan crept closer still.

“I bet you don't,” she heaved in a breathy whisper. “I bet you don't want to be reminded of the nights you lay awake next to your boyfriend, wondering what Regina's lips taste like.”

“I never–”

“They're exquisite, by the way,” the Dark Swan teased. “The most plump, soft, delicious lips we have ever tasted. You could have found out years ago, but you were too afraid. Would you like me to tell me things you never even dared consider? Like what it feels like to make her moan with your lips wrapped around her–”

“Stop!” Emma yelled, hating with everything she had the way she suddenly burned between her legs. She knew, in some far off way, that she had questioned this before. But she didn't anymore and that was a good thing. This parody of her only wanted to play on her vulnerabilities.

“Are you sure?” The Dark Swan jeered. “You don't want to hear about how hard she–”

“No!” Emma yelled, exasperated and short of breath at the very notions placed in her head. This woman was just messing with her. Trying to get into her head and ruin her happy ending. Sure, the idea of fucking Regina had once made her hot, but it was nothing more than a fantasy. This false iteration of her knew that, and was using that knowledge to try and break her.

“Fine then,” the Dark Swan acquiesced smugly, turning for the stairs. “I'm planning to sleep in my own bed tonight. You're welcome to the couch if you don't care to join me.”

Though her fire felt dimmed and she would quite nearly rather die than share a bed with her counterpart, she huffed and made her way up the stairs as well because Emma Swan would be damned if she let this character of herself get the best of her.

———

A similar conversation transpired simultaneously at 108 Mifflin Street, though Regina was hardly surprised to find her other half draped regally across the living room sofa.

“Took you long enough,” Regina muttered, rolling her eyes. She knew her own antics well enough to know the Evil Queen was sat in this lounging position quite intentionally, ensuring it was obvious she felt quite at home in the mansion.

“Miss Swan and I decided to take a little detour,” the Evil Queen replied mischievously, and Regina's heart sank.

“You didn't...” she pleaded.

“Oh, of course I did!” The Evil Queen purred. “I did everything you've ever dreamed of. She's quite the tasty snack, that Emma Swan.”

Regina's stomach roiled. She might not be able to feel the feelings she felt for Emma for so long anymore, but the woman still meant the world to her. And she remembered vividly just how badly she had wanted, needed, and loved Emma before this split. It should have been easier now, to not feel those things, but the only thing she felt was empty.

And now, afraid. Because she was fairly certain they needed to merge back together with their other halves. And whatever happened between the Evil Queen and Emma's counterpart was surely nothing Emma would have ever actually wanted. Even without those deep, longing feelings in her head, Regina dreaded the loss when Emma realized the truth.

“How could you?” Regina gasped, surprised to find her voice trembling with tears.

“How could you not?” The Evil Queen hissed back. “You know very well that sleazy pirate is no good for her. Can you honestly say you thought you were doing the honorable thing by never speaking up? Or were you merely a coward?”

Really, it was a difficult question to answer with so many of her emotions held just outside of her grasp. She was pretty sure though that she wouldn't have let her own fear stop her if it meant doing right by Emma. Sure, Regina loathed the one handed wonder with every fiber of her being. But that was for personal reasons– and possibly rather selfish reasons as well, she told herself. She wanted Emma to be happy, and if that's where Emma decided to find her happiness, Regina wouldn't let her own feelings interfere with that.

“How ever you managed to seduce her,” she seethed, fighting the desire to conjure a fireball she knew would be useless right now, “it was under false pretenses. I don't know what that Dark Swan’s motivations are, but I know the real Emma Swan would never have done what you convinced her to do.”

The Evil Queen’s sharp cackle raced down Regina's spine like nails scraping blackboard.

“You two really are so useless without us, aren't you?” She asked rhetorically, dramatically gasping for breath she didn't need as she laughed and then sighed. “Oh, Regina. I didn't seduce Miss Swan at all! In fact it was she who propositioned me. Not to say I wasn't most inclined to indulge her, but nonetheless it was your pretty little blonde that initiated everything. Rather eagerly, I might add.”

Regina didn't know how to respond to that. Sure, she didn't know exactly what this other version of Emma might be up to, but the idea that any side of Emma Swan might actually want her was unfathomable.

“You obviously misunderst–”

“I understand perfectly!” The Evil Queen spat, jarring Regina with her burst of anger. Not because the vitriol itself was unexpected, but it's roots she could not have predicted. “Don't you dare insinuate that I have somehow violated her. I love her. And she loves me.” Regina gaped at the open admission. “Oh, wipe that stupid look off your face like you didn't know,” the Evil Queen groaned. “Or is it that you think I am meant to believe love is weakness? Because I'm fairly certain you kept that particular attribute for yourself.”

[intothewickedwood]

Once Upon A Time Rewatch: 5x21 Last Rites

I can’t even remember the flashback for this episode, if there even was one. It probably should have been a Robin Hood flashback for his death to have made more of an impact. Because he’s literally just been pointing out really obvious things and nothing else for pretty much the whole season. 

Zelena worrying for her sister! I live for this!

How’d Arthur escape?

Yes, Hades much threatening holding a baby. Very scare. 

Oh dear.

When will they learn not to stop letting Sleepy guard things?! 

Sleepy: “Sleepy. I told you, it’s Walter.” That’s interesting that Sleepy doesn’t like to be called Sleepy and prefers Walter. The Dwarfs seemed so desperate to get back to their EF lives in season 2.

Snowing reunited! God, I missed those 2 together!

Finally, a grandma Snow hug! Haven’t had one of those in ages! 

Zelena’s like “and f**k you Regina! My boyfriend’s a God. How’s that for a happy thought?!”

Oh yeah. Forgot Arthur killed Hook the first time. Well, technically the second time? 

Arthur looks more like Hook’s brother than Liam or Liam II. Not to mention a closer accent. I feel like I read a fic or something where they were brothers somehow. Don’t get me wrong though, I prefer Liam. 

Okay, Hades was definitely manipulating Zelena here. He knew she wouldn't let him turn himself in, he just wanted to pretend he was willing to.

“The olympian crystal. Very powerful, very dangerous and I’ve waited a long time to use it.”

I’m sorry but that olympian crystal looks like a big old, jagged freaking- anyway back to the rewatch! 

Where was he keeping that giant dildo of death anyway? Do I even want to know??

Zelena does not look like she’s into it.

*sigh* why didn’t they just make Hades Robin Jr.’s father? I remember thinking and hoping he somehow was. 

Belle’s father refusing to wake Belle from the sleeping curse just to keep her away from Rumple. What the hell?! He’d just let her stay like that forever? Because we know people don’t age during sleeping curses and Rumple is immortal. Jeeeez! He does not respect her agency at all!

Oh my God! Hades was whipping Hook?!........ Dat’s kinky.

Cruella: “Oh, back up!....Seriously, back up.” The number of times I’ve referenced this xD! 

Oh my God guys, how can anyone get through that many books?! And its too many damn pages for any man to understand.

Your brother stopped your heart for a sparkly strap on? Wow, what a family.

I wonder how old Hades and the God’s are. Are they older/the same age as Gothel? According to Hades he’s been around for at least a few 1thousand years. Also, is Poseidon his brother too? Is Ursula his niece? That’s cool. I like that headcanon.

So according to one of Ouat’s wikis: ‘Kronos was originally the ruler of Mount Olympus, as well as the father of Zeus and Hades. Zeus was poised to become the next ruler after Kronos' reign ended, but this enraged Hades, who stole the olympian crystal and used it to obliterate Kronos. Zeus, however, defeated Hades and banished him to the Underworld.’ I must have missed that bit. And Poseidon is listed as Kronos’ son and Ursula his granddaughter.

Robin Hood: “Regina, you are my future.” Oh dear.

Do y’all think that lost soul dragging Arthur is Milah though? Like, “get off my man! He’s mine, bitch!”

Emma’s like, “omg my dead bf’s posting me sexy dildo pics from hell. He’s so sweet.”

Guys, don’t leave the baby alone.

He definitely knows Regina and Robin are there. They’re talking so loudly!

Sorry, Emma but I love Zelena effortlessly throwing people about. I still think she’s more powerful than Emma and Regina. No one could dispel her protection spell. Definitely the most powerful telekinetic possibly out of any other character. Did you see her move that tree as a baby?!

Hades, please don’t kill Zelena’s sister! 

Oh no! The jagged sparkly dildo of death has an electric shock feature! Very kinky.

Lmao!!! I’m sorry but Robin’s death scene looks so funny! It’s shot so weirdly!

Well, Robin byeeeeee. Remember all those times he stood in the background and said nothing except the occasional “you were the evil queen” and “look there are trees here!” or of course, the already established “this place is deserted”. Fun times.

Regina be like, “show me those hands! Show me those jazz hands!” A very appropriate reaction if I do say so myself.

Okay but seriously. Did Robin not think about his 2 kids? Why didn’t he just push her out the way and run? Why didn’t Regina use her magic at all? This could have been so easily avoided but I think it was necessary for Regina’s character development and the plot. I think they ran out of things to do with Robin, and it was becoming more and more unrealistic that a character like Regina was in love with a character like him, in my opinion. She became a completely different character around him. Not all happy endings involve romantic love. I like that she remained single. Also, Robin never really made connections with the other heroes. He barely spoke to them. Literally, I think he only spoke to Hook twice and Emma once! I think Charming once too and I’m not sure he ever spoke to Snow. Maybe once in early 3b. I think that’s why, to me, he felt so disconnected from them. It would have worked a lot better if he was a villain all along, seeking vengeance on Regina for his wife’s death.

God, Hades! Zelena just wants to live in her little farmhouse, watching her daughter play on the swings and bunnies hop around while drinking tea in their magical enchanted garden!

Oh my God, if I was Zelena I would scream. Too many people in her head! Tbf if I was Zelena, I’d throw that giant dildo through the window and let Emma have it for herself as Hook intended.

Get lost Hades! Honestly, this is when I stopped being a serious Zades shipper. Before this I was a hardcore fan! But he tried to force her to kill her sister! He even says, “If you won’t, I will.” That’s going too far!

All Zelena ever wanted was love! I’m glad she finally recognizes that. She thought she wanted the material things her sister had but it was familial love that she never got from her adoptive father and only got a short taste of from her adoptive mother that she truly craved.

She chose her sister!

I hate that they made her kill Hades! Why couldn’t someone else do it?

Omg look at the sisters hold each other! I am going to die!!

Well, it’s nice that Arthur and Killian are getting along now, considering this is literally all Arthur’s fault. Somehow, after this episode, I can’t bring myself to hate Arthur as much as I did before. 

I guess the prophecy could still come true. He could repair the broken kingdom that is the Underworld.

I feel like this was addressed in a DVD extra, but does Arthur or Cruella end up ruling the underworld? I feel like it was Arthur, but my heart wants it to be and says it is Cruella and her lover the Blind Witch. 

Wow, Dumbledore and Harry look so different at King’s Cross in the afterlife. Is the horcrux in Harry destroyed??

Zeus, you horny bastard, we all know you probably slept with every character in ouat at some point. And we also know you’re a hardcore CS shipper!

Zeus looks so young lol. Why?

Hook: “Is this real? Or has this been happening inside my head?" Zeus: “Of course it is happening inside your head, Hooky, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?”

Sorry. I had to.

Poor Roly :(. He’s an orphan now. I hope someone adopted him. I’m surprised Regina didn’t.

Zelena what kinda drugs are you smoking to call the baby Robin?! Dear God. Pistachio would have been better! I’ve probably said this before, but I inadvertently called her name would be Robin. In my group rp, my Zelena kept referring to the baby as “baby Robin.” if you can gaze into the future (Future, future) You might think life would be a breeze (Life is a breeze) Seeing trouble from a distance (Yeah, go Bec) But it's not that easy xD. I’ve been rewatching That’s so Raven with my mama and thus far I’ve been having more precognitive dreams than my already bananas amount.

Why do villains always crumble to dust/vanish, especially in this show: Maleficent (twice, I think), Pan (twice), Zelena, The Snow Queen, Hades, Split Queen, The Black Fairy. I don’t get why they do that.

Thank God that flipping red filter is gone! Good riddance! 

The Underworld arc wasn’t anywhere near as bad as the Dark Swan arc. It was actually much better than I remembered. I enjoyed it, even! How did I not pay attention to all the Zelena gold in this arc?! 

Anyway, excited next week for Davis Bloome- I mean Hyde! 

[ao3feed-swanqueen]

End of the Line

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2RC7fzP

by Morrigan Mills (FrankenSpine)

After moving into the mansion with Regina and the Queen, Emma is confronted by Snow, who makes it clear that she doesn't approve. What Snow doesn't anticipate is that the whole town will end up turning on her.

Words: 2185, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Series: Part 14 of MayorQueen/EvilSwanQueen

Fandoms: Once Upon a Time (TV)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/F, F/M

Characters: Emma Swan, Snow White | Mary Margaret Blanchard, Evil Queen | Regina Mills, "Hyde" Evil Queen, Prince Charming | David Nolan, Henry Mills (Once Upon a Time), Seven Dwarfs (Once Upon a Time), Red Riding Hood | Ruby, Widow Lucas | Granny

Relationships: Evil Queen | Regina Mills/"Hyde" Evil Queen/Emma Swan, Prince Charming | David Nolan/Snow White | Mary Margaret Blanchard

Additional Tags: Polyamory, Snow White is a bitch, but David is cool, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Anti-Snow for the most part, Sad Ending

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2RC7fzP

[killian-whump]

I know you weren't a big fan of s6, so if you could rewrite it, what would you change?

Everything.

No, I’m kidding. I mean, there were some things I liked about S6 and would definitely keep around. I thought the S5 finale set everything up for S6 really well. I was excited for the Land of Untold Stories, and all the tales that were hinted at in the scenes that took place there, and I love Regina, especially when she’s the Evil Queen in flashbacks, so I was all amped up for the dual Reginas storyline. S6 looked great from that point.

Then it all went to shit.

The Evil Queen thing was SO over-the-top, and Lana was playing her in a campy and ridiculous way that didn’t appeal to me at all. In hindsight, I can see that they were trying to keep her “redeemable” and play up the whole “still Regina, even as the Evil Queen” thing for the storyline resolution, so they needed her to only be quasi-evil instead of evil-evil. Okay, fair enough, but it was still super disappointing and even downright cringey, and I will never forgive them for turning one of my favorite parts of the show into a circus act. Honestly, if they weren’t going to do the Evil Queen justice, I would’ve rather they hadn’t gone anywhere near her. So that would be change #1: Drop the camp or drop that storyline entirely.

And they could’ve dropped it entirely. That exciting land of Untold Stories they teased us with in the S5 finale was... a let-down. Yes, we got Jekyll and Hyde and Captain Nemo... but the Aladdin stuff they gave us was more fairytale than literary classic, and wtf was up with the ridiculous one-off shit like the Count of Monte Cristo? There were SO many classics they could’ve visited, and greater detail they could’ve gone into with the ones they DID visit... and the Land of Untold Stories was so COOL looking, with its wild mix of architecture and dirigibles and steampunk style. WHY would you create such a fantastical and fun-looking world, and then take everyone from that world and put them in OUR boring ass world? S6 should’ve taken place IN the Land of Untold Stories and brought us a lot more fresh takes and characters from that land than the pittance we got. AND MORE STEAMPUNK, FOR FUCK’S SAKE.

I’m also still angry that they teased me with an asylum plot in the press before the S5 finale, then gave me a taste of it IN that finale... and then ripped it from my greedy, hot little hands. They didn’t even put Killian Jones in a straitjacket while they were there. What the fuck, guys? Who does that? That man was born to be put into a straitjacket for my enjoyment and you had him RIGHT THERE and even put someone in a straitjacket, but it was the wrong fucking someone. Had S6 stayed in the Land of Untold Stories, we could’ve had untold opportunities for more asylum whump, and they could’ve put Killian in a straitjacket and made all of my dreams come true.

And why the SHIT did they actually kill off Hyde when Sam Witwer was the best thing to happen to that show since Colin, himself?! I mean, yeah, the Jekyll and Hyde storyline was probably planned from the get-go to end in their deaths, but when you see what a complete GEM Hyde is, what with his penchant for the Evil Queen’s cooking and his ridiculously awesome facial expressions and his dashing dapper-do and Sam Fucking Witwer’s everything... change whatever the fuck you need to change to somehow keep this man on your show. And then they even went and full-on made this man redeemable and gave him a heartbreaking backstory right before they killed him. Like, fuck you? Seriously. Fuck everyone for that one. I will never forgive them for killing Hyde.

Okay. Moving on from my general complaints, we come to my Killian-specific complaints. And there’s a lot of them. S6 did that character SO wrong SO many times... I really just want to take it out back and beat the shit out of it.

For starters, his relationships were ALL thrown in the shitcan. It was like S3-S5 just never happened and he was right back to Square One with everyone, being that dastardly pirate that can’t be trusted and that no one could ever care about. People who clearly cared enough about him to go to the fucking Underworld for him in S5 were suddenly calling him a pirate like it’s a foul word, and blatantly telling him he’s not good enough to be part of the family. Yeah, I get it, they wanted some dramatic negativity before showing these characters fully accepting and embracing him as part of their clan... but you know what makes for really awesome storytelling? Realistic relationships that grow and evolve over the course of several seasons - which was what they fucking HAD before they threw them all in the shitter for fake “developments” that had already happened. And FYI, Henry was actually nastier to Killian in the beginning of 6x06 than he was during the Spell of Shattered Sight. Like, did no one at the writers table even pause in their pursuit of drama long enough to realize that if Henry really ever had that much animosity towards Killian, it would’ve come out THEN? Or, you know, at any point in the course of the last four seasons?!

And it goes without saying: I would never, ever, ever have had Killian be the murderer of David’s father. Or, at the very least, I would’ve never had the murder go down the way they showed it in the flashback. Have it be an accidental death. Have it be a pirate duel. Have it be anything but cold-blooded murder. First of all, it’s just not believable that David could forgive him so easily and so quickly for depriving him of a loving father for no fucking reason. Secondly, they spend four whole seasons showing us flashbacks of a pirate with a deeply-buried heart of gold, who kept wanting to make the right decisions... but ended up making the wrong ones time and time again. They never showed us, before this ridiculously cheap dramatic ploy, a man who willfully murdered people just for shits and giggles. Finally, Killian Jones is a motherfucking pirate. Stealing from the King is par for the course, but the whole “Dead men tell no tales” thing makes ZERO sense. Pirates thrive by striking FEAR into the hearts of their enemies, and you don’t get a solid reputation for being a cut-throat villain to be feared by literally killing off all the witnesses to your evil deeds. Pirates are like, one step short of going “BEHOLD! It is I, Captain PirateGuy, here to steal your gold and seduce your ladies! Be sure to tell all your friends and neighbors about this when we’re through.” So... yeah. Way to throw a completely nonsensical spanner in the works that makes literally NO sense and flies in the face of everything else you’ve said and shown about this character in the past. It’s shit, and I refuse to accept it, and they should be sorry for its very existence.

And then there’s Captain Swan. *sigh* This relationship fell prey to the same shit that ALL of Killian’s relationships were destroyed by throughout S6. Only it was much, much worse here - because this is supposed to be (and has been!) his closest, most important relationship. And yet... We see Emma blow him off and then lie right to his face in the very first episode. Then she lies some more in each of the next few episodes, and when her lies are finally revealed, she doesn’t even seem to give a shit about the trust she’s betrayed or the hurt she’s caused. And the fact that they even filmed that deleted scene with Emma giving Killian a flippant “I said I was sorry...” just shows how fucking tone-deaf those writers were. If someone lies to your face, repeatedly, over something of life-or-death importance and for a lengthy period of time, then basically gives you a “I said I was sorry, what more do you want from me?” twenty minutes after their lies are revealed, because you’re still sore about it... get the FUCK out of that relationship immediately, because that person does not give two shits about you.

Things only got worse when she snooped through his belongings, pushed him to propose on her terms and when she wanted him to (despite the fact that he was clearly drunk and troubled by something at the time), called off their engagement when he dared to keep something from her (despite the fact that she’d just recently spent weeks lying right to his face), believed that he would just abandon her completely despite everything they’d been through, lied to him again right before their wedding in the course of once again shutting him out and not letting him help her with something (even though that’s literally the EXACT reason she ended their engagement when HE was the one doing it)... I mean, come on. That is NOT the CS I signed up for, and I refuse to accept it as the CS that is my OTP.

Hence, the Dark Emma explanation was born in my head. And when it comes to changes to S6... I’d either completely re-write about 90% of S6′s CS storylines... or make my Dark Emma theory a reality. The theory is as such: Since Emma did not die in 5x11, but merely had her Darkness sucked into Killian/Excaliber before HE died... some residual darkness remained in her. Nothing much was seen/noticed in 5b (though Killian DID make a comment about her not sleeping...) because she was too focused on saving Killian. However, once she was back home, safe and sound with her man, the Darkness started showing itself. She lied to those she loved. She made uncharacteristically selfish decisions. She hurt people. She eschewed all she’d learned about letting others in and getting help from the people who love her. And it wasn’t until her literal and figurative death at Gideon’s hands that the Darkness was truly eradicated from her - and only THEN could she truly find her Happy Beginning.

Oh, and by the way, I also hate the writers for even HAVING Killian walk to the docks with a packed bag and even consider boarding the Nautilus and leaving town. No. Just... no. Having him even CONSIDER doing that is even worse than having Emma believe he WOULD do such a thing to her. It’s like they got the S6 writers out of a Cracker Jack box and not a single one had ever watched an episode of the show or seen this couple before in their lives. Their whole fucking SCHTICK is that he would NEVER abandon her, that he would follow her to the end of the world or time itself... and that, despite a lifetime of fears and abandonment issues, Emma Swan has come to TRUST that he would never leave her. YOU CAN’T JUST GO “LOL, THAT’S NOT TRUE NOW” AND EXPECT ME TO ACCEPT THAT SHIT. No. Fuck you. Fuck your entire season AND the boat it rode in on. Just... fuck, man. FUCK.

The wedding was nice, though. I loved the musical aspect. Everyone did great in it. It was a truly lovely episode in almost every way, although I didn’t care for Emma’s dress and especially not her hairdo. It was too stark, too severe, but somehow too fancy at the same time... and it seemed more Jen Morrison than Emma Swan to me. Other than that, though, it was lovely. Everyone looked lovely. The singing was lovely. The vows were lovely. Shame about the whirling black vortex of doom, though.

Speaking of things that suck, I would also like to set that fucking doily shirt that Emma wore in 6x17 on fucking fire. And she actually DARED to rescue my man in that atrocity. Did she not realize I would need to SEE that shitty article of clothing every time I admired that dashing rescue? Did no one think of the KWs of the world who would suffer from this fashion faux pas?!?!

Oh, and I hate that they literally had Emma burn Killian’s image in the curse and not have any kind of recollection. I mean, I get that they wanted Henry to make her believe, and the way they got him to do that was cute, but did they HAVE to show Emma looking at Killian’s picture burning in the fire and being like, “Eh, he might ring a bell, but not enough to bother thinking about for more than a second or anything.” I could’ve done without that scene, honestly, because it just comes off like, “This love isn’t strong enough to break through this curse!” and EXCUSE ME, but where’s the fucking fun in that? Haven’t any of those bitches ever read a goddamn fanfic?! LOVE BREAKING THROUGH A CURSE IS ALL THE RAGE, GUYS. That’s the kind of shit we like to read and see in our OTPs. What’s with this “Eh, let that handsome fucker on page 172 burn” shit??

Oh, but that scene where Fiona serves the charred remains of the book to Henry on a platter would need to stay. That shit was stone cold savage. That bitch came to play, and that scene straight up told you that she was NOT going to be sitting at anyone’s Thanksgiving table next year, asking someone to pass the potatoes like she was just named People Magazine’s Redeemed Villain of the Year or something. She meant business.

Finally, I think I would’ve ended the show with the S6 finale. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed S7 and I loved KnightRook and Wish Hook and all the excellent Colin content we got that year... but in hindsight, the Hail Mary play of rebooting the series really just didn’t work, and S7 ended up as the “extra chapter” the series itself didn’t need. It’s not that I would want to give up the awesomeness of what we had... It’s just that I feel like if we hadn’t had it, we’d be unaware of what we were missing out on anyway, but the series as a whole would’ve maintained more of its impact and dignity.

But then, we were blessed with Wish Hook and the wonders of S7 Hooked Queen, so... :D I mean, coulda shoulda woulda, I’ve got ‘em now and you can’t take that away from meeee...

[couragehopelovefaith]

Ouat-opinions

Best villain: Peter Pan

Characters that deserved better: Mulan, Belle, Graham, Felix, Sidney, Robin

My favorite ships: Captain Swan, Frozen Swan (I also love them as friends), Red Beauty, Mad Archer, Anna and Kristoff. Plus, Snowing was the true “written in the stars”-pair

Characters that deserved more screentime: Ruby, August, Mad Hatter, Ariel, Tiana

Characters that I hoped would’ve returned before the end: look at the previous one + the Frozen Gang

Favorite season: All of them were great, but season 3 and 4 are superior for me. 

Favorite parent-child relationships: Charming and Emma, Alice and Nook, Charming and his mother

Favorite BROTP’s/friendships: Captain Charming, August and Emma (even though there were many issues between them), Ruby and Snow, Ariel and Snow, Emma and Elsa, Emma and Merlin, Hook and Arthur, Hook and Ariel

The most overrated character: I’m sorry, but Regina and Rumple. I’m kinda glad that they got their redemption, but they got waay more screentime than other characters (and also some repetitive plots) (which is why I really don’t understand why some people say that Once Upon A Time turned into Once Upon A Hook)

Favorite backstory: Killian Jones, Ursula, Snow Queen, Mad Hatter, Cruella De Vil, the Queen of Hearts, Prince Charming, Archie, Frankenstein

The characters that really look almost exactly like their animated ones: Alice, Cruella de Vil, Anna and Elsa, Ariel, Aladdin and Jasmine…

The character that is not nearly how I pictured it based on the animation: Meg. She wasn’t nearly as sassy and independent as in the original cartoon. 

The plots that I would’ve liked to know more about: Emma’s backstory, Jekyll and Hyde, Lily and Maleficent, the past of Facilier - and generally more Mad Archer

The most underrated characters: Aurora and Jacinda are the ones who come first into my mind, also Jefferson’s role in turning Emma into savior she is, is criminally forgotten.

The things that still bug me: That Regina’s favorite hobby is to blame everybody else for her own mistakes. That she never directly confessed that she abused, raped and killed Graham. That she still has plenty of hearts in her vault, and now she’s the Good Queen of the Realms. Many other people would have deserved that more. The fact that many people, (for example, Rumple, Cora and Regina) got their redemption way too easily, when some people (for example, Hook) actually regretted their past and wanted to make things right had to proof their ability to be better time and time again. I am not completely anti-Regina, even if this post truly sounds like it. That August didn’t get the chance to be the writer. That so many people took Belle for granted. Emma would’ve deserved much more scenes with her friends (August, Ashley, Elsa, Belle, even Lily), because there aren’t so many. The way some characters handled Rumple’s and Hook’s disabilities.

The character that never appeared even though I really hoped it: more characters from the “Hunchback of Notre Dame”. Yeah, I know that one soldier was named Claude (Claude Frollo), but that doesn’t really count.

The biggest plot twists: Peter Pan is Rumple’s father, Zelena and Regina are sisters, Hades and Zelena love story (even though it makes perfect sense) Ruby is the wolf, Emma had the potential for great darkness, Snowing sacrificing Maleficent’s child, Gideon as evil, Jekyll was the evil one, Emma and Hook both being the dark ones...there are so many during this show, I may add something to this later.

The plot I wish never happened: Zelena raping Robin. I love the younger Robin and her relationship with Zelena, Regina and other characters, though.

The people who most people saw as good ones, but I see as villains or neutral ones: Blue Fairy, Neal

[sieben9]

“only you”/“an untold story” impressions

{Quick request to anyone reading: I’m watching OUaT for the first time, and I want to avoid spoilers. So, if you want to discuss something spoilery, I’d be grateful if you could start a new post for that. Thank you!}

Yes, both in one post. Mostly because I watched them in one go. And because they’re really just one long story, anyways.

please feel free to insert your own episode-relevant pun here

Before I get into anything else: NO MORE UNDERWORLD LIGHTING! I’d almost forgotten how much that stupid red filter bothered me, until I didn’t have to stare at it while going through my screenshots. Dobby is freeeee~

Anyways, to my intense surprise, especially after the mess that was “Last Rites”, I really liked this finale! Not as a season-finale, because it wasn’t, but it was a very solid, fun two-parter that feels like it should have aired halfway through the hiatus between seasons. (I have Opinions™ on the “season finale followed by a mostly-unrelated epilogue/setup for the next season” format, and not one of them is positive.) The setup for the next season did get me cautiously excited, though. Not quite the “holy crap, I have to watch that!” of the s4 finale, but still good.

Just for clarity’s sake: I will be referring to this two-parter as one episode, just for ease of conversation. I have not slept this weekend, and I refuse to juggle grammar.

OK, just so I have it out of my system:

Gay roadtrip!

“i know we spent the last ten episodes getting my boyfriend back from the dead, but there isn’t room for four in the bug, so bye!” — emma swan, apparently

My joyful little shipper heart aside, the Emma/Regina bits in this episode were just fantastic. From their little heart-to-heart about Regina missing Robin (and Emma actually properly empathising this time) to the oddly even more personal topic of Regina’s constant battle with her “evil” side, it was all that I might have wanted and more.

The scene also left me with a weird feeling, because on the one hand, sure, it’s hard to constantly have to censor a part of yourself in order to be accepted in the company of the people you love (and who love you), but on the other hand… if that part of yourself has “kill it with fire” as the first response to any and all annoyances, maybe, just maybe, that’s something that you should censor. That said, Regina, you should definitely make an appointment with Archie. That sounds like his cup of preferred beverage.

And now to maybe my least favourite part of the episode, so we get it over with… the actual “main” plot. Or the excuse plot, as I will call it, because, really, the whole “Henry destroys magic” thing never really felt like a credible threat. It was more something to get everyone into motion so they could do the actually interesting stuff.

Don’t get me wrong, Henry snapping after losing yet another person—even by proxy through his mother—is perfectly understandable and realistic. That he’d turn his anger on magic as a whole isn’t exactly out of left field, either. He’s done this before, after all. At least this time, he didn’t try to blow up the magic well. I like that well, recent drama notwithstanding.

instead, we get the reverse-cornucopia of magic, apparently

But the plotline itself seemed far too rushed and low-energy to really grab my attention. And the resolution was… ::sigh:: there’s a dilemma for me, here, because I unabashedly love cheesy “The Power Is In You” moments, and the scene at the well did hit that button. It just felt unearned, which is why I couldn’t really enjoy it. (Also, I don’t know what New Yorkers are like, but I know how people from around here would have reacted to a performance act like that. Ah, well. Never Mind All That.)

the real magic was convincing so many people to throw away their spare change

I don’t even know what to say about the Dragon cameo. Nice to see he’s not dead, after all, but everything else in that scene... Nick, if you’d be so kind?

OK, that’s over with. Luke-warm excuse plot with some nice elements to it. I’m not sure if Violet needed to be in this, but I guess Henry needed someone to talk to.

Just as a pick-me-up, I want to give a shoutout to one of the best-executed bits of comedy on this show so far:

“Guy on the third floor is involved in some kind of satanistic ritual and dumped his food on the floor. Pretty polite and tips well, though. 8/10”

Just… very good performance and comedic timing on both parts. I liked it.

Aaaaand over to the “they got sucked through a portal. Again.” part of the episode.

ah, zeppelins; the easiest shorthand for “alternate universe” there ever was

I do kind of like the sound of the Land of Untold Stories and I really, really hope this gets a little more fleshed out in the coming season. How do people end up there when they’re not sucked through Yet Another Portal Accident? Is this what happens to all stories that haven’t been written down by an Author, yet? Is Harry Potter in there somewhere?

So many questions, so little screentime… I’m not sure if I would have liked 8 episodes of stumbling around in this new world, but I would have liked to find out if I did. …listen, it made sense in my head.

This plotline included what is probably my biggest complaint about the writing this episode: Snow selling out Belle. Just… with little to no hesitation. Which is why blaming the writing and not her. If this was supposed to be some kind of big, dramatic moral dilemma, I expect we’d have seen at least some semblance of guilt on her part. Instead, she just told this clearly violent individual about the defenceless, sleeping-cursed pregnant woman within nanoseconds of him threatening Hook. I know Snow’s characterisation has been a bit inconsistent recently, but come on. This isn’t her, and I am disappointed that the show even tried to sell this to me.

And I think I would have believed the version where Snow just blurts out the information about Belle and later feels awful, because holy crap, how could she? (There’s… some precedent for poor judgment on Snow’s part when it comes to sharing information, after all.) But this wasn’t even a Thing for her. I just… ::frustrated noises:: why, show?

So, yeah, the Bad Guy kidnaps Belle. Well done, there. By the way, wasn’t it incredibly difficult at some point to make portals to the Land Without Magic? I get why portalling to Storybrooke would be easier—it’s got magic, after all. But hotel room 318, New York? I guess you could argue that the crystal brought the magic along, but still.

i giggled at this bit, i’m afraid. fellow cat owners will understand.

So, I’m not sure what the “intended” reading here is, but I find it interesting that Rumple seems to understand himself so much less than Hyde apparently does (prediction: they totally know each other; mostly because Rumple knows everyone—guy gets around…) So he went to protect the magic crystal, because what else would the thundering teleport-vortex of doom have come to steal? As has been noted before, Rumple doesn’t really go after people through their loved ones, with one very recent exception, and he had to ask his dad for help to come up with that one. The idea that someone would kidnap Belle to get whatever the hell they want from him, doesn’t seem to occur, even though it has happened multiple times, already. Just… maybe you should have kept that box in your coat pocket, my friend.

Yeah… this is sure going to be fun, I can already tell. What does Hyde want with Storybrooke, anyway? It’s been established that it has one of the least-fun-to-rule populations, and everyone and their dog has magic. Seems like a bad pick, overall.

You do you, though.

And from Jekyll and Hyde, we finally come to this…

that still looks so very unpleasant.

I’m… ambivalent about the personality split, and I really want to wait and see how it turns out. Clearly, this is a good way to have the Evil Queen around again without also having to sacrifice Regina’s redemption arc, which I’m grateful for, believe me. It’s bad enough to have one of my faves on a redemption-yoyo—no need to add a second one.

is it bad that i missed her?

OK, look I’ve seen this Star Trek episode. Ten bucks that it turns out the Evil Queen isn’t “just” Regina’s evil side, she also got many of her more forceful, but overall positive character traits, and both are less without the other, leading to them re-fusing or something. (Yes, wrong fandom. So sue me.)

…obviously, I’m willing to be surprised, but I like this version a lot more than the idea that you can just siphon out the “evil” parts of yourself. (Even Hyde wasn’t really Jekyll’s “evil” side—just the collection of his socially unacceptable traits made flesh. I only read an abridged version of that book, and that a while ago, but Jekyll still seemed like a bit of an ass to me.)

While we’re here: shoutout to Snow and her flask of cocoa-fortifier. That got a surprised (and amused) laugh out of me.

Also, do we want to talk about whether or not it’s healthy to be so at odds with a part of yourself that you think killing it is the best way to deal with it or…? ‘cause, honestly, I would like to talk about that. Seems like Regina is a lot less OK than she’d like others and herself to think…

yeah, that’s not a “finally i’m free!” face

So, cautiously optimistic about s6 so far. The villains definitely seem interesting, and this episode was a good reminder of what I liked about the character dynamic in the first place.

An addendum about 5B:

Goddamn, but this season dragged. There seems to be simultaneously too much plot for too little time and not enough plot to fill ten episodes. This is probably based in my personal biases for and against certain characters (and the fact that I was insanely busy and couldn’t watch the season all in one go), but… yeah, I’m kind of relieved it’s over, to be honest.

[swandarkness]

Good vs Evil: Dark!MadSwan

An awakening. A breath. Another inhale. A slow exhale. Stimuli. Awareness.

Life.

She was back. Without the rattle of a conscience and a harboring of resentment towards connections, Emma realized she was free. No connections to people that expected the upmost in civic duty and familial obligations. That was for the Savior to worry and fret over.

The Evil Queen’s wide smile was before her, but Emma did not smile back. While she had the Queen to thank for freeing her from the constraints of the Savior and the heroic obligations expected in Storybrooke, the Queen had no control over Emma. She would be independent and do as she liked. That is what being truly free is about.

But there was a catch. Emma could not be free so long as she was tethered to the Savior. If the Savior dies, so does the Dark Swan. Two halves of a whole. One could not exist without the other. Or so said Mister Hyde who happened to be tethered to the annoying doctor that killed his love, Mary.

A curse was uttered under her breath when she realized she was still chained to the goodness and all of its baggage. Like the Queen, the Dark Swan could not dispose of her ‘better’ half.

“But there is a way…” The Queen tempted, her words luring Emma back into focus. With a curl of her fingernails, the Queen beckoned Mister Hyde closer, the irritating individual with his bloodshot eye that Emma could have gone without encountering again, but for appearances sake, she offered the tightest of smirks to the man as he stepped forward with a rolled parchment in hand. The Queen took it and unrolled it for Emma to see. “To separate oneself from their incumbents, a talisman is needed.”

“Then use it,” Emma growled. Why was the Queen wasting time playing games like this?

“Alas,” the Queen said in exaggerated disappointment. “Our friend lost it to a treasure hunter years and years ago. One that… you were once acquainted with?” A perfectly manicured eyebrow rose.

Emma sneered. “If you mean the pirate, I have no intention…”

But the Queen cut her off by snapping, “Not him!” She turned around with a swish of her extravagant skirt tail following in her wake. “The pirate has joined the side of the heroes in preparation for the final battle. Everyone in Storybrooke has chosen their side, as they must. Except for one. The thief who stole the talisman over thirty years ago. And this thief hasn’t chosen the right side yet. You, dear Swan, must go and convince your mad, ex-lover to join us. And to fetch the talisman for us.”

“Ex…” Emma drew her head back in realization. “Jefferson,” she said on a whisper. She had not seen him in years. Not even the Savior had seen the reclusive father of his dear, sweet Grace in years. He should be happy now. He got his brat back. He should have chosen a side already for her safety. He would do anything for his darling girl. He might still decide on the heroic side. Why hadn’t he yet? There had to be a reason. “And then I’ll be free of the Savior…”

“As will I be free of… Regina.”

“And I of Jekyll,” Hyde said with his disconcertingly guttural voice.

“And the Dark One?” Emma inquired. “Which side has he chosen?”

The Queen scoffed. “He’s chosen a side, but we’ve been blocked from knowing which it is. It could be either. It could be both!” Her irritation at her former teacher was causing black curls of magic to roll in her wake. Emma could feel it, a powerful storm brewing in the sky in reaction. All of Storybrooke should being seeing it, the most sensitive to magic would feel it. The yellow tint of clouds at twilight-time were darkening with the coming night.

As ominous as it might be for the heroes, the sight caused no threat to Emma, however. Emma was stronger. Smarter even. But the Dark One? That was uncertain. She needed that talisman to break the bonds between herself and the Savior so she could kill her weaker half and take on her full strength once again.

And the first stop would be facing Jefferson again. It should be easy enough. He was easily fooled when it came to his daughter. But he was smart and quick and full of surprises which required her to work harder to stay one step ahead. It was part of why she had been so charmed by him after the curse broke. This would have to be done very carefully.

Emma flipped a hand into the air. Her silvery hair which had been pulled back into a severe bun, dropped to her shoulders in flowing, golden locks. The scaly, black leather jacket bled until all of the black was consumed into vibrant red, soft and supple leather. The black leggings remained. That would do. A healthy glow replaced the pallor of sun-deprived skin. This was the look of the whipped-Savior that would do anything, even sacrifice her own life for others. But lurking under the surface was a woman who would do anything to become free despite anyone who got in her way.

And the first obstacle in her path was in the form of a little girl.

Emma’s eyes flashed back to the Queen and Hyde. “I have work to do. I’ll contact you after the Hatter has joined our side.”

“And the talisman…?” Hyde questioned.

“He’ll get it for me.” Emma disappeared into a poof of black smoke. A moment later, a figure stood in the woods, looking at the dark mansion. Emma smiled as she thought of the blue eyed, dark haired man who once spoke so closely to her ear it was akin to a purr running down her spine, his long fingers prodding her shoulder as he spoke convincing words. Get it to work, he’d said, his sad eyes pleading for her help even while he threatened her with a gun. Did he still have the same determination she did? Would he have shot her? Perhaps, perhaps not. But the Jefferson she needed to join her side would be tested. He’d be pushed. She was the only one who could do that to him, to manipulate him to be the person she knew was buried deep beyond his paternal instincts. But it was those paternal instincts, the love he had for his daughter, that would push him to act in the way she needed. Because there was something she had learned as the Savior. Love is strength. And at present, Emma loved no one, but Jefferson did.

That hat will work now, she determined. It had to. Her fingers curled into a fist and the magic she had needed so many years ago was hers now. She’d get it to work, and so would he.

Lifting her eyes to the lighted second floor window, the young girl beyond the glass appeared to be singing into a hairbrush. “Innocent child… I need your papa again…”

Within the mansion, a knocking sound would emanate through the walls and toward its only occupant. Emma smiled.

[swanqueeneverafter]

53. A Bitter Case, Pt.2

Storybrooke. Psychiatric Ward. (Emma leads Mr. Hyde into a cell previously occupied by Belle and Zelena.) Mr. Hyde: “This doesn’t look like the Sheriff’s station to me.” Emma: “Clever you, it isn’t. Turns out this place is more secure than the station, no one breaks out of here.” Mr. Hyde: “Smart girl.” Emma: “Keep calling me ‘Girl’ and see how that works out for you.” Mr. Hyde: (Lifting his chained wrists:) “Why don't you take these off of me and see how that works out for you?” Emma: “Do you know how to help me or not?” Mr. Hyde: “I’m disappointed in you, Emma. Being sheriff, you must know that prisoners respond to carrots and sticks, and you brought neither. Next time, try a bottle of Syrah and two glasses.” Emma: “So you have no idea how to help me. Great.” Mr. Hyde: (As Emma turns to leave:) “I know about the battle... the one in your mind's eye.” Emma: “What?” Mr. Hyde: “I'm sorry... I thought you were just leaving.” Emma: (Turns back:) “You're right. I do know what it’s like to be a prisoner. Because I was one. The worst part about it was the loneliness. It sucked. Especially for a guy like you, who likes to talk so much. So, you can either tell me what you know... or I'll walk out of here, and I will not come back with wine. I just won't come back. Nobody will. You can just sit here in silence, and you can... rot.” Mr. Hyde: “So you do have a stick after all. That's very impressive, Savior.” Emma: “The Oracle came to this land from yours and you obviously know more than you’re letting on, so cut the crap. What's coming, and how do I stop it?” Mr. Hyde: (Chuckles:) “Why would I want to tell you that?” Emma: “Whatever's coming, whether you help me or not, I will defeat it.” Mr. Hyde: “That's funny. That's what the Saviors always say.” Emma: “What are you talking about?” Mr. Hyde: “That's right, Emma. You're not the first Savior I've encountered. Wherever there's a Savior, there's a villain who brings them down. That's how the Savior's story always goes.” Emma: “So, who is it?” Mr. Hyde: “I don't know who your villain is. Maybe they're already here. Or maybe they came with me. I expect you'll want to help them, as Saviors do, but you have to ask yourself, is helping them exactly what causes your story to end?”

Granny’s Bed & Breakfast. (The Charmings and Regina enter a room at Granny’s. Searching, they find several more letters with the Count’s seal on them.) Snow White: “He was definitely here.” David: (Opening a trunk containing various swords:) “Oh! And calligraphy isn't his only hobby. (Shuts the trunk, to Regina:) Why didn't you tell us?” Regina: “Well, I didn't know he was in Storybrooke. And do you really want to hear about every time I tried to kill you?” David: “Yes.” Regina: “I'm sorry. I'm... (Breathes deeply:) You know I'm trying to put that behind me. Clearly, the Count didn't get the memo.” Snow White: “Maybe that's the problem. You hired him. You fire him.” Regina: “Well, that's exactly what I'm going to do. The invitation says to meet him at the dirigible in an hour.” David: “Well, we're coming with you.” Regina: “No. This is my mess. I'll fix it. And, really, it should go more smoothly if he's not trying to use you as a pin cushion.” Snow White: “You really think we need to worry about this guy? It took him two curses and a pit stop in the Land of Untold Stories to find us.” Regina: “Well, that's not exactly true.” Enchanted Forest. Past. (Riding into a ransacked village, Snow White and Prince Charming survey the damage.) Snow White: “We're too late.” Grumpy: “Remind me why we spared the Evil Queen's life again?” Snow White: “We thought it would change her.” Grumpy: “It changed her, all right. Instead of ransacking villages, she's now razing them to the ground.” Prince Charming: (Notices a hooded survivor leaned against a wall:) “Snow, over here.” (They rush over to the man.) Snow White: (Handing the man her wineskin:) “All right. You're all right.” (Edmond raises his hood.) Charming: “We're here to help. It's all right. You're safe. What's your name, friend?” Edmond: “Edmond. I was the vintner here. When the Queen's knights attacked, everyone fled. I stayed to put out the fires.” Snow White: “It's okay, Edmond.” Charming: (Calling out:) “Charlotte! Over here.” Snow White: “Charlotte's my handmaiden. Thanks to this endless war, she's become quite the skilled nurse.” Charlotte: (Arriving, sighs:) “Let's see. (Kneels beside Edmond and checks him over:) The burns aren't too bad. A little salve will have you back to new soon enough. (Notices him staring at her:) Is something wrong?” Edmond: “No. Your eyes.” Charlotte: “What of them?” Edmond: “Er... Thank you for your aid. (Standing:) We must find the Queen and make her pay.” Snow White: “Well, that would make us no better than her. The best way to get our revenge is to show the Queen that no matter what she does, we can always find happiness.” Edmond: “She destroyed my village, my vines, everything I have.” Snow White: “Right. Well, perhaps you won't find happiness here. But maybe you will at our castle.” Charming: “We could use a wine steward. What do you say, Edmond?” Edmond: (Chuckles:) “There's nothing I'd like more.” Storybrooke. Present. Crash Site. (Regina stands alone, reading the invitation as the Count appears behind her.) Count: “I'm afraid you're not on the guest list.” Regina: “I'm calling off our deal, Count.”

Count: (Draws his sword:) “What happened? Did they finally convince you that finding your happiness is the best revenge?” Regina: “Actually, yes. It took some time, but... they're right.” Count: “But that doesn't change anything.” Regina: “Let me help you. You don't need revenge to get over what happened to the person you loved. If I can learn that, anyone can.” Count: “You may have sent me down this path, but not even you can take me off it now.” (The Count hurls his sword at Regina who manages to stop it with her magic. Picking it up from the ground, Regina points it at the Count, but he’s vanished once again.) Outside Storybrooke General Hospital. Squad Car. (Emma receives a call from Regina.) Emma: "Great, so now we've got Errol Flynn walking around Storybrooke intent on killing my parents? (Regina's side of the call is unheard:) No, I got it. I'll check all the usual places, see if I can't track him down." (Emma hangs up the phone and starts the car.) Enchanted Forest. Dark Castle. Past. (The Evil Queen duels with one of her knights, practicing her swordplay. Getting the upper hand, she stabs the knight.) Count: (Observing:) “Impressive, Your Majesty.” Evil Queen: “Well, what can I say? (Removes her sword, causing the knight to fall to the floor, dead:) You inspired me. Perhaps you can give me a lesson. Or two.” Count: “As much as I'd enjoy that, I can't be late for my first meal with Snow White and her prince.” Evil Queen: “So they believed you. (Laughs:) I knew their insufferable kindness would be their downfall. (Walks to her desk and holds up a bottle:) Venom of the Agrabahn viper. A bitter draft... slow and painful. (Holds it out to the Count:) Is there a problem, Count?” Count: “What did they do to deserve this? They've shown me nothing but kindness.” Evil Queen: “Don't tell me you're starting to grow a conscience.” Count: “Call it professional curiosity.” Evil Queen: (Sighs:) “Well, what they did doesn't matter. Only one thing should be on your mind right now... how badly you want your revenge. (Holds up the parchment. The Count walks over and takes the bottle. Chuckles:) I thought so.” (The Evil Queen waves to him as he leaves. Turning to her mirror, the Queen dabs away traces of perspiration when Rumplestiltskin appears.)

Rumplestiltskin: “Well, this is very disappointing. I mean, I didn't spend years training you so you could spend your days fencing and get someone else to do your dirty work.” Evil Queen: “Oh, you know exactly why I'm doing this. You put a spell on Snow and Charming so I can't hurt them.” Rumplestiltskin: “Yes. And then I gave you the Dark Curse so you could take them somewhere where you can.” Evil Queen: “I don't care. I'm going to get what I want, and I'll get it without you.” Rumplestiltskin: “Oh. Are you sure about that?” Evil Queen: “If you think you can stop the Count, think again.” Rumplestiltskin: “Is that a threat?” Evil Queen: “It's a fact. That protection spell you put on the Charmings... I put the same enchantment on the Count to protect him from you. (Gasps:) Looks like the student has finally outgrown the teacher.” Rumplestiltskin: “We'll see about that, dearie.” Mr. Gold's Shop. (Emma enters the shop looking for any sign of the Count. Noticing an open cabinet, she walks over to it. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, she closes the cabinet door. Once she does however, she sees the Evil Queen smiling behind her in the reflection. Moving quickly, Emma turns to face the Queen.) Evil Queen: (Smiling:) "Now don't pretend you're not happy to see me." Emma: "Happy isn't the word I'd use." Evil Queen: (Approaching:) “Hmm. No, I suppose not. How about excited? (Emma backs away, pressed up against the cabinet with nowhere to go:) I’m so glad we get to have this time alone together.” Emma: “Really? ‘Cause last time we saw each other, you wanted to hurt me.” Evil Queen: “Simple foreplay, dear. Besides, I know how anxious you get when Henry’s around.” Emma: (Attempts to leave:) “I don’t have time for this.” Evil Queen: (Placing a hand on her shoulder:) “Oh, this needn’t take long, Miss Swan.” Emma: “What do you want?” Evil Queen: “Why you, of course. Please don’t think I blame you for what Regina did to me.” (Leans in to kiss Emma.) Emma: (Putting her own hand on the Queen’s shoulder:) “I helped her do it and you know it. She split her soul to help destroy the Darkness inside me and herself. That’s what we do, we save each other. (Pushing past her:) Regina is the woman I love, not you.” Evil Queen: “Perhaps. But I am still the one you desire. (Emma stops at the door:) You can deny it all you want, but we both know the truth. (As Emma turns to look at her:) And when you do admit your feelings ... mm... that's when the real fun can begin.” (The Evil Queen laughs as Emma turns and quickly leaves the shop.)

Enchanted Forest. Past. Snow White & Prince Charming’s Castle. (Edmond stands over a carafe of wine and drops the venom into it. Pocketing the small bottle, Edmond turns and carries the wine over to the table.) Charming: (As Edmond is about to pour the wine:) “Edmond, wait.” Edmond: “Is something wrong?” Charming: “No, we just need one more glass.” Charlotte: (Entering:) “Sorry I'm late.” Snow White: “Tonight, we say farewell to Charlotte. I'm afraid she's leaving us tomorrow.” Charlotte: “My mother's fallen ill, so I'm going home to help my family care for her.” (Takes a seat at the table.) Snow White: “Well, this family will miss you when you're gone.” Charming: “Pour the wine, Edmond. Tonight, we toast to old friends. (Edmond pours the wine into Charming & Snow’s Glasses:) Thank you.” Charlotte: (Sees that Edmond is hesitating pouring her a glass:) “Edmond, what is it?” Edmond: “It's your eyes, again.” Charlotte: “That's... very kind of you.” Edmond: (Pours the wine and sighs:) “Well, thank you, Charlotte.” Snow White: (Clears throat:) “To Charlotte. May she only find happy days ahead.” (As the three clink glasses and are about to drink, Edmond stops them.) Edmond: “Wait!” Snow White: “What is it?” Charming: “Is everything all right?” Edmond: “Yes. It's... It's just, an occasion like this calls for a bottle to match, and, uh, I have just the one in the cellar, so... forgive me, miss.” (Edmond takes back the glasses and leaves the room.) Belle’s Dreamworld. Present. (Mr. Gold and Belle continue to dance.) Mr. Gold: “This place is looking nicer.” Belle: “What a shame. Y-You've lived here alone for so long.” (They cease dancing.) Mr. Gold: “I haven't always been alone. There was a son.” (He walks a short distance away.) Belle: “A son? What happened?”

Mr. Gold: (Perches on the table:) “He left. He saw the darkness in my soul. I had a chance to change for him, but... I was too frightened to stop it.” Belle: (Walking over to join him:) “If, uh... If you could change now... would you?” Mr. Gold: “For you... I would be the best man I can be.” (They kiss. Slowly, Mr. Gold’s true form begins to be revealed, before Belle pulls away.) Belle: “Wha... We've... done this before.” Mr. Gold: “Yes!” Belle: “No. Y-Years of promises.” Mr. Gold: “Wait, wait...” Belle: “I-I-I can't do this again.” Mr. Gold: “T-This time is different. None of this is real. This all happened a long time ago. We fell in love. We got married. And now, Belle, you are with child. The child was in danger, so you put yourself to sleep to keep it safe. Now that danger is gone, and I need you to wake up. This... is the truth.” Belle: “But so is what I saw. All those broken promises... Rumple... I do love you, and I believe that you love me, but us being together... it only causes heartbreak.” Mr. Gold: “But the b... the baby.” Belle: “Our child will be better off waiting with me than being in debt to you.” Morpheus: (Appearing behind them:) “I was really hoping that you'd say that.” Mr. Gold: “Wait. T-There's still sand left. Wait!” Morpheus: (Walking past him, to Belle:) “I'm so sorry that I put you through all of this. I just had to be sure that you wouldn't fall for his lies again. Now I can wake you up.” Belle: (Confused:) “Wake me? But... but how?” Morpheus: “With true love's kiss, of course.” Belle: “But I don't love you. I-I don't even know you.” Morpheus: “Oh, you've known me. You've known me since the day that I was conceived.” Belle: “W-Wha... what's going on?” Morpheus: “Oh, I think you know... Mother.” Mr. Gold: “You're our son.” Morpheus: “I will be. When you sprinkled that sand onto Belle, you sprinkled it onto me, too. This isn't just Belle's dreamworld. It's mine. And I'm here to warn you... Do not let him destroy us, like he did his last family.” Mr. Gold: “Don't listen to him, Belle. He can't be our son. It's not possible.” Morpheus: “Oh, but it is. And I'll prove it.” (‘Morpheus’ leans forward and kisses Belle on the forehead.) The Temple Of Morpheus. (Belle gasps and awakens. Mr. Gold stands above her.) Mr. Gold: “Belle.” Belle: (Sits up on the altar:) “Our son... h-he was testing me... playing the part of Morpheus to see if I'd do right by him.” Mr. Gold: “And like my other son... I've lost him, too. Even before he's born.” Belle: “If you ever let true love wake you up, then maybe you wouldn't keep losing.” Mr. Gold: “We can discuss this at home.” (Mr. Gold takes out the Apprentice’s wand and opens a portal.) Belle: “Oh, I'll go back... but, uh, I'm not making a home with you. Our son gave me a warning, and I'm going to listen to it.”

[huffleporg]

By Starlight - A CS AU

Chapter 1 - The Dowager | 1/20? | T | Ao3 

Princess Lessons and Astronomy were two classes Emma Swan had not planned to take, but these days surprises are far too common in her life.

Ships: Captain Swan, Frozen Swan friendship, Outlaw Queen background

Characters: Emma Swan, Killian Jones, Regina Mills, Elsa, Robin Hood, David, Mr. Gold, Neal, Anna, Liam Jones

---

It felt like the alarm went off earlier and earlier each day, and each day it was easier and easier to hit the snooze button. Emma stared at the red digits through a curtain of tangled blonde hair and swore. She had been sure that she had only hit snooze once, but already it had turned 6:50.

Emma pushed herself up slowly. “Another day,” she mumbled, as she reached for her thick glasses on her bedside table. “Another potential disaster.” She threw the covers off and slunk out of bed and to the closet. She grabbed the first flannel shirt her hand made contact with and tugged a pair of used blue jeans out from under a sleeping tabby cat. “Sorry, Henry,” she said, giving the now disgruntled cat a pat. “Got a social studies presentation today. Need all the help I can get.” She wasn’t superstitious, at least, but if the jeans she wore when she had passed the driving test and when she had gotten that “A” on her Bio final last year could help, she was going to wear them.

Taking the rest of the clothes she would need with her, Emma hurried into the bathroom to quickly change. After a less than a minute of undressing and putting on her clothes, she ran a comb through her hair and pulled it back into a ponytail. She gave her reflection in the mirror only the briefest of glances before saying, “Good as it’s gonna get,” and turning around to leave the bathroom. On her way out of her room, she grabbed her red backpack from her desk chair.

Walking into the kitchen, Emma saw her father’s back at the stove. “No time for pancakes!” she said, opening the cabinet. She took a silver wrapped pair of pop-tarts out of the box. “Got to run.” She rushed over to give her father a goodbye kiss, only to find him staring disapprovingly at her choice of breakfast.

“I’d really you’d rather have something proper to eat,” David Swan said. “If not pancakes, how about cereal.” He went over to the cabinet to where the boxes of cereal were kept.

Emma shook her head. “I’ve got to meet Elsa. I’m already running late.” She knew that Elsa and Anna wouldn’t mind her being a couple of minutes late for their carpool, but Killian Jones was another story entirely.

Defeated, David took a banana from the fruit bowl and handed it to his daughter. “To put my mind at ease that you’ll at least have something healthy.”

Emma rolled her eyes but took the banana from her father. “Fine. Bye,” she said, starting to head to the front door.

“Don’t forget,” called out David after his daughter, “your grandmother wants you to go and see her after school.”

“Step-grandmother,” corrected Emma, popping her head back into the kitchen. She wasn’t even sure if she ought to call Regina that. In the past seventeen years, Emma doubted that she had even seen the woman seventeen times, and on none of those occasions had she behaved the way a grandmother - step or not - ought to. As far as Emma was concerned, she had one grandmother - Grandma Ruth - and one stranger who had married her grandfather, who was also very much a stranger to Emma. “Did she say what she wanted?”

David went back to mixing pancake batter. “I didn’t ask. But she’s family, and she wants to see you.”

Emma let out a sigh and fiddled with the tightening strap of her backpack. “Fine.” She didn’t really have time to argue with her father.

“And be nice,” he added with a sigh. “She just lost her husband.”

Emma glanced up at her father, suddenly getting why her father was suddenly so sympathetic to a woman he otherwise considered odious. Though Emma saw no similarities between her father and step-grandmother, she could see how her father might somehow feel that Regina’s situation was like the one he had been in sixteen years ago. Unexpectedly without a spouse. Alone and grief-stricken. The comparisons could be drawn, Emma admitted. But her mother’s car accident at the age of twenty-six leaving behind a baby and loving husband hardly seemed equal in tragedy as her grandfather dropping dead from a heart attack at seventy-seven.

“Okay,” she said, offering her father a reassuring smile. “I’ll be good.”

The father and daughter exchanged parting nods before she opened the door. As quickly as possible in combat boots, Emma ran down the three flights of stairs and out into the mid-September day. She ran to Elsa’s blue prius, not bothering to check her watch to see just how late she was.

As she opened the car door, she was greeted simultaneously with a, “Morning!” from Elsa and Anna, and a, “Finally” from Killian. Emma said, “Sorry I’m late,” and slid into the backseat across from Killian.

“No worries, we’ll be right on time!” said Elsa, starting to back the car up out of its parking space.

“Unless the construction on Fifth Street is still going on,” countered Killian, looking up from his copy of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde to give Emma an annoyed look.

“Ignore Mr. Grumpy,” suggested Anna brightly from the front passenger seat, as she finished applying her lip gloss.

Emma let out a laugh and said, “Oh, I do.” She gave Killian a smirk before buckling her belt, glad that she could sit and not hurry for the next twenty minutes. Of course, Killian had already gone back to reading his book, so he completely missed her look. While some people in the minutes before the school day might trying to skim over pages they should have read the night before, Emma knew Killian well enough to be confident that this was a book he was reading for his own enjoyment. No doubt whatever book the seniors were reading in Honors English was one that he had read years before.

Realizing that she had been staring at Killian for several minutes lost in thought, Emma looked to the front of the car, trying to catch up to the conversation the two sisters were engaged in.

“--And I know it’s fast,” Anna was saying, cheeks turning pink, “but he wants to meet mom and dad.” She let out a sigh and leaned back against the back of her seat. “Oh, Elsa, I really do think I’m in love with Hans.”

Emma’s eyebrows rose. It wasn’t surprising that Anna, the girl who watched romantic comedies almost exclusively, had found someone to fall in love with less than two weeks after starting high school. What was so surprising was the person Anna had become enamored with.

Without even taking her eyes off the road, “You can’t be in love with someone you just met,” said Elsa matter-of-factly. She turned into the school parking lot and began to search for an empty spot.

Nodding in agreement, Emma leaned forward and said, “You don’t really know each other yet.” Emma barely knew the senior, and she couldn’t stand him. Emma struggled to understand how Anna could not see beyond the boy's charming exterior to realize that everything underneath it was all just an act.

Unexpectedly from the backseat, “Hans is a cad and swarmy worm. You deserve better,” said Killian, putting his book away.

Emma turned to glance over at the person she had thought was even less aware of the conversation the sisters were having than she was, surprised that he was even offering an opinion, much less support of Anna. Emma supposed that years of being neighbors and a year and a half of carpooling two and from school with her sister might have made Killian feel protective of Anna, but she hadn’t even thought before today that he cared much for the talkative girl.

The car slowed as Elsa pulled into a parking spot.

There was a click of belts being unbuckled, and Anna practically leapt out of the car, cheeks burning before dashing off towards the building.

“And look,” said Elsa with a sigh, “Hans is waiting for her.” She shook her head and got out of the car. “I don’t like him at all.”

Emma and Killian followed suit stepping out of the car. “He’ll show his true colors eventually,” said Emma softly, “and you’ll be there for Anna with hot cocoa. I’ll bring the cinnamon.” She didn’t understand how people could drink hot chocolate without cinnamon. It seemed so completely bland to her.

The three started to walk to the school building.

“Oh, Elsa, before I forget,” said Emma, “Regina’s in town, and she wants to see me, so don’t wait around for me after school.” She knew that her step-grandmother would be sending a chauffeur to pick her up, like she always did.

Elsa gave Emma a sympathetic smile. “Okay. Text me when you get back home.” As they entered the building, Elsa caught sight of the clock on the wall. “See,” she said turning to Killian with a teasing smile, “eight minutes to spare. Told you I’d get us here on time.” She gave Emma and Killian a wave before heading to Physics on the second floor.

Before Emma could part ways with Killian and go to her locker, he said softly, “So… what’s so fascinating about me this morning that you couldn’t stop looking at me.”

Emma faced him, annoyed to see his smug expression. She folded her arms. “I wasn’t looking at you. I was looking through you while thinking about my presentation. Sorry. Next time I have to stare off into space, I’ll make sure my gaze isn’t directed anywhere near you.” She could feel the back of her neck growing hot, but she wasn’t about to let Killian think that she had been staring at him and thinking about him. That would only go to his head.

“Oh, I’m gutted, Swan.” He clutched his hand to his heart dramatically. “Completely and utterly gutted.”

“You’ll live,” muttered Emma, turning away from him to head to class. She didn’t have time to deal with Killian and his antics, and she was fairly sure that he had better things to do than annoy her. As she turned the corner, she quickly glanced over to see Killian’s retreating form. She bit her lip. She didn’t have time for this.

***

The nausea still hadn’t abated by the time that the black Lincoln Town car pulled up in front of the student pick-up area at three, drawing a few stares and murmurs from her school mates. Even during prom season, limos of any variety were a very rare sight in Storybrooke. For the second time today, embarrassment washed over Emma. As if it wasn’t bad enough to have gotten sick while trying to give her presentation, a black limo complete with magnetic little flags saying “diplomat” had to pick her up barely over an hour later. Not wanting to stand around on the curb hearing people’s confusion and speculation in the background for a minute longer, Emma threw open the door and climbed inside, cheeks burning red.

“Good afternoon, Emma,” said the man in the front seat.

“Hey Robin,” she said to her step-grandmother’s personal assistant. “Didn’t know you moonlighted as a chauffeur.” All the other times that her grandmother had had her get picked up, a professional driver had been the one to do it.

“Your grandmother wanted me to drive you myself,” explained Robin, looking at Emma’s reflection in the rearview mirror.

“Huh. Cool,” she said, not really all that interested. She leaned forward, resting her elbows on the back of the front seats. “Say, do you have any gum?” The water from the fountain at school wasn’t going to cut it when it came to washing the taste of her failure out of her mouth.

Robin opened the glove compartment and rifled around for a few seconds. “Best I can do is a mint.” He held out the red and white striped peppermint to Emma.

“It’ll do,” she said, taking it from Robin’s hand. Emma leaned back in her seat and began to unwrap the candy. As the limo started to pull away from the curb, Emma popped the mint in her mouth. The school began to vanish from sight, obscured pine trees.

The next half-hour passed largely in silence, though it wasn’t for a lack of trying on Emma’s part. Every question she asked Robin was answered with only a few words or a nod. Only when she asked if he could turn the radio on did she get an actual answer - he disliked American music. If she had been traveling to any destination other than a visit with her step-grandmother, Emma might have been relieved when they pulled up in front of the fancy, gated building in Portland perched up on a hill, but instead, Emma was ready to get back in the car and endure another half-hour with Robin.

Regardless, Emma got out of the limo and followed Robin down the entry way and into the elevators to the top floor of the building. As the elevator ascended several floors, Emma fiddled with the button the sleeve of her shirt, looking down at her scuffed boots. In a building where everything was gilded, it was hard not to feel shabby, even in the elevator.

At the top floor, she let Robin show her to Regina’s suite, even though there was only one suite on the whole floor. She had found that out the last time she had been brought to see Regina. Before Robin and Emma reached the large red door, it swung open, revealing a smartly dressed man in black. As they entered the suite passing by the man, Emma caught sight of a walkie-talkie clipped to his belt. Before she could ask just who the man was, she was already being ushered into another room with a large window looking out over the city.

“Your grandmother will be in in a minute,” a voice said.

Emma turned around to see a thin man with salt and pepper hair sitting at a desk.

The man got to her feet and walked over. “I’m Sydney Glass,” he said. “Your grandmother’s personal assistant.”

The teenager blinked. “I thought Robin was her personal assistant,” she said, glancing around the lavishly decorated room to see that Robin had vanished.

Sydney let out a soft laugh and shook his head. “No, that’s my job. I’ve been her assistant for years. I’m sorry we’ve never met before, Emma.” He offered her hand. “Truly an honor.”

“Thanks?” Emma said, cautiously reaching out to shake the stranger’s hand. “So that makes Robin…”

“Her bodyguard.”

Instantly, Emma’s eyebrows rose. Before she could ask Sydney if she was pulling her leg, she caught sight of Regina standing in the doorway that led deeper into the suite.

“Emma.”

Emma hated how Regina said her name, annunciating every syllable, dwelling over her name. “Grandmother,” she said, barely managing a smile. “Been a while.” She laced her hands together awkwardly. “Um… like… two years?” She dragged her boot against the floor, desperately trying to think of what she should say. Should she comment on Regina’s pant suit? No, that would probably spark either a long discussion about some designer Emma had never heard of or else prompt Regina to comment on Emma’s own choice of wardrobe. Anything involving clothing was not a safe subject. The weather? No, that would only cause Regina to wax poetic about how beautiful it was in Misthaven this time of year - it was supposedly beautiful in Misthaven no matter what time of year it was, according to Regina - and how terrible it always was in Maine. That would just be annoying to hear again.

“Yes, it has been a while, hasn’t it,” said Regina, coming into the room properly. She held herself high and strode gracefully over to a table set out in the middle of the room with a white, lace tablecloth. She smiled at Emma. “You’ve grown. Almost a woman.”

Not sure if she ought to join her step-grandmother at the table, Emma stood where she had been by the window. “Umm… well I turn seventeen in October.”

Sydney felt no such hesitation and went over to pull the chair out for Regina to sit in.

“October 23rd,” Regina said. “Just a few weeks away.” She sat down and glanced at her step-granddaughter as Sydney scuttled away out of the room. “Surprised I remember?”

Did the woman want an honest answer? “The birthday card did come a little late last year,” she said, “but no… I guess not.” It wasn’t like she was always on top of making sure things were in by the deadline. She had submitted far too many papers after the day it was due for anyone to think that she was punctual when it came to work.

“I was there when you were born,” continued Regina. “Well not in the room. But I was there. Met you when you were less than an hour old.”

Emma frowned and took a couple of steps closer to the table in the center of the room. It had been years since she had asked her father about the day she had been born, and what she remembered from the story - a young husband and wife so happy to be becoming parents, and her so eager to meet them that she hadn’t waited for the hospital - didn’t feature her step-grandmother coming in.

“You were actually born in Misthaven. Did you know that?”

“Um, yeah, actually,” she said. “To get my driver’s license I needed my birth certificate.” She had known before then, though she couldn’t remember her father ever actually telling her about it. It had just been something she had always known. A good part of the first year of her life had been spent in Misthaven, the country where her mother had grown up.

For a fraction of a second, Regina looked disappointed, but before Emma could ask why she was mentioning all this now, Sydney returned to the room, pushing an antique tea cart.

As Sydney set the teapot and teacups on the table, Regina said, “Do sit down, Emma. And please avoid scuffing up the floor with your boots.” It came out almost as a sigh.

Emma didn’t wait for Sydney to pull the chair out for her. She interrupted the man as he reached to take the chair out and help her sit down, the way he had helped Regina. She sat down and scooted the chair forward. The resulting scrape was enough to make her step-grandmother wince.

Sydney started to pour tea for the both of them.

“None for me,” said Emma, putting her hand over the cup that was clearly meant for her.

“You don’t have to drink it, Emma,” said Regina with a patient smile, “but it’s polite to accept it.”

Emma took her hand back, and Sydney finished pouring the tea. Emma accepted the cup that the personal assistant offered her, wishing it were coffee.

His task done, Sydney left the room.

Regina picked up the cup and brought it to her lips. She sipped almost soundlessly.

Emma swirled the tea in her cup.

“You look quite like your mother, you know,” said Regina suddenly.

Emma looked up. “I’ve been told.” Though her coloring took after her father, from the pictures she had seen of her mother, she was a dead ringer for her.

“How much do you know about your mother, Emma?”

“She met my dad in college. She was studying Environmental and Political Sciences. She came from Misthaven. She and my dad got married shortly after graduation,” Emma said, not sure what Regina was getting at.

“So you know about her life as far as it concerned your father.”

“I guess.”

“How much do you know about her childhood? About her family? Your family.”

With a shrug of her shoulders, Emma said, “Not all that much?” Her voice raised a little high, uncertainty creeping in. “Her mother died when she was still in elementary school. Her father married you not long after.” Her father hadn’t exactly told her much. She had asked, but she had never really gotten any answers, and eventually she had just learned to stop asking. She knew it pained her father to talk about her mother, and she didn’t like to see him in that kind of distress. Besides, there were so many questions she wanted to ask about her mother that Emma knew her father couldn’t answer.

“So hardly anything,” said Regina, straightening up. The smallest smirk displaced the scar on the older woman’s lip.

Emma picked a sugar cube out of the sugar bowl and put it in her mouth. Even if sugar was supposedly the Devil when it came to health these days, Emma knew that it would be better than one of those dry, crumbling tea cakes her step-grandmother insisted on serving every time she came over.

“Would you like to learn about her?”

She made a sharp intake of breath that left her coughing. For a several dry, agonizing moments, Emma coughed, feeling her eyes watering. Seeing no other way out, she reached for the tea cup and took a sip. Though the liquid hurt going down, it was better than coughing on the sugar cube. Taking several unobstructed breaths, Emma set the cup back down on its apple blossom patterned saucer.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

“Yes, but…” Emma voice trailed off. Her father had told her many times before that her mother and Regina hadn’t gotten along well at all, which made Emma wonder just how accurate anything Regina said could be. Certainly anything that her father said would be closer to the truth, even if it was just a guess.

“I shouldn’t have to be the one to tell you about her,” said Regina. “You should have grown up knowing your mother.”

Emma bent her head, staring at the reddish-brown tea, suddenly finding the apple blossom and buds at the bottom of the cup much easier to look at than Regina. She had thought that herself so many times over the years, but somehow hearing Regina say it made her want to squirm.

“It is a terrible shame that the accident took her away from us… from all of us.” Regina let out a sigh. “She was a beloved princess, and they say she would made an exceptional queen.”

Confused, Emma frowned, trying to follow Regina’s logic. She searched the older woman’s expression for some kind of hint, but finding no other explanations for Regina’s word choice, all Emma could do was ask, “Metaphorically?”

“No, Emma,” said Regina. “You should have been told years ago. Your mother was the crown princess, heir to the throne of Misthaven, a kingdom her family - your family - has ruled over for hundreds of years. A kingdom that is now rulerless.”

Dumbfounded, Emma stared at her step-grandmother, squinting hard. There was nothing she could manage to say or do other than just gape. It was as if her brain had run full force into a white wall thirty stories tall and wide. Sheer shock immobilized her.

“Given how easy it is to find out information these days, I must admit that I am a little bit surprised you weren’t aware. All it takes is a few clicks and you have more information than anyone could ever possibly want about any topic, including your mother and her family.”

Unable to process what Regina was saying now, instead Emma spluttered, “Seriously?”

Regina fell silent, finally giving Emma a minute to think.

“You can’t expect me to believe that,” said Emma, finding herself speaking out loud. “That my mother was a princess. Are you filming this?” She glanced around looking for cameras, her stomach suddenly turning over as a fresh wave of nausea hit her. “Is this some kind of prank?” There didn’t seem to be any cameras, but that didn’t mean that there wasn’t some kind of prank going on.

“It is the truth,” said Regina. “Your mother was a princess, the only child of King Leopold and Queen Eva. The only child of King Leopold for that matter.”

The words were ones that Emma had learned long ago, but she struggled to find any sense in them. “I don’t,” she stammered. “That’s not-”

“Mary Margaret was supposed to take over the throne when her father died,” continued Regina, as if oblivious to her perplexed step-granddaughter, “but as you know, your mother died young, and your grandfather, my husband, had no other heir. Now that he’s gone, that leaves you.”

Emma blinked, leaning back in her chair, “Me? Why me?”

Frustration wrinkled the woman’s unnaturally young forehead for a moment. “Because, you’re the last Blanchard.” Each word seemed to be holding back something. Anger? Annoyance? Emma was well beyond being able to tell. “You are the only princess left of Misthaven, and when you come of age, you will be our Queen.”

Slowly, Emma shook her head, mouth hanging open mutely.

“Emma.”

“No. You’re wrong,” Emma protested.

Regina let out a shallow laugh and shook her head. “Believe me, if there were another viable option for my country, I would be having tea with them, and not you, but unfortunately, the ruler must be of royal blood.”

“I’m not a princess.”

The dowager queen gave a small, smug smile and said, “Your ancestry disagrees.”

Without any warning, Emma could feel it coming up, bubbling to the surface. She shot up from her chair. “I am not a princess,” Emma repeated. “Either you’re delusional, or you’ve got a sick sense of humor. And I don’t want any part of that.” She took a step backwards, knocking over her chair. As it clattered to the floor and Regina flinched, Emma saw her chance. She ran.

The entry room was a blur of gold and confusion as she hurried out. She threw all of her weight against the heavy doors leading out of the suite, ignoring the shouts behind her. She was past the point of caring. Knowing better than to wait for the elevator allowing herself to get stopped by one of those men in suits and be dragged, Emma headed straight for the stairs. She dashed down several steps at a time, her footsteps echoing loudly in the stairwell. A couple of clatter-filled minutes later, and Emma was opening the door to the atrium and Italian marble floors. She hurried past the front desk. The revolving door slowed down her escape, but only for a moment.

Breaking out into the cooling evening air, Emma started running again. She couldn’t run all the way home, she knew, but if she put in enough distance between herself and this insanity, she could call Elsa. Elsa would come and find her, wherever she was. After dashing through several city blocks and crossing a couple of streets after barely looking to see if any cars were approaching, Emma began to feel the sharp grab at her side. “Fuck,” she wheezed, slowing her sprint down to a slow limp. She had no idea how far or how fast she had run, but she was fairly sure that it was further and faster than any gym teacher had ever been able to convince her to go.

She rubbed her side and took a few deep breaths, glancing around. When she spotted the bench at the bus shelter, Emma walked over, wincing as she went. She sat down heavily on the blue metal mesh bench and pulled out her phone from her flannel’s front pocket. With a few clicks, she brought up Elsa’s contact info. “Come on Elsa,” she murmured as the phone rang. “Pick up.” Uncharacteristically, the phone kept ringing until finally, “I’m sorry that I can’t come to the phone right now, but if you leave a message, I’ll get back to you shortly!” played.

Without any hesitation, Emma redialed Elsa, only again to find the same pre-recorded message instead of her friend. “Elsa, where are you?” she whispered. Usually, Elsa was the sort of person who picked up immediately. Even though only a handful of people had her number and she was rarely contacted on her phone by those select few, Elsa rarely left texts unanswered for longer than a couple of minutes or let the phone ring for long.

Call me ASAP Emma texted. I need your help.

When she looked up from her phone, she jumped a little. Parked right where a city bus should have been was a black limo, driver’s window rolled down to reveal a bearded face peering out at her through black sunglasses.

“You followed me,” said Emma accusatorily.

“I protect the royal family of Misthaven,” Robin said. “Following you is part of my job now.” He gave her a small, sympathetic smile. “And you forgot your bag.”

Emma got to her feet, wincing as her side protested. She walked slowly to the curb. “Look, I’ve had enough about this royal thing,” she said. “I’m not going back there. And I don’t want to hear anything about princesses or kings or--”

“Please,” Robin interrupted, holding out his hand. “I’m not going to take you back to the Queen. I’m here to take you home.”

Tucking her chin down to better stare through Robin’s sunglasses, Emma frowned. His face was honest. It didn’t look like he was lying to her, but Emma had been wrong before. “If you make the turn to go to her instead of to the highway, I’m calling 9-1-1 to report my kidnapping,” Emma said after several moments of considering Robin’s expression. “In fact-” she brought up the dial pad on her phone and pressed nine before showing it to him, “just a precaution.”

Robin blinked. “Do I look like a kidnapper?”

“I could see your face on a wanted poster,” Emma said simply before opening the front passenger door.

“Princess-”

Emma held up a hand. “I don’t want any of that. No ‘Princess’, no ‘your Majesty’, no--”

“Your Highness is the appropriate term for a princess.”

“Really? What did I just say?” Emma glowered at her step-grandmother’s body guard. “It’s Emma. Just Emma.” Whatever titles her step-grandmother and her minions insisted that she had, Emma knew that none of them applied to her. American girls in combat boots and thick glasses didn’t come with titles. Titles of books they needed to read for English class or maybe titles of term papers that were a few days overdue, but nothing akin to “Princess.”

“Of course,” he said, pausing, “Emma.”

Emma wished she had the energy to offer him a smile in gratitude for giving her this much and for helping her, but all she could manage was a small nod as she climbed into the front seat.

Author’s Notes: Hello and thank you for clicking on this fic that I have been working hard on since October-November 2017! Hard to believe that I'm finally at the point of posting it! 

This story has been beta'd by @katealexandra26. 

It was originally meant to be a CS Big Bang fic, but I withdrew, which means that I can post this fic a little bit sooner than I thought I would be able to! I do have to thank the CSBB community for helping me with this fic, whether it was sprinting to write it, or coming up with suggestions, or encouraging me to write it at all. A huge shout out goes to the mods of the @captainswanbigbang who worked with me, even if ultimately it didn't work out.

Thank you so much for reading, especially the author's notes. Please let me know what you think!

[bi-swan-trash]

I've got a SQ prompt for ya! : The Evil Queen wants revenge on Regina and to take over storybrooke. She decides on how to do it by getting Emma on her side. She seduces and kidnaps her and with Hyde's help(cause they're working together) makes a diff. serum that brings out Emma's darkness, making her dark. Cue EQ and Dark Swan goodness(sexy times and being evil). Regina tries to stop them but gets her heart crushed by Emma. *Bonus Dark TLK, G!P Emma, Babies post them taking over ;D*

Yo. This has literally been sitting in my inbox for 3 years. There’s no TRUE excuse except the fact that the second half of season 5 + really just… killed my muse. I really haven’t been able to write that much SQ since. So, I know this has been a long wait and isn’t everything you wanted, but I wanted to finish it for you.

The Queen stood in the shop, the newly crushed heart just ashes at her feet. She though about her next plan. She wanted to get revenge on the bitch that separated them. Who the hell did she think she was? Regina needed her. Her darkness got Regina to where she was today! The Queen contemplated her options when her mind flitted to one particular person: Emma.

She had access to all of Regina’s memories, thoughts, and feelings up to the present and what did she find? Regina had feelings for Snow White’s daughter of all people!

However, The Queen wasn’t going to let Emma’s Dark potential go to waste. Emma hadn’t done anything with it when she had it–weak–but The Queen was positive she could show Dark Emma a thing or two.

Storybrooke also wasn’t a bad target. While it wasn’t a true kingdom, in this land it would do. So she whisked herself away back to Storybrooke. They couldn’t keep her out if they tried–she was a part of Regina. When she arrived she started to think about what her first plan of action should be when she spotted Mr. Hyde skulking in an alleyway. She turned on the charm and sauntered toward him.

“Mr. Hyde,” she purred.

“Ah, Regina,” he greeted, “or should I say, Regina’s Darkness.” The Queen chuckled.

“You’ve caught me, Dear,” she admitted.

“What can I do for a woman such as yourself?” he asked.

“I’m trying to get someone back,” she said, slowly approaching him with glittering eyes.

“An evil someone, I presume?” he guessed.

“Correct,” she confirmed.

“I sense there’s a snag,” he said.

“Yes, well, this certain someone doesn’t have any Darkness,” she told him.

“Intriguing,” he mused.

“But,” she paused for dramatic effect, “I know where we can get some.”

***

The Queen disguised herself as Regina and approached the house confidently, knocking on the door.

“Regina,” Maleficent greeted, answering the door, “come in.” The two sat in the living room where Maleficent asked her what she was doing there.

“It’s been awhile since I checked in with everyone here,” The Queen feigned interest, “how’s Lily handling meeting her mother?”

“Doing just fine, thanks,” Lily answered, coming into the living room. “What is she doing here?”

“Lily, Regina is an old friend. We had each other during… tough times,” Mal replied, a mischievous glint in her eye.

“I’m just here to check in with you two,” The Queen restated, smirking at Mal’s comment. “I also have a favor to ask.”

“What’s that?” Mal asked.

“I used some of the Darkness stored in Lily before, I need to ask for some more,” she informed them.

“Uh uh, you are not cutting me again, lady,” Lily snarled.

“No, no,” she said, holding up her hands, “I would do it by magic this time.”

“Fine, get it over with,” Lily muttered.

***

With Emma’s bottled Darkness safely tucked away in her pocket, The Queen started toward her vault where she directed Hyde to wait for her. He was already concocting something that was shaded orange.

“I see you were able to acquire the final ingredient,” Hyde observed. The Queen smirked.

“Of course I did,” she replied. Hyde held out a hand and she obliged, handing him the vial. He carefully tipped it in, causing the mixture to turn a dark grey.

“This serum should work,” he told her, “it will bring out Darkness instead of separating it.”

“Perfect,” The Queen purred. She turned to leave, poofing her way out of the vault and outside the sheriff’s station. She conjured a cup of hot chocolate and poured the dark grey mixture into the drink before walking into the station.

“Hey, Regina,” Emma greeted. The Queen gave Emma a quick once over. Well, she could definitely see the allure.

“Afternoon,” The Queen replied, “I brought you hot cocoa.” Emma beamed.

“You didn’t need to do that,” Emma told her.

“It was no trouble for a friend,” The Queen said, handing over the cup. Emma immediately took a sip before frowning.

“Tastes a little off,” Emma said, “is Granny trying a new recipe?”

“I think she’d going for a bolder, darker flavor,” The Queen replied casually. Emma dropped her cup, the hot contents spilling all over the floor as she doubled over in pain.

“Re-gin-a,” Emma gasped out, “what’s going on?”

“It’ll be over soon, dear,” The Queen told her in a low voice.

“The Evil Queen,” Emma whispered, eyes popping open in shock. Emma grimaced as a wave of pain coursed through her body, changing her neurons. She took a deep breath in and shakily stood. She faced The Queen, putting her hands on her hips. “You couldn’t have made that any less painful?” The Queen chuckled.

“I’m sorry, dear. It seems like it had to be this way,” The Queen said, approaching Emma, hips swaying. She let her eyes roam over the sheriff and her attire. “As much as my other half complains about this red leather jacket, she’s lying to you, dear. However, it’s not appropriate for you as a villain, now is it? It signifies heroic behavior.”

“I know exactly how to fix it,” Emma replied, snapping her fingers. In a swirl of grey magic, Emma completely transformed. Her usual attire was traded for all black. Black boots, black skinny jeans, black tank, and a black leather jacket to top it off.

“Perfect,” The Queen purred, letting her hands roam Emma’s toned stomach before coming up to cup her breasts.

“I’m glad you approve,” Emma said, reveling in the sensation. Both pairs of eyes snapped to the door as Regina approached them.

“Emma!” Regina exclaimed, “are you alright? I came as soon as Mal contacted me about what happened with Lily, and-” She stopped short.

“Looks like miss hero is a little shell shocked at our display of affections,” The Queen chuckled, grinning.

“She’s already done it,” Regina murmured, her eyes going wide.

“You’ve gotten quite soft, Regina,” The Queen said, “what, with all this caring about others than just yourself.”

“They’re good people,” Regina protested, “we were wrong to take our anger out on everyone.” Her eyes shifted to Emma’s. “Emma, please. You’ve worked too hard.”

“And keep waiting for you?” Emma scoffed.

“You’ve been all over Hook since we saved him,” Regina groused.

“Huh, I wonder if that has anything to do with Robin,” Emma feigned ignorance.

“He offered me stability,” Regina pressed. Emma approached Regina, backing her against a wall and trapping her with an arm on either side of Regina’s head.

“Stability. But not undying love,” Emma said, leaning in close. “No one gets this close in a fight without some sort of feelings, Regina. We’ve been doing it since day one.”

“Emma, please,” Regina practically begged.

“Play time’s over,” Emma growled, shoving her hand into Regina’s chest and pulling her heart out. She barely looked at Regina as the heart turned to diamonds before spilling off of Emma’s hand as dust–Regina’s body turning to dust as well.

“Contain the dust,” The Queen ordered, “she can reform.”

“Ah, so that’s how you did it,” Emma said, locking the dust in a magically insulated jar she conjured.

“With that out of the way,” The Queen purred into Emma’s ear, causing Emma to shiver. She magicked the jar into Regina’s vault and turned to face The Queen.

“Yes?” Emma teased. The Queen backed Emma against the wall, pinning her arms above her head before attacking her neck.

“I think it’s time for a little fun,” The Queen growled.

I AM NO LONGER DOING PROMPTS

[donteattheappleshook]

Stone Hearts Chapter 13/13 - Epilogue

Here it is. It’s finally totally done. This is the first MC fic that I’ve completed and it took me a really long time but I wanted to say thank you to everyone who liked and reblogged and commented and flailed over this story. It might be cheesy to say but I could not have done it without all the support. You taking the time to tell me that you enjoyed this story kept me writing even when I didn’t want to.

So, after nearly 3 years (yeesh) here is the end of Stone Hearts. 

Summary:

Emma should have known. She should have known that they couldn’t just go to the underworld and not suffer any consequences. She should have known they’d bring something back with them.

Cannon Divergent after 5x21 Last Rites. No Hyde. No serum. No Evil Queen split. No prophecy. No season 6.

Read from the beginning on Ao3 or FFn because tumblr eats all my italics.

Rated E

Epilogue

“He’s going to forgive you, Swan,” Killian said, reaching for her hand where it was clutching the steering wheel, knuckles white.

“You don’t know that,” she said. “I sent him away. I'm his parent and I left him. You know how that feels.”

“Aye, I do. And so do you,” he answered, his thumb brushing back and forth over the back of her hand. “But you forgave your parents because they sent you away to protect you, to keep you safe - just as you did.” 

“But what if he doesn’t?” she asked, finally turning to look at him briefly before looking back at the road. They were nearly at the town line. After defeating the King, Emma, Killian, Belle and Tink had all found their way to Granny’s where all of the formerly cursed folk seemed to have ended up. 

There was confusion at first, chaos, anger and resentment over what cursed people had done to the uncursed. And there was regret, guilt and remorse over the actions that the cursed people’s bodies had taken without their consent. Storybrooke had been in a state of panicked relief that, while it would take a while for the wounds to truly disappear, her parents had been able to calm it slightly with another of their excellent hero speeches - for the time being.

Once that had settled, there was the matter of finding everyone, making sure each townsperson was accounted for and - Emma hated to think it even now - alive. The census was still in progress. People had been found all over - the mines, the forest - may with no sense of where they were when they woke up, or how to return home. They were still finding people now, two days later.

That was why Emma had waited until now to go get Henry. At least that was what she was telling herself. Her first thought after finding her parents and her friends and seeing that they were safe was that she needed to get him. But one look around and the state of the town had her believing this was not a good place for him to return to - not like this. 

She wanted to wait until the waters had calmed before bringing him home. The town would be forever changed but she didn’t want Henry to fall prey to the madness and the threats and the fear that had surrounded them for the first thirty-six hours after the curse broke. It wasn’t safe. 

But now she couldn’t wait any longer, didn’t want to wait any longer. She missed him. It had only been four days but not having him with her, not being in contact, not knowing if he was safe. She hated it. She wanted her son back. But she was so so afraid. 

The way he had looked at her when she tricked him into crossing the barrier - the anger and the hurt and the betrayal had felt like - well it felt like having her heart ripped out of her chest. What if he hated her? What if he never forgave her for this? Henry had always wanted to be the hero, had always wanted to do right, and she’d denied him that. 

“Emma, I can feel your heart racing,” Killian said, giving her hand a little squeeze. That was a strange side effect to the heart split, one she was still getting used to. It wasn’t unpleasant, per say, but it was new and unlike anything she’d ever experienced. They couldn’t feel everything the other felt, that would have been a whole other story. But, whenever one felt something acute, something overwhelming and intense, the other had a small sense of it, an echo in their own chest. 

They hadn’t had much experience with it yet, seeing as both had been living in a state of shared, high alertness for days now. But when Killian first saw one of the men he had gravely wounded, a deep welt still in the man’s shoulder, she had felt her heart flutter in her chest, like a feeling that something was wrong, an intuition. She hadn’t seen the man until she turned to find Killian, frozen in place as he stared at him, tense and breathing quickly. 

She took a deep breath. Tried to calm her pounding heart. 

“He will forgive you. I know a boy’s love for his mother. And I know Henry’s love for you. He may be angry,” he said and at least he was being honest. “But he’ll forgive you. In time.” 

She nodded, a little appeased by his assurance. He smiled at her softly and brought her knuckles to his lips, brushing a kiss against them. They were nearly at the line. They’d managed to text Ruby and had learned that she and Henry had been holed up at a motel for the last two days. Both of them were safe. They had arranged to meet them here at five, the King’s spell on the town line having disappeared along with his curse. 

Regina was in the car behind them. Snow and David following closely too. At first she’d worried about overwhelming him but she knew that Henry would want to see them all, that he would need to be assured that they were safe. And maybe a small part of her hoped that if he was wrapped up in the happiness of the reunion he wouldn’t remember to be as angry with her.

“Are you ready?” Killian asked as she put the bug in park. She wasn’t. She definitely wasn’t but she needed to see him and she needed to hold him in her arms and make sure he was really alright. 

She could see him, standing right at the edge with Ruby, looking eagerly at the cars that were approaching. He looked a little less tired, a little less hungry than he had the last time she’d seen him. 

Emma nodded. She was ready.

She’d hardly made it out of the car before she was bowled over by the force of a fourteen year old crashing into her. She took only a minute to be surprised, to be caught off guard before she wrapped him in a bone-crushing hug. 

“I knew you’d do it,” she heard him say from where his face was buried somewhere in her shoulder. Emma let out as small sob as she held him even closer, even tighter, as though that were possible. When she was pretty sure that she’d managed to squeeze absolutely every last bit of air from his lungs, she pulled back, took his face in her hands and bent down a little so they were at eye-level. She tried not to think about the fact that they wouldn’t be at eye level much longer at the rate he was growing. 

“I thought you’d hate me,” she admitted. Henry gave her an eyebrow raise that was so reminiscent of Killian it was almost eerie. 

“I don’t hate you. You’re my mom. I was really really mad at you.” Emma swallowed but let him continue. “But I was able to calm down after a bit and Ruby made me understand why you did it. It was like when I was born. You wanted to keep me safe.” Emma nodded, tears starting to blur her vision. “But mom, you can’t keep protecting me forever. Eventually you have to let me start fighting the battles with you.”

“No more battles -” she tried but he shook his head. 

“This is Storybrooke, Mom. There’s always a chance of something happening. We can’t make the mistake of pretending that’s not the truth. Not again.” 

Emma brushed some of his hair back, looked at him and really saw him - saw how much their latest tragedy had changed him, aged him, but also made him stronger. Even now he spoke to her with confidence way beyond his years. He was growing up. She had to accept it. 

“When did you get so wise?” she asked. 

“I’ve always been wise,” he scoffed and Emma laughed. “So will you let me help next time?”

“How about when you’re thirty?” Emma suggested with a small curl to her lip. 

“Mom.” 

“Fine. Twenty-eight. That’s the first time I fought a monster. Sounds fair.”

“Mom!”

Emma smiled at him. “Why don’t we deal with that when it happens,” she suggested, a peace offering. “For now, I’m just so happy you’re alright and you’re safe. I don’t want to think about the next time I could nearly lose you. Is that okay?”

She could tell by his expression that he wasn’t going to give this up, that they’d have this discussion again. But for now, he nodded and hugged her again.

“From what I saw of that slingshot, the boy does pretty well for himself against monsters already,” she heard Killian say behind her. Henry’s head instantly shot up, looking over her shoulder.

“Killian!” he cried before detangling himself from her and rushing at the man with as much force as he’d rushed her if Killian’s grunt at the impact was any indication. “You’re okay!” 

Emma wasn’t sure if the swell in her chest was because of her or Killian. It was probably both, but she watched as Killian put his hand on the back of Henry’s head and wrapped his hooked arm around him, a small awed smile on his face, like he still couldn’t quite believe that Henry cared for him as much as he did for Henry. She knew how much it affected him this time, she quite literally felt it tug at her heartstrings. 

“Aye, I’m alright,” he promised. 

“I never got to say thank you for saving me,” Henry said, pulling back. “In the mines.” 

Killian took hold of the side of his face, met his gaze. “Always, Henry,” he told her son. “I’d lay down my life for you.” Emma knew it was true, and she knew Henry did too. Her son clapped Killian on the shoulder in a very grown up sort of way and she saw Killian smile, she felt her own smile pulling at her lips. 

“Henry?”

“Mom!” he shouted, rushing past Killian to Regina who was getting out of her car. She received an equally enthusiastic tackle. 

Emma turned then to find Ruby. She closed the distance between them in a few strides, wrapping her arms around her friend’s neck and pulling her close. “Thank you,” she said as Ruby’s hands found her back. “Thank you for everything. I couldn’t have let him go if I didn’t know that you would keep him safe. Thank you for protecting him.” 

“Of course,” Ruby said, pulling back to look at her. “We’re family. We’re all family now.” She turned then to Killian who had joined them. “Glad to have you back, Captain,” she said with one of her cheeky smiles. “That pretty face isn’t nearly as fun without the swagger to go along with it."

Killian laughed. “I missed you too, Ruby. Thank you for everything. For helping Emma, for taking care of Henry…” 

“We should be thanking you guys for breaking the curse,” she said, looking between the two of them. 

“Yeah,” Henry piped up from beside David's truck. “How did you guys break the curse anyway?” 

Emma and Killian looked at each other, both of them going a little red as they smiled at one another. Killian scratched behind his ear. 

“True love’s kiss,” Emma told them. 

“But how?” David asked, with a surprised frown. “We tried that with Snow and I. The curse was too strong. Their memories were buried too deep to let them remember their feelings.” 

“Yeah and you hated Killian when he was cursed,” Henry added. “No offence,” he added for Killian’s sake. 

“None taken. But, it would seem that Emma cannot resist my charms regardless of my altered persona. Cursed or not, I am still startlingly handsome.” He had the biggest shit-eating grin on his face and Emma raised a brow at him. 

“Yeah, keep going,” she said. “See how far those charms get you.” 

Killian laughed. “And I, even in my cursed state, fell in love with her. It would seem it takes more than a lack of memories, feelings, and a heart encased in stone to sway the hold you have on me, Love.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, placed a kiss to her temple. Okay, he was nearly forgiven.

“Oh, you have to tell us that story,” Ruby said, looking way too intrigued while Mary Margaret put both her hands to her heart and sighed a little 'oh'. 

“Yeah! And I want to hear how you defeated the King!” Henry insisted. 

“Perhaps,” Regina interjected. “We should do this somewhere other than the middle of the road.” 

"You're right,” Emma said, slipping her arm around Killian’s waist, smiling at her son. “Let’s go home.” 

***

“So he just turned into dust?” Henry demanded, half standing in his seat at the table. They’d all made their way back to her and Killian’s house where Mary Margaret and David had whipped up a meal that would have impressed even Granny with the few resources that were left in the pantry. Emma wondered how long it would be before the stores were open again and they could get real food. 

“Yup,” Emma said before gesturing at him with her fork. “Eat your dinner.” 

Henry did as he was told, sitting down and shoveling a forkful into his mouth. “And Belle put my grandpa in Pandora’s box?” he asked around said mouthful. 

“Yeah. She was pretty great,” Emma said. “So was Tink.”She could feel Killian’s hand tighten on her knee at the mention of Gold and she wondered how much he remembered from being under the Dark One’s control. 

“Where are they now?” Ruby asked, her concern for her friend evident.

“On the Jolly Roger,” Killian answered for her. “Belle had made herself quite at home before the King arrived. She, uh,” he scratched behind his ear. “She didn’t want to return to her home with the Dark One, so I offered my ship again. Tink is with her - to ensure she’s not alone and that the child isn’t born on the Jolly.” Emma smirked at the way he cringed at the idea. 

“I should to go see her,” Ruby said. “I thought we’d lost her in the first wave.” Ruby stood setting down her napkin and thanking them for the meal. “I’m going to head to the docks,” she told them. Emma would have offered that she stay but she knew that Ruby was anxious to see Belle, to make sure she was alright in the same way that Emma had been anxious to see her and Henry. 

“I suppose I should get going too,” Regina noted when everyone had said their goodbyes to Ruby. She hesitated. “Henry, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?” her face held a sadness that Emma saw reflected in her son’s and it drove her to say what she said next. 

“You should stay.” Several pairs of surprised eyes turned to her then. 

What? She wanted to say. She and Regina weren’t enemies anymore - hell they were even friends at this point, even if their last interaction before the curse had been tense. But she supposed their surprise was right - they were friends, but they weren’t the kind of friends who had sleepovers. But Emma didn’t want Henry to be forced to choose between his mothers - not tonight when he’d only just gotten them back. 

She saw her parents looking unsure as well so she added, “You should all stay. None of us should have to be apart tonight. There’s plenty of room.” She felt Killian take her hand under the table, brush his thumb over her knuckles again and she knew that he understood that she didn’t want to be separated from her son or her parents either. 

“I think that’s a great idea,” Snow said and Emma heard the shaky tearfulness of her voice. The plans were made, bedrooms decided on, and after, Henry practically begged that they all sit and watch a movie with Emma’s signature popcorn with milk duds.

“Aye,” Killian had said when Henry suggested it, his face cringing at the thought of the snack even more than Regina’s had and making Emma laugh. “I can’t think of anything more wonderfully normal.” 

It was normal, almost boring really. They watched The Princess Bride and laughed at all the right parts and Killian squeezed her hand at all the right bits, and it felt so wonderfully, perfectly normal. She’d missed normal. She’d missed boring - maybe not boring but rather quiet. And she’d missed having it with her family, with the people she loved. She felt Killian’s hand tighten in hers again and realised that a tear had slid down her cheek. 

“You alright, Love?” he whispered.

She nodded. “Just happy.” 

Killian smiled at her, dropped her hand to cup her cheek and kissed her deeply. 

“Ew,” she heard the sound of a disgusted fourteen-year-old. “And on that note,” he said. “I’m going to bed.” Emma pulled back, laughing, everyone else joining in - even Henry eventually. 

The movie had just wrapped up. It wasn’t that late but everyone was so tired all the time now, every day was so heavy and so emotional - and would probably be for a while to come. So nobody protested, everyone slowly milling out of the living room slowly and heading off in their respective directions. 

Emma hugged her mom and dad one more time and she was pretty sure that they were both trying to squeeze the air out of her lungs the same way that she had with Henry. She let them, hugged them back just as tight. She’d missed them. 

“We’ll be right down the hall if you need us,” David said and Emma bit back her smile. She wasn’t a little girl and sometimes her dad forgot that but it was kind of sweet really. Speaking of which, Emma needed to go say goodnight to Henry. She peeked her head into his room just as Regina was finishing saying goodnight. She kissed his forehead and found herself repeating the same words her father had. 

Finally, she made her way to her bedroom where Killian was already sitting on the edge of the bed, waiting for her. 

“Quite the full house we have tonight,” he said with a small, tired smile. 

She returned it. “Isn’t it great?” 

He nodded and Emma began getting ready for bed, stripping off her shirt and dreaming of her comfy PJs. She’d been wearing the same shirt and jeans for nearly two days. They hadn’t had a chance to go home and change, hadn’t had a moment’s rest since the King was defeated. There had been too much to do, too much chaos to wrangle. Last night she and Killian had spent the night at Granny’s, still helping and taking turns sleeping in the vinyl booths when they could. She was still sore now. 

She felt the tug at her heart, the one she’d only just discovered, hadn’t had a chance to get used to yet. Her head snapped up, worried that something was wrong, something that had sent Killian’s heart racing. She whirled around to find him unharmed, undistressed, but watching her, his eyes roving over her bare skin, eyes slightly hooded, cheeks slightly flushed.

Oh. 

He stood slowly, crossed the short distance between them and traced his fingers from the top of her shoulder down to her elbow where the shirt was still hooked. Emma shivered, as he pulled it free. It had been so long since she’d felt his hand on her - his hand, not Hooks but Killian’s, slow and purposeful and intent as it slid to her waist, following the curve around her back and down to the waist of her jeans. Her skin was on fire, goosebumps everywhere. He stepped closer, invading her space in the best way until she could feel his breath on her face and the heat from his body.

“I missed you,” he whispered, the words spoken against her lips. Emma couldn’t really explain what happened next. Maybe it was the fact of having him so close after so long, of knowing he’d missed her just as much as she’d missed him, or all the stress of the last few days, all the lost and the reunions and the heartbreak and the love. She leaned in, moving past his lips, burrowing her face in his neck and wrapping her arms around his back, holding as tightly to her as she could. 

She felt his surprise for a moment, his concerned ‘Swan?’ spoken into her ear. She was sure he could feel the wetness of her tears against the crook of his shoulder. His hand that had been tracing patterns on her lower back paused. 

“Just a minute,” she said, squeezing her arms tighter, nuzzling deeper and breathing him in. “Just a minute.” 

She felt him relax, his hand on her back sliding up to her shoulder, his thumb brushing the nape of her neck as he wrapped his hooked arm around her waist and pulled her in closer, his face turning into her hair. She just needed to hold him. Just for a minute. After all this time. 

Of course she wanted him, needed him, missed him. But she needed this more, needed this first. And so she held onto him and he let her for as long as she needed, craning his neck occasionally to press his lips to her temple, to her cheek, wherever he could reach and every kiss was another reminder. He’s here. Every soothing word and promise he breathed into her ear made her believe it more, trust that it was real and that she wouldn’t wake up from some amazing dream. He was here. She’d found him. He’d found her. 

His lips found her neck and she knew it was meant to be sweet, another soft reassurance, a comfort, but her body reacted immediately. Muscle memory kicking in and reminding her that she had Killian here, with her, finally, to hold and to touch and to kiss as she pleased. She pressed her lips to the spot where his neck met his shoulder, where her face was already, and began trailing them up the column of his throat to below his ear. 

She felt his muscles tense and his breathing hitch, and he turned his face to hers when she reached his jaw, capturing her mouth with his in a desperate, open mouthed kiss, his tongue delving deep, his hand sliding to the back of her neck to pull her closer, to open her up under him while his hooked arm pulled her closer, fusing them together. 

He groaned into her mouth and Emma felt it like a shock to her core. Maybe it would have been nice for their reunion to be slow, for them to take their time finding each other again. And maybe there would be time for that later. But right now, she needed him and she could feel how much he needed her. She rolled her hips against him and he gasped into her mouth before claiming it again with lips and teeth and tongue. 

She reached for the hem of his shirt, pulling it over his head so that she could look at him, run her hands over the warm skin and the soft hair beneath it. He pulled back reluctantly to allow her to lift the shirt off, only to focus his attention on her neck once he was free. His lips trailed fire, licking and biting and sucking his way to her throat, down her chest. 

“I missed you,” he whispered between kisses. “Gods, I missed you.” 

She reached behind herself frantically to discard her bra, throwing it somewhere on the floor just before his hand found one breast, teasing it with the pad of his thumb over it’s peak as he took the other into his mouth, hot and wet and God, she’d missed him too. 

“Killian,” she begged, trying her best to keep her voice down, to be conscious of the guests that could overhear, but it was difficult as he flicked his tongue over her nipple while he pulled and rolled the other. She was on fire, already so close to the edge and she just needed him now, needed him to stop teasing and fuck her. Fuck her so that they could erase the past few months, fuck her to prove that he was here and solid and hot and hers. There would be time to make love later. Right now she needed him hard and she needed him desperate.

“Killian,” she insisted again when he didn’t let up, this time reaching for his belt and pulling him with her, backing up until her knees hit the bed and she fell back against it. He was on her in a second, arm wrapping around her back so that he could lift her, toss her further up towards the middle. She saw it in his eyes, the desperation and the need that was reflected in her own. 

She reached for her own belt, undoing it and the fly of her jeans and starting to slide them down her legs, hooking her underwear with them. Killian followed her lead, reaching for his pants and hastily shedding them, his breathing ragged as he alternated between watching her undress and undressing himself. 

Finally he kicked his jeans off, reaching out to help her slide her own over her feet. He threw them out of the way, looking at her with hooded eyes, kneeling at the end of the bed between her legs as he caught one ankle in his hand. He placed it on his shoulder gently before pressing a soft kiss to the inside of her ankle, his lips trailing slowly down her calf, his eyes not leaving hers. 

Fuck. Fuck! She wanted him now, wanted to drag him up to her by his hair and grab hold of his cock and slide him inside of her. But it felt so damn good what he was doing to her. He looked so fucking hot looming over her, naked, cock hard and bobbing against his stomach as his teeth nipped at the skin on her inner thigh, just above her knee, his hand sliding slowly down to where she was wet and waiting for him. 

She writhed on the bed, desperate for him to just touch her already. His fingers toyed delicately at the spot where her leg met her hip, at the delicate skin there, so close to where she wanted them and she let out a frustrated cry. She was two seconds away from using her foot on his ankle to kick him off and do the job herself when he dove in, hand and hook wrapping around her thighs and spreading her open as his lips latched onto her clit. 

Jesus fucking christ! She nearly came right then and there as he took the bud into his mouth and sucked, slow, deep pulls that made her see stars and grind her hips against his face. He didn’t let up, sucking harder and harder and faster until she was racing towards the edge of that cliff so quickly she didn’t think there was any way she could stop. 

It wasn’t until he pushed two fingers inside of her that she came to her senses. She grabbed at his hair, pulling him back and trying to wiggle away from him before he could drive her over the edge. He looked up from between her thighs, met her eyes, his pupils blown and his hair falling over his forehead into them, cheeks flushed, lips damp and confusion maring his brow. 

“Inside,” she panted, her words as incoherent as her thoughts. “I want you inside me,” she said, watching as his eyes darkened. “I want to come around you. Together.” 

He practically growled as he crawled his way back up her body, steadying himself on his elbow before taking himself in hand and thrusting into her tight heat with no preamble. Emma cried out, back arching off the mattress at the intrusion. Yes. That was what she wanted. That was what she needed. 

His hand found her thigh, angling her as he pushed into her relentlessly, hard and fast and punishing as his lips found her neck again, his grunts and pants echoing in her ear. She bit her lip against the litany of cries and moans and curses and sobs that were trying to escape her. The whole bed shook under the force of his thrusts and Emma dug her nails into his back, desperate for something to grab on to. He’s here. He’s real and solid under your hands and inside of you. Flesh and blood and human and yours. 

“I never,” he gasped into her ear. “Fuck. I never want to forget you again,” he groaned and she knew that he needed this the same way she did. She felt like he was trying to imprint her under his skin so that they could never be separated again. He cried out as her nails dragged down his back, her hips canting up to meet his. “Yes,” he practically moaned against her skin. “Mark, me, Swan. Don’t let me forget.” 

She was close, so, so close but she needed him there with her, needed him to follow her over the edge. She held herself off with as much strength as she could, sliding her hands down his back to grab at his ass, to pull him closer, deeper, her hips matching his every thrust. 

“Please, Kilian,” she begged him, knowing she couldn’t hold out much longer. Her legs were shaking, the first pinpricks licking at her spine. He groaned, sliding his mouth over hers, his tongue desperately seeking her own, tangling together as he kept up his brutal pace. 

She could taste herself on him, could feel his groan reverberating through her chest and her core, heard his his mumbled ‘I love you’ against her lips and then she was there, her whole body tensing, wrapping herself around him, nails and heels and teeth digging into his flesh as she shook with the force of her climax. She whimpered, mouth open and brow screwing up, overwhelmed by the feeling, overpowered by it. She felt him finish with her, the heat of his release spilling inside her spurring on her own. 

They were still for a moment as Emma’s muscles slowly started to relax, until she could loosen the death grip she had on him. He wasn’t fairing much better, his whole body trembling over hers, his arm just barely keeping his full weight off of her. 

“Fuck,” she breathed out when she finally had control of her body again. He huffed out a laugh but it was weak, exhausted. He raised his head from her breast, hand cupping her face as he kissed her again, slowly, deeply, breathlessly. 

“I missed you.” She was the one to say it this time as he rested his forehead against hers, noses pressed to cheeks, lips barely a breath apart. 

“I gathered that,” he said, a smirk in his voice and if she’d had more energy she would have rolled her eyes, maybe smacked him for his cheek. But she didn’t. 

He rolled them over so that he lay on his back and curled her into his chest, her fingers drawing patterns through the hair beneath her hand. They found the ink there, the tattoo over his heart that marked their commitment and she leaned over to press her lips to it, then pulled back to trace it carefully. 

“I can feel you thinking,” he said after a moment. “You honestly shouldn’t be able to think at all after that. A man might take offence,” he teased and Emma smiled against his chest. God she’d missed him. His voice and his laugh and his teasing and all of the life in him that made him the man she loved. “What is it?” he asked, softer this time.

“I guess I’m just a bit bummed. With everything that happened… we’re probably going to have to delay the wedding. I don’t think the people of Storybrooke could handle that right now, not after everything that happened. A big, fancy party might look bad.” 

He hummed. “I don’t relish the idea of not being married to you for a second longer if I’m honest. But I understand what you mean.” 

“Maybe we should elope,” she said, head popping up to look at him. He smiled fondly, fingers tracing along her spine. She could tell he thought she was joking. “I’m serious,” she told him and he cocked his head to look at her. “Why don’t we just do it? Get married. Right now.”

“What, tonight?” he said in disbelief, brows shooting up to his hairline. 

“Why not? The only people I want there are in this house and on your ship. I don’t need a big wedding. I just want to be married to you. And I don’t want to wait. I want to start being with you forever right now.” 

He smiled at her again, a bright thing that lit up his whole face. She was serious. She wanted this. Right now. They’d fallen in love so many times now, had overcome so many odds, found each other again and again. She loved him, completely and totally and she didn’t want to wait another day to tell the whole world. And she didn’t have to. Her whole world was under this roof. Him, Henry, her parents. Why should they wait?

“I dare say I like the idea of being allowed to call you my wife tonight,” he said. She was taking that as a yes. She sat up, nearly laughing at his slightly put-out expression. “Where are you going?” he demanded. 

“Get dressed,” she told him. “Head down to the ship and wake Belle and Tink. Ruby’s probably there too. I’ll wake the others and meet you there in an hour,” she explained, throwing clothes on as he watched her from the bed, sliding his jeans over his legs. 

“Can fairies perform wedding ceremonies?” she asked. “Is that a thing? They feel all mystical and stuff and like they should be allowed to. Can you ask Tink? Oh god this will be hard to sell to my mom. Maybe she’ll think it’s romantic though -” She was fully dressed now, hurrying to the door, still rambling when he caught her elbow with his hook. “What?”

He pulled her back to him and she followed skeptically but not unwillingly. “We’re getting married tonight,” he told her and she felt the weight of his words, but not in a bad way. They felt like a wave washing over her, warming her, enveloping her. They were getting married tonight. “Let’s take a moment to enjoy that, shall we?” he teased. 

She bit her lip, realising she’d gone off the rails there for a moment. She watched the amused, affectionate smile cross his face and felt her own pulling at her lips, blissfully, perfectly happy. He took her face in hand, pulled her in and she rose on her tiptoes to meet his lips. His kiss was soft, gentle and excited, his mouth turning up at the corners against hers. 

“Go,” he said when they pulled apart. “I’ll meet you aboard in an hour. Do you -” he started, hesitated and Emma was fully expecting him to scratch his ear. “Do you mind if I wake Henry? I’d like to ask him to be my best man.” 

She smiled at him again. Kissed him again. “I think he’d love that,” she said and the small hint of relief on his face warmed her heart. “I’ll go wake my parents… Maybe ask Henry to wake Regina when you’re done - so she doesn’t curse us.” 

He sighed, eyes rolling skyward in exasperation. “Too soon, Love. Too soon.”

She giggled, running off to get ready. 

Her parents were surprisingly easy to win over, understanding that sometimes you just couldn’t wait for love - Snow hinted not so subtly that they could have a big party later, when everything had calmed down. 

David immediately demanded to know if Killian owned a suit - something Emma was pretty sure he didn’t - and then insisted on rushing home to grab one for him to borrow. ‘Nobody is marrying my daughter in a leather jacket’ he’d muttered as he rushed off. Emma and Snow both bit back their laughter. 

“We need to find you a dress!” Snow cried. “And something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue,” she continued, counting them off on her fingers.

“Mom, really, it’s not that kind of thing. We’ll be fine.” 

“Emma,” she said, taking her daughter’s shoulders. “Please let me do this. As your mother. I… need to.” 

Emma nodded, agreeing but reminding her that she only had an hour. Snow was quick, finding a pair of blue heels buried in the back of Emma’s closet - one’s Snow had bought her and that Emma had never worn… that had been a slightly awkward few minutes as Snow remarked that they looked brand new. 

“Here,” her mom said, slipping her ring off her finger and handing it over. “This is borrowed and old.” Emma stared at the green gem in front of her.

“Mom, I can’t take your ring,” she insisted. 

“You’re not. You’re borrowing it,” she smiled. “This was your grandmother’s. True love follows this ring wherever it goes, Emma. She’d want you to have it, so would your father, and so do I.” Snow put the ring in her palm, closing her fingers over it and Emma knew there was no point in protesting. She slipped it onto her right hand. 

“Alright. Now we just need something new… and a dress!” She looked around the house a little frantically, casting a glance at her watch. 

“How about two birds with one stone,” Regina said, coming down the stairs, dressed, but looking extremely groggy. She headed straight for the coffee machine and poured herself a massive cup. Henry had already left for the Jolly with Killian, thrilled with his new role as best man. “It’s a pretty simple spell,” Regina said, taking a long sip. “I just need another dress that belongs to you and then the spell will make it new - however you want it.” 

“I know the perfect one!” Snow cried running up to Emma’s room. 

“Thanks,” Emma said. Sometimes this newfound friendship between her and Regina still surprised her, still felt unsteady. And, as far as she knew, Regina still hated her for getting Killian back when Robin was gone forever. This felt like a gesture - a peace offering and a step in the right direction. 

“Just make sure that pirate doesn’t teach my son how to steal boats,” she quipped and Emma smiled, wondering if she should tell her that Henry had already discovered a knack for stealing cars. 

Snow came down the stairs then, dress in hand, and Emma smiled, her heart warming when she recognized the pink piece she’d worn on her first date with Killian. “It’s perfect, Mom,” she said and Snow beamed. 

Regina set down her mug and walked over to the dress, took it and laid it out on the table. “Okay,” she said. “Just put your hand on it and picture what you want - it doesn’t have to be specific, just an idea of the general style.” Emma wanted to comment on the fact that magic could apparently serve as a personal stylist but she didn’t. 

She did as she was told, thinking of how she wanted to look when she married Killian. Regina waved her hand and the dress transformed from pink pattern to white lace and chiffon. Emma looked down at it. It was… perfect. 

“It’s beautiful, Emma,” Snow said wistfully. 

“It is,” Emma said. “Thank you,” she said to Regina. “Thank you both.” Snow wrapped Emma in her arms and Regina walked away, acting more annoyed by the display than she probably was. 

“I’m so happy for you,” he mom whispered and Emma had to fight back tears. She never dreamed she’d have her mother at her wedding. Or her father, or a son, or even a man she loved enough to spend the rest of her life with. How much her life had changed in the few years since she’d given a ten year old a ride home. How lucky she was that she’d let him climb into her front seat. She’d thought she was bringing him home - but he’d been the one bringing her home.

Ah, she thought, pulling away and wiping at her eyes. She needed to stop thinking like that or she was going to walk down the aisle with mascara streaked down her cheeks. 

“We ready to go?” Regina asked once Emma was dressed and had agreed to let her mom touch up her makeup and hair. ‘Okay but quickly!’ she’d said. Emma nodded but when Regina moved to whisk them away, she stopped her. 

“Let me,” Emma said with a smile. “I’ve gotten pretty good at it.” 

They appeared on the docks near the Jolly Roger. Belle, her father, and Ruby already waiting for her next to the gangplank. 

“Oh, Sweetheart, you look beautiful,” David said and Emma thought for a moment he might cry. “Do I get to walk you down the aisle?” he asked a little hesitantly. 

“Of course. You both do,” she said to her parents. 

“I’m gonna go find Henry,” Regina said, walking off in disgust.

“Belle and I have dubbed ourselves your bridesmaids,” Ruby told her. “We figure it’s only fair since we’ve both saved your life,” she smirked. “Tink would have too but she’s performing the ceremony.”

“Sounds fair,” Emma agreed. “Just make sure she actually makes it down the aisle,” Emma said, gesturing at Belle. 

“I’m not an invalid,” Belle huffed, sitting with her hand on her stomach. Had it grown? Could it do that in two days? It didn’t look like it had much room left to spare. Emma brought her hand to her own stomach for a moment but quickly snapped it back to her side when she remembered her parents were with her. She did not want to have another shotgun wedding conversation. 

“Here,” Belle said, handing her a little bouquet of flowers. “Tink picked them to brighten up the place. I figured you should have them.”

“Tinkerbelle picked them?” Emma asked, with a disbelieving eyebrow raise. 

Belle shrugged. “She’s a softie at heart once you get to know her.”

“You ready?” Ruby asked and Emma took a moment, breathed in, breathed out. She was getting married. This was happening. She was marrying Killian Jones on the deck of the Jolly Roger. She was marrying her true love in front of her family and her friends. All she could think about right now was him standing there, out of sight, waiting for her, waiting to promise her the rest of his life. 

“Yeah,” she said. “I’m ready.” 

She looped each of her arms through one of her parents and let Ruby help a waddling Belle around to the bow of the ship ahead of her. She took another deep breath and nodded to her parents who guided her after them, both whispering how proud they were, how happy they were. 

When they rounded the side of the helm Emma saw Killian, Henry and Tink waiting for her at the prow. When Henry saw her he dashed off to somewhere she couldn’t see and she frowned, wondering where he’d gone, before she heard music swelling around her. She recognized it from the first note. It was her song. The song. The one from the playlist. The one they'd danced to in the kitchen. 

She saw Killian’s face when he looked up, when he spotted her and if there weren’t already tears in her eyes there sure as hell were now. He looked perfect. In a black suit and shirt with a few buttons undone. He was smiling, a little nervous, a little excited but so absolutely, completely in love that she could feel it radiating off of him even from this far away. She felt the tug at her heart when he first saw her, when his mouth dropped open. 

She reached him and it was a moment before she could touch him as her father shook his hand, her mother kissed him on the cheek. He received both with flaming cheeks and a smile. When they went to sit after each pressing a kiss to her cheek, Killian reached for her hand. 

“You’re late,” he teased. “I thought you’d changed your mind.”

She smirked at him. “Wild horses, babe. Wild horses.” 

“I know when you’re quoting something,” he reminded her with amusement. 

“Are you nearly done?” Tink asked, rolling her eyes. “I thought you two wanted to get married tonight. Or is that not why I was woken by a pirate in the middle of the night?” 

“Nearly,” Killian said before raising Emma’s hand to his lips, catching her eye. “You are breathtaking, Emma,” he told her and the way he said it she couldn’t think of a single way to tease him. So she smiled, her cheeks flushing. 

Tink gave a small speech, one that was surprisingly moving despite her cynical exterior. Emma was reminded then of how long she’d known Killian as she spoke of how when she’d met him he hadn’t cared for anything but revenge. She said that she’d never seen anyone go after something so relentlessly, so recklessly… until he met Emma and he fought for her love and fought to keep it with more strength and more commitment and determination than she’d known him capable of. 

She said how when she first met Emma she’d never met someone so closed off, so afraid of love, but that she’d also never seen someone open herself up to it so willingly so fearlessly once she did. 

She said, a little begrudgingly, that it was rare for two people to find their other halves, to find someone they wanted to be with enough to want it every day, to fight for it and work for it every day. But she’d seen it in them. And they could trust her on that. She was a fairy. True love was her job. 

“Do you have rings?” Tink asked before proceeding and Killian’s face dropped. Emma reached out, put a hand over his heart, over their heart, over his tattoo.

“No,” she shrugged. “But we literally share a heart so I think we’re good on the symbolism.” 

Killian spoke his vows first. 

“Emma, I have lost you and found you more times than I can count. More times than anyone should ever have to. I know that you’ve faced abandonment in your life, and you’ve faced loss. But I promise that I will never, never stop fighting for you, for us. I’ll never stop finding my way back to you, no matter what the world throws at us. I have loved you since you held a knife to my throat and called me out as a liar, and having you choose to love me back, despite everything, is the greatest achievement of my long life, and the greatest honour. I promise to always try and live up to your love, and to love you, with my whole heart, forever.”

Fucking hell, Emma wanted to say as she dropped his hook to wipe at the tears in her eyes. But she knew that was not appropriate for a wedding. Could she just kiss him now? Was that allowed? Or did she have to wait for Tink to give them permission? She took a steadying breath, refusing to not make it through her own vows because of stupid tears. 

“Killian, I’m not much for words. You know that,” she said and he smiled knowingly, his eyebrow ticking up. “But if this life, this crazy life with magic and curses that I’ve been living since I met you has taught me anything, it’s that I will always, always love you. We’ve fallen in love three times now. Three times you’ve been able to make me believe in you, trust you, when you know how hard that is for me. No matter what version of you I’ve met, whatever version of me I was, I’ve loved you. And if that tells me anything, it’s that I’ll love you always - forever. No matter what darkness or light we face in the future, it doesn’t matter because I know that we’ll face it together. Love is strength and with you I’m stronger because I know I don’t have to always be strong. With you I’m better because I know I don’t always have to do everything alone. And with you I’m - I’ve never been happier.” 

Tink sighed, defeated. “Oh god, just kiss her. I know you want to.” 

Killian laughed, slid his hand to Emma’s cheek and pressed his lips to hers. It was shorter than he wanted, she could tell, but they still had a ceremony to complete. “Not bad, Swan,” he quipped. “I think I’m rubbing off on you.” 

Emma rolled her eyes. “Just shut up and finish marrying me,” she said. 

“As you wish,” he promised. 

[not-talking-about-pancakes]

A Pirate’s Treasure

This was my contribution to the Captain Swan Storybook, Part 2 which can be found here. I am just finally getting around to posting it in full here and on A03. I hope you read it and enjoy this little deleted/cannon divergent scene from 6x4-”Strange Case” of Killian moving in and Emma going through his box of memories, kind of like the way he went through her’s in season 3. Enjoy! Art work is by @jemmingart

Find it HERE on A03!

“Well, this was definitely not how I’d imagined today going,” Emma said with a sigh as she unlocked her front door and walked inside, Killian following behind her.

“Aye, love,” he agreed, shutting the door behind them, “though we ought to have learned by now that plans never work out well in this town.”

Today had definitely not gone as planned, though it had started out nice. Her parents had come over with her baby brother to make breakfast for her and Henry under the guise of celebrating her mom going back to teaching. But Emma was pretty sure this had more to do with her father trying to hide the fact he was a little upset his (not so) baby girl was having her pirate boyfriend move in with her. David had come around quite a bit on his feelings towards Killian, but he seemed to be harboring some reservations about something. And she didn’t think it was just a fear of fewer family get togethers at Granny’s like he claimed. (Killian would have teased him about being old fashioned and not wanting his daughter to shack up with a man before she was married. Only Killian would have said it with more fancy words.)

Things had quickly gone down hill from breakfast however when first, Regina and Jekyll showed up at the house to tell them that Hyde had broken out of his cell. While she and David went off to find him, Killian called to say that Gold had showed up and in an effort to protect Belle from Mr. Hyde, had placed a protective spell on the Jolly Roger, effectively trapping Belle on board. He didn’t want to leave her if she was in danger, so had agreed to stay a while.

But naturally, all hell had broken loose when the good guy turned out to be the bad guy, a fight took place and Jekyll and Hyde had both ended up dead. Which of course left Regina believing that the only way to stop her evil half was for both of them to die. Emma wasn’t so convinced, and as the Savior she was determined to find a way to stop the Queen and not harm Regina. But right now, she just wanted to curl up on the couch with her boyfriend, order some take out, and maybe watch a movie before bed.

“I know,” Emma replied as she toed off her boots, letting them fall where they did. “I just wish there’d been another way to stop Jekyll and Hyde.” She shrugged out of her jacket which she tossed towards the coat rack next to the door but didn’t much care whether it actually landed there or not. When she looked back up at Killian he had an eyebrow raised and a crooked smile on his face.

“What?” she asked

“Nothing,” he answered, shaking his head and still smiling at her. “I just fancy observing you in your natural habitat.”

Emma gave him an indignant look. “Are you making fun of me?”

“Not at all, darling,” he assured her, his grin widening. “In fact, I find your untidiness charming.”

Emma’s face softened and she moved to stand closer to him. “I’ll pick them up in the morning, alright,” she promised with a slightly whine in her voice, “It’s been a long day and I’m tired.”

“It’s your house, Swan,” Killian replied, “who am I to judge?”

“Hey,” Emma said, taking his hook in her hand tugging him towards the living room, “this is our house now, and I want you to be happy here.”

She lead him over to the couch and he set the small chest he’d brought with him on the coffee table as they sat down. “You certainly pack light,” she teased. “Is that everything you have?”

“When you live on ship, that doesn’t leave much room for possessions,” he answered with a smile. “Even if you are the Captain and have the largest quarters on board. However, the things in this box are the ones most important to me, and I like to have them close.”

Emma slid closer to him and reached out to run her hand along the top of the box, taking in the carvings and dents worn into wood that had clearly seen better days. She looked from the box to Killian, smiling softly. “May I have the honor?” She asked, repeating the question he’d asked her about her own box of belongs.

“Of course, love,” he nodded.

Emma tenderly opened the box, and was greeted by quite an assortment of objects. Some of them she recognized for what they were, others she wasn’t sure about. But it was clear, even just looking at the items, that they had been around for centuries and she hoped someday he’d tell her the stories on how he had acquired all of them. The first item she picked up was a shark tooth, and she held it up to show Killian.

“So, did you wrestle a great white using only your hook?” She teased.

Killian chuckled. “Nothing of the sort,” he told her. “It was merely a trinket from a sailor I met in a port as a boy. He said it would bring me good luck, and us pirates are a rather superstitious lot, so I’ve held on to it. Just in case,” he said, giving her a wink.

Emma smiled and put the tooth back in the box. Next she pulled out a rather old and weathered piece of paper that was rolled and tied with a ribbon. She opened it up to reveal a charcoal sketch of a woman she recognized as Milah. Emma had only seen her in Underworld, where she had looked a bit tired and worn from years of serving her penance for having turned her back on her son. But this drawing was clearly a younger Milah, who looked quite happy.

She looked from the sketch to Killian, and saw him looking at the drawing his jaw a bit tight and that slightly twitch he got in his cheek when she knew he was holding back a bit of tension. Emma placed her hand over his brace, which drew his gaze to her. “Hey, it’s okay,” she assured him. “I know she meant a lot to you.”

“Thank you, love,” he said, giving her a small smile, and placed his hand over hers. “I only wish I’d a chance to see her one last time before Hades decided to push her into the River of Souls.”

“I know,” Emma nodded. “She wanted to see you, too. And I really wanted you both to have a chance to make amends. I feel terrible.”

Killian sighed and nodded. “Perhaps we still will someday.”

Emma leaned in to place a kiss on his cheek before putting the drawing back, and pulling out a few of the coins from the bottom. “I thought pirates buried their treasure,” she teased. “What are these, your ‘seven pieces of eight’?”

“I’ve no idea what that is,” Killian said, giving her a confused look. “How can you have seven pieces of eight?”

“Never mind,” Emma shook her head. “It’s just a silly thing from a movie. So, are they doubloons or what?”

“Actually,” he replied, taking one gold coin and one silver from her hand, “they, like the shark tooth are a bit of a sailor's good luck charm. Before leaving port for a journey, you would throw a few coins into the ocean as an offering to Neptune, God of the Sea, in hopes of a safe voyage. Then, you’d take a gold coin,” he held one up, “and placed in the keep of the ship for good luck. The silver,” he held up the other coin, “was placed below the mast to ward off storms and keep your crew safe.”

Emma took the coins, turning the over in her hands. “Wow, you pirates are a superstitious bunch,” she said. “Though, I suppose when one is sailing in a realm after The Dark One, you need all the good luck charms you can get.”

“Aye,” Killian smiled. “Not that they were any match for him really.”

Emma put the coins back, and reached for another item, one that was more familiar. “Alright, I definitely know what this is,” she said, holding up a compass. “But I’m betting you didn’t have to fight Cora to get this one.”

“No,” he chuckled. “Actually, it was a gift from Liam. He bought it for me when we were still rather young lads, just before he joined the navy,” he explained. “I begged him to let me come with him, but I was still two years too young.” He took the compass from her, turning it over in his hand. “It’s broken though, I er...might have thrown against the wall of the captain’s quarters one night in a drunken rage. It wasn’t one of my best moments.”

“Well all have those,” Emma told him. “But you aren’t that man anymore, and you know your brother is in a better place. Even if I still don’t think he was a big a fan of me.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Killian scoffed. “He was just protecting me, like he always did. Given time you would have grown on him. Just as you grew on me,” he winked.

“I don’t know,” Emma took the compass from him and placed it back in the box. “But I’m glad you made peace with him and he’s in a better place.”

“As am I,” he agreed. “But I know he’d happy and, despite what you think, I know he’d want us to be happy.”

Emma smiled softly and turned to the box, closing the lid. All the objects tucked safely back in place, Emma closed the lid of the trunk, her hand lingering on the lid. The more she’d gotten to know Killian over the years, she realized how much they really had in common. It was no wonder she’d felt drawn to him almost from the beginning, which is what initially made her pull away. She hadn’t wanted someone getting too close, because she was certain it would only end in heartache when he figured out how broken she was and, sooner or later, he’d leave because he didn’t want to deal with the broken lost girl.

But he hadn’t gone away, even when she’d tried to push him. Instead he broke down her walls, helped her to heal, and had taught her how to open her heart again. He made her feel vulnerable, yet safe enough to tell him her deepest secrets and know he wasn’t going to use them against her. Rather, he comforted her and slowly but surely, she had begun to heal. She trusted him more than anyone.

It was that trust and love that had brought them to this next stage of their relationship. Killian moving in. Yes, Emma was nervous she was going to do something to screw it up, but more than anything she was happy. Happy and excited to start this new chapter of their story, where she got to wake up beside him every morning, and kiss him every night before they went to sleep.

She felt his hand come to rest over hers and realized she must have been lingering too long in her thoughts. She turned to look at him with a soft smile.

“Everything alright, love?” He asked, looking at her with a bit of concern in his eyes.

Emma leaned in and gave him a quick kiss. “Everything is perfect,” she assured him. “Thank you for letting me rummage through your box.”

“Any time, love,” he smiled warmly at her. “But, something is clearly on your mind. Care to share, Swan?” He asked, raising those eyebrows and giving her a look that he knew she was having deep thoughts. She always was an open book to him.

Emma sighed. “I was just thinking about far we’ve come to get to this step,” she answered truthfully. “But, I’m nervous I’m going to screw something up, or you’re going to get tired of me being a slob, or hogging the bed and decide it’s too much and you want to move back onto your ship.”

Killian just laughed softly and used his hook to reach up and brush a stray strand of hair behind her hear. “Emma, you’re not going screw anything up,” he assured her. “ I enjoy your...what did Henry call it? Ah, yes, your ‘quirks,’ at least those I’m aware of so far. I look forward to learning more of them, and I hope you’ll learn to love mine. As for hogging the bed,” Killian slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer, “you’re welcome to hog the bed any time. It simply means we get to be closer.”

“Okay, Romeo,” Emma laughed, “I got it. What say we order some takeout and then see just how much you enjoy me hogging the bed? I’m exhausted.”

“I think that sounds lovely,” he smiled and placed a kiss on her forehead.

“Good, I’ll order the food, you get the wine out of the fridge.”

It might not have been their most romantic night, but they enjoyed it nevertheless, and there would be plenty of nights in their future for romance, once Emma figured out this vision of her dying, stopping it, and enjoying her life with the man she loved and her family by her side.

[lilacmoon83]

The Best Gift is You

@charmingfamilysecretsanta

Merry Christmas JustMeandMyKeyboard! I'm your Charming Family Secret Santa. I know you’re not on Tumblr, but I’m posting this here for everyone to enjoy. Also available on FF.net and AO3.

Your prompt was: Emma drives herself crazy to pick out the perfect gift for her parents. Thinking she's found it, she risks sneaking out in the worst snowstorm the east coast has seen in years...promptly getting stuck in her bug in the freezing cold of a December night. Snowing to the rescue!

I hope you enjoy what I came up with! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

The Best Gift is You

It had finally happened. Storybrooke was in a state of non crisis. There were no curses this year or snow monsters to vanquish. Gold hadn't cause a lick of trouble since the final battle ended and there were no other villains stomping around trying to wreck havoc. No Evil Queen, no Hyde, no Cruella De Vil and no Hades. Just peace. Peace at last and a bit of normal in a not so normal town.

Despite David's lamentation that a Thanksgiving dinner with this large extended family might, quote, suck, it was actually quite pleasant. They had celebrated with a large dinner at the Charming farmhouse with both the Mills and Golds in attendance.

It had been the absolute best Thanksgiving Emma had ever experienced for sure, especially since most of her Thanksgiving dinners before Storybrooke involved pop-tarts and sodas. Even after she got out of prison and started making a good living as a bail bonds person, she hadn't bothered with more than Chinese takeout on the big Turkey day.

Going from that to this large family gathering was a bit intimidating sometimes, but with all the danger around them swept away and her acceptance of her parents, it had been a Thanksgiving like she used to dream of when she was a kid; the kind you only saw on Television. Only this was much better. And it only got better as the Christmas season began. The day after Thanksgiving, Emma began thinking about what to get her parents for Christmas. They were going all out of course with decorations and Christmas shopping. She wondered if it was a good or bad thing that she had introduced them to online shopping.

The digital camera she had urged her father to buy her mother for their anniversary was working overtime, but at least it made her stop using the Polaroid. She often teased her about how she and Neal were going to go blind from all the flashing. But it made her wish she could give her parents things from her childhood. That's when she wondered if it was more possible to get some of those thought to be lost mementos, after all. This was the age of the Internet, after all, as she was fond of reminding her parents.

She started first by contacting the first group home she had been in after her first family had given her up when she was three. She got the run around at first and after calling for a straight week, someone finally took pity on her and agreed to speak with her.

She learned that her social worker might the only one to have anything or know what became of any of her personal items. She knew anything she made in school or projects were gone. But there was a chance, however slim, that a few baby items might have survived somewhere.

Unfortunately, her social worker was retired now, but thanks to the Internet, Emma found her. She was still living in Boston and agreed to meet with Emma at a restaurant in Boston. The day before Christmas Eve, it was all planned. Emma told her parents she was making a quick day trip to Boston, under the guise that she was getting something special for Henry. They offered to go with her, but she told them she'd be fine. Her father warned her that the weather might not hold out, as a storm system was moving in, but she insisted that she'd be back long before the storm hit. Emma Swan had faced the worst of villains, so she was determined that a snow storm wasn't going to stop her.

She arrived in Boston that day around lunchtime and met with her social worker. She was a nice woman and so Emma was happy to regale her with the information that she had found her birth parents. She modified much of the story for obvious reasons, but told her that they hadn't abandoned her by choice and had done so to save her life. The now elderly woman was extremely happy to hear such, for not many of her cases always had happy endings.

She then apologized to Emma for not having much and despite telling herself not to get her hopes up, she felt her heart sink when only a shoe box was presented to her. It was a miracle that anything survived though and she was trying to calm her emotions, as she opened the shoe box. But her heart instantly lifted at what she saw inside.

They were a bit beat up, but there were a pair of little white baby shoes and a wallet sized baby picture that was still in fairly good condition. And finally, there was a hospital ID bracelet that was a little tattered, but she could still make out the words Baby Emma on it.

"This is perfect...thank you so much," she thanked the woman profusely. They shared a hug and the woman warned Emma that a storm system was moving in. The blonde promised to leave in time to beat it home, but she simply had a few more stops to make before she could head back. One of those stops was at a photo store where they were able to scan her picture, clean it up digitally, and enlarge it. She made an 8x10, a couple 5x7 sized ones, and several 4x6 sized ones as well. They even had the option of making magnets and mugs. Emma couldn't resist and had them pull a picture of Neal from her phone as well, so she could put them both on mugs, magnets, and key chains for her parents. She paid for all her pictures and merchandise, before climbing back into the bug.

She still had to clean up the baby shoes and bronze them. Normally bronzing baby shoes involved sending them away for weeks to get them done, but she would be able to do that herself when she got home to Storybrooke with a little magic. So it was time to finally head back.

She ran by a coffee shop for a quick coffee for the road and began the four hour drive home to Storybrooke. She was so excited that she had the absolute perfect gifts for them that she was blasting Christmas music over the radio the whole way home.

Unfortunately, she probably should have been listening to the forecast, for about two hours in, she ran into the mother of all snow storms.

From then on, it was white knuckle driving along the treacherous highway and the bug was notoriously bad in the snow. Her Dad had been prodding her lately to let him put snow tires on it and she so wished she had let him do so right now. Six hours into what should have been a four hour trip, Emma's bug skidded over the town line. She felt relief, thinking she was home free at this point, but the treachery of the town line would get her as it had so many before. She lost control on a patch of black ice and skidded into the ditch. She banged her head on the steering wheel and her vision swam, as she raised her hand. But the sparks of magic only fizzled, for it was impossible for her to make her magic cooperate without a clear head. So she turned to technology next and found her phone, with no signal of course.

"Dammit…" she cursed, as she huddled in the cold bug. She had two options now. Walk home in the blustering storm or stay in the bug and wait to be found.

Snow gazed out the window, watching the fierce snow storm batter their town with worry in her eyes. Emma was two hours late...two hours and Snow's mind was a flurry of horrible scenarios and worry for her daughter.

"David…" she called back. He had nearly paced a hole in the floor himself.

"I know...she should have been home by now. I'm going to find her," he finally decided, as he grabbed his coat. Snow wanted to go too, but one of them had to stay with Neal and David's truck did the best in the snow.

"Come on Wilby," he called, as the dog to his side and Snow kissed him tenderly.

"I'll find her, Snow," he promised and she watched helplessly, as he ventured out into the raging storm. Neal cooed at her, as he gummed his teething ring.

"Daddy will find Emma, sweetheart. He'll find her," she promised, as she cuddled her baby close.

Emma tried turning the key again, but the engine refused to turn over.

"Oh dammit...dammit...dammit…" she cursed, as she smacked the steering wheel. She got out of the car and stomped around in the snow, as she tried to decide what to do. She was freezing already and knew she should stay where she was, but she just wanted to get home so badly. She climbed around the snow packed bug to try and get the box in the back to take with her when she felt a pain in her ankle.

"Ow…" she cried, as looked down and saw that she was caught between the car and some icy covered snow.

"Ouch...dammit, this night couldn't get any worse!" she cried, as she tried to free her ankle and started to sniff, as she realized she was stuck in the snow outside her car. She wasn't someone who cried, but since the moment she hit the town line, nothing had gone right. She should have known though that the family motto would lead her father right to her, but she was still surprised when she saw his truck roll up.

"Emma!" he called.

"Dad…" she cried in relief, as he climbed down into the ditch.

"Oh Emma...do you have any idea how worried we were?" he said, as he hugged her tightly and cradled her head. She sighed in relief, as she hugged him back.

"I'm sorry...I really thought I could beat the storm. It was stupid," she sniffed. He smiled and wiped a few of her tears away.

"No...you're not stupid and I'm just so glad you're okay. Your mother is pacing a hole in the floor at home," he said, as he gently freed her ankle.

"Looks like we better go to the hospital and have your ankle looked at," he mentioned.

"No...please Dad, I just want to go home," she pleaded.

"Emma…" he started to scold.

"Really...I think it's only twisted. I'm sure Mom has all the stuff to treat it and you know how much she will love to fuss over me," she reasoned. He sighed.

"Okay...but if we find out it's broken, you're going to the hospital immediately," he relented, as he lifted her into his arms and climbed out of the ditch.

"Oh no...there's a box I need in the backseat," she cried, as he put her in the truck.

"I'm having Mr. Tillman tow the bug out of the ditch. We can get it tomorrow, I promise," he replied.

"But...it has the most perfect gift for you and Mom in it," she lamented.

"Oh princess...don't you know by now?" he asked.

"Know what?" she grumbled.

"You're the most perfect gift we could ever have," he replied, as he kissed her forehead. She sniffed, as he got into the truck and slowly drove them home.

When her father carried her into the house, the relief on her mother's face was palpable and she immediately started fussing, just as Emma knew she would. Her father took Neal and put him in his swing, while Snow went about getting her wet coat off and started wrapping her ankle. David got her some aspirin for her headache. She let it slip that she bumped her head, but since she didn't have any nausea or other symptoms, they were pretty sure she didn't have a concussion.

After her mother was done, she wrapped a blanket around her daughter's shoulders and her father served them all hot cocoa.

"I'm sorry guys...I shouldn't have tried to beat the storm," she said.

"Why did you go to Boston today?" Snow asked curiously.

"Because I needed to find the perfect gift for you and Dad. And I did...it's in the bug," she replied.

"Oh Emma...I'm sure whatever you got us is lovely, but you're our true gift. We only just found you and we can't lose you again," Snow said.

"I know...I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking," Emma replied.

"Honey, you don't have to apologize. We're just glad you're okay," Snow said, as she hugged her daughter again and Charming kissed her hair.

"I love you guys," she said.

"We love you too, Princess. Having you with us for Christmas is the best gift we could ever get," he replied.

With the help of Henry, the next day, he was able to go get the box out of the bug for her, since Snow refused to let her lift a finger, never mind actually leaving the house. Henry brought the box to her and together, they wrapped what she had brought back from Boston.

"You know, you're going to make them cry, right?" he asked, as he looked at the little booties. She smiled.

"That's the plan," she replied, as they finished wrapping and put them under the tree.

Christmas Eve night came quickly and the Charming Mills clan gathered for a Christmas eve potluck of Regina's famous lasagna, Snow's wonderful cheddar broccoli soup, and David's amazing Christmas cookies, a recipe his mother had made when they had the money for the ingredients. Emma contributed the eggnog and made the hot cocoa with cinnamon, while Zelena made an assortment of delicious finger foods.

After they were all stuffed and content, they gathered around the living room to exchange gifts. Emma could barely pay attention to her gifts though when her parents got to the one addressed to them both from her.

"Is this the gift you went to Boston for?" Snow asked. She simply nodded and watched impatiently, as they tore the paper together. They smiled at each other and opened the box, as they peered inside. Their faces went slack and their eyes went wide, as Snow pulled out the tiny little booties and Charming picked up the little hospital bracelet.

"Emma...these were yours when you were a baby?" Snow asked in disbelief. She nodded.

"That's why I went to Boston. I met with my old social worker and I'm afraid, not much survived. But the booties, the bracelet, and a small picture did. So I took the picture and had it digitized. They cleaned up the graininess and digitally remastered it. Then I had a bunch of copies made," she said, as she felt the tears gather in her eyes. Her parents were already crying, as they gazed at the photos.

"You...you are beautiful. Just like you were in my vision," David said in awe, as he looked between the picture and their grown daughter.

"Oh...you made mugs and key chains too…" Snow cried. Emma smirked.

"Yeah, you two seem like the types of parents that will put their kids' pictures on any surface available, so I put the squirt on the mugs and key chains too," she replied.

"Oh...I love this. And I love these," Snow said, as she held the booties and one of the mugs.

"Oh Emma...this is all so wonderful," David added, as he kept looking at the baby picture of her in pure awe that only a father could have.

"I love you guys...you're the best parents anyone could ever have. I just wish it hadn't taken so long for us to be together," she said, as she hugged them both and David cradled her head.

"Oh baby...we love you too," Snow cried.

"We wish that too, Princess. But I think we'll be able to make the best of all the years we do have left together," David said wistfully, as he gazed into Snow's misty eyes and then at their daughter. Neal cooed in Snow's arms and Emma leaned over and kissed his little head.

"We have amazing parents, kid. You're going to grow up and have everything I didn't. But that's okay, you know. I'm really glad I found them so they could have you…" she said, as she teared up and they teared up too.

"Merry Christmas, Mom and Dad," she said.

"Merry Christmas Emma," they replied together, as they held their babies close and shared a tender kiss.

It may have taken them a long time to get to this point, but finally being together as a family was well worth the journey.