Bringing Emma home
Once Upon A Time
Emma Swan ~ Swan Queen ~ Regina Mills
This is written for QueenUnderTheM who gave the below prompt.
Prompt:What if it wasn't just Hook who back went to rescue Emma, but Regina as well?
It's been a year in FTL. Everyone's given up hope of ever getting back to Storybrooke, especially Regina. Hook has found a way and takes Regina with him on the Jolly Roger to go and find Emma. Once they get to New York, Regina locates Emma but she chickens out once they get there, sending Hook in instead.
Hook is aware of how Regina feels towards Emma, after examining her for the past year yet he still harbours feelings for her as well. When he see's Emma he kisses her hoping to break the new curse and revive her memories with true love but it doesn't work. He doesn't know what to do until he realizes that it must be Regina who truly loves Emma. Now he has to get her admit it/ make Emma remember.
I didn't follow the prompt exactly but I love where I went with it. Hope you all enjoy my take on what happens after 3x11 Going home.
I wrote this story listening to Salvation by Gabrielle Aplin. I suggest listening to it while reading this.
Salvation
You are the avalanche
One world away
My make believing
While I'm wide awake
Just a trick of light
To bring me back around again
Those wild eyes
A psychedelic silhouette
I never meant to fall for you but I
Was buried underneath and
All that I could see was white
My salvation
My, my
My salvation
My, my
You are the snowstorm
I'm purified
The darkest fairytale
In the dead of night
Let the band play out
As I'm making my way home again
Glorious we transcend
Into a psychedelic silhouette
I never meant to fall for you but I
Was buried underneath and
All that I could see was white
My salvation
My, my
My salvation
My, my
My salvation
My, my
My salvation
My, my
Regina and Hook held on tightly to the ropes supporting the Jolly Roger while swirls of green passed them whirling the ship around the vortex as they made their escape from the Enchanted forest.
"Hold on, Love. Almost there!" Hook shouted while He quickly moved grabbing the wheel of the ship.
Regina glanced towards him then turned back when a bright white light surrounded them before they popped out of the whirlpool.
Regina sighed with relief when the ship righted itself and the sea around them became calm. She released the roped and bent forward resting her hands on her knees while catching her breathe.
"We made it." Hook declared while he moved to the side of the ship and looked out with a smirk on his face.
Regina turned and smiled back at him when the fog around them lifted revealing the statue of Liberty and the New York sky line. "Yes we did." She breathed out.
"It won't take us long to dock. Do you have the invisibility spell ready for the ship?" Hook asked
Regina nodded her head while she took out a glass veil from her pocket and poured it on the side of the ship. The duo watched while a beam of purple light covered the entire ship before it faded.
"Lets go get the saviour and your son." Hook declared while her spun the wheel, turning the ship towards the city.
Regina stood still watching them close the gap between themselves and the city. Scanning her eyes along the skyline of New York, Regina grew nervous knowing her Son and his Mother were in their somewhere with no idea who she was.
The plan for Regina and Hook to travel back to Earth was a split minute decision made by the Royal council that consisted of Snow White, David, Regina, Granny, Red, Belle, Hook, Neal, the Fairies and the Dwarfs.
The witch, Elphaba had wrecked havoc on the Enchanted forest since the curse broke. When the inhabits of Storybrooke returned home, a war had quickly begun, Snows forces and Regina's magic proved to be no match for Elphaba.
"We need help here, I can't defeat her alone. We need more magic." Regina declared holding the bridge of her nose to warn off a headache.
"There is no one. Rumple is gone.." Snow stated before she smiled sadly at Belle and Neal. "The only other person with magic who could have helped is Emma."
Regina whipped her head up at the mention of Emma's name. "Well, that's not an option is it!" She spat out angrily.
Snow sighed. "I miss them too, Regina." Snow said understanding where Regina's anger rooted from.
Regina glanced away gritting her teeth while she dug her hands into the edge of the table.
"I might be able to help with that." The blue fairy said nervously.
Everyone's heads whipped round to face her.
"I received word from Tiny. He has been growing beans again up in his kingdom." The blue fairy announced.
"What?! Why didn't you say anything sooner! I have been without my daughter and grandson for over a year now!" Snow said angrily
"He has only grown 2 beans so far. Most of the crops have died, Snow. There is no guarantee that any more beans will grow." The blue fairy explained, begging with her eyes for Snow to understand.
"We understand, Blue." David said.
"We need those beans, Blue." Snow stated
"OK. I will go collect them now." Blue replied.
"I will go with you." Tinkerbell announced before she rubbed Regina's arm in comfort and understanding.
Regina offered her a small smile before she left.
"I offer my ship to go and collect Swan and Henry." Hook stated.
"I'm going too." Said Snow.
"Snow, you are needed here to control the army. You are the Queen. I will go." Regina explained.
Snow opened her mouth to speak but stopped and simply nodded her head. "Bring my daughter to me." Snow whispered.
Regina nodded her head and offered her a small smile.
"We can locate them with the globe on my ship but it won't directly point out their whereabouts." Hook explained
"Leave that to me." Regina declared while she puffed the map Pan gave to Emma in Neverland. "The map is still set to locate Henry. With a few tweaks, I will use it to find them."
Once the Jolly Roger was docked. Regina stepped on the dock and looked down at the map and frowned when it was still blank. She expected it to work once they arrived here.
"Lead the way, Love." Hook said while joining her.
"It's not working!" Regina said through gritted teeth while her hands clenched around the map.
"Well if I remember, Emma had to admit who she really was before she got the map to work, perhaps you have to do the same." Hook explained
Regina sighed. "You're not as stupid as you look." Regina quipped
"I'll take that as a compliment" He said chuckling. "OK. So start talking. Who are you, Regina?"
Regina closed her eyes and exhaled a deep breathe. "I'm Regina Mills. Daughter of Cora and Henry Mills." Regina glanced down at the map that was still blank.
"Keep going." Hook encouraged.
"I'm the Evil Queen of the Enchanted forest. I'm the former Mayor of Storybrooke."
Still nothing.
"I'm a mother."
Nothing.
"I have killed hundreds of innocent people. A collector of hearts."
Still nothing.
"This is useless. Its not working!" Regina spat out angrily
"You need to keep going. Emma had to declare that she is an orphan, a lost girl. What are you Regina?"
"I am nothing! I have nothing! I lost Daniel, I lost Henry, I lost.." She paused and looked away.
"You lost Emma. You won't find her until you say it." Hook pressed on
"Say what?" Regina whispered with wide eyes
"What you feel. What you are. We have been in each others company for over a year, Regina. You have moped around the Enchanted forest like a love sick puppy. You don't just miss Henry and you know it. I know Love when I see it. You make powerful magic together, You have a bond through Henry. You gave them a happy ending. The Evil Queen wouldn't have done that. Why did you?"
Regina looked up at him while a tear ran down her cheek. "Because I love her. I love Emma."
Hook glanced down at the map "You are her..."
"I'm the Saviours true love." She whispered.
Hook smiled sadly. "You did it."
Regina's head lowered to the map and she gasped when the map of New York appeared along with a small X and a dot appeared.
"Lead the way." He said.
Regina nodded her head and followed the map.
The closer the dot got to the X, the faster Regina's heart hammered in her chest. She wiped a sweaty palm against her jacket and paused when they arrived outside a building. "They are here." She declared folding the map and placing it in her pocket.
"OK, lets go get them." Hook said walking into the entrance. He glanced at Regina who was frozen in her spot.
"I can't. They won't know who I am." Regina whispered sadly.
"You need to make them remember." Hook replied.
Regina shook her head.
"Fine, I will go." Hook stated before he turned and walked into the building.
Regina watched him go before she walked into the foyer. Noticing the mail boxes, she ran her finger over the one that read "Swan".
20 minutes passed before Hook returned holding his groan. Regina raised an eyebrow. "What happened."
Hook sighed. "She doesn't remember me and she kneed me in my nuts when I.." Hook paused and swallowed hard when he noticed the death glare Regina was wearing.
"What did you do?" Regina hissed out
"I kiss her.. I don't know why. I know she is your true love and all but I.. I missed her too. I wasn't thinking. I'm sorry." Hook explained holding up his hands in surrender.
Regina's eyes narrowed. "You fool!" Regina shouted stepping closer to Hook with clenched fists.
"Regina, we can fix this. She did pause for a split second when she saw me. I know she recognised me a little. I'm sure of it." Hook explained.
Regina sighed and lowered her hands. "Keep your hands to yourself in future or there will be nothing between your legs to attack next time, got it!" Regina threatened.
"Got it, Love. No need to threaten my junk." Hook said protecting manhood with his hands.
Regina smirked and relaxed slightly.
"So, now what?" Hook asked
Regina opened her mouth to speak but paused when she heard a familiar voice coming down the stairs. Turning she saw Henry and Emma giggling when they made their way down the stairs. Regina swallowed back a sob when she noticed how much taller Henry was. Her eyes then settled on the blonde and her breath caught in the back of her throat.
Emma paused when she saw the man who was just outside her apartment. "You! Why are you still here!" She asked angrily while she pulled Henry towards her protectively.
Hook raised his hands in surrender. "We mean you no harm, Lass. We just really need to talk to you." He explained.
Emma then turned to look at Regina and her eye brows creased in confusion while she took in the Regina's face.
"Kid, wait outside for me." Emma said pushing Henry towards the door.
Emma waited until Henry was outside before she turned back to the two strangers.
"Look, whatever this is, I don't want any part in it. You both need to leave me alone before I call the police." Emma said angrily before she turned to walk away.
"No! Wait please. Just give me half an hour of your time." Regina said begging.
Emma turned to her and sighed taking in the desperate look on the woman's face.
"Fine. Let me take my son to school and I will met you in the diner across the street in half an hour." Emma replied before she left.
Hook and Regina shared a smile before they followed Emma out the building. Regina watched them walking away and witnessed Henry turning back with a strange expression on his face before he smile at her.
Regina felt her heart flutter and smiled back.
"Good going, Love." Hook said rubbing her arm.
"Yes well, now the hard part, getting Emma to remember." Regina said sighing.
Regina sighed when she glanced at the clock in the dinner and noticed 50 minutes had pasted.
"I don't think she is coming. I should have known she wouldn't show up." Regina said sighing.
"Don't speak too soon. She just walked in." Hook said while he stood from his seat. "Good luck." He announced before he walked away to give them privacy.
"Sorry I'm late, morning traffic." Emma explained while she took a seat.
"It's fine. I ordered us something to drink, I hope you don't mind." Regina stated before the waitress arrived placing a coffee in front of Regina and a hot chocolate with whipped cream in front of Emma.
Emma raised her eyebrow when she glanced down at the hot chocolate.
"Thanks." She said before turning to the waitress "Excuse me, do you have any..."
Emma paused when the waitress placed cinnamon on the table next to her and smiled before she walked away.
"I know you like Cinnamon so..." Regina's voice trailed off while her cheeks flamed.
Emma watched her for a few moments before she sprinkled cinnamon on top of her whipped cream.
"How did you know I like cinnamon?" Emma asked.
Regina took a sip of her coffee while collecting herself.
"I know you. I have for sometime except you don't remember me."
"How?" Emma asked.
"Well that will take quite a while to explain and not something I can simply blurt out in public." Regina said glancing around the busy diner.
Emma sat back in her seat and tilted her head to the side. "Henry said you looked familiar to him. He asked if he knew you when he was younger." Emma stated.
Regina smiled and swallowed the lump in her throat. "Have you ever seen anything that reminded you of someone or some place but you couldn't remember who or where?" Regina asked her and watched as Emma's eyes widened in understanding.
"You eyes." Emma whispered.
Regina's eye widen in shock. "My eyes?"
Emma nodded. " Your eyes seem so familiar. Your necklace too." Emma said confused
"My necklace?" Regina repeated while she lifted her hand to touch the dream catcher pendant around her neck.
"Dream catchers. I can't explain it. I have them hanging all around my apartment. I was told they warn off nightmares but that's not really why. I only started buying them the past year. I had one when I was younger but now... I don't know what that means." Emma explained talking more to herself than Regina.
"I just buy them impulsively without thinking about it. I noticed your necklace in my foyer. That is why I agreed to meet you." Emma explained
"I may be able to show you something, but I need one of your dream catchers." Regina explained.
"OK. Lets go." Emma replied.
Regina nervously followed Emma into her apartment and looked around. Noticing a fairy tale book on the shelf, she picked it up and turned to Emma.
"What if I told you that everything in this book is real. Well not everything but the basis for the stories were real." Regina explained.
"I would say you were as crazy as Henry." Emma said chuckling. "He loves that book and believes that all stories come from somewhere."
Regina smiled at that. "Hook told you your family were in danger."
"I don't have a family. Its just me and Henry."
"You were raised in the foster system I know." Regina replied which made Emma raise her eyebrows in shock.
"Your parents gave you up to save you from a curse I casted and sent you here. When you were 18 you had Henry and gave him up for adoption. I adopted him and raised him for 10 years before he found you and brought you to Storybrooke where all the characters from this book lived, including your parents. They didn't know who they were but you broke the curse helping everything remember who they were. Last year a new curse was cast so you and Henry left to escape it. I gave you new memories. Memories of you and henry always being together." Regina explained.
Emma stood in front of her with a blank expression. "Get out." Emma said while her face twisted with anger. "Get out of my home!" Emma took hold of Regina's arm and pulled her to the door.
"Emma please. Use your superpower!" Regina said quickly which caused Emma to drop her arm and turned looking shocked at the other woman.
"Have I lied once since I've been here?" Regina asked
Emma paused "Just because you believe something doesn't make it real." Emma stated.
"Actually it does." Regina said
Emma opened her mouth to speak but stopped when she had de ja vu.
"Let me just show you with the dream catcher." Regina begged.
Emma nodded her head and watched as Regina took the dream catcher from the window and pulled something from her pocket.
"What is that?" Emma asked.
"It won't hurt you, its just a little magic I brought with me." Regina explained while she poured fairy dust on the dream catcher. She lifted the dream catcher and ran it over her form and pasted it to Emma.
"Now concentrate on the centre of the catcher and will my memories to appear. The catcher will show you everything." Regina explained.
"This is crazy" Emma mumbled but held the catcher out in front of her anyway.
Emma stared at the dream catcher for a few minutes with no success. "This is crazy." Emma said.
"You need to believe, Emma." Regina said while she wrapped her hand around Emma's arm.
Emma gasped when a spark travelled down her arm and into her hand and the dream catcher glowed a bright golden colour before dozens of scenes played out on the surface. Snow White and Charming's wedding, the curse, Storybrooke. Regina and baby Henry, Emma arriving in Storybrooke with Henry. Henry in hospital, Emma breaking the curse, Neverland and then Regina giving Emma and Henry new memories before the images faded out of Regina arriving back in Fairytale land.
Emma dropped the catcher and took a step back.
"Emma?" Regina whispered while he watched Emma's eye fill with tears.
"It can't be true. I remember holding Henry when he was born, His first laugh, his first step, his first word, his first day of school.. now you're telling me that none of that was real! Just planted memories." Emma said shaking her head while she fell to her knees as tears rained down her face.
"I'm sorry, Emma. I didn't want to tell you this. I wanted you and Henry to have a good life together but we need you back in the Enchanted forest. Your parent's life's are in danger."
"Why? Why would you care about me? Henry I understand, but why me. From what I just saw in that thing you hated me." Emma said desperately
"I don't hate you, quite the opposite in fact." Regina whispered while she knelled beside the blonde, her own eyes watered with tears.
Emma looked up into her eyes. "You love me?" She whispered.
"Yes. I do." Regina whispered back while she slowly leaned closer to Emma. Their lips inches from each other while watery eyes locked onto sea green. Emma's eyes lowered to Regina's lips before she looked back up into brown orbs.
Regina whispered. "I love you, Emma Swan." before she closed the gap and softly kissed the blonde.
Emma's eyes widened when a bright light sparked from their lips and ran out in all directions. Emma broke the kiss with a gasp when her eyes blinked a few times before she leaned forward and captured Regina's lips in another kiss.
"Regina." She whispered against her lips smiling before she pulled the other woman in a bone crushing hug. "I love you too." Emma declared in a whisper in the brunettes ear.
"You remember?!" Regina gasped while pulling back from the hug.
Emma simply nodded while she took hold of Regina's hands in her own. "I do. I can't believe you came for me."
"I would have come sooner if I had a way." Regina explained while wiping tears from Emma's cheeks.
Emma smiled widely. "Lets go get our son and go home."
"OK." Regina said laughing.
Emma and Regina waited outside Henry's school. Emma glanced at Regina who looked nervous. She pulled her into a hug. "Hey, don't be nervous. He'll be thrilled to see you." Emma said softly before she kissed the top of Regina's head.
Regina smiled and turned towards the school when they heard the bell ring.
They watched hundred of kids filter out of the doors before Regina saw a familiar head of brown hair and a red and grey scarf wrapped around Henry's neck. She moved forward and ran towards him.
"Mom!" Henry cried out when he spotted her and ran towards her.
Regina wrapped her arms around him and held on tightly as he hugged back just as tightly. "Hello, My prince." She whispered while she kissed his forehead.
"You came back for us! I knew you would!" He declared. "How did you break the curse? How did you get us to remember?" He asked
Regina's cheeks reddened and she glanced at Emma.
"We.. umm.. we.. kinda kissed." Emma mumbled
"True loves kiss! I knew it!" Henry said excitedly
"What?" Emma and Regina said at the same time.
"The day of Pan's curse I knew you two loved each other. I could just tell! I knew you would come back for us, Mom."
Regina smiled.
"Where is Hook?" Henry asked.
"He is waiting on his ship. We need to go back to the Enchanted forest." Regina explained.
Once the ship arrived back in the Enchanted forest, Emma and Henry looked out seeing familiar faces waiting for them on the dock. Emma grabbed Regina's hand and smiled.
"Welcome home, My love." Regina said smiling.
"Home." Emma thought smiling.
The end.
I hope you all enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!
If you have the time please review :-)
Much love
KQ xx