A/N: So I'm trying out a new fandom. It has totally become my obsession. I would do nearly anything to be the Evil Queen's minion, sex slave, whatever else she needed. I adore her. Especially the looks she gives. Even more impressive than Janeway's. I got this idea stuck in my head after hearing I Run to You by Lady Antebellum on Pandora today at work. I listened to nothing but that song during the hour long drive home and pretty much had what I wanted to do with the story down by the time I hit my back door. I sat down and wrote it out in just a few hours. So even if this isn't that great a story, I'm still proud of myself for finishing so quickly. It usually takes me weeks. I also wanted to note that several authors on this website have written about alternative ways to break the curse and this is my contribution cause I really like that idea. I hope you all like it. Please read and review because I sacrificed Skyrim time to write this. (BTW how awesome is that game?)
I also have a very rough idea on how I could continue this story if there seems to be enough interest. So let me know if you would like to see more and thanks for taking the time to read this.
It was a quiet Sunday afternoon in the town of Storybrooke, and Emma Swan was stuck at the station. Long denim clad legs that ended in knee high boots were propped up on her desk as dexterous hands were threaded together behind her head in the pose of someone bored out of her mind. She was not sure if she should be grateful for the break after a long week or loath the silence she now found herself in. Paper work had long ago lost what little appeal it held and she was at a loss as to what to do next. There was sure to be a list somewhere of menial chores she could be doing around the station, but the silence had taken hold of her and she was unwilling to break it. Her life before Storybrooke had been loud and chaotic, filled with constant motion and new faces around every corner. It was how she liked it. It kept her from being able to examine her life too closely. Now that was the only thing that occupied her mind.
A year ago, to the day, was when her life had changed so drastically. A 10 year old boy showing up randomly on her door step claiming to be the son she had given up for adoption, and it being true, was bad enough. Throw in a small town ruled by an "Evil Queen" and towns people that knew every move everyone else made and said towns people were actually story book characters but didn't know that they were these fairy tale people. Now that was just too much. She still was unsure about the whole "Happily Ever After" land that Henry believed in so much, but it made him happy so she was willing to go along with it. Plus, it was kind of amusing to picture these people as fairy tales; especially Ruby. She was like no Red Ridding Hood Emma had ever heard of.
After being here for so long, though, she had to admit that she was starting to like it. People here were much nicer than they were back in the city and she had actually managed to make a few friends. A first for her. Even the "Evil Queen," also known as Mayor Regina Mills, had started to soften once she realized that Emma hadn't come in to town to steal away her son. A snort of amusement escaped the blonde as she thought back to her first meeting with the illustrious Madame Mayor. There was no doubt in her mind that if looks could kill she would have been a pile of ash the instant the Mayor set gorgeous brown eyes on her. Emma had been trying for years to cultivate that look with only moderate success. Hers was still nowhere near that level of cold disdain and superiority.
Luckily for her she had not been fried instantly and now she and Regina were actually on fairly friendly terms. That may be a bit of an understatement but it was the best she could think of at the moment. It had taken nearly half a year before the brunette would be anything close to civil with her. The change was subtle at first. The Mayor's tone wasn't so sharp and her words not so biting. Emma had been confused at first thinking that the brunette had grown bored of their little game. She'd actually been disappointed because no one else in town challenged her the way the Mayor did. Sometimes she even picked little fights just to feel that rush of adrenaline that came with taking on a worthy adversary. Then one day she noticed that the piercing steel that had always lain behind brown eyes when they looked at her was gone and the little smirk that graced full red lips was no longer of victory or derision but enjoyment. The Mayor liked their little game too!
From that day forward the game had changed. It was no longer about hurting the other to one up them. Now it was about who had the most clever come back or who got the last word in. The latter would usually be the Mayor. Being the boss definitely had its advantages. That didn't stop Emma though. Cell phones were very handy devices, especially when it came to pestering a certain mayor. A phone call here and there turned into a regular nightly occurrence within weeks. Those conversations were the best. Fewer barbs were traded and it had allowed the two women to get to know each other better than they might have been able to other wise. After that it was easier for the blonde to admit to herself just how attractive she found the brunette. How just hearing her voice sent chills down her spine and seeing the Mayor in a power suit, or anything really, made her knees weak. She wasn't an idiot and she was trying to be better about being honest with her self. She had a thing, big time, for Mayor Mills.
"Hell, I might even lo..." Fuck!
Emma had no idea that across town her thoughts were being mirrored by the Mayor herself. Sundays were the one day that Regina made absolutely sure she had no work to do that day. When Henry was younger, and still wanted to associate with her, she had used that time to take him to the movies, out for ice cream, to the park, or anywhere else he wanted to go. The whole day would be spent laughing and playing and telling each other silly stories. They'd had so much fun together back then. Back before he'd discovered the book of fairy tales and long before Emma.
Though that name no longer held the disgust it used to, a small part of Regina was still hurt by the fact that her son preferred his biological mother over the one that had raised him. As her friendship with the blonde grew that part lost its anger and was now just filled with sadness. Sadness over a son that would rather spend time alone in his room than be near her and sadness over a friendship that would only ever be that.
No one could have been more surprised than she was when she realized she no longer hated the blonde at all. Mr. Gold had been the only person in town that could even remotely be considered challenging. Half the time Regina just considered him annoying. Much like he always had been. The blonde had forced her to step up her game and hone her skills to a new level. She relished this new challenge and made sure she met it with a full arsenal. She'd spent a lifetime cultivating just the right body language, tone of voice, and evil look to get people to back down. She'd tried every variation of the three she could think on the younger woman and none of them had gotten her to leave town. Finally, she realized she didn't want Emma to leave. She like having her around. There was finally someone in town she could actually talk to that wouldn't just pander to her and kiss ass. That's when she decided to change their game.
Voice became lighter and eyes held a hint of mischievousness that the blonde was quick to catch on to. The friendship had formed and cemented over the following weeks. Neither would admit it, not even to each other, but both could tell that their relationship had taken on a whole other dynamic. They still put on a good show for the towns folk, though. It wouldn't do for the Mayor to appear too soft, but had anyone bothered to look beneath the surface they would have been shocked to find true affection on both sides. Even Henry still believed that they hated each other, but he could see that it no longer held the same intensity it had before. He was still young though, and Regina knew he'd eventually get it. He as a very smart boy after all. It wouldn't take him long to realize his mother not only like his blonde "mom," but might actually lo... Oh, fuck!
Across the distance of several miles two minds struck upon the same thought instantaneously. The world seemed to still as heartbeats stretched into minutes instead of seconds. As quickly as the feeling came, it left only to be followed by a low rumbling under their feet and a sharp crack above their heads. Emma jumped out of her chair and ran as fast as she could out the front door and onto the side walk. Confusion reigned for a moment as she looked upon the citizens of Storybrooke running as if the hounds of Hell were chasing them. Surely, she thought, a little thunder should not induce this much panic. A quick flash from the sky drew her gaze upward and now it all made sense. What had once been a clear blue sky with a few white puffy clouds here and there now had what looked to be a giant black scar running right over the town and it was slowly widening. In the few seconds it took her to react she could clearly see smaller fissures advancing across the sky from the main line. Terror gripped her heart as she took off in an all out sprint. Two words kept repeating themselves in her head as she dodged fallen limbs, stopped cars, and running towns folk.
Regina! Henry!
She had to get to them. Had to make sure that they were safe. She didn't know if this was the curse being broken, if the curse was even real, or if it was the bloody apocalypse. All she knew was that she had to make it to the two people that meant the most to her in this world. If this was going to be the end of them all, she needed to make sure they knew exactly how much she cared about them. Every one else would have to fend for themselves.
The low rumble and sharp crack brought Regina out of her trance and running to the front door. Panic swept through her as she took in the scene before her. She knew what it meant but not how or why. Emma! Short brown hair tossed behind her as she whipped her head around and yelled up the stairs.
"Henry!"
Some of her panic must have shown in her voice because the young boy was at the top of the stairs almost immediately and bounded down them at such a speed that at any other point in time would have gotten him a strong lecture. Right now there were more important things.
The brunette dropped to her knees in front of her son and grabbed both his shoulders to make sure she had his undivided attention and he could read the seriousness, and probably fear, in her eyes..
"Henry, I need you to listen closely to me. We have to leave right now. I don't have time to explain everything but we need to go and we are going to have to move quickly. I want you to hold my hand the entire time and stay close. I will protect you completely but you need to be near me for me to do that. Do you understand?"
He nodded quickly and Regina wasted no more time. She jumped to her feet, grabbed his hand in hers, and was out the door and half way down the sidewalk in a matter of seconds. She'd felt Henry hesitate slightly when they stepped over the threshold and gave a firm, but gentle tug on his arm to get him moving again. She was frustrated that she couldn't move as fast with Henry as she could by herself, his legs were just too short, but there was no way she was going to leave her child behind during this. Whether he liked it or not, he was still her son.
Everyone knew that Henry was a boy smarter than his 10 years. So even with all the upheaval and chaos around him it took him no time at all to figure out what was going on and why.
He still didn't know the how. Emma was supposed to be the White Knight but she wasn't anywhere near the house when all of this had started. That just didn't make any sense.
"Emma! Mom we need to find Emma! She's the White Knight. She can help us."
This definitely slowed down the Mayor but didn't stop her completely. She'd spent months trying to figure out Emma's place in this twisted little story they had going but had come up with nothing. In the end she figured Emma was just a distraction that Gold had cooked up to mess with her head and throw her off her game. White Knight was a possibility she hadn't even entertained. Must have been distracted by those pretty eyes, she thought. Always was a sucker for pretty eyes..
"You're sure," she asked sharply. They were nearly half way there and she was getting anxious that they might not find the blonde in time.
"Uh huh," Henry said nodding his head.
"She's the only one that can break the curse. There was supposed to be a huge battle between the two of you in the end. I don't know why it's happening now though."
Well shit. This complicates things. She figured that thought was best left unsaid.
"Well, that's where we're headed now. Hopefully she was still at the station when this all happened and we can..."
"LOOK!" Henry's shouted, interrupting her mid sentence.
She followed the direction his little hand was pointing and, sure enough, running right towards them was a familiar blonde head. Regina scooped Henry up into her arms quickly and took off as fast as she could with the extra weight. Brown and blue eyes stayed locked over the ever decreasing distance. When they were finally with in reach, three pairs of arms tangled together in a group hug.
Regina wasted no time and dipped her head slightly to kiss the blonde. It was slightly rough and fairly desperate but it was the best way she could think of to get her point across as quickly as possible. She felt Henry tense in her arms for a moment but he relaxed almost immediately. There was no resistance from blonde and she took that as permission to deepen the kiss. A warm hand cupped her face as they finally parted. Both women were panting slightly, not from the distance traveled in such a short amount of time, but from the emotion that had just flown between them. Love was clearly written in both their eyes but Regina had to say it. She had to make sure the blonde knew with out a doubt.
"I love you, Emma Swan. I do. I'm not sure what's going on... I mean I do, but I don't know why now." She cast a quick glance over her shoulder at the ever darkening sky. "I don't know where we will end up when this is all over or who... what I'll be like or if I'll even re... remember you but..."
Emma effectively silenced her rambling with a kiss as she held the brunette's face gently in both hands.
"Regina, no matter what happens, I will find you. Both of you. With any luck we will be together on the other side of wherever this takes us. Just know that I will not give up on you or our son no matter what. You set this curse, right? And you remembered everything from before when no one else did, right?" Regina just nodded. "Well then I have no doubt that you will remember both me and Henry. But if you don't, I will find a way to remind you."
With that, Emma pulled the brunette into another kiss. This one gentler and expressing all the love she felt for the older woman and feeling that love returned. Henry wrapped his arms tighter around his mothers' necks. This may not have been what the book had foretold, but in his opinion it was a much happier ending for all of them.
Another crack sounded above them and, arms still wrapped around each other, three heads turned skyward as the blackness began to turn into a blinding white light that surrounded them all.