Follow the Yellow Brick Road
Topic: Once Upon a Time
Pairing: Swan Queen (Emma and Regina)
Rating: M (possibly maybe at some point)
Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time or any of the places or characters in it nor do I own anything to do with the Wizard of Oz. This is all just for fun blah blah blah…
Summary: Set after the fiasco that is about to happen with the Wicked Witch in Season 3. During a feast to celebrate the victory Henry is snatched and Emma and Regina must face the prospect of having to search for their son yet again. This time they must find their way through the strange and sometimes terrifying Land of Oz to rescue him before they lose him forever.
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Chapter 1: The Feast
The grand dining hall of the Charming Family Palace was buzzing with people. Most Emma recognised from Storybrooke, others whom must have been left trapped inside the Enchanted Forest after the original curse. The room was lined with tables and Emma sat at the head table to the left of her Parents, with Henry between herself and Snow, and Regina sat to her right. After the Wicked Witch of the West had been dealt with and her parents saved they had decided to throw a celebratory feast and had invited the whole Kingdom. It had been Emma who had pushed for Regina's presence.
If Emma had been able to recall the events at Storybrooke during her year absence then she would have undoubtedly presumed that Regina would have succumbed to the crazy air of the enchanted forest and got lost in dark magic again. However, the brunette had proved everybody wrong and stayed on the straight and narrow; albeit in a nomadic existence in her own castle.
Emma knew the thought of never seeing Henry again must be crippling for the once Evil Queen and the reunion had been touching to say the least. In fact, even Emma had received an awkward hug and a broad smile although hers was probably borne through relief that the supposed saviour had turned up. The return of that part of her memories had probably been the most shocking, even more so than the fairy tale parents in a magical land. It would have been less shocking if she could have regained her memories at a much gentler pace but time had been at an essence so she'd had to experience them all flooding back in one supercharged go.
She WAS glad to get them back. She was glad to have her parents and friends back and in a way she was glad to know the truth. However it had been hard to shatter all the happy memories Regina had created for her and replace them with the foster care, and the adoption and everything else. Not that those happy memories had completely gone, but it felt rather like waking up from a dream. She remembered them clearly at first but it had been 5 days since then and they were gradually becoming less clear and vanishing all together. Emma was desperately trying to retain the memories of Henry growing up because even though they were not really her memories she suspected Regina had used her own memories of their son to implant them.
'Their son'
It had felt strange when she had first said those words out loud again and it still felt strange when she thought about them. She had become so used to him being 'her son' for the last year that it was hard share again. It had given Emma a real insight into how Regina had first felt when Emma had first turned up in Storybrooke except in Regina's case it would have been multiplied by ten.
"You look even less impressed by all this than I do dear…and I don't even want to be here" the brunette's voice rang clearly through her thoughts and Emma turned her head to find herself nearly nose to nose with the other woman who had obviously leaned in close so not to be heard by others.
"You're not here for this" Emma pointed out, "you're staying here for a couple of days so we can organise some sort of routine for Henry. This is just an unfortunate by-product...dear."
Regina chuckled at the blonde's attempt to impersonate her but didn't move away and Emma's eyebrows crept up in surprise. The laugh mocked her yet not in an unpleasant way but it was obvious the brunette was going to follow it up with a glib comment.
"I thought you Charming's liked displaying your heroic's to all who will listen and look."
And there is the comment thought Emma as she followed Regina's gaze down the table to her father. He did indeed look very pleased with himself for his selfless heroics in Operation Witch Hunt. She still hadn't adjusted to the ridiculous Fairy Tale outfits everyone was wearing. At least he got away with wearing trousers though.
"Yes" Emma replied playfully, "there is nothing more I love doing then dressing up in one of my mother's horrible white dresses and having three hundred people sit and stare at me."
"I think you look quite fetching" Regina quipped before smirking and leaning back in her chair so she was no longer in quite such close proximity. Emma glanced down at the brunette's outfit, drawing another smirk out of Henry's other mother. The brunette was wearing a rich purple low cut dress which really accentuated her features. It was a far more attractive look than the wedding dress look-a-like that Emma had been forced into.
"You look disappointing" Emma replied dryly, "you don't even look evil….where is all the black?"
"Well you look like a picture of innocence and virginity and we both know that isn't true" Regina threw back quickly before gesturing with her thumb towards Henry.
Emma rolled her eyes yet again and glanced across at Henry. Their son was still picking at his plate of food but not at any great speed as he was intently watching them.
"What?" Emma asked her son who continued to stare even though both his mother's gazes were now upon him.
"Did you miss us?" he asked the brunette who had leant forward in her chair so she could see him properly. There was an awkward pause as Regina looked between Emma and Henry.
"Erm…I missed YOU" she said directing her gaze at Henry but when he looked disappointed by the answer she continued on, slurring awkwardly through the next few words.
"…both very much. Obviously."
Emma couldn't help but turn her head back towards the brunette and smirk victoriously at what Henry had made her admit. Even if it wasn't entirely true and said under duress it still felt like a little victory. Besides, Emma was sure that Regina had missed her a little bit, even if only for their verbal sparring matches. They had started on the quest to find Henry in Neverland as reluctant allies and gradually ended up as something more than that. Reluctant friend's maybe? Or just something completely undefinable. Frienemies? Emma felt like she had just coined a new phrase for the English dictionary. Not that they had dictionaries in the Enchanted Forest. They had definitely both come out of Neverland as better parents and better co-parents. It had all been such a mess before Henry had been kidnapped but they had a fresh start now and this time Emma wanted to do it right.
"I'm tired…can I go to bed mom?" Henry broke the odd direction her thoughts were going in with a welcomed request. It meant she could finally make her escape.
"Of course" Emma and Regina replied on cue, both standing up. Their synchronised movements drew the attention of most of the room but especially Charming and Snow. Emma chanced a glance at them but couldn't quite read the looks on their faces. No doubt they probably expected her and Regina to fight around about now.
"We're just going to take Henry to bed" Emma informed them; inwardly praying that they would just let all three of them go without playing twenty questions. There was no such luck though.
"Both of you?" Swan looked disappointed that Emma was leaving an event that was being thrown in her honour; "but the feast…"
Emma had a horrible feeling Regina was going to be allowed to escape and she was going to be made to stay. Of course if she wanted to be mean she could pull the 'my son' act and escape but that would mean leaving Regina to face the party alone after Emma had persuaded her to stay in the first place. She had also just sworn to herself that she'd be a good co-parent with the brunette.
"Regina hasn't had the chance to tuck Henry in for a year so…you know" Emma conceded defeat. She was about to sit down when she felt Regina's hand land on her shoulder.
"And I don't know my way around your happily ever after fairy tale palace" the brunette added; giving Emma back her escape route even though Henry was perfectly capable of finding his room without her help.
"Exactly" Emma agreed, nodding wholeheartedly.
Henry was nodding vigorously too which seemed to sway Charming and Swan from any more questions. Emma was convinced that the 'charming' charm had skipped her generation because Henry had it in bucket loads and she had…an uncanny ability to just about survive things…but absolutely no ability to just flutter her eyelids and get away with anything.
"Night granddad and grandma" Henry said his goodbyes and hugged Emma's parents before guiding his two mums to safety and out of the grand dining hall.
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Emma sat on the bottom end of the bad and watched as Regina sat on the edge of the side of the bed nearest to Henry and wished him good night. The brunette dropped a gentle kiss to their son's forehead before standing up. The older woman just looked so ecstatic to be able to see him again that it made Emma's heart wrench.
The blonde took the opportunity to lean over the bed to sneak a kiss in too. He usually didn't allow so much cuddly stuff anymore; he was growing out of it, but was obviously willing to make an exception for Regina's sake for a little while. Emma was going to make certain she got to take advantage too.
Emma stood up too and followed Regina to the door, turning back to glance at Henry who was in the process of blowing out the nearest large candle to his bed. When she turned back again she found that Regina had done the same and that they were now face to face again in Henry's doorway. The brunette smiled and turned away again leaving Emma momentarily stunned. She was not used to seeing Regina smile so warmly. She had probably only seen it a couple of times before and that had been when the brunette was trying to straighten herself out for Henry. Then it had all gone to hell again when Emma had let that stupid dream catcher convince her that Regina had killed Archie, even though her gut feeling strongly went against it.
"Thank you" Regina spoke up after Emma had finally moved out of the doorway and closed the door to Henry's room; leaving them in the deserted corridor.
"For what?"
Emma was confused. As far as she was aware the only thing she had done was rescue her own parents. Although she had saved the enchanted forest from evil in the process but it didn't seem likely that Regina would just start randomly thanking her for that.
"For asking me to stay here tonight" Regina replied softly, "for giving me the chance to be one of his moms again."
Emma felt her heart wrench again as she watched silent tears fall down the brunette's cheeks. Regina tilted her head and tried to wipe them away with her thumbs but to no avail. When that didn't work then the brunette resorted to laughing lightly to try and hide the obvious embarrassment she was feeling. Emma knew she wasn't in the habit of making public displays of emotion or weakness, in fact Emma had only seen her cry a couple of times and all of them over Henry.
"You are one of his moms Regina" Emma stated, "you're the woman that raised him and he loves you."
Regina smiled through her tears and nodded. The kind words only seemed to make her tears fall faster though and Emma found herself taking an involuntary step towards the brunette and then another. She had very rarely initiated physical contact with Regina and when she had it had been to punch her, pin her against a wall in anger and hold a knife to her neck so she wasn't really sure if anything would be welcomed. Apparently she was in an adventurous mood though because she dared to try and comfort the brunette by placing her hands against either bicep and grasping lightly. The brunette stilled and looked directly into Emma's eyes. There was surprise there and a little bit of fear but then there was a light smile.
"I'm glad we are all back together again" Emma continued, letting her thumbs gently massage the muscles of Regina's upper arm. Regina's eyebrow's twitched at the words and there was a look of resigned disbelief.
"Seriously" chuckled at the other woman's doubt, "I'm so serious I'm actually gonna hug you."
This drew a small laugh from the brunette but she didn't move backwards are make any attempt to escape. Emma stepped forward to draw her into a light hug when suddenly there was a terrible loud bang and the floor and walls shook violently knocking both of them off their feet. Emma landed ungracefully on top of the other woman but before she could even think of trying to climb off her the floor shook again violently and there was the sound of cracking stone. Emma knew what was coming, part of the wall was going to cave in so she kept her body over the brunette's and wrapped her arms around the back of her own head to try and protect it from falling debris.