Disclaimer: Nothing you recognize belongs to me!
A/N: This is an idea that I've toyed with writing for a while now, and I finally decided to try it. It's AU and maybe a bit out there, but I know there are a lot of Oncers who love Tangled so hopefully this gels well with them. Think of it as Once as Tangled - Emma in Rapunzel's role, Regina in Mother Gothel's, our favorite huntsman in Flynn Rider's, etc.
I haven't decided if I'm going to continue this story yet, so please read and let me know if you think it's worth continuing.
This was not beta'd, so any and all mistakes are mine.
The sky outside the castle windows was growing steadily darker. It seemed that Regina had succeeded in casting her curse at last. Snow knew there was nothing they could do to stop it now. The curse was coming.
Unfortunately, it wasn't the only thing coming.
Snow cried out as another contraction came over her and squeezed Charming's hand. She knew they were coming too fast now and just like Regina's curse, there was nothing she could do to make them stop either. The thought of not making it into the wardrobe with her daughter scared her more than leaving Charming behind. Leaving him behind would be terrible, but at least she'd have hope of seeing him again.
"No," she moaned, scrunching up her eyes against the contractions. "I can't have this baby now."
"Doc, do something," Charming said to the dwarf. He rested his head on top of hers while Snow struggled to breathe through the pain. "It's going to be okay, the wardrobe's almost finished," he told her. "Just hold on."
Snow didn't have the strength to tell him she didn't think she could. She was using all of her energy to keep this baby, their one hope, inside her. Emma was the one light at the end of a twenty-eight year tunnel. The savior. She couldn't be born now.
"It's ready," Snow finally heard Geppetto say. Charming immediately scooped his hands under her, but Doc stopped him.
"It's too late, we can't move her." Snow knew he was right, but it did nothing to ease her panic. They had failed; she had failed. Emma was coming now.
"Push," Doc urged her.
Snow screwed up her face and pushed as hard as she could. Finally the pain receded and her daughter's cries mixed with her own. Doc swaddled the baby in a cloth and then wrapped the blanket around her. He offered her the bundle, which Snow took with trembling hands.
Her daughter had to be the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. It seemed so unnaturally cruel that they would be together for so little time. Looking down at Emma's face for the first time, Snow knew that losing her daughter would be unbearable.
"The wardrobe," she murmured, tracing the letters of Emma's name on the blanket. "It only takes one."
Charming leaned into her. "Then our plan has failed," he said quietly. "At least we're together."
The sky had grown darker still, but every now and then, angry streaks of lightning would blaze. Emma shifted in Snow's arms, her eyes closed, completely oblivious to the fact that her world would soon be ending. Snow closed her eyes and waited. It was all she could do. She repeated Charming's words in her head.
At least they were together.
Suddenly, there was a resounding boom and all of the windows shattered. Snow's eyes flew open and she clutched Emma closer to her chest, savoring her last moments with her daughter and husband. The castle torches had been blown out, but lightning still flashed across the sky, casting silvery shadows over the room. For a moment, the entire world was illuminated.
And then, as quickly as it had started, it stopped. The wind stopped howling, the thunder receded, and the lightning was reduced to a dull flickering. Snow drew a shaky breath as she felt Charming leave her side. He made his way over to the empty window frame and looked out. He pulled back with a sudden gasp.
"Snow. The curse. I think it failed."
"Good evening, Your Majesty."
The mouse skittering across the dungeon floor suddenly stopped. In a whirl of purple smoke, the mouse was gone, replaced by an extremely livid Regina. Rumpelstiltskin pointed behind her with one of his long, gnarled fingers. Regina didn't even turn around. She snapped her fingers, and the two guards behind her immediately dropped to the floor.
"You told me it would work." Regina's voice was so choked with anger, Rumpelstiltskin could barely make out the words. "Isn't that what you told me? That if I used the thing I loved most, I would be able to cast this curse?"
"Yes?" Rumpelstiltskin merely blinked through the bars of his cage.
"Well, you imp, it didn't work," Regina hissed. "The curse still failed."
Rumpelstiltskin tapped the ends of his fingers together. "My, my," he said. "That is quite the quandary."
"You told me it would work!" Regina lunged toward him, but was unable to get through the bars of the cage. Instead, she wrapped her fingers around the rusted metal and shook the bars, shouting, "I killed my father for you and it still didn't work!"
"For you," he corrected her calmly. "I believe you were the one who wanted to cast this curse, dearie."
"Why didn't it work?" Regina demanded.
Rumpelstiltskin grinned. "I haven't the faintest idea."
She turned away from him in disgust. "You're lying."
Rumpelstiltskin's eyes twinkled. "You know what they say about true love, dearie. It's magic."
Snow leaned against the doorway to Emma's nursery as she watched her daughter sleep. It was thundering outside, the first time it had done so since Regina had attempted her curse. Snow still couldn't understand how or why Regina's curse had failed, although if she had to guess, she suspected Rumpelstiltskin had something to do with it.
A sudden loud thunderclap was all it took to startle Emma awake. Snow was at her daughter's crib just before she began to cry.
"There, there, sweetheart," Snow said, picking up the wailing infant from her crib. "It's just a little rain." She walked around Emma's dark nursery, rubbing her daughter's back. "You don't want to wake your father."
Eventually, Emma's cries subsided and Snow exhaled. She'd been worried that she wouldn't make a good mother, since she had no idea how to be one, but it seemed that Ruth had been right. She didn't need to have had a good mother in order to be one. Snow was pleased to find she took to motherhood quite naturally.
Just as Snow was about to lay Emma back down in her crib, she felt Charming wrap his arms around her from behind. He kissed her cheek and then rested his head in the crook of her neck.
"Did she wake you?" Snow whispered.
"No, it was the storm," he replied. He carefully took the sleeping Emma and kissed her forehead before placing her back in her crib.
Snow stepped back, wrapping her arms around herself, watching Charming with their daughter. She had come so close to losing this, losing their family. Losing everything.
But she knew Regina would still take it from her if she had the chance. And now that Snow had Emma, too, Regina would have even more ways to destroy her happiness.
"She's going to try again, you know," Snow murmured. The very thought made her sick.
Charming turned around and pulled her close. Snow rested her head over his heart as he whispered, "I know."
"I know what you did."
Rumpelstiltskin blinked. Regina was standing before him again, in the exact same spot he had just seen a spider. The guards behind her were already on the ground. He hadn't even heard them fall.
"Do tell, dearie," he said, examining his dirty fingernails.
"It's her, isn't it," Regina said. "It's the baby."
"The baby?" Rumpelstiltskin repeated calmly. "Babies are born every day. I'm not sure to which child you are referring."
"To her child, you dimwit," Regina snarled. "To Snow's child."
"Ah." Rumpelstiltskin looked up. "I see. Yes, Snow did indeed have her baby."
"I know that," Regina said impatiently. "The entire kingdom is still celebrating the birth of a new princess."
"And?"
"And I'm not closer to being happy than I was nine months ago," Regina snapped. Rumpelstiltskin sensed she was growing annoyed with his act. "And now Snow's happier than ever."
Rumpelstiltskin smiled. "What do you plan to do about that, dearie?"
"Why don't you tell me?"
Rumpelstiltskin waggled his finger in front of her face. "Ah, ah, ah. I don't think so. There are some things you must figure out for yourself."
Regina's eyes narrowed. "I'm right, then. The child is the reason."
"She's part of the reason," Rumpelstiltskin conceded. "But you must consider your own role as well. I told you to use the thing you loved most."
"I did that."
"Did you, though?" Rumpelstiltskin titled his head. "Using the heart of the thing you love most requires that you actually love something."
"Do not tell me what I did and did not love," Regina said, her voice dangerously low. "I loved my father. I adored him."
Rumpelstiltskin smirked. "Loving someone because they are weaker than you is not the same as true love. True love is magic. One you do not possess."
"I had true love once," Regina hissed. "But his heart stopped beating years ago. We both know who saw to that." Regina paced outside his cell. "I could have loved once. I did love once. But she took that away from me. She took everything."
"So you've sworn revenge on Snow White for a childhood grudge?"
"She killed Daniel!" Regina snapped. "She made me this way, she gave me this name. She's the one who made me evil."
Sometimes she reminded him so much of Cora.
He beckoned Regina closer and leaned in so he was less than an inch from her face. He could feel her hot, angry breath on his cheek. "What do you want to do to them?" he whispered. It was the same question he'd once asked her mother, the one question that could reveal an entire person's soul.
I want to make them bow.
"I want to make them suffer."
I want their kneecaps to crack and freeze on the stones.
"I want to take back the kingdom that is rightfully mine."
And I want their necks to break from bending.
"Go on," Rumpelstiltskin urged.
"And I want to tear out Snow's heart and crush it in my fist."
Rumpelstiltskin smiled. "Then you know what to do."
"No, Emma, no!" Snow looked up in time to see Emma crawling at record pace toward the nursery door. She threw the last linens into the drawer and stood, ready to chase down her baby once again.
"I got you!" She heard Emma's shriek of delight as Charming picked her up and swung her around.
"Dada," she said, grinning. "Mama." She pointed at Snow.
Charming pouted. "Back to Mommy, huh?"
"Mama," Emma repeated.
Snow smiled to herself. Emma's first word may have been "Dada" but she certainly said "Mama" more often now.
"I believe this belongs to you," Charming said as he dropped a giggling Emma into Snow's arms. Snow carried her over to the rocking chair and sat down, bouncing Emma on her lap.
"Can you imagine if we'd missed this?" Charming murmured, pressing a kiss to her hairline.
Snow sighed. "I try not to think about it."
"There've been no reports on Regina's movements," he informed her. "Not since she last visited Rumpelstiltskin. No one knows where she is. Perhaps she's still licking her wounds," he said hopefully.
Snow shook her head. "No. I'm sure she's planning her next move. And if Rumpelstiltskin's helping her…"
"He hasn't seen her in months," Charming assured her. "We have guards at every entrance. Except for the two visits right after the curse failed, Rumpelstiltskin has not seen her."
"She's doing it without him, then," Snow said, biting her lip. "She'll find a way."
"Let's go away," Charming suggested, kneeling in front of her. "Let's leave this place, go back to the farm. We can raise Emma there, keep her safe."
"No," Snow said, shaking her head again. "No. We can't leave the kingdom. We can't leave everyone at her mercy. We will stay together. Fight together."
Die together.
"Snow!"
Snow's eyes snapped open. Immediately, she smelled the flames. The night sky was streaked with orange from the fires. Snow ran to the window. The flaming arrows were still coming.
Charming was already dressed, his sword at the ready. "Get Emma," he told her. "Take her somewhere safe. I'll find you."
"But-"
"I will always find you!" Charming called over his shoulder as he sprinted from the room. Snow didn't hesitate, but ran down the hall to Emma's nursery. To her horror, the door was already open.
"Looking for this?"
Regina's sneer made her blood run cold. Snow turned around; Emma was asleep in Regina's arms.
"No," Snow whispered. Tears sprang to her eyes. "No, please."
"Such a precious baby," Regina cooed. Snow took a tentative step forward, but Regina propelled her back with a lazy wave of her hand.
"Let her go," Snow begged as she scrambled to her feet. "Please, take me instead. I'll go with you, I'll give you my heart. Just please, please, don't hurt Emma."
Regina laughed menacingly. "You destroyed my happiness. And now, I'll destroy yours."
"No!" Snow lunged for Regina, but she was gone in a cloud of billowing purple smoke. Snow felt her head smack against the hard castle floor and her world went black.
Regina reappeared in the nursery with Emma still in her arms just moments later. She smirked at the sight of Snow lying motionless on the ground. So far everything was going according to plan.
As Regina held the baby in her arms, she could feel the magic radiating from Emma. The product of true love, the purest form of magic. True love was powerful enough to break any curse, which she herself had learned the hard way so many times. Now it would be used to create the most powerful curse possible.
Regina knew she had to work quickly. Snow could wake up any moment, not that that was terribly concerning, but Charming had to be around here somewhere, too. Casting the series of curses would certainly be easier if she weren't engaged in a swordfight at the same time.
"That's it, darling, just sleep on," Regina whispered to Emma. "Mommy's just going to borrow a little bit of your magic. I'm sure you won't mind."
With a wave of her hand, it was done. Regina disappeared with Emma before she could see the fruits of her labor, leaving only a path of destruction in her wake.
She reappeared in a small cottage in the woods. The sudden impact of her landing had shaken Emma awake, and the baby started to cry. Instinctively, Regina tried to quiet her with magic.
It didn't work.
For a moment that stunned her, but then Regina grinned. That was exactly how the curse was supposed to work. There was no more magic. Well, except for the baby currently wailing in her arms.
"Emma, Emma," Regina cooed, bouncing the baby girl gently. "It's all right. Mommy's here. You don't have to cry."
Emma suddenly stopped crying and opened her eyes, peering up at Regina. A look of confusion crossed her face and Regina grew worried. Emma was old enough to know what her mother looked like.
"It's okay, Emma," Regina said soothingly. "I'm going to be your mommy now. She had to go away. But I'll take good care of you. You're all mine now."
She hugged Emma to her chest and to her relief, Emma stayed quiet. Soon, the baby had fallen asleep again. Regina opened the front door and stepped outside, trying to keep Emma as still as possible.
The fires had gone out and now there was nothing but darkness. She could see the castle – her castle, now – looming in the distance. She knew that somewhere on the other side, Snow was mourning her daughter. And the irony was, it was her daughter's magic that was keeping those false memories alive.
Regina smiled once more at the castle, and then walked back inside the cottage. She would be queen now, the curse had seen to that. She would finally have everything that she'd wanted.
She could finally be happy.
"Snow."
Snow looked up from the forest floor to see Charming standing in front of her. She could barely even get out the words.
"She's gone."
"I know."
Snow choked back a sob. "Regina killed her."
Charming sighed heavily. "I know."
"She would have been – she was going to be-" Tears finally overwhelmed her, and Snow broke down, clinging to Charming for dear life, as he clung to her.
The next six days were a blur. They'd managed to find shelter and set up a makeshift camp. Funerals were held for Bashful and Geppetto, who hadn't survived the siege. They held a funeral for Emma, too, even though they couldn't bury her body. The castle was no longer theirs and attempting to reenter it would be a suicide mission.
The grief on the seventh day was paralyzing. Snow knew Charming felt it, too. He still gave the usual orders as everyone continued to build up the camp, but she knew his heart wasn't in it. That gaping loss, that huge, unfillable hole in her heart.
That knowledge that Emma would have been one today.
Red came into her tent around nightfall. Her friend sat down next to her on the bed, which Snow realized she hadn't left all day. She waited for Red to speak, for her to try to find the words to ease the pain, but none came. Instead, Red said, "Come with me."
Snow allowed Red to lead her from the tent. The rest of the camp was already assembled, and everyone was bathed in light. Snow realized that each person was holding a lantern.
"For Emma," Charming said, offering one to her.
Snow managed a weak smile through her tears. "For Emma," she agreed.
She took Charming's hand, and they released their lanterns together. Snow watched as the two lanterns were joined by a hundred more, illuminating the night sky with warm, yellow light. As the lanterns soared higher, she felt for the first time in a week that maybe there could be light again in the world after all.
