A/N: I was truly overwhelmed by the favourites and follows and those reviews, those many reviews at the conclusion of Pushing Through, it really to pull out the draft of Part Two and re-write it and get it out there. Thank you all so much, truly humbling to have such lovely things said. I hope I can keep your attention with this part so without further ado, please enjoy!
Chapter One: Two Sides
When Cora opened her eyes, she flinched at the brightness of the sun in the sky, beaming on her with intent. She sat upwards, groaning as her head ached and looked around finding herself in the dusty banks of Lake Nostros. She couldn't fight the confusion she felt, until her eyes rested on her daughter.
Regina was standing on the edge of the lake, manipulating the water with her magic. Cora stood and saw her daughter straighten but not turn to her, her focus still on the water.
"Isn't it beautiful?" Regina asked, as she twisted her wrist, swirling the waters from the lake, turning them into a cyclone of vibrant colours before calming them into a single drop hovering over the lake. She made the drop to rise higher, turning shades of blue to black to red to purple, before dropping her hand making the water shatter into tiny drops, falling inches above the ground, freezing them.
"What are you doing?" Cora asked, but did not move a step.
"Can you feel it Mother?" Regina asked as she turned her fingers into a fist, bringing the drops back into a large drop. "Can you feel the power of the lake now? Pure dark magic made out of good magic."
Cora nodded, stepping closer to the waters, "It's beautiful."
Regina swiftly flicked her wrist, bringing the drop close to her mother, "Rumplestiltskin had cast a spell on the portal, which would have killed us had we gone through. I extracted the spell and closed the portal after Em-" She closed her eyes at the memory before turning to the lake, "And I placed it on the lake so if the water touches anything, it will destroy it… isn't it wonderful, how something so beautiful can be so destructive?"
"Like you?" Cora countered.
Regina smiled and flicked her wrist once more, causing the drop to splash into the waters, "The portal is gone. Storybrooke is gone… it's this land now."
"We can find another way-"
"To what?"
"To get you to your land, to your son," Cora said gently, seeing sadness flicker in her daughter's eyes at the mention of the boy. "Don't you want that? To be with your son again."
"Of course, I do," Regina whispered. "But we can't always have we want…"
"With power, we can have everything we want," Cora argued, raising her hand over the waters, urging the ripples to rise but failed. Cora frowned as she tried to use your magic.
"Weren't you listening, Mother?" Regina smirked as she watched her mother struggle. "If the waters touch anything, it destroys it…"
"What did you do?" Cora shouted as she grabbed her daughter's arm, squeezing it as she turned her to face her. "What did you do?"
"I destroyed your magic," Regina whispered, ignoring the pain in her arm from her mother's strong grip. "While you lay unconscious… I took your magic and destroyed it."
"How?" Cora tightened her grip, rage filling her body. "How?"
"A queen of hearts that has no heart of her own… ironic. I found it careless that a woman so protective of her heart, so much so that she would rip it out and store it, that she'd be so carefree with her magic."
Cora released her daughter and clutched her fist in front of chest, and Regina nodded, "You filled that hole in your chest with your magic and I simply reached in and took it. And used the lake to destroy it…"
"Why would you do that?"
"Because you've said it before Mother, I can't kill you…" Regina sighed. "And this was the only way to stop you from hurting them."
"Did you plan all of this?" Cora asked, admiration in her voice.
"Did I plan for Emma to knock you unconscious? Or did I plan for Rumple to curse the portal?" Regina stepped close to her mother. "No."
"Then how did this happen?"
"Because she loves me," Regina's voice cracked, remembering how Emma stood before her mother, protecting her, blasting Cora unconscious with true and pure magic.
She then remembered making the decision to protect Emma and her son from the dark magic that she and her mother possesses; making the decision to use Gold's spell to finally stop her mother. "And I love her."
Cora pushed her hand at her daughter's chest, her palm pressing onto the scarred skin, screaming in rage as she tried to take her daughter's heart, only failing.
"You will regret this," Cora warned and Regina smirked as she bound her with invisible binds.
"No, Mother, it's one of the few things I actually won't regret doing."
Regina wiped away a tear falling from her own eyes, "With great magic comes an even greater price. I sacrificed my happy ending to destroy yours mother."
Regina clicked her fingers and transported herself to the narrow paths of the woods, and smiled widely as she was nuzzled in the shoulder by the waiting chestnut mare.
"Hey," The brunette stroked the animal's nose before combing her nails through the course fur down the neck, healing the injuries the horse gained days earlier.
The horse whinnied as she healed before rearing slightly. Her new mistress calmed her with a soothing hum before stroking her neck, "She's gone, but she's safe."
The horse nodded her head and turned slightly, preparing for the brunette to mount her bare back. Regina grinned as she pulled herself up, adjusting to the animal without a saddle in place, and whispered into the animal's ear, "Take me away."
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Emma pulled back from the tight embrace her mother was holding her in there, wiping at the drying tears on her face with dirty hands before looking into the kind face that was Snow's. She looked around, seeing that it was darker, but her small family were still with her.
"Emma," Snow whispered, wiping the dirty streaks from her daughter's cheek with soft thumbs. "Oh, how I've missed you?"
Emma nodded, not knowing what to say before looking over to where her father and son stood, watching her with relief in their eyes. She nodded again, still without words before glancing back at the well. Snow watched her with a frown before shaking her head, "She's not coming."
Emma swallowed before reaching the low wall to pull herself onto her feet, letting her mother help her, "Where's Gold?"
"Emma-"
The blonde cut her mother off as she leaned forward, ignoring the weakness that was coursing through her body, "He was here, where did he go?"
"I let him go," David stated as he stepped closer, reaching forward to support his daughter's weight. "He hadn't cursed the well so-"
"He did curse it," Emma stated as she stepped away from the well, leaning on her father as she regained her footing. David looked at her with a hint of surprise in his eyes. "Regina broke it."
"She did?" Henry piped up from behind them and Emma turned to him seeing surprise in his eyes. She simply nodded, before feeling the exhaustion wash over her again.
"Then where is she?" the boy asked looking back at the well.
"She stayed, kid." Emma whispered, not looking at her son, focusing on the path ahead to the pick-up truck. "She stayed."
"Why did she-"
"Henry," Snow's low voice interrupted. "Let your mother get some rest first… we can ask questions tomorrow, okay?"
Henry nodded before skipping forward, wrapping his arms around his blonde mother's waist, and Emma could do nothing but run her fingers through his brown hair and over his shoulder, holding him close as they walked to David's truck.
As soon as she was seated, her eyes closed and sleep consumed her. She woke when the car came to a halt and looked out, seeing a small crowd gather as David climbed out. She watched as he put his hands up, urging them to move back, to go home and tomorrow he would answer their question. He told them that his daughter, their saviour had returned safe and that the evil queen was no more. She closed her eyes as she heard joy in their chatter at this announcement and felt the tight squeeze of her son's hand on hers. She looked over at him and saw sadness in his eyes and she smiled weakly.
"I love you, kid."
Henry nodded and moved closer, wrapping his arms around her neck, mumbling that he loved her too.
As the crowd dispersed, David opened the door for Emma and Henry to get out, his wife already unlocking the door to the small apartment they lived in. She climbed the stairs of the apartment, barely able to keep her balance as David ran forward to hold her up.
"Run the bath, Henry," Snow ordered as she ran to the other side of her daughter.
They helped her into the bathroom where she inhaled the steam of the hot bath. She shook her head, trying to protest while her mother pushed both males outside the room. She watched the brunette then turn the tap off, testing the water with a fingertip before kneeling in front of the blonde.
"Do you want me to stay?" she asked kindly. Emma looked up at her and shook her head.
"Emma, is she- I mean is Re- is she, you know-"
Emma cried and laughed at once and shook her head, "No."
Emma waited for her mother to leave the small bathroom before slowly pulling the clothes from her body, dropping them to the floor, piece by piece. She looked into the mirror over the sink and saw tangles in her curls, smudges across her face, and small grazes on her hands from the well, but it was the large bruise in the centre of her chest that was new, just over her heart. She touched it gingerly, feeling nothing but the slight pulse that was her heartbeat. She then studied the dolphin key ring that she wore on the chain and pulled it off. She looked at it, turning it between her fingers before dropping it on the pile of clothing left on the floor. She climbed into the bath, and let her body sink underneath the hot water, drowning her slowly until she resurfaced for air. She put her hand over her heart, pressing down on it and cried.
The water was cold when Snow knocked on the door, and Emma ducked her head beneath the water, washing her face clean of tears before calling out, saying she will be only a moment. She climbed out of the bath, drying herself quickly and wrapping the towel around herself. She stepped out and saw her family waiting for her, plates of food before them and she shook her head.
"I know that you all want to play happy families right now, but I just want to sleep," Emma bit out before climbing the stairs. She was relieved when they chose to listen and leave her be. She closed the bedroom door, and saw that the bed had been freshly made and a clean t-shirt lay upon it.
"So this is what mothers do," she mumbled as she let the towel fall and pulled the shirt on and fell on to the bed. The last image that went through her mind when sleep captured her was that of Regina; Regina pushing her into that portal.