"Oh, I'm so excited!" Mary Margaret squealed. "We'll actually have our first democratic election—nothing rigged, no curse interfering—for the betterment of our town!"
"Hey," Emma pointed out, walking alongside her. "My election for sheriff wasn't rigged magically…it was just kind of sneakily staged by Gold…" Henry sniggered at her comment and Emma elbowed him.
"I don't see why we're doing this," David grumbled. "We were king and queen of the Enchanted Forest, what was so wrong with reclaiming our titles?"
"You know it's not that simple," Mary Margaret retorted. "We're not the only rulers here. Aurora and Philip ruled their own kingdom, as did Ella and Thomas, and Abigail and Frederick. We're all jumbled together here, an election is the best way to decide who rules—but first we have to decide if we even want to have an election, if we want to decide through a different process—"
"Is my mom running?" Henry asked. "Regina, I mean?"
Mary Margaret and David glanced at each other and Emma's expression became very black.
"I think she's ruled enough," She said darkly, approaching the courthouse. They entered and found Neal sitting near the front, saving them all seats.
"Dad!" Henry greeted with a grin. "You're here too?"
"Definitely," Neal replied easily. "Belle was interested in running for mayor, if we decide on the democratic process. She asked me to come and take notes for her. Very American for the Enchanted Forest, I feel almost doubly patriotic."
"Please, like you ever voted," Emma snorted, taking a seat next to him. He smiled at her, earning a stomach flip.
"Dad, do you want to get ice cream after the meeting?" Henry asked.
Neal scratched his neck. "Well, actually kid, I haven't eaten dinner yet, so…"
"So, I was going to take him somewhere," Emma finished. "Somewhere to eat. Because you ate with Mary Margaret and David and I haven't yet, I just got off from the sheriff's office, and I'm hungry too…so we're going to eat. Somewhere."
"Oh," Henry said carefully, looking straight ahead. Emma could tell he was trying very hard not to smirk or display any sign of positive emotion, for fear of upsetting the apple cart. Neal noticed this too, and winked at Emma, who rolled her eyes in response.
Archie stepped up to the podium, clearing his throat. "People of Storybrooke," He announced. "I want to thank you all for coming to our town meeting—everyone's commitment and determination to make a new life for ourselves is inspiring. I'm so honored to be a part of this community."
He cleared his throat while people applauded politely. "To start off the meeting, now that Regina is no longer in power—the first order of business. Deciding on our town's government. Will we follow in our ancestors' footsteps and reinstate the monarchy, or will we embrace the traditions of this land's government? After all, we have complied with it for near thirty years—"
"If we're reinstating the monarchy, shouldn't Regina officially abdicate?"
Emma frowned and turned in her seat. At the corner of the room stood a beautiful young woman, leaning against the wall. She wore dark sunglasses, a black trench coat, and a crafty smile. She removed her sunglasses and someone gasped.
"I mean, official abdication, since she was the past ruler," The woman's eyes glittered in a strangely familiar way—Emma tried to place where she'd seen them.
"Well, she was mayor," Archie coughed.
"Not really," The woman laughed softly. "She was still the Evil Queen, still in control, still running her kingdom, just with a different outfit. You people can claim all you like that she's was voted, that you want to vote, but you were a people meant to be ruled. A thousand years of tradition and fairytales can't halt just because of a lark."
"You're one to talk," Someone said angrily, in a shaky voice. Emma realized with a start that Aurora had stood.
The woman arched an aristocratic brow. "Aurora, darling, is that you? How charming to find you here, I assumed you'd be home 'bringing up baby' or whatever's your hobby these days—"
Aurora whirled around towards Archie. "What on earth is she doing here?" She demanded. "Do you know what she did to me? To Philip?!"
"Hang on, hang on," Emma stood, attempting to keep the peace. "Who exactly is this person?"
The woman smiled broadly at Emma. "Why dear, don't you remember me? And after our heart to heart, so to speak, I thought we'd gotten so close." She tapped the wall impatiently with red-lacquered nails and Emma tried to place her.
"You'll have to refresh my memory," Emma crossed her arms.
She smiled again. "Strange—you'd think the Savior would keep a close record on everyone she's plunged a sword through their heart."
For a moment, Emma was lost. Then it clicked.
"Wait a second—you're the—you were the dragon?" Emma said thunderstruck.
"You are your father's girl," She chuckled. "I prefer Maleficent."
A sudden hush fell over the crowd. David, none too casually, reached for his gun.
"Oh, stop it, princeling," Maleficent said good-humoredly. "We don't want a shoot-out, not with all these charming young faces presence. Besides, I'm not here for a battle."
"And I suppose you're here to run?" Philip said challengingly.
"Well, if not Regina, why not me?" Maleficent smiled invitingly. "You know, Storybrooke's existed without her curse for what, two or three years? And yet directly after the curse was lifted, she resumed her mayoral duties as if nothing had happened. You became so complacent under her rule, you chose to accept her as your ruler without question."
"That isn't true!" Grumpy shouted.
"She was a tyrant, just like you!" Someone else yelled.
"Temper, temper," Maleficent's eyes gleamed. "Decisions haven't been made, after all. Were you planning on reinstating Regina?"
"Of course not!" Emma snapped.
"And you wish to adopt this democratic process for your little town of Storybrooke, disregarding thousands of years of your ancestors' traditions, is that correct?"
The crowed looked uncomfortable. Emma's brow knitted with concern as they shifted, muttering amongst themselves, until someone finally stood.
"I stand for the Princess Aurora!" He shouted. "And I'll be ruled only by her! Her mother was my queen and I will serve no one else!"
Grumpy growled, standing as well. "Well, me and the dwarves are only serving Snow and Charming," He growled. "And we won't stand for any treason."
"Everyone, please," Snow attempted to restore order. "This isn't how we were going to settle this!"
"Quite right," Maleficent undercut her. "And so I leave it to the people of Storybrooke to answer. I have no quarrel with any of you—except Regina, of course. It is my intention to force her abdication and become Mayor of Storybrooke myself."
"When hell freezes over," Aurora snarled, storming towards her. "My people are loyal to me, not to you!"
"Our people Aurora, our people!" Snow pleaded.
The sleeping beauty ignored her. "Those of my kingdom, follow me!" She commanded. "We will not let this evil fairy get anywhere near our people. Gather to me in center square!" She strode out of the courthouse, Philip on her arm, a sizable crowd following her.
Ruby turned towards Snow. "We're behind you, your highness," She promised. "You and Emma, of course. The royal family." As she spoke, the crowds disbursed further, some following Abigail and Frederick, others following Ella and Thomas.
"No, that's not—we were supposed to unite during this meeting, not divide…" Snow said helplessly. David put his arm around her.
"This is all her fault," Henry turned to point towards Maleficent. "Wait—she's gone! Where'd she go? I thought she wanted to be mayor!"
"Actually, Henry," Emma said darkly. "I think this is exactly what she wanted."
XXXX
"What do we do?" Emma asked. "The whole town is divided on this. There are people here who weren't affected by Regina's curse, they're obviously going to follow Aurora and Philip. Frederick and Abigail don't have a huge kingdom, but they've got a lot of wealthy backers. And Thomas' father is already pushing for Thomas to stake a claim as leader."
Her dinner with Neal cancelled, the troop of them retreated to Mary Margaret's apartment to discuss strategy. Snow was clutching a mug of tea tightly, her brows pinched in worry. Neal was putting Henry to bed—too old for stories, they preferred to play a few video games before Neal finally gave up, soundly beaten by his son. David was pacing in agitation.
"Frederick and Abigail won't oppose us," He said finally. "Abigail and I go way back. They might even ally with us, if we play our cards right."
"Don't be too sure about that," Neal broke into the conversation, headed down the stairs. "Frederick doesn't like you."
David looked shocked. "Why doesn't he like me?"
"Because you slept with his wife," Neal said matter-of-factly.
"I was under a curse!"
"Well, you try explaining that to him," Neal took a seat on a stool. "He's still pissed about it."
David groaned. "I can't believe Maleficent screwed this up so badly. Now the entire town's turning against each other—at least with Regina, we all had a common enemy."
"We still do," Emma growled. "Regina is not our friend. But it had to come to this eventually, didn't it? Maybe we can separate Storybrooke into, I dunno, city states or something for each kingdom—"
"That is, if we're not at war by the morning," Snow said gloomily. "I can't think about this anymore. I'm going to bed."
"I better get going too," Neal put in. "Henry creamed me at Mario Kart, so I might as well head to Granny's."
"I'll walk you back," Emma volunteered, grabbing her leather jacket.
"You don't have to," Neal scratched his neck. "Not a far walk."
She smiled at him shyly. "I want to."
XXXX
"Another crisis in the kingdom," Emma sighed. "I'm beginning to regret not taking Henry back to New York."
"No point in that," Neal said grimly. "Remember when you and my old man tracked me down? This stuff will follow you."
"Yeah, but he was so happy there," Emma shoved her hands in her pockets. "Life was simpler. He had lots of friends, he had places to go, a normal life—"
"Until your fiancé turned into a flying monkey," Neal pointed out.
"Okay, you got me there," She closed her eyes. "I don't know why I'm wishing for normal. My first love is the son of Rumplestiltskin, my long lost family is from a book of fairytales, and Henry's great-grandfather is Peter Pan. Why do I even bother?"
"It's hard to stop running once you've made a habit out of it," Neal acknowledged. "I've thought about bolting a time or two myself. But like I said—you can't escape your life. It catches up with you, whether you like it or not."
Emma thought of the night of her twenty-eighth birthday, when an enterprising ten-year-old appeared at her door. Her son changed her life that day in the most surprising, terrifying, and magical way.
"I think we should get all the former rulers together," She said finally. "Get us all in a room together, maybe have a few beers or something—we can work this out. Maleficent was obviously causing trouble—do you think she's working with Regina?"
Neal scratched his head. "Are they friends? She seemed to be pretty hostile towards the idea of Regina as mayor."
"It'd be a good cover," Emma replied stubbornly. "Those two witches working together, trying to take over the town. After all, that's what Cora and Regina were up to not so long ago."
"I guess so," Neal said doubtfully. "Still…there's something else that's bothering me about all this. I feel like…we're missing something. Something important, about how Maleficent returned."
"What does it matter?" Emma shrugged. "People disappear and reappear in this town all the time. I mean, haven't you died twice already?"
"Yeah, I'm beginning to think you're not a resident of Storybrooke unless you've died and come back to life," Neal remarked. They stopped short, in front of Granny's hotel. Neal took a breath and turned towards Emma.
"Well, here I am," He said pleasantly.
"Here you are," Emma replied with a smile. "You know…you should really start looking for a more permanent place to live."
"Yeah, my old man promised to help me find a good place," Neal cleared his throat. "Soon as he gets back…he'll be pretty interested in this whole Maleficent affair."
"Good," Emma shrugged her shoulders. "Henry wouldn't want you going anywhere."
They stood like that for a long moment. Neal cleared his throat twice, finally starting to turn towards the entrance to Granny's. Before he could make it, Emma stopped him. She gently kissed him on the check and he smiled in response, his own hand cupping her face. She could tell he wanted to kiss her fully, from the way his breathing hitched and how his thumb stroked her jaw-line, but remained perfectly steady. He was leaving the power in her hands.
"I'll see you tomorrow," Emma said softly.
"See you tomorrow," Neal said just as gently. Her heart fluttered when he inhaled sharply and broke away from her, walking up the steps to Granny's. Easy, girl, Emma said to herself as she turned back towards the road. Don't get carried away. Keep it slow.
XXXX
It had been a very satisfying honeymoon.
Neal had kept the shop well. The shelves and counter were dusted, inventory meticulously kept on a spreadsheet, and little notes decorated the backroom, letting Gold know what calls he'd missed. Most of them were for Belle, various library patrons requesting asking for some book or another. He smiled to himself as he thought of his wife, who'd kissed him goodbye that morning before heading off to the reopen the library after her absence.
The door jangled and Gold looked up. He raised an eyebrow as Emma Swan approached him, looking nervous.
"Miss Swan," He greeted her. "This is a surprise."
She cleared her throat. "Glad to see you're back. I'm assuming you've heard everything that's happened?"
"Maleficent's return, you mean?" He queried. "Neal told me all about that. Seems our little dragon friend has a scheme up her sleeve…she always did enjoy playing with the magic she couldn't handle."
"I'm guessing you're not planning on doing anything to stop her," Emma observed, tapping her fingers against the glass counter.
"Why should I?" Gold returned. "She hasn't done anything yet, except roused the rabble that were probably going to side with their rulers anyway. These people are sheep, Miss Swan. They want familiar shepherds, not a way to govern themselves."
"You say that," Emma snapped. "But what you really mean—these people don't want to live here, they don't want to adapt here. They want to go home. Back to the Enchanted Forest."
Gold eyed her. "Is that what you want, Miss Swan?" He asked quietly. "To reclaim your birthright? To become a princess and lead your people?"
Emma wrinkled. "Do you really think that's what I want?"
"You tell me," Gold returned. "I do find it curious that you're my first customer of the day."
There was a slight pause. Emma took a deep breath.
"I want you to teach me magic," She said in a rush.
Silence followed her pronouncement. Gold watched her for a long time, the only noise breaking the quiet was the ancient clock, ticking in the corner. His lip curled.
"I would've expected you to go to Regina for this sort of help," He said carefully.
"I'm not going to her," Emma spat. "I need you to teach me how to harness my powers. So I can protect this town, protect Henry. I need your help."
Gold inhaled sharply. "I won't deny," He said softly. "I have been…curious about the extent of your powers…what exactly the product of true love can achieve, how much magic you possess…"
"We can find that out," Emma said firmly. "There's just one thing. You can't tell Neal."
His eyes narrowed. "You don't want me to tell my son that I'm teaching you magic?"
"You know Neal hates magic," Emma returned. "You know he wants both of us to put it behind us. The difference is, he thinks I don't have any interest in it and knows you have an addiction to it. If you tell him, he'll think you're conning me."
"Careful, Miss Swan," Gold said warningly. "That almost sounds like a threat."
"Call it what you want," Emma retorted. "I see it as good advice. Don't tell Neal that you're teaching me magic. What he doesn't know, can't hurt him."
"I've noticed whenever people use that phrase," Gold's voice was laced with iron. "The referred to party nearly always gets hurt."
"You can say no," Emma said slowly. "But I'm going to control this power inside me with or without your help. You can be on the ground floor or in the blasting zone. Your choice."
Gold watched her carefully. "Very well," He said finally. "But this stays between us." His meaning was clear. They would not tell Neal nor would they tell Belle.
Emma nodded and exited the shop.