Note: Things won't be looking out so good for a pirate. Emma centric chapter. Lily still has Emma's darkness, keep that in mind.
So how are you liking it so far?
Freedom
That evening after Emma came back from the mansion, Mary Margaret had asked their daughter to come sit down with them at the table so they could discuss the shocking event of her accidental coming out with Regina, but Emma wasn't in the mood for it and was very blunt and stubborn about the subject.
"So I like women too, big deal. What are you gonna do about it? Ground me? Disown me? Because I'm big enough to take care of myself," Emma was tactless. But it was a wall she was putting up so not to be hurt and her parents could see it. "Wouldn't be the first time I got kicked out, you know..." she muttered under her breath.
"No! Of course not! Emma, we love you. Give us more credit," Mary Margaret scolded.
"Well, you did put me in a closet and shipped me to Maine once. Which is kind of ironic, now that I think about it… " Emma kept her hands folded over her chest.
"You're being unfair…" Mary Margaret felt like crying but David soothed her.
"I know we've made many mistakes, Emma, but you're our daughter and we want to show you we love and accept you as you are. But…" He stopped and rubbed at his chin.
"But what? You're gonna cast the gay out of me like you once did my darkness?"
"No! What I meant was to ask: why Regina? It's just… It's not…" He couldn't bring himself to say it.
"She was my step-mother, Emma. And we both heard she told you she didn't want to be your… *ahem* friend with benefits. Maybe you could look at other women instead?" Snow asked her.
"It's very complicated as it is… And uncomfortable for us," David admitted.
"I understand that. I'm sorry for being harsh on you, I just—this was a dreadful day for me for more reasons than I can share with you right now," Emma relaxed a little and finally drank from her cup of tea, but she needed something stronger.
"It's alright, honey. We just want you to know we support you. Just… not Regina, please? We don't want you to get hurt."
By the way Mary Margaret said it and looked at her, Emma could tell she knew something and it made her curious.
"Why would she hurt me? I mean IF there even was a chance. Which there isn't," Emma said the last part with disappointment.
"There were rumors back in our land that said … Well," David was very uncomfortable talking about other people's privacy.
"Regina had a lover. A lover that would frequent her and fly out her window in the form of a dragon in the middle of the night," Snow told her. "I saw it a couple of times but I thought I was imagining it."
"Maleficent," Emma looked at both of them. Of course it had to be that dragon.
"Yes, and with her being back, we just-" Mary Margaret took a deep breath, "they have a long history that goes back to even before my father died. I may have been too innocent to know then, but some things fell into place when we saw Regina exchange looks with Maleficent at the diner the day she asked you to bring back Lily. I realized she was the same dragon I saw in what I thought were dreams; Regina kept telling me they had been that."
After sharing that conversation of enlightenment, Emma felt a little—lot—more down. Even if her parents had accepted her bisexuality and all they wanted was to protect her—while secretly thanking the heavens that Regina didn't favor Emma— she decided she needed a drink, but not a man, so she called her boyfriend to tell him she was dead-tired and wouldn't meet him until the next day.
Lily had become good friends with Ruby and Belle. She could relate to their stories of 'dancing with the beast', dealing with darkness, and they were much less prejudiced than the rest of Storybrooke. That and because they were kind of gay for each other and Lily felt more comfortable around 'her people,' even if the two girls hadn't realized yet that their lingering gazes could be seen from outer space. Poor beauty and the beast.
They were in denial, like Emma had always been, who tried to cover it with a smoke screen called Killian. That beard.
They were sitting at one of the small round tables in the Rabbit Hole when the sight of familiar blonde curls and a red jacket caught their attention. But what really surprised Lily was to see Emma had come without her pet, Hook, whom the young dragon called 'Hoochie,' as a non-endearment.
They spotted her alone at the bar and asked her to join them and Emma did reluctantly.
She looked really bent out of shape. She was brooding, and Ruby felt her blood simmer inside her and asked Emma if she wanted her to let the Wolf out and scare the shit out of Hook if he had dared hurt her. But Emma just said it wasn't him and took a big gulp from her beer.
Who could've made Emma look like she had been ran over by a bus?
Not many had that power of influence, and she had just made-up with her parents; it couldn't—it better—not be them, Ruby thought. But then she remembered another person with an even bigger influence in Emma… Henry? No. Emma looked heartbroken, not upset.
"What did Regina do to you?" Ruby asked directly and the surprised look in Emma's eyes gave it away that it had indeed been her who made her become so gloomy.
"What? What makes you think—" Emma almost choked on her drink, "There's nothing between us, okay," Emma said after Ruby narrowed her suspicious gaze on bloodshot eyes.
"Is that what upset you? That there ISN'T something between you two?" Ruby asked her.
Lily just sipped from her cocktail while watching with interest. This should be good. The truth must be revealed, she snickered behind her drink as she thought of this.
"Come on now," Emma rolled her eyes. "We're just close friends."
"We were close once…" Lily said before slurping again from her straw. Emma threw 'dagger' eyes at Lily.
"Best friends forever, remember? But we never had a son together so there's that," the dragon girl winked at her to further ruffle her feathers.
Emma threw 'dagger' eyes at Lily. "We didn't have him together. We're just raising him together. It's different, we're not involved, well not like that. " She was having problems with making it not sound very gay.
"It actually isn't outrageous that you might have grown platonic feelings for her, Emma," Belle interrupted their bicker.
Emma's eyes widened in panic and Belle tried to explain why it came natural for her to see this. "By coparenting Henry life's pushed you closer together. Much more than you ever anticipated."
"It's totally cool if you like her," Ruby assured her. "We won't judge. I mean—look at me, I'm a fricking wolf in the closet," she chortled to lighten the mood.
"And also fucking gay…" Lily mumbled behind her drink but they didn't hear it. Well, Ruby did hear something, but she didn't understand it and squinted at her.
"You can't keep fighting your nature. Embrace the rainbow at last, moron!" Lily snapped.
"Fine! I lo-like Regina! You happy now? God…" Emma said it so loudly her friends weren't the only ones hearing the confession. Alcohol had taken effect and her walls were crumbling down and she was sharing more than she would if sober.
"Okay, so now the cat's out of the hat, how exactly did she hurt you?" Ruby asked her.
Emma sighed. She found it relieving nobody was actually shocked at the admission of her attraction towards the mayor. It was not a big deal, apparently. Was she really that naive about her own feelings she was the last one to realize them? Yes, yes she was. And now she was also angry at herself for being so stupid, not just angry at what she'd seen in that closet.
"She wants nothing with me," the blonde answered sadly. "She has someone else who already provides for her," Emma told them with frustration.
"Whoa! I didn't know she was back to dating." Ruby was surprised and extremely curious. "Do you know who she's seeing?"
"Ruby." Belle discretely elbowed her. It was rude to rub salt to the wound.
"I mean, sorry Em... what a bummer." Ruby was apologetic.
"That'd be my mother obviously," there went Lily's venom. Hell yeah she was getting back at Emma for making her teen self suffer the worst heartbreak in her life.
At the vitriolic comment Emma smacked her hands over the table and made it break from the surge of energy that blasted from them. "Yes, it's your fucking mom!" She brought her face very close to Lily's ready for a fight. Lily was quite fiery too and her eyes began glowing with the magic of the dragon.
Ruby had to interrupt them before a magical duel broke inside the bar. "Easy, Em! Look, it's not like you're single anyway," She said to Emma, gently touching her arm.
"What are you even talking about?" Emma turned to see her now and shook her head in bewilderment.
"Hook?" Ruby stared at her.
The dragon girl rolled her eyes. That relationship was faker than Kylie Jenner's ass.
"Uh... Right. I sometimes forget he's even there," Emma grumbled. "I've been spending so much time with Regina it feels like it's her I'm dating." She sat down again on her stool.
All the people around them went back to minding their own business after the heat lowered—all except for the waiter, who came to look at the damaged table and with the bad news they would be having to pay for the damaged furniture. But Emma had been practicing magic with Regina. She waved her hand and made the table appear brand new again and sent the waiter away after apologizing to him.
"We've noticed," Ruby commented.
"If it's a crush, you might grow out of it. Like I did with Will," Belled tried to encourage her. "I'm happier by myself now."
Ruby smiled at that and locked eyes with Belle for slightly longer than normal.
"Ahem," Lily cleared her throat and Ruby averted her eyes coyly from Belle's and turned to Emma.
"So how did you confess your feelings? You have big ovaries to do that!" Ruby was excited and wanted to hear the whole story.
Emma was somewhat drunk but not drunk enough to share the embarrassing scene that happened at the Town Hall, and she didn't want to damage Regina's reputation by telling them she'd found her inside a dirty closet, making out with Maleficent as the dragon lady groped her all over, and that it had made her feel things she thought she couldn't.
At least not with Hook.
She'd seen her boyfriend flirt with women on a few occasions and sure it was irksome, disrespectful, but it didn't hurt her or made her want to slap a bitch. No, not the way she'd wanted to put a bullet between that smug dragon's eyebrows that moment. Maybe she was being a little extreme, but it totally sucked.
Thinking about it now in her inebriated state made Emma feel jealous and possessive over someone she clearly had no claim to, and it was shameful.
"I just… said I liked her and told her I would leave Hook for her if she wanted me to," Emma shared that part.
"How epically un-romantic," Lily shook her head. "Some things never change I guess."
Emma was such a hard head when it came to relationships. One-nighters was all she ever did after Neal. But it wasn't like Lily cared anymore. She was still a bit angry with her and they didn't get along so well, they barely tolerated each other. Lily was the one doing the pushing away this time, but could she blame her? She had all Emma's darkness still inside her and that made her extra prickly.
Emma rolled her eyes at Lily's bait for an argument but made it clear she wouldn't be buying it, so Lily decided to move along.
"I'm bored. I will go have some fun on my own. See ya, girls!" Lily said to them and walked over to the bar to join a beautiful redhead with wild hair, who seemed not to care about the guys offering her drinks.
"Fools… thinking a 'free drink' will afford them one's company," Lily said as she sat on the stool beside the ginger.
Green eyes turned to lock with light brown with interest.
"Men feel entitled. We might have left the old world but some vices are carried across realms," the redhead said to Lily.
"Name's Merida," she offered her hand amicably. "Yours?"
"Lilith Mondragon. But I prefer Lily," the brunette smiled warmly.
She extended her hand to take Merida's and the redheaded girl noticed the birthmark on her wrist right away.
"Woah! Is it some form of tattoo from the land beyond the town line? Have you been there? I've always wanted to venture outside," Merida was extremely curious and became very interested in Lily's story. She loved adventure, bravery, and hearing about the story of this girl—a dragon—had her completely invested.
Their chemistry was spontaneous and Lily knew she'd want Merida to be more than just a one-nighter. She would be going home to sleep alone tonight, contrary to what she'd planned and told her mother earlier. It would be worth it, she hoped. Time would reveal.
Without Lily with them, Emma felt she could open up a little more.
She didn't want to upset Lily with her disgust toward Maleficent, and slowly realized her anger wasn't even rational. Maleficent had done nothing to her; it was her family who wronged the dragon sorceress instead and if Emma should be mad with someone, it was herself for denying her attraction to Regina all this long.
How could she miss the signals?
Regina had teased her when she first came to Storybrooke and didn't know who they were. Emma could never forget that time the mayor was sitting over her desk, legs crossed sensually, and chocolate eyes looking at her with predatory eyes as she walked up to her. Power display? Bullshit. She was provocating her sexually. Regina had known Emma better than she knew herself that moment; known- felt, she was into women. And how could she also miss Regina displaying jealousy of Hook since he started flirting with her? The brunette had not behave as hostile toward Hook before he made his advances in Neverland.
"Uuuuuugh..." Emma groaned, "I'm such an idiot!"
Regina had been sending her signals but Emma was so scared of believing in the possibility, she'd decided to ignore them and think of it as Regina being Regina.
But now there was no chance for her. Not when Maleficent was back, and that lady dragon was incredibly beautiful, so refined and mighty powerful. Emma knew she'd only defeated her in the past because Regina's spell had weakened the dragon enough to keep it trapped underground. She was really no match against Maleficent.
"Maleficent is much better for her," Emma said to her friends. "I've no chance."
She didn't know Maleficent but she could tell she transpired experience and a balance that was strangely calming. She seemed like a mean bitch, but she'd spared her parents for their sin and given them the chance to redeem themselves. How many villains do that? It's normally the other way around.
She couldn't bring herself to see Maleficent as neither a villain nor a hero; she was in the middle. And a very good standing point in Emma's book.
Emma had been programed to be a hero, self-righteous and stubborn like her parents. Regina had once been the ill-driven villain, but now dangled in the middle, with her moments of light and her moments of darkness, and Emma considered Maleficent's indecent offer for a hot second.
No, that might not work for me.
Emma grew-up in the foster system, she wasn't big on sharing because nothing had ever been fully hers. Killian would have to do. He was safer in a sense. If he went away, it wouldn't hurt as much. Not as much as losing Regina would— if she ever got her.
They spent the night drinking and when the place had to close and they were forced to part ways, Emma told them she would be walking home. The cool night breeze would help her sober up and clear her mind of the confusing feelings. However, walking back home she decided to take another turn and went to the docks to pay her boyfriend a surprise visit. She was still drunk and she wanted to fuck the confusion away and she so happened to have a boyfriend that might come in "handy" at least for that. She mentally laughed at the irony in her little joke.
When Emma reached to the Jolly Roger and went down the stairs, she heard the panting and moaning of another lady and the pirate.
"No fucking way…"
Emma went down the last steps to see it with her eyes.
"Seriously?" Emma asked loudly, startling the horny bunnies that were fucking on that crappy excuse of a bed.
"Swan! Love! I can explain," Hook yelled behind her back as she stomped up the stairs.
"Don't bother. It wasn't even you who I really wanted to spend the night with," Emma was remarkably candid.
"Come again?" Hook ran after her with an old bed sheet wrapped around his lower body.
"Look, you can go back to your… hot date, I don't care. I'm done with you," Emma felt free after saying it, like she had just been released from a deal with the Dark One.
"If you took good care of me, Swan, this wouldn't have happened."
"Wow! So it's my fault you can't keep it in your pants? Good God have mercy on my soul," Emma scoffed.
"A man has his needs. But, look, we can work it out. Why don't you come inside and I tell…" Hook tried to recall the girl's name but he couldn't.
"Oh my God, you don't even know who you're screwing. Do you know how this makes me feel?" Emma asked him.
"I pay them to fuck, not to talk! But, hey, I know you're jealous and I'm sorry. It's you I love… this is just detached sex."
"Dude. No. I'm not jealous." At least not over you, Emma thought. "I feel worried that you could have given me an STD. You're so gross, man. I need to get myself checked. Fuck."
"Swan!" Hook yelled behind her but she was walking too fast for a naked man to catch up with her.
"It's over, asshole," he heard Emma yell back and give him the middle finger.
Oh that was refreshing and so liberating.
