A/N: I am having so much fun with this story. I hope you're all loving it too :)
Why did 1999 have to be such a terrible year for video game consoles? (You'll see why later lol)
Chapter Four
"Are you girls alright?" Mary Margaret asked, as she rushed into the room once the magic had stopped.
Emma spun around to face her, but for once, she was at a loss for a witty comeback. Well, at least she thought she was witty, most of the time. What she saw in the dark haired woman's eyes looked an awful lot like genuine concern for their wellbeing, though Emma couldn't figure out why.
"We're fine," Emma said, glancing at Regina to make sure that was true.
For her part, Regina was looking back and forth between Emma and Mary Margaret, with a quizzical look on her face.
"What?" Emma asked.
"I think she's telling the truth about being your mother," Regina answered, noticing the resemblance between the two.
Emma scoffed. "My mother ditched me on the side of a highway when I wasn't even an hour old."
"That's not exactly how it happened, Emma," Mary Margaret said, taking a step toward her.
Instinctively, Emma took a step back. The truth was, she saw the resemblance too, just as she had with David, but she wasn't ready to admit it. How could she? Either these people were crazy, or they were really the people who abandoned her without a second thought, and she didn't know which was worse.
She had dealt with crazy with numerous foster parents.
She wasn't ready to deal with real parents. That was too foreign to her.
"Don't, just… please don't," Emma said, holding a hand up to Mary Margaret.
Mary Margaret nodded, and Emma couldn't help but note a little sadness in her eyes. "Some of the fairies will be here soon," she said, as she headed back down the stairs.
Once Mary Margaret and David were out of earshot, Regina turned back to Emma. "You do see it, don't you."
"I'm not talking about it," Emma replied, as she turned to flop, ungraciously, onto the bed behind her. "This whole situation is just too much to handle."
"I know," Regina admitted, sitting politely again, on the edge.
Emma sighed and sat back up, scooting over beside Regina. "Yeah, I guess it's not easy for you, either. Were you close to your dad?"
Regina nodded, not looking up. And then she sighed. "I guess if I'm actually an adult, then I must have already grieved him before," she said, nodding like she was trying to convince herself.
"Yeah, but, even if that's true… it doesn't mean you don't feel something now."
Regina put on that fake smile again. "I'm a lady, I know how to keep my emotions in check," she insisted.
"That's messed up," Emma sighed. "If you ever get sick of being a lady and you, you know, wanna talk about it or something, I'll listen."
Regina's fake smile started to look a little more real for the first time. "I appreciate that."
"So… these fairies… are they gonna like flit around spreading pixie dust and shit?" Emma asked, mentally trying to prepare herself.
"It depends. They can be small, but they can take on a human form as well," Regina shrugged, as if it were as normal a thing to say as anything else. Then she laughed. "You think these things are so odd. But these are the things I find odd," she said, motioning around her to the lights.
"No electricity in the Enchanted Forest, I take it?"
"I assume not, since I don't know what that word means," Regina admitted.
"And you're really a princess there?"
"Yes. Not an heir to the throne, by any means, but yes," Regina nodded.
Emma sighed. "You know, a part of me wants to believe this is all real, but… the sane part of me says it's impossible. Can you understand that? Because I need an ally in this, ya know?"
Regina nodded. "Me, too."
Emma glanced over to see green eyes peering up at her from the stairwell. "Yes, Henry?" she laughed. She got a kick out of how enthralled this boy was about all of this.
Henry grinned and headed the rest of the way up the stairs. "I wasn't trying to eavesdrop, or anything, I just wanted to see you guys," Henry shrugged, looking a little sheepish.
"My father's name is… was… Henry," Regina said, tilting her head as she looked at him.
"I know. You named me after him. Henry Daniel Mills."
Regina narrowed her eyes, and gave an impish smile. "Daniel is the name of the stable boy who works for my mother."
Emma picked up on the smile right away. "You have a crush on this stable boy?"
Regina blushed. It didn't take her much to figure out what a 'crush' was, and she was not about to admit anything so private to these people.
Emma noticed the perplexed look on Henry's face, and wondered if he knew something about this Daniel. She decided maybe it was best to ask him later, not in front of Regina.
"So, kid, you seem relatively normal," Emma commented as Henry pulled up a chair to sit across from them.
Henry laughed. "That's what you call me. Kid."
"I know," Emma said, rolling her eyes, "I just said it."
"No, I mean, the real you."
"This is the real me, kid. Emma Swan in the flesh."
"It's just… it's so cool to see you two like this. You guys are gonna think it's hilarious when the fairies change you back," Henry grinned.
"Oh, yes, where is Tinker Bell anyway? She sure is taking her sweet time flying her sparkly little pixie ass over here."
Henry laughed again. "Ok, first of all, the fairies don't fly in Storybrooke, they walk. And second of all, when you change back, my mom's gonna kill you for swearing in front of me."
"I thought I was your mom?" Emma said, and then laughed at the ridiculousness of the statement.
"I meant my other mom," Henry said, looking at Regina. Regina stared back at him with wide eyes.
When Regina didn't say anything, Emma took it upon herself to talk some more. She wasn't really used to such a captive audience, and she planned to milk it for all it was worth. "Storybrooke, huh? That's what they call this place?"
"Yeah. I'll tell you why later. If I tell you now, you're just gonna think I'm nuts."
"It couldn't possibly be weirder than everything else I've heard today."
"Trust me, it is."
"Ok… so… what do you do for fun around here? No offense, but this town looks boring as hell."
"Uh… I like video games?" Henry suggested.
"Sweet. My foster mother just got us the new Sega Dreamcast," Emma grinned.
Henry laughed out loud. "Oh my God, Mo-… uh, Emma. What year do you think it is?"
"1999?" Emma said, glancing at Regina for a moment, who looked confused as ever by this entire conversation.
"Emma, it's 2015," Henry laughed.
"Yeah ok, Marty McFly," Emma rolled her eyes. "Good to know that the world survived Y2K, at least."
This time, both Regina and Henry looked utterly confused, and Emma had to laugh. "Am I not speaking English anymore?"
"Yeah, you lost me," Henry nodded, "and we lost my m-Regina a while back."
Emma thought for a second. "I guess I'm actually Marty McFly though, since I'm the one who travelled to the future."
"Time travel's impossible," Regina finally chimed in, "even with magic."
"Welcome back to the conversation. So you mean I can blow out light bulbs with my mind, but I can't look ahead to the winning lottery numbers? Seems like a kind of shitty power to have, doesn't it?"
Regina was about to speak, when the three heard a new voice downstairs.
"I didn't expect a man fairy," Emma commented.
"That's not a fairy," Henry said, shaking his head. "That's Mr. Gold."
Emma interest was piqued. She stood up and creeped over to the stairs, peeking down at the man below.
"These, um, so-called parents of mine don't look happy to see him," Emma commented, as Henry joined her in her look out position. Regina stayed on the bed, observing the two little spies on the floor, rather than sating her own interest by spying herself. She may have wanted to, but she reminded herself she was a lady, and a guest in this home.
"He's my grandfather," Henry said. Emma thought it was an odd admission.
"Wait, if I'm your mom, then doesn't that make David your grandfather? Your like thirty-something year old grandfather?"
"My other grandfather," Henry said, rolling his eyes. "Like, my dad's dad."
"I slept with that dude's son?" Emma scoffed. "He looks like he's like a hundred."
"Try four hundred."
"Funny, kid," Emma said, jabbing him with her elbow.
"Emma? Regina?" Mary Margaret called from downstairs, "can you come down here, please?"
Emma stood up and glanced back at Regina, who looked momentarily panicked, but stood up anyway.
"Kid," Emma said, looking back at Henry. "You seem cool, and like the sanest person I've met here so far. You got our backs, right?"
Henry grinned and nodded.
"Okay, tell me right now, is it safe to go down there? Or do we need to climb out that window and make a break for it?"
"It's safe," Henry insisted.
"I'm counting on you, kid," Emma said, searching his eyes.
"Use your superpower," Henry suggested.
"How did you… nevermind," Emma shook her head. She reached for Regina's hand again, and they headed down the stairs, with Henry trailing right behind.
"My my," Mr. Gold said, as the girl joined the adults in the living room, "she looks exactly the same, doesn't she?" he asked, motioning toward Regina, and then looking to Mary Margaret, who just nodded.
"What happened to Tinker Bell?" Emma asked, trying to break up the tension she clearly felt in the room.
"It's a small town, Emma, and news travels fast, apparently. Someone at the diner alerted Mr. Gold," David explained.
"Now tell me, girls, what do you remember?" Gold asked.
"Waking up in a dungeon," Emma shrugged.
"Vault," Regina corrected her, softly by firmly. "With my mother's magical items."
"Cora, yes," Gold nodded.
"You know – uh, knew her?" Regina asked, her face suddenly lighting up.
"Taught her all she knew, dearie," Gold said with a small laugh.
Regina's expression darkened, instantly. "Dark magic, you mean?"
"Yes, Dearie, but we're not here to talk about your dearly departed mother. We're here to talk about your magic."
"Do you have any idea how they did this to themselves?" Mary Margaret asked.
"Any number of ways," Gold replied, in a dismissive tone.
"Well, can you fix it?" David pressed.
"Spells like this, generally tend to wear off on their own, in due time. Without knowing what spell they cast, I can't really counter it, now can I?"
"In due time? What's due time?" David asked.
"Could be a week, could be a month… again, without knowing the spell, it's impossible to say. It's not permanent, and that's about all I can tell you, dearie."
"So why did you come?" Mary Margaret asked, hoping there was something Gold could offer them.
No such luck.
"I just wanted to see the aftermath of Regina and Emma's careless magic. Regina has a penchant for casting spells she doesn't understand, it was only a matter of time, really."
Before anyone could speak again, Gold waved his hand and disappeared in a cloud of red smoke. Emma stared, gaping.
"Okay… okay I'm a believer. Holy crap," Emma said, still staring in shock at the place where Gold had stood.
"Should we call off the fairies?" Mary Margaret asked, turning to David.
"No, let's see what they have to say, too, when they get here."
No one said much in the few minutes that passed before there was another knock on the door. Mary Margaret quickly let the blonde into the loft, and turned back to the girls.
"Emma, Regina, this is… Tinker Bell."
Emma snorted again. "Yeah, okay."
"I thought you were a believer?" Regina whispered.
"Yeah but… Tinker Bell? C'mon, that's Peter Pan, Captain Hook, all that crap… you know?"
Regina shook her head, and turned her attention back on the fairy.
"Emma, I really am Tinker Bell. But everyone calls me Tink," in an Auckland accent that took Emma by surprise.
Emma watched Regina's face as they listened to David and Mary Margaret fill Tink in on the situation, and what Gold had said.
"Unfortunately," Tink said, once they were done, "I agree with Gold on this one. You're just gonna have to wait out the spell."
"Okay," Mary Margaret nodded, "but there's something else. Emma… her magic, it's already manifested itself since they changed back. Regina didn't have it at sixteen… how's Emma supposed to control it."
Tink looked at Emma and offered her a sympathetic smile. "I'll take you under my wing. Metaphorically, I mean. Both of you. Regina, you might not have had magic at sixteen, but you do as an adult and you might still, under this spell."
"Thanks, Tink," David said, when neither girl spoke up.
"Why don't I meet you at the diner tomorrow before you go to work? Bring them there, and I'll keep them out of trouble for the day," Tink said, winking at Emma.
"I wouldn't get in trouble anyway," Regina insisted.
"Trust me, it's not you I'm worried about."
Emma just grinned. Getting in trouble was what she did best, and she highly doubted a woman who thought she was a fairy tale character would be any match for her.
She was starting to think this whole thing might be fun, after all.
TBC