They all met inside Mary Margaret's house: David, Emma, Regina, Henry and Killian. Regina was sitting on the sofa. After the prevous night's events, she chose to stay as far as possible from Emma.
Emma gazed at them, one by one, paler than ever. She was still dressed as the Dark One. For some reason, she was reclutant to hid her looks, even if she wished it. Maybe she grew used to wear that skin. It's been years, after all.
She cleared her voice.
«It won't be pleasing.» she said.
David leaned a hand on her shoulder smiling at her, even if he was tensed. Henry gave her and encouraging smirk.
The Dark One sighed, trying to calm the furious beat of her heart. She moved her hands, palms up, towards them. Mary Margared and David took a second to understand, but then they held her hands. Henry was the bridge between David and Regina. Killian held Regina's hand and Mary Margaret his hook. Emma nodded, satisfied. She gave Regina a worried glance, then she sighed again.
«I'm not asking you if you're ready, because I'm not.» she said. She shut her eyes and, finally, she cast the spell. He memories materialized as a big black sphere of smoke at the center of the circle they were creating. The smoke extended into tentacle-like shapes that moved towards each of them, except for Emma. The Savior looked at it, scared and tensed. She gazed at Regina.
«You can break the circle. Touch the smoke.» she said, still loking at the brunette.
Regina just glanced at her before touching the dark smoke in front of her, letting memories fill her mind.
Gideon disarms her. Emma tries to use her magic against him, but the Queen's spell stops her. Her hand shakes, but she reacts to Gideon's attack, which she has seen a thousand times in her visions, and dodges the sword. She manages to kick him right in his belly and he falls on the ground. The Queen gets furious and chokes her with her magic. Emma is suffocating and Gideon is standing up. Her sight gets darker.
Regina appears behind the Queen. She stares at Emma, she looks in her eyes. She rips out her heart. Emma understands, the panic she wasn't feeling until that moment assaults her. She tries to stop her, but it's too late. Regina crashes her heart. She and the Queen fall on the ground. Emma, free from the spell, cries out her pain, but Gideon is standing up again. He lifts his sword but Emma jumps on him and grabs it from his hands. She slices him all the way through, then she runs to Regina, she tries to awaken her, uslessly.
The set changes.
Emma in inside Zelena's house. The witch has two very dark circles around her eyes. She looks devastated.
«It's impossible.» she tells her. Emma gaves her a dark stare.
«Do it.»
The scene changes again.
Emma is preparing what looks like a potion inside Regina's vault. Zelena comes in bringing some objects, ancient artifacts, a wand. The two of them prepare everyting, then they share a gaze. A few moments later they evoke their powers activating a devastating spell.
«Go!» Emma yells at her above the magic, strong wind. Zelena nods and disappears with her green smoke. Emma jumps into the whirl and she appears in the Enchanted Forest, thirty-seven years before.
Regina leapt up from the sofa, her eyes full of tears. She stared at Emma, opening her mouth as if she wanted to say something to her, but the words didn't exit her lips.
Emma stayed silent, her stare low, tears wetting her face. Henry was staring at her mouth-agape.
«You… shouldn't have done it…» Regina whispered finally, still staring at her.
Emma looked about to crumble, but she kept standing up. She gazed at her with pure desperation in her eyes.
«Perhaps, but I just couldn't let you die. The only way I had to save you was to stop you before you could split again, and to do it and make sure you were fine I had to… change the past, without actually changing it.» she told her, her heart hammering and her breaths short as if she had just ran. «To take Rumplestiltskin's place was the only way to stop you from killing more people than necessary. You had to push further enough of your limits to cast the curse, but not enough to despise yourself like you did before.»
Mary Margaret, David and Hook were staring at her more confised than ever.
«You've changed the past?» Killian asked her. Emma nodded at him.
Henry was looking at his moms, shocked.
«You shouldn't have done it…. You risked to change the future… If something went wrong, Henry would never be born! And you shouldn't have done it because you shouldn't go back being the Dark One.» Regina said, ignoring the pirate.
Emma looked back into her eyes.
«I spent weeks planning everything, I couldn't show that to you, too. When I went to Zelena a month had passed, and I did create a spell to travel back in time studying your books. But I knew it was a one ride ticket…» she murmured lowering her gaze. She lifted it a moment later, looking at her son, pain in her eyes.
«I thought I wouldn't remember anything, that I would just be the other Emma here…»
She gazed at her parents and the tiniest smile appeared on her lips.
«I saw you. I saw myself as a newborn, you defending me from the black guards…» she said to her father that smirked at her despite he was confised, and so did Snow. Emma went back looking at Regina.
«But it wasn't so. I stabbed myself a moment before that the curse came…» Henry gave a start at those words. «… but Zeus brought me back here. With all of my memories.»
«You're an idiot!» Regina yelled slapping her before disappearing thanks to her magic.
Emma was surprised by that slap. She gazed down, hurt. Henry went close to her and hugged her tight.
«You're a real hero mom.»
Emma hugged him back letting her tears free to run oll over her face. She hid her face aginst his shoulder. God, he grew up so fast.
«Your mother doesn't think so.» she laughed bitterly. He held her tighter.
«She feels responsible…» Mary Margaret weakly said. Emma nodded against Henry's shoulder. She met Killian's stare. She let go Henry and tried to go closer to him, but the pirate stepped away.
«Stay with your queen. We're done.» he said staring at her, leaving her speechless.
«Hook…» David tried to say, but the pirate glowered at him.
«Stay out of this, mate.»
«Killian wait…» Emma tried, but Hook glared at her.
«I'm tired to be put after her.» he said before leaving the apartment slamming the door.
Snow made a step towards her daughter, and she was about to say something when the house swung as of a giant was moving it. Emma held Henry until it stopped. Everyone gave her worried glances, but Emma knew exactly where did that come from.
«I need to go.» she said a moment before disappearing. She appeared inside Regina's house, a few steps away from her. The woman turned abruplty.
«What are you doing here?» she questioned her stepping back. Emma hesitated.
«… The magic. It was you, the earthquake. What happed?» she asked her, worry in her eyes. Regina avoided her stare.
«Nothing. I lost control, for a moment.» she answered quickly. The Savior kept looking at her, silent. The she lowered her gaze, evidently embarassed.
«You don't need to feel guilty. It was a choice of mine.» she said after a while.
«Which you shouldn't have taken! What the hell were you thinking?!» the brunette suddenly yelled. Emma stepped back, taken out of guard by that rant.
«Regina…»
«Regina what? Did you even think about it before doing it? What if something went wrong? Henry… and you're the Dark One again…»
Emma made a step towards her istinctively.
«Yes, I did think about it! I thought and I planned…» she lowered her tone slightly «… even Gold's murder. Do you really think I didn't know what I was about to go through?» she asked her, now almost yelling in turn «Henry was always my priority! I didn't undervalued even the tiniest detail, I know the book by heart to avoid any consequences that could change the future after the curse, except for the reason why I did all of this!»
Regina was staring at her with a strange look in her eye.
«You killed Gideon. You won. Why did you do this?»
Emma hesitated a bit.
«But I had lost you.» she murmured meeting her eye. Regina froze.
«I don't see why it was so relevant to you.» she whispered.
An almost invisible sigh moved the Dark One's body. She lowered her gaze again, refuging inside herself. She shrugged her shoulders.
«Henry had already lost his father, I didn't want him to lose his mother too.» she mumbled.
«Oh, it's so good to him that one of his mothers is the Dark One while the other is the Evil Queen instead…»
«Better this that without you.» Emma whispered raiaìsing her eyes on her. Regina looked back at her without hiding the anger she was feeling.
«No. He should have at least one good person in his life. That should have been you.»
The Dark One frowned.
«Me? Regina, you're not evil. I made you act that way, remember? Me and your mother. And Gold. You wouldn't have hurt a fly without us.»
«Maybe without my mother…» the brunette had to admit after some seconds. «Buti t doesn't matter. You could chose and you took the wrong decision. You should have let me die as I choose to do.»
«I couldn't.» the other woman said, nervously walking acroos the room without looking at her.
«Why?» Regina asked, exhasperated. «And this time you should tell me the truth. You're not the only one who gets it when people lie.»
Emma gazed at her with pure fear in her eyes.
«You're…» she tried to say, but then she stopped. «… You're family, Regina. I…» She couldn't go on. There was too much to say, even if three words could have summed it up. But there was too much to say. Here yes flung around, looking for the right words.
«Other people are family to you. You should have thought after your parents, your pirate…» Regina objected, her voice sweeter.
Emma shook her head.
«But without you I can't breathe.» she burst out. And she turned white a moment later, as she realized what she just said. She made a step back, her eyes wide with fear.
«What…?» Regina whispered, frozen, her heart hammering fast in her chest. Emma stepped back again, panicking.
«I…» she murmured in confusion.
«Emma… what are you saying?» Regina spurred her, trying too look her in the eyes. The Savior gazed down, paler than ever.
«I love you.» she whispered.
Regina's heart was confused, like her. Now it was beating faster and faster, now it seemed still. She made a step towards her.
«And Hook?» she asked, her voice trembling.
Emma glanced at her. Her question irritated her.
«Is that all you're capable to tell me?» she questioned her, now staring at her with her frightened and dubious eyes «Really?»
Regina was barely able to look back at her.
«I need to know the value of your words, seen that you were saying the same to him just yesterday…»
Emma gave her a hurt stare.
«I didn't live five years away from my son for him, though.»
«Emma you wnt to hell and back for him. You wanted to give him your heart…»
Emma nodded and looked down.
«I know. I wasn't thinking. I was… addicted to him. Not because I loved him, because I didn't love him.» che confessed, her voice a murmur, her gaze distant from her. «It was easy, because he cared about me, and I wasn't tarrorized by the idea of losing him.» She looked at her. «But, for how cinycal it may sound, I didn't miss him during these years. I missed Henry, my parents, but not him.»
Regina goggled, astounded.
«So you were with him just because he was giving you attentions? It's not a good reason…»
«Indeed, it isn't.» She shrugged blushing a bit. «That's why I don't want to mislead him again.»
«You want to break up with him?» the brunette asked, surprised. The Dark One nodded.
«Yes. I was only waiting to have a moment alone with him. It wouldn't be nice to do it in front of my parents.»
«Of course.» Regina replied. She kept looking at her as if she was waiting for her to do something, and she was afraid of it at the same time. «I guess you should go now…»
Emma stared at her as if she just aimed a gun at her. She nodded blinking repetaedly as she was trying to hold back the tears.
«Yes.» she spat, her voice made hoarse by the pain.
«After you've talked to him… and broke up with him… I would like you to come back here. To talk about us.» Regina continued, hesitant. Emma suddenly lifetd her eyes on her, a sparkle of hope in her gaze. She nodded, than she disappeared inside her dark smoke. As she did, a smile appeared on Regina's face.