Emma spent the next few days putting her efforts into trying to figure out what Ariel was up to. The part mermaid usually wasn't so secretive. Emma got her answer as she came through the back door one morning when she was greeted by an enthusiastic Ariel.
"Emma! I have something to tell you!"
Though Emma was a little taken aback by Ariel's excitement, she asked, "Okay, what is it?"
Ariel took Emma's hand and led her over to sit on the staircase as she answered, "So, I know how you did always enjoy going to balls – well, besides the corseted dresses – and I've spent the last few days planning and inviting guests for Seabrooke's annual ball tomorrow night."
Emma was a bit frustrated when she replied, "Yeah, I did enjoy it. But my parents haven't thrown one in years – they got tired of explaining why it had to be during the daylight hours, and why I always had to leave before sunset. It was even more complicated when they couldn't exactly tell the truth to any visiting nobles from other kingdoms."
Ariel gave her goddaughter a sympathetic look before she perked back up as she said, "I know. But I have a way to fix that."
Emma's frustration turned to confusion as she asked, "How?"
Ariel looked quite pleased – more for Emma than herself – as she answered, "Well, I have a way to make it to where you won't turn into a swan for the night so you can attend the ball."
"What? Are you going to bibbidi bobbidi boo me, too?" Emma questioned – though Ariel didn't miss her sarcastic tone.
She couldn't help laugh before she sincerely replied, "Look, Emma, you deserve to have a wonderful time at a ball without constantly looking out the windows." Emma smiled at Ariel before she pulled her in for hug.
As they pulled away Emma said, "Thank you, Ariel."
"Of course, Emma," Ariel told her.
After a moment, Emma once again pulled out the sarcasm, "So, what exactly are you planning on doing? Turning a pumpkin into a carriage?"
Ariel rolled her eyes before she replied, "No. But who says Fairy Godmother gets to have all the fun?"
Emma smiled brightly as she said, "Ok, even if you pull this off, I didn't bring a ball gown."
Without the slightest pause or hesitation, Ariel answered, "Your red one is hanging in your closet." Emma gave her a strange look, so Ariel explained, "I wrote your mother and told her everything."
"You didn't tell her about…" Emma trailed off as her mind started racing. Ariel was already perceptive, and it didn't help that Emma hadn't been exactly subtle when it came to her feelings for Killian. But the truth was that she still wasn't entirely sure where they stood – Emma knew she felt something for him, but she was still trying to figure out exactly what that was, and Killian still hadn't let her in completely.
Ariel was confused at first, but then she grasped Emma's meaning, "Relax. I didn't say anything about Lieutenant Jones. It isn't my place."
Emma breathed a sigh of relief as she admitted, "Thank you. He's…I'm… it's a bit complicated."
Ariel nodded as Emma changed the subject, "Will Mom and Dad be able to come?"
"Unfortunately, no. But they send you the best," Ariel answered.
Emma looked a bit disappointed before she soon perked back up, "So, I guess this means you're my fairy…err, mermaid godmother? Where do we start?"
Ariel took Emma's hand and led her toward the beach as she said, "If Cinderella can get her prince, maybe you can get your lieutenant."
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"Ariel, where are you?" Emma thought as she sat on the sand overlooking the ocean. She had been waiting for three hours for Ariel to come back from Atlantica. The mermaid had gone to visit Ursula, who knew how to fashion a potion that would work the same way as Fairy Godmother's magic. Emma then saw Ariel's green tail flipping out of the water as she began swimming ashore.
Ariel propped herself up on a rock before she reached inside her bag to pull out her bracelet. When Emma watched Ariel's tail transformed into legs, she got up from her place on the sand to join Ariel on an adjoining rock and asked, "Did you get it?"
Ariel once again reached into her bag to grab a paper, a brightly colored liquid, an oyster's pearl and squid ink. Emma gave Ariel a questioning look as she asked, "I thought Ursula was going to make the potion."
"The potion won't have any affect if it's made underwater – I told her you have magic and were trained by Regina, and she promises you'll have no problem making it yourself."
"Alright. Is this everything – it doesn't look like it," Emma questioned as she looked over the instructions.
"Almost. You'll need to save one of your feathers when you transform tonight. We'll also have to find a way to get the rest of these ingredients," Ariel answered.
Emma nodded before she asked, "Why do I need one of my feathers?"
"It's because the potion is so specific," Ariel replied.
"That makes sense," Emma surmised before she asked, "How are we supposed to get the rest of these ingredients? Do you have a secret magic lair I don't know about?"
Ariel only let out a breath before she started racking her brain for ideas. After a few minutes of silence, Ariel suggested, "What about Regina? She probably has what you'll need."
"She probably does, but there's no way I can talk to her. A letter would take too long – the ball is tomorrow," Emma pointed out, her hope fading more and more with each passing minute.
Ariel slumped her shoulders for several minutes before an idea struck her: "Mirror magic!"
Emma, who had also been deep in thought, jumped as she asked, "What?"
"Isn't there a way to enchant mirrors to be able to talk to someone?" Ariel suggested. Emma's eyes widened in excitement as a smile took over a features as she got up from the rock and hurried off toward the castle leaving Ariel to catch up with her.
Within minutes, Emma had reached her room in the palace. She grabbed her hand mirror from the vanity and sat on the bed. She was surprised to see that Ariel wasn't right behind her, but Emma soon turned her attention to her mirror. She closed her eyes and put all her focus into reaching Regina, remembering what the dark-haired woman had told her about magic being about emotion and not thinking. Emma thought about the all the reasons she wanted to go the ball and within moments, Emma saw Regina and Robin's bedroom in their castle. Regina had her back turned, but quickly turned around as she must have sensed the magic in the room.
As Regina picked up the mirror that was laying on her dresser, the expression on her face turned into one of surprise as she questioned, "Emma? Why are you using mirror magic?"
"I really needed to talk to you, Regina. I need your help," Emma answered.
"If this is about Rumplestiltskin stealing the potion, I'm not sure how I could help," Regina replied.
"I'm not even sure what to do about that," Emma began before she continued, "This is something else."
"Well?" Regina asked, eyebrows raised.
"Tomorrow night is Seabrooke's annual ball; Ariel figured out a way for me to be able to go, and it requires making a potion. The potion works the same way as the magic used by Fairy Godmother to help Cinderella. Ariel went to Ursula, but she didn't have all the ingredients. I was hoping that maybe you would?" Emma replied all in one breath – clearly her nerves were getting to her.
Regina didn't answer right away as she took it all in, but at last she answered, "I know which potion you're talking about – I've never made it before, but I know the ingredients. I'm assuming Ursula had the ingredients that can be found underwater?"
Emma nodded and watched as Regina began walking toward her vault. When she arrived, Regina set the mirror down on one of the shelves, making Emma unable to see what she was doing.
The minutes dragged by, and Emma was about to call out to Regina before she picked up the mirror and showed Emma the ingredients on the table.
"Ok, this is everything. I'm assuming Ursula relayed the information to Ariel about you needing one of your feathers?"
Emma nodded.
As Regina searched for a bag to place the ingredients in, holding the mirror in one hand, she said to Emma, "I don't recall you making a potion since I was training you. You'll only have one shot to make this potion – you'll have to follow the instructions exactly or else it won't work."
"Geez, thanks for the pep talk," Emma answered.
"I'm sorry, Emma. I know you are more than capable of making this potion – I can see how important it is to you," Regina said before she asked, "May I ask why going to the ball matters so much to you?"
Just then Ariel waltzed through the door and began, "Sorry, Emma, I had to confirm all the guests coming to the ball tomorrow night." As she sat on the chair in front of the vanity, she continued, "And by the way – I know this isn't a surprise since we always invite the ranking officers of the navy – but I just wanted to tell you a certain lieutenant is coming."
Emma didn't miss Ariel's mischievous smile on that last part. For a moment, the blonde forgot that Regina was listening and questioned, "Killian's going to be there?" trying and failing to keep a smile off her face.
Regina witnessed the whole thing and piped in, "So, that's why you want to go the ball," startling both Ariel and Emma.
Emma turned her attention back to the mirror as she said, "He's… that's only a small part of it. It's not even the real reason I want to go," Emma began as she took a breath then continued, "I haven't really enjoyed a ball since before I was cursed. All I want is to be a normal princess for one night."
Regina nodded her head as she gave her friend an understanding look before she presented a velvet bag to Emma, "Here are the rest of the ingredients you'll need. I'm going to poof them over to you." Emma nodded and within a couple minutes, the velvet bag appeared on the vanity in a veil of purple smoke.
"Thank you so much, Regina," Emma said.
"Of course," Regina replied before she asked, "I'm assuming your boyfriend is Lieutenant Killian Jones of Misthaven's navy?"
Emma wasn't able to fight the blush that made its way on her face before she rolled her eyes as she answered, "He is not my boyfriend."
"But she really likes him," Ariel piped up from her chair.
"Really?" Emma said as she turned to give a pointed look at Ariel.
"It's not her fault that you're rather obvious when you have feelings for someone," Regina said.
Emma only groaned as she buried her face in her free hand.
As she looked up, she said, "Look, I know I can't pretend that you two are wrong, but me and Killian – I'm just not entirely sure of anything."
Regina once again nodded in understanding before she said, "It's almost time for Amelia to wake up from her nap. I'll talk to you when you get back. It was nice to see you Ariel." Ariel waved and Emma nodded as the blonde took a minute to draw the enchantment out of the mirror.
As she walked back over to the vanity and set the mirror down, Ariel stood up and said, "I should get going. I have some things I need to do."
Emma then buried her face in both of her hands as she said, "I'm so sorry, Ariel. You have a kingdom to run, and you've been helping me for half of the day."
"It's really alright Emma. I wanted to help you. And now you have a way to go to the ball," Ariel answered.
Emma smiled in response before the panic set in, "Ursula is positive this potion will work? I don't want to take any chances."
"Yes, Emma. You will have a wonderful time," Ariel answered with a reassuring smile before she pulled Emma in for a hug.
As they pulled away, Emma said, "Thank you, Ariel. This means so much to me."
"You are more than welcome," Ariel sincerely replied before she joked, "What is a mermaid godmother for?" It was then that she and Emma both began laughing before Ariel left the room and made her way down the stairs.
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The next day, while everyone else was scurrying around the castle making last minute preparations for the ball, Emma was busy out in the midst of the trees making the potion. Aside from the fact that she didn't want to be in anyone's way, Ariel and Eric were the only ones who knew exactly what she was doing. When Emma placed the final ingredient – her swan feather – into the mixture and applied her light magic to make it mix together, the potion was ready.
In order for the potion to take effect, it had to be poured on an item that Emma planned on wearing to the ball tonight. So, Emma took her necklace off – accented with a ruby to match her dress – and poured the blue sparkling liquid on it. The necklace glowed with the same white light that consumed Emma when she transformed before returning back to normal. As Emma placed the necklace back around her neck, she looked at the sinking sun.
She had specifically chosen to wait until nearly sunset to make the potion to see if it would work – patience wasn't always Emma's strong suit, especially something that was this important. As the sun had set, a white light glowed from Emma's necklace for a moment before it faded away – Emma had closed her eyes in a combination of anticipation and nerves. As she opened them to find that she was still human, she breathed a sigh of relief as stood up to make her way back to the castle to get ready for the ball
When Emma returned to the palace, Ariel greeted her with, "Emma! You have to get ready. I'll help you." As Emma followed the queen up the stairs, she noticed that Ariel was already dressed for the ball with her red hair pulled all to one side in curls with a small tiara adorning her head and a glittery purple and green ball gown.
Within an hour, Emma was ready. Ariel had helped place Emma's long blonde locks in a bun on the back of her head with two loose curls framing the sides of face. Along with her necklace, Emma was wearing bright red lipstick to match her long sleeve red ball gown with small red rubies adorning the sweetheart neckline.
As Emma adjusted the small tiara in the mirror of the vanity, Ariel said, "You look so beautiful Emma. I wish your parents were here to see you."
"I wish they were too. Mom always loved this dress on me," Emma replied.
Ariel wrapped her goddaughter in a hug from behind before she stood up and sat on Emma's bed as she changed the subject, "I bet you'll take Lieutenant Jones' breath away when he sees you."
Emma only smiled shyly in response as she blushed the same way she had earlier. Ariel noticed and smiled in return as she answered, "You two can dance the night away – well, until midnight anyway," which made Emma laugh until a thought crossed her mind, "I'm sure Captain Jones will love that."
Ariel gave Emma a confused expression so Emma explained, "I understand that he's only trying to look out for Killian, but he still doesn't like me spending time with his younger brother."
"Has he said that to you?" Ariel asked.
"No, but it's this gut feeling I have," Emma answered.
"Emma, sometimes you worry entirely too much for your own good. While I know you have quite a lot on your plate, you need to relax a bit. It's one of the reasons I wanted you to be able to come to this ball. You just need to have fun tonight," Ariel told her.
Emma nodded as Ariel said, "I think it's time to go down. Eric is probably looking for me. Are you coming?"
"I'll be down in a minute," Emma replied.
As Ariel left the room, Emma turned back toward the mirror. Ariel was right – she needed to relax. Her mind wandered to the day she spent with Killian – which honestly felt like a lifetime ago. She couldn't remember the last time she had been so carefree – she didn't have a worry in the world that day, and she would do the same tonight. This was the first ball she had been to in ages, and for the first time in seven years, Emma could be a regular princess. Emma stood up and slipped on her heels before making her way to the door and down the stairs. Tonight would be the dream that Emma would pretend wouldn't end at midnight.
