A/N: I know it's be a while since I've updated. Between work and writer's block, I haven't gotten much opportunity to write. I hope you all will enjoy this chapter! :)


Chapter 7: Let the Games Begin

Regina's POV

She sat at her desk as she looked at a picture of Henry. He was about six or seven and had lost his first tooth. She sighed as she realized that was one of the last moments Henry was her little boy. Even then she had the sinking feeling that he'd know he was adopted and ask her about his real parents. Well, birth parent she should say. Ever since his tenth birthday, she noticed a difference in him. There was a part of him that grew cold towards her.

And now with his new brother or sister on the way, she saw the metaphorical knife hanging above her, ready to stab her in the back. There was always a chance that he would want to come back to her. There was also a chance that he wouldn't. She had to be prepared for that. Sighing once more she put the picture faced down. She couldn't stand to look at it. The more she looked at it, the more it meant that he wasn't hers little boy didn't exist.


Emma's POV

She looked at Graham as he slept peacefully. She was beginning to get to the point in her pregnancy where comfort barely existed. Between that and the constant thoughts of Regina trying to hurt her, Graham, or the baby, sleep was something she wished for. She let out a frustrated sigh as she tried to turn over. She was going to be so happy when the baby was born. Hopefully he or she would sleep through the night.

She got out of bed and sat on the ledge by her window. As she placed her hand on her bulging stomach, she felt nostalgic. The last time she did this very action was when she was about to have Henry.


Flashback

Eighteen year old Emma sat, looking out the window of the prison courtyard. She had befriended one of the guards that allowed her to walk around after everyone went to bed. That night she decided to look out a window. She was too tired to walk. Besides, she had a lot on her mind.

A couple of weeks ago they asked her what she was planning to do with her baby. She had looked blankly into space and told them she wasn't going to keep him or her. She chose against knowing the gender of her unborn child. The less attached she was, the better. Her life was in no order to include someone else in it. That and the fact she didn't want to think about Neil. She was sure if the baby was a boy he'd be a spitting image of him.

Despite all her certainty, there was a part of her that wanted to be a mother. She longed to love someone. She wanted to be the mother she never had. If she did, she probably would have ended up being arrested for a crime she didn't commit. Let alone fall in love with a man that would only abandon her.

A stray tear fell down her cheek as she began to rub her stomach. She soon felt the baby kick, like it had done the previous million times before. More and more tears flowed down the sides of her face. She had to give this baby up. It was for the better. She was only protecting him or her from a life of hardship and hurt.

"I'm sorry I can't be the mother you need me to be. I hope one day you'll understand," she whispered.

She carefully got up and walked back towards her cell. She knew she was making the right decision. At least that's what she told herself.

End of Flashback


She knew unlike the last time she was pregnant that she could be the mother this baby needed her to be. Ironically, she was also being the mother Henry wanted all along. For him, she was more than enough. Sure, Regina provided him with a stable home life, but that wasn't enough.

In all her thinking she didn't hear Henry come into her room. She jumped once he tapped her on the shoulder.

"Jesus, kid, you scared me," she whispered as she held her hand to her chest.

"Sorry, I couldn't sleep."

"Me either."

She moved over and patted the now empty space. Henry sat beside her, folding his legs "Native American" style.

"What do you think you're going to have?"

Emma thought about it for a moment, "Hmm," she said as prepared her next statement, "I don't know."

"What do you want to have?"

She thought some more, "I never really thought about it."

"I hope the baby's a girl."

She looked at her eldest child in shock, "Really? You don't want a little brother?"

"Do you really want two of me running around?"

She giggled a little, "I don't think it'd such a bad thing."

"You say that now, but wait until he can run around."

She smiled and thought to herself. This was probably life would be like if she had kept Henry. What eighteen year old Emma didn't know was that she was made to be a mom. Sure she wasn't one of those soccer or PTO moms, but she was a mother nonetheless.

He looked at her and smiled, "I love you, Mom."

She was taken aback by his statement. In all the time they had known each other, he always called her Emma. To hear him say mom was mind blowing. It was strange, yet it felt comfortable.

She extended her arms and embraced him, "I love you too, Henry."

She kissed his forehead, and the room started to shake. Henry clung tighter to her as she did the same to him.

"What's going on?" Henry asked shakily.

"I don't know."

Henry gasped, "Do you think my mom's up to something?"


Regina's Office…

Regina's POV

She looked around as things started shaking and falling off her desk. Whatever was going on was massive. She hadn't experienced anything like this since...the...curse…was enacted. Her eyes became extremely wide. In all her trying to back at them for once again stealing her happiness, she forgot about the curse. Had it been broken? It couldn't have been. If it was, how was that possible?

She thought about it for a moment. Ever since Emma came back into town, things started changing in Storybrooke. Had Emma found a way to break the curse? The thought of that angered her. Her blood began to boil. If Emma had truly broken the curse any chance of revenge she had was a lost cause.

As she silently cursed Emma and the whole "Charming" family, she got up and went to see what was going on.


Emma and Mary Margaret's Apartment

Mary Margaret's POV

Her eyes shot open as she felt the vibrations. She felt a new sense of awakeness as she looked around her room. The feeling wasn't a new one to her. She felt this way once before. But when?

She thought about it for a minute before it dawned on her. The time she ate the poisonous apple to save Charming. When he kissed her, she felt more alive than she had ever before. She felt that way now, but things were a little different. She didn't know why she felt that way. Charming wasn't there. Even as Mary Margaret she knew that.

But why did she have the feeling she missed out on a lot?

"Mary Margaret?" Emma shouted.

She ran out of her room and into the living room/kitchen. She gasped upon seeing Emma. Sure she saw her in the past, but it was different this time. This was the first time in twenty eight years she was seeing her as her daughter. Tears started to fill her eyes, flowing down her cheeks.

"Emma," she breathed out quietly.

Slowly Snow made her way over to Emma and embraced her in her arms.

"Wha-what's going on?"

Snow backed up, wiping the tears from her eyes, "I've waited all this time to see you. You're more beautiful than I'd ever could have imagined."


Emma's POV

"SERIOUSLY! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?"

Snow jumped at her sudden burst of anger.

"I think you broke the curse," Henry informed her.

Emma sighed frustrated. She was sick of hearing about this curse. It wasn't real.

"There wasn't any curse."

"There had to have been," Snow said, "All the memories that I have are of my life as Mary Margaret."

Emma decided not to say anymore, because she knew it was useless. No matter how much she argued, nothing was going to change.

Emma sighed, "Okay, say for instance there was a curse, no one else knew what to do? How come no one and we could break the curse?"

"Because you were born to be the savior."

Emma looked at Snow as if she had completely lost it.

"I'm not a savior! I can't be! I can hardly save myself at times."

Snow took her hands in hers and looked her in the eyes, "You may not feel brave, but you are anything but weak. You come from a line of strong willed people. Deep down I know you're a lot braver than you care to admit."

"Even so, why me?"

"Because you're the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming. The love your parents share is greater and truer than anything else on earth. That bond is so strong that nothing can break it. You just have to believe in that love," Graham told her.

Emma sighed. She wasn't ready for this. It was hard enough that she was already going to be a mom to another child and she was committed to hers and Graham's relationship.


General POV

"I think we should go to the center of town to see what else is going on," Graham suggested.

"Let's partner up. Graham, you and Emma go together. I got Henry."

Graham took Emma's hand and guided her. Snow and Henry soon followed behind.

Center of Storybrooke

Everyone stood completely shocked at the scene unraveling in front of them. Purple haze slowly made it's way towards them.

"What the hell is that thing?" Grumpy asked.

The other dwarves shrugged, not knowing how to answer the question themselves. It was a moment like that they wished Charming and Snow were there. They always knew how to keep everyone in the kingdom's spirits up. They definitely needed it now, more than ever.

"Look!" Doc said as he pointed in the direction that Snow, Henry, Emma, and Graham were coming from.

They all cheered and clapped as they ran up to them. The dwarves bowed down before their feet.

"You know you don't have to bow," Snow told them. That was one thing they loved about her. She was always humble. Even though she was King Leopold's daughter, she never let the title of princess get to her head. They all got up and embraced her in a group hug. Their attention soon changed to Emma.

"Princess Emma," they said bowing.

"You don't have to bow and definitely don't have to call me Princess," Emma told them as she shook her head.

"Yes, Princess, uh, Emma."

Emma knew it was best to just let them be. She knew the more she fussed the more stress it would be for her and the baby.

"Where's Charming?"

Snow frowned, "I think he's still in that comma Regina put him in."

"We should go to the hospital and find out," Doc said.


The group made their way to the hospital and rushed to Charming's room. Snow went up to him and kissed him softly. Everyone waited in anticipation. He had to wake up. He was their king for God's sake. It seemed hopeless after ten minutes of waiting, but then they saw his eyes flicker open slowly.

"Charming?" Snow said, tears started to form in her eyes.

"Snow," he whispered, "you found me."

"Did you ever doubt I would?"

Emma looked in awe as she saw the scene that just unfolded in front of her. He was just woken up by Mary Margaret kissing him. As soon as they broke apart, Charming laid eyes on his daughter.

"Emma?"

She silently nodded as she made her way towards him. His eyes went directly to her abdomen.

"You're expecting?"

She nodded again. A huge smile came across his lips. Not only did he get Snow back; he got his family back. His attention then turned to Henry.

"That's your grandson, Henry," Snow told him.

Henry walked up to Charming, anxiously. From the book he had, he knew what a huge warrior his grandfather was. For him, it was an honor to meet him.

"Hi...Grandpa."

"Hey, Henry."

Finally his attention went to Graham. He only had seen him a handful of times, but he knew that he spared Snow's life and sacrificed his own.

"Are you and Emma seeing each other?"

Graham stepped forward, "Yes, sir."

"I trust that you take care of her and Henry."

"I do, sir."

"I can't believe my baby girl's all grown up and has a family of her own."

"Me either. She has your spirit and drive."

"You mean our spirit and drive."

Snow giggled, "Yeah, you can say that."

"I hate to interrupt, but we have bigger issues to deal with," Graham reminded them.

Charming sat up quickly, "What's going on?"

"There's some kind of purple haze that's going through Storybrooke."

"I think it's because Emma broke the curse," Henry stated.

"What curse?" Charming asked completely lost.

"Remember how Regina promised to take away our happiness?"

Charming nodded.

"When you were putting Emma through the magic portal, Regina had brought about a curse. That's why you've been in a comma for so long."

"Is that what Rumplestiltskin was saying about Emma being the savior?"

"Yeah. She was destined to break the curse."

"How could I have broken a curse? I didn't do anything!"

"What were you doing before everything started to happen?" Graham asked.

Emma stood there silently for a moment, "Henry and I were talking. He said, 'I love you' and I said it back before...kissing his forehead. But that doesn't make any sense. It wasn't anything huge."

"Maybe we need to go back to Rumplestiltskin."


Outside of Town Hall

Regina stepped outside, her eyes wide. The scene before her is nothing like she's seen in all her life. Various occupants of Storybrooke ran down the street as the purple haze rolled through. After she realized what that meant, a smile replaced the fear and worry on her face. Magic was back, which meant that she had another fighting chance.


A/N: I hope the latter part of the chapter wasn't too cheap. Please read, review and follow! :)

~reneexoxtyler15~