Chapter 9: Pixie Dust and Fairies
A/N: So I almost died this morning watching Lana's interview on Good Morning America. Love her so much. She's adorable. So many feels and hopes for a SwanQueen future.
O O O
Henry sat quietly in the front seat as Emma started the car and began making their way back down the trail that would lead them into town. He had finally stemmed the flow of his tears but now he faced away from her staring out the window without really seeing anything and he was so quiet that Emma began to worry.
She knew that Henry had been hoping that Robin might be the answer to waking his Mom up and now that illusion had definitely been shattered. She couldn't imagine the thoughts that might be going through Henry's mind at the moment given some of the things that he had heard Robin saying.
"Hey kid, what are you thinking about? Don't worry we'll find another way." Emma said hoping she was on the right track as to where Henry's thoughts lay.
He looked back at her sadly and offered her a grim smile. "It's not that. I know we'll keep looking." He offered before turning away again to stare out the window.
Emma didn't want to push too hard but something was obviously still bothering the kid and there was no way for her to help reassure him if he wouldn't talk to her about it. "Then what is it Henry?" she asked.
He turned to face her again briefly before staring at his hands in his lap. "It's just," he huffed before gathering his thoughts and trying again. "It's just that… I don't just want to wake her up ya know? I want her to be really happy after she wakes up. It seems like a lot of people have hurt my Mom or used her to get what they want," he stopped frowning and brow furrowing. "I've hurt my Mom before," he said softly. "I love her though, and I want her to wake up and have the happy ending she's been looking for her whole life, and I want to be able to tell her everyday how much I love her and show her that I believe in her and that no matter what anyone else says or thinks I know she's not the Evil Queen anymore."
He stopped then and Emma could feel the moisture gathering in her eyes at hearing what her son had to say about his brunette mother. She was trying not to let the tears fall but all she could think of in that moment was how much she wanted to give Regina all of the things Henry had just mentioned. If it wasn't for Regina, Henry might not be the kind, caring, compassionate and intelligent boy that he was.
The person Henry was becoming was a direct reflection of Regina's parenting skills. After witnessing some of Regina's memories of her parents or rather her mother in particular she had no idea how Regina could have raised Henry as well as she had but she did. Regina had raised her son and had given him a better life than she could have ever hoped for when she gave him up. Now she was here and she was thankful she had a place in his life, but Henry needed Regina too and Regina needed a happy ending. Emma promised herself she was going to find a way to make it happen, no matter what she had to do or how long she had to look to find it.
Henry looked up to see Emma with tears in her eyes when the lights of the car started flickering and the radio began to fade in and out. "Ma, are you ok?" he asked.
Emma looked at him and nodded just as they were pulling up outside the convent. She stopped across the street and put the car in park. Her hands had started to glow a little again so she didn't reach out for Henry no matter how much she might want to hug him right then.
"Yeah I'm fine. I'm just a little emotional still from earlier, and from hearing you talk about your Mom," she said while turning to look him in the eye. "I guess I just realized how much I have to thank her for. You are so special Henry and I am so proud of the person you are and a lot of that is due to how she raised you. Evil Queen stuff aside she's exactly what I wanted for you when I gave you up. She gave you a good life and raised you right and she loves you more than anything Henry. We both do," she said as she reached out to ruffle his hair as her hands stopped glowing.
Henry smiled at her then before taking her hand in his. "I know you both love me," he said, "now it's time for us to show my Mom how much we love her by waking her up. Come on," he said as he let go of her hand and opened his door to wait on the sidewalk for her.
She didn't even know if Henry caught what he said but she did and she couldn't help the look of confusion on her face. He had said how much we love her. She didn't have much time to consider what he had said though before he was knocking on the window and waving at her to hurry up.
Pushing any thoughts as to what he said aside for now she got out of the car and joined him as they walked up the sidewalk leading to the convent. Before they even reached the front steps the Blue fairy came out to greet them. "Ah Emma and Henry, what can I do for you both?"
Emma frowned at Blue and put her arm around Henry's shoulders, "Actually we're here to see Tinker Bell. Is she around?"
Blue scowled at the mention of Tinker Bell, " She is but I'm afraid she's busy at the moment. Whatever it is I'm sure I could help you instead…" She was interrupted from finishing her sentence by an accented voice from behind. "Actually I'm not. I just finished up." Tink said as she approached the duo and stood next to Blue.
"Hi Tink." Henry smiled at her causing her to smile back at him. "Hey there Henry, what can I do for you?" she asked.
Henry started to answer but Emma stopped him with a hand to his shoulder. She looked pointedly at Blue, "Actually we have some stuff we wanted to ask you about, in private," she emphasized.
Blue looked offended at being asked to leave and gave Tinker Bell a glare before directing it back at Emma. "Very well, I'll leave you to it but if you need advice on anything magical, please come and get me," she said before turning and leaving in a huff.
Tinker Bell glared at her retreating form until they all saw Blue enter the convent. Emma hadn't missed the dig at Tink's magical abilities that Blue had made. "You two not getting along so well?" she asked.
Tink turned back to face mother and son before replying, "Blue and I have a contentious history. Let's just say we never really got on very well."
Emma nodded her understanding before asking, "Do you have anywhere we can sit and talk that's a little more private?"
"Sure there are some picnic tables we can sit at out back. No one is out there now so we should be left alone, unless you have somewhere more private that you'd like to go," Tink answered.
"No that'll be fine," Emma replied. Tink indicated that the two of them should follow her around the back and led them to a moderately sized back yard with some picnic tables set up before pulling up a seat at one of them while Emma and Henry seated themselves across from her.
"So what's going on that you need my help with?" Tink asked.
Henry looked at Emma to continue since she had stopped him from speaking earlier. Emma took a deep breath and studied the fairy before continuing. "We're here about Regina," she stated simply and waited to gauge Tink's reaction before continuing. She knew that Tinker Bell and Regina had some rocky history too and she wanted to try and see how this would go before she revealed everything. She didn't want a repeat of what had happened with Robin in the forest.
Tink frowned and looked between the two before asking, "What about Regina? Is she alright?"
It was that phrase that was uttered without malice that convinced Emma that they could tell Tink everything and the conversation wouldn't end with Emma throwing her across the yard like she had done with Robin.
Emma felt the tension in her shoulders ease somewhat as she continued, "Actually no," she said. "You know what happened when Hook and I went to the past right? We brought Robin Hood's wife Marian back with us."
Tink nodded. "I'm pretty sure everyone knows about that. It's been the hot gossip all around town. Is Regina not taking it well?" she asked with a look of concern.
Emma gave a small smile at the genuine care she could sense in Tinker Bell, "She put herself under a sleeping curse," she said before she launched into a detailed account of what had happened since bringing Marian back. She told her almost everything that had happened from when she followed Regina to the vault and watched her curse herself to this morning and what had just happened with Robin.
Henry had chimed in filling in details of what they had been doing so far with researching his mother's books and having Belle help them at the library to talking with Mr. Gold and getting the potion from him so that Emma could talk to his mom.
After her initial shock had worn off Tink hadn't interrupted except to ask a few questions as they revealed things to her. By the end she sat quietly not sure what to say exactly, "What do you need my help with?"
Emma smiled, glad that the fairy was seemingly willing to help. "When we went to see Robin Hood he said something about you telling Regina that he was her soul mate. We want to know the whole story."
Tink frowned, "that's actually part of the story of how I met Regina," she said. "She was married to the King at the time and she would often wish for things."
Emma frowned and looked confused. Henry though seemed to understand, "You could hear the wishes," he stated with a smile on his face.
Tink smiled at him as she noticed Emma's confused face, "Fairies can hear the wishes people make if they wish loud enough." She clarified for Emma. "Even though I could hear her wishes, Blue forbade any of us from going near her."
Emma's irises darkened in anger. "Why would she do that? What kinds of things was Regina wishing for? The death of her enemies or something?"
Tink actually laughed at that, "No nothing like that. This was before she became labeled the Evil Queen. She was angry to be sure and already studying magic with Rumplestiltskin and was well on her way to becoming the Evil Queen but she wished for things like freedom from a life she felt trapped in."
Emma's face softened into a look of sadness, as did Henry's. "What happened next?"
Tink looked at the two sympathetically, "Despite Blue's orders I couldn't just ignore her. So I went to see what all the fuss was about and caught her taking a dive off a balcony, I caught her with magic and saved her life."
Emma and Henry had identical looks of shock on their faces before Emma asked the question they were both thinking, "She tried to kill herself?"
Tinker Bell looked at the two and gave a sad smile, "If you ask her about it, she'll say she fell. Anyway after that we began talking and she told me all about how unbearable her life was and how trapped she felt. I thought that if she found love again that it would make everything better."
Emma scowled. "Wasn't she still married to the King? Even if she found love I'm pretty sure that might put a damper on their relationship."
Tinker Bell sighed. "I never considered that. I just wanted to do something to help her and I also wanted to prove to Blue that I was a good fairy. I stole some pixie dust from Blue in order to find Regina's soul mate. I went to her and we went flying and I used the dust to point out whom she should be with and we followed it to a tavern in a nearby town and it landed on a man with a lion tattoo on his right wrist. I left her there and told her to go meet her destiny. She got scared and never went in, and we argued about it, she told me I was a terrible fairy. After that Blue found out what I had done and took my wings as punishment. I didn't see Regina again until Neverland. A few weeks ago during all the commotion with the Wicked Witch we saw that Robin Hood was the man with the lion tattoo and they started seeing each other."
Emma glowered at the new information; "You said it was a man with a lion tattoo on his wrist. Did you ever see his face? That could have been anybody." Emma raised her voice.
She stood up and began pacing next to the bench, she was talking but it was clear that she was talking to herself about the situation. "You fairytale characters are all insane. All of this because a handful of dirt said 'hey you should date that guy' what the hell is wrong with you people."
Tinker Bell stood then and looked affronted, "I know that spell worked. I've never seen pixie dust fail before."
Emma stopped then and stared hard at the fairy, "In this world we don't rely on dirt to tell us who we should love. We choose for ourselves. We're not in the Enchanted Forest so Regina shouldn't be pushed towards someone because of some messed up spell that happened in a different realm over 30 years ago. There could be any number of things that could have gone wrong. I refuse to believe that that jerk Robin is Regina's only chance at waking up and a happy ending."
Tinker Bell was about to reply in anger when she stopped to think about what Emma had said and he face softened and relaxed. "You know, one of the things I've noticed in this realm is all of the wonderful freedoms you have. You have so many things that you can choose to be or do. Things are different here. Maybe you're right in a way. I did that spell in a different realm a long time ago. I don't know if it's possible that something went wrong but I want to help so I'll look into it and see if I can find anything."
Emma calmed at hearing Tink's admission that things are different here. She could see the fairy truly wanted to help and that had the rest of her anger subsiding. "Thanks Tink. We'd appreciate the help. Try not to tell anyone about this if you can help it. We're trying to keep it under wraps for the most part until Henry and I can find a way to save Regina."
Tinker Bell crossed to Emma and placed a comforting hand on her arm. "Don't worry I'm sure we can come up with something. I might even be able to get my hands on some pixie dust and we could try it again. Maybe something different will happen now that we're in a different realm."
Emma grimaced at that. She didn't like the idea of using the dust at all. After all if it led to Robin the first time then she shuddered to think of whom it might lead to this time. There is no way she believed that spell worked the first time anyway, not if it thought that Robin Hood and Regina were meant to be. It had to be wrong.
"Thanks Tink, but I think we'll hold off on the dust until it's a last resort." She said to be polite. "Call me if you find out anything about the spell. Henry and I are going to head home for the evening. It's been a pretty long day."
Tinker Bell agreed to call if she discovered anything and led Emma and Henry out to the front of the house and watched as they drove away. She didn't want to say anything yet but she had noticed something curious, as she had talked with the Savior. She noticed the way Emma's eyes would flash any time someone mentioned Robin's name and she also saw how angry the blonde got at the thought of pixie dust being the reason they were together in the first place. The Savior looked jealous in her opinion.
Truth be told she had often wondered if something had gone wrong with the spell. She knew that Regina left that night because she was afraid, but in her experience in the Enchanted Forest if Robin really were her soul mate she would have almost felt compelled to be near him and probably wouldn't have been able to turn away and resist meeting him.
It had bothered her so much at the time that she had researched it endlessly before she left for Neverland. Soul mates in the other realms were drawn together by forces greater than she could imagine. For the times that it had been proven that people were indeed soul mates such as Snow White and Prince Charming, they always were drawn back to each other and they always found each other because they were compelled to.
Regina hadn't felt that way even standing so close to her supposed soul mate. She turned and walked away without a backward glance. Tink had looked up every scrap of information she could find and she had found out that things could go wrong with the pixie dust. Most notably if that person's true love didn't exist yet or were in another realm, it would lead to someone within a certain distance that they would be compatible with and could be happy with.
Before telling Emma and Henry this though she wanted to be sure. Tinker Bell went to gather her things before heading off to the Storybrooke library.
O O O
Emma and Henry arrived back at the mansion a short time later. After getting inside Henry went straight up the stairs to his mother's room while Emma headed straight to Regina's study and the liquor cabinet and poured herself a generous glass of Regina's cider.
So many things had happened in the last 24 hours that she was reeling. She hadn't really had time to process any of it. She had finally got to talk to Regina, Regina had almost killed her, they had seen Robin and her magic had gone out of control, and they had talked to Tinker Bell. Emma didn't even know where to begin.
One other thing that had been bothering her a bit was what Henry said about them loving Regina. She knew Henry loved her, that much was obvious, and she knew that she cared about her a lot but Henry had implied that she loved her. Did she?
She wasn't sure. Her feelings towards Regina had always been complicated and complex. They fought and pushed each other's buttons. Emma had to admit that she actually enjoyed spending time with Regina, whether they were fighting against each other or with each other it was never a dull moment.
She also thought Regina was funny in her snarky sarcastic way, and unlike the rest of this town she didn't have that infuriatingly optimistic outlook on everything. God also knows that the woman was hot. Emma had thought she was gorgeous the moment she saw her and there was always an underlying attraction there that she never really let herself dwell on. There were a few times that she thought they might actually cross that line, and then the moment would be broken or interrupted and she would push it to the back of her mind.
She downed the rest of her cider in one shot when she heard Henry coming down the stairs. She didn't have much time to continue on her thought path before Henry was practically pulling her upstairs telling her it was time for bed. When did he become the parent?
She wanted to sit up and think some more about everything but Henry was right, she was exhausted and if she didn't make it into bed soon there was a chance she would fall asleep downstairs and she couldn't do that and break her promise to Regina that she would return.
She got ready for bed quickly and took Regina's hand. She resolved to think more on all this tomorrow, right now she would just get some much needed sleep. Maybe seeing Regina and talking to her would help her straighten out her own thoughts.
Henry helped her with the potion again and kissed her and Regina goodnight before he left. She was so exhausted she only lasted a few minutes before she was out like a light again, Regina's hand clutched tightly in her own.
O O O
A/N: Seems like Emma might be onto something. I've been so excited for her to go back to sleep. I can't wait for the next chapter. Loved writing Henry in this chapter too. Also I wanted to tell you guys I got an awesome promotion at work that I've been working towards and while that's great for me it also means my schedule is changing again and I'll have to figure out times to write but I'm going to do my best to keep updating at least weekly, you're my motivation so leave a review and let me know what you think.
