Author's Notes: To the few who still read this, and those who reviewed or added this to their story lists, thank you! Please bear with the logical loopholes and enjoy the ride :)
Chapter 9
"Open up, ladies! Guess who's friends with Grumpy who's very friendly with the kind, trusting Nova?"
"Dammit! I think I liked him best when he stayed away..." Emma grumbled towards her chamber doors, motioning for Red to stay put.
August grinned, as the slight opening revealed a cross blonde.
"What will it take to get you away from here?"
"Ouch. That's not a nice way to greet your favored suitor, Your Highness."
"Fake favor."
"Shall we announce your displeasure with me and encourage more of those rabid potential spouses, then?"
Emma opened the door wider and allowed him to pass.
"Nice digs made even nicer by a big, bad, sexy wolf..."
"Woody." Red smirked at their unexpected guest. Pinocchio, or August, as they knew him then, was one of few true friends that she and Emma shared. The fact that the two of them experienced the world outside Storybrooke bonded them in ways that even she could not fully comprehend. His youthful decision to abandon Emma was to start a chain of events that made for an unhappy childhood for the blonde; had he not done so, however, there would most likely be no Henry to light all their lives. He was more than happy to act as a beard for Emma against the many who are lining up to be added to the House of Charming, via the beautiful, brave, and loyal White Knight. Sadly, most of them are trying to marry her for what they perceive her to be instead of who she truly is, and Emma deserves so much more. The blonde would ridicule her for such a thought but Ruby believes that being born of true love must mean that Emma herself is destined to find it, despite the young woman's predisposition towards shunning commitment and emotional intimacy.
"Can I come with?"
"No." Emma answered firmly. She calls him the brother she never wanted, but it went unspoken that they were as good as siblings. She knew that right now she was dealing with the side of August that never grew out of the age of six.
Ruby looked on in amusement as August repeatedly nodded towards Emma in an attempt to get her support.
"C'mon, life in the kingdom is grand and all, but I miss adventure. And Regina Mills just oozes adventure, you know what I mean? Help me out here, Red."
"Oh, no. You and your libido should be kept away from magic."
"She's not some circus freak for you to gawk at, August." Emma said as she continued their preparations, taking a handful of the enchanted notepads with her. "Besides, even the most basic wards in the place will keep you and your jewels out of there."
"Nuh-uh. See, cause I don't want to harm her... I want to charm her." He finished off with exaggerated eyebrow motions that had Ruby guffawing. "I can be charming despite not being a Charming, and Regina Mills, former Evil Queen and former Mayor of Storybrooke, deserves to be Charmed, and Charmed hard."
At this point Ruby started to have tears in her eyes from laughing, and Emma's eyes darted from one friend to another. She knew what the inside joke was but struggled to ignore it to keep the worms inside the can, so to speak.
"And that, ladies of the jury, is why I, August Booth, should be allowed to join you in this quest to enter the fortress called Second Storybrooke."
"Here, finish getting ready while I talk to this fool." Emma handed Ruby the papers, and hauled August by his arm toward the balcony of her room.
"There's no need to be pissed, I was just kidding. I don't want to risk magically getting girl parts where my boy parts ought to be."
"Good to know your priorities are still very much predictable."
"I can't believe you're the same woman who adamantly refused to believe in magic. And now you're playing with it the way a child would run with sharp scissors."
Emma heard the big brother dig and gave August her well-honed look of a smirk coupled with a raised eyebrow, "I'm the Savior, danger bounces off of me."
August smiled indulgently at her; Emma remembered the look from their previous life, back when he was itching to tell her a big secret.
"What?"
He grabbed her shoulders and gently squeezed them, "Baby Emma is all grown up, and wanting her friends to meet her scary lady crush. We've all sensed the tension since way back in Maine, you know. It has that poetic, full circle thing."
Emma rolled her eyes. His statement confirms that at some point Ruby has spilled the beans about her confirming her attraction for Regina. But really, they were very small, insignificant, and now non-existent beans.
"Wait for me here, Doofus, and if you see guards or anyone else around, pretend to be a lovestruck idiot hoping to get lucky with me."
"Just let me come in and give some last minute messages to Red."
"Once were gone, try not to fall off the balcony and deprive me of the chance to push you myself."
As another peaceful day was winding down in the realm ruled by the Charmings, outside the castle a lovely, plump, old woman was on her way to her temporary lodgings, an inn close to the castle. She managed to get a tour of palace that was once ruled by the Evil Queen; she was bemused by how many tried to avoid using the phrase, as if it would bring back the once feared woman back in the throne. A kindly palace guard was taken in by the enthusiasm and glee she exhibited at arriving in the place ruled and sustained by true love; he let her have a quick (well, as quick as her aging legs would allow) walk in the grounds. In that guise, Cora was able to sense that Regina was still alive and somewhere near, probably kept comfortable by the bleeding hearts on the throne. The girl was the burden she had to bear for the power granted her by the sorcerer; once grown she was, briefly, a valuable commodity. Then she went and grew up, and there were moments that Cora almost feared her. The old woman was unpleasantly surprised at the discovery that Regina was immune to her magic, a gift that the child's true father must have somehow arranged at his passing. At the height of Regina's power, she was forced into hiding from those misguided fools who would think that hurting her would somehow hurt Regina and worse, she was forced to hide from Regina herself. But her interest in keeping Regina alive now had to do with the untapped power of those mines. She was certain that after such a spectacular fall from power, it would be easy for her to make Regina feel helpless enough to stay under her thumb, but bitter and angry enough for that rage to continue to taint the dust that was to build her a throne all her own, and not just one she ran from behind the scenes, like the nearby fiefdom she all but owned now. King Homer was never going to be the warrior type, but he was always warm and pleasant. All that changed when a previously unknown "aunt" started staying in the palace. Most everyone in the humble palace has seen and talked to her, but if quizzed, all one would get from them are vague descriptions of a well-dressed, impeccably mannered and regal matriarch. Before her arrival, the king was almost a figurehead, given that their small kingdom had little to worry about, with the little resources they offer, unlike their neighbour with its vast borders and its famous royalty. The forbidding forest between them and the late King Leopold's castle made them much less of a target for those who wished Snow White and his family harm; while the Evil Queen ruled, those who would wish to oppose her are easily dissuaded by the uncertainty of what wards, creatures, or loyal guards lurked within its beauty.
"I am NOT dead. And that is a good start." Red declared after not too subtly running her hands over her person to make sure she was all there.
"Yes, and that saves Granny an attempt to kill me."
"There is no "attempt" when it comes to that woman and her kill. She gets her prey. You would be wise to remember that."
"Sure, but I gots this puppy dog look that Henry inherited. Get it? Puppy dog look?"
"It's a good thing you're royalty, Emma. That helps make up for your awful sense of humor."
"You forgot my shiny, pretty hair. And my savior rep."
"Tell me, Savior Princess, how long are we going to stand outside this door waiting for you to grow a pair?"
"Okay, for the last time, our cover story is that you nagged me for this opportunity because you miss Storybrooke, too."
"Which is true. I'm just going to omit the part about being very curious about our ex-Queen, who was magically neutered a while back."
"Remember to play nice." Emma then added, "but not too nice...and I know you know what I mean."
"Give me some credit here. I'll maybe start the moves on the third visit."
"No moves."
"Are we going to ring the bell at some point or are we here to block the doorway?"
As Emma did just that, she was struck by how nervous she felt, and how some part of her would be relieved if Regina failed to answer the door. She belatedly thought that she should have brought something, maybe a conjured DVD or bottle of wine. You're not the guest, Emma, you're just the chauffeur.
"Princess." Regina said curtly, while Emma gave her the expression she wore on that fated day when she brought back Henry, one that was part grimace and part smile. After a beat she expectantly looked at Red, "And..."
"Red would be fine, Mayor-"
"Regina. Please come in."
"I take it you're on some community service program." Regina glanced back at Red as she led them across the foyer to her study.
"Not at all. I practically had to beg her to let me visit."
Regina held the door open as both guests entered. Emma followed Red and made sure to look their hostess in the eye when she added, "Sorry, I couldn't take the whiny noises she made anymore. Who knew people could be nostalgic about indoor heating?"
"Indeed." Regina said flatly. "Rub—Red, would you care for some wine? Or something stronger?"
"I'll have what you're having." Red replied as she busied herself with looking at the shelves, marvelling inwardly at how effective the magic was that recreated the Mayor's Mansion.
"Wine then, let me just get another bottle." Regina moved to go to the kitchen, and Emma quickly followed her.
"I'll go help her out." She tossed the remark to Red, who smirked once the pair was gone.
"Don't mind me, I'm just the third wheel to a pair of oblivious, slow turning ones." She murmured as she continued her exploration, feeling partly like she was walking in a dream world. On the surface, all these comforts would be enough for Emma to want to keep coming back here. But as she reasoned out earlier, Emma could have all these to herself, in whatever form she wished, all she needed was to demand it. It wasn't the modern life that keep drawing her back. Red thought that somehow, amid the cosmic turning and twisting, things were starting to balance out; what Regina lost through Snow White was now being replaced through the child that they had all pinned their salvation upon. Beyond this study, a great story was unfolding. And why am I still standing here instead of using the amped up hearing that the Gods have given me? She began running a line in her head. Sorry, I was going to ask where the washroom was.
"I am really sorry to spring this on you. I know you said to warn you about guests but I was afraid you might refuse. And we know she wouldn't have passed the protective wards if she were a danger to you. So there's that, at least..." Emma rambled while Regina opened the wine bottle and loaded glasses onto a tray. She could tell by the silence and by the tension coming off the other woman that this experiment was going to cost her.
Regina looked at the blonde and the contrite expression that Regina felt she ought to be able to disregard. After all, Emma knew what she was doing. Allowing someone, no matter how well-intentioned, to come to her home was a reminder of how prisoners, especially in this world, have little choice on the decisions and actions that affect their fate. In this reality, she was the vanquished.
"There's no need for apologies. I'm sure she'll be delightful company."
Emma's heart sank at hearing the old politician facade back in place. "I know that privacy is a big deal -"
"Yet here we are."
To someone who has never felt the helplessness of being a prisoner, the statement would sound like pure Mayor Mills. Emma drew from her knowledge of Regina in this Storybrooke and held on to her intent of giving the other woman a more textured existence to contain the impulse to revert to the role of the insubordinate Sheriff Swan to Regina's stuffy Mayor Mills. She blocked Regina, tray and all, and waited for the other woman to look her in the eye. "I'm sorry. Everyone is not quite sure how to proceed from here, I mean, how to proceed with your, uh, case... and I worry about how by omission we are making you spend all this time in a swanky form of solitary confinement. It's not right."
"The justice system here is much more severe than what you are used to; what you consider humane treatment of a prisoner, we would consider mollycoddling. So absolve yourself of this...discomfort over your perceived violation of some right that I am no longer entitled to. For the sake of our guest, I would appreciate it if you let me pass."
Emma reached out and took one of the wine glasses from the tray, leaving only two for Regina and Red. "I took the risk of making you uncomfortable because I couldn't take the risk of seeing you turn into a ghost. I'm starting to see it in you, in your eyes. It's the hollowed out look some lifers get, those who won't even bother anymore." She took the glass and set it on the counter. "I think you'll remember what this is for," she continued as she took the smallest knife from the block and sliced her left palm, gathering the blood into the wine glass. "The Evil Queen deserves to die, but Regina Mills is worth saving. I hope you choose to be reminded of the very important reason for you to let go of one and save the other." She watched Regina staring at the glass bearing her blood. "You're pushing him away from your mind, just like I did. You're consoling yourself with the idea that he will be happy, and loved, and safe. He will never have a shortage of people who would see to that. Here's the weird thing, though. Even without your magic, above all, you are the one I know who would do everything and anything to keep him safe, including things that he and everyone else might hate you for. Trying to shrink into nothing is not atonement, it's cowardice. You're made of better stuff. You were the Evil Queen for fuck's sake. And stories about redemption were always the most interesting, I think". As she raised her hand to her pendant to leave, she said, "Red knows how to get in touch, but if you need me to fetch her before then, drop me a note."
"Wait."
Emma looked on as Regina seemed to be carefully weighing her words.
"You realize that for both of us to actively parent him you would have to risk being the bad cop in his life now?"
"That's what I said, except, you know, more eloquent and shit."
"Language. Even for peasants cursing is not widely acceptable, you know. Let's start there among the many things that we would have to cover."
Emma smirked and as she picked up the wine glass that she meant to leave for the brunette. "Shall we discuss spanking next?"
Regina carefully took the glass from Emma. "You must swear that he is not to know about my helping you. I want him to live on free of me and my...baggage."
"What and let him be an ungrateful brat?"
"He has a good heart and a brilliant mind. I believe in time, in HIS time," she looked at Emma pointedly, "he will be more charitable towards his estimation of me. Right now, it is for his protection that everyone think that our emotional ties are severed. Let my enemies think that he hates me, which he does right now, and let them also think that I have abandoned him."
"Ah, the complications of raising a prince."
"A fairy tale prince."
"Wow, I can't stop my mind from rushing to the complications of his puberty. Is there, you know, some Peter Pan spell to prevent that from happening?"
"No." Regina answered a little too quickly, allowing Emma's self-proclaimed super power to catch the lie.
"Uh-huh. Let's add that to list of things we need to discuss."
Regina smiled and began to raise her glass, "We have a deal then?"
"We do."
"Did the blue thing tell you how this is supposed to work?"
"Only that I get to choose how you see him through my eyes or through my memories. I think she said something about all other humans and creatures would be a blur to you, for security reasons. Something like that, I think."
"That's not very informative."
"Neither are you."
"This perpetual teenager act you have is part of why I am very wary of this spell that includes a blood binding."
"Scared to have me in you?" There wasn't enough magic in any world to stop Emma from grinning as she watched Regina's eyes starting to squint in irritation. "Maybe your hair will start growing all princess-like. You'd start wearing pastel colors, become cheerful."
She watched as Regina lifted the glass to her lips and closed her eyes as the wine reached her full lips. She opened her eyes and set them upon Emma's, then lets out a faint moan and started sinking towards the floor. Emma darted to catch Regina before she hit the ground, lowering them both gently.
"Regina?" She held the other woman tightly and could feel the deep breaths from the prone figure. "Regina?"
What was left of the wine that Regina drank from was now on the floor, mixed with broken glass. At the sound of glass meeting the pristine marble floors, Red darted from her post just outside of the study, where she was secretly keeping tabs on their hostess and her friend.
"Well this is one way to sweep her off her feet. Didja poison her? Use too much aphrodisiac?"
"No, I did not. And could you please make yourself useful and help me carry her to her bedroom?"
Red was already leaning down to grab Regina's legs and continued on, "Most of that wine is on the floor and I'm thinking that the woman who makes her own cider is not a lightweight at all. So, you must have done something to make her swoon, you badass."
"Red, please," Emma pleaded as they started towards Regina's bedroom. "Do you think we need to get someone to check up on her?"
"First, we get her nice and settled and maybe wait for her to wake up. Then we decide from there."
Once Regina was tucked in bed, Red watched as Emma softly bent down to whisper, "Please be okay, Regina. Please..." Her friend pulled back slowly and gently traced Regina's cheek with the back of her fingers. Red snuck out of the room just as Emma started to sink to her knees next to Regina's bed.
"Open those judgemental, bitchy, brown eyes for me, Regina..." She pleaded as she continued to gently touch the other woman's face. August's words about her being a child running with scissors when it came to magic returned to her mind. She practically blackmailed Regina into this, and the other woman went along with it because she must have been that desperate to connect to their son.
"You're touching me, Swan." Regina softly croaked out, keeping her eyes closed in the spirit of never giving Emma an unearned point.
"No, I'm not," Emma said, trying to keep the smile out of her voice as she continued exploring Regina's face with ghostlike touches. "You're delusional. And you're a lush."
Regina opened her eyes, and looked back at the concerned green eyes above that smirk that she thinks she has seen too much of recently.
"You have magic."
"That's what she said."
The eye-roll was a given before Regina countered with, "You need to quiz the Blue Fairy some more about what the spell means to do, and about what your capabilities are before you go around donating more of your blood to people. I sensed your magic but I don't think she would have let you go through with this without making sure I can't access it."
"Don't worry, babe, you're the only one. I'm not gonna be the magical slut who opens a vein for just anyone who comes along."
After a few moments during which both women seemed to unaware of how intimate they acted, Regina recalled the third person in her home. "Red." Regina uttered before attempting to get up, a move that was quickly prevented by Emma's hand on her shoulder.
"No, I'll send her your apologies and we'll go." She slowly got up and added, "but I'll be back to check on you. If I find any evidence of you having gotten up, even just to change your clothes, I will only show you the back of Henrys head for a week. Maybe more." She walked backwards for a few steps to add a parting shot, "rest and don't wait up, Sweetheart."
Regina's murmured about a black swan as Emma slid out of her bedroom.
Once back in the castle, Emma sent Red to check up on August and asked her to stay over while she herself would check up on Henry and then go back to Regina's.
"Shall I also hide under the covers and pretend to be you while you sneak off?"
"No, I just want to save you the trip home."
"Tell Regina I wish she would get better, okay?"
"About that, you know a healer who maybe isn't so..."
"Scared to death of the Evil Queen?" She debated asking Emma about what transpired in the kitchen, but decided that it would be best to wait until Emma was ready. For now she was content to let both women think that she thought Regina only had a little too much to drink.
"Connected to the palace... is what I was going for. You know, in case, we need it."
They parted shortly after Red promised to ask around, and Emma headed for Henry's room. She passed two guards standing next to an ornate door, which would seem as if within that room was where the young prince slept. In truth it was a decoy, and a simple cupboard full of silverware opens up instead to a lavish room. David and Snow went all out on the measures, magical and otherwise, to keep their grandson safe.
Emma walked softly towards the bed, mindful of the sword-fighting equipment and books and other paraphernalia littered about. When she finally reached him, she runs her hand over his hair and leans to kiss him goodnight. She thought of how she wanted Regina to witness him sleeping peacefully, hair unruly and slightly longer. To light a fire under the woman, she also scanned her eyes around the room, littered with the young boy's treasures.
"Sweet dreams, Kid." She whispered as she touches her pendant to return to Regina's room.
She quickly settles on the bed next to a sobbing Regina who takes her right hand, the one that only moments ago ran through Henry's hair. She softly cups it to her face with her eyes closed, as if trying, by osmosis to feel what Emma's hand felt.
Emma slowly tilted Regina's head towards her and then gathered the woman into her arms.
As Regina sobbed into her chest, she ran the same hand gently through the short brown hair, whispering, "he'll come back to you, Regina. I'll bring him back. He needs you. You're his Mom and he needs you. I'll bring him back to you."
"Emma?"
"Yeah?"
"Why are your hideous boots on my bed?"
"Still delusional, then? There are no hideous boots that are owned by me."
"Next time, could you please take off your shoes?"
"Whatever you say, dear."
"And you could have tidied up a little on your way out of his room. You want him to wake up and break his neck traipsing over all those stuff?"
"That's what I meant when I said he needed you. I'm not a fan of housekeeping. And he knows that and won't listen to me when I tell him to clean up his room. Worse, he'll play the prince card and order someone to do it, despite our efforts to keep him grounded. Well, that's the line the grandparents are telling me, although between you and me, those two would redefine their realities if Henry asked them to believe that the moon is made of yoghurt or something. They're a bit hopeless about not spoiling him, David especially. He practically melts whenever Henry shows up."
Still a little fazed from having magic reintroduced into her system and emotionally drained from seeing Henry in his new life, Regina couldn't help the heaviness in her eyes and limbs. She was sure that Emma's savior complex had nothing to do whatsoever with how safe she felt at the moment. She was too tired to feel anything else. That must be it.
For her part, Emma tried to push away the feeling that this, right here with the former Evil Queen, was the most settled she has ever felt since fairy tales came into her life. There were no monsters here, no saints, either. There were two women trying to deal with what the fates have thrown their way the best way they can, an unusual pairing with a common goal: to protect and love a young boy who would one day be king. When she was certain that the brunette was asleep, she gave soft kiss on top of her head, "Sweet dreams to you too, Regina."
Emma shut her eyes, and was drifting off to sleep by the time the swirling violet and gold haze emanating from them both filled the room.
