Belle's dress is based on A Tale of Two Sisters, Snow and Charming's are based on the Pilot.
Song is from the Enchanted movie itself: So Close by Jon McLaughlin.
Alright! It's the ball scene, and everything's coming together, so let's get it started!
Saturday night arrived quicker than anyone was expecting. Emma and Regina had gotten ready earlier because they had to drop Henry off with Ingrid. Before they left, they went to say bye to An and Jas, who were also going to the ball, but later. It had been Emma who had invited them, saying it could work as a double date night, and they had agreed but they refused to wear the medieval costumes. In fact, they were both in stitches when they opened the door and saw Emma and Regina. An took a picture, promising that she would get plenty of mileage out of it. Emma just stuck her tongue out and promised swift retaliation.
Eventually, they managed to survive traffic and get to the ball. As Regina and Emma took the elevator in the Woolworth building, the latter was becoming increasingly more nervous.
Noting that, Regina turned to her girlfriend and calmly brought her palms to Emma's suit lapels. "What's wrong?"
Deciding to fess up, Emma quietly mumbled, "I don't know how to dance."
Regina chuckled. "Don't worry, I'll teach you. But, you could have told me earlier."
Emma bit her lip. "I was worried you would want to cancel going to the ball because you'd be embarrassed to be going with someone who has two left feet."
Understanding the expression, Regina quickly went to reassure Emma. Moving her hands to cup Emma's cheeks, she gave Emma a sweet kiss, taking advantage of the fact they were in an elevator for the privacy it provided. "I would never, Emma. I have no idea how good this ball will be, but I want to at least show you how it might have been, dancing or not."
Smiling, Emma relaxed the slightest bit. Right then, the elevator dinged, and Emma held her arm out for Regina to loop her own arm around. "Come on, I have a feeling it will be magical."
Together, they made their way to the ballroom arm in arm.
An and Jas were already there, dancing, and they waved to the newly arrived couple. Although they looked a bit out of place with the anachronistic clothes, the couple looked perfect as they moved.
"See?" Regina said. "Both Jas and An are managing, so let me teach you the basics."
Snow, Charming, Red and Lacey got out of the elevator and surveyed the room from their vantage point at the top of the staircase.
Lacey then remarked, "Oh there's Emma!"
Red saw the familiar blonde, and just as she was about to continue looking around, she did a double take. "Oh no…"
"What is it?" Lacey and David remarked.
Snow meanwhile, had seen what Red had. Although she didn't know who this Emma was, Regina was unmistakable. "Oh she is not fooling me twice…" she murmured before stalking down the stairs with the pent up rage of a thousand burning suns.
"Wait, Snow, think this through," Red attempted to say, going down the stairs after her, but her words fell on deaf ears. Behind her, David followed, hand on the hilt of his sword – because of course he couldn't very well go to a ball without one, it would be unseemly! – and Lacey just trailed behind, mostly wanting to make sure her new friends and girlfriend didn't cause a veritable disaster, or hurt someone. Though she wasn't sure she'd be able to keep up with them, she wasn't particularly enjoying having to navigate with her canary yellow dress, grabbing onto the front of her skirt like a veritable princess in order to not trip over everything.
Regina had been helping Emma get her dance steps in order, slowly but surely getting the hang of things, until a hand roughly pushed her away. She was preparing to spit out a rude remark, until she saw who she was looking at. She hoped she managed to school her features quickly enough to not betray the sense of dread that washed over her at seeing her long-time nemesis in front of her. Regina had long figured out that the best defense against anything was apathy, with a touch of a mocking sneer. "Snow! My, don't you look wonderfully ecstatic to see me."
Behind Snow, Red and Charming stood, while a more petite brunette made up the rear of the group.
"Lacey?" Emma asked, clearly recognizing the stranger.
Lacey for her part, gave a sheepish grimace and shrugged her shoulders, unsure how to react.
"It's over, witch," Charming stated, hand moving an inch of the sword out of the scabbard as if demonstrating that he had a real sword, and he wasn't afraid to use it.
Regina wasn't intimidated, and instead just smirked. "Well I can see all of you have been adapting wonderfully to this world."
"What's going on?" Having seen the commotion surrounding their neighbours, An and Jas had approached the group.
If things hadn't been so tense, Emma would've laughed at the strange gathering of people. Instead she just said, "Old grudges, nothing more."
Jas and An had been brought to speed on Regina's fairy tale origins, even with a magical display, so they could discern what was going on.
"Perhaps it would be wise for you to leave," Charming stated, looking at the newcomers with trepidation.
Jas scathingly bit out, "And perhaps you shouldn't underestimate us, pretty boy."
That had effectively silenced Charming.
Snow shook her head. "I have no idea what sort of act this is, but you won't get away with it."
"Ploy? There's no act here, just a ball that you're disrupting. Now if you'll excuse me, I was teaching Emma the final steps to waltzing."
"Don't act dumb Regina, we know you're planning something," Snow countered, glaring at her nemesis.
Raising an eyebrow, Regina let out a peal of laughter. "For once dear, you're wrong, I'm not planning anything. I'm here with my girlfriend, Emma."
It was a record-scratching moment. Snow blinked, and focused on Emma, who was staring at the entire scene with apprehension. "Hi," she sheepishly greeted, flashing an awkward smile and waving her hand.
"How do I know she's not part of this?" Snow continued, not swayed by Emma's display.
"Because she's my friend," Lacey interjected, coming to stand beside Emma. "And I trust her."
"We can vouch for her too," An interjected, and Jas nodded.
This dimmed Snow's bravado, faltering as she wondered what to do. Then she turned to look back at Regina, and with narrowed, calculating eyes, she asked, "This isn't some ploy? You really care for her?"
Regina bit her lip, thinking. She could either play this out as she always did, attacking and spitting insults at Snow and her allies. But then she thought about Emma and Henry, their unwavering support, even after finding out about Regina's magic, and the confirmation that this was all very real, and that they cared for her. So she decided to change her tactic.
Snow never thought she would see such sincerity from Regina. But when the other woman's shoulders sagged, as she nodded slowly, her eyes pleading to understand, Snow believed her. Despite her earlier misgivings at trusting Regina – not to mention the fact that trusting Regina was what got her in this mess in the first place – she couldn't make herself believe that Regina had an ulterior motive for being there. Regina did truly look to be smitten with Emma.
Deciding to diffuse the tension, Regina jokingly said, "I think your wish really did work."
Understanding, Snow let out a happy squeal, nearly tackling Regina as she went to engulf the other woman in a hug.
Regina awkwardly brought one hand to pat Snow's back. After a few moments, Snow backed away, and turned to Emma, who immediately put her hands up placating.
"We can skip the hug," Emma said.
Snow chuckled and nodded. "I'm so happy that Regina found love with you. I can only wish you all the happiness for you both."
"Thank you, Snow," Regina answered with a small – though still sincere – smile, since Emma seemed a bit awestruck – probably at having realized that her relationship was actually approved by Snow White herself – and put her arm around her girlfriend's waist.
"Wait, so we're forgiving them? Just like that?" Charming blurted. Frankly, Regina was just as nonplussed as he was. Was Snow really going to be so forgiving?
Snow looked at Charming and nodded. "I can see that she's being honest here. There's no malicious intent here."
"But…isn't that what happened when she went to your chambers in our world?" Charming insisted.
"No, when Regina came, I was weary of her, but I decided to trust her, despite the warning signals. Now, I can see she's wanting to start a new page, and I won't stop her. She deserves her happy ending, and I think she's well on her way to it," Snow explained, looking back at Regina and beaming at her.
Regina smiled and bowed her head a bit in appreciation and understanding. "Now, I think a new song will be starting soon, and I promised Emma a dance."
Snow nodded and allowed them to leave, as well as the other couple that knew Emma and Regina. Turning back to her fiancé, who was gaping, Snow chuckled.
"What just happened?" he asked.
"Something wonderful. Now come on Charming, let's dance," Snow responded, holding her hand out for him to take. David grinned, and put his sword back fully in its scabbard, taking Snow's hand in his and leading them to the dance floor.
Red, who was ironically dressed completely in a royal blue dress, also took Lacey forward, both giggling at the madness they had just witnessed.
As the music started with a piano, Emma and Regina began to move. Regina smiled at Emma's reluctant movements, and said, "Relax, don't worry about stepping on my feet."
Emma nodded. "Sorry, still just a little dazed."
"I can see. Snow and her prince have that effect on people," Regina responded with a grin.
As the music picked up momentum, they continued twirling, and unbeknownst to the pair, who were caught up in each other's eyes, the other pairs had stopped dancing, watching as the two of them danced.
When the music slowed down a bit, they moved closer, and Emma murmured along with the words, "So close to reaching that famous happy ending."
Regina smiled and squeezed Emma's hand, responding with another stanza, "And now you're beside me, and look how far we've come."
At one point, glittering flecks fell, decorating everything around them with a medley of metallic colours, causing Regina to chuckle in unadulterated happiness. This was perfect, she felt as if she was on top of the world.
When the music tapered off, Emma kissed Regina on the cheek and said, "Okay, even though I loved dancing with you, I need a break, and a drink, want one too?"
Regina nodded, and they walked away as another song began, with everyone going back to dance. "I think everyone was watching us," she remarked.
"Probably stunned by your gorgeousness," Emma countered with a grin.
Scoffing, Regina lightly shoved her. "Flatterer."
Turning to face her, Emma gave her a mock bow, before continuing to walk off. Regina shook her head and went back to watching the couples dance.
Near the refreshments table, a tall figure stood, dressed impeccably like other servers, but her glower made her standoffish to the others who were actually working. The voice in her head was clear about what had to be done.
'She can't have her happy ending! Who will help you in your devious schemes then? There has to be a balance, and she broke it! She left you, abandoned you, and now look! She's found love! Pah, it wouldn't last! A villain getting her happy ending, it's laughable, and it has to be stopped. So you know what to do.'
So Maleficent approached the blonde with a tray in her hand holding one drink, and plastered a smile on her face. "Good evening miss. Can I interest you in some flavoured water? It's the last one I have, and you look quite parched."
Emma couldn't argue, so she took the cup and downed it. "Thanks."
After a few seconds, she felt strange. She looked at her empty glass, and then up to her server, who had a malicious glint in her eyes. Then she registered the flavoured water had a distinctive taste. Apples.
Regina heard glass shattering behind her, and when she turned around, her blood turned cold. "Emma!"
She rushed to her girlfriend, who was lying on the ground, eyes closed. She tried to shake her awake to no avail. She looked up and saw Maleficent standing there, smirking. "You. What did you do?" she growled, panic rising.
She couldn't lose another beloved so quickly. She couldn't be that unlucky, that destined to be miserable. Her mind was whirling, dread rising each second that Emma didn't awaken, feeling so useless and helpless that she nearly missed Maleficent's response.
"Reestablished the balance," Maleficent stated monotonously before walking off. But she didn't get far. While Regina would've let her go, since she was afraid of leaving Emma alone, Red was there, having heard Regina's cry, backed by David, sword out. "Oh please, don't insult me by thinking you can stop me."
"Try us," Red smirked. "You clearly don't have any magic, otherwise you'd have already teleported out of here."
Maleficent growled and conjured her staff. "You were saying?"
Meanwhile, Snow came up to crouch on Emma's other side, not minding the glass that crunched beneath her heels. Regina wanted to shoo her away, but she couldn't find the energy to do so. "What happened?"
Regina didn't know, and she just held Emma tighter and shook her head, not saying a word. An kneeled beside Regina by Emma's head. "Have you tried CPR?"
"CPR?" Regina asked, dazed.
"May I?" An asked. Regina acquiesced, putting Emma down on the ground and moving to clutch her leg. An performed chest compressions before blowing air into her lungs, but she had no luck.
Seeing no results, she backed away, going to stand by where Jas was. Regina took Emma once more into her arms, feeling the heat slowly dissipate from her girlfriend's body. She held her tears at bay, wanting to collapse at seeing Emma so still and unmoving. What would she tell Henry?
"Hey!" Jas exclaimed, stalking up to where Maleficent was still fighting. Charming had already been thrown back, and Lacey was currently helping him get his sword out from where it was imbedded into the wall.
Red and Maleficent, who were both clutching the staff, froze in surprise and Jas took the opportunity to grab Maleficent by the collar of her dress. "What the hell did you do to Emma?"
"Why, I put her in a deep sleep, silly peasant," Maleficent taunted, before flicking her hand and sending Jas skidding away.
"Jas!" An exclaimed, running after her wife, who had landed near where Charming and Lacey were. The rest of the partygoers and staff were all still with apprehension, wondering if this was real or all part of an act of some sort.
"Try true love's kiss!" Snow exclaimed.
"It wouldn't work!" Regina automatically responded. "You need to be true loves for that to work."
Snow sighed exasperatedly. "And what do you classify yourselves as having? If there's ever been truer love than yours, I have yet to see it, and I've only known Emma for less than an hour. Go on, at least try it. You have nothing to lose."
Regina was ready to disagree. The possibility of finding out that they perhaps weren't true loves was utterly terrifying to her. But she put her fear aside and brought her lips to Emma's.
At first, there was nothing, then a beam of multi-coloured light shot out, and Regina felt Emma moving beneath her. Breaking away from the kiss, Regina looked at Emma, and let out a wracking sob at seeing the blonde smiling and awake. "It worked," she breathed out.
"What did?" Emma asked, confused. Regina didn't respond, but rather just showered Emma with kisses.
Seeing that the crisis had been averted, Snow stood up, and turned to Maleficent, who was at that moment, being held captive by Red, wielding her staff and pointing it at the witch. Making her way to David who was walking with Lacey's support towards a lonely chintz chair near the wall, she went up and gave him a kiss. "Are you alright?"
"I've been better, but in one piece," David reassured her.
Lacey excused herself, muttering something about her purse and left Snow and Charming alone.
An and Jas were trailing behind, the latter gingerly walking while An carried the longsword in her hands. They made their way to Emma, who was standing up.
"Good to see you're okay," An said with a smile and a nod. Jas gave Emma a soft hug, glad that her friend was okay.
Emma chuckled once she broke from the hug, once more taking Regina's hand in her own, "Yeah, dream world wasn't all that fun."
Suddenly a piercing voice broke the calm. "You fools! You couldn't just leave well enough alone!"
Everyone turned to Maleficent, but she looked just as startled as everyone else.
"Honestly, the balance was perfect!" Looking behind them, the Blue Fairy stood there in human form, looking absolutely incensed. "But then you had to go destroy everything!" she screeched, pointing at Regina.
"Blue?" Snow asked, stepping forward. "What's going on?"
"Everything was happening according to plan. Good stayed on the side of good, and evil was in their corner. But of course she had to start that ludicrous plan to take you to another land, and you pulled her in it!"
The fairy was sounding relatively frazzled, and Regina just kept staring, trying to keep her own anger in check. "You mean to tell me that you are so determined to keep the status quo you'd destroy someone's happy ending over it?"
Blue let out a mirthless laugh. "Oh please, this isn't a happy ending, you don't get a happy ending, Regina. All you get are fruitless attempts at destroying Snow, but they are thwarted every time. Then eventually you fail so spectacularly, you end up rotting in a cell until the end of your days."
Emma growled, a deep scowl in her face. "You'll have to go through me before you make that nonsense a reality."
"You? The sceptic who took in the Evil Queen? One must wonder what your life must've been like for you to accept the affection from such an evil creature."
Regina stared, eyes wide at Blue's words. But then she felt Emma's hand squeeze tighter around her own. "Regina is ten times the woman that you could ever wish you could be. You are a pathetic, weak coward."
Blue's face contorted in rage, and then she turned to Maleficent. Suddenly, she shifted, and her body grew, turning into a veritable dragon.
Emma gaped in shock, "I'm guessing that's Maleficent?"
"Indeed," Regina nodded. Before she could move, Maleficent flew towards her, grabbing onto her waist with her sharp talons, tugging her away.
"Regina!" Emma exclaimed, trying to keep her hold on Regina's hand. Jas and An tried to help, grabbing on to Emma, but Maleficent's strength overpowered them, and with a yank, she pulled Regina away, headed out, crashing through the wide floor to ceiling windows on the way. It was pouring rain outside, so the shattering glass also brought in copious amounts of water.
Emma barely thought about her actions as she moved, grabbing the sword that An had dropped, and headed out the window after the dragon.
On the balcony, she heard the dragon roar above her, and looked up as best as she could through the thick drops of water falling. She'd never been that great at rock climbing, but scaling the building should be easier than rocks. So she sheathed the sword in her belt, and began to climb, using the grooves to help.
Thankfully, the ballroom was near the top of the building, so she didn't have to climb that high before she was catching up to the dragon's tail.
Meanwhile, Regina was trying to talk to Maleficent. She had tried to use her magic, but the dragon's claws were too tight for her to focus her magic, so she had to try the diplomatic route. "Mal, please, think about what you're doing! Why are you allying yourself with her?"
Maleficent let out a mournful groan, and Regina understood. "You're not doing this of your own volition, are you?"
Suddenly, Mal let out a loud yelp of pain.
"Let her go!" she heard Emma yell through the rain, and saw her girlfriend clutching a stone railing, Charming's sword in her hand, having clearly stabbed Mal's tail with it.
Regina was touched, but at the same time, she couldn't allow Emma to hurt Maleficent. "Emma wait! Don't hurt her!"
Emma heard her and frowned. How was she supposed to get Regina out of this then?
Before she could think of alternative non-lethal ideas, she first had to deal with the extremely large tail headed her way. She could hardly move away, so she threw herself flat against the side of the building, feeling the tail swish past her.
Maleficent growled, and the tail began to swing back, this time scraping against the stone.
"Mal, please don't hurt her!" Regina pleaded.
But her words fell on deaf ears, and the tail continued moving. So Emma decided to hustle, continuing her climb closer to the top, reaching the green metal turret.
Below, Snow and Red were trying to talk to Blue in an attempt to get her to stop this madness.
Jas and An were being efficient spokespeople and marshalling everyone out, claiming an experimental show gone wrong, saying that they hoped they enjoyed the show until that point.
Charming could do little, since he was pretty sure his leg was damaged from the crash against the wall and subsequent fall. So he was stuck on chair rest, at Snow's insistence. Plus, without his sword, he was unable to help anyway.
"Please Blue, can't you just let Regina have this? She's changed!" Snow insisted.
"Nonsense, she is supposed to be a villain, not change and get a redemption and a true love. She has to suffer," Blue stated.
Red scoffed. "And why do you get to choose?"
"Because I am an ancient creature. I know how things are supposed to work, and Regina was never meant to be happy."
"How can you claim to be the paragon of good when you won't even give people the chance to be good?" Snow bit back.
"'The chance to be good'? My dear Snow, Regina has always been evil, all she needed was a push in the right direction."
"You'd know all about that, wouldn't you?" the princess countered.
"Of course, I orchestrated everything. You telling her mother about the stable boy, simple suggestions are all it takes to make someone do your bidding."
Red growled. "We've lost friends in this war between Regina and Snow…all because of you?"
"Sacrifices must be made in order to keep the balance upright," Blue haughtily explained.
"Seems like Regina's weight in the evil column could be more than filled with your sorry ass," Red snarked, crossing her arms in front of her.
Blue harrumphed, but didn't get to deign that insult with an answer, since she was pelleted with a spoon. And then two, three. She growled in frustration and turned to the direction they were originating from, finding Jas and An with armfuls of the utensils, chucking them at the fairy.
"Oh come now dears, you can't really expect that will do anything, right?" Blue asked with a saccharine voice, making her way closer.
"Nope," Jas responded, smirking.
"We're just the distraction," An added.
"Dist-?" Suddenly a bell started ringing, its sound amplified all around the room. Red, with her sensitive hearing, cringed, covering her ears and looking towards the stage, seeing Lacey standing with the bell that Blue had given them, ringing it against the microphone.
While Blue clutched her head, Lacey yelled out, "Now!"
An moved forward, a black leather bracelet on her hand, and she snapped it shut around one of Blue's wrists. Once it was safely fastened, An raised her arm, showing a thumb's up for Lacey, who stopped ringing the bell.
"No!" Blue screeched, trying to wrench the manacle from around her wrist, clawing at the leather wildly. "What did you do?!"
"Research," Lacey responded with a smirk, walking up to them with the bell in her hand. "Fairies are quite susceptible to these bells if played loudly enough."
Letting out a growl of fury, Blue practically shook with rage. "How dare you meddle in affairs you have no idea about? You are a measly mortal!"
Red chuckled. "Really, Blue? That's what you're going with? There's actually a pretty nifty saying in this world for people like you: sore loser."
Last weekend, after Blue's visit, Red had confided in her girlfriend about her misgivings regarding the fairy, and Lacey took the time to rifle through some books at the Public Library, eventually finding some old volumes on fairy tales and lore that spoke about how to subdue fairies.
Lacey meanwhile, was beaming. "I may be, but I'm the measly mortal that orchestrated a plan on the spot that managed to take you down, so put that in your pipe and smoke it."
Outside, things were a bit hectic. While Emma had been climbing the turret, Maleficent tried to swat her away with her tail, but only managed to hit the flèches, prickling herself quite painfully in the process.
Just as Emma was reaching Maleficent's feet, the dragon began to let out an inhuman screech, and thrash around. Unbeknownst to them, Maleficent was reacting to the bell Lacey was ringing, and in her confusion, she let Regina go.
"Regina!" Emma exclaimed, watching as Regina plummeted. Planting her feet firmly near a metallic ridge on the roof, she put her sword away and held her arms out, catching Regina squarely in her grip. "Are you okay?"
"Yes, you?" Regina breathlessly responded, dazed that Emma actually caught her, wrapping her arms around Emma's neck.
"Fine…" Emma started to say, but froze as she saw Maleficent's tail headed right for them. With a grunt, the tail knocked right into them, making Emma lose her balance and slip. The rain running down the metal surface made it very slick, and there was little they could do as Emma's boots lost their traction and she tripped, falling flat on her back and began plunging down the slope towards the edge.
The lights of New York's skyline were getting ever closer, the green surface diminishing; they were both panicking and Regina decided that there was nothing to lose, so she called forth her magic and willed it to work.
She had never teleported herself while moving, less so with a passenger, and certainly never in this world, but there was a first time for everything. Moving her arms, she felt the familiar tingle of her powers at work, until there was nothing.
And then there was firm solid concrete ground.
Emma, who had her eyes clenched closed, cracked one eye open, and saw that they were on the balcony of the ballroom, still wet, but no longer plummeting to certain doom.
"What-"
Regina chuckled. "Magic. I teleported us away and back down."
"Holy shit, just how powerful are you?" Emma numbly gaped.
"Wait until I finally get used to magic in this world, you'll be able to see," Regina responded, giving Emma a kiss. "Incidentally, thank you for coming to rescue me."
Emma snorted. "Not much saving, you kind of ended up saving both our asses."
Regina beamed and nodded. Before she could say anything more, Maleficent appeared in front of them, once more in human form. She felt Emma's arms tense around her, and she soothingly stroked the arm in front of her and asked Mal, "Feeling a bit better?"
Maleficent nodded. "Yes, it's a lot better without that gnat's thoughts polluting my brain."
They turned to look inside where a very furious Blue was yelling at Lacey, but both she and her girlfriend were smirking.
"I do apologize for the damage though," Maleficent added, looking around at the destruction. "Now, let's dry ourselves and go back in, shall we? Then I will fix the windows and everything will be right as rain…if you'll pardon the pun."
Emma sincerely doubted everything would be so clear cut, but she got up, pulling Regina along with her, making their way inside. Once they crossed the threshold, Regina waved her arm and twirled her wrist, drying them.
"Beats using a hair dryer," Emma mumbled as she touched her dry hair in wonder.
Letting out a chuckle, she gestured to where the rest of the group stood. "Shall we go see what our friends and the Charmings are up to?"
With a nod, they walked up to a still irate Blue, who practically fainted when Emma decided to be cocky and French dip Regina before giving her a passionate kiss.
Tadaaa!
Quite a chapter, huh? I'd love to hear your thoughts, and then we just have the epilogue, and we'll be done!