CHAPTER 10

Granny, Archie, Belle and Gold all stood at the town line to see the women off. They had been saying goodbye for the past 10 minutes.

Tink was driving Regina's prized Mercedes after about 20 minutes of arguing with Regina that she was perfectly adept and swearing that she'd drive the speed limit and had her license. Ruby would follow them in the moving van.

They would get to New York in time to drop the load off at a storage facility that Regina had already acquired and then head over to a hotel suite at the Plaza hotel. That would be her command center until she found something suitable for raising her little girls in.

After a final hug from each and 2 picnic baskets overflowing with food from Granny, the trio jumped in their respective vehicles and commenced leaving. Tink looked over at Regina, "Ready?"

Regina nodded and Tink grabbed her hand as they crossed the border into the real world. Tink looked over at Regina to make sure she was okay. Regina squeezed her hand in assurance and then turned on some music.

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Emma was done. She had had enough. She and Snow had spent days scrubbing rat fecal and urine infested floors only for them to be overrun with the same waste in less than an hour after they'd scrubbed them clean. She didn't even think they were supposed to be handling rat waste. And with no soap or cleansers either. There's no way it was healthy. She should've stocked up on antibiotics before she left.

And yet, Snow was still forcing her to continue scrubbing as she babbled on about the balls they were going to throw as soon as they got the castle back up and running.

Her entire life had been spiraling out of her control since the curse broke. And she no longer had her best friend Mary Margaret to turn to for help or advice. Now when she turned around it was either Snow or Henry telling her how she should feel, act, and think.

She wanted to scream. But, she had swallowed it down and smiled at them even as her insides felt like they were caving in.

Regina had surprisingly been the only calm in that storm. And Emma missed her so much it left a physical ache.

Somewhere in the midst of the two of them at each other's throats they had learned to respect one another. And then when all hell broke loose they had learned to turn to one another and fight side by side. Then, Emma realized she had feelings for Regina. Regina resisted her at first but eventually Emma won her over.

Emma was trying her hardest to push any thoughts of Regina to the back of her mind. It hurt her too much to think about her. They had begun fighting shortly after the curse broke. By the time Snow had killed Cora, the two were barely speaking at all. Emma had finally worked up the courage to face her and then she had panicked and told Regina that she and Henry had to go with her parents as if it was a life or death emergency. She didn't even wait to be thrown out. She had slunk out like a coward with her tail between her legs.

What do you say to someone that you're in love with after their Mother has killed yours? And it wasn't just that, how could she face Regina when she had known what Snow had in mind but had done nothing to stop her. Emma had always felt that what they had was too good to be true. And now she felt like she didn't deserve to even grovel for Regina's forgiveness.

Emma knew that she should've gone back to Regina and tried to make things work anyway. But, when her mother caught her looking too long at the door, she had told Emma that Regina had taken her heart out. Snow had cried on Emma's shoulder clinging to her like a baby that night. And Emma had held onto her mother trying to make sense of life.

After that, Snow's heart became set on going back home. She felt Storybrooke had nothing left to offer them but a new start in a new place was just what they all needed.

Once her parents had begun making plans to return, there was nothing left in her to hope for. She had told Snow that didn't she want to go but Snow wouldn't hear it. And her father, faithful to Snow until the end, had pushed until Emma had no more fight left in her.

Emma had no intentions of staying in such a godforsaken place. Even the rats looked depressed. As they scurried about they barely even looked at them let alone see them as a threat.

But, you only get one true love in your life and she and Neal had never had what she and Regina did. They already knew that they had no intentions of getting back together again. Emma still wanted Regina. She just had no idea how to fit her into the life her parents were determined to push onto her.

And in the midst of her confusion she had completely lost herself. Emma felt she was clawing for air but no one would help. She knew that her Mother was trying to push Neal onto her because she thought it would help her forget Regina. But, as she sat and listened for the hundredth time of her going on and on about a stupid ball in this hellhole she was done.

She threw her sponge down, walked outside, took a deep breath, and let out a primal scream.

Snow ran into the doorway, "Emma! What do you think you're doing?!"

"Me? Besides letting you run my life? Nothing. I'm doing nothing. Or I was. I'm not anymore." Emma stomped inside and began trying to wash herself off as best she could.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Snow was acting as if Emma was the one who had lost her mind.

"It means, I quit. I'm leaving. I'm done with this place. As soon as David, Neal, and Henry get back we're going to follow Neal right the hell up out of here." By the time she finished talking, David, Neal, and Henry were back. She turned to Henry, "Go and get your stuff packed. We're leaving." She turned to Neal, "Are you ready? Because I know I am."

Neal nodded, "Yeah. I'm with you and Henry."

Snow was aghast, "Emma – you can't … you just can't."

"I will. I'm done," she turned to Henry again, "I said go and get your stuff."

"No."

"No?"

"I'm not going anywhere. This is where we belong."

Emma got right up in his face, "I've had about enough of this attitude with you. And I'm telling you it ends now. I am NOT in the mood. Now you are going to go upstairs and get your stuff. And then we are going to go back home. Now Henry!"

Neal was in a corner watching the insanity and by now Snow was shedding tears. David had gone to her and was holding her. She lifted her head off of David's shoulder. "Emma, you can't. You don't understand."

"I understand enough. I understand that this is a rat infested pile of rubble and that you're insisting on holding onto some old days of when you were a princess. Guess what? Those days are over! I've had it with this entire situation. IF you can't figure out what part of this ISN'T insane then I don't know what to tell you."

"Emma, you need to calm down," David raised his hands as if he was trying to calm a mental patient.

"Oh, I think I've been more than calm. I've allowed you to drag me here knowing that it was going to be a disaster. I've been spending days cleaning rat waste on my hands and knees. I've never in my life had to do something this disgusting and let me tell you, I've had to do a lot of gross things. This has been worse than my worse 10 foster homes combined. We're leaving. Let's go," she grabbed Henry's arm and began to walk upstairs to pack.

"My heart is black!" Snow screamed. She dropped into a chair and began openly bawling. "I can't go back. My heart is black. Don't you see?" she looked up at Emma imploringly, "That's what Regina showed me when she took it out. My heart is black. I'm dark. And I can't go back. I killed someone. And you don't come back from that."

Emma finally understood. Snow was doing all of this as some kind of penance for what she had done. Problem was, she was forcing everyone else to pay that price along with her.

David held his wife's hand as he rubbed her back. "We're not trying to make you miserable Emma. We love you. But, Snow needed her family and she needed to get out of that place." David tried by way of explaining why they were trying to keep them there.

Henry looked like he was going to be sick. "But – but you're Snow White. You're one of the good guys. I don't understand. You can't be dark. Your heart can't be black!"

Emma needed to deal with Snow and David but she could also see that Henry had also gotten himself worked up too much. She reached out to him, "Henry – "

"NO! You lied to me!" Henry walked backwards slowly. "You all lied to me! We're the good guys. You killed Cora."

Snow shook her head, "I had no right to take anyone else's life. I'm not a good guy anymore," she whispered with her head hung.

Emma tried once more to reach out to Henry. He batted her arm away.

"NO!" His eyes were wild and he was sweating and shaking. Tears were pouring down his reddened face. "I KILLED MY MOM!" Emma gasped. Everyone looked at one another in confusion. They didn't want to believe what he was saying.

But, Emma saw the truth on his face and heard it in his voice. He had hurt his Mom. He had hurt Regina. Their son had hurt his mother. The blood drained from her face as she slid down onto the floor.

"I killed my mom for you! For all of you! So that we could be happy! At the end everyone lives happily ever after. Emma, you were supposed to marry my dad and have true love! I killed my mom!" He backed up until he hit the wall and then he slid down it. "I killed my mom! I killed my mom!" He pulled his knees up to his chest and he cradled his head in his arms. He began rocking back and forth and repeating it over and over. "I killed my mom."

Emma's mind had totally shut down on her. She had no idea how long all of them stayed in their positions. Finally, after some time, she asked, "What did you do?"

Henry looked at her from between his arms. "I – I- I used the glove. From Gold's shop. I put it on and I –" Henry's eyes rolled back, he was caught in the midst of his flashback. "Oh God. She screamed. And I didn't stop! I killed my Mom!" he began sobbing and rocking all over again.

Emma snapped herself out of it. Maybe, there was a chance. Maybe he was just confused. She looked over at her son and realized she may have birthed him but Regina raised him. And the two years that she had known him wasn't enough time to really get to know who he was as a person. She looked at him and saw a stranger. A stranger that called her Ma and lived with her but a stranger nonetheless.

"I have to go. I have to find Regina."

David was the second to be able to move. "Emma you think that's wise? I mean, she could be – "

"I have to go! I have to find out!" She was grateful when her parents didn't try to stop her. She ran outside and pulled the bean that she had squared away from her parents stash and opened the portal. She dove into it without another thought.