Chapter Ten.
"Blue Fairy you get your butt down here right now." Emma screamed into the night sky.
Nothing.
"I'm serious." Emma yelled.
The blue light appeared.
"There's nothing I can do to change the outcome Emma," she said, "I'm sorry."
"Nothing?" Emma said, "are you for real? You're the highly praised Blue Fricking Fairy, you can fix this."
"I can't." she replied.
"Even though you know it will kill her?" Emma asked.
"Eventually it will…" the Blue Fairy said, "there maybe someone else who you can turn to for help in this matter… maybe I'm not the one to talk to."
"You're telling me to go to him?" Emma asked.
"If I were fortunate enough to find the kind of love you have," the Blue Fairy said, "I would do everything I possibly could to save it."
The Blue Fairy left.
"Thanks for the pearls of wisdom…" Emma shouted at the departing blue light.
Emma thought about it for a moment, what if he was the only one who could save Regina.
"Get your scrawny ass out here now you giggling idiot," she said, "I know you can hear me."
With a pop, and a giggle, Rumpelstiltskin bowed in front of her.
"So much for not just standing by while your grandson ended up heart broken." Emma said.
"He hasn't been told yet," he said, "no heart break there dearie."
"But he will be," Emma said, "he knows this will kill her."
"No it won't," he said, "at least not right away."
"Stop it." Emma said.
"Stop what dearie?" he asked.
"Stop being him," Emma said, "be a grandfather…"
Something changed in his eyes.
"If you don't do something about this, you'll push him away in the same way you did Neal…" Emma said.
"I need three days." He said.
"We don't have three days." Emma replied, "they are binding her powers in the morning."
"Get her to hang on for three days," he said, "true love Emma, it makes the impossible possible…"
With the wave of a hand he was gone.
"Three days… The Dark One has a timetable… what the fuck is wrong with this world." Emma yelled into the night.
"It's not the world that's the problem Princess, it's the people in it." Came a voice from above her.
She looked into the tree.
"Red?" she asked.
"Hey…" Red replied.
"How much of that did you hear?" Emma asked.
"All of it." Red said, jumping down from the tree, "I think you're making a huge mistake, but you've gotta do what you've gotta do."
"I have no idea what I'm doing Red…" Emma said, "I'm stuck in a fairy tale fucking kingdom, fighting to save the life of the Evil Queen… what I wouldn't give for a normal problem right now."
"But is that not a normal problem for you Emma," Red said, "Saving Regina? Think about it, how many times have you saved her life in one way or another. You even saved her from herself. This is the last time you'll have to do it, then you have forever together. You get your happy ending Emma."
"When did you get so smart?" Emma asked Red.
"Always have been," Red replied, "but you just couldn't see past the good looks."
Emma laughed, for the first time in hours, she actually laughed.
"It'll be okay Emma," Red said, "I promise."
x-x-x-x
Emma made her way to the cell where they were holding Regina. She had hoped that Regina could spend the night with her and Henry, but her mother insisted on the cell when Emma started yelling stuff about using a spell to take them all away from there.
"Princess?" the guard said.
"Yeah," she replied, "give me a few minutes huh?"
He nodded and walked away.
"Hey…" She said, walking up to the bars.
"I didn't think I'd see you again tonight." Regina said, walking over to where Emma was standing.
She could see Emma was emotionally drained, and sober which surprised her.
"I'm sorry I got you stuck in here…" Emma said, the tears once again falling from her eyes, "if only I'd have used my brain and kept my mouth shut…"
"Emma," Regina said, reaching through the bars and wiping her tears, "part of the reason I love you is because you never use your brain. You use your heart to do your thinking."
"And look at all the trouble it causes…" Emma said.
"And look at all the joy it has brought to people." Regina replied.
"Didn't stop them voting to do something they knew would kill you…" Emma said.
"Their vote was due to the years and years I spent, doing unthinkable things," Regina said, "they probably saw it as a kinder option than just killing me…"
"Fucking idiots…" Emma said.
"If you stay angry at them Emma you'll end up doing things you really don't want to do." Regina said, "remember Evil isn't born, it's created."
"You mean like this…" Emma said, opening her hand, letting a fireball form there.
"Emma…" Regina said, "What the…"
"I got angry…" Emma said, "more angry than I have ever been in my life, and that's saying something cause I used to be a really angry person…"
"Emma, you're no good to Henry angry," Regina said, "you're no good to me angry…"
"Without the anger I'd just break down…" Emma said.
"So breakdown…" Regina said.
"I can't," Emma said, "because I have to keep you okay for three days…"
"Three days?" Regina asked, "Emma what have you done."
"Blue Fairy couldn't help me," Emma said, "told me to go to him. I went to her for help, she's supposed to be this all for good magic fairy, and she sends me to the Dark One. There's irony in there somewhere I'm sure."
"Emma," Regina said, "did you sign anything?"
"No, it's not that kind of deal…" Emma said.
"What does he get in return Emma," Regina said, "there's always something…"
"He gets to still be a grandfather." Emma said.
"You used Henry as a bargaining chip?" Regina, "you used our son in a deal with the Dark One? What is wrong with you?"
"It wasn't like that Regina," Emma said, "I'm almost certain it wasn't like that… I told him to stop being the Dark One and start being a grandfather. Henry wasn't mentioned by name at all."
"So, why…" Regina said.
"For Henry, he would do anything, not having Henry, but loving Henry," Emma said, "he's his last connection to Neal, and I think he wants to be the man for Henry that he could never be for Neal…"
"He's the Dark One Emma; there is no change in him." Regina said.
"Regina," Emma said, "I might not know a lot about this world, but I know people… For Henry he would change."
The guard walked back to the cell.
"Your mother is coming…" he said to Emma.
"Thank you…" Emma replied, turning to Regina, "I'll see you in the morning."
She kissed her through the bars, and was half way down the corridor when Snow White arrived.
"Don't leave on my account." Snow said.
"The air suddenly got really stale down here." She said to Snow, not evening stopping walking.
"Emma…" Snow said to the back of her daughter.
"Not in the mood, mother." She replied, almost spitting out the word mother.
Once she got to her room and closed the door, she broke down. She cried herself to sleep.
x-x-x-x
The morning greeted Emma grey and overcast. It was the first grey day they'd have since they arrived in the Enchanted Forest.
"Typical…" Emma said, getting dressed.
She went to the dining room, without knowing her mother would be in there.
"There's breakfast." Snow said.
"Not hungry." Emma replied, "just passing through."
"The coffee delivery arrived this morning…" David said, holding out a cup for her as she walked past.
"Thanks." She said, and she continued walking.
"You could have made her stop and sit." She heard Snow say to Charming.
"Why would I do that?" Charming asked, "you're the villain of this piece Snow White."
She had never heard her father talk to her mother that way before. It shocked her a little.
"I did what was best for everyone." Snow said.
"No," Charming said, "you did what was best for Snow White, screw everyone else."
She headed downstairs to see Regina.
"Careful out there," she said to the guard, "they are arguing."
He nodded and left them alone.
"They never argue." Regina said.
"They are this morning." Emma replied.
"About what?" Regina asked.
"You." Emma said, "well you and me."
"Oh great." Regina said.
"Think my father thinks she should have let us go yesterday." Emma said, "and my mother thinks she did the best for everyone."
"Is Henry awake yet?" Regina asked.
"No," Emma said, "I'll bring him down when he is… better get back up there, make sure they don't kill each other, cause I sure as hell aren't in the mood to be Queen today."
Regina kissed Emma before she headed back upstairs.
"Have you two had enough?" she asked walking into the dining room.
"We're not children Emma." Snow said.
"Could've fooled me," Emma said, "we said we'd keep this place as normal as possible for Henry, do you two want to start helping me with that."
Henry walked in the room.
"Why for me?" he asked, "where's my mom."
"Henry," Emma said, "sit down kid, we've got something to tell you… I've got something to tell you…"
"I want to see my mom, right now." He said.
"She's downstairs…" Emma said.
Henry ran right past her, down the stairs at the back of the room, to the cell below.
x-x-x-x
Emma sat on the stairs and listened as Regina told Henry what was going to happen. She was in tears by the time Henry ran past her.
"I hate you." He shouted, "you could've stopped this, you all could."