A/N: Greetings, friends!
I hope this chapter will make up for the previous being shorter than usual. This one's extremely dialogue-heavy. I spent the evening writing it at a café in the middle of a big park, and given that I live in the Deep South- I was eaten alive by mosquitoes… worth it.
I was asked what I listen to while I write, it's a big mixture of things- but this chapter was written to a combination of Mozart's Symphony 41 (Jupiter), the soundtrack to Aquarela do Brasil, Leadbelly, Kurt Weill, and the Battlestar Galactica Soundtrack. Weird mix, I know- but it worked.
Shout out to SwanQueenIsTrueLove, Evil Targaryen, noly69, Baccan, and Diana. for your kind words. My hat's off to you, friends.
Thank you all for reading, and please review. I love hearing from you.
….
After a few minutes, Regina collected herself and returned to the kitchen. She poured herself and Emma another cup of coffee and took her place at the end of the table opposite Emma whose face resumed a conflicted pallor.
"Zelena told me something interesting about my magic," Emma began capturing Regina's undivided attention, "She said that for each individual, there is one particular emotion he or she falls back on to perform magic because each person has a singular emotion that dominates their emotional state of being," Regina nodded silently as she listened, "Is that true?"
"Well, yes," said Regina like it was obvious. She found it curious that of all the topics the two women have to discuss, Emma went for a practical lesson in magic theory, "Each individual has a specific emotion that stands out above the rest," she said looking into Emma's green eyes trying to figure out why should would ask such a question. The blonde's eyes turned sad at her words and her gaze fell to the floor.
"I guess she's right then," said Emma resting her chin on her hand.
"Who's right about what?" asked Regina.
"Zelena," Emma said shifting her gaze back to Regina, not quite wanting to look directly into her eyes, "She said my dominate emotion is anger, and now that I've had time to think about it- she's right. I just… I just don't want to feel angry all the time," she buried her face in her hand trying to hide the single tear that swept down her cheek. Regina noticed it and felt her heart ache for the woman across the table.
"Emma," she said, "anger may be one of your strongest emotions, but what else is?" The blonde raised her head and furrowed her brow at the brunette.
"I don't know… sadness? Annoyance? Vengeance?" the brunette simply shook her head as her heart ached a little more as she realized the supreme lack of self-worth the blonde possessed.
"No, Emma," she said shaking her head, her tone non-condescending to the blonde's relief, "Theories of the balance of dualism transcend the borders of realms, it exists in every little iota of universal creation whether magical or non-magical. In this realm there is yin yang, or a concept of the western world of this realm known as good and evil. There exists also Mind-body dualism, predicate, property, and substance dualism- interactionism, epiphenomenalism, parallelism…."
"Regina," said the blonde flatly, the brunette looked up and realized she had gotten a little carried away. She gave a slight smile, cheeks flushing slightly and continued.
"Essentially, these balanced forces follow what this world would refer to as Newton's Third Law of Motion…"
"For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction," stated the blonde causing Regina's mouth to curve slightly upward.
"Exactly. Magic exists and functions in a similar fashion. The most prominent display of duality in magic is Light and Dark magic, both operating on an action to create an equal and opposite reaction. Since magic flows from emotions, may it not also be possible to suggest that there are both equal and opposite emotions?" Emma eyed her curiously, she wanted her to get to the point- but noticed that Regina was probably not asked questions about her favorite subject too often, so she indulged her. Regina took a large sip of coffee and continued.
"Light magic feeds from what standard society deems as 'positive' emotions, while Dark magic feeds from so called 'negative' emotions. Although I see emotions existing on the same scale, balancing each other out, thus, leading me to the conclusion that to insinuate that one emotion is better and another emotion lesser is something I disagree with entirely. You cannot have one without the other. Like yin yang and good and evil, both Light and Dark magic exist within each living creature- the important concept to focus on is which path we allow ourselves to take."
"So, if Light and Dark magic exist inside everyone… how do you switch? I mean, how did you switch from Dark to Light and I switch to… to…" she hesitated to say the words out loud. Noticing this, Regina took the pressure off and answered.
"In my case, I was not born from True Love- which means I was not naturally inclined one way or the other," she saw Emma open her mouth and she held up a hand, "I'll get to that in a minute," she said with a smile. Emma sat back and rested her chin in her hands concentrating on Regina. Her sudden change of Dark to Light had been something she always wanted to inquire about, but for some reason the brunette always seemed hesitant to discuss it- or she simply didn't give Regina the time to. She shook her head and fixed her eyes on Regina, "Like I was saying, I was not naturally inclined to practice one or the other, but with all the circumstances of my life in the Enchanted Forest and since my tutor was the Dark One, I used Dark magic."
"He taught me to channel my pain and use it as strength, it had never occurred to me that I could channel anything other than pain to perform magic, at least, not until I thought it was too late. My main power-emotion for Dark magic was my grief," her breath hitched for a moment and Emma saw her history flash across her eyes.
In that moment, Emma realized she had never discussed Regina's past in depth with her. She had made a few conclusions based on what she knew- abusive mother, murder of her True Love, marriage to an old king as a teenager, forced to look after someone she believed responsible for her misery. She had concluded that Regina had a difficult upbringing, but it wasn't too difficult to tell… for if you actually took the time to look at the former queen, you could see her pain and misery etched into her face. A kind of deep sadness hovering over the skin suggesting years of unhappiness carved into her very bones. Emma knew it well, for she too was marked by fate's cruel knife.
"Initially I used my grief-fueled magic to get rid of my mother. I enlisted Rumpelstiltskin's help to remove her from my life permanently- but the euphoria I felt after performing magic was deceptive. Using magic always gives the user a feeling of euphoria, which makes discerning the feeling of Light versus Dark magic rather difficult. In any case, I thought I was healing myself through using my grief to perform magic until I began to slowly dwindle. It was as if I watched myself from outside my body until one day, when I heard the people start to call me The Evil Queen, I was so overcome with pain and simply too tired that I decided to embrace the people's idea of me. After that, living my life didn't feel real at all- it felt like I was playing a character in some bizarre play. Every word from my mouth, every motion of my body seemed like it wasn't my own- it was strange, foreign, and it was easy."
Emma's ears perked up at the mention of Regina calling the path she had taken, "easy." As she listened to Regina's tale, she couldn't help but slowly draw parallels to her own, and in this moment, she felt complete solidarity with Regina. In this moment she knew Zelena had been wrong… she doesn't hate Regina… she can't hate Regina.
"It was easy to simply give up on creating a life of my own, it was easy to fill my life with thoughts of revenge. It kept me from confronting my past, therefore confronting myself. I still hurt for Daniel, but I soiled his memory by concentrating on what we could have had instead of what we had…" her voice trailed off with a quiver. Emma saw the tears forming in Regina's eyes and reached her hand across the table and held Regina's hand, giving it a small squeeze. She knew opening up was no easy task for the former Evil Queen, and she knew that Regina must really care for her if she's willing to share these personal memories.
Just as she felt her insides sinking to the ground, Regina felt a strong hand grab hers. Warmth shot from her hand and up her arm, filling every cavity of her body with such endearment she found it difficult to hold her tears. She would have time to cry, but now she had to tell Emma what she needed to hear. She gave the blonde an appreciative smile, and while still holding the blonde's hand- continued her story.
"As you know, I saw Rumpel's curse as my liberation, my chance at happiness while destroying the happiness of everyone I had come to loathe. Though this world had no magic then I didn't use grief to channel magic, instead I used my grief to channel all of my actions expecting the same resulting euphoria. After a few years, I realized it was not my happy ending- there was still a void, and that's when I adopted Henry," her voice quivered slightly as she said Henry's name causing Emma to send another warm squeeze to the brunette's hand, "Henry made me feel happiness, true… happiness, for the first time in decades. The longing to be needed by someone cured me from my perpetual lust for vengeance. Most of the time I would completely forget that we were cursed, he changed my whole world," she paused for a moment and looked out the window, remembering every minute of those ten beautiful years she and Henry had spent together- she allowed a couple tears to fall, quickly wiped them and then turned back to Emma.
"And then this annoying blonde came to town in this infernal yellow bug," she said with a short laugh, causing Emma's face to brighten and laugh remembering the first time they met. Regina laughed a little more, wiped a couple tears, and stood up to make another pot of coffee. She was reluctant to let go of Emma's hand, but if she was being honest with herself, she was getting a little overwhelmed. Steady steps, Regina she repeated in her mind as she filled the kettle with water.
"Anyway, after you came to town- I, naturally, felt worried that this strange woman would take my happy ending away. And as Henry started treating me more and more like the Evil Queen in that ridiculously inaccurate book of his, I felt my dependence on grief start to reemerge, and with new conviction since Henry seemed to be slowly creeping to my list of lost loved ones," she placed the kettle on the stove and turned around with her arms folded and leaned against the counter.
Emma's hands were covering her eyes, her head slightly bowed. She rubbed her temples, slid her hands through her hair and looked up at Regina. Her eyes looked raw like they were currently battling to keep tears at bay.
"Regina, I…" she began, but realized she couldn't find the right words, "I am so, so sorry. When I first got here, I wasn't even… I can't believe I… jesus I am just so sorry," she looked up at the brunette with pleading eyes.
"Please, dear, don't beat yourself up over it," Regina said with a slight smile to assure Emma that no harm had been done. Regina internally laughed thinking how satisfied she would have been hearing Emma's apology a few years ago, but now it filled her with sadness to see the blonde in pain, "You were suddenly thrust into a bizarre small town by a small boy who claimed to be your son who fed you an overwhelmingly amount of talk about curses, Evil Queens, and Fairy tales. And I wasn't exactly the best welcome wagon," she pressed her lips together with a small laugh, mirrored by Emma.
"Thank you, Regina," said Emma with a small blush. The kettle screamed and steamed, Regina returned to preparing the coffee. When finished, she filled both her and Emma's mugs and resumed her seat at the table.
"Anyway, to avoid recounting every detail from the last few years- we'll jump to the event you originally asked about: my magic switching from Dark to Light," she took a deep breath and sipped her coffee, "Breaking the second curse with True Love's kiss was something I never believed I was capable of. But once it happened, it was like I knew that my love for Henry was real and I knew that his love for me was real. And as Zelena had me in her grip in the barn, my thoughts lingered to Henry- visions of our life together, thoughts and musings about our future life together…" she trailed off in thought, purposefully omitting that she had thought of Emma as well during that crucial time, "… I realized that Henry was my happy ending, being with him and knowing he wanted to be with me filled me with such sweet delight that all of that grief, anger, and vengeance just poured out of my body and was replaced with a swirling warmth of true joy. I had found, and experienced, my Light magic power-emotion," she paused and Emma looked at her absolutely captivated by the beautiful glow that seemed to emanate from every pore on Regina's body, "and my Light magic power-emotion was, naturally, the opposite of the grief I had been using for so long…" she paused again and looked up with Emma, her eyes practically radiating with light, "… happiness," she said sweetly as a tear escaped her eye, "It was in that moment that I realized that I control my happiness, I create my own destiny," Regina's radiant smile permeated the room as it spread across her face, Emma's own smile spread as well, not even noticing the soft tears trickling down her face.
…..
The two women sat in silence, bathing in the flood of emotions that filled the room. Regina resumed her attention to her coffee while Emma reverted to a state of deep contemplation. Regina's story had moved her tremendously, she had never really put much thought into the idea that the former queen was a human of complex human emotions. The mayor she had always been exposed to seemed to operate in strictly black and white- now she realized the mayor was another one of Regina's 'characters,' and she had played it extremely well. During her second year in Storybrooke, Emma had started to grasp at different elements of Regina- learning how to communicate with the former Evil Queen and slowly figuring out how she functioned. But as Emma sat across from Regina at the table, she realized that everything she thought she knew about Regina- even after Neverland, was only skimming the surface. Suddenly she remembered something, and it reminded her of Regina, she whispered the words and didn't realize she had said them loud enough for the brunette to hear.
"What was that, dear?" asked Regina pressing the coffee to her lips.
"Oh, um… just this line from a poem I've had memorized since I was a teenager," she hid her face with her mug, but knew Regina was staring at her, "What you were just talking about reminded me of it."
"Would you want to share it with me?" asked Regina somewhat surprised that Emma was the type to memorize poetry. She smiled internally at the thought of all the other surprising discoveries Emma has buried in her.
"Oh, um, okay… I haven't said it for a while so… yeah… here it goes…" She cleared her throat and began reciting the poem with her eyes closed:
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.
She finished and quickly hid her face behind her mug once more, taking a long drink of coffee. Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment as she glanced at Regina who sat completely motionless- her large, watery eyes fixed on Emma with an expression of complete awe.
"Emma," she breathed, the blonde blushed and took another drink, "that was beautiful. Who wrote it?"
"It's called, 'Invictus' by William Ernest Henley. I used to hide out in public libraries sometimes and this book of poetry fell off the shelf and hit me in the head. When I picked up the book, it was open on a page with this poem in it. I fell in love with the lines, I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul, there was something about that line that really caught me and I've tried to live by it throughout my life, but turns out I've just been maneuvered around like a chess piece in Fate's fucked up universe," she slid her hand through her hair and got up to refill her coffee. As she poured more coffee into Regina's mug, the brunette placed a soft hand over hers and looked into the blonde's eyes with as much comfort and solidarity she could muster. Emma smiled appreciatively and slumped back into her chair.
"Is there any way to truly be the master of your own fate?" she murmured.
"I believe that what we know as 'fate' is an ever-constant presence in everyone's life. It can manifest itself in symbols, words, events, people… all of which can be interpreted as coincidences, or others will interpret them as divine intervention. These are simply random happenstances from the universe that occur, though such happenstances are not given life unless recognized."
"What do you mean?" inquired the blonde cocking her head to the side.
"Let's say someone asks for a sign for why they are the way they are- then they notice a crow nearby. Over the next few days, weeks, or months- they continue to see crows and begin to interpret various lessons from them. Because the individual noticed the crow and applied meaning to its appearance, the crow then becomes a totem of fate. It becomes a physical manifestation of what we refer to as, 'fate,' the blonde nodded slowly, processing Regina's theory, "So in my opinion, fate is going to manifest itself in an immeasurable amount of ways, and it is up to the individual to apply meaning to it where as another individual would think nothing of it. Where one person would see a crow and feel reassurance for their existence, another person would simply see a crow and nothing more. My point is that fate is up to individual interpretation, and it is up to that particular individual how they are going to act. Daniel could have been killed because of fate, and I could have interpreted differently than I had. It isn't what happens to you that's important, it's what you do with what is given you," Emma nodded and sat up in her seat.
"I always viewed fate as a silly spiritual superstition people created out of fear. I had always believed that I was the master of my fate, until I came to Storybrooke and realized there were some strange cosmic forces at work," she said with a small laugh.
"You could have left Storybrooke the night you came, or at any other point after that. It would have been a different interpretation of your situation and things would have worked out differently. And as you sat in your apartment in Boston after leaving Storybrooke you would most likely believe that fate lead you away from this town instead of towards it. No matter what happens in our lives, we will always credit events to fate even though our own personal choices could have moved us in a completely different direction."
"So, you believe you control your fate?"
"I believe that fate and myself live in a symbiotic relationship. I may not be able to always control what happens to me, but I have complete control over how I react. Just because all of these happenstances fly from nowhere and appear to be pushing me in one direction, doesn't mean I have to follow the path laid out for me. I did that once and became the Evil Queen…" she said biting her lip slightly.
"And I became the Dark Savior," Emma murmured. Regina felt her heart clench as she watched Emma's eyes darken full of remorse. She took a deep breath, mustered her courage, and moved her hand across the table to connect with the blonde's. Warmth shot through both women at the gesture, and they sat for a few moments letting the feeling pulse over them- both unaware they were feeling the same way.
"You are not the Dark Savior, Emma," Regina said in a low voice, her eyes piercing so fiercely into Emma's that the blonde had too look away, "Emma look at me," watery green eyes moved hesitantly to meet brown, "No matter what anyone tells you, you are not the Dark Savior," She gave Emma's hand one last squeeze before retracting it and placing it on her lap. She slowly flexed her fingers, feeling a soft tingling cross in and out of each digit.
"If I'm not the Dark Savior, then how do you explain my magic change to Dark magic? How do you explain how I hurt Ruby, and all of those people in the diner, and… and…" she gulped, "… and Henry," saying her son's name caused her voice to crack as tears formed in her eyes.
"You played the part of the Dark Savior, yes," said Regina, Emma's head snapped up, she was expecting Regina to deny and continue praising her, but she was pleasantly surprised to find the brunette being brutally honest, "you played the part of the Dark Savior just as I played the role of the Evil Queen, but I knew then that's not who I was, just as you know now that the Dark Savior is not who you are," she said sternly.
"Then how do you explain me hurting all of those people?" Emma said, tears flowing freely down her face. She quickly flicked them away and looked at Regina, her eyes desperate for answers.
"Fate presented you with a situation, and out of sheer exhaustion and personal anguish- you allowed yourself to be pushed by someone with their own selfish agenda in a dark direction, just as I had," her eyes remained fixed on Emma. She watched the blonde move her gaze to her coffee, her brows knitted together.
"I though," she whispered, "I thought she cared about me," said Emma keeping her eyes locked on her coffee, not daring to look up at Regina.
"Who?" asked Regina, though she already knew the answer- she wanted Emma to realize it herself and say it out loud. A few minutes passed and the blonde turned her gaze to the window.
"Zelena," she finally breathed, "We started talking while she was behind bars. She told me all of these stories about her childhood and wove all of these connections between her life and mine. She made it sound pretty convincing, and I was so starved for some kind of friendship that I didn't even notice she was lying… the worst part is that I believed her. I believed in all of her bullshit stories," Emma finished by flinging her arm out and bringing it down on the table with a frustrated smack.
"She wasn't lying, Emma," said Regina calmly, "You couldn't tell she was lying because she wasn't lying," the blonde looked over at Regina like she was crazy, but the brunette only calmly, "Zelena's upbringing is, in fact, similar to your own. She too was abandoned by her parents and thrust into a world where those around her didn't appreciate her and sought only to use her. She too felt the bitter sting of rejection, the claustrophobia of loneliness, she too had to find her own way of cultivating a sense of self in order to interact with a world she had only known to be cruel and uninviting," she paused in reflection and took a sip of coffee… moving her gaze to the window, "My sister became who she was because life had dealt her a bad hand, and she let her feelings of rejection dictate her life until it consumed her whole. Always craving what she never had, lusting to appropriate the lives of others she felt they didn't deserve or appreciate, seeking to punish the people around her for simply living the only lives they knew. After I took her magic and she was behind bars, I had hoped that…" she paused and took a deep breath, "I hoped that there was a way we could be, if not sisters, at least friends," she sighed and picked at stroked the table with the back of her fingers, "but this all escalated so quickly she never had a chance to decide anything for herself, not even her death," the brunette folded her arms and looked back out the window, fighting back tears that ached to be released- anger and remorse coursing through her veins.
Emma sat in silence watching Regina speak. How could she have been so careless as to not even consider how Regina is feeling about her sister being murdered? How could she have been so blind as to think Regina would murder her last living family member, days after sparing her life? How could she be so insensitive to think that she was the only one to care about Zelena? As she looked across the table at the former queen, Emma saw a woman who spent her whole life seeking family, only to have it ripped from her time and again. The woman sitting across from her had so much love to give, but nowhere to put it. Emma scolded herself for her past behavior, playing along with Henry's theory that she was the Evil Queen, slowly tearing away the one person Regina had in the world. Anger began to flow through her body. She thought of her own selfish behavior about Henry, she thought about how she automatically accused Regina of murdering her own sister. The anger bubbled up from her stomach and sizzled into her throat as she pictured the cowardly imp Rumpelstiltskin tearing out Zelena's heart, not only depriving Zelena of a second chance, but depriving Regina of her sister and potential familial love.
"Emma," came Regina's voice sounding loud and authoritative, "Emma," she repeated. The blonde snapped her head up and realized little wisps of blue smoke had started swirling around her head and fingers. Regina watched nervously, the blonde's eyes had clouded to a deep blue. The brunette reached her hand over and grasped Emma's balled fist, immediately relaxing the clenched hand- Regina gave a sigh of relief as she watched the blue clouds in Emma's eyes fade away with each blink.
"Sorry," she breathed looking warily at her shaking limbs, "I just… I'm sorry," she took a deep inhale, exhaling loudly. Regina retracted her hand, once more placing it in her lap and rubbing her fingers together- feeling out the soft warm sparks that result from contact with Emma. The blonde sat in silence calming herself down, Regina stood up and refilled their coffees.
I'm so, so sorry- Regina," came Emma's voice behind her. Regina turned around to find the blonde standing right behind her, their faces only inches apart.
"You're still new to magic, there's nothing to apologize for," said Regina trying to keep her voice calm. Her eyes darted between Emma's lips and her eyes, she flexed her hands nervously. Emma looked directly into her eyes with a jarring intensity.
"I'm sorry about your sister," she whispered, "I'm sorry that you never got the chance to be a family with her, I'm sorry that I accused you of murdering her, and I am just… I'm just so sorry," exclaimed the blonde, her voice coated with tears.
Regina tried to think of a response, but before she could, Emma pulled her into her arms. She wrapped her arms around Regina's shoulders and pressed her hands firmly on the older woman's back. Tears started flowing freely from Regina's eyes as she felt the genuine remorse and unconditional love coming from the blonde's endearing gesture. Slowly she wrapped her arms around Emma's torso and embraced the love so freely given with her entire soul. They stood in each other's embrace for a few moments, both allowing the genuine beauty of the moment to wash over them, the sweet longing and unfulfilled belonging they had both craved for countless years slowly seeping away as they stood connected.
When they finally pulled away from each other, their hands remained clasped as they continued to survey each other's watery eyes, small smiles spreading across their faces. Regina was the first to break the contact. She sniffled and grabbed tissues out of her purse, dabbing her eyes while handing some to Emma who mirrored her actions.
"I better not have anymore coffee," said Emma unraveling a tissue with a shaky hand, "I'm so jazzed up on caffeine I feel like I could run the Boston Marathon," she laughed slightly, Regina laughed as well noticing her own trembling hands. Both women couldn't tell if it was the caffeine or the intense contact they had just experienced that rendered them so jittery, but they both internally decided to blame the caffeine for now. They stood in front of each other dabbing their eyes and laughing at their shaky limbs- until a small voice sounded in the room causing Emma's heart to sink.
"Mom?" Regina and Emma's heads snapped to the doorway. There stood Henry, the front of his clothes with holes and singe marks from Emma's lightning, he looked exhausted, but determined to have answers. Emma looked up and down at the damage she had inflicted on her son. Her mouth slowly opened and closed as fresh tears formed in her eyes. Regina gently brushed her hand against Emma's as a comforting gesture as she passed her to stand in front of Henry. She bent down to his level and cupped his chin with her fingers.
"You should be resting, sweetheart," she said softly. Regina's heart nearly stalled as her son's eyes met hers, full of immeasurable love and appreciation.
"I overheard Ruby talking to Grandpa and Robin about what was happening and I snuck a ride in Grandpa's truck back to town without him noticing. Then I had a feeling I'd find you and mom here, so I came and… I had to save you," he said as tears filled his eyes, Regina stroked his cheek affectionaly with her thumb, he turned his head towards Emma who stood paralyzed, "… and I had to save you, mom," Emma choked on her suppressed tears before completely falling apart.
Her knees started to buckle and Henry ran to her, throwing his arms around her midsection and holding on tightly.
"I love you so much, mom," he said as his face pressed into her body, "I don't want you to be so miserable," Emma was unable to form words, she choked and gasped for air as all the uncried tears from the last few years unleashed at once. She fell to her knees holding onto Henry fiercely, her tears coating his tattered clothes. Henry clung to her saying, "I love you," over and over- hoping that those words had magic of their own- they did.
Regina leaned against the doorway and felt her heart burst at the sight. She couldn't believe what a miraculous son she and Emma had. She was filled with a warmth she had thought lost as she watched beautiful exchange between mother and son. She turned to leave to give them some private time, but before she turned her head she saw Emma's hand release Henry's body and stretch out to her. The millions of butterflies in her stomach woke up at once and began to sing. She walked over and got down on her knees on the other side of Henry, mirroring the blonde's position and wrapped her arms around the two people in this realm she loved most. She smiled sweetly to herself as she felt the small hand of her son curl around her head, and the strong, confident arm of Emma circle around her waist.
…..
The citizens of Storybrooke craned their necks and peeled their eyes to the horizon. A brilliant golden light appeared as if the sun were rising. They scratched their heads in confusion, the sun had already risen, and the light was coming from the north. It pulsated and deepened with various beautiful shades of gold, baffling all the citizens of Storybrooke except for David, Robin, and Ruby who knew it came from the farmhouse. Large smiles radiated their faces, feeling optimistic for the first time in years.
In his dark cell, a single light came through the window and fell gracefully in the middle of the tiny prison. He lay just next to the light, hands and feet still in chains even though Belle still had his dagger and he remained under her influence. When the light came through the window and fell next to him, he glanced at it and flicked his eyes upwards to the window. Squinting at the golden light he rolled his eyes as he recognized the source, "True Love," he scoffed- the words fell from his mouth dripping with disdain, "Enjoy it for now, dearies," he said venomously eyeing the golden light.
