Breaking Glass: Part I
The Snow Queen stood in the middle of the main chamber of her wintery escape. Before her was a stone table that bore a slab of ice on the surface. She waved her hand and her white-blue magic shone forth.
The blonde paid no mind to the sound of cracking ice as the frozen, formerly shapeless piece of ice began to take shape. White candles burned as she worked, casting what she found to be a pleasant sort of light over her task.
By the time the Snow Queen had finished, the chunk of ice had taken what looked to be the general figure of a person.
She smiled somberly to herself and her mind began to whirl with the next steps of her plan.
"Emma," Elsa said, approaching the blonde with the envelope she'd found. She and the other woman had spent the morning tearing through the old archives of Storybrooke in hopes that something on this 'Snow Queen' would present itself.
After hours of nothing, finally Elsa had made progress.
"Why are there pictures of you mixed in with the city records?"
"Let's just say that when Regina was mayor she abused her power a bit..." Emma laughed in remembrance. "She was looking for any reason to run me out of town."
Emma looked down at the photos and smiled fondly at the photos that captured memories of some of her first real quality time with her son. Her smile, however, disappeared when she came across one photo in particular: she and the Snow Queen, or 'Sarah Fisher', as she'd been dubbed in Storybrooke, having a conversation of some kind.
The problem was, Emma remembered none of it.
"And you still don't remember any of this?" Elsa inquired, after taking a look at the picture.
"No, but I know someone who may." Emma said. "The person who had the photos taken."
Regina knew it was only a matter of time before either Sidney, her 'Magic Mirror' (or, more accurately, the man she had manipulated in the past, which made her indirectly responsible for him imprisoning himself in said mirror), or herself found the Snow Queen...But God, did she hate the waiting.
Miss Swan had come wandering, asking about photos that Regina had, admittedly, had taken of her when Emma had first come to her town. Emma wanted to know if Regina knew anything about a conversation that Miss Swan had apparently had with the Snow Queen, but didn't seem to remember having it at all. When Regina brushed her off, saying she didn't know anything about it (which she didn't), Emma asked if she knew where Sidney was, since he had been the one to take the pictures in the first place, before he'd been imprisoned in the mirror.
But Regina wasn't obligated to answer any questions this child posed. She was busy saving her true love's wife.
Emma seemed to accept the explanation and then tentatively inquired after her progress.
"It's no concern of yours." Regina sneered, her attention already fixed back on the tome in her hands.
"It could be?" Regina raised her head, but it was more to roll her eyes than to actually look at the person addressing her.
Emma continued. "I know I'm not sorceress of the year...but if you want some extra juice to undo the spell, let me know."
She turned to leave, but Regina couldn't resist one last barb.
"Are you offering to help me?"
The blonde sighed as she turned around.
"Despite everything, you've done a lot for me, Regina, so yeah. You've had my back, and I want you to know that I have yours."
The former Evil Queen all but snorted at the remark.
"Miss Swan," Regina scoffed. "One thing is abundantly clear: you've never had my back. And you never will."
Emma seemed to take her dismissal for what it was and left, but not without looking back with a sigh and wondering if she would ever be able to make amends with that woman for accidentally ruining her happily ever after...Things between them had never been smooth, but they had been making progress before this whole mess had started.
Elsa believed if they had made that progress before, they could do it again...but Emma wasn't so sure.
However unintentionally it might have happened, Emma had screwed Regina over. And when you screw someone over like that, there's no getting them back.
She knew from experience.
Elsa sat waiting in Emma's yellow 'Bug' (at least that's what the other blonde had called it; it looked like a hideous form of transportation to Elsa). Emma had gone into Regina's lair to question her about the pictures they'd found.
"Elsa! Help!"
All of a sudden, a voice whispered in the wind, a voice that sounded just like Anna's.
Elsa got out of the car and looked deep into the mist that covered the forest beyond the road. She could barely make out the silhouette that looked uncannily like her sister's.
After one more plea for help from Anna, Elsa couldn't bear it any longer.
She took off into the dark woods in pursuit of her sister.
Regina finally had heard back from Sidney, and, after the simpering mess of a man had tried to make a deal for his freedom from the mirror, Regina had consented to allow him to lead her to the Snow Queen. Using a portable mirror to contact Sidney, it seemed like it was only a matter of time before they found the icy troublemaker.
What she hadn't counted on, however, was running into Emma again. Apparently the other ice-magic girl had wandered off and now Emma was set to find her...
But why she insisted on tagging along with Regina, was beyond her.
God she missed being evil. At least there hadn't been any strays nipping at her heels.
"Which way?"
"Right."
Emma tried to ignore Regina's prickly behavior, but it wasn't easy, even though she'd known the woman for a while.
"Is this a locator spell?" Emma inquired. "Shouldn't we be following some floaty object, or something?"
"Oh, now you're a magic expert." Regina snapped sarcastically at Emma without breaking her stride.
"No, it's just that in the past-"
"There are many enchantments you have yet to be exposed to." Regina quipped. "If you bothered to study your craft, you'd know that."
"Well," Emma said defensively. "I'm kinda learning as I go, it's not like there are a lot of online classes on this kind of thing."
When Regina didn't respond, Emma pressed on.
"But..." The blonde raised her eyebrows as she shrugged, though she knew Regina couldn't see it. "When you help me, I seem to learn pretty fast."
"I don't have time for lessons." The former mayor snapped.
"I know, I know you're busy...So I think it's really admirable, what you're doing; helping the wife of the man you love."
The girl just couldn't seem to stop talking and quit while she was ahead.
Well then...Regina abruptly stopped walking and slowly turned to face the other woman, her body language speaking of a struck nerve that sparked her old habit of lashing out at whoever was nearest when an event or comment hit a little too close to home.
"So I've impressed you." It wasn't a question. Regina gave a spiteful smile as she sarcastically drawled, "Well, that makes it all worthwhile, then, doesn't it?"
"Why are you doing that?" Emma couldn't understand why Regina was acting this way. "I'm trying to give you credit; I'm trying to be nice!"
Regina exasperatedly raised her hands briefly. "And then what? Complimenting my outfits, giving a makeover, braiding my hair? Calling Robin Hood and hanging up?"
Emma was unable to do anything but stand there and listen to Regina's tirade, which only fueled her guilt at the way things had panned out.
"You're trying to win me over, so I can assuage your guilt for what you've done, but I won't." Regina took a step forward, not enough to be in Emma's personal space, but enough to make a point. "Intentional or not, Miss Swan, you brought Marion back. You ruined my life, and there is no coming back from that."
The short-haired woman took a deep breath. "Because I know you think you didn't mean to. But you hurt someone. So do as I do- learn to live with it."
With that, Regina turned and began to walk again, but not without a parting shot,
"Welcome to my world."
"Anna!" Elsa called, despair once again creeping at her heart, afraid she would again fail to find her sister.
"Elsa..." There was the whispered voice again, and Elsa looked towards it, her eyes widening as she finally laid eyes on her sister again. She sprinted across the snow-covered clearing and
enveloped Anna in her arms.
"I was so worried I'd never find you." Elsa breathed, grasping Anna by the arms.
A soft voice shattered the moment.
"But I'm so glad you did."
Elsa turned, surprised to find the Snow Queen standing there, looking almost non-threatening, with her hands folded demurely in front of her.
The elder sister stepped in from of her younger sibling protectively, but the Snow Queen just waved her hand and Elsa watched in horror as the figure of Anna turned into pure ice and then melted away.
Then, while Elsa was distracted with watching her 'sister' fade away into nothingness, the Snow Queen waved her delicate hand again, conjuring magical chains that manacled themselves around Elsa's wrists, pulling on her sharply.
"I'm sorry," She said, in that soft, almost soothing way of hers as she approached. "For all the theatre, but...she was never really here, sweetheart."
Elsa didn't hear the endearment that sounded so sincere, as she was looking frantically at the chains that now bound her to the ground.
"I used the illusion because..." The Snow Queen halted her approach, staring hypnotically at Elsa. "I needed you."
"For what?" Elsa felt her throat start to close up in panic.
The chains abruptly yanked her arms in separate directions, forcing her to kneel before the Snow Queen. As the older blonde approached closer, it became apparent that the force of the chains was not by the woman's design at all; it was as if they had a mind of their own.
"Look at yourself." The Snow Queen murmured contemplatively. "So much fear."
She gazed down at Elsa with something akin to pity or compassion. Her voice lowered into a hushed whisper, but she was still heard as she was now so near to Elsa.
"Imagine what you could do if you only learned to control it." The woman's statement was calculated, as if she were speaking from experience.
Elsa could only look up in apprehension as the blonde continued.
"You had a chance to do so once, but-" She scoffed softly. "You squandered it."
The younger woman closed her eyes in defeat at the other's words.
"Fortunately," The Snow Queen shrugged with a small smile. "For me. The more frightened you are, the stronger those chains will hold."
Knowing it was useless, Elsa began to cease pulling at the chains.
The Snow Queen continued. "And that's all I need..." She said, referring to Elsa's imprisoned state. "For now: you. Out of my way."
Elsa's breathing picked up as she apprehensively watched the other woman come even closer, coming to kneel at her level, so that they were eye-to-eye.
"I would tell you," The Snow Queen whispered as she knelt before the younger girl in an action she seemed to think would be taken as a gesture of comfort. "That everything's going to be fine."
Her hand lifted to cradle Elsa's cheek tenderly in her hand, and Elsa froze, rejecting the contact. "That I won't hurt you."
The Snow Queen lowered her hand. "But your worry," She said. "Your fear, are exactly what's needed right now."
Elsa couldn't figure out why it was so important she stay in one place for whatever the Snow Queen had planned, but she was sure it couldn't be good.
The older blonde leaned back as she stood and began to stroll away at an easy, unhurried pace.
"What are you going to do?" Elsa choked out.
The woman turned around, and, for the first time, Elsa saw a vibrant smile that shone with sincere joy and anticipation as she spoke,
"I'm going to build a snowman."
"Hurry up, I'd like to find this Snow Queen before it's actually winter!"
Regina and Emma had stumbled across Elsa's snow bridge and had started crossing in hopes of finding Elsa on the other side, when strong gales came out of nowhere. The Snow Queen had found them, and Regina knew there were only so many ways that could've happened.
"Sidney..." Regina growled.
"What does Sidney have to do with any of this?" Emma had to shout to be heard over the wind.
Regina quickly, and, by nature, vaguely admitted that Sidney was not, in fact, missing.
"You lied, you said you didn't have a clue where Sidney was!" Emma accused. "He was in your mirror the whole time?"
"So maybe I did, so what?" Regina snapped as she whipped out the compact mirror. "I don't have to tell you everything I'm doing!"
"Nor do I, Your Majesty."
"You led us here," Regina spat. "You're working for the Snow Queen? Traitor!"
"I'm the traitor?" Sidney drawled. "I think Your Majesty should take a look in the mirror. And as you contemplate what you've done, know: she has a present for you that I would say is...well-deserved."
With that, the man trapped in the mirror faded away, leaving Regina to scream the traitor's name into the howling wind as she angrily snapped the compact shut.
"Regina!"
"Save your moral judgements." Regina snapped, not even sparing Emma a glance.
"Look!"
Regina finally swung her head in Emma's direction and saw what the blonde was indicating: the ice bridge was crumbling, and if they didn't make for the other side right now, it was a long way down to the bottom of the ravine.
Unfortunately, the fact that you were a former Evil Queen and Savior were irrelevant to the basic laws of physics.
Elsa tugged weakly at her bindings. Her panic had begun to consume her until she closed her eyes and tried to find her center, as Kaya had taught her.
Don't be afraid...
In her mind, Elsa saw herself, and her lover, holding one another close, with Kaya whispering those words in her ear, over and over again, anytime she'd awaken from a nightmare or lose control of her powers during training.
"I'm not afraid." Elsa murmured to herself.
"I'm not afraid." She said again, with more conviction. Elsa felt her breath and heart-rate stabilize and she felt suddenly at peace. Embracing the new-found calm, she inhaled and on her forced exhale, slashed her hands out and away from herself, reveling in the satisfying sound of
shattering chains as they broke under the stress of her power at its most controlled.
Free at least, Elsa smiled at her brief victory.
Time to even the odds.
Regina and Emma, if only barely, made the jump that saved them from a long fall to the ground, but it was only a brief reprieve.
"Regina?" Emma called. "You okay?"
When said woman didn't respond, Emma repeated, "Regina?"
"I...think we have a bigger problem."
Before them stood a giant ice monster, a figure dressed in full battle regalia, complete with a Norse horned helmet and glowing blue eyes. The creature was armed with a battle axe and shield, which the creature clanged against each other in a sort of battle cry.
Unceremoniously, it began to move towards them. Emma skirted through the trees beside the creature, hoping to get a better angle to attack, while Regina, characteristically, stubbornly stood her ground.
With a blast of magic from each woman, the monster was thrown back into a tree, shattering it's right arm. The women didn't get to enjoy their victory for long, however, as the creature grew the limb and weapon right back without so much at blinking an eye.
Well, metaphorically, anyway.
Regina tilted her head in a 'Oh, come on!' gesture.
"Well, that's a problem." Regina wasn't surprised; Miss Swan did have the irritating habit of pointing out the obvious.
"Not helpful."
"Try again." Emma said. At Regina's look of 'Really?', she clarified. "Together."
Using both their powers combined, they were able to defeat and destroy the monster with relative ease.
"I think we did it!" Emma said, a smile evident in her voice.
A soft voice broke through her brief victory.
"What a welcome visit, ladies." The Snow Queen said as she stood, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, not ten feet away from the pair. "Thank you, for bringing me what I needed."
She held out her hand and crystals appeared from within Regina's pocket to reform in the Snow Queen's palm; she now held the compact mirror.
Regina stepped forward with righteous indignation. "Give me back my mirror, you-"
"No."
The Snow Queen raised her hand and instantly Regina was silenced, her supply of air being cut off by an invisible hand that the Snow Queen manipulated from not three paces away. Emma attempted to stop her, but she only ended up under the same conditions as her companion.
It was only a shot of foreign ice magic to the chest that sent the Snow Queen reeling back to land on the ground, thoroughly stunned at the turn of events.
Elsa strode forward, her former fears all but a memory, as the Snow Queen lay prone on the ground for another moment. Finally, she stood, gasping, but despite having been surprised at the younger woman's show of power, she seemed elated, rather than incensed.
"Well done, Elsa," She beamed, pride and excitement evident in her voice. "You're losing your fear!"
Elsa continued to distrustfully stare the other woman down, but the Snow Queen was immune to the girl's distaste.
"There's hope for you yet." Unfazed by the potential battle in front of her, the Snow Queen stared unabashedly at Elsa in a way that was almost familiar, endearing even.
"Let's just finish this now." Regina growled, cutting in.
"No need." The Snow Queen replied. "I have what I want."
And with that, a white cloud resembling a mountain's winter breeze enveloped the older woman and just like that, she was gone.