Regina could swear time slowed as she stared down at Emma, as her body went still. It was as if she were asleep; or dead. The only sign of life was the slow breathes indicated by the rise, and fall, of her chest. She wiped the hair from her true loves forehead. Filled with an amount of terror, of fear, that she had never before felt. Not even when her mother's fingers had been squeezing the life out of Daniels chest.
Frightened as he was he raced down the stairs, still clutching onto his infantile Aunt in his now sweaty palms. Worry was etched across his face, and dread filled his veins. He had watched his birth mother kill a man and then fall to the ground. He stood behind Regina, his mouth agape, tears streaming down his face. Pleading internally that she was going to be ok. Guilt plaguing his system.
"Don't you fucking touch her" Spat charming. Spit flew from his mouth, his face was red and sweaty. He was filled with nothing but malice. Snow raised an eyebrow at her husband, stopping mid-stride.
Ruby had always thought Charming was a douche, but she hadn't thought he was this bad. She stepped backwards, keeping her true love behind her. She could sense that shit was about to go down, and she didn't want Bella caught up in any of it. But she was also keeping a watchful eye. She would help where she could.
"She is our daughter, and you can't tell me what to do" Snow replied angrily, she pushed past him and knelt down next to her child. Silent tears streaming down her cheeks, she was scared. Scared for Emma, for Regina, for her grandson.
"She most certainly is not. No way in hell is she ours. She is a vile waste of a person. That thing is no more than an immoral poison" He argued, starring in anger and shock at his stupid wife.
Gruesome crunching of teeth was heard as Snow glared at her husband, wiping her eyes, and jumping to her feet. One finger pointed at her arrogant, self-centered husband. This was not the man she had fallen in love with, that man had died before the curse had even taken place. And she couldn't understand why she was still with a man like him.
"You, Charming, are a worthless imbecile who can not see what is right in front of him. You are not as bad as King George, you are far, far, worse. But that is what they say correct? Like father, like son. Bad blood to bad blood. You want to know what my new favorite thing in this world is? Divorce." Snow shouted at him, and she meant every word of it. And by the furious look on David's face, he knew it.
True love. Snow had always believed that it could win out over every issue life through their way. And she knew, despite the hatred that had been growing in her for years, that he still was her true love. That did not mean he had to be her only love. She couldn't handle his issues anymore.
Power. That was what had changed their relationship, once King George had been overthrown, and Regina had been pushed back to the summer castle David had come to rule over a kingdom and a half. Power had gone straight to his brain, and he had craved more since then.
How she wished that they had simply stayed as sheep farmers, taking over his mother's old farmhouse. Had they stayed on that path she knew they would have lived happily. Poorly, but she would have still had the real Charming. The real man she had fallen in love with, instead of the power hungry mongrel he had become.
As she stared at him, she realized she had lost him all those years ago. She was just now realizing, or rather accepting, it. Despite his attitude, she hadn't expected him to suddenly be running at her, she flinched as his fist flew towards her face. Clenching her eyes tight, waiting for the hit to come. Hower, it didn't.
Regina had jumped to her own feet and snapped her fingers, and Charming had been surrounded by purple smoke. It was clearing from the room when Snow finally allowed her eyes to open. She was surprised to find that where her husband, soon to be ex, had previously stood there was a tiny box turtle. Like the one she had in her classroom at school.
"I can change him back later if you really want me to. However, we have more pressing matters to attend. And if I do say so myself he looks much better like this" Regina said as she inspected her nails. "Now, help me get her onto the couch"
"You should change him back under the full moon, and I'll take care of the little prick. You don't fucking hit a woman. Especially a good one. Especially when their my fucking best friend" Ruby literally growled. She was mighty tempted to just grab the charming-turtle and smash him between her hands.
Disregarding any of the previous statements that Regina had made Snow leaned down to grab her daughter's legs, and Regina grabbed her around the shoulders, and they carried her the ten feet to the couch. Ruby tossed a blanket at them from the chair, and Snow draped it over her daughter.
"She's going to be alright? Right?" Henry said as his tears went from waterworks to niagara fucking falls. "Did she hurt him because of me? I swear I didn't tell her what he said. I promise" He said. Holding the crying infant closer to himself.
Dropping to his knees by the couch he started to shake his mother as Ruby took the baby from him. The adults were trying to process everything that was happening. From what Emma had said, to what Charming had said, to Gold. The fact Emma had magic. Golds death, Charming's turtle state. Everything was hitting the fan at the same time, and shit was splattering across everyone's fucking face.
"Henry, what did Gold tell you? And no, she didn't hurt him because of you. Gold. He was a very bad man sweetheart, and she was trying to protect everyone. Alright?" Regina assured as she knelt down and looked into her son's scared, water producing eyes.
"He. He cornered me after school. He told me he was my grandfather. Said that Emma tricked his son, used him. When she was done with him that she had tossed him in jail. And that she had him killed. He told me him being my grandfather had to be a secret. But mom. I swear. I didn't believe a word he said. I promise. I knew he was lying, so I ran away. Emma's good. She's the savior. She couldn't do things like he said" He swore through his tears.
Eyes connected, confusion, and questions playing in them. Snow was worried about what Gold had said, as was Regina. Even Ruby had that look. The wolf was worried about what was happening to Emma, but she knew it wasn't her place to do anything. She would help where they wanted and needed her too, but she wouldn't step on anyones toes. She was still in the dog house with Snow.
"Trust me, it is in no way your fault. Don't ever think that. Take your grand, er, the turtle, and go upstairs. Snow will make your Aunt a bottle, and then bring her up to you in a few minutes. You can feed her for her. Once she brings her up, I am going to cast a protective bubble of sorts around her room. Only I, Snow, Ruby, and Belle can get through. So you will be safe" Regina explained slowly.
Henry conceded quickly. He was scared, and he had put up a small protest, but right now he knew the best place for him to be was somewhere safe so his mom and grandma could save his other mom. He did want to know what was going on, but he trusted everyone in the room to protect him, and Emma.
Eavesdropping was going to be out of the question this time, even if he desperately wanted to. But he knew better of it, his mom would be on watch, and he wasn't sure he wanted to know what was going on. Gold had spouted scary words, words he knew meant bad things, but didn't know quite what they meant. Yet. And, Emma had scared him.
Once Henry was up the stairs Ruby handed the baby to Snow, and she disappeared into the kitchen. Ruby wrapped her arms around Belle as the two stared at Emma. She had only had her love for less than a day, and she knew Regina, or Gold, had to be the one to have given her back. And from the way Regina was looking at, and caring, for Emma, she had a suspicion it was the brunette.
Blue light flashed for a few seconds after Regina had vocalized the spell. The entirety of the upstairs was now blocked from everyone other than the adults in the room. She had made it so Emma could not pass, nor Henry. She didn't want Emma to go all Dark One and accidentally hurt their son.
Evil Queen, and the girl who had eaten her poisoned apple both stared down at Emma's form for several moments. Both were filled with love, and fear for the woman asleep before them. And Regina held onto the dagger, which still only sported two letters. Ruby knew, as Snow and Regina shared a secretive look, that both women had known. Probably all along, that Emma's true love had been Henry's other mother. And that hurt her inside, but she would deal with Snow's betrayal later, there were more important things at play.
"Belle is new to this world, and I am strong. We should stay here and watch over Emma, and the children." Ruby said. "That way you can track down leads on a way to help Emma, to stop her from becoming the dark one"
Sleeping with her daughter hadn't been the best aid to Ruby and Snow's friendship. But despite the fact that they had fought and screamed at each other since she and Emma had gotten together Ruby still viewed Snow as her best friend. Even if she had kept the fact she knew who Emma's true love was from her.
While they were on rocky ground, and probably would be for awhile considering what Snow had kept from her, Ruby's other best friend was still Emma Swan. Yes, they had not been able to work on their relationship. They hadn't been meant to be lovers, but they had gone down that road anyway. But, while the ending hadn't been perfect, they were still friends, still civil, and Emma still mattered to Ruby. Plus, she couldn't exactly let her boss die now could she?
"Could true loves kiss help?" Snow asked straight out, she knew from Ruby's nearly hidden glare that she had figured it out. Regina stiffened a moment, before glancing up the stairs. thankful her son could not hear.
"Possibly, but, my magic is still dark. Yes, it had gotten lighter since I broke the curse, but, as it is, it is likely that my dark magic would mingle with hers, and outweigh the light magic she was born with. That's not a risk I am willing to take as of yet" Regina said sadly, touching Emma's cheek softly.
Silence echoed across the room, and Snow got an angry look on her face. She knew what was going on through Regina's head. And she'd be damned, after seeing her daughter nearly kill herself, that she'd let Regina wipe her memories a second time. She had fought hard, and long, for Regina to remove the spell.
Yes, she would have preferred her imbecilic husband to not have done what he did, but it didn't change the fact that Emma at least remembered who she was. And that now, she and Regina could finally be together. To grow, to love, and most importantly to heal each other. She walked over and she slapped Regina across the face.
"If you dare think about taking away her memories again I will tie you up and shave your head. Do you understand me? I can not kill you, obviously, but I will find someway to torture you. Even if it means me hugging you three times an hours as your tied up to a pole in town hall for all to see" Snow poked Regina's chest as she spoke. Clearly angry at Regina's unspoken thoughts.
"We should go to Gold's shop. He will have a vast array of magical text, and if we are lucky he will still have kept a journal like he did in the old world." Regina chose to ignored Snow's previous statements. "Henry is safe up their, you and Belle can go up, but he cannot come out. Keep them all safe. Understood?"
Ruby and Belle both nodded their understanding. Regina and Snow looked at each other, Snow still annoyed with Regina's thoughts, but, right now they had bigger fish to fry. But she silently vowed to come up with decades worth of ways to torture her without it being lethal if Regina didn't get her act together and get with her daughter.
Deciding that driving all the way to the other side of town was going to take much too long for her liking Regina held out her hand. Palm up, for Snow to take. The other woman eyed it for a few moments, before sighing. She grabbed on hard, clenching her eyes shut just as purple smoke began to wrap around herself and her previous step-mother. When she opened them they were standing in Gold's pawn shop.
A/N: My apologies for not being able to post until now. Life and all that jazz you know? Alright, well, I hope you liked!