CHAPTER TWENTY – BELIEVING AGAIN

Lily carefully made her way up the narrow staircase at Granny's, fingers trailing across the banister as she tiredly dragged her feet. Her entire body was drained from all energy, and Ruby – the amazingly cute waitress from the diner – had basically had to carry her home from the woods. Lily tried to hide her grin when she thought of Ruby's dazzling smile and the way she'd patiently been beside Lily all afternoon as she scorched down bushes, trees and underbrush. Ruby had barely batted an eyelash, told her that it was all going to be okay once the magic had entered her system, and at least she knew she was a dragon now, so it's not like she'd accidentally eat her boyfriend or anything.

Lily had laughed and wheezed out girlfriend, it'd be girlfriend, and prompted Ruby to tell her that story. So apparently Little Red Riding Hood was the wolf and the cloak was a precaution. Those fairytales Lily had grown up with were definitely wrong in many aspects, which was why she had no troubles accepting the fact that she actually liked Regina too, even with her being the Evil Queen and all.

She carefully slid the door to their room open, hoping that Emma was already sleeping. She'd texted her earlier, knowing that she'd be worried, and told her that she'd been starting to feel better and had gone for a walk and some fresh air. She just wanted to crawl into bed beside her best friend and try to catch some sleep now that she was finally starting to feel better. She was going to have to learn to control herself in her dragon form eventually, and there was no way she was leaving Storybrooke to go back to her life in New York with her shitty apartment and her stupid job at the baby store, not when she'd finally found a place where she felt like she made sense.

Closing the door behind her, Lily kicked off her dirty socks – she'd had no shoes on her feet all day – and breathed out. She could do this. She could somehow convince Emma to stay a little while longer and eventually they'd never leave. She really wanted to get to know Ruby better too; Ruby, whose eyes had lit up beautifully when Lily had uttered the word 'girlfriend'.

"Aunt Lily?" Henry softly whispered, head poking up from his pillow on the pull-out couch. "Is that you?"

"Just me, kiddo," Lily muttered and padded across the floor on her bare feet. She fell into the couch next to him, gently brushing his legs to the side as she took a seat.

Henry's eyes were wide, but crusted with sleep as he said, "Are you okay?"

Brushing a hand over his shoulder, Lily nodded. "Yeah, I am." She paused, offered him a small smile, "Ruby from the diner took care of me, and Regina," she paused, brow furrowed, "your mom, I guess? – she came to find me earlier to explain everything to me."

Henry's eyes watched her carefully as he whispered, "Did she tell you that my ma killed your mom?"

Lily nodded stiffly, breath hitching in her throat as she did. Regina had told her everything about that, how Emma had faced her mother in her dragon form beneath the city, and that she'd done it to save Henry, and even though it sucked because she'd dreamt her whole life of meeting her real mom, she couldn't find it in herself to be mad about it. Not when Henry was sitting right in front of her, and she was in Storybrooke, and she had Emma and Alba, too, and she'd just met Ruby, and maybe she'd finally find a place to call home. "Yeah, yeah, she did, Henry."

"Are you gonna yell at her?" Henry asked, and for the first time in a while, he truly looked like a little kid to her.

She shook her head and wrapped an arm around him, pressing a kiss to his hair. "No," she whispered, "we're probably gonna have to talk about it once Emma remembers everything, but… I'm not gonna yell at her. I might yell at bit at her parents, but I figure that none of this is Emma's fault."

Henry snuggled into her embrace, "My grandparents did what they thought was best. It was stupid, and it ruined your life. Do you think you can forgive them? They're usually really good people. Heroes."

"I know, Henry," Lily whispered, and she had no idea how she was going to deal with Snow White and Prince Charming, but she knew for sure that she was going to try. For Henry's sake. For Emma and Alba's sakes. For her own sake, even. "But before all of that, we're going to have to work on your ma, yeah? We gotta stay here."

Pulling back from her, Henry seriously said, "It doesn't matter if she's gonna try to leave, she won't be able to. No one who belongs here can. Not without coming back."

Lily bit her lip. "Well, don't you think it'd be way cooler if she decided not to try to leave anyway?"

"Yeah!"

"So we gotta make sure that she wants to stay. Your moms belong together, kiddo," Lily honestly said, and for the first time since she'd reconnected with Emma, she truly and honestly believed that. Some part of her had always hoped that Emma could bring her happiness – and she realised now that that probably had more to do with Snow White and Prince Charming's decisions back in the Enchanted Forest than any real feelings for Emma – but not anymore. She could finally imagine a life where she would always be cool Aunt Lily, and watch as Regina and Emma got married someday.

Henry grinned at her, "Are you going to help me?"

"For sure," Lily promised him, before pressing another kiss to his hair. "But now you gotta sleep, and so do I, so get to it." She patted his arm again and pulled herself off the couch. She made sure that he was tucked in his covers, eyes shut, before she pushed the door to the bedroom open and slipped inside.

The lamp beside Emma's head was turned on, and Lily carefully discarded all of her clothing – all the way down to her panties – before fishing out a clean shirt from her bag and pulling it on. Emma was sleeping restlessly in the bed, fist clenched in the sheet and brow furrowed even in her dreams. Lily thought that it was a reasonable outlet for all of the things that had been happening the last couple of days, and she tried climbing into bed as quietly as possible, but before she managed to lie down, Emma bolted up, back ramrod straight, and eyes wide.

"Wow," Lily surprisingly hissed, hand coming out to touch Emma's shoulder gently, "calm down, Swannie."

Emma breathed, chest rising and falling rapidly as she turned her head to stare at Lily with wide, green eyes. "Are you just now getting back?"

Lily settled herself comfortably against the headboard, torso turned towards Emma. "Yeah," she hummed, awkwardly scratching the side of her head. "I uh, I hung out with the waitress from the diner for a bit. Ruby, she's – she's really awesome."

Emma curiously gave her a once-over. "You feel a lot better then?"

"I'm not sure I'll be able to head back tomorrow," Lily quickly said, eyes wide. "I might still have a slight fever. Better stay a few days."

Suspicious eyes fell on her face, and Lily was pretty sure that Emma's bullshit-detector was going off the charts at the moment. "Alright," the blonde whispered, falling back slightly on the mattress, "Better stay a few days then," she acquiesced.

Lily bit her lip to keep herself from smiling. Emma wanted to stay a few more days, that was for sure. She'd spent the afternoon with Regina, the brunette had told her, and apparently it wasn't just Regina who had felt like the meeting had gone well. Lily thought Regina deserved some time with her family, even if a part of them weren't aware exactly what they were to each other. And Lily was determined to make sue that they found out. "Cool," she said, getting herself comfortable. "I really like it here though. So what did you do today?"

Emma folded her hands behind her head, pensive. "Uh, went to the park." She turned her head upwards, meeting Lily's eyes, "Weird shit happened all day. There were bubbles from out of nowhere, and I could've sworn that Alba ate all her arroz con leche, but somehow the jar kept being full?"

"Sounds like magic," Lily offhandedly commented as she fluffed her pillow.

A snort escaped Emma's lips. "Yeah, it actually does." She hummed. "This entire town seems like something out of a goddamned fairytale, huh."

Lily smiled smugly to herself. Casual, she could do casual. "Maybe Henry's right."

"Don't you start with me now," Emma grumbled and turned slightly over on her side.

It was like poking a sleeping bear, and it was late, so Lily figured she'd better stop while she was still ahead of the game. She turned on her side as well. "So weird and crazy dream?" she prodded.

"Yeah," Emma whispered, happily settling into a safer topic. Her blonde hair cascaded across the bed in a tangle as she got comfortable. "It was another dream about me and Regina. We were fighting about Henry, I think? And that strange woman Mary Margaret was there with her husband as well. I think." She licked her lips, staring straight up into the ceiling, and Lily watched her closely, "We were all he's my son – no he's not he's mine – and I was so pissed at her."

With a beating heart that Lily was afraid that Emma would be able to hear in the quietness of the bedroom, she asked, "And then what happened?"

Emma wetted her lips once more, "But the crazy thing is, it felt like he was, you know? That he was both of ours. Henry, I mean. Even with my anger, I felt it."

"…so how did it end?"

"Regina pushed me," Emma whispered, hand coming up to rub tiredly at her face, "maybe? I don't know. She was a bit far away, but…" She trailed off, tilting her head to lock eyes with Lily, "I flew at least five feet backwards – through the air. It was insane." She paused, cheekily, "Kinda like magic too, huh."

Lily was pretty sure that that had probably been a memory along with all of the other strange dreams Emma had been having since they arrived in Storybrooke, which meant that somehow it was getting to her – even through her stubborn non believing façade – and so she offered her best friend a sideways smile, "Weird."

"So what do you think it means?" Emma wondered aloud.

Lily chuckled lowly, "It means that you're angry with her, which is totally cool," she explained, hand coming out to brush Emma's stomach softly through the sheet, "but it also means that you wanna be with her."

"What," Emma huffed, "no, I don't."

Rolling her eyes, Lily said, "Yes you do."

Emma glared at her. "She kidnapped my son. Basically."

"But she's also fantastic, and she made a bad judgment call," Lily tried to defend Regina; her actions now making even more sense to her. Lily could only begin to imagine the amount of desperation and frustration Regina had had to deal with the last couple of months. She so wanted to help change the outcome for her; to help her get her family back.

The blonde huffed. "She's staying in Storybrooke," she argued, like that was the only reason that they were not going to be together.

Lily chuckled again, truly amused by Emma's attempts to deny her feelings for the former Evil Queen. She fluffed her pillow, tucking her arms around it. "Try all you might to deflect, but I know what's up."

"What," Emma grumbled, getting comfortable on her pillow as well.

"You're in love with her, and you might as well accept it," Lily offered lightly, pointedly. "Turn off the bed lamp, yeah? And sleep tight," she finished, before she rolled onto the other side, and tried to hide her amused chuckles at Emma's grumpy huffs and puffs.

—

It was seriously so fucking strange, this town. Not that Emma didn't like it, because people were insanely friendly, but odd things seemed to happen. The old woman at the diner – Granny she insisted Emma call her – had known exactly what breakfast Henry and Emma wanted without them having to say, and she'd offered keeping an eye on Henry as he went over some homework his teacher had sent him now that he was missing school. He only had his iPad and none of his textbooks, but Emma thought that served him right for being a lying sneak.

Lily wanted to stay in the diner as well – and Emma saw her making moon eyes to the brunette waitress in the insanely short miniskirt, which, good for Lily – so she and Alba decided to explore some more of this small town, where she was seriously beginning to wonder if magic was real. This morning, there had been bubbles floating around their hotel room, and Henry swore that he hadn't made them and he hadn't been lying. For some reason there had still been arroz con leche left in the small jar, and it seriously felt like the delicious food was never-ending, and Alba had munched away happily, only throwing one small fit when Emma tried to get a green beanie onto her head to keep her warm.

She stepped onto the sidewalk with every intent on going to the park again to circle the lake, but for some odd reason she felt a desire to not do that when she started walking. Actually, for some reason, she seemed to be tugged in a very specific direction, and if she squinted slightly, she thought she almost saw a red hue sort of directing her towards another part of town; the inhabited part of town with houses and front yards where she hadn't had time to go yesterday.

Alba laughed happily in the stroller, muttering her two new favourite words repeatedly – Mama and mooh-mooh – as Emma pushed the stroller almost on instinct. She walked aimlessly, letting herself be guided. She squinted. She was pretty sure it was just a trick of the light, but it almost looked like some kind of fog.

She paused when a car marked Sheriff pulled up next to her by the curb, that dashingly handsome man she'd seen Mary Margaret with in her dream – and who she just knew was her husband – jumping out of the car to greet her.

"Emma, hey," he smiled, tucking his hands into his pockets as he leaned himself against the hood of the car.

She didn't even want to ask how he knew her name, because of course he did. This was Storybrooke. "Hey," she motioned towards the car, smile dangling on her lips, "Sheriff, huh?"

He shook his head. "Nope, Deputy Sheriff actually, but the Sheriff has been incapacitated lately, so I'm just covering up for her." He scratched his cheek, eyes falling to Alba in the stroller. "I'm David, by the way," he offered as he leaned forward to get even closer to the baby, "And you're Alba, aren't you?"

Alba answered by giggling loudly and kicking her legs beneath the blanket. Emma stared down at her, pausing briefly when her eyes settled on the beanie. She could have sworn she had dressed her in a green one, but now it was a red one? Had she just imagined that. Emma frowned. I must have imagined that. The red one was good though. Alba looked cute as a button, and her ears weren't cold, so Emma was pleased. It was kind of strange however, because did Alba even own a red beanie?

David stood up straight. "Cute hat," he commented with a wink.

"This is my daughter." Emma said, tearing her eyes away from the beanie, "and you're… Mary Margaret's husband, aren't you? I met her yesterday."

David nodded eagerly. "Yeah, I am. And she mentioned that."

Emma stuck her hands into the pockets of her jacket and rolled on her feet. "So uh, not much sheriffing to do in this town, is there?"

"It can be surprisingly hectic in some periods," David answered, and his eyes were glistening slightly, as if they were sharing some inside joke – except this joke, Emma knew nothing about it. "Are you going by Regina's?" he questioned next, motioning slightly towards a large, white house a little further down the street.

With a surprised – and yet not surprised at all – grunt, Emma said, "Yeah, I guess I am." She placed her hands on the stroller again. Of course she would have somehow walked to Regina's home on instinct, because where else would she be? "Speaking of, I better get to it."

David gave a curt nod and moved to open the door to the car. "See you around, Emma," he smiled, before he slipped inside.

"Probably," Emma huffed, before she turned the stroller in the direction of the hugest house on the street. Now this looked like what Emma had imagined Regina to live in; not that small apartment in New York City. This screamed Regina much louder, and as she opened the gate and strolled up the walkway, she felt slightly taken aback by the grandness of this house, mansion even. It was that big. Not to mention the fact that this was exactly the front porch she'd dreamt about last night; down to the number on the door and the placements of the bushes. What was even going on anymore?

Emma guided the stroller onto the porch and pressed the doorbell. She fussed slightly with her hair in the glass window, suddenly worried that she looked like someone who had spent the better part of the night tossing and turning because of dreams, and she was nervous, nervous because this was Regina, and maybe Lily was even onto something, even though it was stupid. I hope I look okay.

Alba laughed and Emma glanced down at her. Her eyes were huge and round, and she had the most self-satisfied look on her face that Emma had ever seen on her. Her eyes were almost sparkling and she laughed again, kicking her legs. Somehow her beanie was now back to green, and had Emma just imagined the red one? Maybe it had been the light.

"Or maybe it was really fucking magic," Emma mumbled to herself beneath her breath, and she was surprised by how unsurprised she was by the thought. Maybe this town really was somehow magical if she was starting to think it could be.

The door was opened, and Emma looked up to find Regina staring at her with a look of mild surprise on her face that quickly morphed into one of pure joy. "Emma," she greeted, eyes shining happily, "come in, come in." She stepped back, opening the door fully and allowing Emma to clumsily push the stroller inside.

"Mooh-mooh," Alba greeted, grinning up at Regina, who quickly picked the baby up and pressed a kiss to her cheek before nestling her against her chest.

"Hi Alba," she whispered, and her eyes were filled with so much love that Emma's heart swelled. Regina turned to her, amused. "Why are you wearing a flower in your hair?"

Emma turned, quickly casting a look at herself in the hallway mirror – and if Regina wasn't right. There, tucked behind her ear, was a sunflower. Completely out of season, and definitely not put there by Emma herself. "What," she grumbled, confused, "it must've… blown there or something," she commented, raising her hand to pull it off.

Regina's hand on hers stopped her. "No, don't… it suits you," she argued, casting a glance down at Alba again. "Come on, I was just making some tea."

Following Regina into the kitchen, Emma took notice of the beautiful surroundings; somehow entirely fitting of Regina. She slipped onto a barstool and Regina moved around the kitchen effortlessly; Alba on her hip while she prepared two cups of tea. She sat them down on the counter and slipped onto a chair as well, settling Alba on her lap. Emma immediately warmed her hands on the cup, suddenly feeling slightly shy as she stared at the beautiful woman across from her. "So uh… nice home you've got here."

"Thank you," Regina said, cheek pressed to Alba's hair, "It's a bit big now that it's just me, but hopefully it will be filled with more life again someday."

Emma took a sip of her tea, not minding that she burned her tongue.

"So what brings you here?" Regina questioned, curiously letting her eyes scan over Emma's body; the blonde felt it all the way into her bones, the way her eyes caressed her and drank her in. It was a feeling that she'd only ever experienced when Regina looked at her, and she was never going to grow tired of the tingles the brunette's eyes left behind in their wake.

However, she pondered Regina's question. What did bring her here? There was only so many things Emma kept obsessing over in her head, because none of it made any sense to her, and she could only keep obsessing over it for such a while. Setting her cup back down, Emma blurted, "Explain it to me. Explain to me one more time what is going on, because I really want to understand, Regina. Please be honest."

If she was surprised by the request, Regina didn't show it. Instead she raised her cup to her lips, sipping the tea daintily, without a doubt buying herself some time. She sat the cup back down. "Emma, if I am going to be truly honest with you, with no conditions, then you need to open your mind and believe."

"Believe in what?" Emma questioned, heart beating rapidly inside of her chest. She felt that it was drawing closer, was within her grasp, the truth.

"Believe in magic," Regina whispered, face soft as she glanced at Emma carefully. "In fairytales. In something more."

Emma bit her lip. It all sounded absolutely crazy in her ears, and there Regina was – a grown-ass woman – telling her to believe in things that only existed in stories. But damnit, if Emma didn't want to believe. Maybe not in magic or fairytales or something more. But she wanted to believe in her, in Regina. The incredible woman who was sitting in front of her, watching her with curved lips and shimmering eyes. Emma breathed out. "Okay. Okay, I'll try."

And she wanted to try because of strange encounters, of bubbles, of rice never-ending and beanies changing colour. She wanted to try, because if magic wasn't real, she was making up crazy things inside of her head, and she'd much rather try to open her mind than to go down that road.

A satisfied smile appeared on Regina's lips. She seemed to collect herself, and Emma watched her carefully, drinking in her short brunette hair and the way her red lips pursed slightly. She had not come into this house intending to talk about this again, but something had made her blurt it out. This morning, Henry had told her to open her mind, and what was that even? Everyone around her acted like she was the one who was supposed to do something different, and now, sitting in front of Regina, it just occurred to her that maybe they were right.

So she was going to try that open mind thing and listen to Regina. The other woman seemed more at ease in this town than she had in New York; she seemed more relaxed, familiar with her surroundings, and Emma thought she saw a change in her, a poise and determination that she had not noticed before. And damn, it looked good on her.

Regina breathed out heavily, gathering herself. "This entire town is from another realm," she explained, fingers tangling in Alba's hair as she absentmindedly ran them through it. "It was cursed here. I cursed it here, many years ago. That doesn't really matter now however, the important thing is that our realm has more magic than this one. We don't call this the Land Without Magic for nothing." She paused, taking a sip of her tea as Emma took in the first part of her story. "In our realm, magic is quite common. Not everyone has the power to produce it, but it can come in many forms, and – and what I've been trying to tell you, what Henry's been trying to tell you, is that you are from this place, Emma. You're from our realm, you just don't remember, because your memories were taken away to protect you from a curse."

Furrowing her brow, Emma almost wanted to slip off her chair and grab Alba and go. It sounded so ridiculous; magic, powers, curses. What did Regina take her for? But on the other hand… something made her stay seated on that barstool, because some part of her opened up to the possibility that this might be true. That maybe Regina was right, and maybe there was magic, and maybe that explained why everyone in this town seemed to know her even though she'd never seen them before in her life.

"Are you with me so far?" Regina softly questioned, worried.

Emma nodded. "I think so."

"Good," Regina nodded, slipping her hand onto the table, rubbing her fingers together, "because look," she softly finished.

Emma's eyes fell to her hand on the table, and it almost felt like her eyes were about to pop right out of her head. There were bubbles. Bubbles appearing in thin air, right over Regina's palm; bubbles floating into the space between them and soaring towards the ceiling, filling the kitchen with splashes as they popped. Alba's eyes trailed them, brown curiously following a bubble as it floated in front of her, mouth opening, forming a perfect 'o' with pink gums on display. Emma felt her own green eyes follow another bubble as it merged with a smaller one and the both of them popped. She gasped and looked down at Regina's hand, now limp against the kitchen counter. "You're – but how – bubbles," she groaned.

Regina offered her an amused smirk. "I did not produce the bubbles yesterday, if you're curious, but – as you can see – I can produce magic. In fact, I was there when the curse took your memories away a year and half ago, and to protect you and Henry I supplied you with new ones."

Not quite sure how to actually answer any of what Regina said, Emma simply stared at her. She couldn't deny the evidence right in front of her face, and Regina had produced those bubbles – there was not a doubt in her mind about that. But what did it mean? It still sounded ridiculous that there were other realms where magic was normal, and that she was from there. She thought she would have known if she was from some other place – if Henry was! She swallowed loudly, locking her eyes with Regina's shiny brown ones. "I'm so confused right now."

"That's okay."

"Does this mean you and I knew each other from before?" Emma whispered, holding onto the one part of this that made the most sense; that she and Regina were familiar. There was nothing magical about that, just a connection between the two of them. A connection that had possibly transcended magic and curses and made itself known even in New York. It would certainly explain why she'd been attached to Regina from day one.

Regina rested her chin gently on Alba's head, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "Yes. That's why I made those potions for you – to get you to remember me. To remember it all."

Emma furrowed her brow. "But I drank that!"

"I think it's quite possible that your lack of belief made it so that the potion didn't work on you," Regina softly replied, her eyes clouding over. She withdrew her hand from the table and tucked it safely over Alba's belly.

With a pause, realisation hit Emma. "It worked on Henry, didn't it? He remembers everything. That's why he's here!"

Regina whispered, "Yes."

"Oh my God," Emma breathed, slipping off the barstool to pace back and forth in the big kitchen. "I'm so confused right now. I mean, I saw it – bubbles! You made bubbles!" She pointed at Regina, running a hand through her hair. It caught on that damn sunflower and she pulled it out and threw it on the counter. "Magic. How is magic real. How is any of this real. Are fairytales real? Like Henry said?" She stopped pacing, staring expectantly at Regina as her rant came to an end.

Alba's eyes were fixated in the discarded sunflower on the table. "Mooh-mooh," she demanded, banging a fist to the table.

Regina reached for the flower and offered it to the baby. "Fairytales are real. Not as you know them, but they're real," she said, while rolling the flower between her fingers to make it twirl for Alba. "There's many things you need to know, it would have been easier if you remembered everything, and I still hope you will somehow, but I think you need to get used to all of this first."

Emma leaned herself against the counter. On one hand she wanted to know everything right now, because she figured that there was much more to the story, considering everything that had happened the last couple of months, but on the other hand she just needed to let everything settle in her mind because Regina was able to do magic, and Henry hadn't been acting up for nothing, and maybe this meant that everything she knew was a lie, and how could she just deal with that? "I think that-"

She was cut off by a loud banging on the door, and she and Regina stared briefly at each other, before Regina slipped off the barstool and pushed Alba into Emma's arms. "Wait here for a second," she murmured, before she crossed the kitchen floor, high heels clicking, and went into the hallway.

Emma glanced down at Alba as she heard murmurs coming from the hallway. If she and Henry were from another realm, it had to mean that Alba was too? But she remembered being pregnant with Alba; those memories weren't hazy like a lot of her older memories were. Actually, the days being pregnant with Alba in New York were some of the clearest memories in her mind. Yet, there was still some things about Alba's conception that were very unclear to her, and perhaps that was a part of everything, too.

At the sound of footsteps, Emma looked up from Alba's grinning face, only to realise that Regina had invited her guest into the kitchen with them. Regina looked nervous as she held her hands in front of her stomach, and the woman she'd brought with her appeared to take in the surroundings with a sort of amazed awe. Her wild mane of red hair went all the way to her butt, and she was dressed in a blue dress and with a bow and quiver, as well as a small, bulgy satchel, thrown over her shoulder. Emma gaped at her. Was that Merida? She remembered Henry obsessing over this movie a few years back.

"'Ello mate, ya' must be Emma, ay?" she greeted with a giant smile on her face.

"You're – you're – you're Brave," she murmured, blinking at her before looking at Regina. Was she going insane?

Regina seemed to bite back a small smile. "This is Merida," she offered, gesturing towards the redhead, "a friend from back home who helped me when I needed to get back to you."

Merida grinned. "I'm not that brave, lass, but thank ya'."

Emma sighed and rested herself against the barstool again. "I need a drink."

"It's only 11am, dear," Regina dryly chuckled as she took a seat on the stool she had earlier occupied. "Merida, please take a seat and explain to me one more time how you're here."

"Aye," Merida replied, and Emma watched her in amusement for a second, as the redhead struggled to get comfortable on the chair. "What is this contraption," she murmured below her breath, before she rested against the counter, arms crossed. "I came here by bean, Regina, one of those magic ones. I stole it from Captain Hook to come find ya'."

Regina made a disgusted face. "What is the rum-soaked pirate up to now?"

Merida's eyes were wide as she said, "He wants my father's helm, ya' know! Fergus threw it in the lake before the battle with Camelot, but now that bloody captain wants to steal it to win his own battles and keep the skin on his back." She shook her head in defeat, brow furrowed and eyes fiery.

"What helm is this?" Regina asked, and Emma could do nothing but follow the conversation in the best way possible, because not only was Merida sitting in front of her, but they were talking about Camelot and Captain Hook, and when had this become her life? Oh right, about ten minutes ago.

"This helm, aye," Merida explained, fishing out a helm that had been stored in the satchel on her back, "The Enchanted Helm. It makes other men fight yer battles for ya'. That pirate is a no-good man, I tell ya', and now that Fergus is gone, I have to keep the Kingdom of DunBroch safe."

Regina leaned forward with a sigh, taking the helm from Merida's hands to inspect it more clearly. "And you brought it here? Why?"

Merida straightened her back. "Well I need yer help to defeat the bloody pirate, don't I? If the helm's here, he's right behind it, isn't he."

"He does have an uncanny talent for staying alive," Regina grumbled, placing the helm back on the counter. She eyed Emma warily, lips pursed. "But what does he want with your kingdom?"

"Gold. Treasures. Everyone's eager to see me fail, 'cause I'm a woman, ya' see?" Merida explained, brushing a stray curl behind her ear. "They don't think I can do it, so I need to show them, I need to prove that I can fight, aye?"

Regina slipped off the stool, a pensive look on her face. "Alright. I do owe you for helping me with the beans and the ingredients." She stepped towards the cupboard and pulled down a glass. As she filled it with water, she glanced worriedly at Emma, clearly not sure whether or not she should include the blonde in this.

Emma wasn't sure whether or not she should be included in this either, because as far as she knew right now, she wouldn't be much help against fairytale characters and magical pieces of armour. Perhaps she would have been before, but what good did that do her now. She offered Regina a tentative smile though, not sure if she should leave or stay, but also just really wanting to wrap her head around the things she'd just been told.

Merida offered Regina a curt "Thank ya'," when the brunette sat the glass of water down in front of her.

Regina reclaimed her seat on the stool and wrapped her hands around her cup of tea. "Mulan's in town, too, she could be a real asset if it comes to a fight. Though I doubt he'd be foolish enough to take me on again. When do you reckon he'll be here?"

Merida shrugged. "He's not that far behind on that bloody ships of his."

Emma slipped off the stool at that, finally deciding that she had gotten enough for now. Her head was swimming with information; she was practically drowning in it, and she needed to catch her breath. She had Alba gathered in her arms and they both smiled at Regina; Alba happily and Emma a bit more faintly. "I sense that this is some kind of emergency and now's really not the time for us to finish our conversation." She sighed, tucking Alba closer to her chest. All of these impressions were getting the better of her – magic, curses, fairytales, other realms - and she just wanted to lie down for a second, close her eyes and let it all settle. "I should probably get back to Granny's."

"We need all the hands we can get," Merida offered, eyes full of questions.

Regina smiled sadly at Emma, "Emma doesn't know everything. The potion didn't work on her."

Merida's face fell. "Oh bloody hell," she muttered.

Regina reached a hand forward and gently tucked Emma's inside her own. "I'm sorry to cut this short. But if you're staying, I'd like to take you out tonight. So we can, you know, talk." She squeezed her hand, a nervous smile playing at the edge of her lips.

"I'd like that. We're – we're staying," Emma murmured, decision made instantly. At least for now, she figured, although she didn't need to voice that to Regina. She squeezed the other woman's hand back in reassurance, relishing the feeling of her hand around hers; the tingling sensation, the rush of something beneath her skin, something almost – magical. "Uhm. 6pm?"

"Aesop's Tables," Regina whispered, the smile finally overtaking her face, "I'll text you directions."

"Okay," Emma murmured, dropping Regina's hand as she walked towards the hallway, "I'll see you later," she added, promises sparkling in her eyes and excitement thrumming beneath her skin.

Merida replied with a cheerful, "See you later, lass," before Emma got Alba into the stroller and left Regina's house. She had some serious thinking to do.

But first – more coffee. Preferably spiked.

A/N: Thank you once more for your support and enthusiasm about this fic! We're nearing the end here, and I'm so excited about it. I will return with chapter 21 soon!