A/N: Just so you know, the Swan Queen in this sure as hell isn't 'unintentional'...
The ball was drawing to an end and the guests were starting to say their goodbyes. It was only when the fourth Prince in a row asked Regina where Princess Olivia was that she realised her daughter seemed to be hiding again. Irritated, the brunette excused herself politely and went in search of Emma. The younger woman was lurking behind a pillar near the food, as expected, and pouted as her girlfriend dragged her out of her hiding place and arched an eyebrow at her.
"Have you seen Liv lately?"
Emma shrugged and shook her head. "Not since she said goodnight to Henry."
Looking around quickly, Regina huffed in irritation, thinking she had an idea where her daughter might be. "Have you seen Ruby?"
"Nope." The blonde smirked. Then she sighed and linked her fingers with the other woman's, pulling Regina flush against her. "Give her a break, Gi. She did what you wanted and played nice all night. Let her have a bit of fun with her girlfriend. That's what I'm intending to do as soon as we can get upstairs…"
"Em…"
At her slightly admonishing tone, the blonde laughed into Regina's neck where she was placing open-mouthed kisses against the soft flesh. "Sorry, sorry… I'm planning on having a bit of fun with my fiancée as soon as she stops being an overprotective mommy to our grown-up daughter."
"In my head she's still a baby." Regina argued, half-heartedly swatting at the blonde. "I gave birth to her a year ago... seeing as it's December it was a year ago, although I suppose technically it was about six months ago considering time works differently between here and your world."
"Way to confuse me and kill the mood, babe…" Emma mumbled. Then she sighed and pulled away from the older woman, resting her hands lightly on Regina's hips. "OK, fine, let's go and look for her. Have you got any ideas?"
"Look for Ruby, find Olivia."
"Good plan." Emma nodded in agreement. Then she frowned. "Or it would be if Ruby wasn't over there with Cora and Granny…"
Regina turned in time to see Cora throw her hands in the air in exasperation and then turn and flounce away. Split seconds later, Granny flipped her middle finger towards the back of the retreating woman, before turning and marching in the opposite direction. Ruby looked between them, as though trying to decide which one was in more need of calming down, before hurrying after her own Grandmother.
"OK, so Liv isn't with Ruby…"
"The boys?" Emma suggested.
"She wouldn't want to risk waking them."
"So where then?" The blonde asked. Then she sighed. "Look, Gina, can't we just let her hide in peace and then yell at her in the morning?"
"What if something's happened to her?"
"Regina, she's a big girl. She's more powerful than we know, remember? I'm sure she can fend off a few over-excited Princes without our help. You saw how she avoided Prince Whatshisname shoving his tongue down her throat… you know… the one with the massive head?"
"Prince Jacob of the Southern Marshes." Regina informed her, rolling her eyes.
"Yeah, I don't care who he is." Emma replied, shrugging casually.
"She didn't avoid it; she head-butted him."
The blonde chuckled, grinning proudly and steering Regina towards the grand staircase and away from the last few guests straggling towards the doors. "Yeah she did!"
"Emma, you don't realise how much apologising I had to do to his father to ease the tension. It's a good job everyone is well aware of your flaws, so they didn't question the fact that Liv takes after you and is just naturally clumsy." She sniffed, putting her hand on the ornate banister and starting to ascend the staircase. "If we don't find Liv up here then you're going down to the stables to–"
"Your Highness?" One of the guards posted around the Entrance Hall stepped forward, bowing his head in deference towards the two women. "I beg your forgiveness for intruding, but I couldn't help overhearing… you're looking for the young Princess?"
"Yes?" Regina whirled round and descended the staircase once more, leaving Emma to follow behind. "Why?"
"I saw her going into the East Courtyard just before my break about an hour ago. She's probably not there anymore, but…"
Regina took off in the direction he'd indicated, not even sparing the guard a second look in her haste. Emma, however, placed a hand on the man's arm and smiled. "Thank you."
"Oh my god!" Regina ran through the door and into the courtyard, apparently not at all hindered by the dress or four inch heels she was wearing. She dropped to the snow covered ground where Liv was lying, completely drained by her attempts to fight Jaye off. "Sweetheart? Liv? Liv, can you hear me?"
"Gi– Fuck! What happened?" Emma appeared a moment or two later and stared between her girlfriend and their daughter warily.
"I don't know, Emma, but a little help would be nice." Regina ground out as she attempted to lift the teenager, who was drifting in and out of consciousness, off the floor.
Together they managed to hoist her up so that they each had one of Liv's arms around their shoulders and started to manoeuvre her towards the door. The girl's head lolled forwards and her chin rested on her chest, rolling slightly at the movement as her mothers half carried, half dragged her into the Castle. Wasting no time on explanations, they waved off concerned enquiries from those they passed and carried Liv upstairs to her bedroom.
She was soaking wet and the added weight of her waterlogged dress had made moving her even more difficult. As soon as they were safely inside the chamber that Snow had given her Granddaughter earlier that day, Regina gently stripped the teenager out of the gown and Emma rooted around in the dresser for a spare blanket. They wrapped it tightly around Liv and began rubbing her arms and legs to bring back some of the warmth to her body.
Emma threw more firewood into the grate, causing the flames to lick higher and cast more light and heat into the room. Pausing for a moment, she sighed deeply, before crossing the room once more and sitting beside the brunette on the bed. Regina reached out and took her hand, both of them remembering sitting like this almost two years ago when Liv had nearly died before.
"What's wrong with her?" Emma asked quietly after a couple of moments.
"She's exhausted from using too much magic in a short space of time. She's completely drained."
"She was using magic? Why?" The blonde looked up quickly. "She wasn't ripping out Princes' hearts, was she?"
The half-joke fell flat and earned her a furious glare from the older woman. "Of course she wasn't! Someone was using Dark Magic down there, but it wasn't Liv."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Why do you want it to be Liv?"
Emma looked outraged. "I don't! But… well how can you be so sure she wasn't? I mean…"
"She's got form?" Regina asked, her eyes narrowing. She wrenched her hand out of the blonde's grasp and scooted closer to the teenager. "After what you did to her, Miss Swan, you should be the last one willing to believe badly of her."
"You stole my memories! How was I supposed to know she was telling the truth?"
"She's got a point, Mom…" Liv murmured sleepily from her position between them. "I'd have my money on me being the bad one too…"
"Sweetheart!"
"Get off…" The girl protested as both her mothers started fussing over her. Her words weren't convincing, however, as she fisted a hand tightly into each of their dresses and held them closer.
"What happened, kid?" Emma asked. "I believe you weren't doing anything evil, by the way. I…"
"It's OK, Ma." Liv promised, smiling at her. For a moment her eyelids flickered shut and she took several quick, shallow breaths. "Jaye was… Rumpelstiltskin's here somewhere…"
"In the Castle?" Emma leapt to her feet as though planning on hunting him down singlehanded.
Liv shook her head weakly. "No… I don't think so. But… Jaye remembers Neverland. She's got magic and I think… I think Rumpelstiltskin's been teaching her. She's so much stronger…"
"No, Liv, if what you said is right then Rumpelstiltskin's been training his Granddaughter to use the kind of magic that you've never had any experience of. If you were trained the way she's been then it would have been a different story." Regina explained gently. "What's more important is that Rumpelstiltskin could be anywhere, doing anything…"
"I should have just killed her when I had the chance…"
Emma frowned. "What d'you mean? When did you have the chance to kill her before?"
"She… I ripped out her heart. I could have crushed it or I could have kept it and controlled her, but I told her to leave and put it back." The teenager turned and closed her eyes. "I should have been stronger."
"It's not about strength. It was probably smart; if you'd killed her then it would mean that Rumpelstiltskin… well, whatever he's planning at the moment would be nothing to what he'd do if you'd killed his Granddaughter." Regina told her, placing a hand gently on her daughter's cheek.
The blonde frowned. "You almost sound like you'd encourage it under other circumstances."
Rolling her eyes, the older woman didn't make any attempt to agree or disagree with the statement. Instead she smiled down at her daughter. "I'm going to put you to sleep, sweetheart, so that you can recover properly. OK?"
Liv nodded and felt a comforting blanket of sleep wrapping around her. Unable to fight it, she let her eyes close and drifted into a deep, regenerative sleep.
Jaye left the Castle with her parents and Belle, pretending to be tired to avoid their questions. Instead she listened to their conversation with barely concealed disdain, especially when Belle started talking about her best friend. At the mere mention of Ruby, the stupid werewolf who had taken what Jaye wanted, the girl felt the magic that had been bubbling just under the surface of her skin threatening to explode from her once more. Clenching her jaw, she stared out of the carriage window until they came to a rattling halt on the cobbles outside her Grandfather's Castle.
Barely acknowledging the goodnights that were sent her way, the teenager climbed the stairs and disappeared into her bedchamber. She leant heavily against the door for a moment, listening to the footsteps travelling further along the corridor. Jaye listened to a door closing in the distance and another opening. Guessing that her mother was checking in on Danny, she waited until she heard the door close, more footsteps and then another door closing. Taking a steadying breath, she changed out of the fancy gown she was wearing into a much simpler dress, before she crossed to her closet and pulled out a long, thick, hooded cloak.
Silently she crept out of her chamber and pulled the door closed. There was a soft snap as the latch clicked, but no one seemed to notice so she made her way back along the corridor and down the stairs. As soon as she was outside, she pulled the hood up over her hair and made her way through the darkness into the forest. Jaye wasn't afraid of being out alone in the dark; she knew where she was going and she knew nothing would endanger her.
After about half an hour, she found herself in a clearing. The moon was just visible through the canopy of the trees that didn't quite meet and block out the sky above her. Lifting both hands, she eased her hood down and looked around, waiting for something. Or someone.
"How did it go, dearie? As planned?"
Jaye didn't even flinch at the sudden voice in the darkness. Instead she turned slowly and fixed her Grandfather with a triumphant smirk. "Perfectly."
"Well? Tell me more."
"I planted the seed of doubt in her mind that Emma and Regina would eventually give in and sell her to the highest bidder. I told her that it would be history repeating itself; that she'd resort to murder to escape a marriage just like Regina. And then–"
"Then she'll be well on the path to her own destruction." Rumpelstiltskin finished with a giggle. "How did she take the news?"
Curving her lips upwards in a smirk, Jaye laughed softly. "She lashed out when I told her that everyone would hate her, just like they hate Regina. She tried to fight me with magic." The blonde laughed again, a broad smile blossoming on her face. "She tried so hard to beat me, but she couldn't."
Her Grandfather giggled again. "Well done dearie! I knew our training would pay off."
"But…" Jaye's smile dropped instantly. "She nearly did, Grandfather. She caught me off guard and ripped out my heart."
"What?"
"She could have killed me… she could have squeezed my heart to dust and killed me. But she didn't. She didn't even keep it and attempt to control me. She just told me to leave and put it back." The teenager tilted her head, almost as though she was confused by what had happened. "Was it a trick? Or is she just too weak to follow through on her threats?"
Rumpelstiltskin considered her questions for a moment. "The Princess is like her Mothers… they put too much store in the strength of love and family. They refuse to see the truth; love can always be manipulated, so it's a weakness. The girl was so desperate for love, for a family, that she clung to a small boy believing that he would offer her the unconditional love that she so craves. Her guilt wasn't the only reason she brought him back from Neverland. She wanted someone who was solely hers… someone who couldn't leave her."
"So we can use that?"
He smirked. "We can indeed, dearie."
Cora yawned theatrically, resting her head on her hand and glaring across the table at her daughter. Regina and Emma had caught everyone before they headed to bed and called a family meeting in the War Room to discuss what had gone on while everyone had been distracted by the ball. Snow and Charming were horrified at the thought that Liv and Jaye had engaged in a magical battle in their Castle without anyone noticing; not to mention that their Granddaughter seemed to have come off worst. Cora, apparently, was irritated that Liv had lost to Rumpelstiltskin's Granddaughter, but no one was buying that she was more annoyed than concerned.
"So, Regina, what are you proposing we do?" She asked, eyeing her daughter lazily. "We don't know where Rumpel is, we don't know what he's planning and all we do know is that a teenage girl remembers something that you apparently wiped from everyone else's minds and has magic."
"We have to protect ourselves." The younger woman announced, looking around the table carefully. "I can put up defensive barriers to keep him out but, as I don't know Jaye's magical signature I can't defend against her." Emma looked as though she was about to question her, but thought better of it. "I'd assume that she's only been aware of her abilities since Liv and Henry returned from Neverland, so her magic shouldn't be too strong, although with the Dark One as a teacher…"
"I think you should all stay here, for now at least." Snow suggested, making it sound more like an order. "We can have the guards on constant watch for her. She won't be able to get within the Castle grounds without them spotting her."
"Unless she disguises herself or uses magic." Cora reminded the younger woman.
Regina shook her head. "We can block all magic apart from ours being used within the Castle grounds. But I think Snow has a point; there's safety in numbers if we stay here and we… Emma… won't be worried about what's happening to you and Charming."
If Snow noticed the slip-up she didn't mention it. She did smile softly to herself, though, hearing Regina unconsciously admit that she cared about them. "Well that's settled then. Is there anything we can do to help with your magical defences? If not I'll go and speak to the Captain of my guard."
"Before you go…" Emma said quickly as her parents stood to leave. "On another, more cheerful note," she took a breath as a sudden urge to make the important announcement took over her, "Regina and I are engaged."
There was a stunned silence and surprised faces stared back at her, not least her fiancée who couldn't believe the blonde had chosen this moment to announce their engagement. They could have at least told Henry and Liv before telling everyone else. Their children would be far from happy they were the last ones to know about this.
"That's fantastic!" Snow was the first to recover, shooting from her space and dragging both women into a tight hug. "When's the wedding? Where are you going to have it? Here or at your Palace? You'll both wear dresses, right? We'll have to start on the guest list… it'll be much more difficult here than it would have been in Storybrooke because you'll have to be careful of all the different–"
"Mom!" Emma struggled to free herself from the woman's embrace. "We haven't really talked about details and stuff yet. Telling people was kinda the first big step…"
"Why?" Cora demanded, narrowing her eyes. "Having second thoughts already, Princess?"
"Of course not!" The blonde rolled at her eyes at the older woman.
"Mother!" Regina complained at the same moment. She reached out and squeezed her fiancée's hand tightly. "We just wanted to keep it as our secret for a while. But now I think maybe we should get married as soon as possible."
"Are you pregnant again?" Her mother's eyes dropped to the brunette's stomach and scrutinised her carefully, looking for any sign that her waistline was expanding.
Wafting a hand at her, Regina sighed. "No, Mother. But it's what we both want and it's not as though there's any reason to hold off for any length of time."
"Rumpelstiltskin won't be able to hurt any of us, Regina, you know that, right?" Snow asked gently, squeezing her hand. "You don't need to rush this because you're scared something might happen."
With a smile, the brunette nodded and turned to look at Emma. As their eyes met she felt perfectly at ease, whatever the imp might throw at them. "I know."
