Back in Storybrooke again, then. Hope you don't mind, but things are happening here as well, you know.
Present Time
Storybrooke, Maine
Rachel rubbed her eyes for the millionth time as she walked up the stone path leading from the road to the Mayor's white mansion. Sleep had not been easy to find that night; with Ella waking up and still having at least partial memories from their adventures in the Enchanted Forest sleeping had definitely not been a priority. Unfortunately Ella had not been able to remember everything they needed; in fact her memories only covered the first months they had spent in the Enchanted Forest, a time she had spent alone as she had ended up in a completely different place than the others. The memories she had retained after meeting everyone else were jumbled and misty, making it quite difficult to figure out what had happened during the time they had all spent together. Her meeting with Red Riding Hood had, however, happened before she had joined the rest of the group, which was why she had recognized her upon waking up.
Rachel knocked on the white door marked with the number 103. It did not take long before Regina opened it.
"Ah", the Mayor said and stepped aside, "please, come in."
Rachel stepped inside the mansion, for the second time in less than a day. While last time she had been anxious and frustrated, this time she was nervous.
"How are you feeling?" she asked, trying to get a conversation started. Regina looked amused.
"I am quite fine", she said and led the way to the same room they had talked in the previous day, "but you are not here to check up on me."
"After the showdown yesterday it felt like the best way to start the conversation", Rachel pointed out. "You were thrown through the face of a clock, after all."
Regina poured two glasses of a sparkling liquid and handed her one of them. After sipping it she determined that it was apple cider.
"Magic is an advantage when it comes to healing", the Mayor pointed out while sitting down in a couch. Rachel placed herself in the one on the other side of the low mahogany table.
"Speaking of which", Regina continued, "it would seem you and your friends do not have the higher ground when it comes to magic and Zelena."
"Well, we should have expected that", Rachel sighed. "The wands were placed in a highly accessible location and even though they were bound together by magic it was quite a simple spell. Deep inside I think we all suspected that something might be wrong, but we didn't want to believe in it."
Regina pursed her lips somewhat, before taking a sip of her own drink.
"The spell she cast on you and David seems to have been a temporary one", she eventually said. "There are no remains of it on either of you as it is right now."
"I don't trust that it will stay that way", Rachel pointed out. "If she can do it once, why not do it twice?"
"I see some of you are not as dumb as you look", Regina said with a hint of a smile.
"Toby is already freaking out about us not using our brains as we should, so I figured I might give it a go once more", Rachel responded and downed the remains of her drink. Regina finished hers as well and rose.
"Well, if you are still adamant on keeping David away from you this should help."
From a shelf she pulled down a silver chain bracelet. She held it in her hand for a few moments, concentrating on it and eventually it glowed purple. At that point the Mayor quickly fastened it around Rachel's right wrist. It felt unnaturally cold against her skin.
"This spell should keep David and you apart", Regina said, "but only for as long as you want to keep it up."
"Do I have to wear it constantly or..."
"No", Regina interrupted, "although I would recommend you do. It's been tuned to you and will work just as well even if you leave it behind somewhere. Possible attraction spells won't work against it, only your own free will. If you decide, on your own, that you do not want this spell to work anymore, simply speak his name in your head four times, with the fourth time being a reversal."
"So the final should be Divad?" Rachel asked with a frown. Regina nodded.
"Exactly."
After sending Rachel away, Regina proceeded to pack a small bag of ingredients. Since Zelena seemed to have displayed a certain interest in the Charmings' unborn baby she had promised to place a protection spell around their apartment, but this spell needed to be one that could not be broken by blood magic. It would require some experimenting, but Regina was certain that she would be able to get it done.
Upon reaching the small apartment she found the floor littered with the parts of a crib. Mary Margaret was sitting in a chair, looking less than amused, while David and Emma were trying to decipher the instructions. After a quick greeting, Regina placed her things on the table and took out the ingredients she believed would work best for this task, before walking back out through the door. The thinness of the wood allowed her to hear the continued conversation inside the apartment.
"I've seen enemy battle plans that were easier to decode than this", came David's voice.
"Let me see", Emma responded and the soft rustle of paper implied she had taken the instructions from her father. Regina poured the first of her ingredients into a small bottle before continuing to listen.
"All right", Emma said, "it says take screws E, with washers D, through bar C, using wrench F, which is..."
She paused.
"Not provided."
The annoyance caused Regina to smile. It would certainly be easier to assemble the crib using magic, or better yet; conjure an entirely finished crib out of thin air. She doubted the Charmings would allow that, though, and even though they were now on good terms she still enjoyed hearing them struggle through something that she felt she could have done with ease.
"Why don't you just call Marco?" Mary Margaret asked, referring to the counterpart of Gepetto. "He's really good at this sort of thing."
"No!" both Emma and David responded. Regina finished adding her ingredients and spun the bottle a couple of times to mix them together.
"Should we even be doing this?" Mary Margaret continued. "Ever since the showdown between Regina and the Wicked Witch we haven't seen Zelena or Gold at all; shouldn't we be focusing on her next move?"
Regina poured the mixed ingredients out in front of the threshold and saw how they glowed before sinking into the ground. It caused her to smile; the spell had been successful.
"We are", Emma responded while Regina rose and moved to walk back inside. "We just can't stop living."
"And this crib is a statement", David filled in, just as she entered the apartment. "We're not going to lose another baby."
"And thanks to me you won't", Regina said with a small smile as she closed the door. "I'm finished."
"So, did it work?" David asked and rose. "Were you able to put up a new protection spell?"
Regina removed her red gloves as she looked at him with a victorious smile.
"One that cannot be undone by blood magic. Which means Zelena won't be able to put her hands on that baby."
Mary Margaret let out a relieved sigh and smiled a genuine smile while Regina sat down on a chair by the table, busying herself with putting the ingredients she had not needed to use back in her bag.
"Any idea why she would want to?" Mary Margaret suddenly asked.
"The number of spells involving baby parts would surprise you", Regina responded and saw how Mary Margaret worriedly touched her swollen stomach. "That greenie is clearly one twisted witch, but as long as we're in here, we're safe."
"That's useless", Emma said from her position on the floor. "I think we need to stop playing defence and start taking the fight to her."
Regina felt as if the blonde had offended her and spun on the chair to face her.
"Did you not see how I barely outwitted her yesterday?" she asked. "She has magic, powerful magic."
"I have magic too", Emma responded. "You've seen me use it. I just can't always control it. But if we teamed up, if you... taught me..."
"Now why does this feel so familiar?" Regina asked, thinking back on their adventure in Neverland a year prior when she had tried to teach Emma how to control her magic but instead caused the blonde to lash out on her and vow to never use magic again.
"I'm ready this time", Emma now said. Regina chuckled.
"Okay", she said, not believing those words for a second, "but if we do this, we do this my way."
She rose and closed her bag, still smiling amusedly at the blonde.
"This isn't drinking stale coffee at a stakeout or whatever you did as a bail bondsperson. This..."
She placed her hand on top of her bag, which Emma knew to contain spell ingredients.
"This is a way of life", Regina continued. "You have to fully commit to it."
"Not a problem", Emma responded, her face set with determination. Mary Margaret rolled her eyes at her daughter, while David seemed to resign to whatever Emma's plan was. Regina knew herself that the blonde Saviour was stubborn, but she had at least believed that her parents would try to stop her from taking this path in life. When they did not she picked up her bag from the table.
"Meet me at my vault in an hour", she said, receiving a nod in response from Emma before she walked out through the door.
So Ella's remembering bits and pieces of the missing year, Rachel's decided to use a charm to keep David away from her and Regina's going to teach Emma magic. Good start of the day!