The leadership of the town of Storybrooke watched in disgust as their Savior and Warrior each took a piece of pizza, covered it in fries, then barbeque sauce, then another slice of pizza making one of the most disgusting sandwiches Regina had ever seen.
Snow and David both tried to ignore the pair by focusing on official business. They kept side-glancing at each other, not sure if they should address Emma's sloppiness or ignore it for the moment.
They watched as Emma dropped a fry from the middle of her pizza sandwich down the middle of her shirt, simply shrugging.
"Guess that one's for later!" She said.
"Oh, you can't conjure French fry boobs, oh mighty Savior?" Mulan teased, looking just as sloppy.
"Hey! You two! Tinkerbell is in trouble. Pull it together. Ugh." Ruby was with the team, since she had picked up on Cupid and Tinkerbell's scent. Once she had gathered Snow, David, and Regina, they went to check on Cupid's cell.
What they found were two knocked out guards and a note. The note from Tinkerbell was an apology letter to the royals, that she knew Cupid had done some terrible things, but she needed to give herself a chance for love. The two were running away together.
"Where should we start? Do you think they ran off in this world, or hopped realms? The note could be a fake. Tinkerbell could have been kidnapped." David started. They had to track the pair down immediately. Who knows if Cupid had the power to brainwash someone? This someone was their Mayor. She was not, by any means, someone they wanted to lose.
"I highly doubt it. The note sounds like Tinkerbell. I think she didn't tell us where they were running off to on purpose." Regina said, both irritated at the trouble caused by Tinkerbell and at her girlfriend's less than responsible appearance.
Emma and Mulan weren't paying attention at all. They had just begun to play French-fry swordfight, clearly not caring what kind of a mess they made.
"Emma! Mulan! We are having a meeting!" Regina said seriously while banging the table with her hand. "Do you not understand what is occurring here? This is not about two people running away for love. The Mayor untied a captive of war, facilitated in his escape, and left WITH him." Regina watched as Emma's French-fry vampire teeth fell out of her mouth with a serious expression.
"Emma, this is Tinkerbell. Our darling idiot friend, our town mayor, who has now committed treason. Snow, dear, does treason fall under old-world laws or new under our charter?" Regina asked. Snow had handled a lot of the administrative crossover in blending Enchanted Forest and United States traditions, especially from a legal perspective.
"You're not being serious. We're going to treat Tinkerbell, our Tinkerbell, like any other common criminal?" Snow said looking devastated.
"Snow, answer the question. Old world laws or new." Regina asked. The Queen pretty much had her answer by the fact that Snow didn't want to give her the information.
"Old." Snow admitted with defeat.
"I'm sorry, but why is this so terrible? What's the old world punishment for treason?" Emma asked, sobering up after Regina had just yelled at her in front of the whole room.
"Imprisonment. The generally accepted timeframe is three to five years, unless the criminal not only acted with treason, but espionage. If Tinkerbell gave away any of our tactical information, anything that would make us or Wonderland vulnerable to Cupid's forces…" Regina trailed off.
"That's not what's happening, Regina. She ran away for love. What if she really loves him?" Snow said hopefully, but with a face that indicated she had already abandoned hope. Tinkerbell had done this to herself, instead of letting the royals handle it. As Mayor, Tinkerbell didn't even have the authority to speak to an inter-realm war criminal. The most she could do was pardon a parking ticket.
"Well I hope it was worth it for her, because once we find her, Cupid will be in prison for life for his second escape, and Tinkerbell will have to stand trial. She can kiss her job goodbye." Regina said.
"That's a good question…who's the Mayor when Tinkerbell's not here?" Mulan asked.
The members of the royal family, Ruby, and Mulan all looked at each other. It occurred to them at that moment that nobody actually knew who was supposed to step in for the Mayor.
"Henry, now tell me: which is the most common type of Trial by Battle? It's really the only one we still allow for." Belle asked, quizzing Henry over the stacks of books they had spent the afternoon going over.
"How about Trial by Omission? Belle, can you please tell me why I was pulled out of school to learn all of this? Why isn't anyone telling me anything? I don't care about the Fairytale Land legal system. I'm not dueling anybody anytime soon."
"Henry, you know that's a question for your mothers. My job is to make sure you know this. You might not be dueling anyone, but one day you're going to have to referee a duel. You're a prince."
Henry groaned. At first, he was excited when Regina had showed up at the High School, informing them that Henry would be pulled out early four out of five days a week. Poor prince Henry thought that meant he was done with school on those half days, not that he would just hop into more school with Belle at the University.
"I get it. I'm a prince. One day I might be king. Shouldn't I be outside with Emma learning to shoot things?"
"In time, I'm sure you will. Being a prince isn't just fighting, Henry. It's knowing the justice system of your land and ensuring that justice is upheld. You have a responsibility to your people Everyone is trusting that you have their best interests at heart."
He thought that over for a moment. He had only been thinking of his future leadership in terms of leading into battle, not what leadership meant during times of peace.
Henry sighed before giving his answer.
"The duel system for Trial by Battle is antiquated. It is predicated on the notion that only the innocent can win, which has been disproven by the amount of times historically that villains were able to outsmart their adversaries. A modern duel is enacted by lawyers in the court system."
Belle smiled at him. This kid really was too smart for his own good. And he had just made a good case. The librarian thought that Henry's brains would make him a superb leader someday.
"When you're king, Henry, you can abolish legal dueling. But for now, some of your citizens prefer to settle things the old-fashioned way, and your family has chosen to allow it. Now let's move on to the graded Enchanted Forest tax system."
Ugh. Henry internally cringed. I got pulled out of biology to study tax law?
"I can't believe we're pulling him out of school. Regina, he has finals next week. We can't have him blowing them now."
"Emma, he's severely behind in training for a prince. And fourteen was the age of majority in Fairytale Land. We need to see just how much of what he knows. Here. I've made an assessment checklist." Regina handed a piece of paper over to Emma.
The Savior scanned the list, noticing separate sections for hand-to-hand combat, swordsmanship, archery, modern shooting and weaponry, military tactics, the Enchanted Forest legal system, Fairytale history and folklore, Battle tactics, and finally Magic.
Magic.
"Regina, he doesn't know any magic. And he also doesn't know how to shoot a gun, since you won't let me take him to the shooting ranges yet to start teaching him. You thought he was too young."
"He is. By Storybrooke standards. But if he's joining Elite Tactical as a royal, he's going to need accelerated training. Might I remind you that we will be having a vacancy within the month? I don't like our baby boy holding weapon anymore than you do, Emma, but there's no more running from it."
Emma felt anxious about the whole situation. Snow and David were running against each other for Mayor. They all knew that meant that whoever won had to resign from Elite Tactical, as one could not serve on the royal council and a city council simultaneously. As royals, of course their next-of-kin would take any openings through bloodline.
"Regina, I can't teach him all of this within a thirty day election period."
"I'm not suggesting you try, either. This is just to see where we're starting with him. We know he can fight from working with Mulan, we've seen him swordfight, he does archery with Snow and David. I'm going to recant my earlier position on the guns and let you start teaching him modern weapons. Slowly. And I want him in protective gear at all times."
"And I take it that means you're teaching him magic? Regina, we discussed this a long time ago. We didn't want him going anywhere near magic."
"We didn't take into account long ago that one day he would need it, and that he would be sitting on a council with us before finishing High School."
Regina took out the sash, the medals, the hat, and the rest of the royal uniform they were going to show Henry, who had no idea why their first stop after pulling him out of school was to a tailor for measurements by three former mice. They were nice enough, discounting the need to stop every ten minutes for a cheese break.
The University's graduation ceremony was in a couple of weeks. This is where, provided they could cram in enough training, Henry would be knighted and instated as a royal authority to join the council once Snow or David became mayor and resigned.
Regina took out the medals he would be awarded, and started polishing the already sparkling pieces.
"Are you still mad at me for being drunk last night? Because that's not just what I do every time I'm not here. We just got a little carried away." Emma asked, a little afraid of the answer.
"No, Emma, I understand that you're not a wino." Regina still didn't look up at Emma, only polishing harder.
Regina didn't know how to explain why she was so tense. The combination of Tinkerbell yet again causing them trouble, the promotion of Henry to a position where he could be making war decisions at a very young age, the idea that she wanted Emma to live with her and Henry together like a real Fairytale Land royal family was all spinning around in her head. Still, Emma hadn't done anything to her. She knew she shouldn't be short with her.
She stopped polishing, and went over to give Emma a hug. Emma received the Queen with open arms, feeling how tense she was. She felt Regina rest her chin on her shoulder while Emma soothingly ran her hands over her Queen's back, giving her little kisses on the side of her head. After a minute, the Queen softened.
"One more thing that I wanted to talk to you about before making any decisions." Regina started, pulling back and waiting for Emma to nod. "I think we should pull Henry out of the Enchanted Forest summer camp, and have him start summer classes at the University. If he's going to start his princely duties, he has to catch up."
"Okay. He's probably not going to be happy. He loves that camp. But…" Emma trailed off. This was not only the moment where they were deciding to rip their teenager away from his friends and into adulthood, but where Emma had to start thinking of herself as a princess, not just the partner of the Queen.
"It's for the kingdom." Emma finished, pulling Regina back into her arms.
Snow was putting up her campaign flyer at the bulletin board at the park. She knew her former students all had parents that loved her and took their kids to the swings.
This was her battleground. David would never be able to compete with a beloved schoolteacher.
"Snow, what the heck is this?!" David said, coming from around the corner and holding a flyer from the lightpost.
"Don't vote for David?!" He said, holding up the flyer with a caricature of him herding sheep.
"David, you were a shepherd, I was a princess. This isn't personal, it's about job qualifications." Snow stated solidly.
"'Don't vote for David' is your slogan?" David couldn't believe it. "And I'm not supposed to take this personally?"
David stormed off in disbelief. If Snow wanted a real campaign, he could do that. He knew he was going to have to one-up Snow's in with the soccer moms and dads with a celebrity endorsement.
Over at Emma's Mulan was having quite the heated conversation with Belle on the phone.
"Belle, just come over! It's not any different from you coming over my apartment."
"It is different, Mulan. You're a houseguest. I can't come over for a date at someone else's house. It would make me feel strange." Belle had a nightmare image in her head of things getting heated between her and the Warrior, and having Emma or Regina walk in and interrupt it.
"It is different. Emma and I talked about it. I'm giving her rent, since the repairs are going to take awhile. I'm officially a roommate. I can have friends over, just like she can, and people who are more than friends. It's fine."
"It's not fine, it's weird. Why can't you just come over here?" Belle asked. She had noticed that Mulan rarely came over to her house, they always hung out either in Mulan's apartment, or somewhere around town.
Mulan paused. She did not want to talk about this.
"…I'm already in my pajamas." It wasn't a lie, it just wasn't a real reason.
"Mulan, talk to me. You always do this. When something upsets you, you just shut down and don't talk about it. Newsflash, soldier! Things don't just go away because you refuse to address them!"
"It's not a big deal." It was a big deal, which is why Mulan was avoiding it. She didn't want to tell Belle that it creeped her out to hang out in a house that the Scholar used to share with Rumple, and with the pictures of the two of them still hanging around the common rooms.
"My girlfriend never wants to come over and see me? That's not a big deal?" Belle was starting to whine.
"I do like coming over to see you. I just don't want to drive all the way over there tonight. I'm really tired and already settled in." Mulan wasn't going to make this argument any worse. If Belle were really ready to start clearing away Rumple's belongings and cut it down to a reasonable sentimental value based limit on the items, it would have happened without Mulan prompting it.
"Fine then. I guess my place just isn't exciting enough anymore. I'll talk to you tomorrow." Belle snapped.
"Hey. Belle – I love you. There's nothing going on here." Mulan said, hoping she wasn't stirring up more trouble than just telling Belle the problem.
"I love you too, I'm just not very happy at the moment." Belle hung up.
Mulan would drive across town any night of the week if Emma asked her to. All Emma had to do was text Mulan "Beer" and a time, and that's when Mulan showed up. How was Belle supposed to compete with that?
Maybe she couldn't. But she knew someone who could.
Cupid and Tink had finally finished clearing out Tink's old house in Neverland. How the two of them got past the Portal Authority without arousing suspicion was beyond her, but they weren't going to question it.
They chose to elope to Neverland because nobody there knew that Cupid was being hunted in other realms, being unaligned between ValentineLand and Storybrooke. They would already have a place to stay that was Tink's, and Tinkerbell knew the island.
Neverland would have plenty of magic for both of them, with plenty of dust for Tink, and magical metals and crystals for Cupid's arrows. Most importantly, they would never be found there. There was no way any of the Storybrooke royals would ever want to travel there ever again. Tinkerbell knew that meant leaving behind all of her friends, but she was an outlaw now. On the run. What choice did they have?
Henry came home to both of his mothers in the kitchen with serious expressions. His brain was just about fried after an afternoon of tax exemptions and penal codes. He tossed his backpack by the shoes by the doorway, not knowing if he should go in and see them or try to scurrying away upstairs.
Unfortunately for Henry, they had heard the door.
"Henry! In here!" He heard Emma yell. Scurrying away was no longer an option.
Henry walked into the kitchen, and watched Emma nod at Regina. Neither of them said a word, before leading Henry into the dining room. He saw the table was set, with dinner ready.
They were using the fancy dishes. The china that his mother usually kept locked away. In fact, she kept those dishes so locked up that it was the only reason they weren't broken while his parents were on vacation. He knew they came over with Regina from Fairytale Land all those years ago. There were also candles on the table.
He was alerted immediately that something was going on. He looked at his mothers, and then noticed the clothing hanging on the wall.
It was a blue royal jacket, a fairly complicated looking sash system, with medals, pants, and a hat.
"Is someone else coming over?" Henry asked, looking at the royal uniform.
"Nope. Just us. Have a seat, Henry. We have some things we need to talk about." Emma said.
Emma wasn't sure if she should be excited, proud of her son for starting his career as a prince, or terrified. This was the teenager who spent all of last weekend playing video games and riding bikes with his girlfriend. Next week, he would be fitted for armor. The three of them sat at the table.
"Henry, you are aware that you're a prince. The way that royalty works is that your position is activated when there's an opening." Regina started, laying out as much information for him as possible. She was hoping that his short time with the Lost Boys weren't going to turn this into a round of "I won't grow up!"
"Right. But you're my parents, and you're both here. How is there an opening?" Henry asked, still eyeing the uniform. It didn't take him long to figure out that was why he was at the tailor shop.
"Your grandparents are running for Mayor. When one of them gets it, they have to leave the Royal Elite Tactical council. When there's an opening on a royal council, it's filled with a member of the royal bloodline, not by election." Regina continued.
Henry's eyes went wide.
"You're telling me I'm going to be on the Royal council? The Elite Tactical Unit?"
"Yes." Emma said carefully. "After we have a mayor, your career as a Prince will begin. You can do this Henry. I didn't think I could be leader, but I'm learning along the way. And there's a whole council of people to make decisions with. Your Mom here knows just about everything about anything. She's going to work with you. And I am too. We can do this, together."
"That's why I'm not staying in school all day anymore." Henry said in amazement.
"Correct. We need you learning things about being a prince more than you need to know algebra." Regina said.
"Is that why I'm training with Mulan tomorrow?" Henry asked.
"Yes. You need to be at sophomore level for hand-to-hand combat."
Henry still hadn't taken his eyes off of his royal uniform. He saw it had a sword with it. A real sword, not a dull one for fencing competitions.
"That's yours, Henry. It's for your installation. For you to take your seat at the council there's a ceremony we have to do. Henry, I know this is a lot to take in. Just be honest with us. Is it overwhelming?" Regina asked.
"It's—I'm just…it's- THIS IS SO COOL!" Henry said in excitement, getting up to see his uniform.
An hour later, they still had barely gotten to dinner, as Henry's excitement was still going strong. It was finally real. He would be a knight, and a prince. He had the threads to prove it. He wondered if he was getting a crown.
The doorbell shook them all out of their excitement. Emma and Regina were relieved that their son was more than happy to take on his duties, and were happily answering his questions about said duties until Regina got up to answer the door.
"David. Come in. Care to join us for dinner? I can grab an extra plate." Regina said, pulling her partner's father into the house.
"I would actually love that, Regina. Thanks. I don't think Snow and I will be dining together anytime soon. I'm hoping that Emma's here."
"She is. Head right into the dining room. We just showed Henry his uniform. He's on board with serving on the council." David hadn't see Regina this happy in quite awhile.
David had come over with the intention of getting Emma's endorsement for his campaign, but now was thinking that Regina's wouldn't hurt either. Snow might be getting the votes of everyone with a child between the ages of eight and twelve, so that meant he was going to shoot for students of voting age and parents of teenagers in school with Henry.
"Grandpa! Check out the new suit!" Henry said still excited.
"Nice! It's a uniform though, Henry. Not just a suit. Nobody else in all the realms will have the same one as you. They're each made individually by hand. Hi sweetie." David leaned over to give Emma a kiss on the cheek before taking the seat next to her.
"Hi Dad." Regina set David's place, serving him up some of the food before sitting across from them.
"Well, Henry. I hope you eat up. In a couple of days, you and I will be taking your sword fighting to the next level."
"Yeah! With real swords?" He asked hopefully. David looked up at Regina. She nodded.
"Real swords, buddy. Sharp ones." Henry looked like he had just been given every present he could ever have asked for.
"Emma, Regina, I came over to ask for some help." David said to the women.
"Sure, David. What's on your mind?" Regina asked.
"I need your endorsement. For my campaign against Snow."
"Done." Regina answered.
"Hey! Wait a minute! David, you want me to endorse you over my mother? I'd prefer to stay out of this." Emma said.
David pulled one of Snow's flyers out of his pocket and unfolded it.
"She's doing a smear campaign. I'm too 'common' and she's implying I'm unintelligent because I was raised on a farm. Which I think is exactly what qualifies me to be the mayor, since we had to account for our own finances, we couldn't just pay someone in a palace to do it for us."
"Whoa. Dad. This is not cool." Emma said, passing the flyer over to Regina.
"The funny thing is, I didn't know we were having a real campaign. I thought we were just going to submit our names and let the people decide. You're mothers out at the playground right now kissing babies and making campaign promises."
Emma was shocked. Did her mother expect to continue to live in the same house as her father while running an active campaign against him?
"I just need to take a picture with you two to even the playing field." David said.
"Just a picture?" Emma asked.
"That's all. Just a photo, and your consent for me to tell the students that I have your endorsement."
"What makes you think a picture with me is going to be a defining factor in the first place?" Emma asked. It was no secret that everyone loved Snow White, probably even more so than David.
"Haven't you noticed every young woman between the ages of 18 and 22 trying to be you?" David asked.
"The Swanists." Regina answered, rolling her eyes.
"Well, Prince Henry? What do you say to a picture with your Grand Dad? Here." David started taking off his jacket. "You can even wear my clothes. You'll look incredible."
"I'm afraid that as a member of the royal Tactical council, I cannot endorse or dismiss an election candidate. It would be a conflict of interest." Henry stated, sitting up straight.
Okay, Readers - I like "FrenchWarrior" so far for Mulan and Belle. That's what I'm going with! Sorry if this has mistakes, but mama Rogue is a bit tipsy this evening, but still trying to get a chapter up!