Thank you, My Doves, for your wonderful words of encouragement! I needed them for the last push into the home stretch. I'm estimating 1-3 more chapters and perhaps an epilogue.
Songs: Raise Your Glass by P!nk, Over the Hills and Far Away by Nightwish
Regina strolled with Emma through the hospital towards Amelia's room. She'd insisted on bring the Ipod deck, and Regina found herself insatiably curious as to how Emma handled the fact that people now looked upon her in fear as they had The Evil Queen once upon a time. Amelia's face brightened when Emma rounded the corner. Addison lowered her head and retreated towards the door, allowing Emma her spot.
"For your viewing pleasure, one frakkin' adorable fruit of my loins," Emma announced and set Annabel's car seat on the wheeled table at her side. Amelia smiled and accepted the kiss pressed to her cheek happily.
"I was wondering when you'd get that magic stick out of your ass," Amelia joked, grateful for something other than condolences and grim expressions. She was a freaking neurosurgeon after all, she knew how serious her condition was and how quickly it all crumbled with one wrong move.
"How are you feeling, Amelia?" Regina asked with narrowed eyes at her lover as she set up the music player, hips already moving to an unheard beat. Having already stripped her winter gear, she looked funny in Ruby's almost black jeans and dark blue-green tank top.
"I'm, uh… what is she doing?" Amelia asked distractedly, much more interested in Emma's antics than answering the same question for the millionth time. She fucking hurt. Her back was broken. She had no pain killers. How the hell did they think she felt? Like shit. Shit that's been set on fire and stomped.
Regina withheld comment, not quite sure what Emma had planned. She glanced towards the door where a small crowd of staff had gathered. Did they expect Emma to use magic or jump Amelia again or run around with flaming hair while listening to Bach? The idiocy of the general populace never ceased to amaze her. Emma tossed her head back and forth as the same female rock star that woke them a few hours ago filled the room. Emma cranked the volume to a highly inappropriate level, and Amelia whooped, pumping her arms in the arm with much less enthusiasm than Emma. Regina claimed a seat and watched the show. It happened no matter how much she berated Emma, so she decided to enjoy it.
Emma sang the lyrics terribly and bounced around, drawing Regina attention lower than her whipping hair. Unfortunately, - or fortunately, depending on who you were - none of their bras fit Emma. She'd merely shrugged and said she didn't mind going without. Regina almost regretted that decision… almost.
Emma pointed at Amelia, locked gazes, and they both shouted the next line, "Why so serious?"
Amelia laughed for the first time since breaking her back as Emma flailed and waved her hands and tossed her head back and forth and jumped up and down as she yelled the lyrics. Regina raised an eyebrow at the mixed expressions outside the door and then resumed staring at Emma's bouncing breasts and immature abandon. She understood what she proved with the stunt. She owned everything she'd done in the eyes of the public, even if she felt shame and guilt and grief. Regina fell in love with her all over again.
She pointed the forefingers of both hands at Amelia and jerked her hips, shoulders, and head in time with the music. "Dirty little freaks!"
Amelia answered her, "So raise your glass if you are wrong in all the right ways. All my underdogs, we will never be, never be anything but loud and nitty gritty, dirty little freaks!"
A fourth body plowed into the room and joined Emma. It took a moment to recognize Lauren in black pumps, a skirt and blouse with makeup and perfectly fixed hair. Well, perfect until she copied Emma's silliness. Eva leaned against the door in a pristine pant suit and unbuttoned grey pea coat and watched her lover with appreciative and lovesick eyes. Amelia laughed harder and then winced with a wide smile plastered on her face.
The song ended, leaving a flushed and panting Emma grinning like a fool and tugging at tangled blonde hair. Regina smiled, uncaring what anyone thought of her or Emma in that moment. Emma's happiness made the shenanigans acceptable. Tears bit at her throat, and she swallowed them. Emma was coming home.
Her cell phone blared from her pocket, and Lauren turned down the music as Emma surprised them all by answering it.
"Hey Jane," she greeted and flopped into the chair by Amelia's bed. The doctor smiled when brown riding boots crossed at the ankle beside hip.
"Of course Felicia is flipping out. Look, I'm fine. Regina is fine. Our children are fine." She paused, listened, grinned wickedly. "What have I been doing? Well, I got a heart transplant, taught myself how to do magic, slept with another woman, participated in some wicked torture meant to break my soul, found out my daughter can use magic, killed the Wicked Witch of the West, and had bacon and chocolate chip cookies for breakfast." Emma laughed at something Jane said.
"Yes, in other words, another normal month in the life of Emma Swan. Look, I'm actually visiting a friend right now, but I wanted to let you know that everything is fine. You guys can stop calling and texting every ten minutes." Emma's face softened at something Jane said.
"Thanks, Jane. Talk to you soon." She ended the call and glanced around at the expectant eyes of her friends and family.
"The lack of bra was too much, wasn't it?" She deadpanned, not really wanting to delve into the darker reasons behind her behavior or the fact that she'd been ignoring her friends in Salem and Boston. Screw propriety. Their shit storm never ended, so why worry what anyone else thought? She meant to cheer Amelia up and succeeded. They undoubtedly came crying to them when catastrophe struck anyway.
Amelia snorted, "I don't think Regina's blushing cheeks minded."
Regina cleared her throat and stood, brushing imaginary wrinkles from the black dress reinstated from her vault. It was one of the more understated outfits she'd worn as queen, elegant and luscious rather than bitchy and empowering. It curved in a large dip just above her chest, or it did until her breasts grew. Now it presented her abundance of cleavage, accentuated defined collarbones, hugged her curves, and trailed the ground behind her with a small train. Emma struggled with the clasps as she helped her into it before Regina magically altered the size to accommodate her larger figure.
She felt ridiculous and self-conscious in the over-the-top get up until Emma ran her hands over the material and worshipped her neck and chest with kisses as her hands explored every single curvaceous centimeter of the dress with her inside of it. Now she felt sexy and in control and desired and beautiful. Emma was still Emma, no matter whose heart rested in her chest. It gave her strength to send her beloved Calvary Captain into the afterlife.
Lauren retreated to Eva's side, towering over the short surgeon in her heels, and accepted Eva's head against her chest as loving arms encircled her waist. Now that their relationship had been revealed, they simply embraced it without further explanation to the general public. They were happy, and screw the rest. They stepped back as one when a crowd of people trouped into Amelia's room. Katy, Snow, David, Granny, Henry, Belle, Ruby and Alex marched -or in David's case, rolled in his wheel chair - around the bed. Emma eyed the sudden crowd wearily and then retreated to Regina's side.
Emma stiffened when a muscular young woman with freckles, wind burned cheeks, and frizzy, blonde-brown hair pulled into a haphazard pony tail at the nape of her neck stepped forward and offered The Queen's salute to the couple. No one else appeared concerned or on high alert, so Emma withheld any defensive gestures and glanced between her lover and the girl she failed to recognize. "And who the hell are you?" She wrapped on arm around Regina's back and held her ribs with the other hand as if ready to take Regina to the ground in the event of a sudden attack.
Regina rubbed her forearm soothingly. "Emma, this is Katy, Captain's niece. She's been staying with Snow and David." She brushed tangled blonde hair from her lover's face as she spoke, and Emma relaxed as the potentiality of a threat passed.
"Stop that, Kid," Emma chided the girl. "The bowing stuff is creepy."
Katy raised her head, brazen defiance in her eyes. "The eloquence of The Queen's Savior is widely known. I'm pleased to finally meet her."
Emma's head jerked back at the deep and clear voice booming from budding Amazon warrior. Had she just been insulted or complimented? Before she responded, Katy bowed her head to Regina again. "The allotted mourning period has passed. I am prepared to assume the duties of Captain Marion Katherick as The Queen's servant as is the birthright and obligation as the only living blood relation."
Everyone shifted uncomfortably. Captain clearly raised the girl and educated her in ways of the old world. When a soldier fell, it was the responsibility of the family to provide a replacement. 13 years of conditioning wasn't undone in three short years in Storybrooke, especially not for a child. No wonder she resisted Snow's offer to house her until better arrangements were made. Her aunt fought in the war against Snow and David, hence the refusal until Regina ordered it. Regina pulled out of Emma's protective arms and cupped the girl's face with both hands.
"Katy, your sacrifice is honorable, but we don't live in that world anymore. I'm not The Queen here. I'm just Regina and prefer if you address me as such. You are, however, under my care now." She glanced between the three other adults living in her house and Henry who beamed up at her with pride. His expression solidified her decision.
"You're ours now, Katy. I know you are uncomfortable at Snow and David's, and though many would happily take you in, I cannot bare the thought of you living in a home where you are misunderstood and unaccepted." Regina smiled as the girl's eyes softened. She was still just a child, no matter how much bluster and bravado and clever insults at Emma she flung around. She was scared like any other 16-year-old orphan.
Katy shook her head, not yet believing her offer. "You closest guard fill your home. I cannot impose nor do I expect them to upturn their lives on my behalf."
Regina smiled. She was Captain in miniature form. "They'll learn to love it. Ruby's parents abandoned her. She was raised by her grandmother. Belle's family shunned her. Emma grew up an orphan, without a family. And my mother turned me into The Evil Queen. We understand what it means to be alone, and you, my dear, are not."
The girl's chin quivered, and she dropped her eyes as she steeled her features. "Would Aunt Marion have wanted this, Your Maje… Regina?" Her voice softened with her desire to belong somewhere again. The entire room blinked back or wiped at tears, even Emma.
It was The Savior surprisingly who stepped forward and answered the girl's question. "I think she didn't want you to be alone. That's why she raised you. If it helps you to look at it this way, think of it as our final thank you to Captain. She gave her life in our fight. We owe her." Emma spoke her language. She wasn't feeling particularly loving or compassionate as of late, but she understood honor and respect and duty. Katy used them as a shield right now to mask her grief and fear of her uncertain future.
Katy's spine straightened, and she nodded once at the blonde woman who understood her. "If I can further honor my aunt by my actions, I shall do so." One by one, she met the gaze of her four heroes. "I want to be useful. I will gladly assist at Commander French's library or Brigadier Lucas' diner. I am skilled as a warrior. I took my first life at age 12. I would be useful as a Sheriff's Deputy."
Emma grinned at the girl while everyone else glanced around at each other with shocked and confused expressions, unsure how to respond. Emma stepped up once more.
"Hey Tiny Cap, we can work out the details later once we get you moved in and figure out where to put everyone."
Henry apparently agreed because he skipped forward and tucked himself under Katy's arm. "I was tired of being the oldest kid. You're doing me a huge favor." His words tugged a smile to his mothers' lips. Whatever Granny was doing for the boy seemed to be working. He wasn't quite their Henry, but he was healing. Perhaps he simply needed the undivided attention of an adult who cared deeply for him, something he figured out long before they had.
Katy stared down at the boy with a blank expression. "I don't hug," she sniped and pulled her arm away. Henry reclaimed it and grinned like the cheeky little monkey they all knew and adored. There he was. Katy glared at the boy, snarled, and stalked out the door. Henry followed. This was going to be interesting.
"We got it," Snow offered and pushed David after the teens.
Ruby rubbed her face and groaned, "Want to reconsider buying that house now?" Belle snorted.
"Not on your life, Wolf." She poked her lover in the ribs and then turned to Regina. "We need to go or we'll be late." She scooped up her daughter and exited. Ruby shoved her hands into the front pockets of her slacks and followed beside Granny, resigned to her fate of eight people under the same roof, two of them teenagers.
Regina squeezed Amelia's hand and then kissed her daughter's forehead. Emma accepted the velvet clad body into her hands and hummed at the sensation. Regina pressed a chaste kiss to her lips and tangled her fingers into wild blonde hair. "I should be back in an hour or two. It's a long ceremony, and I'm certain I'll have to rely on Belle's big brain to remember all the prayers."
"I'm fine here. I got my order from your milk factory for Annabel. She'll be fine, and Amelia is the only person who hasn't looked at me like I'm nuts for blasting Pink, so I'll be fine." Emma kept the mood light, despite the heaviness of the day.
A smirk pulled at Regina's lips. "Please refrain from terrorizing the hospital staff further. You gave them quite a scare when you threatened them with a fireball." She chuckled and kissed Emma again. The confident hands rubbing her waist and the hint of chocolate and cinnamon on her tongue almost made Regina call the whole damn thing off. She needed Emma's touch, yearned for just one more second.
Eva cleared her throat. "I've seen her medical file. Miss Swan has already had her tonsils out." Regina grumbled at the interruption and pressed her forehead to her lover's.
"See you soon," Emma assured, wondering if Regina's hesitance spawned from a miniscule, unconscious fear in the back of her mind that she'd disappear again if left alone. "I'll be right here when you get back."
Regina nodded, pecked her lips one more time, and followed Lauren and Eva from the room. Emma slumped into the chair at Amelia's side and pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes.
"They're too much to handle while going through magic withdrawal, aren't they?" Amelia tossed out casually. Emma answered with a long sigh puffed through her lips.
Amelia allowed the silence to linger. She had another six hours at least for her nerve blocker, but she'd not receive another until 24 hours after this one wore off. She was neurosurgeon after all. She understood the risks of poking nerves too often. Dr. Grey seemed knowledgeable enough, and she'd studied her own scans and agreed with her assessments and plans. But she had enough time for Emma to compose herself.
After ten minutes of quiet, Amelia turned on the television as a distraction. She grinned as the front end of an episode of "Supernatural" filled the screen. When the credits rolled and the "next time" teaser started, Emma spoke, "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you better."
"Emma," Amelia chided her with only the utterance of her name and extended her hand. "I knew the risks. I'd do it again even if I knew how it ended."
Emma accepted her offer and twined their fingers together. Silence blanketed the room. The surgical floor was always quiet, except when Emma fried bitches and blared music, apparently. Amelia squeezed her hand after a few minutes, gently pulling her back to reality.
"I'm not mad, Emma. I just worried that the Dark Dick is going to have to heal me. I know Ruby controls him now, as she should, but the thought of his hands on me turns my stomach." She touched the mentioned area, bringing corporeal truth to her statement. "I'm guessing Belle felt the same way if her arm is still in a cast."
Emma grunted. "I'm waiting for that girl to explode." Like the rest of them, Belle held everything inside. Usually, she dealt with it in her own time and in her own way, but Emma recognized denial when she saw it.
Amelia nodded. "She has no business in the magical world, just like me. What about you, Savior? How close to combustion did you come?"
"Heh, I think I might still be in danger of combusting," Emma answered honestly. "They all want something from me. Regina is being really patient, surprisingly so, actually. Well, you saw her. The old Regina would have ripped your spine out and beat you with it instead of breaking it for taking me so far in. I almost wish she'd lose it and yell and tell me exactly what she wants so I know how to act around her." Emma waved her free hand in frustration and then dropped it to her thigh within Ruby's jeans in defeat.
Amelia scoffed and shook her head against her pillow in disbelief. "You're an idiot." Emma glared in confusion and an anger only Amelia seemed capable of inspiring.
Amelia rolled her eyes and with a deep breath explained, "She's giving you the freedom to choose between her and the magic, just like you gave her. So, what's it going to be, idiot? Are you going to keep wallowing in your anger or are you going to let it go and make sweet, sweet love to the woman who gave you a child?"
Emma groaned and slouched further into the chair. "Can I just go to Mexico and decide later?" Amelia was right, but one spoke of the task far more easily than one committed to it.
"Can I come?" The injured woman begged, latching onto Emma's need to mull her question to death before coming to a conclusion.
"Sure!" Emma laughed. "Gotta keep up appearances of our sordid affair."
A faint boom from a distance brought Emma to her feet. Amelia held her hand tightly and brushed a soothing thumb over her spooked friend's. "Hey, it's probably just the pyre being lit."
Emma pulled free of her hand anyway and moved to the window. Her heart pounded, adrenaline preparing her body for fight. One steady finger lifted the closed blinds. Dark green magic shot straight into the sky away from town. A gigantic figure smashed into the cannery, sending splinters and hunks of beams flying. Emma grabbed the blinds and ripped them down.
"What the hell is that?" She pointed out the window.
"Ogre!" Belle's terrified voice answered her question.
Emma whipped around to find Alex, David, Ruby, Henry, Katy and Granny touching Belle's body. The witch stumbled forward and grabbed Emma's shoulders. "The time portal didn't close. When Regina summoned enough magic to set the whole ship on fire, it must have activated it somehow. I don't know the answers because none of it makes sense! It's open. We have to close it!"
"Zelena was her sister. They were connected through their blood. That's why the large dose of power finished opening it," Ruby supplied with a shaking voice.
Emma grabbed Belle's face in both hands. "Belle, connect with me like you did Regina. I can't… you can tap the magic without going insane. You just have to let go, right?" Belle nodded and slammed their lips together. Her body shuddered as they connected. Regina's darkness and Emma's believer blood slipped into her veins, and she pulled back with crackling violet eyes.
"Ruby?" Belle turned to her lover.
"Just go. If they come close to the hospital, Katy and I will get the kids to safety." She smashed their lips together. Ruby was scared. Really truly, in her bones terrified. It was bad. "I love you," she whined around tightness in her throat, shaking Emma to her core. It was really bad.
"I love you, too," Belle whispered, snagged Rumpelstiltskin's dagger from the sheath with fumbling fingers partly covered in a cast, and then they came apart as the librarian teleported them to the barn.
"How do we close it?" Emma whispered and watch another group of the huge, ugly creatures tear into the woods. Belle covered her face, clearly as scared as her lover.
"I don't know. I thought it was over. I didn't research the spell in depth. Maybe…" She raised her head with determined eyes. "The barrier spell I used to keep Pan's people out of Storybrooke. We can stop the influx even if we can't close it for the moment, just… grit your teeth and bear it. It requires a lot of magic. Luckily, I won't have to stay connected to it since this is heart magic, which means I will…" A sharp crack stopped the babble. Belle grabbed her face and stared up at Emma in shock.
"Stop talking and do the fucking spell. Regina is out there alone with these things," Emma seethed, eyes flickering green and purple.
Belle nodded wordlessly and held up her free hand, gripping Emma's painfully with the other. Magic surged through her veins and into Belle's hand. Blue eyes slipped shut in astute concentration as her brilliant mind focused on the task at hand, racing thoughts quieting for the moment. With a pop, a purple force field shimmered into place around the barn. It hit the magic beam shooting into the sky and disappeared.
Belle gritted her teeth and tried again, altering the spell to her will. The barrier encircled the barn again, and she broke the connection without closing the bubble on top. "If it can fly, it can escape, but it's the best we can do for now."
Without waiting for a response, Belle pulled them through space again. Their bodies puzzled together at the pier. Regina and Snow stood back to back, one firing bolts of magic and the other arrows. Both injured the beasts but only slowed them down enough for fleeing civilians to escape getting stomped or clobbered. Emma and Belle surged forward as one, and Emma thanked Belle's sensibility for wearing her boots today.
"Regina!" Emma called, and the elder witch's chest collapsed in relief.
Regina reached for Emma's other hand as they approached. "Belle, tap the earth, give it to me!" Regina ordered and then mumbled to herself.
Emma strained to hear the words and nearly lost her grip when she finally caught them over the chaos. "Relax. Just love. Just feel. Just love. Just love. Just believe." Regina's mantra tore at Emma; she'd finally figured out the secret to tapping her heart, something Emma hadn't fully comprehended.
With a steadying breath, Regina raised her head, blue sparkled in her eyes. Violet and yellow joined the swirl as she pulled on their collective powers.
"I love you, Emma," she whispered and fired a rainbow beam into an approaching ogre. It incinerated on the spot. Regina faltered, and Emma wrapped an arm around her waist, steadying her. She pulled Regina's back into her chest and held the witch tight.
"I love you, too, Regina," she returned into her ear. Magic flew from the mayor's hands, and two more ogres turned into charcoal.
"Emma, say it again!" Regina begged as she nearly lost her balance. Her body was unaccustomed to using magic. She barely used enough to call herself a witch while pregnant with Annabel, and now she had three heavily powerful and different types of energy surging through her veins.
"I love you!" Emma yelled and then cried out as Regina pulled more energy through her.
"Snow!" Belle caught the other woman's attention. She tossed the dagger onto the pavement at her feet. "Summon him. Make him help!" Snow snatched up the ornate knife apprehensively. There was a reason Ruby held the dagger. She despised magic as much as she hated Rumpelstiltskin and had no desire to use it or him for her own purposes.
Belle cried out as the distraction momentarily disrupted her connection with the earth's power and Regina tapped her own life force. With a steadying breath, she redirected the pull to the flood of natural energy spindling in her mind as quickly as Regina sucked it out.
"I love you, Regina," Emma whispered into her neck. Tears streamed down her face unabashedly, either from the confession or the excruciating role of conduit she'd been forced into, Belle never ascertained.
Another pulse of energy exploded. Suddenly, the dock quieted as the last ogre fell in a heaping crispy pile of burnt beast.
"The hospital," Belle gasped. "Snow, do what you can to keep people safe and quiet. We'll drive them out." Her sentence barely finished before she disappeared in a puff of Technicolor smoke.
They stumbled together as they reappeared in front of the hospital. Emma held them both up with strong arms, a wide stance, and gritted teeth. Only a second passed before Regina flung her hands towards two monsters tearing through the parking lot. Balance off-kilter, she relied on Emma to keep her upright. Sweat beaded and cooled on Emma's bare arms and the small of her back. Belle slumped into her side.
"You good?" Emma checked, not wanting to chi suck their friend again.
"She's taking it as fast as I can spindle it. Tell her to slow down or I'm not going to be useful for much longer." Belle confided through clenched teeth.
"Regina, slow down," Emma whispered into her ear. "You're taking Belle's magic too fast."
Regina flung another pulse across the parking lot, defending their family's stronghold. "I can't. There are too many of them, and I don't know how to tap your stupid heart!" Another ogre turned to ash, and Belle cried out.
"Tell me you're afraid," Emma urged, praying to whatever deity listened that her plan worked.
"I'm afraid," Regina whispered, nearly choking on the words. Emma thought back to Amelia's guidance into darkness.
"What are you afraid of? Answer honestly, the answer in your heart." Emma demanded and squeezed her eyes shut as Belle cried out again. Once more, and she determined to get severely pissed off and dust these bloody creatures to hell.
"Losing my family! Losing you! I'm so damn scared that you'll never come back to me, Emma. I love you so much that it hurts to be physically separated from you, and I'm terrified that you're going to kill your stupid self in an attempt to fall on your sword gracefully rather than live a dishonorable life."
Emma felt the tingle of pure magic on the back of her neck, her magic, the magic of her heart. "What else, Regina?" She asked after her partner took out another ogre.
"I'm scared that Annabel will grow up without knowing you. I'm afraid Henry is too scarred to recover. I'm scared of being alone, especially now that I know what it feels like to have a family. I'm scared and heartbroken that Amelia may never walk again. I'm scared that Ruby and Belle won't work out the problems that I had a hand in creating." Tears stole her words and dripped shamelessly down her face.
"I need you!" She yelled in a hollow, broken sob. A wail of fury followed, and Emma dropped Belle to the ground and steadied Regina with both arms.
A different type of fear gripped her guts, and Emma breathed through the minor panic attack electrocuting her heart into hyper drive. "I choose you, Regina. I choose our family. I don't care how long it takes. I'll beat the magic and anger, just like I beat heroin. I love you. I need you, too." Emma surfaced her fears and now offered Regina the love so desperately craved.
Neon blue streaks flew from Regina's hands in all directions, the sparkling, tangible evidence of their unbreakable bond. A pulse of magic exploded, shooting from them in a rippling ring of True Love. Belle gasped as the brief spark of the magic of The Truest Believer swelled in her chest once more and then trickled away.
Emma and Regina collapsed to the cold pavement beside them. Emma held her gasping soul mate against her chest and ducked her head into Regina's hair. They sobbed together, hushed whispers not meant for her ears sliding into the paper-thin space between the broken lovers.
Belle lay on her back, allowing the wetness to cool her overheated brain and body. She fished her cell phone from her pocket with limp, shaking fingers and dialed Snow. The woman picked up on the first ring.
"I was just calling you. They're gone. All of them. There was this pulse of blue magic and then they just disappeared." Snow's excited voice trilled into her ear. Belle grunted.
"We're fine," she said and then ended the call while Snow's indistinguishable words continued flowing into the ear piece. Is that what she sounded like before Emma had coffee? She made a mental note to apologize as her hand fell numb to her heaving stomach.
"Belle!" Ruby's wavering voice cried from the front doors, and she winced. Phone abandoned on her stomach, her hand covered her eyes, pressing her temples with her middle finger and thumb. The slimy, unbreakable fingers of a migraine slid around her brain, and any sound scraped the inside of her skull.
A soft hand touched her arm and wrapped around her ribs, but Ruby recognized the agony she often saw on her lover's features. "What the hell happened?" She directed the question to her friends, keeping her voice as quiet as possible.
"Emma's magic went all pulse-y. Amelia screamed and then started moving her legs. Are they gone?" The words flowed faster than the other two women drank them, and Ruby received dumb stares.
"They're gone," Belle confirmed tearfully. She wasn't certain if the throbbing in her head caused them or if Ruby's very welcomed presence broke the emotional damn she'd been holding back since that first ogre barreled onto the pier. Either way, she reached for her lover, and Ruby pulled her up eagerly, wrapping her in a tight embrace.
Emma touched Belle's shoulder in a show of support. Ruby took Regina's proffered hand. Once again, they'd emerged on the right side of hell victorious. Though Ruby hadn't directly participated in the fight, she offered herself as the last line of defense for their family. That made her a hero to them.
As people slowly filtered outside, The Four Heroines of Storybrooke clung to each other and cried. Tears of joy. Tears of pain. Tears of grief. Tears of hope. Tears of belief.
Belief that tethered them to reality. Belief in themselves individually. Belief in each other and their unique unbreakable bonds. Belief in the power of love.