The Beauty of the Beast
Chapter 49
Emma looked through the window and watched the brunette with a smile on her face. She knew she was playing with fire, but she could not stop now.
Six months had went by since magic had been banned from Storybrooke and by now everything and everyone had gotten settled, had calmed down.
The news had spread like a wildfire back then and there had been one or two small incidents, where some citizen had tried to offend Regina, but then Henry had put himself in front of his mom, had protected her like a lion would protect his pack, and people finally had backed off for good.
They had found a routine as a family and also as a couple and things with Regina had worked out just fine.
Sure, the brunette still had her moments of weakness, but they had managed to work through Regina's issues together and she had made so much progress.
And even the town's people had recognized at some point that their feared mayor and former evil queen had changed. Sure, Regina still was the commanding, proud and unapproachable person she had always been when it came to most of Storybrooke's citizens and yet she had become a bit warmer, nicer and more understanding.
Emma had learned to ride a horse after all and they had started to go for rides together with Henry and the blonde had to admit that it was a feeling of freedom to race over the fields on the back of a horse, together with the two people she loved the most.
Her relationship with Regina had blossomed even more and she could not believe that they really had found happiness after all, but it was true.
They were a family and they were happy.
Both, her and Regina had gotten more than they had ever dreamed of.
And yet something was missing.
Something Emma could not ignore any longer.
She caught sight of the brunette again and then she entered the diner, "Hey Ruby! I guess it's time that we talk…"
Regina sat in her office, trying to get her paperwork done, but she could not really focus on anything.
She had asked Emma if they would meet up for lunch at Granny's, but the blonde had declined. Again.
And Regina slowly started to realize that something was going on. That something had to be going on.
The last couple of months had went way too smooth for her taste, everything had seemed so perfect.
She had been really happy and things with Henry had been fine, she had bonded with the Charmings and life with Emma had been fantastic.
And it scared Regina too death.
She was not used to getting her happy ending.
Regina hated her own insecurities and although she had worked hard on them they still weren't completely gone.
And Emma becoming all secretive for sure did not help.
She knew that Emma truly loved her, but something about the blonde's behavior had changed.
It almost felt like Emma would avoid her, but why?
What had she done wrong now?
They did not have a fight or an argument recently, so Regina really did not understand.
She had asked Emma twice what was going on, but the blonde had told her that everything was fine and yet Regina was not convinced.
Emma was hiding something from her, she just could not put her finger on what it was yet.
The only thing Regina had came to realize lately was that Emma was currently spending an awful lot of time with Ruby and the mayor did not like it one bit.
But she had to trust Emma.
This once she would try to stay calm before her fears would get the better of her again.
"Emma, you are aware of the fact that Regina will kill me if she finds out, right? Hell, she'll kill us both!" Ruby glared at the sheriff, eyes wide, breathing hard.
"Believe me…I know. That's why she can never find out", Emma answered and smiled awkwardly.
She knew this could easily backfire at her in the worst way possible, but she would not stop now. If she had learned one thing from Regina Mills then it was that one should always go for what they wanted. And that was exactly what she would do.
She took Ruby by the arm and pulled her with her, "Come on, we better hurry…"
But right when they wanted to leave the diner they bumped into Mary Margaret, who watched her daughter and the waitress in disbelief, "Care to tell me what's going on?"
"Hey Mary Margaret…I have no time for explanations right now…I'll call you later…" Emma tried to escape from the uncomfortable conversation, which was about to come.
"Emma, stop! You're not going anywhere…as long as you don't tell me what you are up to…" Mary Margaret looked at her suspiciously.
The blonde's shoulders slumped and she sighed heavily, "Listen, Mary Margaret…this is really not that easy to explain…"
Since she had not been able to concentrate Regina had decided to go for a walk and get some coffee from the diner. Maybe she would get her head off of her weird thoughts too.
Maybe she could wrap Ruby up in a conversation and maybe, if she did it right, she would get some information out of the former wolf as well.
But then she caught sight of Emma, Ruby and an obviously worked up Mary Margaret and she felt her stomach tighten immediately.
What was that supposed to mean?
Luckily the three women were so attached to their conversation, so they did not even recognize her and Regina took her chance to sneak up on them, not able to control her curiosity any longer.
But most of all she was driven by fear and a sudden mistrust in everyone – like back in the days.
"Emma, no. You can't do this to Regina...you know how she is…and what she's been through. Putting this on her is not fair!" Mary Margaret warned.
"She'll never find out if you'll cover for me, Mom. Please! I never meant for you to know…or to get you involved…but now…what other choice do I have? Please, I need your help…" Emma pleaded, her voice filled with desperation.
"I won't lie to her, Emma. I made that mistake once, but I won't do it again", Mary Margaret's statement was final.
"Fine."
Emma dropped her head, but then she turned to talk to Ruby, "I'll call you later."
That said she stormed off, not knowing how to handle the situation with her mother, because it could easily ruin everything.
Regina stood there, a tear rolling down her cheek.
So, Emma really was hiding something from her and it had to be something big if she had asked Snow to lie for her.
And of course Ruby was involved and that thought woke an anger within Regina, an anger she had not felt in forever.
When Emma had returned to the mansion late at night that day Regina had already been asleep and the blonde had felt guilty the second she had caught sight of the brunette's form.
She really did not want to do things this way, but she had to because Regina could not know. Not now, not ever.
The second Emma woke up the next morning she realized that Regina was not lying next to her anymore and she slowly started to get worried.
When she had come home yesterday she had not thought anything of it although the mayor usually waited for her to come home, but now that Regina had left without even saying 'Good morning' Emma became aware that Regina might suspect something.
Freaking hell!
This could not happen. Not now anyway.
Not as long as she was not sure…
She got out of bed and stumbled down into the kitchen to find Henry, who was eating his cereal.
"Hey kid! Where's Regina?" Emma tried to sound as casual as possible.
He just shrugged, "No idea. She left about ten minutes ago."
"She left for work already?" Emma glared at her son in disbelief.
"Seems like it."
Crap. Crap. Crap.
This could mean nothing good.
She had to get going, had to talk to Ruby because somehow Emma had the feeling that Regina might pay her a visit.
Regina sat on a bench at the harbor, staring at the waves, completely lost in thought when she caught sight of a blonde with a baby carriage, who was coming closer.
"Madame Mayor! What brings you here at such an early time?" Ashley asked in surprise.
"I needed some time to think", Regina stated matter-of-factly.
"Can I sit down?" The young mother looked expectantly at the mayor, "Because I don't want to disturb you."
"No. Please, take a seat." Regina wondered about her own words.
Once Ashley was seated she looked at the mayor, recognizing that something had to bother Regina, "What are you thinking about?"
Regina's eyes darkened because she had no intention to talk to anyone, but on the other hand – if she wouldn't get this out soon she would burst out of anger, "True Love."
"Oh", Ashley dropped her head, "Nothing I can help you with then considering that my True Love has left me for someone else."
The lump in her throat made it impossible for Regina to speak at first and she swallowed hard.
Twice.
"What do you think, Miss Boyd. Why did he leave you?"
"Honestly? I don't know. But I came to realize that True Love doesn't exist here. Not in a world without magic. Because True Love is magical. And maybe…like magic worked differently here in this realm, maybe True Love does too. Maybe it's not meant to be forever here…in my opinion Happily Ever Afters are saved for Fairytale Land…because Sean and me…we did great. And then…all of a sudden he falls in love with someone else although we were meant to be together. I guess True Love is just an illusion, created by some desperate people, who needed to believe in something…something to fight for, something to sacrifice everything for."
Regina did not move. She was shocked the core by Ashley's words and her fear of losing Emma grew ten times worse.
She would talk to Emma tonight.
Unfortunately Emma did not come home at all.
Regina had spent the day in her office, not even bothering to call Emma, because clearly the blonde would have been too busy anyway.
Henry and her had been for a ride and it had helped Regina to get some distraction after all.
But once they had returned to the mansion reality had hit her even harder.
No sign from the blonde, no call, no text.
She had waited till way past midnight, but Emma had not shown up and Regina was close to getting hysterical.
And so she had driven over to the Charmings apartment in the middle of the night, but she had to know where Emma was. And she had to know if Mary Margaret would tell her the truth.
The sharp knock on the door had her out of her sleep in no time and Mary Margaret knew right away that it could not mean anything good.
David was working a nightshift at the shelter, which meant she had to deal with everything alone.
Great.
She stumbled to the door and pulled it open, just to stare at Regina a moment later and she recognized right away that the brunette must have been crying.
Oh no!
"Want some tea?" Mary Margaret did not know what else to say.
Regina only nodded and entered the apartment, where she let herself fall onto the couch, "Do you know where Emma is? I tried to call her, but I went straight to voicemail."
Mary Margaret was taken aback by the direct approach and she started to fidget with the tea cups, "Uhm…yeah…she's in Boston."
A sharp intake of breath was all that could have been heard for a minute, but then Regina regained her composure, "I take it she has not left alone?"
There she stood, knowing full-well that she should lie. Emma should have been the one to tell Regina, but of course she had to clean up this mess now. And she really had to because Mary Margaret could not bear to lie to Regina. Not again. Not after all that has happened, "Ruby is with her, but listen Regina…I don't know what they are up to…I swear. Emma would not tell me. And she had sworn to me that they would be back in the evening, because you were not supposed to find out…but well…I just got a text from her earlier, saying that they would not be back before Monday because Ruby's car broke down…and…since it's Saturday…they have to wait till Monday to get it fixed. I really have no idea what's going on…I'm sorry."
"Well, I guess it is quite obvious what is going on", Regina growled silently.
"Regina…I…" but Mary Margaret did not continue, because she did not know what to say. She saw the worry in the mayor's eyes, but the truth was she started to worry herself. Mary Margaret was aware of what Regina was implying and somehow she understood. But did that make it true?
"Nevermind. Sorry for bothering you at this late hour", Regina got up and stormed out of the apartment before the tea was ready.
Walking back to the mansion was exactly what Regina needed. She had not felt up to driving because she had started to cry heavily.
Emma was in Boston. Together with Ruby Lucas.
She was in Boston with the woman she had begun to spend more and more time with.
Did Emma miss living in a big city like Boston? Had she begun to miss her old, action filled bounty hunter life now?
Sure, Storybrooke had become even more boring now that there was no more magic, not that it had been that exciting before.
Had their life started to bore Emma?
And then Regina remembered her conversation with Ashley from earlier.
What if she had ruined her happy ending by banning magic from town? What if Ashley was right? If True Love did not last forever in this world.
But then another thought crept into her mind and a shiver ran down Regina's spine.
Emma had been so afraid that she would not be enough one day, that Regina would want more.
What if it was her, who was not enough? What if it would be Emma, who wanted more after all?
A/N: So, it's really ending…and I won't make any promises about the outcome of the story yet. But I can assure you I'll make it worth reading. So, see you all soon…with the last chapter. xox
