The moments immediately after Cruella and Hook's deaths seemed to pass in a blur. There were so many emotions running through Emma that she felt like an IV drip had just been inserted. She had two main concerns, the first was the force of Lily's magic, which was so much more powerful than Emma had anticipated, especially given its newness. Then that led directly to her second worry, the way Lily's magic seemed to affect her own adversely.
For the past year, she'd had her magic under control and she could exert more power should she need to, but trying to put out Lily's fire drained her completely and she was exhausted. She supressed her fear for her magic as there were more pressing issues to be worrying about, namely the two dead bodies.
The sirens were growing louder as they came closer so that the dead bodies could be moved. She looked down at Hook's body where the blood was still dripping from the open wound on his head. It was the sight of yet another man who had left her after promising not to leave. No, they weren't together anymore which she was grateful of, but it was technically still a broken promise. However, she didn't want to think about it and she was thankful to see her father as the cruiser approached. She would allow him to take over as Sheriff for now as she didn't have the physical or emotional strength to deal with this right now.
"I'm going to go check inside to see if there's any one left," Emma murmured to Regina. They had seen a group of people running from the back of the library, but Belle hadn't been one of them which worried her. Emma had always been fond of Belle, the librarian reminded her of herself in another life, the life where Emma's only friends had been in the pages of books.
Regina nodded and Emma ducked into the library to check if anyone was inside. She glanced around to see if anyone was still there, and was immediately met with the sight of Belle who was ducked behind her desk.
"Belle!" Emma cried as she rushed over. She quickly looked around the library to see the damage of the fire. There wasn't much sign of the destruction of fallen debris but there was a huge hole at the far corner which still had whispers of smoke billowing.
The librarian glanced up; fear etched on her beautiful face. "Emma?"
As soon as Emma was in front of the brunette, she fell to her knees, immediately making sure that the librarian wasn't injured. When she was sure that Belle was okay, she pulled her in for a hug. "Are you alright?"
"I'm okay," Belle assured her. "Just a bit shaken. I was working as usual and then all of a sudden, I could smell smoke. I ushered everyone out the back but by the time I went to lock up at the front, the smoke was too thick to get through. When I got back to the desk it was starting to clear, so I ducked down until it fully disappeared."
"Why didn't you go out the back with the rest?" Emma asked with a soft laugh of disbelief as she pulled back, wiping away a loose tear that had fallen down Belle's face. "It's the library, no one is going to steal anything."
Belle bit her lip. "Force of habit."
"Well next time there's a fire, get out. Come on, let's go," Emma said softly and the two got to their feet.
As they exited the library, Cruella and Hook's bodies had gone and Regina was standing beside Charming who had Neal's pram beside him.
"Let's go home," Regina suggested. "We can fill the others in at the mansion."
"Em and I should really complete the police report," Charming said. "The Mayor won't be too pleased if we don't." Charming raised his eyebrow at the aforementioned woman.
"I think it can wait until tomorrow, don't you?" Regina said after rolling her eyes, she was definitely not the same woman she had been before the curse had broken, she wasn't totally unreasonable. "We need to digest this."
Nodding, Charming ushered everyone to the cruiser and they all climbed in, Regina taking the front seat, and Neal going in his car seat beside Belle who was the unfortunate one to be squeezed in the middle, before Charming drove them home.
Henry was arriving home from school as they pulled up and he was ushered inside where Zelena was waiting as Regina had text her, telling her to go home. The redhead rushed at Belle and hugged her tightly and Belle nestled her head in Zelena's shoulder, soaking up her comfort. Ruby and Elsa arrived not long after the police car full of people and everyone went into the dining room to find out what had happened.
Just as they entered, Neal started to stir and as if on autopilot, Regina slipped her arms under the infant's body and picked him up, rocking him slightly to calm him down. It wasn't a cry of hunger, he just wanted to be held and on the odd occasions when Snow had allowed Regina to hold him, he'd always settled immediately. She continued to talk while rocking him as if it was the easiest thing to do and it was unsurprising that he settled almost immediately. It seemed that Regina's prowess as a supermom had not deserted her.
Emma allowed Regina to take over most of the conversation as she felt exhausted. The argument with Lily seemed to drain her more than she thought it had, especially now that the adrenaline had faded. As she thought about it, it occurred to Emma that the more magic Lily seemed to use, the more it drained the blonde. It was almost as if Lily had no magic of her own, but was rather drawing from Emma's own considerable reserves (if Regina's analysis of Emma's power was to be believed).
Unfortunately, before she could fully recuperate with the mug of coffee that Zelena had brewed while waiting for everyone to comeback, she looked up to see all eyes were on her. She gathered that she had been asked a question, but she had no conception of what it may have been.
"Sorry, what?"
"What happened on the roof?" Regina asked again but her tone was gentle. She could see the blonde wasn't fully present, but she didn't want to announce it to everyone. It would have looked odd if she hadn't asked the question now as she'd just finished her part of what happened between her and Snow. It wasn't a lot, just a back and forth of insults before Snow pushed her and Regina hit her back.
With a deep breath, Emma then told everyone what had happened on the roof of the library from what Cruella had said to Lily's reaction to her magic and ultimately, Cruella and Hook's deaths.
"So, she didn't magically kill them?" Henry asked, interested, after all, in Storybrooke most deaths were to do with the supernatural and not the banal.
Emma shook her head. "No. I also don't think she intended to really. She just pushed Cruella because she wanted to and she knocked into me and then tripped off the side of the roof. I think Hook was trying to catch her to stop her from injury."
"And he ended up killing her," Regina murmured, her amused tone had returned to her voice. "And he was flattened by her."
Everyone seemed to pick up on it and before they knew it, unable to help it, they were all snickering. Belle was the only one who wasn't but when Zelena started laughing loudly (noting vaguely the similarities of Dorothy's arrival in Oz, albeit with a house rather than a person), it was so infectious that Belle joined in.
"I feel so bad for laughing," Belle said, "they're dead!"
"They deserved it," Henry piped once his own laughter had faded. "They weren't good people and would never have been redeemed. Quick and fairly painless, seems fair to me."
Belle didn't look convinced but accepted Henry's words. "I suppose they're two less people to worry about with this whole prophecy thing." She looked at Regina. "Is the potion ready yet?"
Regina nodded. "It'll be ready tomorrow morning and Maleficent is due here at nine."
At the name, Charming's head shot up and he looked so hopeful. He'd looked so frustrated and guilty while he heard about Lily's antics. Afterall, he was her father and felt responsible for how she'd turned out despite not being the one to raise her. He also felt guilty for not listening to Emma's concerns earlier. However, it seemed that was all forgotten as he heard the name of his love. "She's strong enough to leave the house?"
"She is," Regina confirmed. She wanted to say that she had been for a while, but she didn't want to upset the man in front of her. Once upon a time, that had been high on her to-do list, but now…well, she was adjusting and he was her girlfriend's father. There was no need to be petty after all.
Charming nodded, more to something he was thinking rather than at what Regina had said. "Then I'm going to ask Ashley to take care of Neal tomorrow. I want to be here when she arrives and I can't be worried about him by having him with his mother. Not with how Snow is acting." He shook his head and released an angry sigh. "You know, our neighbour called to say she heard Neal crying! When I got there, he was alone and Snow was nowhere in sight. She's not the woman I knew or who I want to be with, but every time I've tried to talk to her about it, she blows up!"
"Tomorrow we'll have the answer we've been waiting for," Regina said. She reached out and placed a reassuring hand on Charming's knee to calm him down. "Then we concentrate on stopping the prophecy."
"How?" Emma asked, speaking for the first time since she had shared her part of the tale.
Regina bit her lip nervously, that was the million-dollar question after all. "I don't know."
oOoOo
It was nearing nine o'clock the next morning and everyone was sitting in the living room, waiting for Maleficent and Ursula to arrive. The previous evening, they had changed the subject after Regina didn't know how to fight the prophecy as everyone could see that Emma didn't want to talk about it anymore.
Instead, Ruby and Elsa left, promising to return the next morning, and Charming went to Ashley's to ask her to look after Neal, and then went home to speak to Snow. However, they all knew that anything the former shepherd told the spoilt princess would fall on deaf ears. He didn't want the baby in the vicinity for that conversation nevertheless. Fortunately, Ashley had agreed to look after him without many questions aside from enquiring after his diet and finding out that it was now more solid foods but still had formula in the evenings.
Everyone else had retired to the living room. Emma and Henry played on the PlayStation, killing zombie after zombie, while the others watched on in horror at the violence. However, seeing how much Emma was enjoying it, they didn't complain after the day she had.
That evening, despite their original plans, Emma and Regina didn't make love because the blonde was still exhausted. She told Regina about her theory about her magic. Regina was worried but there was nothing they could do without looking into it more and that could wait for now. Instead, she took hold of Emma's hand and gave her some of her energy so she could recuperate quicker and held her all night long, each safe in their mutual embrace, nurturing and loving.
Charming had been the first to arrive on his own around half past eight the next morning, not wanting to be late. He had dark under eyes from lack of sleep and he didn't know what to do with himself at the prospect of seeing Maleficent again. He would sit beside Henry for a matter of moments before standing up and pacing. Then he'd sit beside Emma before getting up and pacing again. Everyone left him to it as it was easier than persuading him to stop.
Elsa and Ruby had arrived shortly after him, with an array of baked goods from Granny's which everyone ate happily. Surprisingly, only Emma and Charming were the ones to pick at their food rather than demolish it in seconds showing just how stressed they were feeling about the upcoming morning. Usually they'd be somewhat playfully fighting each other for the final bear claw and then be pouting or crowing depending on the results.
Once they'd finished eating, Regina had gone to her vault to make sure the potion was ready. She was more than relieved to see that it was now the perfect consistency and a deep rouge colour. After turning off the flames, she transferred the potion to a bottle and corked it, ready for when Maleficent turned up, before returning to the house where everyone else was waiting.
Henry was the one to keep the conversation going by talking about upcoming events at school before the semester finished for the summer. There was going to be a huge school fete that was the talk of the town but Emma and Charming kept starting at the clock instead of participating.
As soon as the clock struck nine on the dot, everyone had their eyes on door, waiting for the knock that never came. They continued to stare in their silence until nine o'clock turned to five past and then ten past the hour. By the time quarter past struck, they finally broke the silence.
"Where are they?" Henry asked looking around at his mothers, presuming they would somehow know the answer. "Are they often late?"
Charming shook his head. "Mal is never late. Something has stopped her from coming."
He looked Regina to agree.
She bit her lip and nodded. "He's right, Mal hates to be late."
There was then a tap at the window where a black raven was hopping with a scroll attached to his foot. Charming shot up and rushed to the window, gently pulling the bird inside. He removed the scroll carefully before letting the bird return outside.
"Ravens are the only birds who refuse to talk to Snow," he murmured as he unrolled the scroll. His eyes flickered across the page before becoming wide in fear. "She's finally lost it." He looked up at the others. "Snow has challenged Maleficent to a duel starting in fifteen minutes. She's got Lily and is holding her hostage to provoke Mal."
"For goodness' sake!" Emma cried and suddenly all eyes are on her. "Sorry. I'm just fed up of not knowing who my mother is and we were about to find out. They can't fight before we find out." She looked up at Regina. "Pass me the potion. I'm going to stop the fight."
"You can't do this alone!" Regina chastised. "And you don't need to. We have time. Please, this is me, and I'm begging you, can we plan something this time instead of going in all guns blazing?"
Emma could heard hear the sincerity in her voice. Regina wasn't worried that she wouldn't be okay going in alone; she wanted to help and planning was the best way they could all work together.
Slowly, Emma relented and nodded. "Okay, then everyone listen up. I have a plan."
oOoOo
Emma's plan had everyone breaking up into groups. Regina had wanted Henry to stay at home where he was safe but Emma had valid point when she said that he was old enough to be there and not only that, he may be able to get Snow to see sense. She wouldn't want to hurt the boy she believed was her grandson.
Regina had been even more reluctant to offer their son up as bait but Henry, ever the Charming, offered to serve as the bait if it would help, he wanted to feel useful like the rest of his family. It had taken her a few minutes to agree but Regina finally relented as long as he didn't leave her side.
Therefore, the teams were broken up into twos. Belle and Zelena would be the ones to make sure that no one who were watching got hurt as a fight in the centre of town would surely attract an audience. Ruby and Elsa were on Snow duty. The two were powerful enough to take down the delusional woman and the dwarves. It was helped that Dopey now walked with a limp after his fall on the pickaxe, making him the obvious weak link.
Henry and Regina were to stay behind Mal and Ursula. Although it was partially for their protection from the townsfolk who were still unsteady with their presence in the town. As everyone was very much Team Snow, they would need to have some protection from anyone who followed her.
The final group was made up of Emma and Charming. They were hoping that Charming would be able to stop Snow but after what he'd said about their fight the night before, he hadn't been able to get through to her. She had just kept repeating, "I can't lose you. I can't lose," and hadn't let him leave her sight. He blamed himself for Snow challenging Maleficent because he had left her sleeping and with it being Saturday morning, he couldn't lie and say he was going to work either so she had seen through him.
They were intending to join them in the middle of the new battle ground and stop the horror show, but when her cloud of smoke dispersed, Emma could see that they were too late to stop Snow's challenge. Snow, who had her bow and arrows firmly around her shoulders, was already in the centre of the street with Lily on her knees in front of her. Grumpy was by her side and had his pickaxe to Lily's neck. Fortunately, they had appeared in the alleyway beside where they presumed the fight was going to take place. After all, even delusional Snow was predictable, she wanted the biggest spectacle so only the centre of town would do.
"Why is she not fighting?" Charming asked, his voice dark. "She has magic!"
Emma squinted and saw the familiar cuff on Lily's wrist. "She can't. Look," she pointed to Lily's wrist, "They've cuffed her, Dad."
Charming glowered. "Snow doesn't know who she's dealing with!"
"Shush!" Emma snapped. She wasn't opposed to Lily being cuffed, especially given their weird symbiotic magic; not to mention that she didn't want Charming to give them away.
They were approaching the edge of their hiding place and she was toying with the idea of making themselves invisible to make their entrance more dynamic, but this wasn't a film. It was real life.
Emma was carrying the potion that Regina and Zelena had created. She had already added her blood to it, which had turned it a deep scarlet. She was intending on distracting Snow enough so that she could talk to her and persuade her to use her blood instead so that she felt more important in the prophecy.
Looking up, she saw Mal and Ursula approaching. They both looked furious as they were storming forward but even at a distance, the differences between Snow and Mal were striking. They looked like opposite sides of a coin.
On one side, Maleficent was dressed to impress, not to frighten. Her blonde hair was pinned up and she was wearing a tailored black suit. Her shirt was white and crisp. She looked flawless. Gone were her horns and in her hand was her staff but she was holding it gently. She walked with an air of confidence, which could not be mistaken for arrogance. She knew she was going to win whatever was about to happen because she was more prepared, not because she was arrogant.
On the other side of the spectrum, Snow's hair was ruffled from frustration and her jeans were baggy from her sudden loss of baby weight. Her eyes were red with fury and her breathing uneven as she couldn't even concentrate on inhaling properly, by the strength of her hatred for the dragon. It was a side that Emma had never seen and she had seen her reaction to Regina during Ingrid's Shattered Sight spell.
Their differences shone ever more drastically as they finally reached speaking distance. Even their choice of guard put more of a contrast between them. Snow was surrounded by the dwarves but Mal only had Ursula who also had no magic, just like the dwarves. She knew that she didn't need an army to go up against Snow.
By now, the Mal and Ursula had reached Snow and the dwarves.
"Princess Snow," Maleficent drawled, her index finger softly caressing the top of her staff. Her head tilted to the side in interest of what was going to happen. She wasn't worried about Lily's life in the hands of idiots. "Get those cuffs off her."
"It's Queen," Snow hissed back, ignoring the fact that she'd been told to release Lily. Her grasp on her didn't change and Lily didn't struggle. It then dawned on Emma that Lily and Snow were actually working together. "I am Queen of the Enchanted Forest. I deserve some respect."
Maleficent raised her eyebrow and smirked. "I believe you call me Queen too, am I right? So, do I not deserve the same respect?"
Emma was impressed at Maleficent's attitude. She wasn't being offensive or forceful, she was just reacting to Snow as if she didn't matter. It seemed Mal had figured out that Lily and Snow were working together just as quickly as Emma had so she ignored her presence. Choosing instead to wind up Snow even more.
"The only Queen you are is the Queen of Darkness," Snow retorted harshly.
"You would know," Maleficent murmured. "After all, it was the name you gave me. You're a fan of nicknames, aren't you, Snowy? The Evil Queen, the Queen of Darkness, the Ice Queen. For all I know, you could have made up the Saviour too."
"Leave my daughter out of this!" Snow yelled, pulling an arrow out of the sheath behind her.
"She may not be yours," Maleficent taunted. "You don't have a right to be angry about any of this, Snow. You had the chance to walk away with your pride and just let David go and be happy but no, you had to cling onto him. I've had some pretty shitty things happen to me in my life which were my fault, but you wronged me the most. You took my love from me and that cannot be forgiven. Not only that, but you are the reason I didn't get to bring up my daughter. You gave Cruella the magic bean and told her to take my daughter away and to lie to Ursula. You promised her the power of the prophecy. I'm glad she's gone. She was wretched." She smirked. "Although, I had imagined a better death than being impaled on the hook she had purposely unbent to be more of an effective weapon."
Mal looked down at Lily as if realising she was still there. "I have you to thank I hear," she murmured before looking back up at Snow. "Now, I know you're not going to hurt her so let her up and we can finally find out the truth once and for all. Emma, come out."
At that, Emma stumbled out of her hiding place where she and Charming had remained while the discussions had begun. They were both too fascinated about what was being said than to actually stop it, especially when they realised that Lily wasn't actually in any danger. Emma was unsure however, as to if Charming had worked out that Lily was working with Snow. He did have rose-tinted glasses on when it came to his newly found, brunette daughter.
She walked straight over, her back straight as Regina would have told her, with determination. As she reached them, Snow finally let Lily up who didn't look angry in the slightest, just bored.
With the two women finally next to each other, both Snow and Maleficent glanced between the girls, trying to pick out details in their faces. However, neither of them could see themselves, they could only pick out Charming's features in them. Emma had his hair and his jawline and Lily had his eyes and nose. Neither screamed their mother.
"I have a potion that will solve this," Emma said as she held it out, but unexpectedly, Snow released her arrow and hit the potion, dropping it to the floor, the liquid rushing out and covering the road in red.
Emma screamed in exasperation. "What have you done? That was the only answer!"
"No!" Snow hissed. "She's made you think that you're not my daughter, but you are! You are my daughter, Emma Swan. I don't need a potion to prove what I already know and what I feel. You're mine! I've told you this before and you still chose to be ignorant about it!"
"Then why work with Lily if you're so sure that I'm your daughter?" Emma countered, rather confused that Snow had suddenly flipped her ideology now that Emma was in front of her.
"My reasons are my own!" Snow snapped. "This fight is between Maleficent and me. You don't need to get involved."
"I'm the Sheriff and the Saviour of this town, everything that happens here is my business!" Emma cried.
Snow shook her head. "Don't be stupid, Emma. The town has always been mine."
"Stupid?" Emma repeated, not hearing the rest of the sentence. Despite everything that was going on. Being called stupid was her final straw. "I am NOT stupid!"
At that, Emma felt her blood boil with fire that she'd never felt before. Snow would never listen to her and she would never accept her. Yet here she was, claiming her as her property during a time when it was so inappropriate.
On top of all of that, she'd called her stupid and that was something that she would never accept. Especially by the woman claiming that she was her mother. There was nothing worse that she could have said. If it did turn out that she was her mother, then she was already done with her. For Emma, her intelligence was something that she valued above all else, whilst Storybrooke expected her to fit a certain mould, Emma was never just the Saviour, she was a person too. Her very essence was her intellect as well as her street smarts.
The anger was incredible. It was force to be reckoned with, one that she'd never felt before in her life. Usually, she could calm her anger down, but there was an aura around her that she couldn't explain and the fire in her blood was boiling full force and she felt something shift and snap in her body. Suddenly, she felt herself growing taller, getting bigger and a deep heat swirled in her chest that she couldn't put out.
It felt like she was dreaming because she swore she felt something growing out of her back, something heavy but yet she suddenly knew she could control whatever it was as if they were part of her person. Within seconds, she flexed them and her feet were no longer touching the ground.
They were wings!
"MA!" Henry screamed he rushed forward, knowing that if anyone could calm Emma down, it was him. "It's okay, you might be a dragon, but you're going to be alright!"
A dragon?! Well, shit…