The group made their way towards Granny's in the evening sun. It was the longest day of the year; the summer solstice was upon them. Although she would vehemently deny it, Emma was a philosopher at heart. She'd thought that today would have been the day that the prophecy would unfurl. It would be almost poetic, but the cynic inside told her she was being stupid and unrealistic, despite living in a town of fairy-tale characters, this was not a fairy-tale.

However, the sun was still glowing and bathing Main Street in a beautiful light, one that cast the family with a warm hue of comfort as they approached the diner. Many people had decided to take advantage of the sun and were sitting outside the diner.

Amongst them were Archie and Marco sitting at one table with a sleeping Pongo under the table. Archie winked at Emma, showing her that he was holding the enchanted leash so Pongo couldn't run away. Although Emma had to admit she did miss running after him every few days. There was a part of her that was tempted to undo the spell so that she could but thought better of it. If she was doomed from the prophecy, she didn't want Archie to be angry at her memory for undoing the good she had done.

Beside them sat Ariel and Eric who seemed to be on a cosy evening date. They only had one large strawberry sundae between them with Eric feeding his girlfriend small, but heaped spoons of the frozen treat which was making her giggle. However, in the light, Emma noticed a new addition to Ariel's left ring finger. Where there was nothing a few days previous now showed a glittering ring. The flushed, ecstatic look on Ariel's face showed them that the engagement had only occurred that evening. Emma wanted to congratulate the two, but she didn't want to interrupt the moment.

On another very extended table held what seemed like a random group of people. The dwarves and the fairies were together, all enjoying a drink. Emma was impressed to see that the dwarves weren't drinking their usual pints of beer in politeness to their company, instead, the group seemed to have either root beer or an iced tea.

Grumpy sat at the head of the table with Nova by his side. It seemed that Blue had finally allowed the two to be happy as Nova was holding Grumpy's hand and the two looked almost as happy as Ariel and Eric. Emma wondered if they would have to refer to Grumpy as Leroy fulltime due to his shift in mood. She also wondered if this meant that she would have one emptier cell at night if Grumpy managed to keep his sobriety.

Looking at the table, it seemed all the fairies and dwarves had recovered from the attack on the convent. The only two fairies who were missing were Blue and Tink. The former probably didn't want to spend her time with the dwarves despite finally approving of the match between Nova and Grumpy or she just didn't want to leave the convent unattended after the previous attack.

It didn't surprise Emma that Tinkerbell wasn't there. While the feisty fairy enjoyed having her wings back, she didn't really enjoy the company of her other fairies as most of the time. Emma suspected in part this was because they tried to recruit her to the life of the nun, an idea which she detested.

On the final table outside, Ashley sat with her husband and their daughter. Ashely was just about showing with her pregnancy but now wasn't the time to mention it as she looked uncomfortable to see Charming and Sean looked downright infuriated at him. It took Emma a few seconds to remember why the two were so angry with him.

Charming swallowed nervously and let go of Maleficent's hand to walk towards their table.

"I'm so very sorry about what happened the other day," he said somewhat sheepishly. "I was worried for my son. I didn't mean to frighten or anger you in any way. If there is anything I can do in return, just let me know."

The apology seemed to be enough as the former royal couple's moods shifted from intense to relaxed. Sean held out his hand for Charming to shake.

"It's forgotten," he said with a kind smile. "Our kids come first." He glanced at Alexandra before a fleeting glance as Ashely. "I completely understand."

Ashley nodded as she too smiled at Charming. "What Sean said. Although I must ask, why were you so scared that Snow had your son? I mean," she bit her lip nervously as she glanced between Charming and Maleficent, "she is his mother."

"Snow isn't herself at the moment," Charming said honestly, his voice low in case the dwarves overheard and suddenly decided they were on Snow's side again. "Things have happened and I no longer trust her with the care or protection of our son." He swallowed nervously. "I would appreciate it if you didn't let her get near him again. As best you can, of course."

"Of course," Ashley promised. She rarely asked questions when someone looked like they were holding back information. It was something she had learnt from the Tremaines when she was young and had unconsciously carried it through to her adult life, even when she had been cursed.

"Thank you," Charming said. "I hope you enjoy your evening."

He flashed them a final smile before resting a hand at the bottom of Mal's back, gently allowing her to walk before him as they walked in. Emma opened the door and allowed everyone to enter before she followed.

"Nicely done, Dad," she commented as she walked beside him as the family headed towards their usual table in the corner.

"It had to be done," Charming replied with a shrug.

Henry had already placed Neal's stroller beside the table and was walking over to where the highchairs were stored. Emma watched as her son picked up the usual one that they used and brought it back over without being asked.

As Emma watched him, she saw that there weren't too many people inside the diner due to the nice weather. In the centre, there were Ruby and Elsa but surprisingly, they were joined by Tink and Ursula. So that answered Emma's unasked question as to why the Green Fairy wasn't sitting with her fellows. However, it was more unusual that Ursula was sat with them. Then again, she had spent a bit of time with Ruby and Elsa during Operation Dots. They must have seen that she hadn't fully integrated with people in Storybrooke yet and Ruby loved helping people socialise. Tink must have been there so she could meet someone else.

Emma flashed them a smile as she reached their table. Charming was pulling Neal out of his stroller when there was a surprised cry of "Maleficent!" heard around the diner.

Looking round, everyone saw that it was Aurora who had cried out. Her eyes were wide as she took in the sight of the dragon before she beamed and let out a squeal.

"You're alive!" She continued as she rushed over to the dragon.

Mal smiled as the other woman approached and opened her arms wide to allow her to enter her embrace, but Emma just stared on, completely in shock. As she saw Henry's reaction beside her, she realised that she wasn't the only one who was very confused that Aurora was on such good terms with the dragon. Perhaps the new film of Maleficent was more truthful than Emma had ever thought.

"I am," Mal confirmed as she hugged Aurora tightly.

"I cannot believe it!" Aurora cried, she wiped a stray tear from her eyes at her excitement that the dragon before her was alive once more. "I thought you were dead. No one told me that you were back. How did it happen?"

"It's a very long story," Mal replied. "I didn't know you were here, otherwise I'd have come to find you. I want nothing more than to catch up with you, but–"

"But you want to catch up with your daughter," Aurora guessed. "Completely understandable. I need to get PJ back home anyway, it's getting late, but you must come over soon and we can catch up."

At that, Emma's eyes widened even further than they had when she saw Aurora's reaction to Mal's presence at the first place.

"How did you know?" Emma asked, unable to keep the question in.

Aurora chuckled. "I knew the moment I first saw you, but Snow was so was so convinced that you were her daughter that I didn't want to say anything. The only reason I trusted you was because you were so clearly Mal's daughter. I'm sorry I didn't say something sooner."

"No need," Emma said. "We're together now."

"Exactly," Mal added before turning to Aurora. "I'll be over as soon as I can."

With a final hug, Aurora bid her goodbyes and returned to her family in the corner. Mal watched as Aurora kissed Mulan softly before she picked up her son and they left the diner.

Mal turned back to Emma and the others, who had finally sat down in the booth, and took her seat beside Charming, just beside Neal's highchair.

"I never thought I'd see Aurora with anyone else that wasn't Phillip," she murmured. "What happened?"

Emma raised her eyebrow and opened her mouth to say something, but Henry got in there first.

"What happened to Phillip?" He repeated astonished. "Since when were you and Aurora friends is the bigger question? You cursed her boyfriend into a monster and put her under an eternal sleep?

Mal looked between her grandson and daughter. The two were wearing the same looks of shock. Regina and Charming didn't look so confused, they merely chuckled at their reactions which mirrored each other's so perfectly.

"What do you mean?" Mal asked. "I thought everyone knew that I pretty much brought Aurora up after her mother died and her father went insane? I most certainly did not turn Phillip into a monster, that was her father's doing, but I cannot deny I am the reason that she pricked her finger that put her into an eternal sleep. I tried to remove it, but I pretty much shot myself in the foot when I cast the spell and made sure no magic could ever break it."

Henry stared at his grandmother with his jaw so low it could have scraped the table. "So, the film is pretty much correct!" He couldn't believe that even after all these years that there were things about real-life fairy-tale characters that could surprise him.

"Film?" Mal repeated before looking at Emma.

Emma chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, there's a film, several probably, about you. We can watch them later." She then grew serious. "But I agree with Henry, the stories all dictate that you're a horrible beast and cursed Aurora because you were being a dick. Sorry Henry," she added realising the language she had used probably wasn't the best in the company of her son.

However, Henry just shrugged. He didn't mind as it mean his mother thought of him as one of the adults. It was Regina who frowned upon the use of it. One of her perfectly drawn eyebrows was raised in Emma's direction, but she just shrugged it off herself.

"Well, I suppose that is right," Mal said, following her daughter and grandson's shrugs. "I cursed her when she was a baby to get back at Stephan. I just didn't realise I would end up becoming her guardian. That's a story for another day though. What happened to Phillip? I thought they were reunited."

Regina nodded. "They were but then my mother managed to seal off part of the Enchanted Forest from my curse and they were trapped there under her rule. They were swept up in the curse that my sister cast to be here and then Phillip was turned into a flying monkey. He didn't survive. She's been with Mulan pretty much ever since."

"Well, I am glad she's happy," Mal murmured as the waitress working walked over to them.

"Can I get you any drinks?" She asked.

However, before anyone could comment, Charming got their first. "We'll have a bottle of champagne with a cola for Henry and some orange cordial for Neal. Oh, and perhaps a bottle of water for the table as well."

The waitress nodded and scribbled the order on her notepad before walking away.

As soon as she was out of earshot, Emma looked at her father. "Champagne, Dad, really?"

Charming beamed. "I want to celebrate the first evening out with my family."

Emma tried not to think of it as perhaps the final evening out with their family. As she looked at her father more carefully, she saw something in his eyes that reflected her thought. He was thinking the exact same but didn't want to voice it. She had to admire his ability to concentrate on the positive in any situation.

"I think it's a great idea," Mal added. Like Emma, she had seen the look in Charming's eye, but it was quickly becoming the elephant in the room.

The waitress returned with a tray that held the bottle of water and four small glasses along with Henry's coke and Neal's cordial before disappearing again. It didn't take long for her to come back with another tray, but this time, it held a bottle of uncorked champagne and four champagne flutes. She set about pouring them before tucking the tray under her arm and getting out her notepad to take their food orders.

"What can I get you?" She asked with her notepad and pen poised, ready to take the influx of orders.

Emma looked straight at Regina, her eyes wide and a hopeful grin on her face. It was the look Henry often flashed at her when he wanted something because he knew she could never say no. It seemed it had the exact same effect on her with Emma.

Regina rolled her eyes. "You can order what you want."

The blonde let out an ecstatic cheer of, "yes!" before she grinned sheepishly when she saw Ruby and the others look over at her cry. "I mean, I'll take the double cheeseburger with onions rings and fries."

They waited for the waitress to write down Emma's order before the others, in turn, asked for their request. Mal copied her daughter, liking the idea of meat and bread, and asked if she could have her burger rare. She was disappointed when the waitress said no due to the possible health risks and asked if Mal wanted anything else instead, but the dragon shook her head.

"No, I'll stick to with burger, thank you," she said and the waitress wrote it down.

The other orders were easy as Charming went for the double patty bacon burger, Henry chose the spicy chicken burger and Regina asked for the chicken Caesar salad with the dressing on the side. She stuck to her choice even when Emma made fun of her for picking a 'boring option' as she had dubbed it. Their order was finished off with a small plate of mashed potato for Neal before the waitress walked away to put their order through to the kitchen.

The family then sat and chatted as if they went out for dinner every week together. They found out more about Maleficent's past with Aurora which Emma realised was pretty much how the film had depicted it but without Stephan trying to kill Maleficent. He had actually been incarcerated for insanity when Aurora was six and Maleficent stepped in to look after her after her appointed guardian, Merriweather, the fairy, had been deemed useless after Aurora had almost died three times in the year she looked after her. She had somehow disappeared according to Mal's tale, but Emma read through her mother's lie and understood that the fairy had been disposed of so that she could step in.

When Aurora had turned sixteen, she pricked her finger as per Maleficent's spell and had fallen into the prophesised enchanted sleep. At the same time, Phillip had been turned into the Yaoguai by a footnote added on behalf of Stephan by Merriweather. He didn't want anyone getting close to his daughter when she was put to sleep so whoever would have been able to break the curse was turned into the beast. Unfortunately for him, Belle and Mulan were able to free him to break the spell. That was the other main difference from the film, Maleficent hadn't broken the curse.

All in all, it was a beautiful night and by the time Charming was paying the bill, insisting it was his honour when Emma had offered to go Dutch, everyone was full of joy from good food, the slight buzz from the champagne and the warmth of the conversation that had been flowing as easily as the champagne. It felt like nothing could ruin the night. However, Emma didn't want to jinx her thoughts by saying it aloud.

As they stepped outside, they saw that the sun was starting to set but there would still be another couple of hours before dusk. The weather was still warm but almost stifling in its humidity.

"A storm is coming," Mal murmured as she looked to the sky as if seeing something that Emma couldn't.

"But it's so warm," Henry commented as he helped Charming lift Neal's stroller down the steps from Granny's. The baby was now fast asleep after spending most of the evening smothering his face in potato rather than eating it.

However, before anyone could reply to Henry's comment, Emma's worst nightmare seemed to come to light when she heard a delighted cry from across the road.

"Well good evening, Charmings."

Turning, everyone saw Snow and Lily standing in the centre of the road as if they had been idly waiting for the group to exit the diner. The hairs on the back of Emma's neck stuck out as a cold shiver ran down her spine. She recognised the look on both Snow and Lily's faces as she had seen the latter wear it throughout their friendship. Evidently it was one that she shared with her mother. They were up to something.

"What do you want, Snow?" Emma demanded as she stormed towards them despite the slight restriction of her dress, leaving her family to watch behind her.

Mal went to follow her daughter, not wanting her to step forward on her own, but Regina caught her arm to stop her, murmuring, "wait, she can do this."

"Lovely dress, Emma," Snow commented without answering Emma's question. She smirked. "It suits a harlot like yourself. You take after your father."

Emma scoffed. "Harlot?" She repeated, her eyebrow raised as she crossed her arms. "I'm not the one who moved in with seven men when I was a teenager."

Snow's smirk stuttered for a moment. She clearly hadn't been expecting Emma's response to be such. However, she quickly schooled her features.

"No wonder you fell pregnant at such a young age," Snow continued as if Emma hadn't spoken. "My daughter was never that much of a whore."

At that, Emma's eyes widened. Lily mustn't have told her mother all about her past. Emma knew just how many boyfriends Lily had had in the past and the number of near misses she had encountered. However, much to Emma's dismay, she couldn't deny the fact that she was the only one out of the two who had gotten pregnant.

"What do you want, Snow?" Emma repeated after recovering from Snow's comment. "I know you're up to something."

Snow smirked with glee whereas Lily was starting to look bored.

"We just came out to see you all of course," Snow replied before putting on a mock frown. "After all, thanks to your father, we're all family. We were rather upset that we weren't included in the family outing."

Emma had no idea how Snow was aware of what was going on, but there was more going on than met the eye. She could feel it in her gut and it was never wrong.

"You're not part of the family, Mary Margaret," Emma said simply. "You never were and you never will be."

However, the use of the cursed name seemed to trigger something in Snow that Emma had never thought she was able to access. Her eyes blew wide and she reached behind her back, unsheathing a sword that no one had realised she was carrying on her person.

"Silence, monster!" Snow snapped, her eyes were wide and wild as she raised her sword arm, the blade pointing at Emma's chest. "You don't know who you're dealing with!"

Emma's eyes widened with surprise at the snap shift of Snow's personality but part of her wanted to push her to see if it was just a momentary façade. She wanted to see how far Snow could be pushed before the coil snapped and she struck.

At the sight of the sword, Regina couldn't keep Maleficent back any further as she shot forward and stepped in front of Emma, blocking the sword. Charming also moved forward albeit at a slightly diminished pace, knowing his son would be safe in Regina's protection. However, he wasn't able to get close to his youngest daughter as his oldest got to him first.

Lily threw her arm out and punching her father square in the stomach before sweeping her legs and knocking them from underneath him. He was downed in seconds and his head hit the ground with a crack, but he shifted to show he wasn't dead. Content, Lily stood to the side of him, keeping one eye on her father in case he woke and the other on her mother as if waiting for further instruction.

"Get away from my daughter!" Maleficent hissed. Her eyes glimmered gold, a threat of the dragon brewing inside her.

"You can have her," Snow spat, "I don't want a filthy brat like that."

Emma snapped, her patience lost. "That's it, Snow. You can't keep toing and froing between wanting to be a family and treating me like the shit on your shoe. What do you want, Snow White!?"

"I want everything my way!" Snow bellowed into the empty street, her voice carried so loudly that everyone in the vicinity shot out of their houses, including Zelena and Belle, and those who had been enjoying their time at the diner, and passers-by stopped still in shock.

"What gives you the right to have everything?" Emma asked, stepping passed her mother. Mal went to stop her, but Emma shook her head. "I can do this," she muttered, repeating what Regina had said to her earlier.

Reluctantly, Mal stepped back and just watched what was happening before her, going against her motherly instincts to protect her daughter.

Snow lowered the sword momentarily. "I'm the destined Queen of the Enchanted Forest. It's my birth right. Then again, if it doesn't go my way, well," she smirked, "let's just say, I arrange for it to."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Emma demanded.

"I wanted to be the sole focus of my father's life," Snow replied. "So, my mother had to go. The baby she was carrying too. Oh yes, that's right, Emma," she added as she saw the recognition dawning on Emma's face. "I poisoned my mother. I just never expected her," she glared at Regina who was still standing back to guard Neal should Lily suddenly come for him, "to come into my life. Heaven knows I tried a numerous amount of times to kill her, but she put a bounty on me for the death of the King. I was intending to do it anyway," she shrugged nonchalantly as if plotting the murder of her father was no big deal, "she just got there first. He no longer treated me as the centre of his life when she came into the picture. It was all about Regina."

Finally, Regina couldn't stand back any further, she stepped out to join the fray but with one sideways glance from her mother, Lily shot her arms out, blasting Regina powerfully in the gut causing her to double over so winded that she couldn't proceed any further. However, it wasn't just the Mayor who gasped out in pain, Emma did too.

"Oh yes, don't think we don't know how Lily got her magic," Snow said. "The only downside is that it is tainted by you, but it comes in useful as it hurts you as well as the intended victim. It's delicious to watch."

Emma groaned in pain, powerless to come back from such a sudden and sharp blast. Unable to hold back any further, Maleficent pushed past her daughter, her fist raised high to strike Snow, whether by magic or brute force, she hadn't decided, before a flash prevented her from doing such.

Lily had shot in front of her mother in a speed unknown to human, the pain in Emma's ankles proved that it was done magically, and had forced the magic cuff firmly around her wrist. She then pushed Maleficent onto her knees in front of Snow who looked ecstatic.

"Now it is time to kill the next person who has gotten in the way of my happiness for far too long," Snow squealed with delight. "With this monster gone, I can have my husband and my children back!"

Snow looked to where Charming was still knocked out on the floor, but Emma couldn't read her expression. She only wished that she could recover or get some help to stop Snow. However, Regina had not yet recovered from her attack to intervene and Elsa, who had joined the crowed after hearing Snow's scream, didn't want to leave Henry and Neal in case anyone tried to harm them. No one else in the vicinity had magic to do so.

Slowly, Emma started to recover but it was to no avail as Lily threw out her arms once more, casting a blocking spell around their audience so that they could see and hear what was going on, but they couldn't stop it. Regina was placed just outside the border too and no matter how much she tried, once she had recovered, she couldn't break the spell.

Another flick of Lily's wrist and she conjured up Snow's bow and arrow. Apparently, the sword wasn't the weapon of choice she wanted to use to end Maleficent.

Emma groaned loudly as she felt each spell hit her in the gut. Lily was taking advantage of Emma's presence to make sure Snow couldn't be interrupted as she aimed the arrow carefully at Mal's chest. Without her magic, Mal couldn't fight her off and her knees were too badly damaged from the force she was pushed down, the gravel cutting her knees open.

Slowly, Snow raised an arrow and was ready to shoot it against Mal who was on her knees in front of Snow, her arms now tied against her back.

"No!" Emma screamed, ignoring the pain in her gut. Her mother needed her. "Take me instead! Don't kill her!"

The arrow fell from the bow as all eyes turned to Emma. Lily allowed her half-sister to step forward. She motioned forward as if escorting her. It was a trap, Emma knew that, but she all she cared about was saving her mother's life.

"Better yet," Lily said, stepping in front of Snow and holding her hand out for the sword that Snow gladly gave, "let me do this for you, Mother. I'd gladly defend your honour!"

"Emma, don't!" Mal cried at her daughter, imploring her not to fight.

"I'm not letting her kill my mother now that I have you," Emma said as she walked forwards to meet Lily in the centre of the road. As Emma took her stance opposite her half-sister, the line of the prophecy echoed in her head.

Their mothers they defend.

The prophecy was about to come to pass. There was no denying the tremor of power in the air; it was time.