It's all quiet. Regina sits and stares at Lily with tears in her eyes. The tears confuses Emma and has her glancing between Lily and Regina. The most concerning is when Regina balls her fists upon her lap.
"Lily! What did you do?!" Emma demands with anger.
"She's awake. All of the memories are unfolding in her mind. She remembers everything!" Emma almost gave Lily a punch to her face but Regina quickly stood with an angered expression, shocking them both.
"You!" Regina glares down darkly at Lily. "I should've killed you a long time ago."
"Regina!" Emma scolds at the horror from those words. She never thought that she would hear something like that come from Regina's mouth. "How could you say that? She's your daughter!"
Lily laughs and shakes her head as she closes the book. "You don't get it Emma. I'm not her daughter and I'm not related to any of you. I work for Cora."
"Where is she? Tell me now!" Regina demands.
"It doesn't matter," Lily rejects. "Because you lose! You were never good enough and you proved it! Your empire perished, so, just admit it! You were never fit to be Queen without your mother because you're weak!"
"SHUT UP!" A gust of wind knocks both Lily and Emma down. Emma nearly fainted at the sight of Regina. Her eyes are glowing a purple color and her hands are literally holding fire. But it all ends as quickly as they came because Regina fights that darkness that's desperately trying to consume her. She won't hurt anyone that isn't her target and her target is Cora.
"See!" Lily taunts. "You can't even kill me. You hesitate every time."
"Because I'm not like you." Regina concludes with confidence. "I've done things and I don't regret them. But I will not continue to let the darkness you create, grow inside of me. I will be happy and I will stay pure."
"Ha! The only way you can do that is if you kill Cora."
As Emma listens to this crazy conversation something echoes in her head: Regina would have remembered by then and when she does, she'll seek out to kill me and once that happens everything you know and love will be gone.
"Good, if I have to kill my mother to end this then so be it."
"Wait Regina, you can't!" Emma begs and quickly stands up. Regina looks Emma in the eyes, a look that Emma has never seen before. It's soft and full of love and things that Emma can't quite understand. That look is more meaningful than it ever has been in her entire life. Still, despite the trance it causes, "You can't do this."
"I'm sorry Emma. I know you don't understand but–"
"No, you promised!" Emma finds herself saying without realizing. "You promised you would trust me, you promised you wouldn't let her win!"
"She ruined my life Emma!" Regina angrily snaps. Emma can see Regina's eyes blackening the stronger her thirst for revenge grows. "I will torture her and make her suffer just like she did to me."
"This isn't you, you know that." Emma blurts. Maybe it was the panic, or maybe it was her heart yearning to save Regina in her time of need; whatever it was, it woke Emma Swan. The Savior remembers everything inevitably causing a tear to trail down her cheek.
"No," the Queen finalizes. "It must be done. Today."
"Mommy! You're crying!" Ariana gasps.
"What's going on?" Ruby questions. She's worried that Emma and Regina are breaking up or something.
"Nothing that concerns anyone. I have to go." Emma tries to stop Regina but Ariana stops her by grabbing her wrist and pouts her adorable face.
"What's wrong with mama? Is she mad?"
"She-she..." Emma sighs and glances at Ruby who is curiously waiting for an answer as well. She doesn't say anything else, instead she pulls a shocked Ruby in close by the hip and gives her a heartfelt kiss to her soft lips.
Ruby slowly pulls away with shock in her eyes and gasps, "Emma..." Emma smiles at her pet and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear,
"When's the last time I reminded you that you're special in every way?"
"Emma!" Ruby cheers and wraps her arms around the blondes neck. She holds Emma tighter than ever before. "I missed you!"
"I missed you too pup."
"Oh how cute," Lily snarks to interrupt the precious moment. "You do realize you all are going to die soon."
"You! I'm going to tear your ass apart!" Ruby practically growls. Before she can attack Emma commands,
"Heel Red, she's not worth it."
"You should listen to your master, puppy if you want to live." Lily taunts. "Not that you will..."
"Mommy...I'm scared." Ariana cries. The way Lily is acting and the way she looks scares the little girl to no end. She can sense a different vibe in the room that is upsetting her inside; creating a ball of emotions.
"I know kid, it's okay." Emma reassures as she lifts Ariana into her arms. "Everything is going to be fine. We're just...going to go an adventure!"
"Really?"
"Uh huh! First we have to visit your sister."
"Lily right there," the toddler points. Emma's heart breaks because Ariana will never understand that this life she knows will be ripped away from her. It has to be heartbreaking and confusing for a kid.
"No not that sister–"
"Emma it's almost midnight." Ruby whimpers. Emma groans in agony and motions for Ruby to follow. Since Ruby doesn't have her cloak she'll be blood thirsty when the clock strikes 12. They need to get far away from Lily as possible or Ruby will gladly devour her.
While they run through the neighborhood and into the woods, Emma pulls out her phone to call Mary. At first she doesn't get an answer so she decides to text her instead.
"Okay, I think this is far enough," Ruby informs when they reach a clearing.
"Good, because I don't need Ariana to see that and we need to figure out what the forbidden fruit is exactly."
"How the hell are we going to do that?" Ruby groans due to the feeling of her body starting to change.
"I don't know but, I'm pretty sure I know who will."
"Mommy!" Ariana whines at the sight of Ruby's growing fangs. Her eyes fill with red next which startles Ariana's little heart.
"Shhh...its okay." Emma reassures by bouncing her daughter. "You like dogs right?"
"Uh huh," Ariana nods with tears welling up.
"Well Ruby has magic and that magic lets her turn into a big cute dog!"
"Really?!"
"Yes! Look!" When Ariana looks, Ruby is already finished morphing and she sits before Emma, wagging her tail to express her loyalty. There's no threat around so Ruby is completely calm. "See?"
"Wow!" Ariana gasps and wiggles out of her mom's arms. "Can I ride her?!"
"Sure kid," Emma chuckles. Since Ruby is huge and big enough for even Emma to ride her, Emma has to help Ariana onto Ruby's back. "Hold on tight."
"Okay!" Ruby carefully walks around the forest so that Ariana can have a fun ride while Emma makes a phone call. This time she receives an answer from her eldest.
"Hello?" Snow questions. This time Emma is silent. Just hearing Snow's voice after 21 long years has really pulled at her heartstrings. "Emma are you there?"
"Yes..." Emma whispers softly. "A-are you okay?"
"Yeah...why are you acting weird? Wait, you remember?!"
"I do," Emma laughs.
"Yes! Finally! I missed you Dad! I missed you so much!"
"I missed you more Snow, listen. I need your help. We have to break the curse and defeat Cora before your mom finds her."
"She's awake too?!"
"Yes! And she's only getting closer and closer to Cora–wherever the hell that is." Now that Emma is saying it out loud, she's starting to panic.
"Okay, I'm on my way, send me your location."
After they hang up, Emma sends her location to Snow and sits in the grass. She watches as the enormous wolf interacts with her daughter; it's the most precious sight. The air fills with Ariana's happy laugh as she runs away from Red who makes sure to stay at least 5 steps behind. Then eventually Red catches her, nudging her head into Ariana's tiny body. The wolf's head, from her nose to the tip of her ears, is bigger than Ariana's entire body.
Of course Emma knows that her daughter is safe. She takes a moment to think about what the forbidden fruit could be. She could always look to the book for guidance but Lily has it and that asshat is probably long gone. Forbidden could be a main key alone, or fruit. Maybe Regina's apples from her tree in the yard? No that's too obvious, Cora is too manipulative for that.
"Dad?" A small voice echoes from afar. Emma stands, her heart filling with joy, and Red stands at attention with her ears flicking in the air. "Can you hear me?"
"Over here Snow!" Emma calls back followed by a small howl from the wolf. Snow then appears at the edge of the clearing, her green eyes filled with tears.
Now that her memories are back she looks to Emma different. She looks at her like the ten year old who admired her paternal mother all those years ago. Words cannot describe how happy she is over the curse weakening. And that happiness sends her racing into Emma's arms.
"Daddy!" She cries into the crook of Emma's neck as strong arms lift her in the air.
"Hey kid."
Emma gently places Snow down and ruffles her hair a little like she always did. She can observers every detail of Snow like its the first time she's seen her in forever.
"Man, Cora really stole some years from me huh?"
"Yea..." Snow nods as she wipes her tears. "How did she do it? She casted the curse when I was 10 so it's only been 8 years. How did she reverse everyone's age?"
"Dark magic can go great lengths if you sacrifice enough to get there. It's always been that way," Emma informs.
"Well, she said she'll die if the curse is broken so either way she plans to die. You think she sacrificed her soul?" Snow asks.
"Makes sense," Emma shrugs. "Given by the way she looks she's getting sicker and sicker the weaker the curse gets. I even wonder why she gave us those memories like that...she kept us all together. She made Regina my...ugh! Gross!"
"To torment," Snow growls darkly. She scrunches her button nose then focuses her attention to Red and Ariana. She can't help but wonder where Ariana lies in all of this. Technically she's the only kid to be born during the curse.
"We need to figure out the forbidden fruit and now."
"I was thinking, what if it's Mama's apples?"
"Nah," Emma shakes her head. She then snaps her fingers as an idea comes to mind. On cue Red trots over and sits before Emma awaiting her next order. "We've gotta get that book back. We don't have long so we gotta use Red to sniff it out."
"Okay, my car is parked in front of the house, let's go."