Chapter 19
A/N: I know, I suck. It's been awhile. Life has gotten in the way, but no story is abandoned. I'll try to be better with updates.
Previously on Love Bites:
An hour later, Emma was finishing up when she noticed one last cabinet that she hadn't checked. When she opened the double doors, her color went pale. Swallowing hard, she turned to Rumple, "Bobbie, please tell me I'm remembering wrong. Please tell me you did not keep a weapon like that in here!"
Rumple walked up and saw the empty cabinet as he began shaking his head in disbelief, "Oh no. Em, I had forgotten about it. I…"
"WHY WOULD YOU KEEP THAT THING?!" Emma was pacing and running her hands through her hair. "This changes everything. Now we have to worry about the entire town, not just our loved ones." She punched a hole into the stone wall next to the cabinet, watching as her blood ran down the jagged stones below. She then turned to Rumple, "Wait, they need magic to use it. They have none."
Rumple nodded, "That's true, but that also means they'll be looking for someone powerful enough to activate it."
They both looked at the floor in thought and then both looked at each other, simultaneously yelling at their concern, "REGINA!"
"I have to go. Something happened earlier and now Regina is…" Emma began to leave the vault.
"Wait!"
Emma turned to Rumple rolling her eyes at being delayed, "What?"
"We still need to discuss the fact that the dagger in its entirety has been sealed in you."
With a heavy sigh, Emma answered, "Later. I need to find Regina first". She quickly ran out the door after. Rumple just stood there shaking his head as he turned to look back at the empty space that housed the missing item. His eyebrow furrowed in worry as he simply whispered "what have I done?"
1 week later
Emma had been exhausted. After returning from the vault a week ago, she learned what happened at the convent with Henry and Regina and then what had happened at her parents' place. Emma hadn't slept at all after that. A curfew had been put in place for all of Storybrooke; no one out after sundown. Emma thought Henry should stay with her because of his new transformation, but Regina refused to be separated from him so now Emma has a full house which includes Tristin, Audrey, Regina, Henry, and Roland.
Emma spent nights patrolling the streets and looking for Hook, Russell or any other vampires, but the town remained quiet. To quiet in Emma's opinion. Not even a scent to follow. She searched during the day for Regina's other half and Blue which also hadn't been seen since the incident in Snow's apartment. Slowly closing her eyes, Emma began thinking about how different her life could've been had Regina chosen her. Tears gradually fell down her cheeks and suddenly she felt the soft touch of fingers wiping the tears away and soft plump limps grazing over hers. Eyes still closed, she gave into the kiss, inhaling deeply as she reached a hand up to cup the cheek of her comforter.
Pulling back from the kiss, Emma slowly opened her eyes to a blurry Queen smiling down at her with tears in her own eyes. "Hello, My Darling".
While surprised, Emma was too tired to react so she simply laid there and stared in confusion. "If this is a dream, I don't want to wake up".
The Queen's smile grew, touched by the sentiment, "This is no dream, Darling. This could be a reality every day for us. She cupped Emma's cheek as Emma leaned into her hand and closed her eyes causing more tears to spill.
"I'm so tired, Regina. I'm physically and emotionally drained."
"I know, Sweetheart. Let me help you. Let me be with you."
Taking a deep breath, Emma pulled away and sat up in the bed getting a better look at Regina's other half. "Where's Blue?"
Pursing her lips, the Queen pulled a vial from the pocket of her leather jacket. It glowed with a bright blue powder inside. Emma's eyes blew wide, "That's Blue? How?"
The Queen grinned wickedly, "I put her out of her misery, Dear. She begged me to do it." Before Emma could berate her, she continued, "She was going to die anyway. I needed information from her and when she gave it to me, I killed her. Once a fairy dies, she's transformed back to her original and simplest form; fairy dust".
Emma just stared in wonder at the vial. She had heard from Regina about Blue's condition in Snow's apartment, but felt no remorse about it. The spell was used to protect her family and she'd never regret that.
Emma sighed heavily and began to get out of bed, "We've had this discussion, Regina. Besides, aren't you supposed to be the evil counterpart incapable of love after you were split?" Hands on her hips now, she was sure she had caught the Queen off guard with that comment, but little did she know.
The Queen stood up, taking Emma's hands in her own. She looked down to their joined hands and swallowed hard. "I'd like to tell you a story. Please?" Queens do not beg, but after her talks with Blue, she needed Emma to understand. Seeing the seriousness in her expression, Emma nodded and followed her back to the bed to sit down.
"When I was a little girl, roughly 12 years old, I became close with the daughter of the cook in our castle. Her name was Hanna. I was careful to only meet her when mother was not around. She would never allow her daughter to socialize with peasants." The Queen stared across the room at the wall, trying to keep her anger at bay. Then she continued, "Our friendship grew over the next 4 years until one day I kissed her. An innocent friendship turned to first love. When I was 15 years old, mother had hired a stable boy named Daniel."
Emma interrupted, "I know about Daniel".
The Queen cut her off, "You know of him, not about him. Not the real story." She glared at Emma as if daring her to contradict her again, but she stayed silent so the Queen continued. "Daniel knew about Hanna and I and would help us meet in secret from Mother." The Queen smiled at the memories, but her expression became serious once more. "One day, while meeting with Hanna at the lake, I heard a girl's screams. It was your Mother on her runaway horse. I wasn't completely dressed as Hanna and I were in the lake messing around." Emma choked a bit at that. "I quickly dressed and jumped on my horse to save her. What I didn't know was that my Mother had been watching from a distance because she had caused the horse to spook. She had anticipated me coming from the stables, not the lake. While I was saving Snow, she had gone to the lake and discovered Hanna still there."
Emma's heart was racing at this point. Her eyes blown with worry how this was going to end. The Queen continued though, "As you know, I was promised to the King after I rescued Snow, but upon returning home, Hanna and her mother were gone. I didn't know what had happened, but was distraught with worry. I ran to Daniel, but he hadn't seen anything. I was so angry thinking Hanna had left without saying goodbye. Daniel had been a huge comfort to me as he understood my pa, "in. He had admitted to me that he was in love with me, but knew my interests lied elsewhere." The Queen blushed and looked away momentarily before continuing, "Daniel said that even though he knew I could never be in love with him, he still wanted to take care of me. He'd rather have part of me instead of none of me." Tears began running down the Queen's cheeks, "You know how that ended the night we tried to run away together."
Emma waited a minute before finally responding, "I'm so sorry that happened to you, but what does that have to do with anything?"
The Queen wiped her tears away and continued, "After marrying the king, I discovered that Hanna and her mother were working in the White castle. I couldn't believe it. Hanna was assigned as my handmaiden and had confided that my mother had fired her mother on the spot without explanation and asked them to leave. I didn't care at that point. I was just so relieved that I had found her. We began an affair in secret. To protect my identity, I used a glamour each time we met. I couldn't risk the King finding out. You see, the White Kingdom is very conservative in their thinking. Homosexuality is viewed as impure in a pure Kingdom. People caught in same sex relationships are viewed as cursed and often burned at the stake to remove the so-called curse." The Queen bristled at the memories. "People who are accused of being sexually cursed are called Specters." Emma raised an eyebrow at that, but she continued her story, "One morning, the King came to my chambers and informed me that a Specter was discovered in his castle."
Emma's head whipped up at that, panic in her eyes. She already knew where this was going. The Queen nodded in confirmation. "I followed him to pulpit of the castle and there down below was Hanna tied to stakes and the townspeople surrounding her." The Queen's hands were shaking at this point so Emma reached over and wrapped her hands around them. The Queen swallowed, but continued, "The King announced to the villagers that the Princess had seen Hanna with a woman and that Hanna would not reveal the identity of her lover. He then asked her lover to reveal herself of he'd light the stakes. Hanna looked up at me and stared into my eyes while she cried. She very subtly shook her head begging me to stay silent. I didn't know what to do! I saw the hatred in everyone's faces and the King's eyes searched all around trying to see if he could glean a suspect and like a coward, I just looked at the floor and stayed silent. Soon after, I could hear Hanna's screams as her body burned."
Silence took over the room for more than 10 minutes as Emma held the Queen in her arms and rocked her back and forth. Hearing this story helps to explain Snow's comments about homosexuality while she was Mary Margaret. It also caused her heart to sink because she knew her mother's thinking wasn't because of the Dark Curse, it was what she truly believed. If Snow ever found out about Emma and Tristan, she'd also be a Specter in her mother's eyes. Clearing her throat, Emma half asked in confirmation, "So Snow….my mother?"
"Whatever spell Blue had used to split the vampirism from those men, it caused myself to split, but not in a good/evil way. It has allowed my strong and brave half to split from my weak and scared half. Your Regina chose Robin in fear. Now that we are split, I can choose for myself. No fear. I choose you." The Queen was resolute.
Emma just stared at her in shock. "But, your soul mate is…."
"NOT ROBIN!" The Queen was breathing hard and in anger, a fireball formed in her hand which she threw at the vile of fairy dust now lying on the floor. Glaring at the burning fairy dust, she took spit out, "Blue made a deal with Robin back when I was married to the King. Robin wanted me and she knew I wanted my True Love so she arranged for the fairy dust that Tink used that night to point me to Robin. Blue told me that she knew of our future bond and being a fairy of the White Kingdom, she wanted to keep the royal line pure so she made sure the dust that Tink stole to use for me was actually her own Blue dust."
Emma's face grew redder in anger, "Did Snow know about this?"
The Queen shook her head, "No, she did not. I knew something had to be wrong for Robin to be my soul mate so I made a deal with Blue. I'd put her out of her misery from your protection spell if she answered my questions."
Emma paced around her room in thought, her fist in front of her mouth as she hummed a soft tune. She needed her music, she needed to relax. Biting her thumb nail she looked worriedly at the Queen, "Does all of Storybrooke think that way?" She gulped in anticipation of the answer.
The Queen rushed over to her and grabbed Emma's cheeks so that she was looking right at her, "No, Darling. Only those from the White Kingdom. All other Kingdoms accepted it and for many, it was considered as normal as heterosexuality. They thought that everyone had a 50% chance of liking either sex".
Emma stared into her eyes, looking for any lie, but could find none. Pursing her lips, she then asked, "What percentage of Storybrooke do you think is from the White Kingdom?" Emma was very worried for her daughter. She had never cared what people thought of her, but if people think homosexuality is impure, what would they think of Tristan?
The Queen seemed to understand the hidden concern in her question so she leaned forward and softly kissed her lips before leaning back and answering, "Tristan is safe. I won't allow any harm to come to her. Roughly 25% of Storybrooke consists of White Kingdom villagers. I don't think they would harm either of you because you are royalty. They would look to Snow and Blue for guidance".
Emma snorted at that, "And what would my mother do to us?" It was a rhetorical question of course, but part of her wondered what the answer would be. "Wait, what about my father? He knows everything, but he seems fine with it."
The Queen dropped her hands and began pacing, "Yes, well…perhaps he isn't as much of an idiot as I gave him credit for." Emma rolled her eyes at that. "He was a shepherd from another Kingdom so I imagine he still keeps a more open mind".
"Will my mother ever accept me? Will she accept Tristan?" Emma was looking out the window staring towards the town. Not once did she blink until she heard the Queen's answer.
"I don't know".
Emma disappeared in a poof of purple and gray magic leaving the Queen alone in her bedroom. Shocked, the Queen was about to try and follow when her daughter made an appearance. Tristan opened the bedroom door and peaked her head slowly thinking her mother was asleep as she whispered, "Mommy?" When she saw The Queen her eyes lit up. She ran over to her other mother taking in her regal attire, "Gina!" She grabbed the Queen's leg, hugging her with all her might.
The Queen melted at the site and picked up the little girl to hold her closer. "Oh, my Darling, I love you so much. How are you doing, my little princess?"
Ignoring the question, Tristan noticed the empty bed over the Queen's shoulder while hugging her, "Where's Mommy?"
The Queen leaned back to look at her daughter, "She just left, Sweetheart. I'm not sure where she went."
Tristan huffed, "I wanna show her what I just learned to play. Did she go play her music again?"
The Queen's ears perked at this information. "Her music? What do you mean, Sweetheart?"
"When Mommy gets upset or can't sleep, she goes to play her music."
The Queen thought about what the toddler meant and realized she was right about her ghost. Setting the child down, she kissed her daughter's cheek and smiled, "How about I go find her and bring her back so you can show her what you learned?"
Excitement bubbled in the little girl, "Okay! I'll go practice!" She ran out of the room anxious to find her instrument. The Queen watched until she was gone and then disappeared to find her Soul Mate.
When she reappeared in the clock tower, there was Emma sitting at the piano playing a Rondo by Mozart so loud and so intensely that The Queen thought the keys would crack from the power. She didn't want to startle her can cause her to leave so she waited and allowed Emma to work out her stress. When the song was finally finished, Emma leaned onto the keys and rested her head on the rack. Her breathing eventually slowed down and the tense muscles in her back began to relax.
That's when she felt a soft touch on her shoulder which caused her to sit up and look at her intruder. She found a soft face smiling at her in wonderment. "That was amazing, Emma. Why do you hide such a beautiful gift?"
Emma looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Panic overtook her whole body and she broke into a cold sweat. Her respirations increased and she felt nauseous. She knew this feeling well. She was about to have a panic attack. Her eyes scanned the room wildly and when she didn't find what she needed, she held out her hand and conjured a small waste bucket which she immediately began vomiting into.
Rubbing her back, the Queen was at a loss of what just occurred. What caused this reaction in her beloved? She held Emma's hair back for her with one hand while the other rubbed soothing circles on her back and whispered that she was okay. "Sweetheart, what's wrong? What happened? Talk to me. What can I do to help?" Emma just kept dry heaving and shaking her head silently.
After calming down, Emma leaned back on the piano bench and took a series of deep, slow breaths. The Queen could just make out the whispering, crying words of "Please don't hurt me, please don't be mad" during Emma's episode. She kneeled down in front of Emma, chuckling to herself how her mother would be furious at her for kneeling for anyone. She waited for Emma to calm down a little more and then finally spoke up, "Darling, what happened?" She cupped Emma's face again and Emma's tears fell without her permission.
"I don't play for others because when I was little, I would be beaten or worse when I was caught. I was told I was terrible and my music made their ears bleed."
The Queen's heart broke at hearing this and she took Emma into her arms, "Oh my Dear, they were wrong. Your music is magic, actual magic. I've never heard anything more beautiful." She chuckled then and looked at Emma, "Our daughter has inherited your wonderful gift and was anxious to play something for you earlier. I promised to
bring you to her so please don't make me a liar." Emma chuckled at that.
The Queen happened to look down at Emma's hands and that's when she noticed Emma's arm where the dagger had been sealed, "What is that?"
Emma looked down and noticed that the dagger tattoo had reappeared, but it was also no longer a dagger, it was a series of blue ornate swirls that spanned the length of her arm up to her shoulder. "What the fuck?", Emma squealed. Just then, the patterns glowed a bright purple and the Queen quickly moved back unsure of what was happening. The skin on Emma's arm began to rise as she just stared in disbelief. Soon, bones raised from the purple magic until they were covered with black feathers. "Wings?" The wings extended from her forearm and flapped until soon, a crow's head emerged from her forearm. Within a minute, a black crow with red eyes was sitting on the music rack of the piano staring back at Emma. "What the hell are you?"
The Queen had a ball of fire in her hand ready to launch in the background while waiting to see how things unfolded.
The crow stared at Emma and then spoke, "I'm Tenebrous. You know me as the Dark One." Emma's jaw dropped as she looked from the crow to her forearm and then to the crow again.
"What the hell? How are you there?" Emma replayed Bobbie's earlier words of the dagger, in its entirety, being sealed in her. What did he mean by that?
"Just because you sealed me in you doesn't mean I can't come out occasionally. My life may be bound to yours and my powers may be sealed, but I can still come out to play, Savior."
Emma was still in shock, but gathered her wits about her, "Are you kidding me? I have to deal with you too now? What do you want?"
The crow stared a little longer and finally answered, "I'm hungry."