Chapter 31

"So that's why we need to seal the sword with Snow and Ten in it." Emma had explained to Regina and Zelena what had happened at the park and her solution. Both ladies were still staring at Emma with mouths wide open in shock that she was pacing the room back and forth without a walker while recounting earlier events.

"Sweetheart, please sit down. You're making me nervous." Regina held out her hand for Emma to take and sit down next to her, but Emma just shook her head and kept biting her thumb nail as she continued to pace in thought.

Zelena finally decided to change the subject from Emma's legs, "Let me see if understand this. You want to put a sealed object in another sealed object?" Zelena was squinting and finally grabbed the bridge of her nose as if the thought was hurting her. It was more like the entire day's events were catching up to her.

Emma stopped and nodded, "Basically, yeah. I'll tweak the spell Bobby used to seal the dagger in me, but I'll use an inanimate object this time. I know it can be done. I just need to research to figure out how. There must be a way." She stared at Zelena in thought for a moment and then continued with her pacing.

Regina finally nodded in understanding and then looked back towards the kitchen, "Honey, can you release my mother and Mal? I think they've learned their lesson."

"Oh! I completely forgot about them. Whoops." Emma cringed and waved her hand to release the binding that kept the reunited mother and daughter in place at the table. They both proceeded to walk into the living room with the others looking exhausted, "Are you two ready to behave?" Emma asked with one eyebrow raised. They simply let out heavy sighs and flopped onto the couches across from each other with partial nods.

"Good, because I will need your help with this. I just wish Bobby was here too." Emma sighed.

"Ask and you shall receive, Dearie."

Emma whirled around, "Bobby!" She ran over and hugged him as he patted her on the back. "I need your advice. I'm stuck and I hate reading those damned books."

Rumple gave her a squeeze and then pulled back and grabbed her shoulders, "You know how to do this, Em. We practiced something like this years ago. Remember the nesting dolls we practiced with? You could apply that lesson here."

Emma's eyes grew wide, "Oh my God, Yes!"

"Remember, Emma. The size makes no difference in the sealing. The magic will still apply the seal."

Emma nodded, knowing he was telling her to figure out what the sword and its inhabitants would be sealed in. The size would not matter. The smaller, the better in this case. She looked around the room and noticed a notebook; Tristan's notebook that she draws and colors in. "I think I may know what to seal it in." Her grin grew wider.

That night, Emma was nestled up against Regina with her head under Regina's neck in bed. Regina ran her hand up and down Emma's arm slowly while holding her close with the other arm. "How are you walking, Emma? How did you do what you did today?"

With her eyes still closed, Emma nuzzled closer to Regina and placed a soft kiss on her chest, "I have no idea. My magic took over my body and this warmth caressed my skin. I could feel it soothing my muscles and joints. It was like they finally relaxed and a cool balm was placed all over my body. I still don't know if I trust how long it'll last so I'll use a cane just in case."

Emma then continued to place kisses across Regina's chest and then slowly moving up her neck and along her jawline. Regina closed her eyes and hummed in appreciation and she began to smile and feel goosebumps all over her body. Emma continued until her mouth slowly enveloped Regina's lips and her tongue worked its way into Regina's mouth. Moaning while their tongues battled, Emma turned over and straddled Regina while holding her face in her hands. She pulled back breathless and stared into blown pupils as they both panted. "I want you, Regina. I've missed you."

"Then take me."

Emma lunged forward, pulling Regina into a searing kiss and her hands began slowly pulling the straps of Regina's pajama top down her shoulder. Emma's kisses worked their way down Regina's neck to her shoulder as her hands began softly cupping Regina's breasts, fingers flicking the nipples through the silk material. Regina arched her back into Emma's warm touch as her hips began to sway in need of friction. Emma's left hand began descending until it reached the waistband of her pajama bottoms. Slowly, her hand slid under the silk material until is reached the soft, moist warmth of Regina's core.

"You're so wet for me." Emma whispered between kisses.

"Mmhmm" Regina began bucking her hips into Emma's cupped palm. "Please, Em. I need you now."

Emma's middle finger began to rub the hardened bundle of nerves as it collected moisture from Regina's glistening, wet center. Once Regina became a panting mess, Emma plunged two fingers in her as her kisses worked their way down to Regina's waxed apex. "You smell so good" Emma growled and then began sucking on Regina's clit while her fingers pumped in and out, maintaining a steady rhythm to match Regina's.

"Oh my God! I'm gonna…I'm…." Regina's entire body stiffened as Emma felt her juices coat her hand. She lowered her mouth further to suck up the generous nectar her lover so willingly gave. Regina's hands fisted the sheets as she rode out her orgasm and once her body relaxed, she grabbed Emma's hair to gently guide her back to her mouth for a searing kiss. Tasting herself on Emma's tongue caused Regina to moan deeper and pull Emma even closer. "I love you so much, Emma."

"Mmm, I love you too."

The next morning, both ladies struggled to crawl out of bed, exhausted from their night of love making. Emma stretched, loving how deliciously sore her body was, and then turned to her partner and smiled. She leaned over and softly kissed her nose which made Regina smile while keeping her eyes closed.

"Good morning." Regina quietly said while beginning to test her muscles.

Emma just grinned back and stared, "Good morning." After leaning over again and slowly kissing Regina on the lips, she turned to get out of bed, but when she went to stand, her legs gave out and she fell back onto the bed in a seated position.

Regina immediately opened her eyes and sat up, "Emma? What's wrong?"

Emma just stared at her legs confused, "I don't know. I tried to stand, but I couldn't."

Regina scrambled out of bed and shuffled to Emma's side of the bed, "Take my hands and let's try that. Maybe the stabilization will help."

Emma held out her hands and began to shift her weight forward in order to stand. Regina stood close just in case Emma needed to fall back onto the bed. As she stared at Emma's legs, noting their shaking, she realized what was going on. "I think you overexerted yourself yesterday."

Nodding in agreement, Emma continued to stand and study her shaky legs, "I hope that's all it is." Her walker was still in the bedroom in the corner so Regina brought it over and stayed close to Emma while she tested her walking. "I think I'm okay now." She slowly worked her way to the en-suite to get ready for the day, Regina right by her side in case she was needed.

After the kids were fed their breakfast, Emma and Regina sat on the back porch discussing the plan for sealing Excalibur while the kids played in the yard. Henry was so patient with his younger siblings. Emma looked up, "He's such an amazing big brother."

Regina smiled wide, "He is. He loves them and he'll be a wonderful brother to this little one too." She placed her hand on her baby bump.

Emma reached over and placed her hands on Regina's belly too, "I can't wait to meet you, Little One. You're going to have the best siblings in the world." Emma then leaned back into her chair to get back to the subject at hand, "I don't want you to get angry at me, but…" Regina looked at Emma concerned, but remained silent so Emma continued, "I don't want you helping me with the sealing."

Hurt flashed across Regina's features, "Why? You can't do this by yourself. It requires too much magic."

"Just hear me out." She raised her hands in surrender, "I know that, but you're pregnant and the baby is gonna need your magic to help it grow. It would be too dangerous for you to help me on this one."

Sighing, Regina backed down, "You're right, but then who will help you? Zelena is further along than I am with her pregnancy so she's out."

"There's Mal."

Regina scoffed, "That won't be enough! This spell you're attempting is too heavy!"

Emma winced at what she was about to say, "I also want Cora to help."

Regina glared at Emma, but stayed silent as she debated. She knew Emma was right. She and Zelena were in no shape to help her. She needed a third person and thanks to her daughter's special ability, they could utilize her mother's magic. However, feelings were still sore on the subject of her mother. Standing up, Regina hollered to the children, "Does anyone need something to drink?"

All three kids yelled that they wanted some Coke so Regina nodded and walked into the house away from Emma. She needed some time to think. Sensing Regina's inner turmoil, Emma stayed silent and decided not to follow her.

"I would be honored to help you, Savior." A voice from behind Emma said.

Not even surprised by the newest guest and ignoring the Savior title, Emma turned with a grin, "Thank you, Cora. I take it you've been watching everything going on so I don't need to fill you in."

Cora nodded, "I have. Have you asked Mal for help? She may not agree to do it if I'm also involved." She looked out at the children playing and smiled in sadness for the childhood her children had lost.

"I spoke with Mal already and she agreed this was the best solution. I'll have Tristan there so her ability can bring you there, but I'll have Audrey watching her on the playground in the distance so she can't see what is happening."

"Very smart, Emma." Cora turned to watch her grandchildren playing and a small tear ran down her cheek which Emma noticed.

"What's wrong, Cora?"

Clearing her throat and trying to gain her composure, she responded "I'm going to miss this when you move back. I'm just taking it all in as much as I can."

Emma was confused, "Why would you miss it?"

Cora rolled her eyes and gave a look as if to say 'you're so dumb', "You're moving back to a world without magic. I won't be able to see them anymore."

Scoffing, Emma rolled her eyes in return, "Tristan can use her magic in the outside world. We were seeing spirits long before we came back to Storybrooke."

"Really?" Cora asked smiling with unshed tears.

Emma looked at her sympathetically, "Really."

Tristan's voice could be heard across the yard once she spotted her grandmother, "Grandma!" Tristan ran and leaped into Cora's arms giving her a big hug.

"Hello, my little Princess." She kissed her granddaughter's head and continued to hold her tight. "I've missed you. Have you been having fun with your brothers?"

"Uh huh! Guess what? I learned a new song on my flute that you gave me. Wanna hear?"

While placing the child back down, Cora's smile grew "Of course I want to hear it! Let's go inside so I can listen." She grabbed the child's hand and was led into the house for a private recital from her granddaughter.

"Are you ready?" Mal had walked up to Emma in the park as she watched her daughter play.

"I am. I'm ready to be done with this." Emma watched Regina lifting Tristan on the monkey bars and helping her climb. Emma couldn't get over how beautiful she looked playing with their daughter. It was a sight she'd never tire of. "I don't want Regina near it so I asked her to stay with Tristan. You can imagine how well that went over."

Mal snorted, "Oh my. Is she even speaking to you?"

Emma sighed, "Not much. Just one-word answers. She only looks at me if I'm holding Tris."

Mal wrapped her arm around Emma's shoulder, "It'll be alright. Once this is over, she'll relax. She's just worried about you after all that has happened and can't stand the thought of losing you again." Mal then hooked her arm under Emma's to guide her up the hill to where the sword was still buried into the ground.

As they approached the site, the saw the police cruisers there to prevent others from approaching Excalibur. David then walked towards them, "I've cleared the area within 5 blocks. Everyone was told to stay in their homes for the next 30 minutes until this is completed." He then turned to his deputies, "We're going to clear out as well. I feel like we would be useless in this and you don't need us in your way."

Nodding, Emma hugged her father and then watched as the police drove away. "Let's get this over with. Cora?"

Cora's spirit materialized next to Emma and briefly looked at mile with a gentle smile, but Mal was having none of it and simply looked towards the sword. "Let's do this."

Emma took Tristan's coloring notebook and opened it to two blank pages. After laying the notebook in front of the sword on the ground, the three women held out their arms with their palms facing the sword and began the sealing. White magic spewed from Emma's palms while green magic swirled from Mal and Red magic from Cora.

The sword began vibrating and black magic began to lifting from its hilt. Emma could hear Ten's voice coming from the sword in a scream which caused her to increase the magic she was using. The strain in her right arm was horrendous so she used her left arm to keep her right arm raised and anchored. She looked at her magical helpers and noticed Mal was now out of breath while Cora had beads of sweat all over her cheeks and down her neck. The magical burden was so great that their eyes began to glow with their magical signatures.

Soon, a black trail of magic crawled from the sword and into the pages of the open notebook, filling the pages with the scene in front of them. An image of a sword slowly appeared in a grassy meadow, however, the real sword still remained in front of them.

"He's fighting it. Get ready!" Emma saw the attack coming before Mal and Mal's magic was blasted back at her along with a black stream of smoke. She flew back and into a tree across the field behind them, hitting her head and falling unconscious. "Mal!" Emma couldn't stop what she was doing and felt the greater strain now that there were only two of them fighting it.

"Remember your lessons with Rumple, Emma! You fit the larger nesting dolls into the smaller ones. You can do this the same way. Just visualize that sword in those pages. We're so close!" Cora yelled and she too was then swept back several feet by the sheer force of the magic emitted from the sword. That just left Emma.

"I can do this. I have to do this." Emma planted her feet and continued her sealing. A white ball of magic slowly grew around the sword and began to spread and take over the entire field. As it spread to Emma and slowly surrounded her, a large explosion could be heard outside the magical sphere while Emma still remained inside of it. She looked around and it was quiet and peaceful. Her entire surrounding was white.

It was then she heard a voice, "Help me, Emma. Please. I'm your mother."

Emma looked around for the source, but couldn't see her. She knew this was a last-ditch effort on Snow's part. She also knew Ten was probably encouraging her in hopes of getting out too. Taking a deep breath, she spoke, "You're not my mother. A mother nurtures and cares. You did none of those things for me. As far as I'm concerned, I have no mother and I never did."

The room began to grow brighter and brighter as Emma heard Snow and Ten screaming around her. She covered her eyes and soon a wave a bright light overtook the room. Within seconds, she was standing outside in the field again with the sword sealed in the pages of the notebook. Emma shuffled over to the book cautiously, mindful of her weak legs. There on the pages of the book was a picture of the field she stood in with the sword stuck in the ground. She smiled as she grabbed the notebook and slammed it shut while chuckling. "You'll never bother anyone else ever again."

She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to look behind her to see Cora smiling, "Are you okay?"

Emma looked at the book again with unshed tears, "It's tough knowing I don't have a mother. I always wanted one, but when I found Snow…"

Cora turned her around and pulled her into a hug, "You've got a mother now, Sweet Child." Emma finally let it all out and sobbed into Cora's shoulder while she Cora rubbed soothing circles on her back.

She then remembered her other helper, "Mal! Oh no!" She turned to see her friend beginning to stand up and rubbing her sore head." Cora helped Emma shuffle over to Mal. "Mal, oh my God! Are you alright?" Emma gently helped Mal to a standing position and placed her hand on Mal's bleeding head. White magic spilled from Emma's hand to soothe the pain and heal the wound caused by hitting the tree.

Mal's breathing then slowed and became more relaxed. "Thank you, Em. I don't know how you still have enough magic left to heal me." She looked at Emma and noticed something. "What's that on your forearm?"

Emma looked down to see yet another mark on her skin, this time of a Yin and Yang symbol. "What the fuck?"

"That's the lock of your seal, Em."

Emma turned to see Rumple standing next to Cora. "The lock?"

Rumple nodded, "That mark with remain as long as the seal does. If the mark disappears then the seal and its contents were destroyed. If the Yin and Yang blend together, then the seal was broken and its contents released."

Emma rubbed the symbol and silently nodded in understanding. Her vision began to blur as she stared at the mark and the others noticed her swaying on her feet.

"EMMA!" everyone called out as she began to collapse. Mal caught her and gently took Emma into her arms as she lowered herself to the ground.

Regina and Tristan had been walking towards the group after noticing the light show had ended from their vantage point in the park. When Regina saw Emma collapse, she picked Tristan up and walked quicker to the group. "What happened?"

Cora shook her head, "She's exhausted is all. She expended too much magic and its caught up with her. She just needs rest, Dear. She'll be alright."

Regina kneeled down to cup Emma's face with one hand. "I thought the three of you would prevent this from happening." She glared at the two women an ignored Rumple completely.

Tristan wiggled out of her arms and walked over to her blonde mother. "Mommy?" Emma remained unconscious so Tristan calmly leaned in and kissed her mother's cheek. A flourish of pink magic spread from the group and the color in Emma's cheeks returned. She nuzzled further into Mal and breathed a sigh of relief as she slept soundly.

"What just happened?" Regina looked at Emma and her daughter quizzically.

Rumple smiled, "She gave her Mommy a boost of magic. Emma will be just fine after she rests."

Mal looked to Regina, "I'm gonna take her back to the house and put her to bed." Regina nodded so Mal grabbed the notebook Emma had dropped and disappeared with the Savior in her arms.

Tristan looked up to Regina who was now standing and grabbed her hand, "Mama, can we go be with Mommy?"

Regina smiled as she looked at her daughter, warmth spreading across her body at the term of endearment used by Tristan. "Let's go home, Sweetheart." She squeezed Tristan's hand and smiled.

"Yeah! Let's go Grandma! Grandpa, are you coming?"

Rumple's eyes grew misty hearing her call him Grandpa. "I'll be right behind you, Tris."

"Mama, when will Mommy wake up?"

Regina looked at a sleeping Emma. It had been two days since they sealed Excalibur with Ten and Snow inside. "I don't know, Sweetheart, but I'm sure it'll be soon."

Nodding, the little girl went to leave the bedroom when she noticed her coloring notebook on the vanity. Smiling, she grabbed the book and ran out of the room to find her crayons. When she found her crayons, she opened her notebook and noticed a page with a sword drawn it. "This needs more color." She grabbed her red crayon and got to coloring. Then quickly she switched to the green crayon. Soon, the sword was a rainbow of colors. What the child didn't realize is that her drawing was creating a very colorful earthquake for the inhabitants of the sword on the page. She thought she could hear tiny screams, but ignored it and used the noises as a part of her imagination. She then colored in the fields around the sword with purples and pinks. Soon, though, she decided she didn't like the colors she had chosen so she ripped out the page, wadded it up, and started on a fresh sheet.

Audrey had just come into the living room and decided to sit with Tris and watch her draw . "Hey, Honey. What are you gonna draw?"

"I'm gonna draw sword!" she happily smiled.

Nodding, Audrey got up and began placing logs in the fireplace. "It's a little cold in here so I'm gonna get a fire going for us. How's that sound?"

"Can I help?" Tristan dropped her crayons and ran over the fire place.

"Of course, you can. Can you hand me those logs over there? They're pretty heavy and I need help with them." Audrey smiled as she watched Tristan struggle to lift one log, but she remained silent and let the girl do it herself. She considered herself a big girl and wanted to be treated as such.

"Thank you so much, Tris. I don't know what I'd do without you and your muscles." Audrey positioned the logs and watched as Tristan flexed her arms after rolling up her sleeves.

"I've got muscles like Mommy."

Audrey had always marveled at Emma's physique and apparently Tristan had noticed Emma's muscles too. "I'm gonna be strong like Mommy when I get big."

"I know you are! You're already getting muscles. You're amazing." Audrey smiled and kissed Tristan on the cheek. "Ok, stand back while I light the fire." Audrey used her multi-purpose lighter to light the logs, but noticed the fire was struggling to get started. "Hmmm, we need to add some paper to help the flames."

She was about to grab the newspaper from yesterday, but Tristan handed her the crumpled pictures from her coloring notebook. "Here you go!"

"Thank you, Sweetie." She tossed the balls of paper into the fireplace and a huge wave of black smoke burst from the logs as screams could be heard dying out. Audrey had grabbed Tristan and used her body to shelter the child from the smoke, but then noticed it disappeared just as quickly as it came."

"Oh wow! Do it again, Gams!"

Audrey was shaken and pretty soon, Regina was running into the room with Zelena close behind. "What happened?"

Audrey just stared at the fireplace and shook her head, "I have no idea. I was just starting a fire and we added paper to stoke the fire. The we heard screams and black smoke shot out."

Zelena stared at the fire burning, "That sounds like something magical." Staring at the flame, Zelena then turned to Audrey, "What paper did you use? Where did you get it from? Was it newspaper?"

Shaking her head, Audrey pointed to the coffee table, "No, it was drawings that Tristan drew and tore up."

Regina walked over to the table, immediately recognizing the book and quickly began thumbing through the pages. She flipped the pages from front to back and back to front while shaking her head. "It's not here. Where's the sword's pages?" She frantically kept looking thinking some pages might be stuck together.

Tristan just shrugged, "I colored the sword picture, but didn't like it."

Zelena's jaw dropped, "Where did you put the picture, Munchkin?"

"In there." Tristan pointed to the fireplace like she couldn't understand what the big deal was?

Regina's heart raced. She dropped the notebook and ran up the stairs to Emma's room and pulled the sheets back to look at her forearm. She ran her fingers over the flawless fair skin. "It's gone. The mark is gone." She whispered, though Zelena and Audrey had heard it from the doorway when they followed her.

After a minute of silence, Zelena burst out into laughter, "Oh my God, that was bloody brilliant." Tristan had wandered into the room to see what the fuss was about, but only saw her aunt laughing. Zelena cupped Tristan's face and kissed her on the top of her head, "You are brilliant, my Dear. You deserve some ice cream."

Tristan didn't understand why, but she wasn't going to pass up ice cream, "Really?"

"Yes. You did very well. What kind shall we get?"

"Can I have a sundae?"

Zelena scoffed, "Sundae's are so…boring. How about a banana split?"

Tristan's eyes grew wide, "What's a banana split?" Based on how Zelena was talking, it had to be something amazing so Tristan was all ears.

Holding out her hand, Zelena winked, "Let me show you." She looked up at Regina and Audrey and didn't give them a chance to scold her, "Ta-Ta" She poofed out of the room with her niece leaving the two ladies speechless.