I could go on and on about how this chapter has taken the very life out of me, but that's dramatic, so I won't. But this chapter was a nightmare to write, not to mention I have a new job and my schedule's off. It's also why updates have been so SLOW. So, I apologize for that, and I thank you all for your patience.
Also, if you see a mistake or a problem, please, please let me know.
Bella makes a concerted effort not to react to the presence lurking behind the trees. She knew a vampire was missing when she arrived, but no one mentioned his being there. Bella doesn't have time to wonder why Rosalie nor the others comment on him being so close, so she takes care of it herself. When she vanished Edward's body, she knew whatever interest those Volturi Kings had in her would only grow if she let Demetri escape.
Bella concentrates, subconsciously aware of every living being within a ten-mile radius, and erects a new barrier without her girlfriend ever realizing.
"Why are you here? Shouldn't you be with your mother?" Rosalie asks.
Bella hums distractedly and answers, "Mom surrendered and is about to be transported back to the Enchanted Forest whenever they get over their shock. I came to give you ups a heads-up and to warn you not to interfere with whatever happens no matter how it looks."
The barrier is complete, and Bella knows the exact moment Demetri crashes into it. A cold smile grows without her permission, and Emmett leans close to Alia.
"I don't think I like that look in her eyes," he says, pretending to whisper.
"Neither do I," Alia admits.
Bella commands the Earth near the barrier to separate, and it's almost like she has an omnipresent perspective as she watches Demetri fall into the abyss. The Earth swallows him whole, and Bella pulls the ground back together again. Her senses return to her fully just in time to hear Rosalie ask-
"Isabella, what have you done?"
Emmerson isn't happy. Not in the sense that he's annoyed or upset, but he's furious. Emmerson keeps his hands to his side as Hook leads him through the house toward the back. They enter the last bedroom, where Ruby lies on the mattress with gauze wrapped around her torso and head. Emmerson drops to his knees and grabs her hand. Belle stops and leans on the doorframe with her arms wrapped around her waist. Her eyes are bloodshot, and Hook takes Belle into his arms as she starts to cry again. Emmerson brushes Ruby's hair from her forehead, cringing at the purple lines pulsing under her skin, and he kisses her cheek.
"I'm so sorry, Rubes," he says. "I'm going to get them for this. I promise."
"She'll be fine," Granny mutters tiredly. "Just needs to rest and let her body do the work."
"What even happened?"
"If I knew, I'd tell you," Granny answers.
Emmerson gets to his feet and rubs the back of his neck. He really doesn't want to leave, but he remembers what Hook said about the plan and their role in it. Especially the timing, and Emmerson bends down and kisses Ruby on the cheek.
"I'll be back," he whispers in her ear.
"You better be," Granny warns. "I'm not interested in seeing more than one child on their near-death bed."
"Yes ma'am," Emmerson replies automatically. "I promise."
"And tell that to your girlfriend and her kid too," Granny huffs.
Emmerson swallows his guilt and smiles tightly.
"I'll pass the message along," he says.
Emmerson bows in her general direction and stops at the door, where Belle peels herself out of Hook's arms. Like she knows they're about to do something stupid, Belle puts her hand on his cheek and gives a wry smile.
"Do I even want to know?" she asks.
"Probably not," Emmerson mutters.
Belle snorts and drops her hand.
"Then promise me you'll come back?" she says.
"I promise. We all will."
Belle's smile is almost believable as she steps aside for Emmerson and Hook to leave, and she gives them one last look. It says more than anything Belle could ever say out loud, and they both give her reassuring squeezes on the arm before they leave. Halfway down the street toward the main town, Emmerson meets up with Jax and Vincent with their swords strapped to their hips. Jax arches an eyebrow and falls in line with Emmerson while Vincent takes up the rear with Hook.
"Are you all ready to go?" Emmerson asks.
"Yes, your Highness," Jax teases.
"Please stop," Emmerson groans. "It isn't funny when Bella does it either."
Jax laughs and claps Emmerson on the shoulder.
"Of course, brother."
The comment, so off-handed, settles into Emmerson's bones, and he smiles widely at Jax. Jax pretends not to notice, and the moment passes.
"Listen, I need you to know that something will happen," Emmerson warns. "But you guys are not allowed to intervene until you get the signal. Seriously, no matter what you hear, see, or what you think is happening, stay to the side until you're called forward, okay?"
"What's the signal?" Jax asks warily.
Emmerson winces and tells him. Jax looks at Emmerson as if he's lost his mind, and in a way, Emmerson can't blame him. Spending even a few seconds with Isabella will cause that to happen to anyone.
Regina stands chained on a platform in front of the town hall with her head held high and a bored look in her eyes. Blue predictably found a way to make those damned beans work, and the portal to the Enchanted Forest stood out under the cloudy sky. Some had already gone back, impatient followers of Blue who wanted to check on their old homes and see the damage done in their absence, and no one stopped them. Regina holds out hope they were eaten by ogres as soon as they arrived. One by one, she watched men, women, and children step through with a disgusting amount of happiness. Regina almost felt pity for them. Almost. Who would want to return to a world without indoor plumbing? Television? Yoga pants?
That last one was more so for her benefit. How she survived in those dresses all those years without knowing about the wonders of spandex is nothing short of a miracle.
"Looking forward to seeing you hang witch!"
Regina glances at the man, and she smiles coldly. The man swallows roughly and hurries through the portal with his wife directly behind him. Regina returns her attention to the horizon, mindlessly counting down the minutes until Snow or Blue drags her into the Enchanted Forest with the intent of hanging her for the entire realm to see. It's not the best plan, but it's the safest way to ensure those who want to leave can leave, and those who desire to stay can stay.
Regina winces at her inner commentary and decides to focus on the smaller than expected crowd. Somehow she figured everyone outside of Miller Heights would be lining up to return home. Still, Blue and Snow overestimated their little homecoming surprise. It wasn't more than fifty people who showed up after the announcement, and Regina could see the displeasure on Blue's face when she counted. Regina figures Blue will leave the rest to operate on their own, and that's more cold-hearted than anything Regina's ever done.
Well. No, probably not, but it's still rude. Soon, it's down to the last ten people, and Regina's nerves become almost unbearable.
Nine.
Where the hell is her daughter? Emmerson? Scratch that, where are her men?
Seven.
Are they seriously going to leave it to the very last minute?
Five.
Dear God, Regina's going to kill Isabella when this is said and done.
Three.
Regina yawns unexpectedly, and the action sparks some sort of visceral reaction in Snow, who storms over to her and slaps her. The force of Snow's slap makes Regina waver on the platform, but the chains around her ankles keeping her from falling over completely. Charming, Blue, Neal, and even Henry are caught off guard by the action, but they do not do anything other than usher in the last two people. Regina stretches her jaw while she glances at Henry. She can't even see the boy she raised, and she figures that's appropriate considering the bullshit his birth father and grandparents have been feeding him.
"Not that it matters, but what was that for?" Regina asks. "I've already surrendered, your Majesty."
If Snow hears the mocking tone behind her words, she ignores it. Instead, she says, "Your time is up, Regina. You're going headfirst into whatever destruction and chaos you left behind. And the first thing I plan on doing once we're home is hanging you for the entire realm to see."
"Do I have time to at least change into something a little less common?"
"No. You will die as the Miller's Daughter, not the Queen you were pretending to be," Snow snaps.
Regina twitches and clenches her fist. Snow sees the impact her comment made, and Regina prepares herself for more underhanded remarks when a cloud of red smoke appears. Regina's confusion is genuine even though she senses Isabella's magic, and part of her wonders if her daughter's about to go off-script. Regina sighs inwardly. Naturally, her daughter probably changed something without giving her a heads up, and it makes Regina uncomfortable.
Isabella emerges from the red smoke with red eyes and fury at her fingertips. Literally. The lightning that sparks from Isabella's hands hits the platform at random places, sometimes a little too close to the metal around Regina's wrists to be accidental. Snow flinches back from the sight, and Regina subtly looks for Rosalie, Emmett, or Alia. They're nowhere to be found, and that scares her completely. Other than the Charming brigade, it's just her and Isabella.
"Regina!" Isabella growls.
"Yes?" Regina answers carefully.
Snow shifts off the platform slowly, returning to her husband, and Regina swallows when Isabella steps closer.
"Did you manipulate our bond to keep me around?"
Regina genuinely startles at that, and she frowns in annoyance.
"I would never do something like that!"
"Bullshit. Then what happened to my mother?"
"What makes you think I know?"
"Don't lie. You killed her, didn't you?" Isabella accuses.
"No! I-" Regina stops and swallows. The lie is so easy to tell, and it has been for a very long time. "It's complicated," she deflects.
"What could be so complicated about that? Just tell me the truth!" Isabella shouts, her voice cracking. "Did you kill her? Yes or no?"
Blue and the Charming brigade seem entirely too invested in their argument. Still, Regina isn't on even ground with her daughter.
"Well?" Isabella presses.
"I found her shortly after she left, and everything went wrong," Regina confesses.
"How?"
"I had her in the dungeons the entire time, and Charlie went down to see her, demand answers, and she said somethings that got under my skin. I just… I reacted without thinking. I ordered Maurice to get rid of her body, and we agreed to never speak of it again," Regina says, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry, Monkey. I wanted to tell you but-
"You were being selfish and manipulative," Isabella says flatly. "You knew I would be upset, so you've been lying to me for the last twenty-odd years. Is that what you're saying?"
"I'm sorry," Regina pleads. "I didn't want to hurt you!"
"Too late."
Regina realizes the look on Isabella's face isn't fake, and she closes her eyes, trying to erase it from memory. A hand wraps around her throat, and her eyes pop open to see Isabella directly in front of her. Nothing about the interaction is a performance, and Regina's going to die at the hands of her daughter.
"You murdering bitch!" Isabella seethes.
Regina feels that all the way down into her core, and she lets out a broken sob.
"Isabella, please," she cries. "It was an accident!"
"You killed my mother," Isabella exclaims. "My birth mother, the woman who gave me life-
"I gave you life! Me, not her!" Regina shouts. "Without me, you would've been dead ten times over or hurt or-or alone. God, Sara left you by yourself almost every night. You spent hours crying and wailing for someone to hold you, and she would lie there and listen to you. I would hear from the guards that Sara would show up to a tavern with you in her arms, and she would get drunk while she placed you on the table. I saved you!"
"You damned me," Isabella shoots back. "You took my kin, my blood, and you poisoned me with your darkness."
"She-she didn't- want you," Regina wheezes, deciding to go for honesty. "She t-told me- so her-herself."
"And that gave you the right to kill her!"
"You were- you're mine," Regina chokes, tears streaming down her cheeks. "She d-didn't…deserve- deserve you."
"And you do?" Isabella tightens her grip on her throat. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't kill you," she says.
Regina doesn't know how to answer that. Isabella takes her silence as an answer, and a cold chill goes down Regina's spine when the dark spots in her vision grow until all she sees is darkness. Isabella places her lips against her ear-
"They were right about you," she whispers.
Regina's heart breaks into pieces, and that's the last thing she hears before she gives in to the darkness. Or at least, that's what the plan is, and Regina greedily fills her lungs with air when Isabella's hand falls away. Regina's eyes pop open, and it isn't until Isabella slumps forward does she realize something is wrong. With that, Isabella falls down to her knees with Emmerson behind her. Emmerson looks at Regina with wide eyes and panic that seems a little too real to be fake. But Regina sees it in the way Emmerson shields Isabella from sight and the way he keeps his face turned away from Snow. It's a performance that Regina is not a part of, and the annoyance she feels with her lover and daughter turns into real anger at the danger they find themselves in.
The second piece of her heart in her chest beats wildly, and Regina glares at Emmerson. His grip on Isabella's heart is tentative, almost protective, but Regina's too far gone into fear and anger to care about whatever nonsense her family has placed her in.
"What. Have. You. Done?" she seethes.
"I- I- she was going- she was going to kill you," he stammers.
"So, you took out my daughter's heart?" Regina shouts.
"I did it for you, to save you," Emmerson argues.
"How in the world is this for me?"
"She was going to kill you!"
"And I would've let her for what I did." Regina's honesty catches them both off guard, and she deflates before she adds, "I would rather be dead by her hands than anyone else's."
Regina hears the parallel almost immediately, and she glares down at him.
"I- you would leave me like that?" Emmerson asks.
"For her? In a heartbeat."
Emmerson flinches away, and he asks in a broken voice, "I thought you loved me?"
Regina wants to punch him in the face, truly, and she forces her anger at being caught off guard to the forefront of her mind. Regina feels a strong surge of something in her veins. It's only at the last second does she reign in a third of it. She feels her daughter slipping out of reach the longer her heart is out, but something slips free, and Regina's walls come tumbling down. She snaps the chains around her wrists and ankles, and she meets Emmerson's gaze. Emmerson tries to run, ends up falling off the platform to the concrete, and Regina steps around her daughter. Emmerson cradles the heart to his chest.
"Wait, Gina, I-
"Stop. Talking," Regina hisses.
Regina summons two fireballs and lifts her hands in the air.
"You are just like your mother," she huffs. "Always ruining my life!"
"But if you kill me you kill Isabella!" Emmerson argues quickly.
"Who said anything about killing you? There are ways to hurt you while keeping you alive," Regina taunts.
"Leave her alone!" David shouts.
Regina turns her attention to Charming, and she flicks her wrist at him before he can ever unsheathe his sword. David flies through the portal, disappearing from sight, and Neal, ever the wannabe hero, jumps in after him without a second thought. Regina nearly falters at that because why would David be in any danger if- fuck, this family is so ridiculously heroic it's nauseating.
"Dad!" Henry shouts.
Blue catches Henry around the waist before he jumps in after them, and Snow comes after Regina. Regina side-steps the initial punch, and she smacks Snow's hands away from her body as Snow attempts to grab her.
"Oh, for crying out loud!" Regina exclaims, pushing Snow to the ground. "You are acting like I killed him!."
Snow doesn't listen, and Regina lets the woman tackle her to the ground. Snow throws punch after punch, and for a moment, Regina relishes the pain of the hits. Maybe she needs to talk to Archie when this is all over. Or an actual therapist. At some point, the whole point of this plan will come to fruition, and Regina's going to spend a long evening screaming at her lover and daughter for doing something so fucking-
"Mom, stop!"
Snow freezes at the exclamation, and Regina spits up blood when the woman gets off her chest. Isabella stares at her with blank eyes from where she lies on the platform, and her daughter is lost to whatever happens to people who lose their hearts. With no direction from Emmerson, Isabella is a lifeless puppet, waiting to be told what to do. Snow stumbles to her feet, and she walks over to Emmerson.
"You- you called me Mom," Snow exclaims.
"Oh, spare me," Regina huffs, getting to her feet. "And give my daughter's heart back! You idiots can go be happy in another realm for all I care. Just leave me here."
"You have to pay for your crimes," Blue says stoically, but her eyes are locked onto the heart in Emmerson's hand.
Regina doesn't like that look at all.
"I'll make a deal," Emmerson announces. "I'll give you her heart back if you-
"Hold on," Blue announces suddenly.
"What? Why?" Emmerson asks.
"That's only half of a heart," Blue says.
"What?" Emmerson asks, playing pretend.
"That is only half," Blue muses. She then turns to Regina, and her eyes narrow on Regina's chest. "And I can only imagine where the other half is," she says.
Regina clenches her fists at the comment, and Blue's eyes light up with possibility.
"Give me the heart, Emma," Blue commands.
"What?"
"The heart. Give it to me."
"No way!"
"Why not? She clearly doesn't love you. You've removed the heart of a daughter that no longer loves her, and she's broken enough for us to make things right. Give it to me, and I promise to take good care of it. We can get her back to where she belongs and end this once and for all. You can be happy again, all of you. I promise."
Emmerson makes a play of considering it, and Regina's panic grows tenfold when he holds the heart out to Blue. What the hell is he doing?
"You can't give it to her," Regina pleads.
"Why not?" Regina scrambles for a response that wouldn't be too obvious, and Emmerson scoffs. "Figures," he adds.
Blue steps away from the portal entrance that she'd been guarding, and Snow takes her place to keep Henry from jumping inside. Blue reaches out her hand, and Regina summons her magic, willing to harm Emmerson to keep him from doing something monumentally stupid.
And that's when time seems to slow down.
Regina watches in disbelief as Rosalie moves at an almost human pace while everyone else is several steps behind her. Rosalie turns to Regina and sighs in exasperation.
"When this is all over, remind me to kill your daughter," she says.
"Join the club. But how are you doing this?" Regina asks.
"I'll explain later, but if you don't mind."
Rosalie side-steps Blue and goes over to the portal. Rosalie hesitates, glancing at Regina, and Regina looks over her former son. She memorizes his face, his features, and at the last moment, she looks away. Rosalie nods to herself and deposits both Snow and Henry into the portal. Satisfied, Rosalie sprints over and takes the heart carefully from Emmerson, passing it back to Regina.
"Put that back where it belongs, okay?" Rosalie asks. "And you should probably close the portal. I'm not too sure how much longer I can hold this. It takes a lot of energy."
Regina nods and runs over to Isabella. She carefully puts the heart back into her chest, and her daughter gasps as she comes to. Isabella coughs and rolls over on her side. She glances at Regina sheepishly.
"Hiya, Geen-Bean. Didya miss me?" she teases weakly.
"You and I will be having a very long discussion later," Regina hisses.
"I know."
Regina huffs and goes over to the portal. She takes the remaining beans and sets them on fire, letting the ashes blow away in the wind. Without a second thought, Regina concentrates and shuts off the connection. The portal grows and grows until it implodes in on itself. In the silence, Rosalie can be heard hissing something to Isabella before she vanishes, and time's back to normal. Emmerson lurches forward from the action, and he flexes his hand. Blue spins around to see the portal's gone, and she turns on Emmerson.
"You- you tricked me!" she exclaims.
"No, I didn't," Emmerson says dryly.
"I did."
Blue's head snaps to Isabella, who hops down from the platform and steps up to the fairy. Regina comes up behind the fairy and snatches her wand. Blue lunges for it, but Isabella sweeps the fairy's legs out from under her. Blue's face hits the concrete, and they all wince at the sound of something breaking. Isabella kneels down next to her and slams her face again into the ground. Blue's knocked out cold, and Regina feels so off-kilter with the entire thing. Nothing is going as she planned. Isabella stands and then glances at her mother.
"Emmett's a great catcher," she says, nodding at the wand.
Regina frowns a little but throws the wand into the air. Emmett appears and snatches it before it hits the ground. He snaps it like it's a twig, and a small explosion of magic occurs. Emmett's unfazed, and he crushes the remaining pieces into fragments. Not even magic will be able to put it back together again. Alia and Rosalie appear next, and finally, FINALLY, Regina hears her men. Her guards emerge from the woods with Hook, each man armed and ready for the command, and Regina is at a loss for what comes next.
"This is the part where you remind this town just who the fuck you are," Isabella says seriously.
Regina turns to her daughter and Emmerson, both now wearing the Knight's uniform with her crest on it, and she finds herself falling back into familiar habits. Regina straightens and gestures at her body. Purple smoke curls around her, and her mayoral wear is replaced by a corseted dress.
"I think it is time we called a town meeting. What say you?"