Author's note: Last official chapter! Big thank you to those of you are still reading and who have supported this story throughout its ~7 year journey. This is the longest I've ever worked on a story and probably the best thing I've ever written.
I cannot even begin express how much I appreciate and love those who have tirelessly stuck by this story and faithfully kept reading and reviewing. With each new chapter I'd posted, I was continually blown away by just how many of you were still reading despite the show being over.
Only your kind words have helped this story continue and helped reignite my love of writing ven after the show was canceled and my passion for the show gone. Thank you again!
Chapter 68
She broke the news at Granny's.
Emma and Regina sat on one side of the booth, splitting a plate of onion rings and French fries, per their usual. Or rather, Emma was eating, while Regina simply gripped her coffee mug and stared down at the table. Mary Margaret and David sat on the other side, hands clasped on top of the table, mugs of hot chocolate untouched in front of them.
There's us, and then there's them, Emma thought silently. As it has always been.
"So, thanks for meeting me here." She said. "I know you've been giving me space to make up my mind, which is great. But I've decided." Emma locked eyes with Regina, whose lips were pursed tightly; she studiously avoided making eye contact with her birth parents.
"I'm staying with Mom." She blurted.
Almost immediately, Regina's shoulders relaxed. She took a sip of coffee in an effort to mask the smile that Emma knew had appeared.
She snuck a luck at Mary Margaret and David, who, to their credit, looked visibly disappointed. She didn't have to explain herself, she knew. Not after what she'd overheard. Did they even deserve an explanation?
But then she thought about how happy they'd been to find her when the curse had broken, and how eager they'd been to welcome her into their home, and how they'd tried their best to get along with Regina even though they didn't have to. How they'd lovingly tucked her newborn self in with the baby blanket that she still slept with every night. How devastated they still were by the fact that they'd lost out on 17 years with her.
They weren't bad people.
They were selfish and stubborn, but not bad.
She knew what bad looked like. She'd seen the ugly truth up close more times than she could bear to think about even now.
No, Mary Margaret and David weren't bad people at all.
And despite their failure to move beyond the past, they still loved her in their own way.
"Storybrooke is my home. It's where I belong." Emma said as gently as she could. "As cool as it sounds to, you know, be a princess or whatever, that's not me. I want to finish high school here. I want to go to college in Boston, and maybe become a PI or something someday. I want to stay with my mom."
Mary Margaret's eyes filled with tears. "We understand, sweetheart. This choice was a lot to ask of you, and deep down, we knew all along what you'd say."
"I'm going to miss you, though." Emma said sincerely. "It sucks that we just got to know each other. But I'm glad we did. I used to daydream about what you were like. And now I know that you're not only fairy tale characters, but literal badasses and some of the coolest people I know. I only hope to be half as brave as you someday, and I know your baby's going to be really lucky to have you two as parents."
"How did you…?"
"I overheard you earlier." Emma admitted. "Didn't mean to eavesdrop, sorry. And yeah, that means I overheard the…other stuff too."
David opened his mouth to likely apologize, or explain, but Emma barreled on.
"You don't need to say anything. I get it, really. It's a total mind fuck all around. The baby you literally just had showed up as a fully formed teenager moments later, or whatever." She snuck a glance at Regina, but for once her mother didn't comment on Emma's choice of words.
"But even though I understand why you feel that way, that doesn't mean I'm not upset about what you said. You know, when I was three, I was sent away from my very first foster home, the only home I'd known since I was a baby. They were going to have their own baby, their biological child, and decided they couldn't raise us both. So I was sent to a group home. I was replaced. I know it's not the same, but what you said made me think about that. About how for the longest time, I'd felt unworthy and unwanted."
"Oh, Emma…" Mary Margaret sniffled. "I'm so sorry. We didn't mean it that way, I promise. We love you, of course. It's just been hard. And yes of course we're excited to have another baby, but we don't want them to replace you."
"It doesn't matter. Whether or not you meant it, it still hurt. For so long, I'd wondered about you. What happened with the curse and stuff wasn't totally your fault, but all I wanted was for you to like me as I am now. And I know you both love me, but that doesn't change the fact that you still want that fresh start, a life where I don't belong. And I get it, really. It's natural to feel that way, and I don't blame you. I just want you to know, though, that I'm not lost. I may not be what you imagined, and that's okay, but I'm right here."
"Emma, you have to understand, we only feel this way because giving you up was the hardest thing we've ever had to do." David said. "Putting you in that wardrobe, not knowing if we'd see you again. Of course we're devastated that we lost out on the chance to raise you. But that doesn't mean we don't love you and that we don't accept you as you are. We're sorry if we made you feel like we're replacing you."
"As excited as we are about our new baby," Mary Margaret added quietly. "Leaving you behind again is just as devastating as it was to give you up on the day you were born. And if we'd known, if we'd had any idea what your life in this world would've been like once we'd sent you through, we would've tried to find another option."
"Or the Evil Queen would've killed me." Emma quipped.
Regina shrugged. "That's correct."
"If we could've, we would've stopped at nothing to find a way to stay together," David added. "Any other option that didn't involve making you feel unloved and abandoned. Because you weren't. We loved you so much even before you were born, and we will love you even after we go back to the Enchanted Forest."
"I know." Emma responded. "And thank you. You have no idea what it means to hear that."
"But the truth is, it's okay. I realized that I don't need you, not really," Emma continued. "I have a family. Despite everything that happened, I'm happy with the way things turned out. I grew up with everything I could've ever wanted. I'm safe, cared for, and loved. I love my life, and I wouldn't go back and change things even if I could. And to be honest, you don't need me either. I'm Regina's, just like that new baby will be yours."
As Emma spoke, she felt lighter. Although she knew all of this already, had come to the conclusion earlier, saying it all aloud made it real.
"So I don't want you to live the rest of your lives regretting that you had to give me up. Don't go around being sad that you lost me, or whatever. Because you didn't. I'm right here, and I'm happy. We could all go around regretting your decision to put me in the wardrobe or whatever, but regret is just a way of life sometimes. At the end of the day, you need to just be confident with your decision and look forward to what comes next."
"You know," Emma finished. "Every foster kid dreams of meeting their birth parents. We all used to make up elaborate tales of what our parents were truly like. Probably because the truth hurt too much to think about. All I can say is, I'm honored to have you as my parents, because you were better than anything I could've ever imagined."
Mary Margaret and David reached across the table; they each grabbed one of Emma's hands. "We're honored to have you as our daughter as well."
Two weeks later.
Emma looked around the empty apartment. Once full of bird-themed items, the cozy space was now devoid of anything homey and personal.
Most of Mary Margaret and David's stuff had been sold in a yard sale they'd held a few days ago, as they wouldn't have a need for most of it in the Enchanted Forest. The few items that they were taking with them, mostly blankets, a few clothes, and other momentos, had been packed in the suitcases that sat by the door.
They'd insisted she take whatever she wanted before the yard sale, so she'd chosen the blanket from the couch she'd come to like, a couple throw pillows, and the fancy clock radio they'd gotten her when she'd first moved in. It really was a nice radio.
"So your castle is still there, huh?" Emma asked as she watched Mary Margaret collect the final few bags. "You're just gonna…move back in?"
"That's the idea."
"But there's no electricity and stuff. Or bathrooms. Or TV."
Mary Margaret laughed. "We'd survived once, and we'll do it again."
"Snow!" David called from downstairs through the open door. "Almost ready?"
"Coming!"
Together, Emma and Mary Margaret gathered the bags and suitcases and headed towards the door.
"Are you gonna miss this place?" Emma asked. "After all, you lived here for 17 years. Hard to just say goodbye. There had to be some good times."
"Mary Margaret wasn't really happy here, so I can't say I'm sorry to leave this place," her birth mother admitted. "But yes, the few weeks that you lived with us were the happiest I've been."
The magic beans were set to be used in the forest at the edge of town. Emma rode between Mary Margaret and David in the truck one final time as they headed there. Around them, other families were headed in a similar direction, many of them on foot, as they wouldn't be needing their cars in the Enchanted Forest.
Emma ran her hand over the truck's dashboard. "I can't believe I get to keep this. I've been asking Mom for my own car for so long."
David's truck, in all of its rusty, clunky, glory, was a far cry from the car she'd originally wanted, a shiny black sedan like her mother's. It would be out of place parked outside her house. It would probably break down and require repairs that cost far more than the actual value of the vehicle. But somehow, it felt right. She loved it anyway.
David expertly navigated the truck off the road and into the dirt road that led to the forest. "Just remember to regularly take it in and…"
"I know, I know." Emma rolled her eyes. "You told me like a hundred times."
She and David exchanged smiles, and for a second she allowed herself to imagine if this was what it would've been like to have a dad. But only for a second, because when she opened her eyes, David was pulling the truck to a stop in front of Regina, who'd traveled separately to meet them there from a city council meeting that had just ended.
(Not long after the town meeting where they'd announced the option to return to the Enchanted Forest, the town had unanimously elected Regina their mayor again, something that Emma knew pleased her mother more than she'd admit).
The bags were unloaded from the trunk, and soon Emma stood with Regina, Mary Margaret and David.
"So this is it, huh?" She looked at the small bean nestled in Regina's gloved hand. "That's gonna create a portal?" She said dubiously.
"I see I have a lot to teach you about magic." Regina quipped.
As they'd done on the day the curse broke, Mary Margaret and David surrounded her, David's hand cradling her head as Emma found herself in a tangle of now very familiar limbs.
Mary Margaret cupped Emma's face with her hands, and this time, she didn't pull away. "Emma…"
Emma blinked back tears that had suddenly appeared. Damn. She wanted to be cool and composed during their last moments together, not a blubbery mess. "I'll miss you too." To hell with it. She threw her arms around her birth mother.
She didn't really know what else to say. Thank you for giving birth to me? Thank you for being cool about everything?
Mary Margaret simply nodded, her eyes shiny with tears. "I know." She kissed the top of Emma's head. "I love you. And I'm proud of you."
Oh, great. Emma was full on crying now. "I love you too."
"We're so proud of the woman you've become," David added. "We know you'll go on to do great things."
"Of course." Emma responded. "It's kinda in my DNA."
They laughed, and it seemed to lighten the mood for a moment.
Too soon enough, Mary Margaret and David pulled away. It was time. Regina handed them the bean and nodded at them.
"The portal should drop you only a few miles from your castle." Regina said. "You should be able to find it easily."
"Thank you," Mary Margaret said. She clasped Regina's hand. "And thank you for caring for Emma and doing such a wonderful job with her. We may not have always gotten along, but we know we're leaving her in good hands."
"Of course." Regina said sincerely. "And good luck with everything."
Mary Margaret and David clasped hands and picked up their bags. Regina tugged Emma backwards a few feet and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. David threw the bean down, and a swirling portal suddenly appeared.
Around them, other Storybrooke citizens who had chosen to leave were doing the same, and portals were appearing everywhere. Emma watched, transfixed, as one of her neighbors jumped into one of the portals.
Emma locked eyes with her birth parents for the last time. For a moment, something tugged at her stomach; she could feel the portal calling to her, beckoning her in. (Now she knew why Regina had pulled her backwards, lest she accidentally get sucked in and fall through). For a moment, she nearly ran forward and grabbed her birth parents' hands so that the portal could sweep her away too.
For a moment, she almost wanted to leave with them.
Mom.
Dad.
But then Regina, her mother, squeezed her shoulder, and the feeling disappeared. Emma waved and smiled at her birth parents, her vision blurry with tears.
I love you. They mouthed to Emma.
Love you too. Emma mouthed back. She watched as they stepped through the portal and vanished.
"You okay?"
Emma sniffled and looked up at her mother. "Yeah."
"You sure? Because there might still be a bean left…"
She'd meant it, Emma knew. Her mother was offering her one last chance and would willingly help her daughter travel to the Enchanted Forest if she truly wanted.
And yet…
"No." Emma said firmly. She held up her pinky. "I'm okay. I made my decision, and I know it's the right one, and I'm not going to look back. I promise."
Her younger self's words echoed through her head from that very first day in Storybrooke, her very first time pinky swearing as Regina had explained what the sacred action meant.
This means that I won't break my promise.
Emma knew she wouldn't. She'd never been more confident in anything in her entire life.
Regina looped her pinky through Emma's. "Good."
They watched as the last of the portals disappeared, and the forest became empty and still once more. Roughly half of the town had chosen to leave, and Storybrooke, the town once cursed to remain frozen in time forevermore, would never be the same again.
But once upon a time, a small blonde girl had chosen to call the small seaside town home, setting into motion a series of events that would eventually change everyone's lives forever.
Families had been torn apart, and yet they'd found their way back together again. And new families had formed in Storybrooke, new bonds that had left everyone stronger and more connected than before.
Yes, Storybrooke would never be the same.
Yes, there was now a large gap left behind that the rest of the town would struggle to fill and adapt to for a while.
But as Emma had learned so many times, change was good. Change was healthy. And change was more often than not, necessary.
Storybrooke may not be the same anymore, but she knew the best was still yet to come.
Emma reached for Regina's hand. At 17, she hadn't taken her mother's hand in years, but they were both struck by how natural it still felt.
"Let's go home."
Author's note: Was there ever any doubt that Emma would choose Regina? At its core, at its heart, this story has always been about Emma and Regina, mother and daughter, finding their way to each other.
Next up: Epilogue!