The violet glow illuminating the tiny space she calls a bedroom informs her that she's been up all night. Her cheeks are sticky, her nose is raw, her eyes are most certainly swollen and she should feel every bit exhausted but she's not. She's too sick to her stomach to acknowledge anything else. With all the speed of a tortoise, she pushes herself up from her stained pillow and flings her legs over the edge.
She can't stand another moment curled up in bed, so her heels dig into the bed-frame as she leans heavily upon her thighs. She hangs her head in shame, convinced there isn't a drop of liquid in her body to produce another set of tears. Her heavy eyelids slowly fall closed and within that second, she sees Regina deepening that stupid kiss with Supergirl. An involuntary sob chokes out of her hoarse throat and a new wave of tears cascade down her cheek. She slaps one hand over her mouth and buries her face in her other elbow in an attempt not to disturb her roommates.
Except, she hears the old creek upon the rickety steps leading up to the loft. She quickly swipes her nose across her sleeve before furiously scrubbing her face but it's too late.
"Emma?" Mary Margaret softly coos, peeking her head inside the dim room.
"Uh..." she nervously combs her fingers through her hair while plastering on the fakest smile. Too bad she's too depressed to notice the action comes off as a grimace. "Hey...Mary Margaret...what are you doing up?"
"Mothers tend to be light sleepers," she whispers, lingering by the doorway, silently pleading for an invitation inside.
"Ah, Neal was crying?" Emma replies but she's deliberately avoiding eye contact and trying to be discreet as she continues to wipe the liquid from every inch of her face.
"No," her mother sadly states, cautiously stepping into the room as if she's about to be kicked to the curb. "My other baby was crying."
Emma swallows thickly, her back immediately straightening like a bolt of lightening struck down her spine. "I-I'm not...I didn't mean to wake-"
"May I sit?" Her mother gently asks, anxiously tugging her robe more firmly around her body to protect herself from a dismissal that is sure to come.
"Um, sure," she hesitantly answers, scooting over even though it's not necessary by any means. "So, what's up?"
"What's up? Emma, you've been crying-"
"I'm fine."
"Please don't do that," her mother exasperates. "I know I wasn't there for you growing up and there is nothing I can say or do to change that as much as I wish I could. You grew up without parents and I can't fix that but please, Emma, I'm trying here. I want to be here for you now and help you and god...I just want to hold you when you cry and you won't let me anywhere near you and I get it. I do. I just...please don't shut me out," Snow implores through tears that match Emma's gut wrenching pain.
"I don't...I don't know how to not push you away," she admits, hastily brushing away another runaway tear.
"I-I know. But I do really want to prove to you that I'm not going to abandon you ever again. I just want to be a part of your life. I want us to be close again like when we first met and we were just roommates and best friends and we had no idea about our DNA." Emma opens her mouth to protest but Mary Margaret pushes on, pivoting to look her square in the eyes. "Honey, I know something is eating away at you and I just want to help. Please trust me. I can't stand seeing you in pain any longer."
And this is the moment Emma's walls come crashing down. She doesn't want to, god, she loathes her traitorous body, but the tears spill down her cheeks like rain gliding down a window. She just can't carry around this weight any longer. She has spent her entire life shoving people away so they are never granted the opportunity to break her heart like her parents did when they gave her up. But she can't do it anymore.
She's thirty, living with her birth parents, people who still feel like strangers and she has never felt more alone in her life. Yes, she has her son but she has to share him and as of lately, he's been sleeping at Regina's on school nights. Walking Henry to school and seeing him on weekends just isn't enough. However, that's not the only reason she feels so hallow and lonely on the inside.
"I-I'm not..." she stammers from the intensity in her mother's eyes, even in the dark room she can see how hard those green eyes are focused on her. She nervously wipes her cheeks again, straightens her posture and blurts out the first thing that's pounding against her temples. "I'm not a perfect princess."
Snow chuckles softly, tentatively reaching up to wipe away a new wave of tears. "Emma, I know that. I don't expect you to be a perfect little princess, you did come from your father and I and we were quite rebellious."
"Only when backed against a corner. I am far from a princess, I am not-"
"Honey, I love you because you are my daughter, not because of your actions," she earnestly vows, gently cupping Emma's cheek as she stares so loving that it makes Emma squirm. "You eat fruit loops almost every morning because in your mind, the eighteen-year-old version of yourself swore it was the healthiest cereal because it has the word fruit in the title. You still make grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner and eat on the couch with your legs folded like a pretzel. You continuously threaten to punch people in the nose instead of using your words. Emma, I am very aware that you are not perfect and that's what makes you so wonderful. Nobody is perfect. We are all messy and make mistakes."
Emma flushes from her mother's words. Honestly, she wasn't aware that her mother paid so close attention to her habits and frankly, she had no idea that she still rooted to such childish behaviors from the lack of parents and guidance growing up.
Unexpectedly, Snow is cupping both cheeks, her thumbs sweeping like windshield wipers to clear away the salty liquid. She locks onto Emma's nervous gaze and cracks a small smile.
"There is nothing you could say that would make me stop loving you."
Emma squirms under the scrutiny and shrugs Snow away, still so damn uncomfortable with affection from a parental figure. She nervously chuckles under her breath and runs her nose across her sleeve. She takes a chance, peeking through her long lashes to inspect her mother, using that inner lie detector test. Yet, she finds nothing but honesty in her mother's words.
She sighs heavily. It's now or never.
"I'm...bisexual," she quietly confesses, her eyes instantly darting to the ground while she anxiously tugs at her sleeves.
Snow doesn't say a word, provoking Emma's heart to hammer cruelly against her sternum. She's about to run, just like she always does, bolt right out that door and never look back. That is until she feels warmth enveloping her trembling body. Snow wraps her arms around Emma's body and pulls her flush against herself. She squeezes, maybe a little too tight but it helps calm the anxiety sparking from within.
"You will always be my baby," Snow whispers, pressing a kiss to the crown of Emma's head. "Do I wish you would have fallen for someone else? Maybe a little-"
Emma instantly pulls away from the embrace, her brows already furrowed as she searches her mother's face. "What are you talking about?" She defensively fires back.
"Come on Emma, I mean it's a little awkward for me but I understand you don't accept Storybrooke's past. I know you see Mary Margaret and David and Regina, nothing more." Emma proceeds to squint at her mother. "It's okay, I know how much you two mean to one another."
"Who?" She blurts out even though they both know. Maybe Emma's not ready to admit it out loud or maybe she wants to test her mother a little more on how well she knows her.
"Oh please, it's Regina. It's always been Regina. Now the question is, what are you going to do about it?"
Emma slaps her hands down her face and flops back onto the bed with a groan.
XXXX
"Oh god I'm so full," Kara groans but it also comes off whiny and she finds that Regina can't help but beam at her.
She quickly loops an arm around Regina's and pulls her in close as they step out of Granny's this brisk fall morning. Especially after her nightmare and their intense talk last night, she's feeling extra clingy to this gorgeous brunette.
"So, we have a few hours before I have to pick up Henry from Emma's, what would you like to do?" Regina questions as they turn the corner and stroll down Main Street.
"Me? Aren't you hungover? I'm all in favor of couch cuddles and old movies."
"Honestly dear, I don't think I can sit through The Wizard of Oz one more time."
"Why do you do that?" Kara innocently inquires.
"Do what?"
"Cringe every time we even mention The Wizard of Oz."
It's impossible to ignore the way Regina hesitates but her stoic expression never falters. "Look Kara, maybe it's time we have-"
"Regina, Kara," Emma's voice gasps as she magically appears around a corner, almost colliding directly into them.
Kara analyzes the way Emma's tired eyes immediately drop down to inspect where she is intertwined with Regina. She swears she hears a thunderous thumping nearby but she ignores that weird hallucination. Just like she has been for weeks now.
"Emma," Regina stiffly answers, motivating Kara to tug the mayor a little closer to antagonize the sheriff.
That's as far as the interaction goes because somewhere behind them, someone is calling to her. She can distinctly hear boots crashing against concrete, each step coming faster and faster before she even turns around to the source. Her own heart quickens, matching the tempo of the footrace down the street. She hears her name floating in the distance, a breathless gasp that's slightly desperate and hysterical.
She cranes her neck to investigate and the very first thing she notices, raven tresses. Her heart viciously rattles in the confines of its cavity and she's expecting to feel relieved, maybe even excited about this stunning woman running her way but she suddenly feels more alone than she's felt in weeks when she realizes she doesn't recognize this stranger.
Especially when she feels Regina's arm slip away from her body.
"Kara, oh thank god," the woman sobs as she brutally crashes into her, ejecting Kara's breath from her lungs as dainty arms curl around her neck.
She's stunned, so freaking confused and terrified as to who this woman might be. Alex? No, she thinks that her body would recognize the comfort of her own sister. But then the woman is burying her face into the crook of her neck, breathing her in while her grip tightens. It's intimate and filled with palpable tension and Kara can't help but hug this smaller woman back.
She seems nice.
"You're alive," the stranger cries, jerking back to inspect Kara's face but she doesn't drift too far away. Kara offers a crooked little smile because the hug is making her feel kind of giddy and delirious. The woman instantly melts from the small action. "I was so worried, I thought..." she trails off, her words crushed by the tension that is rapidly building between them.
Unexpectedly, the woman is holding her face and surging forward for a frantic kiss. Kara freezes, so flipping lost and clueless as to what is going on. She thinks the woman is somewhat familiar, maybe she's from her dreams? None of that matters though because the woman is deepening the kiss, becoming desperate and needy and Kara is completely swept up in the moment.
"I...thought," the stranger cries as their lips become acquainted, "you...were dead."
"How did she cross the town line?" Emma whispers somewhere behind them.
Kara gently eases away, remembering that they have an audience and she still doesn't know who this random stranger is, furiously kissing her in the middle of the street. Clearly, the woman knows her, called her by name.
"I'm sorry, I don't-"
"Don't you ever scare me like that again, Kara Danvers," the brunette sternly says, despite the depressing tears rolling down her face.
And all too quickly, the woman dives right back in to steal another kiss.
Kara is about to protest, honestly, she is, hot girl sucking her face or not, but then there is a very noticeable tingle forming in her toes. She's distracted for a moment, wholly convinced this woman is that good of a kisser, especially when the warm burst of energy surges through her veins and warms up her entire soul. Before she can process much of anything, an overpowering gust of wind explodes between herself and the stranger. It's startling and enough to knock them apart but they both seem to cling even harder to one another.
Kara's eyes are closed from all the insistent kisses and so she misses out on the vibrant swirl of rainbow colors bursting from between them.
And then it happens...
Every moment flashes before her very eyes, almost too many to count...
"What about you, Miss Danvers? I didn't see your name on the byline."
"Uh-uh, like I said, I'm not a reporter."
"You could have fooled me," the woman flirts, her eyes very intent on her prey.
"Who would have believed it? A Luthor and a Super working together. I hope we can work together more in the future."
"...that's one of the things I love about you."
"Lena?!"
"She says with surprise in her voice for some reason."
"Lena!" Kara exclaims, her eyes springing back to life as her lips stumble away from the kiss. "I-I remember, I- what the heck was that?" She hysterically gasps.
"True Love's Kiss," Regina very softly chimes in from over Kara's shoulder, provoking the hero to jump in her own skin.
"I-what? True Love's Kiss?" She incredulously squawks, her eyes leaping to Emma for guidance.
The sheriff stands a little taller, her folded arms slowly falling to her sides as she hesitantly nods.
"Wait, Kara," Lena's wobbly voice steals her attention back, "why did you say, I remember? Did you have amnesia?" She investigates in a tone that is all professional scientist. Okay, maybe a hint of worried best friend...well, maybe not best friend, Lena did just kiss her- "Kara."
She jumps, blinking away her wandering thoughts. "I haven't had my memories, I-I have been so lost and so confused but Regina and Emma have been taking care of me," she rambles, stepping aside to gesture to the two women standing side by side, a tad taller than Kara has seen before, like they are going on the defensive, ready for an unexpected attack.
Lena's stern eyes suspiciously shift between the two women, obviously sizing them up before she turns back to Kara. "And now you remember...you remember...everything?" She cryptically asks, encouraging a disturbing image to flash before Kara's eyes.
"Oh my god, Reign," she gasps.
Very slowly and in the most intimidating way, Lena crosses her arms over her chest while one eyebrow pointedly arches. Kara swallows from the intensity and the silent scolding. "Ah, so you do remember... everything."
Kara's heart takes off racing like it's attempting to flee the damn conversation. She anxiously fiddles with her glasses, her eyes immediately dropping to the plain concrete below. "Lena, I-I'm-"
"How dare you, Kara," she growls, swaying just a tad closer to lower her voice. Apparently they are going to ignore the very uncharacteristic kiss and jump right into the Supergirl topic. "After everything I told you about my family, lying, and trust-"
"I know, I know. I swear but can we maybe discuss this somewhere else, you know..." she whispers, her eyes dramatically rolling to the back of her head to silently explain her reasoning.
"We can give you two some privacy, Kara," Regina sweetly offers.
"Good luck, Supergirl, looks like you're going to need it," Emma teases, earning herself a sharp slap across her bicep. "Regina!"
"Uh-wha-" Kara stammers, readjusting her damn glasses again as a heat wave of anxiety ripples through her blood. "Supergirl? Who-what?"
"Kara," Regina sternly says her name, narrowing her eyes like she does with her son whenever he's in trouble. Kara feels so small under her gaze, despite her two inches on the mayor.
"We found you in the suit," Emma adds on.
"You-I, what?"
"Maybe we should all sit down and talk about everything," Regina suggests.
"Yeah, starting with how you found this town," the sheriff states, her skeptical eyes pointed at the new potential threat with raven hair.
"You can't feel how magical she is?" Regina murmurs over her shoulder for Emma's attention only.
"Wait, magic? Lena has magic?" Kara squeaks with far too much excitement.
Except her best friend scoffs, agitation radiating from her tense body. "Magic? You can't be serious."
"You don't believe in magic?" Kara innocently asks.
"I believe in you. I believe in science, facts, data."
"Well, maybe you will believe in this," Regina smugly retorts before she flicks her wrists and they are all engulfed by some strange purple fog.
"What the hell was that?" Lena hisses as she tries to stabilize her bearings and figure out how she ended up in some elaborate living room instead of the bitter cold outside.
"Magic," Regina deadpans, removing her coat as if she didn't just flip Lena's world upside down.
"How can you not believe in magic?" Kara investigates before she spins around abruptly and glares at Regina. "And how do you have magic? Are you a fifth dimensional imp?"
Regina scoffs, "I am no imp, dear."
"Kara, you believe in magic?" Lena very seriously asks.
"I'm an alien, I've traveled to other planets, crossed universes and dimensions, why wouldn't I believe in magic? Oh, and there was that one time an imp visited me and tried to woo me with magic-"
"Having magic is a tough pill to swallow," Emma mumbles before she flops down onto Regina's living room sofa.
"You have magic as well?" Lena skeptically asks, taking a seat on the couch directly across from the blonde.
"Yeah, it took me a long time to accept it. I grew up in a world where magic, aliens, and superheroes are all just a myth."
Lena's brows furrow before she redirects her attention to Regina. "And you can...sense that I have magic?"
Regina claims the seat beside Emma and locks eyes with Lena. "Every magical being has their own distinct form of magic. Once you fully accept magic and become quite acquainted, you can start to sense the different traits. I can tell the difference between Emma's magic or the imp down the street." Regina leans across the coffee table between them and lowers her voice to ensure all of Lena's attention. "You are very powerful, I can feel the magic radiating off you in waves of palpable tension. You've never experienced something out of the ordinary? Glass shattering around you when your temper rises? Lights flickering?"
"Never," Lena adamantly vows.
"Well, you my dear, are extraordinary. Nobody can just walk through the barrier protecting our town-" Regina is cut off by a very stern throat clearing. "Well, nobody besides Emma, of course."
"Why do you have a barrier around your town?" Kara tentatively asks. Regina nervously flicks her gaze to Emma, who is already all wide eyes like a baby deer caught in bright headlights. "You know I'm Supergirl, I think you can trust me to keep your secret if I'm trusting you with mine."
Regina sighs, offing her agreement even though Emma looks like she wants to protest. "This is still a world without magic and if people were to find out about us, well, let's just say an insane asylum isn't something on my bucket list."
"People don't believe in magic here?" Kara softly questions, fiddling nervously with her glasses as she feels Regina's fear gripping at her heart.
"They also don't believe in the wicked witch from the west or a demonic Peter Pan," Emma grumbles under her breath.
"What?" Kara and Lena squawk a few octaves too high.
"Instead of going through all the disturbing details," Emma huffs, resting her elbows upon her knees and clasping her hands together, "I would like to introduce you both to Regina Mills, the Evil Queen and I'm Emma Swan, daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming-"
"Wait-wait a minute, Snow White? Didn't you call your sister, Snow, at the bar last night?"
"She's actually my mother."
"How?"
"Time was frozen for twenty-eight years," Regina gently explains.
"And the story about Henry?"
"He is Emma's son and I adopted him when he was three weeks old, that entire story is true," Regina wholeheartedly admits before she tentatively reaches across to cover Kara's hand. "Everything we discussed was true, just minor details tweaked to avoid the whole fairytale conundrum."
"Okay," she whispers, unable to find an ounce of anger for this woman that took such good care of her for the past few weeks.
"So, you're telling me that you are all a bunch of fairytale characters living in a protective magical bubble?" Lena incredulously inquires.
"Yeah, pretty much," Emma nonchalantly shrugs.
Lena pops her mouth open to argue but Kara takes her hand. "Alien," she says, pointing to herself.
"I suppose since we are on a different Earth, it can be theoretical."
"The real question is how did I get here?"
"Kara, the last time I saw you, Reign had almost defeated you and she kidnapped you before Alex or I could save you."
"Then how did Reign break through the barrier?" Supergirl asks, directing her question to the former queen.
Regina sighs heavily. "I don't know, maybe she didn't break through the barrier, maybe she thought that she was dropping you off into a secluded forest and you were the one that broke through the barrier."
"So, you found me as Supergirl?"
"We did," Emma answers. "Regina used her magic to heal you as much as possible."
"I have to admit," Regina begins, "when you first woke up, you were confused and didn't have your memories. Your powers were out of control, so I had to use magic to wipe your mind clean from the first time you woke up. When we tried again, we decided it wasn't ideal to tell you that you were Supergirl."
"I-I understand," Kara murmurs, sliding the glasses up her nose as she recalls all the strange things that have been happening to her and she completely ignored because she didn't want them to think she was crazy.
Lena unexpectedly jumps, fumbling for her phone that is soon blaring through their conversation. She quickly answers, her eyes darting to Kara in an instant.
"I know, I apologize. Yes-yes, she's right here," Lena rambles before she offers the phone over. "Your sister wants to speak with you."
Relief floods Kara as she reaches for the phone and beams. "My sister," she exhales before scampering away to take the call on the other side of the room.
She and Alex are both in hysterics, spewing sappy sisterly love but it's almost impossible for Kara to ignore the way Lena's heart is pounding so fiercely behind her.
"Thank you, I cannot express my gratitude enough for taking care of Kara," Lena whispers.
"She's very special and she cares so much for you. Don't you dare lose her," Regina sweetly but sternly scolds.
"Never again," Lena promises, her eyes instantly meeting Kara's across the room.