Emma came back to the diner, leaving her mom with her dad and brother. Regina was at work, and Emma figured she would stay there until she had no excuse left to stay there. It was obvious that she didn't want to be around Snow any more than she had to, which would make breaking this spell or whatever it was even more difficult.
She wasn't even sure what she expected to hear from Granny. All she knew was that she needed more information so she could find some way to get Regina and Snow to make amends.
When she entered the diner, Granny signaled for her to follow her and they ended up inside Granny's home – her sitting on a chair while Granny took a seat on the couch.
"Why don't you start by explaining what exactly is going on with your mother?" Granny said.
Taking her time, Emma told her about how the magical mishap happened and what Regina had learned about what needed to be done to return Snow to normal.
When she was finished, Granny looked at her and said, "When you mess up, you go for the gold standard, don't you?"
"It's not like I intended for this to happen."
"I know," Granny said. "But what you are asking for is an awful tall order. Still, I will help in any way that I can, although I am not sure what it is that you want to know or where to even start."
"I guess at the beginning."
Granny sat back a bit before speaking. "Well, as you know Snow's mother died and after that it was rumored that the king was hoping to remarry in order to give Snow another mother figure."
"Is that it? I mean, was he interested in having another wife or was it all about Snow?"
"Difficult to say. If I had to guess, I would say that it started off being just about Snow, but that the king wasn't going to just choose any woman either. There was talk afrer Snow's mother died that … " Granny said. "Are you absolutely sure you want to hear all of this? We are talking about your family here."
Emma didn't say anything immediately. It's not like she hadn't thought about this, she had, and while she did feel connected to her parents, she in no way felt connected to the man who was her grandfather.
"I need to know, but I also want to know," Emma said. "This war, this person Regina is, I want to know how it came to be that way."
"Ok, then," Granny said. "Well, as I was saying, there was talk after Snow's mother died that her father was finding his comfort with many women. Now, fast forward to Snow meeting Regina who had rescued her from a runaway horse. The king is full of gratitude, but he also sees that Snow likes Regina and let's face it, Regina is very good looking. The king proposes despite knowing nothing really about her and she could hardly refuse."
"Why not?"
"You have to understand that in our world back then, you didn't refuse the king. Hell, you didn't refuse your parents, at least you didn't if you were in Regina's position. Remember, she was royalty too," Granny said. "She was no peasant. She was raised to represent her family's name well."
"I don't need to rehash the part about Daniel's death at the hands of Cora and how it was Snow who had told Cora of his existence," Granny continued. "Anyway, the marriage took place and Snow had her new mother. Regina was unhappy from the outset, or so I understand. She was trapped in a marriage she did not, fresh off of losing the man she loved and suddenly having to be the mom to the child who was the reason Daniel was dead, at least in Regina's mind she was."
"Despite her unhappiness, Regina was a good mother to Snow."
"She was?"
"She was. She did her duty. She watched over Snow and did what she had to do. Snow loved her – not as much as her own mother obviously, but still, she adored Regina."
"I have seen that first hand in the last couple of days. Snow doesn't want to be away from Regina but Regina wants nothing to do with her."
"Not surprised," Granny said. "Let's not forget that things got bad, really bad."
"Yeah, but what happened to get it to that point?"
"No one knows for sure," Granny said. "But I can make a guess. You need to understand that things in that world are different than here. Although there are some things that are universal at times. She was his wife and that means whether she liked it or not, she was expected to perform any wife duties."
Granny paused a moment, whether it was to let Emma absorb this information or for herself to regroup from it, she let the silence go on for a bit.
"People want to believe that Regina was just evil and that was all there was to it," Granny said. "Nothing could be further from the truth. She was a good person once and I believe she is trying to be one once again. As queen, at the beginning at least, she was a non-factor in the kingdom. It wasn't until after the king's murder that she rose to power. Before that, by all accounts she was ignored by the king except during those times when she was expected to make herself available to the king."
"As for the king, he doted on Snow. There was nothing he would deny her," Granny said. "So when she expressed a want for a sibling, well, like I said he would deny her nothing."
Emma got to her feet suddenly and began to pace. She thought suddenly of Regina's earlier reaction when Snow had said something at the house about her having a child. That is what had set Regina off. That was what made her so angry that she wanted Snow away from her sight.
"So, you are telling me that Regina was being used as some more of breeding whore for the king," Emma said, not mincing words. "And this was just allowed because that is how things were in that world."
"Don't," Granny said. "Don't say it like that when you know very well this world has its own forms of evil. Neither world is perfect."
"Yeah, I get it, but come on, you have to admit that is pretty messed up."
"I agree, but there was no one there who was going to put a stop to it. Regina was alone essentially. The only companionship she had in the castle was a child and when Snow expressed the wish for a sibling, Regina knew it wasn't the king's decision per se."
Emma sat back down, "Regina's right. There is no way to make amends between her and Snow."
"I don't believe that and neither do you or you wouldn't be here talking to me."
"I was a whole lot more positive about it before you started talking."
"I did warn you that you would hear things that you wouldn't want to hear."
"Yeah, you did," Emma said, rubbing her forehead hoping the headache she now had would go away quickly. "But how do I get them not to hate each other when my mom is oblivious to any of this hurt?"
"You concentrate on Regina," Granny said. "There was a time when she didn't hate Snow. Yes, she was angry over what happened with Daniel, but she still tried to be a mother to her. You have to appeal to the young woman she once was."
Even as she heard the advice, Emma thought, easier said than done. She had a hard enough time appealing to adult Regina.
