A/N: As those who follow my facebook page might have seen or will see later in the day, this story became a little more longer than I anticipated. Therefore, it will have 21 chapters in total. Unless I come up with more. So one more to go after this one. As for my other stories, I won't update them until I have at least three new chapters written. Happy reading! It's a sad chapter, but there will be a happy ending. :)
"Emma, we have to talk about this- Emma!" The queen rushed to her daughter who completely ignored her and just rushed over to the ballroom. "Emma, do not make a scene- what are you doing?"
David grabbed onto Mary Margaret's arm, surprising the queen as he just stood and watched his daughter take action.
Heads turned to Emma standing before the entry of the double doors, her irritated eyes on each of her guests. "Ladies and gentleman. I want to thank you for coming this evening in honor of celebrating my twenty-eighth year of life and coronation for this kingdom." She continued as everyone grew quiet. "I realize, I wasn't supposed to give my speech until after this event took place, however due to certain circumstances, I am forced to be before you today and inform you that this evening has reached its end."
"Emma," the queen breathed, wanting to walk over and stop her but was once again stopped by David.
"As for my taking over said title in this household…" She looked over her shoulder at her mother and father, catching a glimpse of Sidney, who also stood by before looking back at every guest in the room. "I must inform you that I respectfully withdraw said title and renounce to all responsibilities and ties that bind me here."
The crowd gasped and murmured words that Emma could not nor cared to understand.
"I apologize for this sudden inconvenience. You may all go home." Were her last words before she turned on the balls of her feet and began to walk out, seeing her mother and even her father with tears in their eyes.
"Emma, have you gone mad? Are you really willing to give up on your family for someone that brought nothing but embarrassment to the family name?" The queen's voice was soft, but filled with pain.
Green eyes locked on the queen's. "With all due respect, your highness, but if anyone has brought embarrassment to this family these past couple of days- it's you." She heard a gasp escape the smaller woman. "I knew about Regina and her troubled past, and she didn't ask for any of it. She didn't ask to be married to a man who came with a son of his own which he didn't care to look at and who treated her lower than you should treat a human benign. And yes, Regina was married a second time after she met another man who made his mistake with her, but was and is a good father to Henry. Now, I don't know what respect you were taught, mother, but my father," her eyes moved to David's proud gaze. "Always taught me that a good ruler loves people for not only their kind hearts but their bravery and strengths. And Regina is braver and true, and more loving than anyone I have ever come to know. She raised Henry with all the motherly love in the world, kept him from knowing the truth because she knew this would have devastated him. And the last thing a mother wants is to hurt her child in any way," a single tear rolls down the princess cheek.
The queen's heart ached, she hated what she had done and now it was too late. Emma was right. A mother would never dream to hurt her own child and that is exactly what she's done.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to talk to Henry. I'm the only one he will listen to right now." She looked at her father one last time before walking off. She stopped at the sight of Sidney who gave her a pat on the shoulder.
"That was a great speech, your majesty. Emma." He smiled, feeling a little strange to call her by her first name.
Emma gave the man a sad smile and rushed up the stairs.
"Regina, you can't leave like this," Ruby watched her best friend pack her things with tears in her eyes. "You can't just break up with Emma all because the queen-"
"I am not going to stand by and allow her to leave all this for me, Ruby. Leave her family."
"Some family," Ruby scoffed. "The king, yes, I feel bad for him, but the mother, she doesn't deserve Emma as a daughter or you as a daughter in law. Or anything." She grew angry, "The nerve of her to even assume that the king and I-" Heads turn to the door opening in the room.
"Mother. Any luck?" Regina was hopeful.
Cora shook her head. "No luck. He won't talk to anyone."
"I'll go talk to him." Ruby gave her best friend's shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "He's going to be alright, Gina. Don't worry. You have been a great mother to him, no matter if you had to lie to him or not."
Regina wasn't convinced of that anymore. Once left alone, Cora couldn't think of anything more to do than what a mother did best. She pulled her daughter in a loving motherly embrace where Regina couldn't do anything more but cry.
"Oh, my darling." The woman's cheek rested on her daughter's head. "Everything will be alright, hm? You hear me?" She broke their hug, wiping away her daughter's fallen tears, seeing her nod. "Listen to me, Regina. You have been more of a mother to that boy, than his real mother or father could have been. Even Daniel has some credit for marrying you to give him a father figure in his life. Henry will come to understand and forgive you." She gave her a sad smile.
"I just can't believe that she would do something like this. I mean, does she hate me that much to dig into a past I tried long and hard to forget?"
An anger boiled inside Cora. "I'd do well to give her royal highness a piece of my mind."
Regina chuckled, "You're starting to sound like Ruby."
Cora wiped away a few more fallen tears from her daughter's cheeks. "Are you sure you want to leave without talking to Emma? I saw her earlier, Regina. She looks just as heartbroken as you."
She shook her head. "I just want to go home."
"Well," her mother released a heavy sigh. "I am behind you no matter what you decide."
Regina hugged her once again. She was a grown woman, but this was one of these moments where even a grown woman needed her mother.
"Hen, come on, open the door." Ruby knocked once more with no luck of hearing even a single noise behind the locked door. "Hen. Your mom is very sad and she needs you right now. Please."
"No luck?" Said Emma, startling Ruby a little as she turned to face her with a shake of her head. "Mind if I try?"
Ruby backed away from the door to give the blonde a chance. "Emma," she placed her hand on her shoulder. "I want you to know that your dad and I… We weren't-"
"Ruby, I know." Emma smiled, her hands being placed on the brunette's arms. "You don't have to explain anything to me. I've known you for as long as I've known Regina, and I know your intentions toward my father were all in good fun and innocent. No one can tell me different."
Ruby launched herself at the princess so hard, Emma released a grunt.
"I would, however, go talk to Graham." Emma broke their hug. "I haven't spoken to him, but I'm sure by the look he had on him earlier he must have heard something. Try the garden. He loves it there."
Ruby was about to march straight toward the garden, but turned back to Emma once again, giving the princess another apologetic look. "I'm sorry, Emma. None of this is your fault. I will try to convince Regina that she should forgive you."
Emma smiled a sad smile. "Don't trouble her anymore than you have to, Ruby. I promised Regina that if she ever wanted to end things between us, I would accept it."
"But you can't give up without a fight just because Regina doesn't want to talk to you. She's stubborn right now, but she'll come around-"
"And when she does, I will be waiting for her back home, at our favorite spot." She smiled. "Besides, after tonight, I'm no longer a princess."
"What do you mean?" Ruby's eyes grew wide.
"I renounced my title for her. If I have any chance of getting her back, I want this time to be different. Without my family, without any pressure that comes with any stupid title."
Ruby couldn't help but let go of a single tear. She couldn't say anything else, but to give the princess one last hug before rushing off to find Graham.
"Kid," Emma knocked as gently as she spoke. "It's Emma. Can you let me in?"
The door slowly parted open, and the princess stepped in, shutting it behind her, where her eyes fell on a devastated and heartbroken Henry. She wasn't at all surprised when the small boy threw himself at her, hugging her tightly around the waist. Emma bent down slightly, wrapping her arms around him and allowing a single tear to escape her.
"I know what you're feeling right now. But everything will get better. I promise." She told Henry, who broke their hug, allowing her to kneel before him to be at his eye level.
"Listen to me, kid." Emma wiped his tears away, her eyes trained on his. "Your mom… She loves you very much. And if she kept the truth from you it was because it's too painful for a kid your age to know about it. But she wasn't going to keep it a secret forever."
"She wasn't?" He asked in a sad voice. Henry always knew that if anyone would never lie to him, it would be Emma.
She shook her head. "No, she wasn't. Your mom hasn't had an easy life, kid. She suffered a great deal, but when you came into her life, and she decided to care for you and love you as her own. That gave her a great purpose. Don't take that away from her by being mad. It won't do you or your mom any good. Especially right now. She's going to need you now more than ever."
"Because you won't be there?" He asked, his eyes tearing up.
It broke Emma's heart a great deal that all she could do was pull him into a tight hug.
"Is it because I'm not really her son? Is that why you can't make up with my mom?"
Emma's brow furrowed as she looked right into Henry's eyes. "Henry, no. Kid, I love you more than anything. And I love your mom. I always will."
"But you won't be with us."
"It's just for now." Emma gave him a sad smile. "Hey, I'll still come visit you."
"You will?"
She nodded, "I promise. You're my best buddy, right?" She ruffled his hair, hearing a light laugh escape him. "And as my best buddy, I need you to promise me that you will give your mom the biggest hug in the world for me. And you always tell her you love her. Always." She paused, "Can you promise me that?"
Henry nodded before he was pulled into another hug by Emma.
"I love you, Emma." A single tear rolled down his small cheek as did Emma's.
"I love you, too, kid."
Ruby rushed into the garden, spotting Graham as he sat right on the swing. His back hunched over with sadness. She approached him despite her fear of what he might've heard.
"Graham," she called out to him in a soft voice.
There was an angry look in his eye. A look that spoke volumes to Ruby. Especially once he shot up from the swing and stormed off.
"Graham! Don't run off! At least talk to me." Ruby ran right after him, reaching for his arm which he yanked back.
"About what?" There was a frown in his brow as he held up the crumbled page of newspaper where the picture of her and David was printed. "About this? How can you possibly justify this, Ruby?"
"I know how it looks," she sighed. "But I promise, we didn't-"
"Oh, don't you go promising anything to me. You are not your friend Regina."
"And you are not your friend Emma!" She shouted, angry at him. "And that's fine with me. We are both different people-"
"That's just it. We are two different people. Way too different." He said, his eyes tearing up. "I knew it the moment I saw you, and fought with my feelings, I didn't want to allow them to get mixed up in all this. Especially with the way you were provocatively behaving around everyone in this house."
"Hey, don't talk to me like that!"
"It's true! Isn't it?" He shouted. "You see me, you try to come after me, that doesn't work you go to Sidney, then Killian and you even go on a date with him. I guess I can't say I'm surprised that you would try to get wrapped up around the king as well-" He held up the newspaper page which was ripped by his hand and ripped to pieces in front of him.
Ruby tossed the pieces at his face before her palm came up and slapped him across the face hard. Her lip trembled, because as much as she hated this, she had to admit to herself that she had fallen in love with Graham and it pained her that he saw her this way.
"And I thought you were different than anyone else. But I can see now that you never thought any different of me." Her voice broke. "Sure, I can come on a little too strong, and I flirt with anyone I like or feel I can with, and yes, I've had my share of one night stands. And I say it like it is!"
Graham looked away, fighting tears of his own, his hand rubbing his cheek as it stung.
"The king and I might've shared a dance or two, but if Emma can understand that being nothing more than innocent fun, and a way to get him to open up to his wife in a way that a husband and a wife should, then I came here expecting that you might, too." Tears fall from her cheeks as their eyes meet. "But I guess I can't expect that from you, can I? Of course you jump to thinking the worst of me first. And here I am like an idiot trying to explain to another idiot that as much as I flirt, as much as I can come on too strong, as much out there of a person that I am- I can't be interested in anyone else anymore because I fell in love with the biggest idiot of all."
Graham's lips parted, his eyes locked on Ruby's.
"But, I guess that doesn't make a slight bit of difference to you, does it? Goodbye, Graham." She shook her head and stormed off, leaving him standing alone in the middle of the garden.
Emma walked out of the bedroom with Henry, who were greeted by Cora, who was quick to hug the boy.
"Oh, Henry," she whispered to him, breaking away from their hug. "Don't scare us like that again." She glared at him before standing to her feet, her eyes on Emma.
"All packed?" She asked Cora, who gave her an apologetic look.
"I'm sorry, dear," Cora stretched out her hand, giving Emma's own hand a gentle squeeze.
Emma held onto her hand, shaking her head. "I'm the one who's sorry. And I know my father is, too. I apologize for making you come all this way just to-"
"Emma." Cora's voice was gentle. "I know you love my daughter, and she loves you. She wouldn't be hurting right now if she didn't. But what your mother did-"
"I know, I apologize-"
"Stop apologizing for something that wasn't your fault, dear. You loved Regina, even when she came with a whole lot of baggage tied to her ankles, being dragged day in and day out. You gave my daughter an even bigger reason to start smiling again. Even sing in the shower. Not well, but she sang anyway."
Emma chuckled, fighting back tears. "Take care of her for me." She pleads, her voice breaking.
"You know I will. We both will," her eyes fall on Henry. "Won't we?"
Henry nods before he looks up at Emma. "We both will."
Emma smiles down at Henry, her eyes falling on Sidney who appears. "Sidney, please," she hands him Henry's suitcase. "Take all their belongings and make sure they arrive safely at the airport."
"Of course, your majesty." Sidney nods, taking Henry's suitcase and Cora's before heading down the hallway and stairs.
Cora gives Emma one last apologetic look before leaving with Henry to meet downstairs with Regina and Ruby. Tears rolled down the princess' cheeks. She couldn't handle the pain she was feeling right now, she couldn't even see them leave. Just like she knew she couldn't stay here any longer.
The next morning, the entire home felt empty, cradled with silence and unwanted tension for everyone. Graham was up and early, as was the Queen as she ate breakfast alone, and David as he entered the dining room with an angry look in his eye toward his wife. With all the silence in the world he walked over to the table and reached for his plate of food to take it elsewhere.
"David, will you stop this? You can't possibly-"
"I will not sit with you until you come to your senses that what you did was wrong." He glared at her over his shoulder. "For heaven's sake, Mary Margaret, you exposed that girl's past right in front of her child- who had no clue of anything. What kind of queen does that? What kind of queen goes about her way to ensure that her only daughter becomes unhappy?"
"Alright, so I was wrong! I admit, I shouldn't have done things the way I did."
He chuckles, "Not only that, but to allow Mal to interfere-"
"David, that's enough. I feel bad enough."
"Do you?" His brow raised.
"Yes." She hissed out the word with a glare.
"Because if my memory serves me correctly, you made it your own personal achievement to have Regina thrown out of here since day one. You were the only one in this family who didn't give her a chance. You-"
"She wasn't right for our daughter and you know it!" She raised a single digit.
David couldn't take it anymore. He startled his wife by smashing the plate of food onto the ground, his body turning directly to face her.
"Did you forget where you came from?!" He shouted, the vein in his forehead popping out. "Did you forget that you were not always a royal? That you were born in New York just like her, that you ventured out on your own, fought for what you had and made me fall in love with you with your kindness, your understanding, your… your compassion that you once had. Did you forget that I too was in our daughter's position and I fought through heaven and hell to convince my family that you were the one?"
She gawked, her mouth fell open. It had been years since she thought of the life she used to have before David.
"You promised you never would speak of-"
"Maybe I should have. Maybe I would have done well to remind you of where you came from, and you would have seen that Regina is exactly right for our daughter. So what if she raised a child that wasn't her own? So what if she lied to him to prevent him from getting hurt? Didn't you lie? Haven't you lied to yourself for years? Haven't you lied to Emma?"
"Is this true?" Emma appeared in the dining room, her eyes on her mother, who stood up from her chair.
"Emma-"
"Is it true?" She walked a few paces before the queen.
Mary Margaret's face hung in shame. "Yes," she murmured so softly, she hoped her words fell on deaf ears.
As she looked up, she could see a more angrier look on Emma's features. Her green eyes dark.
"I was once from New York. I loved the city," she chuckled. "I was young then and I didn't know better. I met your father on a trip he took and we fell in love." She paused, growing worried to the look in her daughter's eye. "Emma, I know I did wrong, but you must understand that I was simply trying to-"
"To what? Protect me?" Emma scoffed. "From what? From falling in love? From ending up with a woman like Regina who now I find out you were the exact same? You stood here and looked down upon the woman I loved and saw her as nothing, when you yourself were-?"
"Emma-" She went interrupted.
"No," Emma shook her head. "No, you weren't the same. I take that back, because…" Tears rolled down her cheeks. "Regina has proven to be an even better woman than you'll ever be."
A gasp escaped the queen's lips, as well as tears rolled down her eyes and her cheeks.
Emma shook her head, leaving the dining room without turning back. She headed up to her bedroom to pack her stuff and take the next flight out back to New York.
