A/N: Hey everyone! So after a long time away this chapter comes bringing some interesting new elements to the mix. I know that we have the big Liam confrontation still to come, but there was another important thing that needed to happen before then: Elsa and Anna needed to find out about magic. This chapter is bringing us to that moment, as well as throwing in some other elements as well. A lot of this you guys might have guessed at some of this, but I'm hoping you enjoy the layers and elements I've had tucked away in my mind since starting this story. As always thanks so much for reading and I am really looking forward to seeing what you all think!

Life as Emma knew it was totally and completely different than it had been just weeks ago.

Before this summer started, and before she'd found the gift of a mate and learned some big secrets about how the world really worked, she'd lived a normal life. There had been some instances of strangeness, and certainly there had been struggles strewn into her story here in Storybrooke Maine, but on the whole she'd been just a regular girl who met each and every day with a certain set of definitive facts. She didn't even ever think about them, they were just supposed to be given parts of life, and one of those fundamental truths was that magic wasn't real. It was a figment of fiction, a childish dream, a beautiful, hopeful imagined force, but it wasn't supposed to actually exist.

Yet now she knew better. Emma had witnessed first hand some of the varied ways magic manifested itself. She'd seen shifters and encountered Ruby's visions. This morning she'd even witnessed a bit of spell casting by Killian's cousin as well, but Emma had been told by Ruby that it was nothing compared to what she'd see in the future. This was 'mild magic' but the magic brought about by Emma's oldest and dearest friend was supposedly far more miraculous. That was amazing to imagine, but at the same time it didn't make things any less uneasy. She was currently walking up the road to Elsa's house preparing to tell her she was a witch and that was crazy. There was nothing about that that was normal or expected, and as such Emma was just a tiny bit concerned.

"You're going to do the talking, right?" Emma asked, checking with Ruby for the fifth time this morning about what was going to happen when they got to Anna and Elsa's home.

This reveal had been on Emma's mind in some capacity since Ruby and Granny showed up in Storybrooke, but now they were on the precipice of the confrontation and Emma was more than a little nervous. This was a huge secret and also a very intimate one. It would explain so much about Elsa and about Anna and their family, and Emma imagined it would be a real awakening for her friend, but at first Elsa might resist. All these years people had been teasing Elsa about her dreams or lovingly pushing the thought that maybe she truly had a gift. Emma and Anna had always known Elsa was special, but now there was more information and more possibility. If Ruby's assessment of Elsa's gifts was right, there was a whole new world that was about to open up to Emma's best friend, and Emma knew that while Elsa would eventually be grateful, she might very well be hesitant at first.

Understandably Elsa was not a great proponent of change. Losing their parents so young had impacted both Elsa and Anna in incalculable ways. For Anna it had made her want to live each moment to a fuller extent. She never let a day pass where she didn't tell people what they meant to her. She ended every friendly hang out session with an 'I love you,' and a huge hug at the very least. Anna was continuously grateful and energized, but she also took risks. She always said that life was all in the way you lived it. She never wanted to be afraid, and so sometimes she took things to extremes.

Elsa was almost a polar opposite, and Emma knew it wasn't merely because she was a more introverted person. So much of that tendency towards caution had come from being the eldest sister. She'd taken on the role as caregiver and as pseudo-parent, and though Emma's family and the whole town had come together to help the girls when their parents passed away, Elsa never shied away from her responsibilities. She became Mom and Dad and sister, guide and best friend, teacher and peer. As a result, Elsa would do anything for Anna, but in the rest of her life she was guarded. She never expended too much unnecessary energy and never gave too much away. She sided with safety and certainty, and this big reveal would hardly feel like a sure thing.

"I'm doing the talking," Ruby promised, her hand coming to Emma's arm in a sign of comfort. "Well, at least until you get comfortable. And you will, Emma. I promise. It's gonna be great. I can't see everything, as you know, but I can sense how things will end and it's going to be more than okay."

"I'd trust my cousin on this, love," Killian said from Emma's other side, squeezing her hand in a reassuring sign of connection as he did. "Ruby is never wrong about these things. If she's confident enough to voice a vision, it will come to pass."

"Damn right it will," Ruby said with pride, and Emma was happy for this tiny fleeting moment.

Killian's family might have come because of a bad situation on the horizon (and according to Ruby's estimates they were still some time away from any kind of confrontation) but they'd done their best to live and be themselves since then. Killian's deciding to stand his ground and confront Liam for better or worse here in Storybrooke seemed to embolden Ruby and Granny. With a plan somewhat established, they eased into things and had even started to show some signs of hope. Ruby's visions were still unsure in regards to Liam, but her instincts weren't as harried and afraid as they had been before, and Emma was more than glad for that.

"Sorry. I don't mean to second-guess your abilities," Emma said, not wanting Ruby to feel that she didn't respect all that her new friend was capable of. "It's just kind of a lot. Today I have to go tell my best friend she's got magical powers. Then I have to ask her if she's seen the future lately because there's danger looming in a town that never really tends to see it. It's a little…"

"Overwhelming," Killian said at the same time that Ruby filled in with her own "totally bizarre."

"Yeah, both of those actually," Emma agreed, barking out something like a laugh again and leaning into Killian, pulling a little extra strength from him as they walked up the rest of the steps to Elsa and Anna's house. Before they could knock though, the door flew open and there was Anna looking out of breath, as if she'd been sprinting around the house for some time.

"Aha! I knew Elsa's hunch would be right. She mentioned that there might be guests today off handedly when she woke up, and then she said we didn't have to clean because it was just a thought. That obviously wasn't going to happen. Elsa knows what Elsa knows, right? Only problem is this place is so big it's hard for just two of us, and I can never figure out how to vacuum the walls right. But it's fine because you're here now!"

Anna said all the words so quickly that Emma wondered if Killian and Ruby would need a translator. It was just like her friend to be going a hundred miles a minute. Her thoughts ran fast, and her tongue ran faster, that was what Elsa and Anna's Grams had always said and she wasn't wrong. But where others might have whiplash from the speed of that largely random monologue, Emma was totally comfortable with it. It was indication that things were as they always were here in her friends' house, and though Emma was about to change that, she took it as a good sign that Anna immediately hugged her close in a welcoming gesture without even saying a traditional hello.

"I'm sorry, the walls?" Killian asked aloud, drawing Anna's attention to him with the apt question. Emma watched as her friend's eyes lit up, and she didn't miss the way that Anna's gaze flicked back between Emma and Killian a few times before she answered.

"Yeah. It's like the one thing I'm not a complete disaster at," Anna said, as if that was any kind of explanation, and Emma shared a look with Killian trying to convey that she would fill him in on Anna's quirks and skill sets a little later. Meanwhile Ruby chuckled aloud, and Emma thought perhaps her gift made her privy to some of those images of Anna cleaning, which were, admittedly, always a riot.

"You're never a disaster, Anna," Elsa proclaimed from inside the house before she appeared at the doorway, looking much less windswept and out of breath than her sister. She also handled the presence of guests so differently, offering a smile and a more socially polite greeting to them all. "We were hoping to see you today, Emma. And you brought company! Hi Killian."

"Good to see you, Elsa" Killian replied genuinely. Elsa's smile grew at Killian's honest enjoyment in seeing her and then her eyes moved to Ruby. Emma waited for a second to see if there would be any immediate recognition. Maybe Elsa had seen Ruby in a dream or something, but there was nothing past a mild friendliness there and Emma knew that for now Ruby was just any other person to her friend.

"Elsa, Anna, this is Killian's cousin Ruby. She's, uh, visiting?" Emma said, not meaning to have her inflection change so it sounded like a question, but Ruby went right ahead as if that introduction wasn't weird and stilted at all.

"It's really great to meet you two. I feel like I already know you guys."

"Oh score, he's got family! And where there's family there's like a million embarrassing stories and deets about how he's going to treat our girl," Anna said, again seeming to forget herself. After a moment she had the good sense to look a little bashful. "Oh shoot, did I say that out loud?"

"Yup," Killian and Ruby responded at once, the latter seeming to have a lot more fun with this than the former, but Emma knew Killian had a soft spot for Anna and for Elsa. She'd watched over the past few weeks as he got to know her friends, and he'd said more than once that since they were Emma's chosen family so to would they be his.

"What my sister probably meant to say is that it's nice to meet you too," Elsa said graciously. "And won't you come in? I wouldn't have bored you with the details, but since Anna already shared, we have in fact cleaned the house today."

Everyone walked inside and Emma could almost imagine seeing this house for the first time again as Killian was (with Ruby it was doubtful, seeing as her gift had so much range and possibility). For Emma, this estate had always been one of the most gorgeous in Storybrooke. Anna and Elsa's family had been some of the founding members of this town centuries ago, and they'd been old money from back in Europe well before that. At one time there'd even been a habit by some people of calling them the town royals, at least among their more jealous and less kind hearted neighbors, but that was before the tragic accident that took Anna and Elsa's parents from them too soon. Still this house was a symbol of tradition and grace. It was old but still fresh and though it had gotten a little colder when they lost their parents, Elsa wouldn't allow coldness to linger. She certainly could have, and Emma would have never faulted her friend for giving in to sadness, but for Anna, Elsa had always been strong. Part of that strength meant keeping this house alive and vibrant, and she'd managed to do that every day, no matter how hard it had been.

Looking around the 'sun parlor' (basically a fancy rich people word for sitting room with a full wall of glass windows), Emma noticed the subtle differences between their childhood version of this home and the one they were in now. Before, this place had been the epitome of prim and proper. It was still lovely, because it had been filled with the love of family, but Elsa's mother had been meticulous in her desire to keep things as true to the original integrity of the old Victorian home as she could. Elsa, in comparison, had warmed things up. There were live plants strewn about because of Anna's love of all things natural, and they were all blooming beautifully. There were also so many more pictures of their family and friends on the mantles and side tables. They were snapshots of happy memories, both long ago and also recent, but it never felt morbid or sad. It was a memorial and yet a living breathing tribute to the sisters now as well.

"This is a beautiful home you two have," Killian said, showing his good manners and making Emma's heart squeeze tightly. It was a simple compliment, but she knew both of her friends would take it as sincerely as it was meant.

"Thank you," Elsa replied. "It's a labor of love, but it's always felt worth it to us."

"You got that right," Anna said sitting down after all of their guests were seated, and then, because she was hardly as patient as her sister, she got right down to the point. "So. What brings Killian's mysterious cousin to our house? Emma's got that look about her like she's got to say something, so I'm betting it's a doozy."

Emma's stomach flipped at Anna's perceptiveness, though she should have known this would come. She was wondering what would be the best way to proceed. Emma and Ruby definitely needed to be here, as did Anna and Elsa, but though Emma would love the comfort of having Killian by her side in what could be a trying time, she wanted to make sure all parties were comfortable. This was a huge reveal to Elsa and to Anna, and though Emma knew that they loved Killian because she cared so much for him, she didn't want anything to feel forced. As if he read her mind – whether through the mating link or through his own well-honed Emma radar – Killian squeezed her hand gently and brought it to his lips to press a gentle kiss. Then he announced his intention as their eyes still held.

"I think it might be best if I take a look around the gardens, maybe scope out this sea walk I've heard so much about. Would either of you mind?" Killian asked, finally turning to Emma's friends, but they just smiled and nodded that it was fine, both of them clearly thrilled at his open affection for Emma. "I'll be right outside should you need me, love."

"Thank you," Emma whispered to him before pressing a kiss to his lips and watching him slip out the door to the patio. Killian headed towards the gardens, a place where one could get lost for hours, but she was sure he wouldn't get turned around. As a shifter, it was one of his many gifts to have that all too keen sense of direction.

"Okay that's not fair," Anna exclaimed, her head shaking and the braids she had in this morning following suit. "I mean seriously that man is just crazy about you. I want one!"

Emma laughed at Anna's outburst and so did Ruby, and the slight tension that had arisen felt like it dwindled considerably. Still Emma could see that her friend, though honest, was also doing this on purpose. It might be Elsa who was a once in a generation witch, but now that Emma knew of magic and of the magic that ran in this family, she was absolutely certain Anna had gifts of her own. Perhaps they were more hidden or subdued, but they were definitely there. Elsa had always been the one with dreams that were uncannily accurate, but Anna had a way of knowing people and situations just like this one.

"Not to worry, Anna. You'll definitely find someone," Ruby said and though it could have been construed as a harmless comment, Anna's eyebrows rose and her smile widened.

"Oh my gosh, you see stuff too don't you?!" Anna exclaimed, practically squealing. "I know you do! That's the same face Elsa makes when she has a dream. Now you have to tell us what the hell is going on!"

"You good with that, Emma?" Ruby asked and Emma nodded, moving to sit with Elsa and Anna on the couch as Ruby told them all that she knew.

Though Emma had heard most of this already, it was another experience entirely to have this conversation with Elsa and Anna present. Ruby was giving a basic 101 run down of magic and the supernatural world. Since humanity itself was formed, so to had magic been living and breathing on this earth. Many people in the know considered magic to be another of the elements that people were more familiar with. It was an essence and an energy that always came from nature somehow, but it manifested in many ways. Sometimes it took the form of witches or clairvoyants, and other times it could be seen in other supernatural beings. Ruby hadn't mentioned shifters specifically yet, focusing instead on what was truly pertinent to Elsa and Anna, but Emma felt completely compelled by what they discovered too. It was still so new and so amazing that conceiving all of this could be real was a challenge.

The element of magic, it turned out, was all around to those who know how to wield it. For witches and warlocks and other spell-casting peoples, magic was a gift mostly held by families that originated from different hubs of magical influence. Long ago there were places on earth where magic was far more present than others. Ruby listed a few off the cuff: portions of the Amazon, oases in the Sahara, islands off of current day Malaysia and more. As such, the people who came from those areas were exposed to a very rich natural spirit for millennia. That spirit was then internalized by more sensitive families, and then, even if they left, the gift of magical ability was transferred with them.

"My family was from Ireland originally," Ruby explained, drawing a pendant that she had that didn't look so dissimilar from the one of Killian's that Emma had found. As she did so, a breeze swept through the room but it was contained, gentle, warm, and well… wonderful. It smelled sweet, like the fresh bloom of wild flowers, and as Emma looked at the light swirling in the room, she could see these sort of spiritual etchings dancing in the wind of feathers, leaves, and, as one might expect with the scent, petals. "It was just a tiny Celtic town to the south of the Isle, but according to the diaries that all of the women in my family kept, there was a spring there where magic flowed freely. It was their job to protect the spring, but eventually it dried up and so they moved here."

"This is… it's impossible. But it's real," Elsa said, her fingertips trying to trace some of Ruby's magic as it flittered through the air. As she toyed with the magic in the air, her whole being was overcome with an undeniable excitement. There wasn't any trace of the fear she expected. If anything Elsa looked totally free to believe in something amazing and all consuming. "Magic has been real along. Just like Grams always said. I thought she was teasing, or maybe giving us something beautiful to dream of. I never thought… but it's always been here. I can feel it now."

"It has," Ruby replied, her own joy at seeing Elsa experience this growing more and more by the second.

"You said the spring dried up?" Anna asked, continuing the trend that had emerged of her being the one to ask questions that all of them were thinking. "Did something happen?"

"No, it was just nature taking its course," Ruby said, pulling back her magical display so the room was as it had been. "It was a couple hundred years ago, and then they came here, or rather, to America, hoping to find a new place to call home. The witches in my family bounced around a little bit before moving further out west. Magic loves forests and the untouched spaces of nature, and as the world has changed, so too have the places that magic likes best."

"Can wi- wi…" Elsa faltered over the words, still clearly grappling with the new information she was hearing about herself. "Can people who access magic turn into animals by any chance? Like maybe wolves?"

"Let me guess, lots of wolf dreams have been happening since Killian came?" Ruby asked, feeling like she already knew the answer.

"Yes," Elsa hedged. "But they've been around a long time. Since that day in Boston…" Elsa looked to Emma and now, finally, Emma felt like she could jump in for a bit.

"The wolves from that night are more than I ever thought they were. They are not animals, but magical people who can transform their shape. They're called shifters," Emma explained. "Not all shifters are wolves, but that night when I was attacked it was a rogue wolf who came after me and another rogue wolf who saved me."

"You were attacked?!" Anna exclaimed, somehow more worried about that than the fact that Emma was telling her that people could turn into giant animals or that witchcraft was real. "And you knew, Elsa?"

"I'm sorry, Anna, I should have told you but…"

"But I made her promise not to," Emma said, explaining the story as quickly as she could and filling in on how Elsa had been there. She'd had a dream that brought her to the city, but for a long long time they'd all just considered it this mental break. It couldn't have been real, but now they knew it truly was. "But what I didn't realize then is that the shifter was Killian."

"Holy shit, your Killian?!" Anna asked, completely losing herself in the reveal before looking to Ruby. "Killian's a wolf? That's so awesome! So are you a wolf too then? I thought you were a witch."

"Guilty on both counts," Ruby said with a grin. "It's very rare, but witches and shifters can be mates and when they are you end up with hybrids like me."

"Oh my God mates, that sounds so… hot!" Anna said, play fanning herself as she heard. Emma couldn't help but let out a laugh at her friend's antics, but she continued to search Anna's demeanor to see if she was really okay with all she was finding out or if there was more to this. Anna seemed so completely on board, and Emma wondered how that could be.

"But you said the wolf that saved you, sorry, Killian, you said he was all black right? Like midnight. And the attacker was more tan?"

"Yeah. Like a dull colored sand, why?"

"The one I've been dreaming of is lighter than just a pure black," Elsa said, her confusion clearly gnawing at her.

"Let me guess, dark gray coat, that gets darker at the paws."

"Yes," Elsa said, her desire to know who it was winning out. "You know him?"

"It's Liam," Ruby confessed, and then, realizing that neither Elsa nor Anna recognized the name, she filled them in. "Killian's brother."

"Oh my God, so Elsa is dreaming about Killian's brother?" Anna asked, looking almost giddy. "Wait that's a good thing right?"

"It's complicated," Ruby said, deflating Anna somewhat, though Elsa seemed to already know that was the case. "And honestly, that part of all of this can wait a while longer. I think you guys will face enough today just hearing your story."

"So you know about us then," Elsa asked without the inflection of a real question. "You're going to tell us about our family?"

"There's no need for that. They can tell you themselves."

Silence greeted Ruby's statement, and it was one of the first times that Emma had ever seen Anna stunned into quiet like this. The pain in her friend's eyes was mingled with a soul crushing hope, and Emma could understand it. Ruby hadn't given her too many details, but from what she had said every old family of magic had a repository somewhere with stories and spells and all other kinds of things. It was passed down from generation to generation, and Emma assumed it would be like in the movies where there was a giant book written kind of like a diary.

"How?" Elsa asked, her voice coming out stronger than Emma would have ever imagined as she took Anna's hand and squeezed it tight and then used her other hand to hold onto Emma.

"There's a room in this house that no one knows about. There's a hidden door. That's where the answers are."

"A hidden door?" Elsa asked, confused. "We don't have anything like that. If we did we'd have found it by now."

"One of you has," Ruby said, looking to Anna with a soft smile. "You just haven't remembered in a long time."

At the words a spark of recollection appeared in Anna's expression, and Emma knew her friend was working through the recesses of her mind trying to figure out exactly when that happened and where she'd found it. After a moment her eyes lit up and she jumped from the couch.

"It's out back in the green house. But there was nothing there. Just a bunch of old herbs and dried up plants…"

"There's a hatch door to a lower level somewhere. It won't take long for you to find it. I can't see what's down there – there are blood protection spells meaning only your family can access that space, but there should be a box there. It's blue and has your family crest. Inside there are jewels, crystals, and precious stones. They'll tell the story if you two unlock them."

"I'm sorry, so the stones are going to… talk to us?" Elsa asked.

"You'll see," Ruby said, offering a smile as Anna jumped up.

"We have to go," Anna said, reaching back for Elsa's hand. "We have to go right now."

"All right, all right," Elsa said, still not looking like she fully believed it. "Emma?"

"I think it would be best if you two did this yourselves," Emma said, trying to hold back tears as she came to stand up with her friends.

"But you're our sister, too" Anna said, immediately agreeing with Elsa and Emma swallowed back a lump in her throat.

"Always have been and always will be. But this… it's your legacy and it's a part of you guys that I think deserves the utmost care. Plus we don't know how this blood spell thing works yet. I might not be able to go in at all. But I'll be right here if you need me. I'm not going anywhere."

"Promise?" Anna and Elsa asked at the same time, and Emma nodded, extending her pinky to them both and twisting tightly when they extended theirs.

"Promise."

With that, Elsa and Anna headed out to the green house, leaving Ruby and Emma alone for pretty much the first time since Granny and Ruby arrived. It should have been a strange or awkward time, but Emma found it comfortable despite the circumstances. She and Ruby discussed a number of things about magic and about what her friends would find. They were going to be blessed today, not just with their story, but with their story told by their mother and their grandmother. Ruby might not be able to see the story, but she could feel those spirits being close. Ruby explained that it was possible to infuse sound and images into precious gems, and she had a few from her family that had always meant a lot to her. But at one point, after a bit of time discussing this new life changing moment for her friends, Killian caught Emma's attention. He was outside and in wolf form along the tree line, looking back at the house, or more precisely at her.

"I've never seen Killian like this before, so happy and centered," Ruby mused aloud, her eyes looking towards Killian as she smiled with pride and real joy. "Even when we were kids and his Mom was still here, he was always quiet and always just a little more reserved than me or the other pack pups."

"I can't imagine what it must have been like, growing up the way he and Liam did. The way you did, in that pack run by their father. Was it hard when they left?"

"Almost as hard as losing Liam," Ruby confessed, her expression turning somber and remorseful. Emma wondered if Killian could hear them, but at this distance she thought it was probably doubtful. "But we have the future. I'm afraid to say anything for certain, but it doesn't feel as menacing right now as it did before. I was panicked when I could sense Liam again, but I still see things. Good things. Things happening years down the way. I have to believe they'll really happen. You're going to make them happen."

"Me?" Emma asked, shocked that she would have any sort of role. "But I'm just a human."

"Maybe," Ruby said, not sounding fully convinced, "But even if you're human, Emma, you're special. You bring out the best in Killian. You mean the world to Anna and Elsa. You have a light in you. It's not magic per se, at least I don't think, but it's something, and I know it's important. It might just be the most important thing any of us has to offer."

Emma thanked Ruby quietly, flattered at the compliment, but unable to respond in any meaningful way because at that precise moment her phone began to ring. She'd been so unplugged for days that Emma was surprised she'd even brought it with her, but the tell tale sign of her mother's ring tone told Emma that patience had finally run thin for Mary Margaret Nolan. Strangely that was of huge comfort to Emma, and before she so much as greeted her mother, she had a pretty good idea of where this conversation was going to go.

"Hi Mom," Emma said, thinking about what the proper tactic was for this exchange.

In a regular situation she would apologize for being off the grid. It had been days since she spoke with anyone in her family, and that was not normal for them. But she wasn't actually sorry for all that had happened the past few days, and Emma also knew that though her mother always meant well, she had a real knack for taking harmless statements and making them a little more innuendo packed than was strictly comfortable.

"Oh Emma, honey, you know I love you, and God knows I love Anna and Elsa nearly as much, but would it be too much for you to call your parents when finally surfacing after days and days away? We miss you."

"I miss you too, Mom. And sorry about the delay. Things are kind of happening over here. It's, uh, unexpected."

"Well surprise guests will do that to you."

"How did you know about that?" Emma asked, slightly afraid that her mother was going to rehash some truly crazy series of informants, but what she actually heard surprised her even more.

"Easy, I'm having lunch with Granny right now."

"You're what?!" Emma asked at the same time Ruby said, "She's what?!" Well, look at that, even a surprise for the all-seeing Ruby. For a second Emma wondered how she'd heard what her mother said on the phone, and then she remembered Ruby had shifter hearing. She was going to have to get used to that.

"I know! It's the wildest thing. We just happened to meet at the diner – she was questioning the integrity of the lasagna after ordering it, a good indicator of a person's character as you know - and we got to talking." Emma smiled at one of her mother's strange marks of a person, but it wasn't the first time she'd heard this bit about the lasagna. "I can't imagine how you must be feeling, Emma. First you find out your true love is a shifter and then you find out your best friends have a magical bloodline -,"

"Mom!" Emma yelled into the phone interrupting her. "You can't go around saying things like that. Someone could hear you."

"Emma, I'm at home," her mother said in a slightly chastising voice, surprising Emma yet again. "Do you really think I'd be so careless? Besides, I can keep a secret you know."

If someone had said that to Emma even a month ago she would laugh in their face. Mary Margaret Nolan keeping a secret? Yeah right. It was not her style, but that assumption had been proved wrong. She'd kept mum about shifters for years, and in doing so she'd proven that it was possible for her to not give away a private confidence. "I thought you said you were having lunch at the diner."

"No, I said we met at the diner. I ended up convincing her to come here. Because again, that lasagna is questionable at best. She's a funny one though, won't let me call her anything but Granny. But I like her."

"You realize she's a shifter too, right? She can hear you."

"She could hear me if she were human; she's sitting right in front of me."

Emma heard Granny say hello in the background and at the same time Ruby came closer and said hello herself. This could have started a whole big conversation, since her mother was clearly curious about Killian's cousin, but Emma redirected to get some better answers.

"So did you know about Anna and Elsa all this time too?" Emma asked, hating to think this might have been yet another secret between she and her parents. Before they died, Elsa and Anna's mother and father were good friends of Emma's parents. But it would be a little strange that they would tell them and not their children about their family legacy.

"Oh no, honey, Granny told me. Gigi never confided in me about any of that, not that I'd ever blame her after the incident where I accidentally told you girls her real name,"

Emma felt a giggle bubble up at that memory. Yes she remembered that day. It wasn't every day you heard the name Gerda, and Anna and Elsa had gone bonkers over the big reveal. They'd been fixated on it for weeks, months even.

"I'm sure Gigi had all sorts of plans for how she wanted Anna and Elsa to hear all of this," Mary Margaret said, her voice sounding out with more than a touch of sadness for her old friend. "But things happen that we can't control. And I'm just glad that the girls are getting the chance to learn who they really are now. Granny just brought me up to speed. And it's so amazing! I knew about shifters – your father told me that you know everything now so you know how that went – but magic… well it's just so exciting, don't you think?"

"Yeah," Emma said, letting out a steady breath. "Exciting would be a good word to describe the last few days."

"Exactly, and with so much going on and so much left to talk about, I think it's only right that everyone come to the house for dinner. I have to meet Ruby, and I want to check in on Elsa and Anna, but most of all I want to make sure my new son-in-law knows what's what."

"Mom," Emma said with a blush growing over her cheeks before lowering her voice as quietly as she could while still being heard on the other end of the call. "We're not married."

"Ha! Maybe not yet, but don't think a wedding is not already in the works. This mating thing sounds lovely. Your Aunt Gwen told me a bit about it a few years back. It's like this great big love that means more than any simple ceremony can ever express, but every princess deserves a wedding and you're darn well going to have one."

Emma didn't even have time to groan before Killian approached, stepping into view at the patio door with an intense look in his blue eyes. "I couldn't agree more."

Well this was fun. Apparently he could hear her phone calls and from quite a bit of distance away. Emma was doing all she could to not die of embarrassment, but the only thing getting her through was the look on Killian's face that said he truly did love her and was planning for forever together. It wasn't like her mother had picked this idea out of nowhere. Clearly Killian felt the same about them getting married, even if they hadn't gotten there yet.

"Okay well can we table that talk for now, please? There's more than enough to keep us busy in the meantime," Emma begged, not wanting to state the obvious aloud – there should be no wedding being planned since Killian hadn't exactly asked her to get married.

"Absolutely, but we will see you all at seven. Pass on the invite to Anna and Elsa."

"Tonight?" Emma asked, wondering if it was a good idea. "I don't know, Mom. They just found everything out, they might need some time -,"

"We don't need time," Anna said, drawing everyone's attention to the doorway where she and Elsa were standing. The sisters were holding hands again, and it was clear there had been some tears shed as they went through their family's things, but both of them still looked happy. Emma imagined there must be so much relief even though there was the sadness of looking to the past, and with a silent nod between her and Elsa, her friend conveyed that to her as Anna continued. "What we need is some really good chicken parm. I'm talking pasta for days, the good imported cheese your Mom gets in Boston, and that home made sauce even magic couldn't replicate."

Everyone laughed at that, and since Emma had automatically put the call on speakerphone when Anna and Elsa came out, her mother took the initiative and replied herself. She had all of those ingredients, and she would see to it that Anna and Elsa's favorite meal was made and ready. With that, Emma hung up on the call, and she looked first to Killian, finding his eyes shining with so much love. She held onto that, and then looked quickly to Elsa, needing to know that her friend was all right.

"Are you sure this is okay? It's a lot to reconcile and it's all happening very fast."

"Fast is the way things move these days," Elsa said with a smile that was small but also true. She looked at Emma and at Killian, nodding whether she consciously knew it or not. "And so far that seems to be a good thing. We're not different people because of what we know now. I'm no different than I was before."

"No, you're not," Emma said gladly, watching Elsa exhale a ragged breath as Ruby chimed in.

"You've just got some cool new abilities," Ruby said cheerily. "And now that you guys unlocked your family secrets I can see so much more, for you and for Anna."

"You too?" Emma asked, finding herself filled with excitement for her friend. For once Anna looked a little sheepish, something Emma had never noticed her friend experiencing before, but she acknowledged the unexpected surprise.

"Yup. Visions might not be my thing, but according to Grams messages and some of Mom's too there's a lot in store for me as well. But for now let's put all of that on ice. I wasn't kidding when I said I needed that chicken parm, because honey, it has been a day."

Everyone could readily agree with that assessment, and in the interest of honoring her friends' wishes, Emma held back on questions about what came next and what they had learned. Soon enough her friends would tell her. It was always just a matter of time before they shared everything with each other, and whenever that came Emma would be more than willing to listen and learn.

"How are you doing, love?" Killian asked a few moments later, when they'd all decided to head outside together to the beach walk. Elsa and Anna were talking with Ruby about summers in Storybrooke, and Emma watched at how a solid friendship was forming between them already, her heart filled with happiness as her family and Killian's blended together.

"I'm good," Emma said, looking to Killian and seeing his concern and affection, shining as brightly as the sun in the sky this lovely summer day. "Better with you here."

"I feel I could say that in any moment," Killian agreed, stopping their stroll and pulling her into his embrace. "Any instance is improved with you beside me."

"Guess we better stick together then," Emma teased and she delighted in the growl from Killian as his mouth claimed hers in a fierce and hungry kiss. It was impossible not to get swept away in it, her hands roaming, her body arching for closeness as she tasted him and reveled in the heat and charge between them. But before they could take things way too far given their setting, Killian pulled back and pressed his forehead to hers gently.

"Forever, Emma. That's how long we'll have each other."

"Forever," she agreed.

With that, the two of them rejoined her friends and Ruby, finding themselves enjoying a weirdly normal afternoon in the midst of so much change and transformation. And though Emma was a bit preoccupied with the idea of dinner at her parents tonight, she knew, deep down, that whatever may come she would always have Killian, and the two of them together would always make it through.

Post-Note: So there we have it. Truth be told I have so many thoughts and ideas about Elsa and Anna's magical reveal. I would love to write a whole scene from their POV about that, adding the layers of magic I have imagined for this story and giving their experience with the big change in their lives. Unfortunately I don't really have time to create that chapter, at least not yet. I am debating, however, adding some extra scenes and glimpses into this story when I have the whole thing done. That being said, I have only managed to get a couple of chapters written before my school year, so it's looking like it's definitely going to be summer before this whole story is told. As of right now I am looking to move to a monthly posting schedule. I have this chapter, one for February and one for March all written, and I am hoping I might find a bit of time in the next three months to craft together a chapter for April, God willing. Anyway, I would love to hear what you all think, and rest assured there will be some more CS moments in the chapter next time. There's still a lot of stuff that has to happen, so we aren't getting full blown fluff for a while, but I trust you guys will still like the story all the same. Thanks so much for reading and hope you have a great rest of your weekend!