Chapter 16 – The one where everything goes to hell.

Their first big booked convention after wrapping on the show is located in Orlando, Florida, and Henry is the only thing keeping Emma relatively calm as they're picked up from the airport and taken to the hotel. Regina's replies to any text messages have been vague, and any attempts to call have more often than not been left ringing straight to voicemail. Henry's managed to talk to her a few times, but every time he mentioned Emma wanting to say hi, she'd bid a quick goodbye, always with an excuse for needing to get off the phone.

"She's probably just nervous," Henry offers, watching the way his mother's knee bounces impatiently from where she sits at the edge of the bed. Since Henry's not cast, the show didn't put him up in a room for a convention he's not a guest at, so Emma had grudgingly shelled out some extra money to get herself a room with two beds instead. Henry loves coming to every convention with her but he's a full grown young man now—one who kicks in his sleep, no less—and she refuses to share her bed.

"Maybe making KavaReina canon was a bad idea," Emma laments, collapsing back onto her bed with a groaned exhale. "Regina's clearly uncomfortable now. And— oh god, what happens if we're renewed? We'll have to film more kissing. We'd have to film—"

Emma goes white, eyes wide with terror, because Belle is kind of a perv and if KavaReina is canon then she and Regina will eventually have to film a sex scene and oh god—

"Ma," Henry says, and she jerks her head up to look at him. "Get your head out of the gutter, they want us down in the greenroom in five."

He drags her down there, cheerfully bidding his hellos to the other cast members already present in the greenroom and preparing for a big group panel. Ruby and Ivy drag Emma down onto a couch with them and chatter away about what they've been up to since they'd wrapped on filming (Ruby had gone back to Tennessee and Ivy had been in Australia.) Regina isn't there yet, but Graham's offering awkward, uncomfortable smiles to Emma, and Mary Margaret and David are too busy gushing about their upcoming wedding. There hadn't even been an epic proposal— they'd just started talking about wanting to get married and start a family together, and the next thing anyone knew, tabloids had photos of the two at Disneyworld together, shiny rings on their fingers and big, happy grins on their faces.

"Sorry I'm late, everyone," is the first thing from Regina's mouth as she enters the greenroom in a timid, decidedly out-of-character way that has Emma stiffening and Mary Margaret looking concerned. Still, Henry jumps up and embraces her happily, receiving a kiss on the forehead from the woman who's loved him like her own for the past few years, and she looks immeasurably calmer with his lanky arm around her shoulders.

"Glad you could make it," Ruby teases, receiving a curt nod from Regina. The convention employee appears then, letting them know they're up, and Regina slips from Henry's side to follow the man down the short hall and to the stage, the others hurrying after them. Emma hasn't received so much as a glance, and as much as her chest aches and her eyes sting with tears, she refuses to let herself feel anything at the moment. There has to be an explanation. She can't think the worst and get upset, not now when they're stepping out onto the stage to the thunderous applause from their fans.

Regina is already seated near the middle of the long table, fidgeting with the nameplate and microphone in front of her. Emma almost automatically sits to Regina's left, until her eyes fall on the nameplate and realizes that it says "Ivy Belfrey." Glancing to Regina's other side she sees Mary Margaret's nameplate, and with a sinking feeling in her chest, she momentarily fumbles and locates her seat on Ivy's other side.

Ivy sits and immediately shares a confused glance with Emma, and Ruby hesitantly takes her seat on Emma's other side, both reaching over to give her arms a squeeze of comfort below the table. The front of their panel table is covered by a cloth so that the fans seated nearest to the stage aren't staring at their crotches, but everyone can see both women reaching for Emma and are already whispering about why Emma isn't seated next to Regina and Mary Margaret like usual. Cast numbers 1, 2, and 3 have always been seated together, and today's arrangement (and Ivy's unwitting participation) has signalled a clear shift in power.

Initial bafflement aside, the fans erupt in applause as the MC announces each cast member, giving a brief introduction before getting into the nitty gritty. Questions are asked, sometimes of the entire table and sometimes directed to certain cast, and their interactions settle into their usual rhythm as if they hadn't all been spread across the globe for the past month after wrapping season five. Regina is vibrant and sassy and coy with her words again, switching easily into her "convention personality," but it's quickly—and painfully—obvious that she's no longer flirting with or even talking to Emma, and as the fans start to whisper amongst themselves and look concerned, she panics internally.

It hurts. It hurts to avoid Emma like the plague and it hurts to know that Emma continues to glance at her, clearly wounded and confused and most likely blaming herself. But she doesn't know what to do, doesn't know how to make a clean break without making everything crash down around herself, and Cora's words continue to linger ominously in the back of her mind like an ugly tattoo forcibly etched into her skull.

"—think Kavalan will react once she gets her memories back?"

Regina snaps back to attention to realize the next question has been asked of Emma, and as she finally dares to turn her head and glance at her co-star, she finds Emma staring back at her, eyes wide and face pale. After a stunned moment, Emma looks back to the audience and smiles, laughing almost nervously, her hands trembling in her lap where no one but her coworkers can see them.

"I think she'll be devastated that she tried to attack someone she'd once sworn fealty to," she answers, and despite her excellent performance as Kavalan for the past five years, Emma isn't exactly a seasoned actress, and her forced smile is painfully obvious to the audience members watching them carefully. "And she'll probably beg Reina for forgiveness for... for what she's done. I mean, despite their dynamic of Queen and Guardian, Kavalan definitely cares about her as her closest friend and confidante, you know?"

Ruby and Ivy cheerfully give their input on their own characters' involvement, their smiles blinding, but the fans snap photos of Emma's pale face and the stunned look of guilt on Regina's, and social media is relentless when they study posted con photos that very evening.


"Shit has to have gone down during the filming of s5. There's no other possible reason they stuck Ivy between Emma and Regina at the panel."

"So... is EmmaSwan76 and ReginaMills still friends or did RealRubyLucas get sick of their weird gal pal friendship and put an end to it?"

"Emma and Regina barely looked at each other and no one dared mention #KavaReina this time around. #awkward"


The con employee Emma manages to get a hold of stutters some sort of half-assed excuse about the producers wanting to promote the two queens front and center, hence why Regina and Ivy were at the center of the table. It's a sad excuse, but she takes it with a halfhearted shrug and tries not to be too hurt when Regina flees as soon as their panel is over, gone before any of the cast can try to catch up with her. Her avoidance tactics fail once they're all brought down for an autograph session, however, because there is no seat plan and Ruby, Ivy, and Mary Margaret all hang back, refusing to sit down until Emma has claimed a chair next to Regina.

"Hey," Emma says, hesitant as she tries to busy her hands lining up the handful of sharpies she's been given, and Regina looks skittish despite trying to play it cool, even as her heart jumps up into her throat.

"Hey," she says back, clearing her throat and smiling and waving towards the excited fans standing in line. She hasn't made eye contact yet, doesn't want to make eye contact, knowing those mossy green eyes could pull any number of truths from her if she stared too long.

"Are you okay? I haven't really heard from you since we wrapped."

"I'm fine, Emma. I've just been busy."

From Regina's other side, Mary Margaret shoots Emma a confused, sympathetic look, and Regina bristles and tries not to pay them any attention at all.

"Regina—"

"Not now, okay?" Regina finally turns to glance at her, brown eyes meeting green for half a second, warning, before quickly turning away again. "The fans are coming up. Let's not discuss personal matters in front of them."

Snapping her mouth shut, Emma turns away, stung. Ruby is on her other side and pulls her into a quick hug, whispering words of comfort into her ear that fans assume to be more than it is, their phones already up and snapping photos of the supposed couple. They smile and play it up for the fans, cheering up quickly as people are herded through the line and along the table, getting various items and posters signed from their favourites. Emma and Ruby both scrawl "#Freyalan" beneath their autographs, pleasing their most dedicated fans with the ship support, and Regina refuses to sign "#KavaReina" on anything anymore, pretending she doesn't hear the requests when some fans ask for it, and changing the subject with others who ask her why not.

Emma pretends she doesn't notice what Regina's doing, and when the denied fans move from Regina to her with dismay in their eyes, she makes sure to write a big "#KavaReina" along with her autograph, heart aching but refusing to let down their LGBTQ fans.


Regina is always gone before anyone can grab her for a proper conversation that weekend, and Emma and Henry return home to Boston to find Jecob waiting for them in the lobby of their apartment building, his physical presence a rare and usually foreboding sight.

"Go on up first, alright?" Emma says, handing her suitcase to her son, and he sighs and gives Jecob a wry grin and nod before ambling into the elevator with their luggage. Once he's gone, Emma jerks her head and Jecob follows her to the little sitting area of the lobby, both dropping down into an armchair each. He looks older, somehow, with his salt-and-pepper hair and thickening beard, his beer belly a little more pronounced now that he no longer actively works as personal security, mainly managing the company from behind a desk at his wife's rather demanding behest.

"You're looking a little soft there, Jecob," Emma teases, trying not to show her lingering unhappiness from their most recent shit-show of a convention. "Losing your touch?"

"The wife feeds me well and is happy I don't jump in front of bullets anymore, laugh all you like," he scoffs, waving her off. He doesn't talk about his past jobs very often, but Emma knows that he used to bodyguard high-profile government officials in his prime, and after three bullet scars and multiple jagged scars from knife lacerations, she'd say he deserves his cushy desk job more than anyone. Doesn't mean she won't tease him every so often, though.

"So, give it to me. Quick and painless like a band-aid." He doesn't usually make house calls, so she's anticipating bad news. The frown on his face confirms it.

"Ms. Mills has ended your contract."

It's a little like a punch to the gut. She sucks in a breath when she realizes she'd forgotten to keep breathing.

"Cora did?"

"No," Jecob says, sympathy in his eyes. She hasn't received any sympathy from Jecob in more than a decade, not since the very first time he saw her at a grocery store, struggling with a toddler Henry and stuttering to the clerk about removing some items because she couldn't afford the total, and he'd stepped in and paid for her and told her he had a respectable job for her if she was willing to learn and work hard. "It was Regina."

He sits in silence, watching as she absorbs the blow and struggles to rein in her reaction. Her expression is mostly stunned, but there's a kind of devastation shining in her eyes that he respectfully says nothing about. After nearly five full minutes of silence, he clears his throat, watching the way she shakes herself out of her daze and straightens up in her seat.

"I wanted to know what you want to do now. Are you continuing with the show? Or do you want me to find a new client for you?"

Swallowing, Emma blinks away the wetness from her eyes and manages to force a small smile. "No, that's okay. I mean, I've got a lot put away for a rainy day. Maybe some time off will be good. I'll see if we're renewed for another season. If not, I might give you a call afterwards."

He nods. "Okay. You let me know."

Never one for lingering words, Jecob stands, noting the way Emma sinks back into the armchair with defeat.

"Thanks, Jecob," she says quietly, forever grateful that he's always ready and willing to provide paid work for her in her times of need. Instead of replying, he just reaches down, a heavy hand landing on her shoulder and giving her a brief squeeze before he lumbers away, leaving her alone in the lobby to process.