a/n: Hello again! Sorry about not updating in an eternity, but one good thing that came out of taking a break from fanfiction was that I had time to do college apps and ended up getting accepted so yay. But what I really want to mention is the fact that I've been taking some time to make little edits to part one since I recently finished writing it. All the edits are pretty minor, just making things sound better or flow smoother. I think chapter eleven is the most edited in terms of coherency and fluency so maybe you wanna check that one out again.
The other thing I wanted to mention is something I posted in my author's note in chapter one but I'll say it again here because it's a change I made to all past and future chapters: "I'm a sort of a stickler about grammar and neither my keyboard nor this website lets me insert an em dash (something I'm quite fond of and use often). So, as a miniature act of rebellion I'm creating my own substitute em dash (~) because whenever I conjoin two hyphens one of them gets deleted, and I don't like it."
Thanks for bearing with me through this monstrously long author's note!
12: Day Two
She was rudely awakened the next morning by a knocking at her hotel room door. With a groan, she rolled out of the bed. Her ribs burned, and she hissed. The bruises were purple, almost yellow now, but they still hurt like a bitch if she had to twist any which way. She was in a pair of sweats, an old tank top, and her hair was a mass of tight frizzy curls on top of her head when she answered the door.
"Yeah?" She squinted in the bright light of the hallway.
"Hey, what are you still doing in bed? It's like ten o'clock." It was Henry's voice. She huffed a sleepy sort of noise and pushed bushels of hair out of her eyes.
"I'm tired. What do you need, kid?"
"We need to talk. Can I come in?"
"Talk? About what?" But he was already inside. She sighed up to the ceiling before shutting the door behind her. He was sitting on her bed by the time she turned around and opened the blinds so she could see.
"You know, this is the same room my mom stayed in when she first got to Storybrooke." She hummed at his comment as she sat on the bed next to him.
"Alright, so what's this about. You okay?" He pointed to a book he had on the bed. The story book. She sighed.
"Henry."
"Just look." He insisted, flipping to a page in the book. And look she did. It was a picture of Snow White and Prince Charming fending off the Evil Queen. It was a very good drawing, almost mesmerizing. "Don't they look like Mary Margaret and David?" She sighed.
"I suppose, but, Henry, that doesn't mean it's them."
"It is, though. When the curse broke everyone got their memories back. The whole town believes in magic now. My mom can domagic. She can show you."
"Regina?"
"Both of them."
"Emma can do magic?"
"Of course she can. She's the Savior." He stated matter-of-factly. After he explained what the Savior was, Jennifer ran a hand through her hair. It was one thing to believe in magic but another to believe that you can do magic. And another entirely to believe that you're a fucking savior. Henry seemed to know that her silence meant that she needed a minute to process all of this nonsense so he stood up. "Look, I'm supposed to be in school right now so I have to go." He turned to leave, but she called after him.
"Henry, your book!"
"Keep it. You need it more than I do." She sighed, her shoulders slumping. Before he could turn the knob on her door she called after him one last time.
"I talked to your mom~Regina. She said that the protection spell is going to break tomorrow night. You don't seem too worried about it, though."
Henry shrugged. "I believe in you."
The sound of the door closing behind him was ear shattering. Though she was completely alone, she felt like she was suffocating. I believe in you. She rubbed her fingers aggressively, wringing out her hands and sighing. She had a little boy depending on her to save his home. She frowned. How was she supposed to believe in this when everything she'd ever known was telling her it wasn't real? He needed her to be a hero, and she didn't know how.
. . .
Honestly, Henry didn't know how Jenny was going to believe, but he did know that the book could help. The way she'd looked at it before, it was like she could feel it. Henry knew she could, but, like Emma, she wasn't ready to accept it yet.
He could be patient. He still had some time. On his way back to school, however, he saw Emma walking towards Gold's shop. What would Emma want with Gold? His curiosity piqued, he turned and jogged to the shop, careful to remain out of sight. And knowing that the bell would ring if he opened the door, he peeked into the window instead.
. . .
Emma had been thinking a lot lately, and something wasn't right. Something wasn't adding up, and it had everything to do with Regina and Gold. Ever since Regina came to her door and told her about the protection spell failing, she'd referenced Gold's involvement as if they were a team. It wasn't all that surprising, to be honest. What was surprising, what was bothering her, was the fact that she hadn't seen them together. In fact, she hadn't seen Gold at all in the last few days. Regina was acting like a messenger, and if Emma knew Regina at all she knew that she was no messenger.
So she decided to go confront Gold about all this, go to the source. It was about time she found out what was really going on anyway. The bell dinged when she entered the shop. Before she could get very far, Gold and Regina quickly walked out from the back. Gold sighed when he saw her~something in between exasperation and relief. "Do you need something, Sheriff?" Emma narrowed her eyes.
"I know you two are hiding something from me about this whole protection spell thing." Judging from their reactions, she could hazard a guess that the thing they were hiding from her was here now.
"Whatever do you mean?" Rumple asked as innocently as possible. Regina, on the other hand, simply chuckled, her eyes deceivingly dark and her expression maliciously calculating, almost disgusted. Of course the savior would suspect something. Emma, in response, looked ready to pounce, and her hand was itching to grab onto her gun.
"You think we're planning something evil?" Regina asked, stepping forward with a dangerous glint in her eye and an amused smirk. She was purposefully being the Evil Queen now, trying to scare Emma off or possibly just distract her. "That this is all some elaborate plan to get Henry back?" She asked in a low, challenging tone. Emma held her ground. "Because I can assure you, Miss Swan, when I take Henry back it won't be quite so…subtle." Her nose crinkled when she said it, a malicious grin on her face.
Both women knew that Regina was playing on Emma's fears. Though the words were spoken dripping with contempt, Emma knew they didn't equate to a threat. It was more of a warning than anything.
"You won't be taking Henry back any time soon, Madam Mayor." Emma growled, taking a step closer to Regina. "He's my son."
"I raised him for ten years, Sheriff. He's mine." Regina shot back, her anger quickly rising far past what she'd intended when this conversation started.
"Enough." Gold finally implored. "I don't know what you expect to find here, Miss Swan, but we're not hiding anything." Emma furrowed her brow, glancing to Gold's ever-stoic features, her stance guarded.
The only reason Gold didn't want Cora exposed was because it'd just be more trouble than it's worth to have to explain her to the town. But before they could finally tell Emma off there was a rustling from the back, and the one woman they had just denied the existence of came waltzing out in full view of Emma.
"This damned thing isn't working." Cora growled in frustration, holding a flip phone by its screen out in front of her. She looked about ready to blast it to ashes. They'd been trying to teach her how to use it, but it was an agonizingly slow process.
Emma's mouth fell open. Gold sighed, and Regina nursed the growing headache blossoming behind her eyes. "Cora?" She asked hesitantly. The brunette looked up and eyed Emma curiously.
"And who are you?" She asked, and Emma was even more confused.
"You're…here." Emma sputtered, and Cora cocked her head and furrowed her brow. The blonde woman confused and annoyed Cora. So she narrowed her eyes and scrutinized her. "How is that possible?" She asked, looking from Regina to Gold to Cora.
"It's a…short and mysterious story." Gold ground out as Emma continued to stare at Cora.
"What the hell?" Emma burst and Regina quickly led the blonde to the back of the shop to reluctantly explain what was going on. Gold followed so that the two women wouldn't kill each other. After all, Emma would certainly be mad that they had just lied to her face as well as that they hadn't told her about Cora being in Storybrooke—again.
Henry watched as his mom and Gold said something to a brunette woman before leading his other mom into the back of the shop. And he saw his opportunity. Eagerly—innocently—he swung open the door to the shop and slipped inside. The brunette woman's eyes traveled to his small form, and she raised her brow as a small smile spread across her lips. "You're the boy who's been watching from the window." She told him knowingly. And he felt a blush creep across his cheeks, caught red handed.
"Yeah," he admitted shyly.
"What are you doing in here?" She asked curiously. "Don't you know who owns this shop?" As she said that she could distinctly hear muttering in the back room, briefly catching her attention.
"Why didn't you tell me she was here?" The blonde.
"I didn't want everyone thinking there'd be a repeat of last time." Mara.
"Is there going to be a repeat of last time?" The blonde.
"No."
"Yeah, I just wanted to stop in for a minute." The boy supplied—bringing her back to reality. She noted that he had a horrible lying face and was briefly reminded of her young daughter at home. Regina was exactly the same.
"Did you hear that?" Rumple.
"Hear what?" The blonde.
"Someone else is here." And then before Cora could say anything else there were footsteps and three people walked into the front of the shop to see who it could be.
"Henry?" Emma asked, confused.
"What are you doing here?" Regina asked almost at the same time, and Henry had the sudden feeling that he really shouldn't be here right now (and it had nothing to do with skipping school). He stuttered on an answer, an excuse. Cora watched the interaction with interest. Rumple wasn't particularly concerned with the boy's—Henry's—appearance but the two women did seem to be. So they were close to him then.
"Well, um, I was just...trying to find you…'cause, um, I'm not feeling good." He supplied, clutching his stomach for effect. Emma glared down at him, and if Henry even dared to look at his other mom he would see that Regina was raining hellfire down on him with her eyes. Frustrated, Regina slapped her hand to his forehead, feeling for a temperature.
"You're perfectly healthy." She told him. "I can't believe you skipped school." She chastised, her eyes worried and angry at the same time. Henry, figuring that his ruse would last all of two seconds, put on his wounded puppy face, hoping to gain some sympathy.
"Really, kid? This is not like you." Emma sighed, more disappointed than anything. Regina's angry, worried glare and Emma's disappointment really cut Henry. And, all at once, he confessed.
"I just had to get the book to Jenny! I thought it would help her believe."
"But playing hookie to get it to her wasn't the best option." Emma explained.
"No it certainly was not." Regina added coldly. Henry deflated, glancing down at the ground.
"Come on, kid, let's get you back to school." Emma grabbed his shoulder and practically dragged him to the door. But that disappointment was still there in her voice and the tightness of her lip, and it made Henry feel ten times worse. Before they could leave, Henry glanced up to see his mom with her hands on her hips and a mix of frustration and concern in her eyes.
"We don't have to tell anyone." Emma said to the adults as they stood in the doorway to Gold's shop. "But I want to be kept in the loop from now on."
"Kept in the loop about what?" Henry couldn't help but ask as he was being shuffled out of Gold's shop. No matter how upset he was, it made him more so when he realized he was being kept in the dark about something. When he didn't get an answer he turned to the mysterious brunette. "Who are you?"
"I'm Cora." She responded immediately before anyone could stop her. And time seemed to slow down because Cora watched as Henry's face simultaneously lit up, Emma tried to shuffle him away, Regina's eyes widened, and Gold just looked like he had completely given up.
"Cora?" He asked in disbelief. "Like, Cora as in…" he trailed off and looked to Regina in shock who couldn't seem to form a coherent sentence at the moment. "Cool!" He exclaimed excitedly. "I never met~" he was cut off by Emma's hand over Henry's mouth. Regina was thankful that Emma had at least enough sense not to let Cora know who he was. They couldn't risk altering Regina's future, after all.
Cora was completely baffled at this point. "Alright, Henry, time to go." Emma said, practically pushing him out the door.
Once the two had left, Cora turned to Mara and Gold. "You're hiding me." Her eyes flashed between her two rather silent hosts. Rumple seemed more peeved, like he had been inconvenienced, than angry. And Mara seemed frozen, almost wondering what what she was supposed to do now that the secret was out~at least beyond their little circle. When no one answered, Cora took a step toward them. "I have no problem cooperating with you, Rumple. I have no interest in this place. But in order for me to keep your secrets, I need to understand why they're being kept."
Rumple sighed heavily, glancing at Mara before turning to Cora. "You have to understand, our past is related to your future. For the same reason you can't tell us who sent you, we have to keep certain...details from you."
"Am I really to believe that there's absolutely nothing you can tell me?" She challenged, sauntering even closer to Rumple.
"Other than that it would be very bad if Storybrooke knew you were here? No." He responded like the answer was stupidly obvious. Cora grit her teeth. She had to weigh her options here. Her curiosity was starting to get the best of her. She glanced to Mara who wore an oddly forlorn expression. She had her arms tightly folded across her chest and her raven hair was falling haphazardly on her shoulders. It was odd because she was staring intently at Cora, her brow furrowed, her features pensive, stoic, icy.
The entire time she'd been here she saw Mara as an outsider, an assistant, a lesser, but that look told her that Mara knew her. Mara was part of her future. Of course Cora suspected as much when Rumple wouldn't tell her Mara's real name, but now she was seeing the recognition in Mara's eyes, and it was oddly humbling.
