A/N: Soooo... OUAT was cancelled. Can't say I'm surprised, to be honest, but it kind of hurt? I hadn't seen anything past season 6A, because I had had enough with the bullshit A&E kept coming up with; it had stopped being a good show a long time ago. But I was still attached to it, for some reason. I still love the characters and I will keep writing Swan Queen fanfics because they have wormed their way in my lil gay heart, and I hope you guys will keep reading. The show may be over, but I hope this fandom is not. With that said, a huge thank you to everyone who commented and favorited and bookmarked, and enjoy chapter 9! You're gonna like this one XX

CHAPTER 9 – Emma – Confused

An unfamiliar beam of sunlight hit my face, bothering me despite my eyes being closed, and inevitably waking me up. I was feeling particularly comfortable that morning: the bed somehow seemed warmer than usual, and the pillow was softer; if it hadn't been for the light piercing through my lids, I wouldn't have woken up for a long while yet.

When I started regaining a bit of rationality, I realized I wasn't laying on a bed, because you can't hug beds. I carefully opened my eyes, rotating my face so that the sun wouldn't blind me, and was greeted by none other than a breast.

Turns out that especially comfortable pillow was Regina's other breast, and the warm bed was her body. I was laying on my stomach, my head on her chest, an arm wrapped around her waist and our legs intertwined. Not that I was complaining about that position, but I was pretty sure it wasn't exactly… consensual.

How am I going to get out of here?, I thought to myself, trying to find the best way to get up without waking her.

I glanced at my watch, acknowledging the time: it was ten o' clock. Definitely time to get out of bed.

As carefully as possible, I got up and dressed, enjoying the scent that Regina's clothes emanated. I left a note on the bed, just in case she woke up while I was gone, and headed straight to Granny's to get some breakfast-to-go for the both of us.

Of course my family was there, so while I waited for the bagels and the drinks to be ready, I explained them what had happened the previous night, and Regina's temporary isolation at Town Hall. I told them that she wanted to see Henry as well, so that they could pass on the message to him when he'd get home from school.

"How did she take it?" my mom asked, thoughtful as always. Her hand was on her chest, fidgeting nervously with the pendant of her necklace – a beautiful red stone I had never seen before.

"It wasn't easy," I revealed, honest, "but eventually she accepted it. She's going to do her best to remember, that's for sure."

And after a bit of catching up on the past few hours and tickling mercilessly my brother's tummy, I grabbed the food and headed back to Regina's office.

I found her completely dressed and sitting at her desk, checking out some papers. It almost seemed as if everything had gone back to normal, and my heart jumped at the thought.

"I got you some breakfast," I told her, placing it on the desk. "What's that?"

She waited a second before replying. "I was kind of… doubtful. I thought what you told me last night might have been a dream, or the result of a little too much alcohol, so I looked around to see if there was anything that could 'prove' what you said was real," she explained, "and I saw this picture." She turned a framed photo of her and a really young Henry around to show me. "Then I found these files, all of which have my name on them, and I realized it was, in fact, all true."

"And how are you feeling?" I asked, worried.

"Honestly? Kind of angry," she replied, and I froze. Angry? Why? "You had absolutely no right to turn my life completely upside down, but you did it anyway and now I'm stuck in this fairytale world with a messed up life I didn't ask for!"

I was flabbergasted.

"Well, I'm sorry I didn't consider the fact that living a lie, to you, might have been better than knowing who you actually are!"

"See, that's exactly the point, Miss Swan: I don't know who I actually am!" she shouted in exasperation, and stood up, circling her desk to face me. "I'm stuck halfway through fiction and reality: I only consciously know the truth, I still don't recall any of it! And it's all because of you!"

"I wasn't the one who cast that curse on you, you were!" I was screaming too, now. "I know what I have done might have been selfish, because now you can't go back to your normal, fake life and you're stuck here with me, and you have no choice but to find a way to remember, but I've spent three months without you already, and I wasn't going to let you get away again!"

I didn't know where that came from. I didn't know when she'd gotten closer to me, or how the tension between us had suddenly changed, or how I was now looking at her mouth, with a strong desire to bite the small scar on her upper lip. I didn't know and I didn't care, because now she was kissing me and it felt like magic, and after three months of complete nonsense, something was finally starting to seem right.

We were laying on the bed, our gazes fixed on the ceiling, both short of breath and… well, naked. I had just had sex with Regina – Regina-Fucking-Mills – and I really, really liked it. It had been so entirely different from anything I had ever experienced before: there was much more passion, a bit of anger and, unmistakably, magic… It had been exhilarating.

I had never been more scared in my entire life. I could feel all of my certainties start to crumble, and I quickly started repressing every single one of the feelings I had just experienced, too afraid to actually face them.

"That was a mistake," she said after a few minutes.

"Couldn't agree more," I replied. "You were upset, I was angry… It won't happen again."

"My sentiments exactly. Breakfast?"

"Yeah."

We got dressed – again – and ate our now cold food; I noticed it had rained, and the windows were now spotted with raindrops. During the whole time, we weren't even able to look at each other, and I realized we had probably done the most stupid thing in the world. I didn't want this to ruin a friendship that had taken so much effort to build.

I sent my bed back to my house (thankfully, by becoming the Dark One my control over magic and my abilities had significantly improved, although I was still no Regina) in order to delete every possible trace of what happened, and I was about to apologize for yelling at her when she foreran me.

"I'm sorry for taking it out on you," she said. "I know this was hard for you too."

"And I know this was a lot for you to take in."

"On second thoughts, I'm glad you told me," she continued. "At least now something's starting to make sense."

I nodded.

"Let's open that parcel now, shall we?"

She took it out of her suitcase and placed it on the coffee table, sitting on the couch and reading the info on the paper for the umpteenth time.

"You said you might have an idea as to who sent it," she reminded me.

"I thought it might have been Gold" I revealed, "but after what happened yesterday I'm sure it wasn't him."

I carefully looked at the light brown, plain paper wrapping, but there was nothing curious or uncommon about it; however, when I held my hand over it, as I had suspected, I felt power radiating from the package.

"There's magic inside here. You might want to stay back."

Of course, Regina didn't listen and stayed exactly where she was; I carefully removed the wrapping, revealing a wooden jewelry box about the size of a football. Several engravings decorated it on each side, but I didn't recognize any of the symbols: the only person I could think of that might have known their meaning was Gold, but I had no intention of asking him for a favor, especially considering that he wanted the box for himself in the first place. The object vaguely reminded me of Pandora's box, although this was about twice its size and had a small latch on the front.

I looked at Regina and she nodded, reassuring me, so I sprung the lock open and slowly revealed the content..

I didn't know what to expect, exactly: explosions, a wave of power, a blinding light; none of that happened, resulting in an extremely anti-climactic outcome.

Inside was a black velvet cushion, concave in each of the corners and in the middle, clearly made to be holding five small objects. All of the holes in it had different shapes, the only recognizable one being a heart in the center.

I didn't have enough time to be confused, nor to wonder why Gold would want it: before I could formulate any thought, I felt two powerful jolts of energy come from the other side of the room, making me instantly turn towards them.

They were similar to each other, yet not exactly alike: one of them was, somehow, warmer, and if I had to associate it with a color it would've been yellow, for sure. It made my heart flutter a little, as it summoned repressed feelings inside me – feelings I couldn't exactly redirect to any specific event, because they had been there for the longest time, waiting for me to find them. I couldn't put my finger on what those emotions were, exactly: they weren't comparable to anything I had ever felt before, and I could tell that that magic had only beckoned a small portion of them – that way I was able to sense them, but they were muted, much like a faded memory. They had a sweet, fruity scent to them.

The second beam of magic felt more familiar, more intimate – and, because of that, not nearly as appealing. It was a green certainty, something I knew already, lacking the mystery and attraction that were drawing me towards the other heap of power.

"Can you feel that too?" Regina asked me after a while, snapping me out of my fantasies and dragging me back to reality.

She was looking in the same direction as I was, unable to use her magic but still sensible to it. I hummed a response, and just like two moths attracted to a light we scurried across the room, following the trail of power to where it was strongest. One of the wells of energy – the plain, green one – emanated from Regina's handbag, and I wondered bluntly why she would ever go to that one instead of the yellow one, located somewhere near my suitcase.

As she hastily rummaged in her purse I opened the zipper of my baggage; at first I thought it was my beloved red leather jacket that was radiating magic, but then I realized it was coming out of its pocket.

I pulled out that small crystal crown that I had found the day before, appalled to say the least, as I revealed the source of power. I looked over to Regina's and she was holding a swan in her hands, just as small as my own crystal, and my initial excitement quickly turned into concern.

I hurried to the jewelry box, Regina hot on my heels, and we both knew what to do. I gently pushed her back, not wanting her to stay defenseless so close to such strong power, and carefully placed the little crown right on top of the bottom-right hollow, where it perfectly fit. It shone a dull, yellow-ish light, before turning completely transparent, its magic fading away at last.

Positive that the magic wasn't a menace, I let Regina do the same with her swan, watching as it slowly lost its green tint and deadened its power.

Concerned, I looked at Regina: she was a bit pale, probably disturbed by the influence magic had just imposed onto her, but overall she seemed fine.

"That swan," I said, after closing the box, "where did you get it?"

"It was on my desk, the day we met for the first time," she replied, later adding, with a small roll of her eyes, "for the second first time."

"And I assume it just appeared out of nowhere, right?"

She nodded.

"Same thing that happened to me. That crown was at Neal's apartment, I just randomly saw it on a shelf."

"Neal's apartment?" she asked, initially confused. "That's where you were planning on staying? At your ex-boyfriend's flat?!"

Her tone of accusation took me aback. Was she… jealous?

"That was the idea, yes," I replied slowly, unable to hide my amusement.

"What?" she snapped, as she saw my teasing smile.

I shrugged, muttering a, "Nothing," as I turned away and placed the jewelry box onto the desk.

"What do you think the other crystals could be?"

I pondered on her question. It might have been a coincidence that those first two objects' shapes could easily symbolize Regina and I, but I knew it wasn't. I had spent too much time dealing with 'fate' to believe that something like mere chance could exist.

"I suppose they will be something that relates to our lives," I replied, unable to give her any more specific information. "Maybe an apple and a bug – anything that could represent our personality…"

"How about a roll of parchment?" she suggested.

I gave her a skeptical look.

"I don't see why a scroll would have anything to do with us," I replied with a frown.

She then nodded to something behind my back, and onto the dining table in the office, right next to the inevitable bowl of shiny red apples, laid a tiny purple crystal. I stepped closer to it, and when I recognized what it was I smiled slightly, happy that my mistrust in coincidences wasn't wrong.

"This is much more than a simple roll of parchment," I said as I picked it up, so that we could both look at it closely. "This is the Dark Curse."