Thank you guys for reading this still! I'm sorry I've been bad about updating. Love you all x

Chapter 8

"Tell me what I have to do."

Tell me what exactly I have to do to ensure that this light blessing happens," Regina asked. She did not in any means want to rely on Rumpelstiltskin, but if this ensured that she would be with Emma and keep her away from her terrible parents, then she was willing to do it.

Rumpelstiltskin seemed to ponder his next words for a moment. Of course, the only reason he suggested it was because he was getting something tremendous out of it. He'd never do a favor if it didn't benefit him. "Well dearie, it is the opposite of the dark curse—quite literally." When the queen came closer, he chuckled and poofed himself across the room. "The light curse can only be done by the product of true love, with the purest form of magic of all."

"Emma," Regina whispered. Of course it was her Emma that would have to do this. "What does this blessing entail?" She asked.

Chuckling to himself at the Queen's excitement, he smiled to himself. "Instead of taking the heart of the one she loves the most, she must create an elixir with the blood of herself and her true love."

The Queen smiled to herself, this should be easy, she thought. She began to plan the course of these events in her mind, but before she could figure out a solid plan of action the imp interrupted her.

"Ah ah ah," He held up a scaly finger, silencing the Queen. "There is a catch. Your little Emma must know that she is your true love and understand that she will never see her parents again—or that they'll never remember her after this."

At this, the Queen snarled and her smile immediately faded, as if by magic. How could she tell Emma such a thing? How could she corrupt such a beautiful soul at such a young age? How could she truly be the true love of someone that was physically twenty years younger than her? She swallowed the lump in her throat that formed and pushed past the cackling crocodile. She went to leave but not before turning and saying, "I am not subjecting Emma to your deceitful plans. Find another way to reunite with your brat of a son."

The woman turned on her heels and left, leaving Rumpelstiltskin to smile to himself, convinced the Queen would reconsider sometime in the very near future.

The very next day, Emma sat in the library with Henry, looking through solutions for her Regina issue. In the library, there was a shelf that she hadn't looked through yet, but it was much too high up. She'd just mastered levitating objects, but she wasn't sure if she could pull such a heavy book from such a high height.

The little girl focused all of her energy on making the book come to her. Just like Regina taught her, she stared at the book, and thought about how badly she wanted to read it. To her surprise, a white aura surrounded the book as it levitated towards her. "Wow," Emma whispered to herself. Once the book was safely tucked in her arm, she waved goodbye to Henry and exited the library. She knew that Regina watched her occasionally, but would assume she was just reading an ordinary book, so she walked to her bedchambers. Regina had decorated Emma her own room right next to her own.

Opening the door, Emma sat down on the fluffy bed and opened the book. She got comfortable and began to read. Regina had shown her how to read quickly using her magic so that she didn't have to spend as much time reading because the princess often complained about there not being enough hours in the day for her to read books. Smiling about how kind her best friend was, Emma used her magic to read. Her eyebrows furrowed and her lips curled into a smile when her brain picked up on the words blessing, elixir, and true love she turned to the page she thought had the information about this so-called blessing.

She excitedly flipped to a page that looked magical. It had a white glow around the edges—exactly like her magic. The page read:

The Light Blessing

The exact opposite of the dark curse, the light blessing is a way for one to escape their afflictions by giving everyone around them their happy-endings. This is not to be taken lightly, only the purest forms of magic can perform such a task. Only the product of true love can bless a population, and they must possess light magic.

Ingredients:

1 elixir of blood from the blesser and their true love

A lock of hair from the blesser's parents

This may seem simple, but if the blesser is manipulated into performing this act, it will not work. Do beware that should the blesser succeed, they will forget who their true love is.

Emma began to squeal but remembered that Regina would hear her. The little girl's mind was going crazy. On one hand, she was dying of joy because she'd found a way to save both herself and Regina. On the other hand, she was puzzled because she had absolutely no idea who her true love was. How could she find her destined soul mate in such a short amount of time? Deciding that Regina would know what to do, the little girl ripped the page out of her book and sprinted through the corridor and into the Queen's bedchambers. The guard that was guarding the Queen's room didn't even flinch as he knew the princess had special privileges.

Emma burst into the room just as the Queen appeared in her signature purple smoke. The minute she saw Emma, her frown immediately turned into a bright smile. "Emma!"

Emma ran across the room and hugged the Queen, relishing in such affectionate contact with her friend. "Hello Gina, there is something I want to show you!"

Regina eagerly nodded at the little girl, interested in what she wanted to show her. She thought it was another magic spell Emma wished to learn, but upon seeing the large words at the top of the page, her heart skipped a beat. Emma knew? She thought. Knowing she needed to sit down for this conversation, she read the page and found herself growing anxious for the conversation she needed to have. Before she could speak though, Emma jumped up and down, clapping her hands.

"It's the perfect plan Gina! The blessing says it needs to be used by someone who's both the product of true love and possesses light magic—that's me! The only issue is that I have no idea who my true love is, I'm only eight…" Emma hung her head, clearly disappointed about the stall in her plan.

Regina's heart sunk at seeing Emma so distraught. She honestly just wanted to find a way to make both her and her princess happy, but she did not know how to destroy her innocence so soon. She gazed back at the page, trying to find something to say to Emma that might be of worth when she glanced at the last sentence. She read the words: Do beware that should the blesser succeed, they will forget who their true love is. Her lips curled into a beautiful smile as she fully realized what that meant. It meant that Emma wouldn't remember that she was her true love once the blessing was cast. It meant that they could go back to being who they were without her stealing Emma's innocence for long. It meant that she could finally be happy.

Taking a deep breath, Regina looked Emma in the eye and whispered, "Emma, I'm your true love."