I feel I should warn you all before this goes any further: I'm not a fan of Regina's redemption arc. It's not so much that I'm opposed to the idea of the villain being redeemed (in fact, one of my favorite things this show has done was Ingrid and her redemption- it was beautiful and made me cry and smile at the same time), but I think they've done a horrible job with Regina's redemption arc.
They spent so much time making her deserve the title of Evil Queen in the early seasons (and I am sorry (not really), but I'm not going to sweep the whole Graham non-consensual sex thing under the rug because that was rape- he was unable to give consent, she had his heart, therefore- rape (and I think the way this show is ignoring that is a terrible way to go about it, and it plays into the idea that there are no such things as male rape victims and that is just wrong on so many levels), and then she killed him, since he amounted to about the level of a sex toy to her, because she didn't want to share her toy with Emma. I am extremely upset with the way that the show has swept his death and treatment by Regina under the rug) that now she's done too much evil for me to be convinced of her eventual redemption. Not fully at least. And the way they are currently writing her (and the way the writers keep trying to drag the heroes through the mud to make her and Rumple and Hook look better) is driving me up the wall. She falls off the wagon and immediately blames everyone else but herself- it was Snow's fault, or Emma's. They've ruined her life, never mind that Regina forced the Charmings to choose between letting Regina storm their castle and kill their newborn or make Emma an orphan, but an orphan who lived and was prophesied to reunite with them. Emma's life and how it has been up till now is entirely on the shoulders of Regina and I can't let that go because Regina has never apologized sincerely to anyone she hurt (and I could say "never apologized at all" except for that whole scene with Belle where Belle forced Regina to say "I'm sorry" before she'd help her) and ugh- as you can tell, I have a lot of feelings about this. And it's not just Regina, either. I've got more than a few things planned with Rumple and Hook as villains where they will have to work and be sincere to redeem themselves. I just find it a little more believable for those two than Regina- the mass murdering rapist who is probably the EF's version of Stalin to the inhabitants. Seriously- how many children did she send to the cannibalistic Blind Witch, and how many villages did she slaughter in her quest to kill Snow?
Regardless, so if it wasn't clear: I won't be working from a pro-Regina place and as much as I'll try to just stick to the cannon facts of the show (which I will, because those cannon facts are kinda what makes it hard for me to like Regina as anything other than a villain), I'm sure my opinions will bleed through because, well, I'm the one writing this. And Ada, in a lot of ways, is a voice for me in the story, since she's an OC I've added myself.
Ok, disclaimer over. I'm sorry if that's turned anyone off, but it's just how I feel.
11/29/22 Edit: Reminder: Aside from the first season where I'll be keeping canon pretty much entirely intact and the second season where I'll be keeping the parts that I feel like don't contradict with earlier canon and the things that I feel aren't basically terribly written, expect pretty much anything and everything to be up for grabs. I feel like this show had a great premise, and at first the show writers set up a great foundation for a story, but then they frequently failed to executed it well, and they almost always failed to stick the landing in my opinion.
Regardless, if at any point you're reading and this is no longer your cup of tea, please do not force yourself to keep going. Life is too short to spend time reading things you aren't enjoying. Thank you for the time you did spend with me, and may your fanfiction options always be plentiful.
October 24, 2011
When Emma opens her eyes, she becomes aware of exactly four things.
1. She is in a jail cell. She is more than familiar with them, so she knows it on an instinctual level.
2. There's someone whistling. What, she can't be bothered to figure out over her headache.
3. She has a huge ass headache.
4. Ada is not helping with number 3 as she shouts at someone, presumably whoever had put Emma in a jail cell.
"I'm telling you, Emma was not drunk."
"Buzzed driving is still drunk driving," an Irish accented voice calmly states in the face of Ada's I-will-cut-you-like-a-bitch voice. Something that Emma found herself unwillingly impressed with. For someone so tiny, Ada never had a problem cowing people. This guy must have practice with domineering women with attitude.
The whistling is beginning to feel like a knife shoved into her temple though, so she looks over at the source- a heavy set, shorter man dressed like a dockman who immediately returns her look and says "What are you looking at, sister?"
"Hey, Leroy-" shouts a third man with a heavy Italian accent Emma hadn't noticed till now, "Manners! We have guests! So," he turns to Emma with a pleasant expression on his face, "you are eh, Henry's mother. How lovely for him to have you back in his life."
"Actually, I was just dropping him off," Emma practically groans as she sits up.
"Oh, thank god you're awake," Ada says in a single breath, rushing over to the cell to bend down slightly and look at Emma's eyes, no doubt trying to check for a concussion. "how do you feel? Does your head hurt? Do you think you have a concussion? This idiot insisted on locking you up and won't listen to me when I say that she didn't have a drop to drink." The last bit is directed at said idiot with a hefty glare.
"You weren't in the house with her, there is no way you can verify that," he responds evenly, arms crossed, a smile playing on the edges of his mouth as he observes the tiny natural disaster that is now probably making it her life's mission to make him miserable as payback.
"Emma would never drive drunk, not even after a sip of alcohol. Furthermore, you failed to perform any sort of sobriety tests in a meaningful timeframe, and why, exactly, was Emma not sent to the hospital with me when she was unconscious after the collision?" Emma had made the conscious decision to never drive after a single sip of alcohol a long time ago after hearing the details about Ada's parents. Drunk drivers do worse things than kill- they make orphans. And Emma is of the opinion that there are more than enough orphans in the world.
The man ignores Ada and walks up to the whistling man's cell. "Leroy! I'm going to let you out; you need to behave. Put on a smile, and stay out of trouble." Leroy gives a highly sarcastic smile and the Sheriff lets him out with a roll of his eyes.
Emma gestures to the bars around her and looks at the Sheriff, "Seriously?" she asks, annoyed.
"Regina's drinks; a little stronger than we thought," he jokes.
"I wasn't drunk," Emma insists, "There was a wolf, standing in the middle of the road."
"And did you see this wolf?" he asks Ada.
"I didn't see anything, because, like I told you, I had my back turned around grabbing something from the backseat. But I heard Emma gasp at something, probably the wolf."
"A wolf?" the Sheriff's eyebrows come together, showing his skepticism, "Right."
At that moment the Mayor's voice echoes through the station, "Graham? Henry's run away again," at the "again," Ada's eyebrows pop up- how often does Henry run?- because it certainly sounds like last night wasn't the first time, "We have to-" the Mayor enters the room and immediately spots Emma. "What's she doing here?" she asks with venom. Emma practically sees Ada's hackles rise up. This is not going to end well. "Do you know where he is?" the woman questions Emma immediately.
"Lady," Emma sighs, "I haven't seen him since I dropped him at your house."
"And," Ada chimes in, "She's got a pretty good alibi," with a gesture towards the bars separating her and her sister.
"But you don't," the Mayor accuses with narrowed eyes now directed at the redhead. "Who are you exactly?"
"Ada Ward, and, as a matter of fact, I have an alibi as well. I was in the hospital all last night," she says and gestures to her left arm which Emma suddenly notices is in a cast, "and came straight here. Not nearly enough time to kidnap a ten year old boy like you're implying. Are you this nice to all visitors to your town? It's a wonder you don't have a thriving tourist business."
The Mayor gives a sniff and ignores the redhead as she turns back to the Sheriff- Graham. "Yes, well, he wasn't in his room this morning."
"Did you try his friends?" Emma asks, sensibly.
"He doesn't really have any. He's kind of a loner."
Ada outright snorts, "Don't be ridiculous. Every kid has friends."
"Did you check his computer?" Emma questions next, "If he was close to someone he'd be emailing them."
"And you know this how?" the brunette questions with derision.
"Finding people's what I do," Emma answers, trying to remain calm as this woman succeeds in insulting both her and Ada thoroughly- just who does this woman think she is? "Here's an idea," Emma suggests, "How 'bout you guys let me out, and I'll help find him."
Within minutes they are in the mayor's house, Graham and Emma checking Henry's computer. Ada chooses to wait outside the house- the mayor still gives her prickings bad enough to make her feel ill around the woman and she has no desire to let Emma know, so she decides she should check the area under the boy's widow for a sign if he left the house that way. The Mayor, however, hovers over the Sheriff and Emma.
"Smart kid, cleared his inbox," Emma mutters, "I'm smart too, a little hard disk recovery utility I like to use."
"I'm a bit more old-fashioned, in my techniques," Graham admits pleasantly, as if they don't have Miss Mills breathing down their necks. Maybe that's why he is able to handle Ada's domineering so well, "Pounding the pavement, knocking on doors, that sort of thing."
"You're on salary;" Emma explains dryly, "I get paid for delivery. Pounding pavement is not a luxury that I get. Ah, there's a receipt for a website, —it's expensive. He has a credit card?" she questions, turning to the Mayor.
"He's ten," she replies in a way that is clearly a negative.
"Well, he used one," Emma says, examining the computer screen further. "Let's pull up a transaction record," she reads the credit card information before wondering, "Mary Margaret Blanchard, who's Mary Margaret Blanchard?"
"His teacher," the Mayor responds, a growl in her voice.
Is there anyone this woman actually likes? Emma wonders. It certainly doesn't seem like it. No photos of friends or family around the house except of Henry, who was often alone in the photos or with Miss Mills. Emma is getting a sinking feeling that, despite her best attempts, Henry really didn't get his best chance.
Nope, she shuts that thought down, Not gonna do that. I'm going to find the kid, go home with Ada, and we'll have some wine. Maybe several bottles.
"Miss Mills, what are you doing here?" the teacher in question asks with surprise as the group of four enters her classroom as students rush out.
"Where's my son?" Miss Mills demands, as though Miss Blanchard is a serious suspect in a kidnapping case. Personally, both Ada and Emma rather doubt it.
"Henry…" the sweet-faced woman trails off before answering, "I assumed he was home with you."
"You think I'd be here if he was?" the Mayor shouts, clearly incised. Ada is beginning to get the feeling there is a lot more going on here than a missing boy, "Did you give him your credit card so he can find her?" Miss Mills demands while pointing angrily at Emma. Ada's eyebrow shoots up and she's ready to tell the Mayor where she can put that finger when Miss Blanchard speaks.
"I'm sorry," she says to Emma, "who are you?" The woman is obviously confused, and Emma and Ada both can tell there isn't a hint of deception on her.
"I'm—" Emma struggles with how to answer that question, "I'm his—"
"The woman who gave him up for adoption," Miss Mills answers as bitingly as she can with one sentence. Ada's jaw clenches as she contemplates taking the Mayor down a few pegs. A child- her child- is missing and she's taking the time to insult the people helping her? With that kind of personality it was a wonder she ever got elected.
"You don't know anything about this, do you?" Emma asks Miss Blanchard, ignoring the Mayor for now.
"No," the schoolteacher answers, "unfortunately not." She goes to her desk and takes out a purse, searching through it before sighing, "Clever boy. I should never have given him that book."
"What in the hell is this book I keep hearing about?" the Mayor demands yet again.
"Just some old stories I gave him," the teacher tells them all, "As you well know, Henry is a special boy: so smart, so creative, and as you might be aware, lonely," she directs that last one at the Mayor, confirming Emma's fear that Henry is rather isolated and the Mayor, at best, is not helping the situation and, at worst, is actively encouraging it. "He needed it," the teacher concludes.
"What he needs is dose of reality," Ada actually can't believe what was coming out of this woman's mouth. "This is a waste of time. Have a nice trip back to Boston," she tells the blonde and redhead before storming out of the room, knocking down a bunch of papers the teacher had stacked up on a desk. The Sheriff, with an apologetic face, follows after the Mayor, while Emma and Ada sigh and bend down to help the brunette pick up her papers.
"Thank you so much," the teacher says as they place the last of the papers back on the desk, before trailing off, "I'm sorry, I don't think I caught either of your names."
"I'm Ada," the redhead declares, sticking her hand out to shake the teacher's, "And this is Emma, of course."
"Sorry to bother you," Emma tells the obviously kind-hearted woman who had just received such venom from the Mayor.
"No, it's" the woman shakes her head, "It's okay. I fear this is partially my fault."
"How's a book supposed to help?" Emma asks, head tilted to the side in confusion. She'd never found any book particularly helpful, but she wasn't much of a reader and neither was Ada.
"What do you think stories are for?" the teacher explains with a smile, clearly loving the opportunity to spread some wisdom. Ada thought she must be a good teacher. "These stories? The classics? There's a reason we all know them. They're a way for us to deal with our world. A world that doesn't always make sense. See, Henry hasn't had the easiest life."
"Yeah," Emma adds, looking in the direction the Mayor had disappeared, "She's kind of a hard ass."
Ada snorts, "Understatement of the century. I hope she's not like that with Henry."
Miss Blanchard gives a pained smile to the redhead before moving on, "No, it's more than her. He's like any adopted child. He wrestles with that most basic question they all inevitably face: why would anyone give me away?" She suddenly realizes just who she is talking to and gives a gasp, immediately contrite, so much so even Ada can't get angry with her, "I am so sorry. I'm so sorry, I didn't mean in any way to judge you..." she falters as Emma waves her hand, more than familiar with the question the woman has spoken of.
"It's okay," Emma assures her, though Ada knows her well enough to see the pain behind her expression. Emma had hoped her son would be so happy with his adoptive family that he'd never even wonder about her or Neal, because they'd be meaningless to him, in the face of all the love he'd be receiving from whoever adopted him.
Clearly that hadn't happened.
Miss Blanchard began to seek to regain some ground, "Look, I gave the book to him because I wanted Henry to have the most important thing anyone can have;" she gives another small smile, "hope. Believing in even the possibility of a happy ending is a very powerful thing."
Ada was skeptical of that- both she and Emma had had hopes of happy endings crushed often enough that they had learned hoping for them only made it more painful when those possibilities were taken away. But she doubts the schoolteacher ever had experiences like that, though, so she smiles softly at the woman. She really is very sweet; Ada thought Miss Blanchard seems like the type to care and get to know her students-
Ada's head tilts and Emma immediately looks over at her sister, wondering what was up. The redhead had that look on her face- the same look she got when she figured out a particularly hard puzzle.
"You know where he is, don't you?" Ada whispers with a smile at the teacher.
Mary Margaret Blanchard returns the grin before telling both women, "You might want to check his castle."
Hope you guys enjoyed that- sorry it started with a lecture. I really have a lot of feelings about the show and that tends to translate to keyboard abuse sometimes. I'm sure it's something we've all done for one thing or another. :D Regardless- please, drop a review, and to Eliza Marie/Ellie who reviewed last chapter: you are absolutely wonderful & your review made my week. I hope I haven't lost you and you're still enjoying the story. I'll try to post two chapters next time just for you. :)
