This picks up some time after Part I. I didn't want it to be too long.
Part II
Regina stood in front of her army. Aron and Mulan stood by her sides, Mulan on her right. The queen was wearing her royal armor, identical to her Captain's and newly appointed General's, except Regina's was embroidered with white gold and the Dark Kingdom's emblem's was white rather than red. The army was larger than it was months before when they first engaged in a battle with Midas over the land ruled by Aurora and Phillip- who Regina learned were friends of Mulan. The king and queen chose to hand their kingdom to Regina, knowing she would lead the people better than they could. Regina told the two to stay as the prince and princess in their castle, to lead the people while Regina sat on the throne in her own palace.
The Dark Army was lined up in front of the gates of Armand's kingdom, land with which Regina was familiar. The land itself had not changed much from when her grandfather Xavier ruled. They were ready to take down Armand's excuse of an army and take over. The young king had relied too much on Midas and his army, who were currently falling to their knees at the hands of the Dark Knights. He would pay with his blood for trying to take what was Regina's.
"Are you ready?" Aron and Mulan knew Regina was asking them even though she never took her eyes off the rows of soldiers guarding the castle in front of them. They answered their queen by drawing their swords. Regina nodded and drew hers as well.
The Dark Queen raised her hand and signaled for the horsemen to move as she and the footmen charged forward.
It was over. They had conquered Armand's kingdom and taken down Midas. Regina sat atop her white, leather armored horse like the proud Queen she is. Her girlfriend and Aron rode alongside her with Midas and Armand in tow. Regina looked over her shoulder at the former kings with their hands tied to the backs of the horse of two knights.
As the impromptu parade of knights walked through the Dark Kingdom towards the palace, the people left in the villages cheered for their knights and queen and jeered at the two kings who thought they could step on the Dark Kingdom.
When they finally reached the palace, Regina had Armand and Midas placed on their knees in front of the palace doors. "These men have committed many crimes against this Kingdom," Regina's magically altered voice was heard amongst the crowd of villagers and knights- the entire population of the land- as she spoke. "Crimes committed against the people of this kingdom and against the crown and leaders of this kingdom are to be punished to the fullest extent of the laws of this land. Crimes against the people are punished with a consequence chosen by the people. So I ask you, people of the Dark Kingdom, those of you here from the kingdoms attacked by these men, how do you wish to punish them?"
There were immediate cries to burn them at the stake, beheadings, firing squad, and hangings. Regina let the people yell for a couple minutes before quieting them down. "Beheading sounds like the popular choice." Regina wanted the heads of the former kings on pikes and she would give her people what they want.
Regina held out her own sword as knights forced Midas and Armand to face the ground, still on their knees. When no one stepped forward to take the swords, the queen took that to mean that she should do the honours.
Regina sat on her throne as the royal priestess stood before her. Apparently the people had taken it upon themselves to declare new leaders for the now monarch-less Golden Kingdoms (Midas' land) and Armand's land, and chose the priestess to tell her. As long as the new rulers were incompetent or as self-absorbed as the last two, then she was willing to deal with them.
"Your Holiness," Regina addressed the priestess, "Have the people made their final decision on the future rulers of the chosen kingdoms?"
The blue-haired woman, red and gold robed woman bowed her head to the brunette on the throne, "Yes, they have. The people have also chosen to name the Kingdoms and wish to inform you of the names before informing you of the rulers."
The queen nodded at the older woman, "You may proceed with all the people have to say."
"The land formerly ruled by Armand and once ruled, by the grandfather Xavier of Queen Regina, shall be named," the priestess read from the parchment in her hand, "The Land of Jewels, due to the abundance of gems in the mines of the land. The land given to Queen Regina by Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip will be called the Forestlands, for the kingdom resides in the center of the Grey Woods." The woman glanced at the brunette seated on the throne.
"You may proceed," Regina stated with a slight wave of her hand. She sat up straighter in her seat and careful not to pull on the cape attached to the shoulders of the white armor she wore, while her black armor was being cleaned.
The priestess nodded, "The people of these kingdoms have chosen the Dark Queen Regina Mills to lead them."
Regina and the nobles and knights of the Dark Kingdom in the room gasped. No one had expected the people to choose Regina as their sole ruler. "Me? As in just me? The people want me to be their queen?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. In one month's time, as per the laws regarding royal successors, you shall be crowned the Queen of Gold, ruler of the Golden Kingdom, land of Midas; the White Queen, ruler of the White Kingdom, land of Snow White and Charming, formerly the land of George; Jewel Queen, ruler of the newly named Land of Jewels, land of Armand, formerly the land of Xavier; and Queen of the Forestlands, land of Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip."
Regina was still in shock, when out of the corner of her eye, she saw Mulan nod at the priestess.
"There has been another request brought to my attention Your Majesty regarding your relationship with your Knight General Mulan."
"Do the people have an issue with my relationship?" Regina was willing to do a lot for her people, but she would not give up the happiness she had found with Mulan.
"No, dear Queen," the priestess glanced at the woman standing to Regina's right before continuing, "The request comes from Knight General Mulan."
Regina let out a small, surprised "oh."
"Knight General Fa Mulan, of the Dark Kingdom, makes a formal request for the Queen Regina's hand in marriage."
Mulan stepped down from the dais to stand just in front of the priestess facing Regina. The people present, there to Regina's reaction to their declaration and for the open court to be held afterwards, cheered as the knight knelt before their queen.
"Mulan," Regina's voice was quiet, "Do you really wish to marry me?" The brunette stood from her throne and took small, slow steps toward her girlfriend.
"Of course, my queen," Mulan kept her eyes on Regina's chocolate orbs, "There is nothing I want more than to be your wife and for you to be mine. I love you Queen Regina."
Regina placed her hand on Mulan's cheek and guided the woman to her feet. The queen kept eye contact with her warrior, her own eyes watering at the look of pure love and adoration in the knight's eyes. "Yes," she whispered.
"Yes? You will marry me?" Mulan's hopeful smile was infectious, spreading to Regina and the priestess, who had heard the quiet conversation between ruler and warrior.
"Yes, I will marry you Mulan," Regina repeated loud enough for the other to hear.
Loud cheers broke out in the room. Regina spotted a few people running from the room, knowing they were going to spread the news of their queen's impending nuptials.
Mulan and Regina smiled at each other. Mulan leaned in to kiss Regina's nose, before nuzzling it with her own. The two women had yet to kiss the other's lips, at Regina's request. Mulan figured the woman had her reasons and was willing to indulge her girlfriend, just as long as one day she got to kiss her love.
"The wedding, per General Mulan's request, will take place after the Queen's coronation, at a time of Queen Regina's choosing." The priestess gave Regina an expectant look, signaling to the woman that she should choose now.
"How about we make it a long celebration?" Regina glanced around the room. "The people can celebrate my coronation as well as our wedding. The wedding will be at the end of the week of my coronation."
Mulan smiled at her fiancée, glad that she wasn't making them wait a long time to be married. "That sounds perfect, my love."
Mulan stood with a smile on her face, looking into the brown eyes of her wife. She watched the swirls of purple and red magic in the shorter woman's eyes as Regina repeated her vows. Mulan had already said her and was waiting patiently, as was the bonding magic glowing around their joined hands. Regina had wanted to do an ancient magical bonding ritual in addition to the traditional Enchanted Forest ceremony and Mulan had no objections.
After hearing of the way Cora controlled her life, up until Regina got married and how Leopold controlled her after that, Mulan was not going deny Regina anything the queen wanted for their wedding.
Now, Regina was finished and the magic needed for the bond was swiftly moving up their arms and towards their hearts. If possible, Mulan's smile grew, her eyes still never leaving Regina's.
"I now pronounce you married," declared the priestess, smiling at the two women so entranced with each other she was sure they had not heard her speak. She looked out towards the people gathered in the gardens of The Forest Castle, the home of Aurora and Phillip. This castle had enough space to hold all the people who wished to see their queen and knight general joined in matrimony. The priestess could see the looks of anticipation on their faces; they were waiting for the official declaration of marriage. The holy woman raised her arms and spoke with a loud voice, "I present to you Queen Regina of the Enchanted Forest South and Queen-Consort Mulan."
Cheers broke out amongst the people. Regina and Mulan laughed and walked down the center aisle of the large field towards the castle. Aron stood on his chair in the first row and cheered the loudest of all present.
"So, you are the Dark Queen," Regina rolled her eyes at her wife, she knew exactly what was coming, "the Queen of Gold, White Queen, Jewel Queen, and Queen of the Forestlands. As well as, the wife of Knight General Mulan."
"Yes, yes, I know. That is exactly why my title has been shortened to Queen of the Enchanted Forest South. I was lucky that all the kingdoms resided in one region," Regina chuckled. Mulan had been making references to all of her titles since Regina's coronation. The warrior had taken to calling her by a different name for the past 5 days and had just added the latest title of Wife. Apparently the knight had not considered the title she would have after marrying the queen and the joining of the kingdoms. "But have you thought about what that makes you?"
"No," Mulan's answer was hesitant.
"You are Mulan, General of the Dark, White, Golden, and Bejeweled Knights, Queen-Consort of the Dark, White, Golden, and Jewel kingdoms, and Queen-Consort of the Forestlands. You official titles outnumber mine."
Mulan groaned. Aron, who was seated next to Mulan at the head table in the largest ballroom of the castle, spoke up hoping to lift his friend's spirits again. "But those title can be shortened. You can be the General of the Knights of the Enchanted South and Queen-Consort of the same. If the queen can have a shortened title, so can her wife."
Aron threw a smile at Regina. The woman shook her head and smiled back at her young friend.
Mulan abruptly stood stepped away from her chair to Regina's side. She extended her hand to her wife and silently asked for a dance.
As the two women approached the dance the floor, a path was cleared for them. Mulan pulled the shorter woman close and the two began to move in practiced motions around the floor. The cape of Mulan's new white, Royal armor flowing behind her, as the bottom half of Regina's wedding gown flowed behind the queen, both pieces of material barely grazing the sparkling marble floor.
Regina, who was eye-level with Mulan due to her heels, looked into her wife dark eyes and gave a small smile, which Mulan returned, before leaning forward, their forehead softly meeting.
"I love you, my dear warrior."
"And I love you, my Queen."
They leaned in a little more and allowed their lips to meet for the first time. Both women had their eyes closed and were too caught up in their own world to see the bright light glowing around them nor hear the screams and sound of water splashing on the floor.
"We need Regina." That single statement haunted Snow White's dreams. It was bad enough that her supposed best friend and her daughter didn't believe she could lead, but now the majority of the town wanted Regina back. Why in the world would they want the Evil Queen to lead them, when they had her? Snow turned over in her bed, with her back to her husband, the same husband who had decided to forgive Regina, silently at least.
David was asleep and Snow was no longer facing him so neither noticed the flurry of snowflakes floating towards, and ultimately falling on David's face.
In the apartment below them, the same thing was happening to Emma and Henry. In the house beside the B&B, Red was experiencing the same. The sleeping forms of Rumplestiltskin and Belle were also being met with the magical looking snow. Hook sneezed as he inhaled some of the snowflakes in his sleep.
Regina stood in the meeting room of the Golden Kingdom, wearing a suit and the trench coat she was wearing when she first landed in the Enchanted Forest. She looked around the large gold covered room, before suddenly turning as the doors opened. In the open doorway stood, several knights, adorned with gold armor, and Mulan, wearing black armor with a golden apple tree engraved in the breastplate.
"Come. We will be heading back to the Forestlands now," Mulan's voice left no room for argument. Regina followed behind the female knight, who had left the room. The Golden Knights surrounded the small woman as they lead her out of the metal castle.
Everyone, but Snow awoke with a start, their faces sprinkled with cold droplets of water. They now knew where Regina was. However, new question had surfaced: How were they going to get to her?
The Charming family made their way to Granny's where Elsa was seated in a booth across from Ruby. Gold and Belle were at a nearby table, seated so that Gold didn't have to see Elsa. Hook was seated at the booth beside Red's on the edge of his seat.
Snow had not told her husband or daughter that she had not had the same dream they did. She realized, after Emma told her she had had the exact same dream as David, that they had all forgiven Regina and were granted the gift of learning the brunette's location. Snow wasn't going to admit that she had not let of the grudges she held. She was just going to tag along to the Enchanted Forest and confront Regina there.
"Well, seeing as how you are all here, I can go about watching as you all try to figure out how to get to Regina," Elsa had a smirk on her face as she spoke. Red rolled her eyes at her new friend.
"So, you can't help us get to Fairy Tale Land?" Emma asked, hoping that they didn't have to wait another 8 months before they saw Regina again.
"No," Elsa answered simply.
"Everything that happens is up to Regina at this point," Red elaborated. She had already had this discussion with the ice queen and knew what to say, "It was our job to find out where she is and now it's Regina's job, to open the door to let us in."
"Does she know we want to see her?" David asked. If she did, there was a very large possibility that Regina would bolt that door shut and declare it forbidden to even look at.
"It's likely that she doesn't," Gold replied, "The magic she used didn't even tell Regina where she was going, and so I doubt that it would tell her anything at all.
Elsa felt a pulse of magic and rose from the booth and headed out the door of the diner. The Good Guys stood and followed after the blonde.
Tinkerbell, who had been in the diner as well, saw the group leave and decided to follow.
They stopped when Elsa reached the docks. The blonde peered down into the still frozen water. It was glowing where the portal was located and the ice was beginning to crack and melt.
Emma stepped up alongside the other blonde, Henry attached to his mother's arm. All three pairs of eyes widened as they realized the portal was opening back up.
"The door is open," Elsa said as she stepped back from the edge, leaving mother and son. The rest of the group moved forward, unsure of how to proceed. "Don't you find it ironic that the Evil Queen used snow to help herself?"
Emma looked back over her shoulder, "That's not funny Elsa."
"Irony is always funny to the people it's not happening to and I find it hilarious." Elsa moved forward once again until she was standing just behind Red, who stood at the rear of the cluster. They were almost on top of each other trying to see the portal and didn't notice what Elsa was doing until they were falling into the ice cold water and being pulled into the portal.
After pushing the 8 people off the dock, Elsa turned and strolled back in to town, heading for town hall.
She didn't see the fairy jump into the water.
The Charmings and the Golds and Red and fell onto the water-covered marble floor in a heap from the slowly closing portal in the ceiling.
The people in the ballroom gasped, their heads swiveling between the pile of wet humans and the royal couple still attached at the mouth.
A groan was heard from the bottom of the group, before and woman could be heard speaking, "Get off of me!"
The people on top slowly started move away from one another. Many of the people in the room gasped once again at who they saw. Snow White and David, the former rulers- for some of them at least- and Rumplestitlskin had returned to the Enchanted Forest.
Regina and Mulan finally broke apart for air, but kept eye contact, smiles adorning their faces. Some of the people noticed that their queen and consort were not pay attention to the intruders and signaled for the guards.
The guards, clad in brown leather armor, stood guard around their leaders and few raised their weapons towards the wet humans, still on the floor, though the weapons were mostly focused on the Dark One.
The royals finally tuned in to the world around them as they were surrounded by their guards. Regina peered over the shoulders of the guards to see her son, his mother and her family lying on the floor, holding various body parts and groaning.
Mulan released her wife with a confused frown. She touched the shoulders of the closest 2 guards and the men immediately separated, allowing space for Queen and General to move. "What is the meaning of this?"
Snow looked up to see her old friend Mulan, standing over her wearing white armor, with an apple tree on the breastplate, she found it odd that the apple tree was properly colored with browns and greens and reds. Snow found it even odder that Regina was clad in an equally white dress with a crown on her head.
Emma spoke before her mother could open her mouth, "We came to see Regina."
Aron, who had moved down from the head table, pulled a dagger from his belt, pointing the black blade in Emma's face, "You will address the Queen by her proper title or you will lose your tongue."
Emma cringed recoiled at the threat.
Regina quickly stepped between her Knight Captain and her adopted son's mother. "There is no need for that. They are not aware of my current station. I doubt they even know where they are." Regina gave Emma a look telling her to continue speaking.
Emma hesitated before speaking again, "The portal you opened to get here opened up again. We came through to see you and talk about what's been going on since you left."
Mulan chose to speak this time. "Get up and come with us. You have disrupted enough of our celebration." Regina and Mulan moved in sync towards the doors out of the ballroom. Regina casually waved her hand, removing all of the water from the floor and people as they exited the room.
The couple walked to Regina's study, the Storybrooke resident trailing behind them.
The now-dry group sat in the chairs surrounding a large wooden table, with Regina on her throne at the head and Mulan standing beside her, choosing not to sit at the other end of the table.
"Storybrooke is a mess." Red saw no reason to beat around the bush, "Ever since you left, the town has gone to shit."
"You have a deputy mayor for a reason," Regina responded.
"We know, but someone," Red gave a pointed look at Snow, "refused to let Kathryn do her job and just made everything worse."
"You never meant to rule a kingdom."
"Who are you to say that to me?!" Snow rose to her feet, "You stole my kingdom from me!"
"Your father wouldn't have given you the crown until you married," Regina replied. She wasn't going to yell at Snow and encourage the impending tantrum, "You were always supposed to marry a prince, who knew how to run a kingdom. That's why your father spoiled you, it was so he didn't have to teach you how to run a kingdom. I made Kathryn my second for that exact reason. She is the only other person, who knows how to run anything fairly. Gold is too shady, Belle is too timid, Emma is too impatient, and David was an impostor."
"Take your seat, Snow White," Mulan said quietly, her hand on her sword.
Everything was quiet for a few minutes.
"Did you get married?" Regina turned her attention from Mulan to Henry, not expecting the question from him.
"Yes, Mulan and got married today."
Red saw the colors flashing off the multi-colored jewels encrusted into the obsidian band on Mulan's hand. "Nice ring, Queen-Consort."
"Consort? Queen of what?" Hook asked.
"Officially? The Enchanted Forest South," Regina answered.
"Is that the name of the kingdom?" Henry questioned.
"No," Mulan chose to speak this time, "That is the name of the combined kingdoms of the southern half of the land. The 5 southernmost kingdoms of the Enchanted Forest."
"Wait, aren't there only 10 kingdoms in the EF? So that makes you two the Queens of half of Fairy Tale Land," Emma was surprised that Regina was once again the queen of anything. The stories she had heard led her to believe that Regina was hated by everyone.
"I am queen, Mulan is Queen-consort," Regina continued before Henry could ask anything, "A consort is the spouse of a ruling monarch. I was crowned queen before the wedding, so Mulan does not have the power of a monarch, but she is seen as one."
"Let's back up for a second," David spoke for the first time, "The 'five most southern kingdoms' includes the White kingdom. The people never would have let you take over."
"Did you wage war against a land with no ruler?" Snow asked outraged at the idea. She hoped Regina had, so she could take back her kingdom. Snow had completely forgotten about Storybrooke.
Mulan chuckled, "Of course not. When Regina returned to this realm, the people of both the Dark and the White kingdoms requested that she lead them in the war against Midas and Armand, the son of the man who took Regina's grandfather's kingdom. They all wanted Regina to be their queen, she had no idea; it was a surprise to all of the court."
"Great, now that you're queen and all, can you help Storybrooke?" Emma just wanted the place she could finally call home to be whole once again. "I get that you can't just up and leave since you just got married and what not, but can you at least give us some advice about what to do? We didn't really have a plan prior to showing up here," Emma shrugged.
"You make it sound like we didn't get pushed into an underwater portal," Red retorted.
"The portal opened?" Regina asked.
"Yes, you and your True Love opened it back up." Everyone turned to the corner of the room, noticing Tink for the first time. The fairy had been with them since their arrival in the castle and somehow had gone unseen, regardless of the fact that she was flying.
"True Love?"
"Yes," the fairy nodded enthusiastically, "You shared True Love's First Kiss and reopened the portal. We never saw Mulan because my fairy dust didn't extend to the Land Without Magic."
"Congratulations Regina," the brunette turned her attention to the owner of the accented voice, her former mentor's wife, "You have your crown, your true love, and people that respect you. You led them through war and came out on top. You needed to be here, more than you need to be in Storybrooke, being disrespected and ignored by the citizens there."
"You deserve everything you have," Gold added to his wife's statement.
Regina smiled at the Good Guys and Hook. While she wouldn't be going back to Maine anytime soon, she would help them keep the town in order and how to help Kathryn. It wasn't that hard for her to ignore the offended and angry pout on Snow's face- ever the stubborn little girl. Regina let go of Mulan's hand, she had been holding it the entire time, and gestured for her wife to take her seat on the throne opposite her at the table. "Thank you. Now tell what have you done to my town?"
So this includes Regina giving up, then the Good Guys giving up and eventually getting some closure.
Some of these stories might be open-ended or don't end with forgiveness/closure.
I am taking prompts and suggestions for this collection, as long as it is fits with the definition of "concede" (the summary).
