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Arms crossed, a frown on her face, everyone could guess the Sheriff was not in a good mood today. "Remind me again why I'm here."
Snow sighed for the umpteenth time. "I promised Regina I would help her to thank her for looking after you and your brother last time."
A week ago, the mayor asked her to give her a hand spring cleaning. Of course Snow said yes. After all, thanks to the woman, she had the chance to spend a wonderful weekend with her husband, a time they desperately needed.
"Doesn't explain why you forced me to come with you."
The truth was that she wanted her daughter to spend as much time as possible with Regina, she wanted them to know each other. From what she understood from their last weekend together, they got closer but still, she could sense Emma was keeping herself back. She hoped that today would push Emma a little bit closer, and maybe, maybe, Regina would make a step forward too.
The mayor didn't ask her anything else after their phone call the night Regina was babysitting, Snow didn't push her, knowing that the former Queen wouldn't appreciate it.
"This is my day off." Continued Emma.
"You were planning to spend it in front of the TV."
"Yeah exactly and what was wrong with that?"
"Regina kept an eye on you when you were sick."
"YOU asked her to come, I would have been fine by myself. Besides she was mean, she used magic on me."
Snow rolled her eyes at this.
Despite being almost thirty, her daughter could act like an immature teen when she was putting her mind to it. For Snow, it was mostly fun to watch but sometimes it could be very annoying. Those moments were cherished though, they were a glimpse of sort to what Emma might have been as a teenager.
"From what I heard you weren't particularly nice to her either." Pointed the brunette.
"It doesn't give her the right."
"It does."
"What?"
"I let you in her care." Snow informed. "If we had all lived in the Enchanted Forest together – without all the drama of course – she would have had a role in your education. Grandparents were active in the education of their grandchildren. And let me tell you that they're lot less permissive back at home."
It made Emma smile. "Yeah well even here Regina could never be described as the permissive type. How was she with you growing up?" She asked her mother not so subtlely wanting to know more about her childhood with the woman, wanting to know what it was like to live with the Evil Queen as your step-mother, what it was like before everything went sideways.
The question was not unexpected, frankly Snow wondered how it didn't surface sooner. But until now her daughter seemed to have refused the idea that at some point she herself had been raised by the Evil Queen. Knowing what she knew now, going back to those moments shared with her step-mother was painful. Everything was faked by the Queen at the time, every emotion, every praise were just … false.
"She wasn't that bad." She said to her daughter, repeating her own words said weeks before to Regina about her own behavior.
Pulling over in front of the mayor's mansion, they watched as Regina was putting boxes in an already packed garage.
Snow heard her daughter sighed next to her. "Come on" she tried cheerfully, "If you're nice today I'm getting you ice cream on the way back home."
The Sheriff glared at her mother, "After this" she said pointing in the direction of the house, "you'll be buying me ice cream and a burger for a week."
Approaching the garage, Emma heard the mayor complain at their lateness to which her mother apologized.
"Sorry, I had to convince Ms grumpy pants to come help us."
Emma rolled her eyes at this.
"I don't remember extending my demand to your daughter." Politely commented Regina. "If she had better things to do, then by all means she's free to leave."
The Sheriff was about to leave but was stopped by her mother.
"Don't even think about it. You're staying." Snow said in a no nonsense voice.
Emma sighed but did as told knowing better than pushing her mother any further right now.
It took them some time to find their roles in their weird little family, being the same age and all. But according to Emma, Snow managed to learn pretty quickly how to use what Henry described as 'the mom voice', both understanding rapidly that the woman was not someone you want angry at you.
"Now can we get on with the reason you came here in the first place?" Intervened Regina.
Mother and daughter nodded and followed the former Queen in the house.
"I'm hungry" Said Emma suddenly.
It was after noon and they had not stopped once since starting this morning.
"I'll make something. I'm starving too." Announced Snow while walking toward the kitchen.
Entering at that moment, Regina watched as her step-daughter was making herself at home in her kitchen. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making lunch."
"Hell will freeze over before I let you cook something in here." The Mayor said dead serious.
Taking a break from her tedious chores, Emma watched with attention the scene unfolding before her.
The kitchen was the only place in the house still free from boxes, something which wasn't a surprise to Snow. During her childhood she had watched the Queen bake, and learned that the woman loved to cook.
"I learned some skills when I had to leave the Castle you know, one of them being …"
"I don't care." Regina interrupted. "Make your experiments in your own home, I don't want you to burn down mine."
"It happened once!"
"What happened once?" Asked Emma interrupting the exchange.
"Your mother being the brat that she was …"
"I was not a brat."
Regina sent a warning glance at her step-daughter making it clear she disliked being interrupted like this. "As I was seeing, your mother thought it would be a good idea to play the cook of the Castle. Of course, she chose to do this in the middle of the night when no one was around."
"I wanted to make us breakfast." She said to her daughter.
"You weren't allowed in there in the first place, need I remind you of that?"
"Because you didn't want me to." It was getting difficult for Snow to keep her cool now.
"A Princess' place certainly is not in the kitchen."
Wanting to know the rest of the story Emma got back to the subject. "What happened?"
The former Queen took her time to answer, remembering this day. For her it felt like it happened eons ago. "Her … mixture, for lack of a better word, caught fire."
"Were you hurt?"
"By the fire no." Snow answered glancing at Regina.
Glaring back at her, the Mayor felt the need to explain herself. "She tried to put it off by herself. Thanksfully a guard noticed the smell and called for help or the fire would have burned down the whole Castle." When she arrived on the kitchen that night, you could barely see anything because of the smokes. The Princess managed to get out but Regina knew that the fire had to be shut down before it was too late and only with her magic a task like this could be feasible. She remembered how angry she had been that day and apparently Snow was remembering it well too or at least she remembered the consequences of it. "Now get out of here."
"I'm making sandwiches, nothing to be afraid of."
"Get out."
"You're overreacting."
"I'll not say it again Snow."
Emma watched amused. She wondered if this was what it looked like when she was bickering with her own mother. Did they knew? She asked herself, did they knew how it looked from afar?
"Or you can stay here and watch if you don't trust me."
"Snow White!" Finally said Regina sharply, the tone making said-Snow White freeze instantly. "Get out. Now."
The former Princess didn't need to be told twice this time and went back to the salon closely followed by her daughter.
It has been a very long time since she had heard Regina call her name in this manner. A wave of nostalgia washed over her at the memories. There was a time when she thought Regina would become a mother to her, a time when she believed the woman loved her. Of course all that was just in her dreams, thought Snow. The woman never cared about her when she was little, something Snow managed to digest with time. So realizing now that those feelings had not disappeared but were just hiding deep inside of her was shocking.
Snow could feel her daughter's eyes on her. "You have something to say?"
Sensing now was not the time to poke the bear, Emma chose to play it safe. "Nope nothing."
They both kept sorting out the mayor's stuffs in silence. Finally, the Queen called them for lunch.
All three sat at the table and started to eat avoiding to make eye contact.
"This is good" Emma finally said finding the atmosphere way too tight around her. "I wouldn't have said no to a few fries though. A little less–"
"Are you quite finished?" Regina asked.
"I'm ..." Tried Emma surprised by the outburst before realizing the former Queen wasn't talking to her.
Focusing her attention on her step-daughter, Regina went on. "I can see you're pouting and you know how much I dislike this type of behavior."
"I'm not pouting." The brunette refuted.
"You haven't said a word since we sat down and you refuse to make eye contact. I know you Snow, you were doing the exact same thing at home when you didn't get your way."
"I think that's my cue." Emma murmured to herself while leaving the kitchen letting the two women by themselves.
"Oh please, i'm not a kid anymore. You're being ridiculous."
"Of course I'm the one who is ridiculous."
Meanwhile, Emma was trying to ignore the two women by starting to move some of the remaining boxes scatering the Mayor's salon. One of the boxes was put aside, still opened, in a corner of the room. Intrigued, the Sheriff went to look at what was inside. She found a single item, something familiar or at least it looked familiar. She took the golden recipient from the box to take a better look at it and realized then why it felt like she had already seen it. Turning it over she had to admit the thing was beautiful. She couldn't fathom how it could be real though.
"Emma" she heard suddenly behind her. "Put it down, slowly." Said Regina as gently as she could not wanting to alarm the young woman.
Snow saw the apprehension in Regina's eyes, "Do as she says Emma." She said in her turn wanting to convey to her daughter that they weren't joking around.
Once back in its box, the three women took a look at the object once again wanting to be sure that nothing will happen now that it was free from hands.
"Don't tell me this thing is real too." Said Emma staring at the golden lamp in the box.
"Of course it's real !" Regina answered curtly, angry at herself for forgetting to put the lamp away before her guests arrival. "It's just not what people of this world think it is. A genie won't get out of it to give you three wishes." She said with disdain remembering the awful movie Henry made her watch a hundred times about a flying carpet and a thief trying to marry a Princess. "It's a teleporter. It was used by the worthy to join their loved ones. A last gift."
"The worthy ?"
"Knights mostly." The former Queen explained. "People worthy of the magic this thing can release. Only a kind and pure heart can make it work. For anyone else it's just a lamp."
"So no Aladdin?"
"There is legend attached to it ..." Seeing a glow suddenly coming from the lamp, Regina stopped.
"What's happening?"
"Did you ask for something?" Furiously asked Regina.
"No!"
The glow turned to fiery light englobing the three women and in a flash they disappeared.
A grunt behind them let them know the young woman was waking up. Snow rushed to her side.
"Emma, are you ok?"
Feeling her mother's hands checking her skull, Emma opened her eyes to look around her. "Mom? What happened?" Only trees, she could only see trees around them. "Where are we?" She asked dreading the answer.
Glancing behind her at the third woman, Snow hesitated before giving her daughter a response. "We're not sure." This was not a lie, they didn't know for sure. "We were waiting for you to wake up to move and see if we were recognizing anything."
"You have the lamp?" Emma asked her mother but Regina was quicker to answer.
"This thing disappear after being used. It goes where it's needed."
"You needed it in your salon?" She asked while stretching her sore legs and back.
"Rumple stole it from me and was keeping it in his store. I stole it back."
Behind her Snow was shaking her head at the ridicule of the little battles Gold and Regina were fighting against one another. All this energy they could use to better the world around them …
"You never used it." Emma asked about the lamp.
"Only the pure heart." She reminded the Sheriff.
Who will she choose to join if given the chance? Emma wanted to ask that question but thought better of it. She could see the Mayor was all business now which meant she will not be opened to talk.
They walked together, Regina taking the lead followed by Emma then Snow closing the march. A sign from the lead and they all stopped. They were close to a road they realized when they saw a mounted patrol ride before them.
"Regina" Gasped Snow suddenly at the sight.
Looking between them Emma waited to be given an explanation to what she was witnessing. "You know them?" She finally asked.
Without taking her eyes off the men, Regina answered the younger woman. "Black knights … My black knights."
