Epilogue
The traveler departed from her home with a purpose in mind. She had to find the source of the constant pulling feeling that lingered in her chest, an old magic that no one could quite explain. She'd taken her father's sword and his war horse and had left without a word, desperate for an explanation that did not present itself freely.
An old woman she met along the way pointed her in the direction of the Forest Mistress, a woman who might be able to give her the answers she so desperately needed.
As the journey starts, and the traveler - the princess in name only - ventures out into the forest, the day does not line up with the night. Darkness falls at noon and the world makes and remakes itself again.
Such is the old magic.
Comprehension came far later. The traveler - Emma - did not understand the magic that was used upon the return of the king's sword to the witch's stone heart. The witch herself understood little. The magic of that final act, the wish and the desperation of the savoir had been enough to ensure that all would not be lost. The fairy had fallen into nothing, but she had woken up, her son trapped in her arms.
She told all this to Emma, watching the comprehension and memory slide home and into place, slotting out a dual life as far back as Emma could remember. Her life was an infinity loop, dying and dreaming and dying once more.
Emma sat at the table of scrubbed wood in the house in the middle of the forest across from a woman who looked far older and yet far younger than Emma remembered her to be. "I killed you," she whispered, her eyes wide and her voice almost reverent as she stared at the white matrix of scars across Regina's chest. She could see them now, in the light of the sun and her heart ached, knowing that she had done that thing to this beautiful, proud woman.
"That's what it took to end it." Regina shrugged, her was expression unreadable.
"What happens now?" Emma asked, shifting uncomfortable in the scratchy wool stockings and breeches she was wearing underneath the loose shirt that Regina had left for her earlier.
"That is largely up to you, Ms. Swan," Regina said tiredly. She looked down at her hands, and then back up at Emma, her eyes strong and her lips a determined line. "You can stay, or you can go."
"I found you for a reason," Emma replied, shaking her head. "Even if I didn't know it, and even if I have a whole lifetime on top of my own, I found you."
The witch gave a small, quiet laugh. "It runs in your family."
"Would it be okay if I stayed?"
Regina looked away, her lips quirking downwards for a moment. There was the barest hint of teeth at her lip and then she looked back at Emma, and her eyes were clear. "Yes, you can." She let out a quiet sigh and added, almost as if it was an afterthought, "You have my favor still."
"After all this time?"
Regina flashed her a wry smile. "Really, Emma, you've never lost it. Why do you think your heart lead you here?"
"I suppose I thought it was um..." Emma shifted sheepishly in her seat, the stocking scratching at her legs and her cheeks coloring as she admitted what she'd thought it might actually be. "True love."
"I suppose it could be just that." Regina said, fingers reaching across the rough wood of the table to grasp Emma's hand. "I'd like that."
Emma smiled fondly, because she knew that she'd like that too.
an: Well, here it is. The story's done and finished and I tried to end it on a somewhat hopeful note. An AU of the first season and a different way of how the curse could break. A true labor of love and one of the longest stories I've ever written. I hope you all enjoyed!