Thanks for all the reviews, follows and faves from the last chapter! Not sure how I feel about this chapter but I hope you like it.
Regina and Henry insisted on coming with Emma to the hospital even though she was certain Snow was sounding a false alarm, but arrival into the emergency room proved that something was up.
Snow stood next to the hospital bed with tears streaming down her face. She was decked out from head to toe in PINK from Victoria's secret and had her short pixie hair coiffed in a horrible Miley Cyrus updo. Charming shivered with anxiety inside her handbag. The sight rendered even Regina speechless, who merely stared at her former step-daughter with disbelief.
"What the hell is this?" Emma gestured to Leo, whom she would have mistaken for Henry if he wasn't standing right beside her.
He appeared to have aged ten years since she'd seen him a day ago. He wrinkled his nose at her, which seemed to be in the flux of early teenage acne. "Can you tell Ma to stop freaking out, Ems? I'm just going through a little growth spurt."
Regina scowled. "This is Pixie magic." She declared with certainty. Snow wailed and flew over to her, dropping Charming on the floor. She threw her arms around the former Queen's neck and sobbed into her shoulder.
"Wh-whale doesn't know what to do! He w-w-w-w-won't s-s-stop growing!" She howled. Every other person in the room froze, expecting Regina to hex Mary Margaret into growing an extra head at the very least. Charming whined and put his paw over his eyes.
Regina blinked and patted Mary Margaret's back awkwardly. "There, there… Snow. Emma and I will sort this out."
Emma and Henry gaped at the two of them. "Are we in the Twilight zone?" he whispered to her.
"Apparently," Emma growled. She felt her anger start to rise. No one messed with her little brother. "And I think I know who's responsible."
She gestured to Regina, who patted Snow's neck and came over to her. "We have to talk to Mab," she muttered. "This has gotten out of control."
The brunette shrugged. "I suppose so but it could be worse, don't you think?"
"Hey Ems, while you're at it, think you could convince Ma to let me have a Falcon?" Leo piped up behind her. "Henry has a horse, so I ought to be able to have a falcon, right? I'm gonna name him Archimedes and train him to steal hustler mags for me."
"I'm failing to see the bright side," Emma retorted.
She turned to Henry and put her hand on his shoulder. "Hey, kid. Look after your uncle and your grandparents for a few minutes?"
The boy nodded and Emma dragged Regina out of the hospital room and into the hallway. She began to pace nervously. "This has got to stop. My mom is carrying my dad around in a Paris Hilton handbag and my four-year-old brother wants to look at nudie magazines. What's next?"
"Plenty more!" Mab appeared out of nowhere as she always did. "You should see what's all ready happening. It's hilarious! Your wolf deputy just arrested Ariel for shoplifting, Phillip is heartbroken because he just walked in on Mulan and Aurora… and then there's the Prides!"
"The Prides?" Emma knew of them. They were an African immigrant family that ran Storybrooke's post office.
Mab chortled. "Let's just say… their boy Simba is gonna be a might king."
"There are live lions running around my town?" Emma raged.
"Relax, Savior. They're pretty docile at the moment. Just had their lunch so they're taking a snooze. Let's just hope they're not hungry when they wake up."
Regina put her hand on the blonde's shoulder. She could no doubt feel Emma's anger rolling off of her in waves. "What's wrong with Leo, moth?"
"Nothing! He just wants to be big and strong like his sister Emma, that's all. Such a sweet, simple boy. Pity he'll keep growing until he's an old man and shrivels up and dies. I give him two days, three tops."
Emma bared her teeth furiously, "You change him back or so help me, Mab, I'll find a way to eviscerate you if it's the last thing I do."
"Who sounds like an Evil Queen now?" Mab chuckled. "Did I not warn you that there would be consequences to bringing steel into my forest? I wouldn't change your brother back even if I could, Savior."
Emma felt like she was going to explode and was relieved when Regina took over. She herself was too angry to get anywhere with the trickster who liked her brunette lover better anyway. "Tinkerbell told me that the only way to stop all this was to close the portal—which means destroying the Pixie Grove," the former Mayor said tersely.
"Indeed," Mab replied. "And I can assure you that if you don't destroy it soon all this will pale in comparison to what will happen when my loyal subjects do break free. It's only a matter of time."
"You must tell us how to close the portal then, so we can atone for defiling the Fae Forest," Regina tried. "Let us resolve this so Leo's life can be spared."
"Ah, you know how I enjoy irony," Mab sighed happily. "An Evil Queen who once plotted the death of her King now bargains for the life of his grandson and heir. Is that what this is, Queenie? Are you asking for the Mab's help?"
"Yes," Regina replied through clenched teeth.
"I'm sorry, I didn't hear you Queenie."
"I need your help, Mab," Regina said, a little louder this time.
"Louder, Queenie!" the Pixie Queen sang. "I want all the creatures in all the realms to be able to hear you!"
"I NEED YOUR HELP MAB!" Regina bellowed, irritated. Several passing nurses turned to stare at them before continuing on their rounds. The residents of Storybrooke were too used to Regina's antics to be fazed by seeing her shout at a Pixie.
"Much better," Mab smiled. "Very well, I'll tell you how to destroy the Grove. Sadly, it's going to cost you."
"Name your price, moth," Regina hissed.
"Why an innocent life, your majesty. What else?"
It took some doing, but Henry finally convinced them to go home to 108 Mifflin St. He promised to take care of the Charmings while Emma and Regina sorted out their next move. The blonde had felt her heart swell with pride for their son. She didn't know what she'd do without him or where she would be. The minute that goofy kid had walked into her life all those years ago on her 28th birthday nothing had ever been the same.
And the woman who was currently making her soup had a lot to do with it. Emma sat at the counter in silence, admiring Regina's firm, shapely backside. The woman was a regal, neat tornado of indecipherable chaos and it was only fitting that the creatures of such had brought them together this way.
Since meeting her Emma had seen so many versions of Regina Mills. At first she'd been nothing short of a psychopath. Remnants of the Evil Queen had dominated the first year of their interaction but she had slid slowly back into sanity ever since. All to redeem herself and get her son back—only to lose it again for a period of time after Robin Hood. But much of the malice had faded away and she seemed to become a snarky shell of her once grand and terrible self. But the Regina that stirred homemade vegetable soup in silence, sincerely trying to comfort Emma in the best way she knew how—that was the real Regina. The real Regina was the woman who had shouted for Mab's help a few hours ago—who sometimes looked at Emma with dewy innocent doe eyes that made her heart melt—and the blonde could no longer deny that she was head over heels in love with her.
"I hope you know, I'm going to be the one to take that innocent heart," the Sheriff announced, breaking their still reverie. "I'm not going to let you hurt yourself again by using dark magic."
Regina didn't even turn around. "Yes you will."
"No, I won't," Emma countered. "And that's final."
"Pig-headed declarations do you no good here," Regina replied calmly, still not turning around. "In this I won't bend or compromise. It would hurt me more to see you darken your own heart. I'm far too used to evil to be bothered by hurting others at this rate."
"Liar," Emma growled. "I don't buy that for a second. You don't have to protect my heart anymore, Regina. You've paid for your mistakes."
"I have not. I could never properly atone for what I've done—the lives I've taken, the families I've torn apart. Darkness is my burden to bear and I've accepted it."
Emma rolled her eyes. "Drama queen."
"What was that, dear?"
"Nothing." She could see that she wasn't getting anywhere and while Regina had her back to her and her face wasn't visible she knew exactly what expression she wore. She could feel the older woman's sorrow as though it was her own. It felt unbearable—their love and magic bonded them now and the heaviness in Emma's shoulders begged to be released.
She slid off her stool and moved to stand behind the brunette. She wrapped her arms around her waist and buried her face in silky dark hair. Regina stiffened but the weight lightened considerably.
"Only patient Saviors get dessert, Miss Swan." There was that deep, husky voice that made Emma weak in the knees. She tightened her grip on Regina's waist to maintain her balance.
"You haven't called me that in a while, Madame Mayor."
Regina turned the stove off and spun around. She brushed a few stray blonde hairs away from Emma's face and rubbed her thumb lightly across her lower lip. Emma's eyelids grew heavy with the pleasure of the sensation and her lashes fluttered.
"I suppose it was a Freudian slip," Regina purred. "I find myself going over the years we've known each other, trying to understand how it is that I could feel this way again."
Emma's gaze drifted from smoldering obsidian eyes to blood red lips. She noticed, not for the first time, the ridiculously sexy scar above Regina's top lip. She'd always wondered where it came from but never asked. She suspected Cora had something to do with it. She'd met enough abused kids in the foster system to recognize the bearing of someone who had once been their caregivers' punching bag. Knowing Cora, it had probably been some sinister spell.
On impulse, she leaned forward and kissed it, appreciating Regina's shiver as she gently slid the tip of her tongue over the indentation in soft skin. The pit of her stomach burned and she took the entire plump top lip in her mouth and sucked aggressively. Regina moaned loudly and pushed her hand against her chest, forcing them to separate. "We could always skip dinner and go straight to dessert if you're amicable, Miss Swan."
Emma nodded breathlessly and felt herself being dragged upstairs amidst an assault of buttery soft kisses.
Emma wasn't a selfish lover but she had never been so attentive as she was that night. She took great care with every inch of Regina's body, leaving marks on her most sensitive areas, drowning her with wet kisses that made the brunette shake all over. Against the wall, on the floor, upside down, gently roughly—no surface in her bedroom nor position was left unturned. It was only after her fifth orgasm that the older woman was of a mind to retaliate.
She tied Emma to the bed with a binding spell. The blonde shivered with delight as vines wrapped her wrists together on one of the bedposts. Regina hovered over her for several moments—tormenting and teasing with gentle strokes and kisses to each powerful hip before leaving a lipstick trail on pale, creamy thighs. Satisfied that her mouth was unpainted, she used it to make the Savior scream her name over and over again.
It went on all night until the sun peaked through her curtains. Regina purred like a satisfied kitten as Emma spooned her. She wasn't one for cuddling but in this case she was willing to make an exception. The blonde's family was in trouble again and for once it wasn't her fault.
Her sheriff began to stroke her clavicle tenderly and whisper sweet nothings in her ear as she grew sleepy with post-coital bliss. "Do you remember when I told you I would always save you?"
"Mmmm hmmm…" Regina murmured sleepily. She remembered, as though it was a lifetime ago, when she and her bedmate were loathed enemies and the frustrating Sheriff had pulled her from her burning mansion.
"I should have been better at keeping it. I'm not angry at you like I used to be. I've had a long time to think about it. Mary Margaret always wanted me with Neal… I thought maybe that was how I could really get my family back, but it turned out my family was here this whole time. If it wasn't for the Evil Queen, if it wasn't for you throwing my mother out on her ass and terrorizing her, she never would have met my dad. She'd have ended up like you—married off to some geezer prince or king who took his liberties with her whenever he wanted. I wouldn't exist and neither would Henry. You and I have been bound since the beginning and… I owe you my life."
Regina chuckled in her state of half-awakeness. What a ridiculous sentiment. "Silly Savior," she mumbled.
Emma tickled her and she couldn't stifle her giggle. "Silly Evil Queen. I don't know or care whether this is true love or fate or just us two really sexy ladies having a good time. What I am sure of is that I love you and it's as simple as that."
Regina felt her insides melt into a puddle. This happiness that she hadn't felt in eons was too good to be true. It couldn't be real. This was a dream she would wake up from any minute now.
"What I mean to say is," The blonde continue to ramble softly in her ear "…that our son was right to have faith in you. He really does have the heart of the truest believer. He's so much better than me, so much smarter and that's all on you because you raised him and gave him so much. It's time I believed in you too, Regina. Which is why I hope you can forgive me for this."
Brown eyes snapped open in surprise, but it was too late. Emma stroked her clavicle one last time and the sedation spell was complete. Regina drifted off into unwilling, dreamless sleep.
She was snapped awake god only knew how much later and her fury over being magically drugged by Emma rushed at her like a freight train.
What was worse, she had somehow been turned into a llama. She stared down at her bedroom floor in horror and saw her hooves pawing anxiously at the carpet. Whipping her long neck around, she saw an extremely old woman who was scary beyond all reason watching her with puzzlement. "What have you done to me?" Regina howled. She saw her own reflection in the mirror and nearly passed out again. "My beautiful face!"
The old woman was in a hospital gown and wore an Aztec headpiece that covered most of her head. "It was my mistake. I'll change you back if you wish. You make an ugly llama."
She fished a potion out of her hat and Regina was somehow able to snatch it from her with one of her hooves. She drank it, cringing at the bitter taste, and quickly changed back to her normal self.
She was still naked.
"Oh my," the old woman said, her eyes gleaming as she took in Regina's lithe form. Furious, the brunette flicked her wrist and in a cloud of purple smoke she was quickly clothed in a grey sweater and black slacks.
"What do you want with me you perverted old hag?" Regina spat.
The woman shrugged. "I'm the Empress Yzma from the land of Kuzco. Your woman has kidnapped my henchman, Kronk, and I fear he may be in danger."
Regina's heart sank in horror as she realized what Emma must be doing. "Tell me, is your man of a good heart?" she barked at Yzma.
Yzma smiled, showing a large piece of spinach stuck in her teeth. "Eh, I suppose so. He's rather dim-witted but can't really perform the necessary evils that are required of him when it comes down to it. I only keep him on because he's my great-grandson."
"Come with me, Empress," Regina ordered and strode out of her bedroom. Yzma followed her out to her barn. The brunette felt a fresh wave of fury as she noticed that Cloud was missing from his stall. Emma had probably taken her stallion to prove some ridiculous point about being a white knight. Damn if she wasn't going to throttle that insufferable woman.
Regina quickly began to saddle up Euphoria. "I know where she has taken your kin," she told Yzma over her shoulder. "This steed is a quarter horse. Her endurance is lacking but she is the fastest mare in all of Maine. I require haste for this task."
"And you won't harm him?" Yzma asked.
Regina scowled. Emma had really done it this time. Had she not told her in no uncertain terms that keeping her heart pure was of utmost importance? Had she not been clear? Always she fell into the trap of not remembering her mother's words about love as weakness. Now this weakness might cost Henry his blonde mother as he needed her to be. She hopped on Euphoria and settled into the saddle. "I'll see to it that he is unscathed," she lied to the old woman.
She smacked Euphoria's haunches and the mare took off towards the woods. "Don't forget!" she heard Yzma call after her. "Pay attention to the squirrels! Kronk communicates with them!"
Why she had created this town in order to deal with these imbeciles for the rest of her days escaped her in moments like these. Euphoria dashed into the trail by Granny's diner and she directed the mare through the path she'd marked on their first trek to the fae forest. Wind whipped at her face and tree branches smacked her sides as they raced through the woods but she didn't care. She felt her anger growing the closer to the Pixie Grove she got.
How could Emma do this? She'd been tempted by evil before and Regina had stopped her then too, warning her about the pitfalls of straying from the path of righteousness. Henry did not need two evil mothers.
And of course, she wouldn't be your Emma if she went through with this…
Strange, mocking faces with red hair were starting to peer at her through the trees. She shook herself and tried to ignore them. The Pixies seemed to be breaking free and her vision blurred and swayed and made her angrier. She tried to breathe and stay focused but it wasn't working. Rage and black magic boiled in her fingertips.
"Squeak… squeak squeakin…" The Evil Queen halted her horse and listened to the distant voice speaking jibberish.
"Oh my God, can you get on with it? Kronk, you cannot talk to squirrels." It was Emma speaking. Regina could see her standing with a hulking bronze man in the distance. Her red jacket was like a beacon and provided absolutely no camouflage.
"He says the Pixie grove is right next to us."
"Okay, Kronk. Let's say you really can talk to squirrels. How do I know Twiggy over here isn't, um, like a Pixie spy or something and he's helping us stay lost?"
Regina inched her mount closer as quietly as she could.
Emma grunted. "God, listen to me. I hate you all so much."
"Squeak squeak squeaker…" There was the faint sound of a chattering squirrel and Kronk spoke again. "He says Pixies don't mess with the innocent creatures of the forest, because they have no pride."
"Fine, whatever. Have your pal lead us to our destination."
Regina could see Emma clearly now, looking magnificent as she stood next to Cloud, who tossed his white head arrogantly. The brunette tied Euphoria's lead to a tree and followed Emma and Kronk deeper into the woods as if in a trance. She wished she could see Emma's face and wondered if she fully comprehended what she was about to do.
The blonde led Kronk into the bright clearing that was the Pixie Grove. The brute chattered his thanks to the squirrel, who disappeared. Regina could see her face now. It was mournful, and the sight set her blood on fire.
Emma bent down to one of the rows of black and white roses and picked one. She tenderly tied the stem around her wrist, ignoring the blood that trickled down from the thorns. "Kronk," she said said slowly as she turned and raised her hand, her forest green eyes moistening. "I'm really sorry about this."
She reached for Kronk's burly chest. Regina teleported in front of her in a could of purple smoke. Emma froze, her eyes widening in fear.
"Just what do you think you're doing, Savior?"
"Look, I can explain," Emma said, raising her hands. "Hear me out."
Regina waved her hand and Emma went flying back and crashed into a tree. "Fuck!" she shrieked, crumpling to the ground in a heap. "What the actual fuck, Regina?"
"You—IDIOT!" Regina fumed. "Have you not learned anything about dark magic?" She turned to Kronk. "Unlike this fool, I am not sorry for what I'm about to do."
She reached for his chest, all ready anticipating his glowing, throbbing heart in her grasp. It had been so long since she'd given into this. So long since she'd felt such raw power coursing through her. She felt more in control than she had in years.
"Regina, stop!" Emma shrieked from behind her. The blonde's pale hand grabbed her wrist and tried to pull it back.
Kronk stood and watched them dumbly, his brow furrowed in confusion. "Emma, you said there was a mutka's through the portal here. I thought we were getting something to eat?"
Regina shoved Emma off angrily and the blonde staggered back again. She raised her hand and a brilliant ball of fire erupted in between her fingers. "Do you want to see what this will do to you? Do you want to see what your queen can do, Savior?"
Emma was clearly angry now too, as her lost girl scowl was causing her nostrils to flare. "I know what my Queen can do. She screws my brains out and then can't even admit that she loves me!"
Kronk blinked. "This is the weirdest lover's quarrel I've ever seen."
Regina threw her fireball at the blonde angrily. Emma swooped her fingers and a wall of ice erupted in front of her. Regina opened her palms and threw two more at the ice, which melted. "Because I don't love, remember? Love is weakness."
"Bull shit!" Emma shouted. None of them noticed the melted ice seep into the ground and wilt several bumblebee shaped flowers.
"Bull shit! Bull shit! Bull shit!" With every exclamation Emma haphazardly threw several balls of ice at Regina. The brunette sidestepped two but the third hit her shoulder and caused it to blister painfully underneath her shirt. She bared her teeth and advanced on the savior, raising her arms in supplication to the trees. Several vines snaked around Emma's ankles and rooted her her to the ground. "Dammit, Regina!" she yelled.
The brunette prowled up to Emma until they were nose to nose. Bright blue swirled in forest green eyes as Regina wrapped her hands around the Sheriff's throat. Behind them, more of the Grove wilted and Kronk scratched his head as Pixies began to peer at them through the trees.
"This deed that you would do, it would make you betray your own mother, kill your own brother under the right circumstances. Your mother struggles with darkness every day and is coddled so it won't consume her. But no one coddles the Savior, do they? The Savior doesn't get a day off, remember?" Regina tightened her hands around Emma's throat.
"I won't." Emma said, her eyes now clear, her voice confident. "And you won't."
"I will," Regina purred and tightened her fingers more. Emma wheezed. "I shall."
"No," Emma gasped. "I love you. You love me. Henry loves both of us. And I'm not giving up on you."
Regina blinked as her dark haze started to clear. Her head swam and she shook herself again, trying to keep from fainting. She flexed her fingers but couldn't squeeze Emma's neck harder.
"I believe in you." The blonde wheezed. "I won't break… my promise."
Regina felt her grip loosen ever so slightly. Her arms felt as though they were made of lead and grew heavier with every passing second spent staring into green eyes.
"We're family," Emma whispered. She leaned forward and kissed her.
Kronk yelled as the portal opened beneath his feet and swarms of Pixies twirled down into it. Emma yelled and pulled Regina away from the widening green hole in the ground. The vines around her ankles slid back away and she leapt forward and seized one of Kronk's shoulders.
"Arrrggghhhh!" Kronk yelled at the laughing Pixies. One of them grabbed his junk before doing a swan dive into the portal.
"Son of a bitch, you're too heavy Kronk!" Emma was desperately trying to maintain her footing but that portal was sucking her in. Regina strode forward and gripped Kronk's other shoulder. Most of the Pixies had dissapeared and a few stragglers watched as Emma and Regina dragged Kronk away.
None remained but Poison and Ivy, who ran up to Emma, smacked her in the boob, screamed "tit punch!" and ran through the portal with her companion, cackling.
"Ow! Shit!" Emma grabbed at her breast, grimacing. "Fucking pixies!" The portal closed at last, leaving nothing but ordinary woods behind.
The Pixie Grove was gone. The only piece of it that still remained was the black rose still tangled around Emma's wrist.
"Emma," Regina felt her eyes fill with tears. "I'm so sorry."
Emma grunted. "Don't be. Looks like Mab tricked us again but also sort of helped us in a fucked up, roundabout way." She grinned sloppily up at the older woman, who gave a dazzling, watery smile back. "We're good."
Kronk shook his head in amazement. "I don't know what just happened, but I'm glad for you two."
The Evil Queen held out her hand to the Savior, who took it and rose from the ground. "Come, dear. Lets go home."
Aaaaannnndddd that's the end!
JK! Bwahahahaha come on y'all know I wouldn't leave you hangin' like that right? I'll post the epilogue sometime next week, hopefully.