A/N: I know that the cliffhanger was frustrating, but I hope you'll find it worth it after you read the newest chapter. If you guys don't know, my beta-readers lupwned and hunnyfresh are both amazing! THANK YOU to everyone who has followed, favorited, and especially reviewed!

Disclaimer: Of course, I own nothing, I just like to play.

"One hundred dollars."

The voice came from a table toward the back. Jefferson stood at his table, his eyes gleaming with malice, a smile twisting his face.

For the briefest moment, Regina's mask slipped as a trickle of fear shivered down her spine. Whatever Jefferson's intentions in bidding, he certainly wasn't hoping for companionship or a home-cooked meal. She forced herself to resume her usual politician's smile as she cast her eyes over the crowd, silently begging for someone – anyone else to bid. And then someone did.

Finally springing into action, Emma called out "One hundred and fifty," with confidence. Regina turned to face the sheriff, flooding with gratitude; she felt unsure why the younger woman would assist her, but was unwilling to contemplate it too deeply considering the alternative.

"Two hundred."

Evidently Jefferson had no intention of easily giving up the fight.

Emma's jaw tightened as she calmly stated "Three."

The eyes of the crowd alternated between Jefferson and Emma as they continued to bid, he raised the stakes to four hundred, she to five.

Jefferson's eyes narrowed dangerously as he surveyed the young princess and barked "Seven fifty."

The ballroom was silent. It seemed that as one, the citizens of Storybrooke had decided to hold their breath in anxiety over the increasingly large sum on offer. To this point, the highest bid for any bachelorette had been five hundred dollars.

Emma was sweating, her heart hammering in her chest. She was coming close to the limit of her budget and she could not allow Jefferson to win. Not after everything she'd gone through to get to this point. Her father was staring at her, willing her to bid as he began to rattle… "Going…going…"

Emma stood at her seat, stared directly into Regina's eyes and said "One thousand dollars."

A collective gasp rose from the crowd at the shout. Regina's eyes widened as she took in the determined look on the sheriff's face, her hands balled into fists. She could not understand how the young woman would possibly have that amount of money. And she knew, thanks to her own curse, that Jefferson had nearly limitless funds with which to bid.

Henry meanwhile, had decided to take action. He leapt from his seat and ran to Jefferson's table, disappearing behind the madman. He whispered frantically in Grace, his friend and classmate's ear. She nodded and tugged on her father's sleeve just as he shouted "Twelve fifty."

"Daddy!"

"Not now, Grace. Daddy's busy."

"No, Daddy, it has to be now. You have to stop. You have to let her go."

Jefferson's jaw tightened as he looked down for the first time at his daughter. "Grace, you don't understand. You don't know what that woman did."

"I do, Daddy, but it doesn't matter anymore. We're together. And if it weren't for Sheriff Swan, we wouldn't be. She gave us our happy ending, Daddy, please. Can't you let her win?"

Jefferson continued to clench his jaw as he looked away from his daughter, cracked his neck, and then looked back into her hopeful face.

"Fine."

Across the room, Charming had again begun, albeit slowly to call out "Going, going…" when Emma, her face flushed but her expression unflinching called out "Fifteen hundred dollars." She turned her gaze immediately with a challenging glare at Jefferson, who simply shook his head and sat down, withdrawing himself from the bidding.

Charming looked down and felt that he had better end the bidding now before his daughter was out of house and home. He quickly called "Goinggoinggone" without pausing for breath and banged the gavel down on the podium.

The previously still and silent crowd erupted in cheers and applause. They leapt to their feet and began hugging one another. Although few of them cared for the queen, they all adored the savior and were loath to see her lose.

Emma's face lit up as though her whole body were infused with fairy dust as she turned to face Regina, who had by this point completely lost her politician's mask and was staring in awe. Emma strode forward to the stage and extended her hand, her eyes dancing as she took in her prize. Regina could hardly catch her breath as she took the offered hand and stepped down from the platform. Emma escorted her back to her seat and pulled out her chair before giving a little curtsey and a "Milady" indicating that Regina should sit.

Regina found she was completely speechless as she resumed her seat and watched the young woman strut back to her table, obviously tremendously pleased with herself. Emma even stopped before sitting to raise her hands together like a prize-fighter toward the crowd, who laughed and clapped all the harder for it.

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Regina spent an additional five minutes at her table completely shell-shocked before she remembered herself, offering a brief smile to her table companions before reaching desperately for her wine and downing the remainder of the glass before holding up the empty goblet to a passing waiter to be refilled. As the wine began to spread warmth through her numb body, she felt herself relax slightly, and then panic.

Dear gods.

What in the world had that been about? Simply the savior fulfilling her duties as the "White Knight" once again, stepping in to defeat Jefferson and his nefarious plot? But even that explanation made no sense to her. Since when did the savior defend the Evil Queen?

Since Emma Swan became the Savior, whispered a voice in the back of her mind.

There was some fairness to the thought. True, they had often tangled over Henry and their interactions more often involved veiled threats than polite conversation, but in every situation when Emma could have abandoned her to her fate without even having to raise a hand to vanquish her, she had instead extended her hand in rescue. With this thought, Regina looked to her own hand clutching her wine glass where the Savior's fingers had clasped around her own only moments ago. She imagined she could still feel their sturdy warmth.

Still, she simply could not accept that there was no ulterior motive here. Perhaps Miss Swan had the intention of purchasing a day with her in the auction only to demand to take Henry away and spend the day with her instead. Or perhaps she intended to inflict some dark and painful punishment – like a day of baking with that twit Snow White. She chanced a glance at the Charmings' table and saw that Emma and Snow had their heads together, their expressions gleeful as they giggled together.

As her lip curled at the thought of what plans they could be making, she took another healthy gulp of wine. The thought that followed was sudden and most unwelcome; as loathsome as those outcomes would be, they were far less terrifying than the alternative.

She allowed herself to sneak another glance at Emma. She looked absolutely giddy now that she'd won. She was whispering with Snow and nodding vigorously when she seemed to feel Regina's eyes on her and she looked up, her eyes colliding with Regina's with a stormy intensity.

Regina shivered and quickly looked away. Draining her glass, she held it out to be refilled before closing her eyes and trying to gather her poise.

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Emma was elated. She felt on cloud nine now that she had won. After all the planning and saving and…she actually did it. She got a day alone with Regina Mills. She had exhausted basically her entire savings and she was going to have to get creative about this date, but she had actually done it.

Abigail went up to be auctioned off and was purchased by an ecstatic gym teacher who picked her up and spun her around when she ran off the stage to him. Emma vaguely heard the whoops and applause around her as she locked eyes with Regina and time seemed to slow. She felt like she was living in a movie, this could not possibly be real. As Abigail returned to Regina's table, the mayor broke eye contact with Emma to toast her friend and flash a toothy smile.

Emma turned as her father called Belle forward to the stage. This was the penultimate auction of the evening, hers being the only one remaining. Belle's auction was one that had garnered much of the discussion throughout the town. It was common knowledge that Ruby and Belle were an item and that Mr. Gold harbored an almost obsessive love for the young librarian. The only person whose redemption was questioned more than Regina's was Rumplestiltskin's. Although everyone preferred the idea of Belle with Ruby, they feared that if his wishes were denied, Gold would resort to using his previous dark means to achieve his goal.

The tension mounted steadily as Belle ascended the stage and turned to face the crowd. She looked around, worrying her hands as she shifted on the stage, clearly uncomfortable with the scrutiny. Charming's introduction was heard by all and remembered by none as they watched Ruby preemptively stand in her seat, checkbook in her hand, determined to outbid the richest man in town.

When the bidding opened, Ruby shouted "Two hundred dollars" at the top of her lungs, determined to start things off boldly. Mr. Gold emerged from the back of the room, taking shuffling steps forward, his tuxedo, shirt, and tie all black. He strolled with confidence, knowing with certainty that his wealth outmatched any other in the room.

Without raising his voice in the slightest, every ear in the room still heard his murmured "Five hundred." Clearly, he knew exactly what he wanted and saw no point in continuing the bidding.

Ruby flushed and raised her checkbook again, nearly jumping up to stretch her arm in the air and bellow "Six hundred."

Gold merely chuckled for a moment, taking several more steps forward and grinning maniacally at Ruby. "Why Miss Lucas, we can do this all day. After all, it will benefit the whole town to improve our library." He flicked a hand dismissively toward Charming and continued, "Eight hundred."

Ruby's face was rapidly becoming appropriately colored for her name as she huffed and puffed, frantically jumping around in her seat. She looked desperately at the balance sheet in her checkbook and called "Eight hundred and sixty three dollars and seven cents."

Clearly Ruby was literally bidding her last penny as she closed her eyes, crossed her fingers and hunched her shoulders together, hoping for the best.

Gold looked scathingly at the girl before giggling maniacally and saying in a sing-song voice reminiscent of a previous life "Eight hundred and sixty three dollars and eight cents." He giggled again as he watched the young waitress crumple into her chair, defeated. Her eyes filled with tears and she buried her head in her hands.

Clearly sickened by the turn of events, Charming looked desperately around the room for another bidder before slowly reciting "Going…going…gone," in a diminishing voice. "Sold to Mr. Gold."

Belle looked heartsick as she descended the stairs and walked toward Gold, his hand outstretched. She took his hand in hers with a polite smile before turning her gaze to face miserably the young brunette sobbing into her napkin. Gold quickly pulled her away to the back of the room and they disappeared from view.

Emma watched her mother rise up, shaking her head and walking over to comfort her inconsolable friend. She rubbed a hand across Ruby's back and murmured in her ear as hushed conversations erupted all over the ballroom.

"Well, uh, we still have one more bachelorette to auction off this evening. I'm proud to say that our final bachelorette this evening swept into town and into all of our lives and changed everything. She has proven to be a loving mother, a loyal friend, and a true hero. She restored our memories by breaking a curse with the strength of her true love. She helped protect our town from foes as the Sheriff and later as our Savior. She is, and I believe myself completely unbiased in this, the most wonderful, beautiful girl in the world," the crowd chuckled indulgently while Emma rolled her eyes, though she felt a little tug at the corner of her lips hearing her father's declaration, "My daughter, Emma Swan!"

Emma rose and climbed the steps to the stage, for the first time truly considering how humiliating this whole ordeal was. She had neglected to consider walking up stairs when she chose her shoes, which emphasized fashion over practicality and caused her to trip on her way up the stairs, reaching out and clutching Charming's hand to regain her balance. Her face instantly flushed in embarrassment and she took a moment to close her eyes and calm her breathing before she turned to face the audience and immediately became dizzy. The only other time she had stood in front of a crowd like this was when she debated Sydney in her campaign to become sheriff, and she had felt every bit the shaky mess she did now.

It occurred to her suddenly how humiliating it would be if she stood up here and not a single person bid on her. She imagined herself standing an eternity before the crowd as they continued staring at her and her father spoke into the microphone, "Anyone? Will anyone give me a dollar? No?" She felt the blood drain from her face and swayed a little before shaking her head and pulling herself back to the room. She had fought dragons and zombies and Regina's evil mother. Certainly she could withstand this too. Straightening her shoulders she did her best attempt at a beauty-queen smile, which would have succeeded had her eyes not clearly still registered terror.

The bidding was quick to build, a number of men from the town showing interest in spending a day with the sheriff. The bids reached one thousand…fifteen hundred.

Emma stopped worrying about nobody bidding on her, obviously that was not her problem. Now she began to worry about the intentions of the person who would end up buying a day with her. She squinted around the room trying to see if she recognized any of the people bidding as a fresh wave of panic pulsed through her.

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Regina watched the sheriff being auctioned off feeling utterly perplexed. Clearly the sheriff would rather have eaten chimera for a year than stand on that stage under the eyes of the town. She was turning vaguely green now as she scrunched her face trying to see into the crowd despite the bright spotlight upon her. She looked utterly foolish and Regina had been waiting for just this moment to feel triumph in her rival's discomfort.

Instead, as she looked around at the town she felt a wave of sympathy for Emma that shocked her. Here was a woman who had learned that to survive meant staying detached, remote; it meant keeping her distance. Yet she was being paraded forward in front of a mass of people who already placed all of their hopes, dreams, and expectations on her. She had gone from being a denizen of the world – indulging her deep sense of wanderlust – to being the highlight of a small town bachelorette auction. Despite the good grace with which Emma had assumed the mantle of Savior, clearly this was a step beyond comfortable for her.

She remembered her own experience; as a young woman forced into a life she was not prepared for and which she had never desired. She understood all too well that fairytales made the life of a princess seem a dream when in reality it often meant bending to the will of the men in the stories, subsuming her own creativity and intelligence.

She too had hated being the spectacle in a room full of people. She had learned to embrace the darkness within herself because it was the only part that felt like it belonged to her. Her body, her reputation, her smile, her curtsey, her whole regal act belonged to others. She provided the image of the perfect wife, mother, and regent. Her excursions to practice dark magic, to expand her power, empowered her. She surrendered herself to darkness because it was her way to keep something of her own, something secret and hidden.

Regina felt her chest grow heavy as she thought about the trapped feeling she had when she married Snow's father. She looked around at the men leering at Emma and felt revulsion rise up in her at the thought that they would do to the young woman what Leopold had done to her. She stood, suddenly realizing that she had perhaps consumed more wine than was prudent as she swayed slightly when she took to her feet. Abigail looked to her in concern, which she quickly waved off, raising her eyes to the stage and seeing Emma's weak attempt at a smile that was betrayed by her shaking hands.

The bids had reached twenty-five hundred dollars now, but they were starting to slow, only two men left in the bidding now and both of them hesitating longer and longer. Regina looked up at the stage again and caught the eye of the sheriff; the woman who had saved her from the fire, from the wraith, from Jefferson.

The woman who had initiated more contact with her son and who had helped him to build a closer relationship with his adoptive mother.

The woman whose eyes were now clamped onto hers with such intensity, such fear, and such hope. She found herself unable to break eye contact even as she raised her hand and called,

"Five thousand dollars."

A/N: Am I forgiven?