TITLE: A Queen Without Power
CHAPTER 26: Swan Song

The fuchsia glow was almost mesmerizing. Not to mention the ebony and gold at its very center: Regina's straight hair in the middle and her own long blonde strand curled around it in a gentle embrace. She nearly startled when the ground came up suddenly beneath her only to realize that she'd sat down in the midst of her shock. "It can't be," she murmured.

Her mother swallowed slowly, looking at the concoction with a mix of wonder and disdain crossing her features. "And yet it is," she answered, voice low and somewhat grave.

Slowly, Emma turned her large eyes up to August, who was standing over her in the dining room. His hands were shoved in the pockets of his jeans, leather jacket still zipped tight as he gave her a closed-lip half-smile. As if promising he would save the inevitable 'I told you so' for a later day.

Then, she looked to each of her family members in turn, noting the spectrum of emotion displayed on each face. On Henry, there was barely-restrained glee. His smile was without the whiteness of his teeth, but no less excited, stretched wide across his elfin face. Then there was her father: understanding, and perhaps a glimmer of acceptance, though surreptitious glimpses were consistently cast toward his wife. And finally there was Snow White. The expression on her face was one fraught with tension; clearly, there was a war being waged inside of her - between love for her daughter and disgust over the object of said-daughter's affection being her longtime nemesis.

Finally the war within the newly-appointed queen seemed to come to a head, as her hand slapped down on the table and startled them all: "Why her!?"

Wide, angry eyes centered Emma in their sights and for the first time, she was intimidated by the petite woman. Emma leaned against the doorframe for support, wondering if in another world this would be the voice wielded by her mother when she was about to be grounded.

"Uh... I don't-"

"Of all people..." Snow shook her head, plucking the vial from her hands and holding it up in front of her as she continued, "in all this world..." She huffed mirthlessly and corrected herself, "In all of the worlds... it had to be her." She rounded on her again. "Why, Emma?"

She was taken aback by the accusation in her tone. She couldn't help but exhale a surprised, humorless laugh. "Like I asked for this?"

August knocked Henry lightly on the shoulder, breaking in, "Hey champ, let's go put your book away for safekeeping, huh?"

Henry was momentarily disappointed, sighing out a crestfallen, "Okay," but he followed August up the stairs nonetheless.

James glanced between his wife and daughter, and upon Emma's nod, he nodded back and called after them, "Hey, I'll come help. That, uh..." He averted his gaze and made his way toward the steps, muttering, "That book's kinda heavy, after all."

Emma scrambled to her feet, taking the vial of True Love from her mother's hand, partly fearing for its safety. She narrowed her eyes, voice as low as she could go without whispering. "I didn't ask for any of this. I didn't ask to get chucked into some magic tree trunk seconds after I was born... to have no clue who my parents were or why they abandoned me at first sight."

Snow White ducked her head in shame but it didn't deter Emma. "I didn't ask for my kid to show up on my doorstep after ten years with a head full of fairy tales and his mind set on me being some... savior! I didn't ask to care about him and then having to share him with some bitch of a mayor!"

She pocketed the potion and continued. "Just like I didn't ask to actually be some savior that has to break a curse! Or find out that my roommate and own best friend is actually my mother, who - oh, by the way - just happens to be the most famous fairytale princess! I didn't ask to team up with an evil queen or make nice with her and I sure as hell didn't ask to care about her like I do!"

She shook her head, advancing on her mother a few steps, who didn't back down, though her expression did grow less and less severe as Emma hammered in her final point. "So don't you stand there and ask me why this became what it is, like I wished on some stupid shooting star for it! I didn't ask for any of it. I still can't make head or tail of what kind of life this is. All I know is that it's mine now. And I'm going to do everything I can to make damn sure I protect everyone in it. Including Regina."

Snow White took a breath. "Emma, look. I-"

She cut her off, still riding out the last waves of pent-up frustration as she continued, "Now you can either work with me, and help me get rid of Rumplestiltskin and Regina's mother once and for all, or you can work against me and throw a fit, and your grandson will lose the only mother that's been there for him unfailingly for the first ten years of his life. But you need to choose and you need to do it now." She raised her eyebrows. "What's it gonna be?"

Her mother moved and for a moment Emma readied herself for battle when she was suddenly engulfed in a tight hug. Her hands hung suspended in the air for a moment as her brows crawled skyward, wondering what was happening.

"I'm sorry," Snow White whispered, arms tight around her shoulders. "I'm so sorry, Emma."

The adrenaline drained from her somewhat and Emma allowed herself to relax, her hands resting on her mother's back. "I'm sorry too."

"I'm sorry that we ever had to be apart, and that you grew up thinking that we gave you away because we didn't love you," her voice broke with tears.

Emma pressed her lips together, patting her mother's back. "Well... at least I know the truth now, right?"

Snow sniffled and pulled away, nodding and wiping at her tears.

Emma shrugged, attempting humor as she added ruefully, "And I guess... since you're the mom, you're not supposed to like who I'm with."

She chuckled tearfully, moving pieces of her daughter's hair out of her eyes. "Right."

They embraced again and Emma allowed herself to smile, thankful in a way that her mother had had her outburst. Now they could try to move toward acceptance. And she knew that no matter where the pieces fell in this chess match, Snow White would never be the best of friends with the 'Evil Queen.' But as long as there was understanding and acceptance - or at the very least, tolerance - it didn't matter.

"Is it safe to come down yet?"

Henry's cajoling, lilting tone reached them from upstairs and they broke away from one another chuckling. Snow White wiped away the last vestiges of her tears as Emma called, "Yeah kid, nobody killed anyone. Come back down."

"You guys were pretty quiet," he told them as he bounded down the stairs back to the dining room. He made a face. "We were kinda worried."

Emma grinned, ruffling his hair. "Just needed to get some stuff sorted out, that's all." She looked up at August, who gave her a smirk.

"Well, we're glad you two worked things out," James sighed, looping an arm around his wife's shoulders. "Time is of the essence, after all."

Emma nodded, touching her pocket where the vial of potion was nestled. "Right. I gotta go." Shaking her head to herself, she sighed, "Don't know where exactly to go, but I gotta get there."

"Here." Her mother's voice stopped her, and she turned to see her removing a piece of jewelry before holding it out to her between her thumb and forefinger. "Perhaps this will help."

Emma frowned, taking the gold ring from her mother and turning it over, inspecting the peridot-colored gem that glowed back at her ever so briefly. "What is it?"

"It was my mother's," James told her. "It was enchanted some time ago, and helped me track down my true love." He squeezed Snow's shoulder, who nodded, finishing the thought for him as she shrugged one shoulder.

"I just thought that maybe..." She met Emma's eyes. "It could help you locate yours."

Emma closed her fingers around the ring, feeling it warm her palm. She blinked her gratitude at her mother, who offered a small smile in return.

"Thank you," she murmured quietly.

August nudged her gently. "You ready?"

She took a breath and huffed it out. "I guess so!" Then, she looked to her parents. "What about you two?"

James shook his head. "Don't worry about us."

"Or me," Henry chimed in.

The king smirked at his grandson, ruffling his hair the way Emma had done only moments ago. "We'll look after the young prince."

Snow nodded. "But just say the word when you need us and we'll be right beside you."

Henry beamed up at her. "If I learned one thing about this family, it's that we always find each other."

James clapped a hand down on his shoulder. "That we do, Henry. That we do."

Emma nodded and, with a few quick hugs goodbye, she exited the estate with August following behind her. She heard his footsteps slow as she neared his motorcycle parked at the curb, and she spun to face him. "Well?"

He tossed her the key and smirked back, "Well what?"

She slipped the ring on her finger and watched the gem light up again. Holding up her hand, she asked him, "You don't at least wanna see where this leads?"

With another smile, he ducked his head and shook it back and forth, his tone rueful as he told her, "That's not my journey. It's yours."

She nodded her understanding, letting her hand fall to her side. She watched him approach, furrowing her brows as she wondered if he was sentimental enough to hug her as well, when he ducked at the last moment and opened the satchel hanging off the seat of his motorcycle.

"Dagger's still there," he reported, buttoning it shut and standing up again.

"Good."

For a moment they stood looking at each other - former foster kids, survivors of the Dark Curse, comrades... friends. Then, August gave her a wide grin. "So. Whaddya gonna do now, Princess?"

Emma smirked, sliding onto the seat of the motorcycle as she stuck the key in the ignition and shot back, "I'm gonna go get my Queen."

He nodded, congratulating her, "'Atta girl," before she started up the bike and sped off.

As she raced through the streets of Storybrooke, she held the accelerator with one hand while holding up the other that housed the ring, paying attention to the glow and letting it act as her compass. She supposed she should have been surprised when it landed her at the library.

She headed on autopilot toward the tree-shaped mirror, and pressed her hand to it just as she'd seen Regina do twice. Her heart ached at the thought of her counterpart and it increased her determination accordingly. She strode with confidence toward the elevator and peered down into the broken remains of the elevator shaft and the shattered car at the bottom. Closing her eyes, Regina's voice floated through her head: "It will become second nature to you..." as she released her breath and then held up a hand, able to feel the burst of brilliant blue through her closed eyelids.

When she opened them, the elevator car was reassembled, looking shiny as new and ready to be used. Her heart thudded in her chest, adrenaline bumping her pulse sky-high as she stepped on and waved her fingers again, starting her descent. The ride was smooth - nothing at all like her first two trips down - and she landed with less than a shudder from the car around her.

The doors slid open, as if of their own volition, and Emma stepped into Storybrooke's underground tunnels, finding them completely empty. Ash blew around her and heat assaulted her face. She looked at the chasm that once held the body of the dragon she slew, now filled with lava. Where were they? Where was Regina?

She felt chilled, a stark contrast to the heat all around her. Unable to understand why she had grown so cold, she swept her gaze around the cavern. A gasp left her lips as it settled on a large block of ice in the far corner, big enough to hold a body - though it was the body in particular that caused the gasp.

She raced over, "Regina?!" staring helplessly down at the frozen former queen.

She was still. Perfectly preserved. Her hands were folded primly over her stomach and her eyes were buttoned closed, as if she were sleeping. A sob escaped before Emma could stop it and she dropped to her knees beside the icy coffin.

"No..." she whispered, sweeping her hand across the side and wiping away some of the frost that obscured her view of the beauty beneath.

This was worse than watching that horrible witch tear her lover's heart out through the mirror in the foyer. Worse than having her own heart torn asunder. This was several inches of pure ice holding Regina's corpse captive. This was... finality.

She swallowed, hard, barely able to see through the tears that filled her gaze and spilled onto her cheeks. She wiped at them with a flat hand, willing them to cease, but they wouldn't. And soon the emotion itself had bubbled too close to the surface and she began to cry. Deep, grieving sobs echoed around the caverns and at the moment she could have cared less if Rumplestiltskin, Regina's mother and all of their cronies came charging at her. It didn't matter anymore.

They had killed her, without any chance of a fair fight. And then left her body on display, probably for Emma to find, while they hid like cowards. And now Emma was left completely, utterly alone, with an overwhelming hollowness in her chest. She pressed her hand to her heart, hiccuping past a sob as she realized she could no longer feel Regina. The underlying warmth that made her certain she was still alive had been missing, she realized, since she and August had been looking for the dagger.

She remembered the chill she had felt when they had been nearing the pawn shop, and damned herself for not realizing what the feeling was at the time. Now Regina was lost to her forever, no hope of salvaging her missing heart or her frozen form.

"You know I'm not gonna let you get killed, right?"

"You may not have a choice in the matter, I'm afraid."

She dissolved into tears once again. She had broken her promise. Regina had accepted her inevitable demise, but Emma had been stubborn, thinking she could save her. She was so stupid. Even she should have known that a savior couldn't save everyone.

She pressed her hand to the ice, her entire body slumping against the block. Resting her cheek atop of the icy coffin she closed her eyes, her breath puffing across the surface and kicking up clouds as she whispered to Regina's ice-bound form, "I love you."

And so deeply immersed in her grief was she that she didn't notice the cloud from those three words, spreading all over the coffin.

Nor did she feel the cracks that spread like vines across the ice.

TBC