A/N: Sorry for the delay, but life's getting busy again.
After this chapter, the story is going to jump ahead a few months and start wrapping up.
It felt almost like the moment Emma broke the curse. An unimaginable force pulsing through her, indicating that nothing would ever be the same.
But when she ended the curse, there'd been so much commotion. The crowd of people, the beeping of machines, the sound of Regina's gasp from behind her that pulled her eyes, just for a second, from Henry.
This time, there was nothing else. Just Regina. And that same gasp, when it sounded, was against Emma's lips. Not a distraction, but an invitation to press forward, to swallow up Regina's reaction.
Regina's eyes had flown open at the pulse of magic, and after indulging Emma for just a moment longer, she pulled away. When she'd closed her eyes for the kiss, she'd seen the thin protection between them and those who wanted to kill them dissolve. It was all over. She only hoped that it would go quickly, that someone would get Henry away so he didn't have to see his mothers massacred in front of him.
But with the force of that kiss, the protection spell had come back at full force. Gold and Snow, the two closest to the barrier, were already on the ground by the time she pulled away from Emma. They were in time to watch the mob blown back, stumbling into each other in an attempt to keep from falling.
Snow stood up, dusting herself off, and Emma laughed at Regina's ear as they watched Gold struggle to find his footing. "Try to hurt either of them again," Snow called out over the grumbles of people straightening out again, "and face the consequences. You know what just happened. Nothing can overpower true love, and when two people are willing to die for each other," Snow turned, giving the pair on the porch a watery smile, "what else can it be?" She looked back towards the crowd. "They are leaving Storybrooke, and anyone who tries to interfere will have to go through me."
"And me," Ruby called out as she joined them on the porch. Henry was close behind her, squeezing between his mothers who welcomed him into their embrace. Regina kissed his hair, an apology for the way he'd found out about the pregnancy, an promise that they'd talk as soon as they could.
"All of us," Archie added, following them out of the house.
There was no one to bolster the mob with Whale gone. The dwarves appeared to have been the ringleaders this time, and they looked amongst themselves awkwardly, finally deciding that their loyalty to Snow White won out. Between that loyalty and their fear of the power Regina and Emma had demonstrated, the crowd slowly, reluctantly, began to disperse.
Emma turned to smile at Regina, but it was immediately clear that the brunette's bravado was all but gone. She was trembling, tears in her eyes, and with one arm around Regina's waist and the other around Henry's shoulders Emma hurried them back inside.
Regina crumbled wordlessly, and Emma put both arms around her to keep her upright. "You did such a good job," she promised. "You are so brave to stand up there and face them after what you've been through."
Regina looped her arms around Emma's neck and cried against the blonde's shoulder. She just couldn't believe that they'd made it out alive. That they'd have the chance to start their new lives together after all. She cried out both her relief and the pain that came from seeing those same people come for her, reliving that nightmarish experience all over again.
Ruby and Archie, even Henry, kept their distance once they were back inside. Emma glanced in their direction, eyes going wide as she saw who was standing behind them. "How did you get in here?" she snapped at her mother.
Regina lifted her head just enough to be audible. "She proved that she's not a threat."
Still, all Snow received from Emma was a cold look. "I appreciate what you did out there," the blonde said, "but that doesn't change anything."
Snow nodded sadly, coming tentatively closer. Regina did her best to pull herself together, not wanting to look weak in front of an audience. "I know I can't make up for abandoning you," she said to Regina. "I don't expect either of you to forgive me."
"I don't," Emma bit back.
"But maybe we will someday," Regina offered softly.
If Regina could consider forgiving the woman she'd spent her life hating, Emma supposed that there had to be room somewhere in her own heart. "Maybe."
Snow smiled. "That's all I ask."
"Mom." Henry was watching her carefully, waiting for the right moment until he couldn't hold back his question anymore. "Is it true? Are you, you know…"
Emma stepped in, guiding Henry away from Regina to give the brunette a moment to recover. "Let's talk, okay?" If she could save Regina from the brunt of the questions, she was willing to tackle the difficult conversation herself.
Regina sat down slowly on the nearest chair. Ruby and Archie drifted out of the room to look for any critical things that needed to be packed, giving her space.
Snow remained, sitting down across from Regina. "You're pregnant," she said softly, not needing to add anything more. She knew better than anyone that Regina would keep the child. That despite the circumstances, there was a part of Regina that was happy about the news.
"I am." Regina looked down at her hands in her lap.
"I hope that it's not David's," Snow blurted out before she could stop herself, and at that Regina looked up.
"I do as well," she said softly, twisting her fingers together. "It would kill Emma." And it would kill Snow, too, she realized. There was a sadness in the other woman's eyes, almost but not quite jealousy as Snow thought about the fact that she'd never get to raise a child with the man who had always been her soul mate. That Regina was about to take Emma, Henry, and this baby and leave her alone.
"I don't know what to do about him," Snow added. "He needs to be punished, for your sake. And Emma's, and even mine."
Regina rose to her feet and walked to the bookshelf. She retrieved a book from high above her head and gave it to Snow. "Life without you will be punishment enough."
Snow looked at the book quizzically before opening it to see that the middle had been hollowed out. There was a bottle nestled into the hole, a translucent bean sitting in the bottom of it.
"Wherever he goes, he will never see you again. He will never see anyone he loves again." Regina gave Snow a tight smile. Emma wouldn't like this, would think it too easy, but David would suffer much more this way. Death was instant. Exile was forever. "Do what you see fit."
Snow closed the book again and hugged it to her chest. "I hope the three—no—the four of you find every happiness possible," she said, standing and taking Regina's hand for a brief second.
Regina pulled away, frowning. She'd never imagined that the moment she said goodbye to Snow White would be so oddly bittersweet. It was the end of the story that had ruled her whole life, the beginning of a new one.
She watched Snow walk away and then found Emma and Henry in the kitchen, her son enveloping her in a hug.
They left Emma's car parked just outside the town line since Regina didn't expect her to be in any shape for driving. They could come back for it later, but for now they said the last of their goodbyes and got into Regina's Benz. She insisted that Emma sit in the back seat with Henry and equipped the boy with whatever might make the blonde the most comfortable when the lack of magic hit her.
Regina reached back to squeeze Henry's hand, then Emma's, before they passed the Storybrooke sign for the final time.