Almost finished! I hope you're all still enjoying this, and will keep with me until the end! A short update this time, while I work on the getting the final updates as I want them. Remember, read and review and I'll love you!
I'll also be posting a one-shot soon, written for MaFan, who was my 100th follower of this story. I also have plans to write a one-shot of their choice for the 150th follower, whoever that may be!
**SQ** **SQ** **SQ** **SQ** **SQ** **SQ** **SQ** **SQ** **SQ** **SQ** **SQ** **SQ**
Emma didn't go into work the next day. She woke at some time in the early hours, just after dawn, and had spent the next few unbearable minutes just looking at the woman sleeping peacefully next to her. She couldn't bear the thought that the curse still might claim her. There had to be something she could do. Placing a gentle kiss to the still sleeping woman's forehead, she slipped out of bed. Still dressed in her clothes from the day before, she stole silently downstairs, leaving a note asking her father to cover her shift, before stuffing on her boots and making her way to Gold's shop.
Hammering against the shop door, Emma didn't care if the man was sleeping. She had asked him for an answer often enough. Now she was demanding it. She took a step back as she heard a bolt being disengaged.
"Miss Swan, to what do I owe the pleasure this early in the day?"
Pushing past the old man, Emma paced the floor of the shop. "Regina, this killing curse, how do I get rid of it?"
"Fairydust not up to the task then?" he asked with a smirk. He was forced to bring his cane up as a weapon when the Sherriff advanced on him. "I wouldn't do anything rash, dearie. You might just knock any information I have right out of my head."
"You have something then?"
"Tell me, Miss Swan, how has Regina been?"
"She's awake, but…"
"Not getting greatly better without taking ten steps back?"
Still loathe to let too much slip, Emma nodded.
Gold smirked. He had thought as much. "Tell me dearie, have you told her you love her?"
Emma paled, her breath catching in her throat. "Why would you ask that?"
"You're well acquainted with True Love and breaking curses, Miss Swan. And the saying holds true, True Love can break any curse. It's a peculiar thing though. True Love exists, and shall always exist, but in order to create that ultimate magic, it also has to be acknowledged."
It couldn't be that easy. "So I tell her I love her?"
"Acknowledged on both sides," warned Gold. "And you do realise you're dealing with Regina. The woman who trusts no one and loves no one other than her son and herself."
Emma shook her head, a wide grin on her face. "You have never been more wrong. The Evil Queen might trust and love no one, but Regina does." Turning on her heel, she all but sprinted from the shop. Throwing herself behind the wheel of her bug, she cursed when the thing refused to start. Trying twice more, she finally gave up, slamming the door shut and kicking it for good measure.
With a sigh, she realised there was nothing else for it. She was going to have to walk. Hell, she couldn't wait that long. She took off running.