Disclaimer in Chapter One
AN: HAPPY BIRTHDAY MISSLANE! Everyone greet that fantastic woman a very happy birthday :)
The river flowed gently in the middle of the woods where Henry and his mother stopped for a break. Well, she looked like his mother and acted like his mother, but this Emma didn't remember a thing about him. The whole walk since leaving her foxhole, Henry kept trying to pinch himself, hoping this was just some wild and intense dream. All that did was make his skin turn red, and he was pretty sure it was starting to bruise. The walk didn't help his blistering feet either, so by the time Emma found the river and called for a break, he was thankful to sit on a fallen log by the water and just think.
What was he supposed to do?
Think outside the box, kid. That's what Emma always used to say to him. Regina used to tell him to take his time and think out the problem. Well, he wasn't sure if he was being timed or not, but he knew he didn't want to take the chance of permanently staying in this medieval world because he dilly-dallied. The only thing he could think of before waking up in a forest was needing to go downstairs to get a glass of water. On his way to the kitchen, he had passed his mom in her office, and she was reading some weird book. He squinted in thought. There was smoke around her, like someone had just sprayed perfume, and then his mom was falling and all he wanted to do was catch her.
That was it. That was all the info he had. His Ma was the sheriff and all he was able to pick up was that his Mom had fainted. This was useless.
"Drink?"
Henry looked up to see Emma offering him an animal skin canteen. Her pants were wet to the calf and the canteen was dripping with water. He thought she just wanted to wash off in the river, not guzzle it down. His face wrinkled in disgust as he looked from the canteen to the river, moss and branches floating in its waves. "You got that from there?"
She rolled her eyes. "It's water, Henry. Do you want it or do you want to dehydrate?"
"You shouldn't drink unfiltered water."
"Unfiltered?" She squinted. "I'm sorry, I left my boiling pot in my other pair of trousers."
Henry rolled his eyes this time. In any realm, his Ma would always be a stubborn sarcastic. "Yeah, well the last time you drank lake water, you got really sick."
She made a face and made a point to keep eye contact as she chugged the water. "See? I'm fine. I've been doing this for years, kid. I've never gotten sick."
"You got sick three years ago." She raised a curious eyebrow but Henry continued. "You, me, and Mom went camping out in Augusta for the weekend, and you wanted to look like you were such a wilderness expert. I can't even count how many times Mom had to remind you which berries you couldn't eat and that you almost walked into a bush of poison ivy."
"I know what poison ivy looks like."
"But you found a tiny little clear water stream in a meadow and you were so insistent it was freshwater. You kept saying it ran downhill or something so it must be good, and Mom kept saying 'Don't drink the water, you idiot.'"
Emma winced. "Your Regina sounds like mi—like the Queen."
"And you drank it," Henry deadpanned. "You wanted to prove you knew your stuff and you drank it, and you know what happened?"
"I was right and proved you both wrong?" She asked as she sat down beside him on the log.
"You got sick. Threw up all night and even on the new air mattress Mom specifically got because she didn't even want to go camping. She was so scared you ate a leech and it was eating your insides. We ended it early, and she took you to the doctor where they told us you swallowed some forest bacteria." He glared pointedly at her and the canteen. "So don't drink the river water, you dummy."
She mimicked his gaze and drained the last of the water in her mouth with a satisfying smack of her lips. "Do you always talk back to your moms?"
"Only when they need some sense smacked into them," he said with an innocent smirk.
Emma stood and refilled the canteen once more, draping the string across her shoulder when she was done before turning to Henry. Silently the boy understood and got up once more as he followed Emma away from the river and through the meadow. It was long minutes of silence, Henry desperately trying to think of a plan to go home, when Emma broke it with a thought on her lips. "Regina wouldn't be that scared."
"She was," he insisted.
"The Regina here would laugh at me and say I deserved it."
"You probably did."
"Thanks, kid."
Henry continued. "But if the Queen is anything like my Mom, she wouldn't rest until you were better."
Henry glanced up at her to see the hint of a smile on her face, but it was only there for a millisecond before it formed into a frown. His brow wrinkled in thought wondering not for the first what exactly happened between his mothers in this land. They obviously knew each other, and Emma seemed to know Regina a lot better than she tried to pretend, but they were mad at each other. And not together. His worst fear that his mothers would ever separate came to life in this land and he didn't like it one bit. But Emma's stiffened posture and her hardened jaw made him wonder...
She held back a set of branches for him to pass, and the. they were on the main road once more. In the distance he could see the top of a roof and the telltale sign of chimney smoke.
"This is the White Kingdom?" He asked, looking around. He didn't know where the Eastern Kingdom ended and the White one started.
"Technically it's all the Eastern Kingdom now, but you were walking along the border of the White Kingdom when Killian found you." She squinted at him. "You're really not from here."
"I told you—"
"Yeah, yeah," she held up a palm dismissively. Despite her brush off, she shifted from foot to foot as if trying to get her words in order. "So in your world, me and Regina, we're married."
He nodded.
She shifted the canteen strap more securely on her shoulder and fiddled with the handle of her sword in its sheath. "So, uh," she mumbled, desperately trying to keep her eyes forward but they kept catching his in curiosity. "How did we meet?"
He shrugged. "I didn't get the full story."
Her deflation was masked by annoyed skepticism. "You're not selling me on this, Henry."
"I asked you last night how you two met for a project," he explained. "It was in college in Boston."
"What?" She eyed him confused.
"Like, school in a, a big village." When she nodded her understanding, he continued. "But you guys broke up, and you stayed in your Boston village, and Mom moved back to her Kingdom in Maine."
She shifted uneasily. "Why?"
He shrugged again. "I don't know, but it didn't last long because you guys got back together and here we are."
She scoffed unconvinced. "That's pretty vague, kid."
"It was dinner time, and you were pretty hungry," he explained earning himself an understanding nod from the woman.
"So what?" She motioned to Henry. "We had you through magic?"
His eyes widened comically. "There's magic here?"
"What kind of world do you live in?" She eyed him as if she hadn't dropped a magical bomb on his head.
"What world do you live in?"
"Well, how else would Regina and I have a kid if Regina didn't do some magic mumbo jumbo and poof!" She waved her hand in the air then made a move at Henry as if summoning him into existence.
This time he stopped dead.
"Mom has magic?" He ran a hand through his hair frantically. "Maybe she can make a potion and send us all home!"
Emma rolled her eyes. She needed to tread lightly around this kid. "We'll talk when we get to the inn. So how did we get you without magic?"
Reluctantly he continued to walk with her as the inn grew larger with their approach. He watched as she dawned her cloak and pulled the hood over her head in one sweeping motion. Realizing he wasn't going to get much more than that, he continued. "I'm adopted. It's like, when someone leaves a baby in your barn and—"
"I know what adoption is," she bristled, her hood shaking in her annoyance.
He shrugged and continued walking, the inn within a few yards away. It was more lively than he anticipated with tables outside full of patrons. Some saw them, and as soon as they caught sight of Emma, or the Saviour, rather, they ducked their heads in reverence. A carriage with a donkey was saddled beside a water trough, and a lady was ferrying drinks and food between tables and inside the inn. It really was like a medieval fair, but it was all real. A part of him was giddy, seeing people in their medieval wear drinking from metal tins and eating with their hands. But as soon as Emma tugged him close he noticed the tension within her as they passed by the inn sign.
The Howling Moon was what it was called as the old rusty sign announced their entrance, but etched into the metal plate he could see an apple with an arrow through it. The name was strange but the symbol stranger. What did that have to do with howling and moons? Before they could venture further to the outdoor seating area, Emma tugged him aside and held him about the shoulders.
"Listen," she whispered, her voice low and serious. Even with the hood over her face, he knew her forehead was wrinkled and her lips set in a thin line, making sure he understood her next words. "I know you think Regina and I are your moms, but don't say anything about that here, okay? We're just gonna stay here for the night, and I'm gonna take you to a safer place tomorrow and find out what spell is on you."
"It's not a spell, Ma—" she threw him a warning look that even in this realm he had no choice but to obey. "Emma."
She waited another minute until he nodded his confirmation, and then she straightened leading him toward the tables and then inside. An older lady with a mop of grey hair atop her head and suspicious squinting eyes glared as they entered, but Emma simply held up a bag, the contents jingling inside.
Henry tilted his head in wonder. "Granny?"
"Who wants to know?" The older lady gruffed, wiping down the counter.
"My page," Emma said in a deep voice before she tossed the bag to Granny who caught it quicker than Henry could comprehend.
Henry kept staring at Granny despite Emma's insistent pushes towards the stairs. Granny was here too! If Granny was here, then maybe—he whipped his head around the room to see Ruby, the diner-owner's granddaughter. He had been so accustomed to Ruby's streak of red hair, but this Ruby was demurely dressed and donning a red cloak around her shoulders, placing a mug of ale on a table.
"Wait, that's—" He didn't get to finish his claim as Emma pushed him up the stairs.
"Move," she hissed quietly in his ear, and all he could do was follow her up into a room. As soon as it was locked shut behind him, she pulled down her hood with a heavy sigh.
"What was that?" He questioned curiously.
She shrugged and draped her cloak over the bed. "Being the Saviour gets me some perks."
Removing her canteen and sword on the bed as well, Emma sat heavily on the bed and removed her boots. His face grimaced as Emma began massaging her feet. His Mom always said Ma had SFS—Stinky Foot Syndrome, and apparently being a bandit or a Saviour or whatever she was didn't help the fact that it was still the case.
"I meant, what was that between you, Granny, and Ruby?"
She gawked at him. "Who?"
"Granny and Ruby! The lady behind the counter and the girl with the cloak."
"Let me guess," Emma scoffed. "Eugenia's your grandmother and Red is your cousin."
He groaned loudly and stomped his foot in aggravation. Clearly they were different people here entirely. Why would they call her Red? He looked upwards, mumbling his thoughts to himself. "They're probably different here too."
Emma ignored him, rolling her eyes like he was talking madness as she continued to massage her feet. After a minute, he huffed and moved toward her. It was like he was in some parallel world or something.
"So," she said as he sat down beside her. He waited a full minute until he realized she had grown silent again, a pink tint on her cheeks. When he nudged her, she flushed red and shrugged sheepishly. "In your world, me and Regina, and you I guess—are we, you know."
His eyebrows shot up confused. He never saw his Ma so shy before. His face softened for her to continue, and as if it greatly pained her she huffed and faced him fully, feet planted on the floor.
"Are we happy?" She deadpanned.
The question took him by surprise, but the nervous look on his Ma's face as her cheeks tinted red and her eyes darted from his face to the floor made him grin. She stared at him then, her lips parting just a little and looking like she wanted to say something, but for whatever reason, she didn't. He nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, we're all really happy."
He wasn't sure if she was satisfied or saddened by the answer for she turned her focus to the wooden floor as her fingers clenched in the heavily starched bedspread. They stayed silent for a long while until she stood and made her way to the small wash basin in the corner of the room and began washing her hands like they hadn't just been talking.
Neither of them saw the shimmer in the mirror as a face disappeared back into glass.
Henry wrinkled his nose as the smell of vomit hit his face. He debated leaving the room and hanging out downstairs where the rest of the patrons were eating. He was small enough to hide in the corner, unassuming, and maybe he could get information on what was going on that made Ma so adamant of keeping him quiet. But Mom taught him better, and even though Ma was stubborn, he wasn't about to leave her as she upchucked into a bucket.
Emma's face was chalky and clammy, and her brow was cool with sweat. He always thought his moms were the prettiest women in the world, but right now, Emma looked like death as she lay on her stomach on the bed, head hovering over a bucket. It was hard to feel sorry for her though. He had warned her.
"I told you so," Henry said as he held back her hair, pointedly not looking into the bucket. "You shouldn't have drunk the river water."
"Kid," Emma warned. She looked up at him like she was about to put him in his place, but she held up a hand and retched into the bucket.
Sighing, he moved her hair to the side, careful that the blonde locks didn't dip into the bucket. When he was sure she was as clean as possible, he started to rub her back in slow upward patterns, just like Mom did for him whenever he was sick. The movement began to alleviate the tension in Emma's back, and even though she was still groaning, her breathing evened out and her sniffles quieted. Henry started to hum. It was all he could do to help Emma relax. He hummed that quiet tune Regina sang for him before bed, while sick, or just when she was happy. If it worked for him, it could work on Emma too.
The blonde froze under his hand and she shook off his touch. "Stop. Stop."
He whipped his hand back like he'd been burned.
She weakly moved the bucket onto the floor before collapsing on the bed with a wet rag pressed to her forehead. "Where did you learn that song?" She mumbled meekly.
"Mom," he answered easily. "She sings it all the time, especially when we're sick."
Emma chuckled darkly into the bed and almost spat out her next words. "She still does that."
He scrunched his face up confused. He didn't know what was up with his moms in this world, but there was a story behind them that he was determined to find out. "She took care of you here?"
"She wasn't always the Evil Queen, kid." She lifted her head up with great effort and held it up with two fists against her forehead. "She got that title when Snow broke the treaty."
"Wait." He reared back to get a better look at her, the gears in his head spinning. "Snow of the White Kingdom. Like the Snow White."
She squinted at him, and though he could tell her glare was full of condescension, the trickle of vomit on her lip didn't do her any favours.
"This is a fairy tale," Henry whispered to himself. Somehow, he and his moms, and seemingly everyone in Storybrooke were transported into a fairy tale. His eyes brightened. The red cloak on Ruby suddenly made sense. He had no idea what story the Saviour was from, but if his Mom was the Evil Queen set on destroying Snow White…
He clenched the blanket in his fist. "Did she—did she kill anyone?"
"It was war," she answered without bashing an eye. "People get killed in the crossfire."
"She's not like that where I'm from," he insisted. This Evil Queen sounded nothing like his mom. But, he reasoned, she used to sing to Emma.
Emma suddenly turned green then leaned over the bed, making it just in time to retch into the bucket. Henry winced as he patted her back. Spitting into the mess, Emma moaned and leaned her head along the edge of the bed, eyes closed and face sweaty. She made little faces, like every time she moved a certain way it hurt too much, but with a steadying breath she opened her eyes again. Green eyes were glassy, and Henry was certain his mom was running a fever. If it was anything like their camping trip, she'd be hallucinating soon. He just hoped she'd be able to puke it all out because he had no idea where a hospital was, or if this world even had a hospital. Then again, Mom had magic, so maybe there was a potion that could heal her stomach. If, his Mom was reasonable.
Emma sighed again, fighting to focus on Henry's face. "What's she like in your world?"
"She likes to cuddle," Henry said fondly. "We'll all be sitting on a couch, and she'll curl into you and tuck me under an arm. She doesn't sleep much on the nights you work a double, so she'll stay up until you come home, even though she has work. And she cooks. She tries to teach us, but we end up eating the food as we make it. She'll read to me too. Even though I say I'm too old for bedtime stories, she'll read with me whatever novel I'm reading and she'll do the voices even though they all sound the same."
"And she sings," Emma provided quietly, her eyes drooping shut.
Henry nodded. "Even in the washroom."
"I know," Emma said with a smirk.
"Yeah, you're pretty gross and in love back home too." He rolled his eyes. Even in this world, Emma was a lovesick puppy dog. It was nice that some things didn't change, but his moms still weren't together. He'd change that if it was the last thing he did.
"We're not in love," Emma argued.
He scoffed and lay back on the bed. "Whatever you say, Ma—Emma."
"You sound just like her," the blonde clattered, and it was then he noticed that Emma was starting to shiver. He touched her forehead and found it hot. Suddenly his heart raced as his mother huddled within herself. She was freezing but hot to the touch, and all he knew was that she needed medicine, or better yet, his Mom.
"Ma," he shook her quietly. "Ma—Emma, are you okay?"
The blonde squeezed her eyes shut as she shivered in her half-asleep state. He needed to get her help. If he just went downstairs quickly, that old lady behind the counter might help or do something. But Emma had told him to keep his head down, and he was sure she didn't want anyone to see her out of her Saviour cloak. Tears prickled to his eyes once more. His Ma needed him and he didn't know what to do. What would his Mom do? Curse Emma for being an idiot and drinking river water, but what else?
"Hey," Henry said desperately, moving so that he was lying face to face with her. "Hey, Emma, listen to me. Do you want to hear a story?"
She didn't answer, but he took her frantically shaking head as a yes.
He nodded and settled in, wrapping his arms and legs around her to keep her shaking to a minimum. Stories always helped him sleep. "You got me a skateboard when I was 8—it's a small board with wheels and you stand on it. Apparently you used to skateboard in high school, but Mom said I was too little to learn. We went out in secret."
Emma's shivering slowed to a dull humming, and even though she was still out of it, Henry hoped she was listening at least.
"It was so much fun. You'd hold my hand, and I'd kick off with you running beside me." He laughed to himself at the memory until his face furrowed to a frown. Maybe this wasn't the best story to start off with but Emma moved her chin up then, angling her face towards Henry like she was trying her best to pay attention. "I went out on my own one day while you were at work and Mom was making dinner.
"I skid off the curb, and I fell into traffic. My wrist broke when I held it out to stop the fall, and I was too hurt to move, but a car was already coming. It's this metal carriage that's faster than any horse. I didn't even think about getting hurt, I was just scared I was going to get in trouble for skateboarding without anyone knowing. The car tried to stop, and I thought I was done for, but then Mom came. I had no idea how she knew I was out there, but she pulled me out of the way, and we both fell backwards on the sidewalk. She ended up bruising her elbow really badly." He glanced down between them, eyes dark as he remembered those days. "You guys fought. You fought a lot, and I remember getting my cast on in the hospital, and I could hear you two fighting because you shouldn't have gotten me that skateboard and then you said to Mom that she should have been watching me better."
His eyes teared up and moisture leaked down his cheeks. "I thought you guys were going to get a divorce, and it would have been my fault. Even when we got home, you guys didn't speak. I saw a car about to hit me, and nothing was scarier than how quiet that house was for those days.
"I should have known better." He wiped at his eyes and shook his head to himself. "I walked down for dinner one time, and I saw you two in the kitchen. You usually help each other cook, but you guys were on opposite ends doing your own thing. I thought that this was it. I broke my family. But then Mom sighed, and she moved away from the stove and just looked at you. You didn't turn or anything, but I know you guys always know when you're looking at each other, and I was so scared you were going to leave us then."
He laughed to himself in wonder. "Mom hugged you and rested her chin against your shoulder, and I half-expected you to push her away, but you just relaxed. Like everything was right in the world again. You didn't say anything, you just turned around and hugged her back, and everything was better again."
So absorbed in the story was Henry that he didn't notice that Emma had fallen asleep, nose pressed into the leathers of his vest. She was still warm to touch, but at least she wasn't shaking and could get some rest. He kissed her forehead, sliding down so that his mother's arms wrapped around him like they always did when he needed a hug.
"I may not know why you aren't together in this world," Henry whispered into her chest, "but I promise I'll help you get back together."
He settled into his mother's hold when a shimmering in the vanity mirror caught his eye. He squinted, having sworn he saw a face disappear from the mirror.
Regina held her breath as she stepped to the edge of the forest, seeing the Howling Moon inn just off into the distance. She hadn't been there in so long, long before her days as Queen. Quite honestly she used to frequent the inn often in her youth, hiding her well-taken care of skin under a ragged old cloak and pretending that she didn't know the young woman with striking blonde curls in the corner eyeing her intently. The young woman no older than herself would always feign knowing her, and the two would eat and laugh all night. Sometimes more. Always more.
But that was in the past, and she wasn't a naive princess anymore.
She was a queen, loved by her people and feared by the rest of the kingdom. It wasn't a position she wanted to be in when she had taken control of the land, but if that was the only way to keep both kingdoms afloat then she'd suffer the reputation as the Evil Queen. She just had to remind herself that the things she lost in getting that title was worth it, but right now, she wasn't sure.
The Genie had pointed out Emma's location to be at the inn. She wasn't sure why she was so surprised to see Emma there, in an old room that looked different yet so familiar after all the years. Every other time she had asked the Magic Mirror to find the woman, Emma was traipsing through an unknown part of the forest or holed away in some underground hovel Regina could never find, so to find her there nearly made her falter. It was a shame really, her best guard reduced to life as a bandit. If Emma had taken Snow's heart like she asked then things would have played out differently. The tension between the two kingdoms would finally be over, and maybe—
"Your Majesty." Killian sidled up beside her, a team of three behind him. His gait was awkward as he held up his hooked hand, unused to the movements of his new addition. "Shall we attack?"
"I don't seek to cause a riot," she informed him, picking up her dress skirts and stalking towards the inn. "But be prepared for one."
Within moments they were at the perimeter of the inn. Regina scoffed at the tiny apple speared with an arrow that was etched into a sign. Why the owners of this establishment sided so heavily with Snow was beyond her. The young Queen would throw them under a bus the first chance she got. Like the owners, the inn-goers didn't take too well to seeing the Evil Queen and her Guard, marching up the walkway as if they owned the place. Technically, Regina grinned to herself, she did.
"What do you want?" A drunkard stood from his spot on the bench, pointing accusingly to the Queen with his mug. "Come to slaughter more of our people?"
Regina rolled her eyes as she stared down at the drunkard, a haggard man with tangled hair and an even more unkempt beard. "I wasn't planning on that tonight, but perhaps I'll make an exception."
She barely had to raise her hand for the patrons to scurry in all directions, chairs and tables flipped in their haste to escape. Some, however, were drunk enough to fight back. The drunkard, for one, grabbed the stool he was sitting on and hurled it at Regina. She didn't flinch as she froze the chair midair and one of her guards moved to restrain the man. Others around her tried to engage with the guard, using broom handles as weapons against the guard's swords. She ignored it though, stalking through the riot and evading every wayward chair or flying mug with a flick of her wrist. As soon as Regina entered the inn, she barely had time to flash a wicked smile before the same chaos ensued with patrons fleeing away.
"Get out." The owner of the Howling Moon, an old lady Regina knew to be a child of the night herself, held a crossbow out in front of her and aimed it directly at Regina.
"My, Eugenia Lucas," Regina tittered. "That's no way to address your queen."
"You're no queen of mine." The old lady released the latch and an arrow flew directly at Regina's face.
She caught it just before the tip reached her nose then dropped the arrow to her feet with a deadly glare. Her heeled boots clacked loudly against the hardwood despite the scraping chairs and the desperate cries of people hurrying to leave the establishment.
"Now, Eugenia," Regina said carefully. "I'm looking for someone, and all I ask is that you allow me to search for them, and you and these peasants can continue to drink away your sorrows."
"Why would I help you?" The old lady growled. "Do you think we'd rat out one of our own?"
Silently, Regina produced a fireball in her hands, the orb glowing brightly and illuminating the darkened room.
With a scowl, Eugenia Lucas motioned her chin towards the staircase, and Regina flashed her an appreciative grin. "Well, thank you."
The guards filtered in as Regina made her descent upwards, her blood boiling with every step she took. Emma really was a traitor if she was hiding behind Snow White's wolves. Apparently they had taken her former Captain into their makeshift little pack. Her lips snarled at the thought. She'd find Emma, and if she had to rip Emma's heart out to find this Saviour, this Snow in disguise–her foot faltered but no one was there to see the stumble.
As she reached the second floor landing, she was met with a corridor of doors, some flinging shut as if the people within sensed her presence alone. Rolling her eyes, she walked forward, flinging the doors open one by one. Shrieks of surprised guests filled the hallway, some in unseemly states of distress while others cowered in the corner, obviously alerted to the panic happening just a floor below them. Emma was in one of these rooms, the Genie had shown her. She was here and—
She flung open a door, and her lips curled into a grin. Why, today was her lucky day. The Saviour. In the room was the Saviour, her back to Regina as she slumped over and fiddled with the latch of the window, and as surprised as she was to see her foe, Regina was just as surprised to see the small boy beside her. This must have been the boy that set the ruse for her guards. The boy's eyes widened and he took a step toward her, charging at the queen's presence, but Regina raised a hand and the boy was effortlessly knocked out.
The sound of his dropping body made the Saviour turn, and only then did Regina stand speechless. Shadowed by the hood, Regina could tell that jawline anywhere, and there was no mistaking the twinkling of stormy green eyes hidden beneath its darkness. No, it couldn't be. The Saviour moved, breaking the window, and before she could take another breath, Regina whipped her hand up and the cloaked figure was ensconced in a shimmering blue light, freezing her in place.
Regina stalked into the room, careful to step over the boy's body as she ripped the hood from the figure's head. Her breath caught.
"Emma."
The blonde in question didn't say anything, couldn't say anything, and even though she was stuck in a freezing spell, Regina had a feeling Emma wouldn't have been inclined to say anything regardless. Instead, green eyes darted back and forth, moving from Regina's face to the open window. The brunette stood in her eyesight with a sneer etched onto her lips. Brown eyes darkened to near obsidian, and with a snap of her fingers, Emma collapsed into a heap on the floor.