Chapter 14:

It was chaotic.

The fighting started immediately. Everyone giving their all. Emma was swinging and shoving and stabbing in every direction. She somehow got caught in the Huns. Mulan was fighting beside her, trying to hack her way to where Shan Yu was.

She could see bits and pieces of other struggles around her. Ariel was leading the merpeople in the water against the sea witch, while Peter was taking on the Jolly Roger with his Lost Boys. Prince Phillip, Prince Thomas, Prince Eric, and her father were each leading small armies against each of the villains. Her mother was leading one of her own.

Regina stood over all the destruction, laughing and shooting random spells at people when she felt the urge. Emma was seething. She struck down the Hun in front of her.

'But…' Emma thought, 'things seemed to be going their way'. August dashed in front of her, slashing his sword through a being from the Underworld. 'They were winning.' Red ripped multiple people to shreds in her wolf form as she headed towards where Scar and Shere Khan were fighting. 'They could finish this.' Jefferson brought down a couple of enemies with his needles, pulling a blade shaped like a key out of his hat.

Emma stood in the throes of violence, panting. It was just utter chaos. But they were slimming down, the enemy was growing smaller and smaller.

Just as she knocked away another Hun, that's when she heard it.

"Go Emma!"

And she froze, ice trickling down her spine. Spinning around, she easily saw him. Henry was standing on the rock formation, Rumplestiltskin next to him. Both looked back at her a bit chagrinned. Emma felt like she was going to explode. She was about to rush over there and give them both an earful, but something behind her seemed to rear up and loom above her. Henry and Rumplestiltskin suddenly looked even more fearful. Emma glanced up.

There, blocking the sun from her face, was a dragon. It was black and had a purple belly. Its eyes held no pupils, they were just a sickly green. Emma recognized her. It was Maleficent. Smoke fumed from her nostrils and she looked ready for a fight. She snapped her jaw once and Emma felt the ground vibrate. She sensed the dragon breathing in and Emma knew what was about to happen. It was going to set her on fire.

Thinking quickly, as she saw the dragon rear back, she grabbed her father's cloak and swung it over her and ducked to the ground just as the dragon let loose. She held her position, feeling the heat through the cape, but never burning. The dragon kept at it for a few more moments, and Emma readied her sword. The fire stopped, and still Emma waited. Then she sensed the dragon right nearby, checking her form to see if she was really dead. That was when Emma struck.

She thrust her sword in its face and the dragon reared back in pain. Emma, still holding on, flew with it. When the dragon had reached full height she found purchase on the top of its head with her feet. The sword was still imbedded in its nostrils. She yanked it out and quickly shoved it down, into its skull.

The dragon seemed to seethe for a moment and then it paused, almost as if in shock. And then Emma felt the dragon begin to tilt. She pushed her weight forward, trying to direct the body that way. It did and when it crashed into the ground she jumped off, landing on her feet a few inches from the fallen dragon. Henry and Rumplestiltskin stood a ways away. Both had awestruck looks on their faces. She turned for a second, looking back at the dragon.

It wasn't there.

Instead, in its place, lay a woman. Her purple dress lay all around her and her scepter on the ground beside her. Her head was down, and her length of blonde curls was a mess. Emma felt a stab of regret at killing her. But quickly shoved it away. Maleficent would have killed her if given the chance. She turned back to her boys.

"Mom-!" Henry started, but Emma interrupted him. "Henry, what the hell are you doing here?! I told you to stay at the castle!" Before he could answer she turned on Rumplestiltskin, "And you! You should've been watching him! Why is he here?!"

Rumplestiltskin put his hands up, whether to surrender or to keep her at bay she didn't know. "Now, look, dearie. You know that once this boy gets something in his head, nothing can stop him." He leaned closer to her, "He is our son after all." He wiggled his eyebrows and Emma wanted to smack him. She glared at him, "It doesn't matter," she turned to Henry, "It's too dangerous here, you need to go Henry!"

Henry protested though, "But Mom! Please! I can't miss the final battle!" He floundered for words, "I promise to stay safe! I'll stay with Rumplestiltskin the whole time! I swear! Just please let me stay!" He gave her a puppy dog pout. Emma stared long and hard at him, not believing that she was actually contemplating this, but this kid was difficult to say 'no' to.

She rolled her eyes at the stupidity of it all and turned to Rumplestiltskin. She poked him in the chest, "You watch him, understand? If I come back and even one hair on his head is hurt or even touched, I will skin you. Got it?" Her eyes burned into him, and his did not waver. He nodded, a gleam in his eye. He licked his lips, "As you wish, princess."

Emma stared at him for a few more moments, before looking back down at Henry. "Stay safe," she pointed at him, "Okay?"

Henry nodded, "Yes, I promise! Now go kick some butt!" Emma shook her head, chuckling. She looked over onto the battlefield, where everyone was fighting for their lives. And there, up at the top of the other hill stood Regina. The women locked gazes, the dark one smirking evilly. Emma glared, her features hardening. She looked back to her boys, "This ends now," she said softly, but with conviction. She wasn't just saying that, she was promising that. She studied both of their faces before turning away. As she began walking to join the fray again, she could feel their stares and support. She threw herself into the battle once more.

It took awhile, but she was suddenly there. Standing opposite of Regina, with a few yards separating them. Emma glared up at her, ready to end this once and for all. Regina just smirked, as though she knew that she would win.

Emma thought this funny, because Regina's army was almost gone. The light side had vanquished the majority of the dark side, and were still rounding up The Others. Emma didn't see why Regina thought she had a chance. But looking closer, she could see the fear in the dark woman's eyes.

She was afraid.

It was Emma's turn to smirk. "Feeling scared?" she taunted. Regina's smirked disappeared, and Emma ducked as a spell came flying at her.

"No," Regina spit out. Emma held her sword next to her, readying for anything. "What's the matter, Regina? Are you starting to see how futile this whole thing is?" She knocked a spell away with her sword, feeling the anger coursing through her veins now. She was so angry at all of this, she was so tired of it all.

Regina looked mad, but Emma didn't care. She remembered what she read about Regina's past, feeling all her anger turn to cruelty. And right now she just wanted to tear Regina apart. Make her suffer like she made everyone else suffer. And she knew just how to do it.

"What would Daniel think of you now?"

And Regina stopped in her tracks, her eyes wide. Emma smirked, "What would he think of you, turning exactly into your mother? Stealing people's hearts, manipulating, controlling, evil?" Regina was shaking, Emma kept going. "What would he think of you becoming this monster?!"

Suddenly Regina let out a scream and started pelting her with spells. Emma knocked them to the side easily. "Silence!" Regina shrieked.

"What's the matter, Regina? Hit too close to home?" Emma kept taunting her, shouting at her. Her anger kept the words flowing, and she kept knocking the curses away. Regina, on the other hand, was getting sloppy in her spells. It wasn't difficult to block the them.

This went on for some time. Emma would keep mocking her and Regina would hurl a hex at her. Abruptly Regina stopped, and both women stood panting, trying to get their breath back. Emma felt drained all of sudden. She felt more tired than ever.

"Look," she started, "I hate you. You know that. But this is pointless. All this is, is unneeded bloodshed. We can stop, this can be over."

Regina snarled, "It will never be over. Not until I get my revenge!" Emma rolled her eyes, "What revenge? Against my mother? For what? Being an innocent child? Face it, Regina! Your quest for vengeance was wrong! It was all misguided! Your real beef is with your mother, you're just too much of a coward to admit it!" she was screaming at her by the end of it.

"NO!"

"YES!" Emma spat back, "Admit it, Regina! You were wrong! You were always wrong! And that is why you will lose!"

It was as though she physically struck her, and silence oppressed the small battlefield. Emma paused, catching her breath. Regina was standing there, seething. Emma suddenly realized that she didn't want to kill her, though. She didn't want to keep killing. It was a hate cycle, and Emma wanted no part in it.

"Look," she started once again, "This doesn't have to continue. You may not be able to forgive and forget, but I can at least do the first one. We can stop this."

She waited for a response. Regina didn't answer. Her body began trembling and Emma wondered if she was crying. The laughter that poured out of her quickly squashed that thought. Regina was almost doubling over with how much she was laughing.

She looked up at Emma, a wicked grin on her face, "Oh, Miss Swan. You're new to this, aren't you?" Emma frowned. "This can't be stopped. I will win." Her eyes hardened, "I will get my revenge. And I won't let anyone get in my way. Especially not the Charmings!" she spat the name out like a poison. "I refuse to lose, I refuse to give up!" Regina started gathering a dark energy in her palm, "THIS WILL BE MY HAPPY ENDING!"

Emma could see her readying her blow, and she readied her sword. She tried one last time, "Regina! I don't want to do this! It doesn't have to be this way!" A wind had picked up, and her voice was almost drowned out as well as her vision.

Regina let loose the spell and Emma, without thinking, flung her sword through it. She cut through the curse and after a moment Emma realized what had happened.

There, on her knees, was Regina. The sword was plunged into her chest, directly where her heart was. Emma staggered, not believing that she had just done that.

Regina seemed in shock, her hands suspended in the air, as though to pull out the sword. But she didn't. She fell backwards. Emma took a few faltering steps towards her.

Regina stared at the sky. The darkness was slowly receding, and Regina took a deep breath. Her eyes began to go out of focus. Tears began to stream down her face. Only one word seemed to resonate in her mind, in her broken heart.

"Daniel…!"she gasped. I'm so sorry…the world began to fade, but a warmth encompassed her as she joined her love. I'm sorry I failed you…

But I have one last trick up my sleeve.

Emma watched with a heavy heart as the life left the other woman. She didn't like her, don't get her wrong, but she deserved better than what the world gave her. Emma felt sorry for her. Regina's body began to relax as the last of her breaths left her, and Emma began to as well.

It started as a prickling sensation, and Emma just brushed it off as adrenaline. But when Regina's body began to glow a dark color she knew something wasn't right. All the air was suddenly sucked towards Regina and, after a heartbeat, purple darkness burst from her body, hitting Emma so hard it knocked her back a few steps.

And then nothing.

Emma pulled her hands from her face, where she had lifted them to protect herself. She felt funny. Her head was all fuzzy, her senses all whacked out from the blast.

But nothing else had happened. Regina's body still laid there with the sword. She heard noises but couldn't distinguish them. Her mind was going blank.

Who was talking to her?

It was all garbled, and the world began to blur as well. What was happening?

Suddenly her world tilted on itself and she was falling again.

Henry saw the sword imbed itself into his former mother. He will admit he felt sad. Regina had loved him…in her own way. And he was in shock for a few moments. It was over. He couldn't believe it.

He began heading over to where Emma still stood, his dad, Rumplestiltskin, next to him. Then the big burst of darkness had exploded out of the Evil Queen, and it hit Emma. Everyone froze and tried to avoid the blast. But Emma got hit with it directly, as she was right there.

Then it was over. Nothing had happened. Henry looked up at Rumplestiltskin in confusion, but he was studying at Regina's body with intensity, his eyes narrowed. But Henry didn't stop to contemplate it. He began to jog over to his mother. Emma hadn't moved yet, and Henry wanted to hug her for winning the battle.

"Emma! You did it! You did-!" As he got closer he began getting a weird feeling in his gut. Something was wrong. He kept jogging though, "Emma!"

He couldn't see her face, since her back was to him. He neared her, calling her name once more, hoping she would answer. "Mom…?"

And then she collapsed.

"Mom!"

So when imagining that last part, I like to picture the screen like the two times the apple dropped somebody. You know, when Snow White was laying on the ground, Regina kinda out of focused, but uphill a bit? And then the same with Henry on the ground, with Emma standing a bit uphill? Yea, picture that :)

I got this done pretty quickly. I started working on it today. I'm gonna go ahead and post this now, because I gotta get to class, so…enjoy. I'll edit later, but I gotta go!

Hope you enjoyed this :)