AN : Hey! So I have this nasty habit of never saving and always keeping my computer and word documents open. I was halfway through the chapter, and my computer crashed. Since I am good with computer, I was able to save my documents – In major part.- But the part not saved and still open had been lost forever, so I had to rewrite it all. And I was halfway trough the chapter 7. So I'm really sorry about the delay, and I have to thank the lovely Ariel Hedgehog and Kingstonesong for their support and well, pushing. They helped me a lot to re-write it. Also, thank you for wondering if I was ok; I am!
Again, nothing belongs to me, and I am sorry for my mistakes.
Thank you for the fave/follows and reviews.
Love y'all! GQ -xx-
How was it possible? David was even more stunned than Emma. "She – I – I don't understand." He stuttered.
Emma wanted to be angry at him, she wanted it so badly! But he obviously didn't knew either that he was her father, so her fury receded. "Well, you slept with someone, 18 years and nine months ago, and ta-dam! Here I am!" Still, even if her anger wasn't as strong, she had a lot of sarcasm she wanted to use.
Regina tried to rationalize it all, and in order to do so, she knew she had to close the circle for the night. Too stunned to participate, the opening of the circle was done without them, forgoing the signing, only thanking the elements and sweeping the circle off of the floor.
o00o
"Emma, would you help me for the brew?" the teacher demanded.
The blonde gave her an excited answer, with a big smile. "Yes!"
"It will be a way to see what you have learned at the same time." Regina took a few seconds. "You did read the book I lend you about plants, right?"
Emma nodded, sagely. "Though I am not finished yet."
"It's alright. We'll see where you are and take it up from there." The brunette chuckled.
o00o
Regina had left the room with Emma, leaving Mary-Margaret and David alone. She knew they had things to talk about.
The silence seemed to stretch with no end in sight. David didn't knew what to say, stunned, and Mary-Margaret was trying to compose herself. The betrayal and pain she felt were dulled by the idea that her beautiful Emma was really David's child. It felt right.
"At least we now know she's from the earth family…" She whispered. Still, her voice seemed to take all the place in the room, cutting through the deafening silence.
"Yes, she is. By me. I have a daughter, Mary." David replied, on the same tone, with awe in his voice.
The pixie-haired woman shook her head. "We had a daughter before she was revealed being biologically related to you."
David met her eyes for the first time since the revelation, his full of apologies. "You're right. She was ours before that. I am sorry, though." He had known what he had said was unfair. He had loved Emma even before she had been pointed as biologically his. She had always been theirs, no matter the genetics.
Mary-Margaret bit her lip a few seconds before asking the question that had been haunting her. "Did you knew? That she was pregnant before you left her, I mean?"
"No. No! I would have taken care of my child if I had. I wouldn't have let her in the system like her biological mother did!" David protested although he understood where the concern had came from.
Mary-Margaret surprised herself, defending Emma's other mother. "We don't know what really happened, David. Emma's memories might be able to tell us more. I trust Regina."
He nodded, before he questioned his wife. "Don't you want to know who Emma's mother was?"
The brunette tilted her head. "Well, I assumed you knew, right?"
"Yes. There had been only her before you." The sheriff reassured his life partner.
She shook her head. "Then, no. I don't need to know. It will only hurt me more. As long as she is a nameless woman, it hurts less, David."
"I am really sorry, sweetheart." He answered, with a pained look.
"I know. And I shouldn't be jealous; we hadn't even met at that point. It's only irrational, you know, because of the link." Mary-Margaret confessed, burying herself in the strong arms of David, who mumbled in her hair. "I love you."
"And I, you." At the sweet whispered words, Mary-Margaret and David sealed their love by a soft kiss.
o00o
Emma and Regina moved to the kitchen and seated themselves, before the brunette questioned the blonde. "We need to make a memory potion. What would you use?"
Emma took a few seconds to think. "Hum, Eyebright, Lilac, Orchid and Rosemary Flowers?"
Regina nodded softly. "Yes, it's really good. You forgot the Bergamot and Caraway though."
"Oh, yeah. Sorry." Emma said, sheepishly.
"No need to be sorry, it's really good that you remembered all that in such a short time." The compliment that the brunette delivered made Emma smile shyly.
"Well. I want you to be proud of me." The student said, blushing, before adding rapidly "And I do want to learn too!"
It made Regina smile, before she moved back to the topic at hand. "But we don't only want your memories, we want to go back in your youth. Which plants would you use?"
"I'll… I…" Emma stuttered, racking her brain for an answer. "Oh! Vervain, Myrtle and Rosemary again are used for youth spells!"
The smile Regina gave Emma was blinding. "Very good Emma! You can also use Anise and Cowslip."
Emma nodded, biting her lower lip, concentrated on what her teacher was telling her. "Will we use all of that?"
"Yes we will. Well, we will need Violet and Bistort essential oil to help the sight, a Willow branch for the divination, and Jasmine, Mimosa and Peppermint for prophetic dreams too."
Emma looked at her teacher. "But we don't do that potion for me to have prophetic dreams! And even if we did, there's a lot more herbs and plants that those three for that!" She exclaimed fiercely, making Regina chuckle.
"I know, Emma, but the place where the memories come from is your subconscious, since they're old ones. You can't remember them by yourself. It's where dreams come from too. So it is possible you've dreamed about what we are searching for in your memories and you just don't know it. The herbs are used, in that case, to help your mind open. Not to create dreams." Regina explained patiently.
"Oh. OH!" Emma exclaimed, remembering something. "I had weird dreams in the last weeks, and I wanted to talk to you about them. That's why I came here when…" She faltered before she could complete the sentence.
The teacher gulped, knowing what Emma meant. Even she didn't wanted to talk about it, so she changed the subject. "You came to tell me about your dream?"
Emma nodded, embarrassed. "You told me I could come whenever I wanted."
Regina's shoulders relaxed. "Yes, I did. So. Now that everything's back on track, will you tell me about it?"
He blonde fidgeted, before she opened her mouth, to answer the inquiry. "Well, it's strange, but it felt so real! I was there, and there was two women voices, one that seemed quite… grim, while the other was kind and compassionate. I couldn't see them, though. The two women seemed to argue, and suddenly, the room lit up and it felt like it was burning."
Regina frowned. She hoped it wasn't a prophetic dream. "What were they arguing about?" She asked, needing to know more.
"The… mean voice was telling the other that she would have 'her'," the blonde started to say, using air quotes with her fingers, "no matter what, and the soft one was asking for the other one to stop, I think."
Regina frowned. "That's all?"
"Yup. I'm sorry I can't help more."
"No, it's alright, Emma. I am just worried about what it could mean."
"You think it could mean something?" the student gawked.
"I don't know yet. But you'll have to tell me if you remember anything else or if you have the dream again, alright?" Regina ordered, to what Emma nodded.
"I can do that."
"Good." The brunette began, smiling. "No need to worry for now. We should start on the potion instead."
Emma looked at her, eyes wide. "You have everything you need here?"
Regina laughed lightly, shaking her head. "No, but I'll call Milah. She'll get me what I need, and I'll ask your parents to go pick it up."
"Alright."
"Shall we?" The brunette asked.
Emma only rose to her feet and followed her to the Wiccan room.
o00o
Regina knocked lightly on the door, and opened it without waiting for an answer. David and Mary-Margaret were in each other arms, smiling. At the sight, Emma rolled her eyes. Of course they were still alright. Nothing seemed to be able to break them apart.
Before she could step into the piece, the blonde was engulfed into a hug.
"No matter what, Emma, you were still our family before all of that, never forget it. We love you." The pixie-haired woman said, while David, who was still a bit behind them nodded his agreement with the statement.
Awkwardly, Emma detangled herself and walked back towards Regina. "Thanks, guys. I do too."
The scene made Regina chuckle; the tension was palpable, but she was glad her soulmate had such a wonderful supportive family. She deserved it. Of course, she had seen how adverse to physical contact Emma was, and how tactile Mary-Margaret was. It was what made it funny.
Cutting the moment short, for the sake of her student, Regina moved towards the shelves and cupboards. She knew what she had to do.
"Emma, can you bring me the tray?" she asked, pointing to the other side of the room, where the blonde could see a silvery plate behind a row of books.
She did as she was asked, and Regina thanked her with a small move of her head, before turning back to the task at hand. She picked up a few leaves of different plants, sometimes dried, sometimes directly from the plant, as she was moving around, depositing a few bottles and bowls on the tray that Emma was holding, some identified, some others no. She mumbled a few times, things that her student didn't get. She finally turned back to Emma and looked at the, now almost filled, tray, seemingly taking inventory.
"Can you name what you have there?" Regina then asked her with an eyebrow raised.
"Hum." Emma was trying to do as she had been asked, but she wanted to be right. She had to impress her teacher. "You have, here," she started, pointing at small, dented, smelly green leaves, "obviously, peppermint." Embodied by her first answer, she went on. "The small purple flowers are the Lilac, and the flowers with the two petals, there, are orchids."
The next item the blonde talked about was a small branch with coniferous-like leaves, and small flowers all over. "This is Rosemary, fresh, with its flowers. The small white flowers, with a yellow center are Eyebright, and "
Regina nodded at the answers. Emma was doing really well.
Emma went on after her teacher's approval. "The rice-like seeds are the caraway, the branch, from a Willow tree," she continued, before pointing to a steam with elongated leaves and a long end covered in purple flowers, dried. "This is the Vervain, the small blue berries are the Myrtles, and the star-like brown rind is the Anise."
Emma's parents were listening to her, impressed, and the pride was visible on the three pair of eyes.
"There's only two left. What are they?" Regina quizzed.
"There's the violet oil, here," Emma continued at the prompting, "And the beautiful white flowers are Jasmines."
The smile she received from Regina made her heart hammer. It was illuminating the whole room. "It was perfect, Emma! Congratulation. I must admit that I am really proud of you."
The blonde smiled at the praise. She had done it. Regina had to severe the connection their eyes had made, to get what was missing. And, well, the blonde would be with her in the meantime; alone with her.
Moving towards Mary-Margaret and David, she couldn't help herself but look back a few times to Emma, before she finally focused on the girl parents. "I need you to go pick me up what I'm missing from Milah's."
David was the first to nod, eagerly. He wanted to feel useful. "What do you need?" He asked.
"Can you remember all of it?" She asked, frowning.
This time, Mary-Margaret answered for her husband. "Of course he can; and if not, I'm here too."
Regina exhaled. "Fine. I need Bistort and Bergamot essential oil, a dry mimosa flower and a few cowslip."
They both nodded, and with a smile for Emma and a "See you soon!" a bit too emotional, they finally left.
o00o
Emma and Regina were left alone in the Wiccan room. The silence was heavy, tense with unspoken things and desire, making them both fidget. When it became unbereable, Regina decided to take the lead and break it. "There's only one person who can go back in your memories with you, Emma. You have to choose."
The blonde looked up at her. "Can it be you?"
Regina was deeply touched by the gesture of confidence her student was giving her, but knowing what would happen, she had to be sure Emma also knew the implications of what she was asking. "Are you sure you want me to go? We'll see a lot more than just the part we're asking for."
Emma took a few seconds before answering. "Yes. I'm sure."
"Alright, then." Regina said, tilting her head. "While we wait for your parents," She started, noticing the wince the blonde made at the words parents, filling it for later, "We could start on the mixture, as the shouldn't be long. Would you want to help me?"
The student nodded eagerly, earning a smile from Regina. "Good, then. We will need some other things before we can proceed. A caldron, a white, a purple and a blue candles and vanilla incense for memory."
"Why the candles of those colors?" questioned Emma.
"Well, all the colors of candles have a signification." The brunette started to lecture. "We use the white one today for its propriety of truth seeking, the purple one for the help with magical abilities, powers and meditation, and the blue one for the truth and the link with the mind." She finished
"Really? So I will learn the colors too? And incents?" The blonde was eager to learn more. It was fascinating, and a never ending process of learning. She liked it.
The teacher nodded, her features soft and open at the visible excitement of her student. "Yes, you will. But plants are now your focus, because there is many and it's an integral part of the Wicca."
"Yeah, I get it." Emma piped.
"So, now, can you please get me the caldron that's on the altar? I'm going to grab the candles and the incent."
Emma nodded and rose, before going to the altar and taking the black caldron with a pentacle that was engraved in the front. She lifted it, and stumbled on her feet with the weight she hadn't expected. It was way heavier than she expected. Whit her two hands on the handle, she brought it to the center of the piece where they were sitting before and with a loud 'thud' she let it down on the floor. "Wow, that was heavy!" she said, to her teacher who was still rummaging around the cupboards, with the candles in hand.
Regina turned her head and flashed a smile to her student. "Sorry, I never thought of warning you."
With a wave of a hand, Emma waved off the apology. "Nah, it's alright. I was just surprised." She finished, as the brunette walked back to her.
The tension mounted in the silence that followed. Their eyes were locked, and an unmistakable hunger was visible through them. Regina took a step towards her student, and Emma did the same. Their breathing were mingling, chests heaving in anticipation. Just as Regina was about to close the gap between the two, and let her lips slide over the blonde's, the door of the entrance closed loudly, and a feminine voice shouted "We're back!" making them sprung apart.
Emma stuttered "So-Sorry!" to which Regina answered with a shook of her head and a swipe of her hand on Emma's cheek. "We both wanted it, darling. Nothing to be sorry for."
The blonde's gaze shifted from the brunette's eyes to her lips while she nodded. When Regina saw it, she bit her lower lip before whispering "We'll have our chance. Soon."
Just as she finished her sentence, Mary-Margaret and David entered the room, oblivious, with relieved smile plastered on their faces. "Is everything still alright?" the pixie-haired woman asked.
"Yeah!" Emma answered, trying to sound nonchalant, while Regina was nodding.
"So, we have everything you asked for. Though we were lucky, the mimosa was the last one, from the personal herbier of Milah."
"Have you thanked her properly for me, then?" Regina asked, with a soft smile.
"Yes," David started, "And you know that woman would do anything for you anyway, Regina."
The brunette had the grace to blush, as Emma looked at her, raising an eyebrow. 'Anything for you?' the blonde mouthed, to the brunette, whose blush deepened. "Yes, well, she's a dear friend."
Emma's face turned stony. "Which kind of friend?" her tone was icy, and it made everyone wince.
"I helped her when times with Mayor Gold were hard. We are just good friends." She hastily replied, not wanting to hurt Emma more.
The blonde relaxed at the admission. "Oh… Sorry!" She said sheepishly.
"No, it's ok… I – I get it."
David, wanting to change the subject, clapped his hands, drawing the attention to himself. "Shouldn't we start, if we want to see what happened?"
Everyone nodded, redirecting their attention to the subject at hand.
"Emma asked me to be the one to go in her memories with her."
"I think it's a good thing," David started, "You might be able to see more than us, as we are prisoner of our own demons in the face of her mother."
"You know who she is?" Emma pipped.
David nodded. "Regina will probably recognise her too."
"Me? I know Emma's mother?" Regina was puzzled. Who could it be?
"Yes." Was David's answer. "But, you'll see."
"Alright. Then, we should start on the potion. Emma, can you come sit in front of me?"
"Yeah," Emma began. "How do you want me to sit?"
"Just like me; legs crossed, and your knees touching mine. We will need a physical connection."
Emma did as she was asked, the caldron on her right, and the herbs and oils beside it. "What next?"
"We need your parents to close an energetic circle around us before we begin." She replied, with a head movement for the two. When they got closer, Regina instructed them. "You need to concentrate and use your magic to draw a circle on the floor with your magic, large enough to encompass us inside. Raise your hands," she said, as they did so, following the instructions. "and feel your magic pouring out, encasing us in a magic, just like you would do for a circle." When Regina felt the shift of the magic in the air, she nodded. "Now, repeat after me : Clausero circuli risus. Qui est dux in auxilium vocant inclusit."
Mary-Margaret and David, still eyes closed, doing magic repeated the words. Emma looked at Regina for an explanation, and whispered "What did that meant?"
Regina smiled and rose a finger to tell her to wait a minute. "Now, when you feel the magic closing around us, you can retract it. We will be inside the circle." The silence went on for almost a minute, before they, almost simultaneously, lowered their hands and opened their eyes back. Mary-Margaret was the one to break it. "We felt a shift in our magic, as if something was closing."
Regina nodded. "Perfect. It meant that your magic closed the circle and you felt it. The thing is that type of circle is different than our usual ones. It serves well our purposes, as the magic will be potent enough to encase everything that's happening inside. So, there will be no unwanted interferences. Can you see the faint glow on the floor? It's the circle you just produced."
The black-haired woman nodded.
"And to answer Emma's curiosity, the sentences in Latin I asked you to repeat meant 'I am closing the energy circle; I am calling assistance to help those who are inside.'"
Emma smiled. "Well, it was pretty cool. You're beautiful when you speak Latin." Emma blurted, before looking in her lap, blushing.
"Thank you, darling." Regina laughed, looking at her student with a twinkle of amusement in her eyes. "I'll be sure to speak Latin, if I am fishing for compliments." She added with a wink, making Emma's blush deepen. Shaking her head, she turned back to the matter at hand, serious again. "I will need your help for this, Emma."
o00o
Emma and Regina worked as a team, and the blonde was following everything Regina was asking of her. They first dropped the plants for the memory in the caldron, when Regina gave her the Willow branch and asked her to make 7 circles clockwise, while saying 'memoria, et revertimini ad me. Quid ego perdidi.' which meant 'memory, come back to me. I must find what I have lost.'
Once she had done that, Regina dropped the plants for the youth, asking her to repeat her actions, while saying 'memoria praeteritorum, ut videam te, iuvenis meminisse quod quaero.' The brunette translated it to 'memories of the past, let me see you again, to remember in my youth what I seek.'
The Jasmine, Mimosa and Peppermint were put in the caldron next, as Regina lit a fire underneath it.
"The plants will burn together, and create a cindery liquid because of the oils we will put in. While the fire is still lit, Emma, I need you to do three circle counter clockwise." Emma didn't reply, but did as she had been asked.
"Oh! The flowers are burning!" Emma pointed, to what Regina nodded.
"Yes, it's what's supposed to happen, to help them mix together."
Emma pursued her lips and looked at her parents, outside the circle, who had been silent since the beginning of the ritual. They made a small head motion to her with a smile, and Emma returned her attention to the caldron, where cinders were at the bottom.
"Now, we add the Bistort, Bergamot and Violet oil." Regina instructed. "7 drops of each, before stirring again three times counter clockwise."
Emma obeyed, and looked at Regina once she was finished.
"Is it alright?" The blonde wondered.
"Yes, darling. It was perfect. Now, you need to sit back." The student did what was ordered as soon as the brunette asked. "We will lit the candles and incent." She continued. "Close your eyes and take a few deep breath. Empty your mind."
Emma nodded, and tried to stop her thoughts. It wasn't easy to do, but she managed, and her breathing patterns deepened. She was feeling the magic buzzing in her body, the sounds were stronger; the rustling of the ceremonial dresses, the buzz of the electrical system around the house, the hearts beating, the clocks, even the people and the cars around town. The perfumes from the room hit her suddenly; the odor of the plants stored around and the burned ones, the deep scent of the vanilla incent, the perfumes of her parents, and the scent of Regina's skin, stronger than anything else, making her mouth water. She knew if she was to taste or touch something, she would felt it way more than usual, just like if she was to open her eyes, she would see better. It was still a rush she experienced, and she had to take a few seconds to get used to the sensation assailing her senses. When she made a small nod, her eyes still closed, Regina continued.
"I will draw on you with the cinders. Some will be runes, some just patterns useful. You will also feel the tingling of my magic, alright?"
Emma nodded at the explanations. The brunette reached in the caldron to swipe some of the potion with her fingers, and took Emma's hands, starting to draw on the back of them while explaining. "This is the rune Ansus, for the communication. I will draw them on my own hands too, to be able to follow you."
She returned to the caldron, taking some more, before going to Emma's forehead. "This is the rune Dagaz, for clarity and revelations," she clarified, while drawing, before moving to the blonde's lips. She made three spirals, connecting in their center, and the finger on her lips made Emma shiver. "This is a triskelia, or triskele, representing the goddess." Regina revealed, before she lowered her hand. While her fingers were putting patterns on her student's collarbones, she informed. "This is the rune Jera, reversed. As Jera is used for growth, reversing it can be used for abatement, decreasing."
Emma hummed in understanding, eyes and lips still closed.
The teacher went back to the caldron, taking more of the concoction, and drew a final pattern over the blonde's heart. "And you remember, finally, the pentacle."
Emma nodded lightly, before Regina took her hands, their knees touching. "You need to hold on to my hands, and when you are ready, you need to say 'Ego sum ut viderem.'"
Emma took a deep breath and opened her lips. "Ego sum ut viderem." She repeated, and all became black, soundless.
o00o
When Emma opened her eyes, with only one of Regina's hand in hers, she looked around; they were in a white, bright room.
"Where are we?" Emma whispered, not wanting to be too loud, just in case.
Regina smirked. "Why, in your head, Miss Swan!"
"Why is it so white?"
"This is the result of you emptying your mind as I asked. Now, you need to think as yourself as an infant. Think about your mother, anything you know about yourself as a baby."
"Alright." Emma said, closing her eyes again. She remembered by heart the paper's article about her. A house on fire not far, herself left in a blanket with her name stitched on it, being found by the firemen, a family she knew nothing about, a mother willing to leave her… the first of many. When she opened her eyes again, the sounds were back, and they were in a small piece, richly decorated, where a blonde woman was pacing, with her back to them, holding a tiny bundle in her arms, in a white blanket, with 'Emma' stitched on the top.
"Shh! Shhh!" the woman cooed, visibly trying to soothe the baby that was crying quite loudly.
"Is that me? So the woman is my mother? Can she see us?" Emma fired her questions to Regina in a hushed tone, in case the woman could, in fact, see them.
Regina shook her head. "No, she can't. This is a memory, like a film of what happened, shown to us by your subconscious. This happened, but the memories are hidden in your subconscious."
Emma nodded and started to walk to the woman. She wanted to see that woman that had given her up, that now seemed so loving and taken by the baby she was holding. When adult Emma started to move, the woman went to the rocking chair, in the corner of the room, showing her face to teacher and student.
Regina gasped. "Kat?"
Emma turned to Regina. "You know her, for real?"
The brunette nodded. "Kathryn. We went to school together; she was one of my only friends, before she moved. She never knew about Danielle dying, as she moved before."
Kathryn started to sing a lullaby to the child in her arms, lulling her to sleep, before depositing her in her crib. When she was sure the child was comfortable, the older blonde drew patterns around the crib, and Regina answered to Emma's unspoken question. "She's protecting your crib and you, with her magic and runes."
"Oh!" Was Emma's comment.
Before she was finished, Kathryn's head rose, and her panicked eyes spoke volumes. She had felt something. She did the charms over the crib faster, and finished a few seconds before the door slammed open, revealing a purple-cloaked figure.
"What are you doing here?" Kat growled. "I warded off my house."
A laugh, feminine and cruel came from under the cloak. Just as the woman removed the hood of her cloak, she said, making Regina recoil. "You should know by now that your wards can't stall me for long."
Beside adult Emma, Regina whispered. "Mother." Making the blonde turn her head to her teacher.
"This is your mother?" She asked, finally taking in the woman. She had auburn curls, framing her face, a sneer etched on her face, and she exuded power.
"Yes." Came stranded, from Regina.
"Cora. What do you want?" Kathryn snapped.
The smile Cora gave the blonde was frightening. "From you? Nothing. I want your baby."
Kathryn was fierce. She knew she would protect her little Emma with her life, and she knew she was strong, just like her protection she had just put around the baby's crib. "No! You won't touch her!"
"You should know that I always get what I want." The older brunette pointed out.
"Well, not that." Kat hissed.
"I will kill you and have that baby!" Regina's mother boomed.
"Why are you doing this?" Kathryn breathed. "You don't have to!"
"Because," Cora begin, her voice full of malice. "By you, she is Wind; and by her father, David, she is Earth."
Shock overcome Kathryn's voice. "What? No! David isn't a wiccan!"
"Oh, my dear, innocent girl;" Cora mocked, patting her cheek condescendingly. "Yes he is. You have done what had never been done before. Your child is from two family. She will be powerful, and I need her."
"No! I will protect her!" Her tone became fierce again, but had an underlying tone of fear too.
"Sadly, you won't escape this, but the little girl will, with your charms over her crib. I'll just come and… collect her, because the charms surrounding her will fall with your death." Cora said, raising her hands slowly on each side of her. Flames started to engulf everything around the house, licking the walls, burning the house. "I'll have her, no matter what and you know that!" the brunette added, turning around to leave, with a crazy cackle.
"Stop that, Cora!" Came, pleading, from Kathryn.
"Not until I have the baby!" She answered, leaving the house, walking through the fire.
Cries could be hear from everywhere, and Emma and Regina could only look at what happened, though both were distressed, holding the other's hand harder and harder.
Kat was coughing, from the smoke in the house, hunched over the crib. She took the child in her arms and seemed to call forth her magic, before she threw her hands in front of her, creating a powerful corridor of air, permitting her to walk out of the house untouched by the fire. She ran along the hallway, down the stairs, before she was outside, panting, inhaling fresh hair, followed by Emma and Regina.
Baby Emma had started to scream again, fat tears falling down her cheeks. Kathryn looked down at her. "I love you, my little Emma. I have to do this to save you. I hope you will be safe, and that I would be able to see you again someday."
Adult Emma was crying too. She knew what was coming next; but now, she understood. It wasn't because she was unlovable; her mother had given her up to give her a chance to survive.
Kathryn walked to a near road, and started to charm the blanket and Emma. "As long as you have that blanket, Cora won't be able to find you with magic. I need to go, my love, to save you. I will be on the run to protect you."
Tears were falling from her eyes. "I love you. I hope you'll always feel it. And you will do great things in the future. You will be so powerful." She finally said, raising, and moving back to the burning house, running. Soon, the older blonde was out of sight, and they couldn't move as it was Emma's memories.
"She abandoned me to save me!" Emma sobbed. "She loved me so much that she saved me!"
Regina didn't say anything, knowing it would be unwarranted. Nothing could be said after that revelation, nothing strong enough. She was feeling the anger and betrayal from her mother's actions. Cora had ruined another life. From what she knew of Emma, the girl had never found a love as deep and powerful as her mother's seemed to have for her. Regina moved end encased Emma in her arms, as the girl sobbed, giving a kiss on her hair, trying to soothe her.
Emma sniffled. "It was- It was like my dream."
Regina nodded lightly. "Emma," She whispered, "We should go back, now, darling."
The blonde nodded in the brunette's neck, tears still falling from her eyes.
"Ok, you'll need to repeat after me. 'Vidi quod quaerebam.'"
Emma's voice steadied. "Vidi quod quaerebam."
At the words, the images around them spun, and snippets of young Emma, returned to the foster home, yelled at, unloved, pushed away, again and again losing families flashed around them. Emma's life was shown around them. It was heart wrenching, and Regina felt her heart constrict for the little girl Emma had been. She understood now, she had seen it all, the light snuffed out slowly out of her eyes, her hopes to find a family crushed each time she was deemed 'not enough' for a family, 'problematic' for another one... Her embrace around Emma tightened, before the images stopped.
o00o
When Emma and Regina opened their eyes, tears were flowing from both their eyes, but their position hadn't changed from when they had left for Emma's memories. Regina was still holding the blonde's hands, knees to knees, sat on the floor.
When the brunette saw the distress in the green eyes she cared so much about, she tugged on Emma's hand, making her fall in her lap. Regina took her again in her arms, and Emma let herself sob, hiding in her face in her soulmate's neck.
The brunette looked at Mary-Margaret and David, asking to undo the circle, before she spoke. "Kathryn was attacked by my mother and she had to leave Emma to protect her." She said, resuming what they had seen.
"Kathryn? Your Kathryn is Emma's biological mother?" Mary-Margaret asked, in a high pitched voice.
"Yes. And Cora found her, because Kathryn is… Or was… also a Wiccan. From the Wind family."
David yelped. "WHAT?"
Regina nodded sadly, seemingly crestfallen. "Emma's from two families. Earth and Wind. She's probably the child the prophecy was talking about."
"No!" Was softly breathed by Emma's mother.
"The polar soul of the wind family was visited in its dreams by the goddess. Her message was a great concern. 'The lost child, one polar soul, will be born from the union of Earth and Wind. Its powers will be magnificent, she will be their savior, if the child chose the good; for if there is no tether for that soul, the child could become destruction.'" Regina recited, from memory, before she commented. "The lost child. She was lost to both you and Kathryn," She started, addressing to David, "And she had been a lost girl. She is, obviously, a polar soul, as she is linked to me, and she is the product of Earth and Wind."
"But Emma's as pure as you can be!" Mary-Margaret exclaimed. "She can't be bad, she won't become a child of destruction!"
"Everyone has the potential for good and for bad. And Cora is after her," Regina reminded her, shaking her head, "You know firsthand how she can turn the purest of souls to black."
"We won't let that Cora win!" David was adamant.
Regina nodded, Emma still held securely in her arms. "Then, we'll have to find what is her tether, and a way to defeat Mother, because, as I know her, she will come."