AN: I've had a few questions regarding Ariel… It's just a gender swap, folks. Wanted to clear it up for everyone!
Emma dressed in her armor just like, she was sure, all the others were doing. She pulled her hair back, knowing the overwhelming, overbearing cape was going to be hot enough. But, she also knew that the other competitors were going to be wearing overwhelming, overbearing capes as well.
They gathered in the dining hall for breakfast. The princes, knights and Emma all stood in pods, capes, crowns and all, with their parents or kings and queens.
"Emma, are you sure you want to do this?" Charming asked, "There's still time to bow out."
"Why would I want to bow out?"
"Well… think about the consequences, dear." Snow tried.
"What consequences?"
"Emma, what if you win?!" Charming lost himself a moment, but covered it up with a small wave and a smile to the royals who were within hearing distance and now looking their way.
Emma didn't comment right away; she took time to revel the subtle compliment before realizing it was encased in an insult. She looked at her father with a stern expression before finally, "If I win, then I will marry Her Majesty the Queen of the Shadow Lands." She said in a low tone, telling her parents the conversation was final.
"And how will that look to the public; darling, you are aware that even entering this competition to begin with looks…" Snow lowered her voice to a barely there whisper, "a little queer, dear."
Emma stood tall, "Maybe I am a little queer." She looked at both of her parents, "After all, I'm the prince daddy never had; that's what we've always said. I love sword fights and knight games and I hate dresses and tea." Her expression turned smug as she watched their faces go through myriads of emotions.
But before either of her parents could comment, the Genie poofed over—though made sure to keep his distance from the quarreling three, "Princess Emma?" He interrupted.
"Yes?" She eyed her parents as she spun around before finally turning fully to the man that called her name.
The Genie presented an armband, "I believe you know what this is for?"
Emma stared at the black fabric and reached out for it, "I do, Sir…Genie."
The Genie smiled and said, "We only need you to wear it during the actual games, not before or after." then he poofed away.
Emma looked down at the material in her hands. She traced over it with a finger and watched as it absorbed her magic, though she knew it couldn't keep her from doing magic unless tied around a limb.
She turned back to her parents who gave her questioning eyes. She didn't feel like explaining, she only looked back down and tied it to her forearm.
"Say, what is that, Love?" Prince Arely walked over to her.
"'Love'?" Emma gave him a grin, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you've been hanging around a Pirate or two…"
"Well, my older father was a great sailor in his day, as am I… How do you think he found my younger father?" He winked, "Dumb luck?"
"No, I'm sure Eric found Ariel and called him 'Love' right off the bat, and that's how Ariel fell so deeply in love with him. Because Eric was the first to call him 'Love'." She grinned, "But, I mean, if that… If that's what you're trying to do here, I feel as though I should remind you that we are in competition for a lady's hand." She gave him a look, "And since we are in such a competition, I feel it should be obvious that your calling me 'love' is nothing more than a burden for us both, and any other advances you try will simply have no effect on me."
Arely smirked, "You are as feisty as your rumors say you are."
"And you…" She stared at him with a twinkle in her eye, "Are as much a Don Juan as your rumors say you are." She winked as she pushed passed him, "Careful, you might get eliminated because of it. The Queen hardly seems like a lady to put up with any of that…"
Arely turned with a grin and walked after her. But, the Queen came in before he could say anything more.
Regina surprised them as she entered and said, "Here and now we will have our first elimination."
All of the royals were standing a little straighter behind their representatives.
"Pardon?" Eric asked as he looked to the queen of the Shadow Lands.
"Well, the way I see it, King Eric, I need to pick not only the best of arms, but the best of manners as well. And seeing as I know for a fact that I will see my future spouse eat everyday, and I don't know if I will ever have to go to battle…" She knocked on the wooden table, "I am going to say that manners are more important to me."
"Why don't you just marry the Princess?" Prince Alexander said sarcastically, "She's the only one that we all know is going to ace this part of our game don't we?"
Regina began to respond, but the princess had something to say, "Excuse me, Alexander, just what makes you think that I am prepared for this part of the game? Is it because I'm a woman?" She had taken a step out of line to look at the prince three figures down. "Honestly, I would think of all representatives here, you would be most prepared. I recall someone rather delighting in teatime and etiquette training whilst growing up. And I do think you'd recall me slamming your face into mud when we were little."
Alexander turned to her and angrily spat, "Bite your tongue."
"No. I find it painful and pointless."
Artie and Arely, the princes standing between the Princess and Alexander, could not help the smirks that came across their faces. As Emma looked passed Alexander to Patrick, Gustave, Dunstan and Chip, she found the same smirk. With a fake smile she stepped back in line. She could practically feel her mother covering her face in embarrassment and her father trying to hide his own amusement.
Hook looked to the side, hiding a smirk of his own, "Your many majesties, might we ask you to come this way to observe?" He gestured to the long table with breakfast food all over. The eight kings and queens all headed around the table and sat as if ready to enjoy a show.
Regina smiled graciously before turning back to the potential spouses, "Alexander, since you seem to be so greedy to give everyone your opinion, how about you go first?" Regina asked as she walked over to him then put her hand out, "How would you seat me if we were alone for dinner?"
Emma watched intently as Alexander did nothing wrong.
"Thank you." She poofed out of the seat and over to Gustave, "And you, Sir Gustave? How would you seat me?"
Gustave was, like everyone else in the room surprised with the Queen's open, even flippant use of magic.
Regina looked around before she let Gustave walk her to the chair, "Ladies and gentlemen, I assure you, I am as cheeky as I seem with my magic. That is the only reason I am using it now, so that I do not scare my future spouse." She gave everyone a cheeky smile—as cheeky as she could ever give—to lighten the mood. Most everyone in the room chuckled lightly. She then nodded for Gustave to seat her.
Again, there was nothing wrong with it. She poofed again, "Prince Arely?"
This pattern continued until it was just Emma and Sir Patrick. Regina chose Sir Patrick first. He was the only one who varied from how the others did it. Instead of walking her, he danced her over. He literally swept her off her feet and spun gracefully setting her in the chair and grinning from his kneeling position, "That is how I would do it."
Regina looked around with a wide smile on her face. She had gasped when he first turned her and yelped when he first lifted her, but she had to admit, he was a very good dancer—though that could be a right of passage in that kingdom of his. She placed a hand on his cheek then poofed over to Emma.
"And Princess?" Regina asked, "How would you seat me?" She then muttered, "Although I really don't see the point in this question after that display." She looked over to Patrick and winked then blew him a quick kiss before turning back to what she knew was a jealous blonde princess.
Emma, jealous as she may be, kept her composure. She inhaled a deep breath, "If I might ask, your majesty," She got the Queen's attention once more, "This 'seating scenario…' is this just after we're married and it's new and awkward or is this after some time and true love has developed?"
Regina kept her intrigued stare on her, but turned her head a bit and kept her composure not sure what her oh-so-secret lover was planning, "Interesting, why do you ask?"
"Well, that will tell me what I would do." Emma said with a small flourish of her hands, "That's all."
Regina turned to her advisors, "Gentlemen? What's the answer?"
The six men debated for a moment before the Genie came forward, "My Queen, we are much more interested to see the second." He gave her a knowing smirk, one only the queen would be able to tell what he was hinting at.
This made Emma grin, "The 'in love' one?" She asked them clarifying she didn't just hear what she wanted. When she got a nod from the Genie, she gave her own nod in return and then looked to the Queen, "Your Majesty, I wouldn't sit you down if we were in love and actually got to be alone for dinner."
Regina's brows raised at her ever secret lover's bold answer, "You wouldn't?" She turned slightly to the kings and queens lining the long table and saw the many different reactions settle to intrigue.
"No." Emma walked closer and offered her hand to the queen, "Your majesty, if we were in love and actually alone for dinner," She slowly twirled the queen before pulling her in and dipping her low, "I would lock our bedchamber door and have you magic the best meal we could eat right to our bed."
Snow White gasped loudly and covered her mouth, "Emma Louise Swan White!" She hissed after garnering the attention of all the royals, smirks and shocked expressions on their faces.
Emma pulled the queen back to a standing position and looked at the other woman, "Yes, mother?"
"Take that back!"
"No! It's what I would do! It's what Daddy does minus the magic because he doesn't have any. And while that is utterly painful for me to think about, it's equally as romantic and lovely. It only makes me want what I've seen every day of my life…"
The rest of the Kings and Queens were awed by the statement from the princess.
"So, no Mother, I will not take it back."
Regina, heart pounding in her chest, stepped forward, "Let's move on, shall we?"
They moved on to food. Regina watched each man and Emma try to hide the way they truly eat in the first bite, but with a snap of her fingers, she was shown their dark sides. A few made her smirk because no matter how disgusting, they were quite adorable as well (this included her true love); however, in truth, she also saw some that she hoped she'd never see again.
And then there was Prince Alexander, the son of a cinder queen and her king. Emma was not wrong when she accused him of liking teatime. Nothing changed when she snapped her fingers; if anything he was sitting straighter.
Emma was standing next to Artie who was also standing with Sir Patrick.
"He's so adorable." The voice was obviously not meant to be heard aloud, and with a turn of both Emma's and Artie's heads, Sir Patrick turned back to them, "What?"
Artie turned back to watching Alexander eat and raised his hands in surrender, "Nothing, Sir Knight."
When Emma couldn't stop staring as she processed what the knight said, Sir Patrick gave her a glare, "Like you have any right to judge! You entered a competition to marry a woman! If that doesn't scream rainbows and piss butterflies, I don't know what does!"
Emma's jaw dropped, though she was grinning, "Sir Patrick," She spoke softly, "I've nothing but adoration for you as a protector, dancer and romancer. I was simply trying to make sure that my ears did not deceive me." She casually stepped passed Artie with a shared smirk, over to the knight's other side, "I've actually been observant of Prince Alexander. We used to be thick as thieves, in some ways we still are. Our kingdoms fall into each other and our castles are actually closer than one might believe. We were bosom buddies once upon a time…" She gave the knight a look, "And I can say with utmost certainty that he too, 'screams rainbows'…" She gave the knight a polite smile and turned back to see Alexander standing and bowing.
As Emma stared at the knight she found that he didn't show any facial reaction, he only glanced the princess's way before looking forward once more. Emma didn't think she was going to get anything from him, but she did finally hear, "I know." fall softly from the man's lips. She knew that the words weren't to be heard by anyone. She moved back to her original spot, grasping the knight's arm with an assuring squeeze as she did. She glanced to Artie as she passed by to see him looking forward pretending he heard nothing as well. Finally she turned back to the queen to find a confused expression on her face.
"Prince Arely?" Regina looked around the room for him.
He was nowhere to be found.
The Kings Ariel and Eric didn't know where he was, but they knew their son was going to be in for a world of hurt.
"ARELY!" Eric stood and yelled with a boom.
Arely walked back in with a bit of a jaunt to his step and a wipe of his mouth, "My apologies, I was… detained."
Regina waved an arm, making the wall he came from behind become invisible. There they saw a young maid finishing the buttons on her outfit. Regina's attention went from her maid to Prince Arely with a dramatic, entertained eye roll. She wasn't angry; she actually found it quite bold for the young prince to try to get away with a stunt like sexing up her maid whilst in a competition for her hand.
"Thank you for coming, Prince Arely." She turned, hiding her smirk as best she could to the kings, "Your Majesties." She gave them a pleasant smile, "You understand why your son has been disqualified, yes?"
Eric looked as though he was going to jump over the table to strangle his son. Ariel was trying to calm him down, "You'll give yourself a heart attack, dear, calm down." The red head turned back to Regina, "Your Majesty, we are so very, deeply, truly sorry for his behavior." He gestured for Arely to come over to him and slapped him over the head in scolding.
"It's quite alright, and please. Stay for the rest of the Battle. If anything, it's entertaining, no?" Regina did let her smile shine now as she watched Arely only give her a shrug of apology.
The Kings nodded and thanked the Queen for letting them stay.
"In fact, you can sit alongside me for the jousting part of the competition tomorrow."
"Jousting?" Alexander asked, "We're letting a girl joust?"
Emma rolled her eyes, "Afraid I'm going to knock you from your horse like I did when we were ten?"
Sir Patrick turned to Emma, "You were quite the bully, weren't you? Sticking his face in mud? Knocking him from horses?"
"Eh," she shrugged. "I just thought knights were the greatest people around when I was growing up." She gave the knight a wink, "Wanted to be just like 'em."
AN: Read and Review, please! Thoughts and feels?