Author's note: It took a little longer but here is a new chapter! As I get more chapters done I will go back and correct some grammar mistakes and typos that I found on previous chapters. As I said previously, no Beta to help. So bear with me and keep reviewing. I'm happy to see that I keep getting more and more followers, but since I don't get many reviews I don't know how you are liking the story. I will assume that you are liking it because of the number of followers and favorites that I get. Kudos and enjoy the chapter! :)
Regina saw how nervous Snow was when she entered her house and went straight for her arms. Instead of her usual feelings of hate she suddenly felt a desire to do right for her stepdaughter, especially since she was the reason why she now had Emma. And apparently she was not the only surprised by Snow's actions because everyone else in the room froze in anticipation to what could happen. Charming made his way a few seconds later with the stroller and Neal sleeping peacefully on it. Regina had forgotten about the baby because of the nervousness she was having. She felt sorry for complicating things for them, but she also knew that this conversation couldn't wait any longer.
"He is back..." Snow whispered scared. "When I was an outcast I went around villages and heard horrible stories about the things that he did. How he specifically searched for the people that were the happiest and tore them apart. How he hurt the children because of their innocence and took advantage of the young women..." Snow rambled, making Emma and Henry terrified of what that man was capable off.
"I know Snow." Regina tried to calm her while patting her back.
"And now that we are all getting our happy endings he is coming to take them away!"
"I promise you Snow I will not let him take away your happy ending." Regina promised Snow. "You are right, you deserve to be happy and I will do my hardest to make sure no one takes that away from you." she also addressed Charming who had come back from the guest room where he had left Neal sleeping peacefully.
Emma looked at Regina with more love than she thought was possible after seeing her interact with Snow. The feud between the two of them was truly eradicated and it was clear that they cared deeply about each other. She couldn't help but notice also that Snow truly loved Regina as a big sister and that she cherished that relationship with all her might. From watching the shocked faces of his father and Henry she realized that only she knew about the complexity of the relationship between the two women that she loved the most.
"And we will also help you to keep yours." Snow promised while taking Regina's hands. "You have suffered enough and I truly want you to be happy."
Regina felt tears falling from her eyes. She couldn't fathom the thought that she was crying and holding in her arms the woman that she had spent so much time hating and trying to destroy. Now, now she was consoling her and being consoled by her. It was truly remarkable to realize how much love had changed her. First it was with Henry and her desire to be good enough for him. And now it was with Emma, her savior who had managed to change her dark heart and awaken all the hidden feelings that it had inside of her. She turned her gaze towards Emma who was looking lovingly at the scene and that made Regina's heart flutter. Seriously, I can't be that ridiculous. I was the Evil Queen, she said to herself in an attempt to control her emotions better.
"I love you so much." Emma mouthed to her, which made her smile deeply and blush. Yes, I can be that ridiculous.
"And I you." Regina mouthed back before blowing a kiss that Emma pretended to catch and put on her own lips.
Henry had enough with all the dovey and loving that was moving around the room. "Soooo." he said with a cough. "Are we going to have this super secret meeting or should grandpa and I join you on the family dovey?" he smirked.
Regina scolded him softly while cupping Snow's cheek and kissing it softly in reassurance, fact that made Snow tear up again and keep clinging to Regina. Emma laughed a little at her mom's possessiveness and went to save her girlfriend from her mom.
"Seriously mom, you are gonna make Regina blue with all the strength you are using to hold her."
Snow apologized softly and looked at Regina while blushing. "I'm sorry." she repeated. "It's just that I truly loved Regina when I was a child. She was the big sister I never had."
Regina smiled softly and grabbed her hand again. "I know I wasn't the warmest person, but I cared, and continued caring about you. Even when I tried to kill you." Regina said embarrassed. "I was incapable of doing so because of what I felt. It was conflicting." she finished quietly.
Snow laughed loudly, making the four other people in the room look at her as if she was out of her mind. "I knew that!" she smirked while smiling. "I mean, after all the times that you managed to capture me and instead of just killing me you went for the evil monologue..."
Henry laughed at this. "She did monologues?" Regina feigned resentment towards them but laughed loudly with him. "That is so cliché mom! Everyone knows that the heroes manage to escape during the monologue!"
"I did manage to get away from some situations during a monologue." Charming mused to himself. "Never really thought about it before though."
"Of course you didn't. I bet you thought it was all because of the natural order of things that the main heroes cannot die." Regina sassed.
Emma smirked a little at her girlfriend's sassiness. She really loved Regina for it and for trying to spur her parents just like a normal couple would do.
"Certainly not scared of gaining the approval of the parents." Emma whispered to Regina mockingly.
"Well, I think that we are beyond their approval darling. Your parents are just so them that the moment they realized we share True Love it was the moment they accepted me." Regina said. "I know they can be a lot of things, but what they will never do is stop True Love from happening."
"If I didn't know you better I would say you admire them." Henry got in the middle of the discussion like he had been included the whole time.
"Well, I do admire your grandparents." Regina smirked. "They are very tenacious in what they want."
"You know Regina, because of your position as Queen you would be Emma's step-grandmother and Henry's great-step-grandmother too." Charming smirked back, which made Regina flinch.
"So you are my mom and my great-grandmother?" Henry asked shocked. "And basically your girlfriend is your step-grandmother." he mused to Emma who just hid under Regina's shoulder in embarrassment.
"When you put it like that it does sound creepy as hell." Emma admitted. "But we can all agree that Snow and Regina were more sisters than mother and daughter."
Snow laughed. "Well, not legally. She is still my stepmother."
"Anyway." Regina said clearly embarrassed. "We should focus on the matter that brought us here in the first place."
Everyone looked at each other in clear embarrassment for allowing themselves to relax during such a stressful situation for the safety of the town. They knew that Mephisto making it to Storybrooke meant that he was capable of traveling between realms, and last thing they knew there were no more hats or magic beans around.
"Tell Snow and Charming what you saw at the docks." Emma told Henry seriously.
"Docks where you were prohibited to go." Regina hissed softly.
"Well, not much choice with the two of you going to third base and all." Henry said, immediately making Emma and Regina blush in embarrassment.
"Kid!" Emma smacked him in the back of the head. "What the hell?"
"It's true!" Henry continued to say despite knowing that his moms were beyond embarrassed. "When I saw you two disappear through the stairs I knew." he even winked at Regina who looked away from him.
"This is just so weird." Emma said again while hiding her face. "No privacy at all in this family."
"Well, at least Henry is more open than you darling." Snow said while smirking a little. "It does seem he reacted better than you when the two of you discovered Charming and I."
"My son saw his grandmother and grandfather in a compromising position?" Regina almost yelled with shock.
Snow smirked again while keeping her head high while Charming looked down in embarrassment. Well, at least he has the decency of looking down, Regina mused to herself.
"So that's what it was." Henry said to himself. "Anyway, yuck." he said while closing his eyes and trying to relieve his mind from the image of his grandparents together. "I saw Gold appear on the docks with another man. This man was holding a dagger and arguing with Gold about his control towards him." Henry rambled, immediately quieting the adults.
"That man, you said he mentioned his name." Regina said softly.
Henry nodded. "He said his name was Mephisto."
Snow flinched and grabbed Charming's hand.
"I don't understand." Charming said. "How come I never heard of him?"
"Besides from the fact that you grew in a farm?" Regina sassed clearly still hurt with his comment concerning her age.
"Well, he was a myth of some sorts." Snow answered him. "And a tale that parents told their children so they wouldn't do anything naughty. I never did see the man."
"I did." Regina said to Snow softly. "Shortly after you told me about him my guards captured him. At the time I thought nothing of it but good fortune, but now I realize that it was all orchestrated by him."
"You mean he planned on you two meeting?"
"I believe so." Regina fidgeted a little. "He clearly has the gift of the seers."
"Ok, back up. What the hell is the gift of the seers?" Emma asked.
"Duhh Ma, a seer can see the future." Henry answered while smirking. "Gold stole that gift from a witch."
"Which is why he was able to see Emma breaking your curse." Charming finished his line of thought.
"Yes... the imp used his stolen gift for his own gain like he usually does." Regina said angrily. "Which makes me wonder how he was unable to see Mephisto stealing his dagger."
"Well, Mephisto is the devil himself, which means he can control the darkness and the dark creatures?" Emma asked.
"That is true." Regina conceded. "But still, the perk of being the Dark One is that only the person that owns the dagger can control you. That is the price for that much power."
"Which explains why Gold kept it hidden." Snow said.
"But Belle had it!" Charming screamed. "You gave it to her." he pointed at Regina who nodded.
"I did. So that she could control him and stop him from doing anything evil to Zelena."
"Well, that went well." Emma mused mostly to herself. "So the creature took the dagger from Belle, who is an easier target." Emma said. "But she hasn't said it was missing. In fact, she showed it to us."
"It is clearly a fake." Regina said softly. "Wouldn't surprise me the imp planned to give it to her so she could think he gave her the power."
"Really, how did Rumple manage to get such a good and pure soul like that to love him?" Emma asked in awe.
"Just like you darling that believes in the goodness of my heart, Belle wants to believe she can save the man behind the beast." Regina said softly.
Emma looked knowingly at her. "I already told you Regina. It wasn't hard to love you because you love with all of your soul."
"Emma is right." Snow added. "One cannot say that the Evil Queen does not love. She loves deeply, and the people that are worthy of her love can be assured of her fierce loyalty."
Regina smiled in appreciation and cleared her throat. "We clearly need to find more information about Mephisto and what he is capable of. We cannot base ourselves on tales from the Enchanted Forest."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
"I think we will need to recruit Belle to help us." Snow said. "Although I don't know if she will be willing. I mean, we are going after her husband."
"Yes, but we can save him." Charming said in full king mode.
"I think we should worry about saving ourselves from him and Mephisto before saving him." Emma said quietly.
Regina nodded. "If you think I'm powerful, the combined efforts of the imp and Mephisto make my magic be seen as cheap magician tricks. After all, he taught me everything I know."
"You were the Dark One's apprentice?" Emma asked in shock.
Regina nodded. "If you knew how much that imp is responsible for the events that led us here, you would hate him just as I do."
"He tricked you, didn't he?"
Regina nodded and lowered her gaze. "I was young, unhappy, and he promised me what even magic cannot bring back."
"Daniel." Snow whispered. "He made you think magic would bring him back."
"When I realized that it was impossible I just lost myself. I know he planned it. Jefferson and Whale told me." Regina said angrily. "My whole life was planned and controlled by that imp and I let myself fall under his grasp."
Everyone looked down and understood Regina's pain at being a pawn in a bigger and meaner scheme. They all knew that Gold created the curse so he could come to this land and find Baelfire. He didn't care about the price and used all the people in Storybrooke towards his goal. Emma hated the man from the start, but seeing how much pain he had brought Regina made her hate him ever more. To hell with him and saving him, he didn't deserve it at all.
"I know what you are thinking." Charming said to Emma while Regina and Snow were distracted. "And I know your heart is telling you to leave Gold to his own fate."
"He deserves it! He manipulated all of us for his own selfish goals. He is a coward." Emma spat, which brought all the attention on her. "Why should we help him when he has done nothing but bring us sorrow?"
"Because that is what good people do." Regina said softly. "That is what heroes do, and darling, you are the savior."
"And he is my grandfather too." Henry said softly. It was weird for him to see his Ma not wanting to do the right thing and the savior that they all knew she was.
"I didn't want to be the savior." Emma said softly to Regina but everyone still heard her.
"And I didn't want to be the Evil Queen, but alas, that was the path we were meant to take."
"It's not fair."
"And who said life was fair my love?" Regina scolded her sweetly. "Life is not only about happy endings. I learned it the hard way. But we can fight for ours."
"We can?" Emma asked hopefully, looking around the room at her family.
"Yes. You started to do it the moment you chose to believe magic was real and have continued to do so till this very moment."
"I am tired." Emma said. "I am tired of being the savior all the time."
"That's why you have the Evil Queen by your side." Regina smirked. "Even the savior needs some saving from time to time."
Emma smiled and kissed her chastely. "You are truly amazing."
"Only for you." Regina answered sweetly. "And although it pains me to say it, the Charmings are right. We need to help that imp because Belle loves him."
Emma nodded. "So it's simple then. We get the dagger back from Mephisto, manage to destroy him and keep Gold safe in the process."
Snow and Charming laughed at Emma's sarcasm. Clearly spending too much time with Regina was making their daughter pick some manners from her. But they were also happy at realizing how much Regina guided and helped their daughter. The Emma that they knew before would have just grabbed her things and skip town. This Emma on the other hand was clearly scared, but so rooted because of her family that she was capable of staying if it meant their happiness. This Emma was less selfish, more open and raw than the other Emma. They were shocked at realizing how complex their daughter was and how her past away from them had shaped her into the woman she is now. They focused on Regina and saw how lovingly she looked at Emma and held her hand while tracing patterns on it absently. The woman looked happy and free, the two noticed. They had never seen her look this peaceful with her life and what she did in the past. And it all comes from Henry's and Emma's acceptance and forgiveness, the two realized.
"They complement each other." Snow whispered to his husband. "Regina's darkness is Emma's way of understanding her own path of darkness while Emma's lightness is the guide for Regina's redemption road."
Charming nodded in agreement. "They truly are soulmates. You know, at first I didn't want to believe it because of what Regina did to us. But knowing how much of it happened for reasons and motives that were out of her grasp now makes me feel sad for her. Can you imagine me saying that I'm sad for all the suffering that the Evil Queen went through?"
"Not the Evil Queen." Snow corrected him. "The suffering Regina went through."
"Operation Hellfire is underway!" Henry said excitedly, making Snow and Charming flinch back from their little moment. Emma and Regina looked at him with crazy eyes at the same time, clearly having been distracted by the other until they heard him speak about his involvement in the hunting of Mephisto.
"Henry." Emma scolded him. "This is very serious. We don't know what we are facing, but we do know how much you mean to us and what it would do to us if you found yourself in harm's way."
The three adults in the room nodded in agreement.
"You are too valuable for us Henry. We cannot lose you." Regina said quietly. "Which is why you won't go anywhere without the company of one of us."
"But..." Henry started to complain. "But I want to help."
"And you can help by keeping yourself safe." Snow scolded him too.
"I want to be a hero too. I want to save the town." he chided while standing up angrily. "Just because I don't have any powers than can help, or because I don't know how to shoot an arrow or hold a sword that doesn't make me useless. I was the one that brought you all here! I believed before any of you did."
"Yes you did." Emma said angrily. "But because of all the reasons you mentioned before, and the fact that we are your mothers and you must do what we tell you, you cannot put yourself in harm's way."
"So you are admitting that I am the weakest link?"
"I am admitting that you are the one with the least possibility of defending yourself."
"Emma." Regina tried to keep Emma calmed but got a resounding no from her girlfriend. She supported Emma's firmness at making Henry realized that this wasn't a game anymore. Too many times in the past because of his stubbornness he fell in harm's way.
"You will get your chance Henry." Charming said while petting his hair, trying to calm the tension between his grandson and daughter. "But a hero also knows when to spring into action and when to lay low."
"You are just saying in fancy words that I have to do like a coward and hide." Henry spat while getting up and bolting away to his room.
Snow and Charming smiled in understanding at the two mothers, and deciding that the rest of the discussion could wait until morning, the two of them made their way for the guest room where they left Neal sleeping. After making sure they grabbed everything they said goodbye and went back home, leaving Regina and Emma alone in the living room.
Emma huffed in anger but lowered herself on the couch, clearly exhausted because of the heaviness of the discussion and what it meant. She had always encouraged Henry into facing his fears and doing right, basically telling him that he was invincible. The kid believed her too much, trusted her too much into saving him that he had no self-safety regard and that made her become more angry with herself.
Regina felt Emma's anger, and quickly controlling her magic she took Emma's hand with the intention of doing the same for her.
I cannot be the savior he expects me to be. I'm too afraid of him being hurt, Emma thought while looking at their enclosed hands.
I understand how hard it was for you, Regina answered her.
The two women looked at each other in clear shock.
"You can hear my thoughts?" Emma asked.
"I read of this gift before." Regina mused. "The gift of telepathy."
"That is kinda cool." Emma laughed. "I'm sorry I was so tough on the kid."
"You had to be Emma. You are right. He expects too much from us, trusts us too much with his safety that he has grown into not realizing the normal dangers of life."
"I always tell him to face his fears, to fight his battles." Emma thought sadly. "And now we are telling him to basically hide. He is right, I am a hypocrite."
"No you are not." Regina confirmed by grabbing Emma's chin. "To him you are not only the savior, but you are his mother too. That means that concern for his safety means more to you than anyone else's"
"I know, but that doesn't make it any harder. I feel like the bad guy."
"I also know that feeling." Regina remembered somberly.
"Why do you want to keep me away from her?!" Henry screamed at her in anger. "She is also my mother."
"Henry, we don't know her. How can I trust a stranger with the safety of the person I love the most?" Regina begged him to understand.
"You don't have to say that. I know you only pretend." he spat at her.
"Pretend to care for you? You know that is not true."
"No, pretend to love me. You are the Evil Queen, you cannot love." he said angrily while moving up the stairs and heading into the room. "I hate you."
Regina stopped following him the moment he said those words to her, and while holding her tears at bay she opened the door to his room.
"Even if you do, I am your mother and you will do as I say Henry Mills. Unless you pass it by me before, you will not meet with Miss Swan. Is that understood?" she managed to say without crying. How much it hurt her to be firm with him when the only thing she craved was to lie in his arms and be loved by him.
Henry ignored her and lowered himself to the bed in a clear statement that he was not going to talk anymore.
"Henry, did I make myself clear?" Regina said with a threatening voice.
"I understand." she heard him whisper.
"Regina." Emma grabbed the woman's hand and squeezed it tightly. "I never really knew how bad he treated you. I'm sorry."
"It wasn't your fault. Henry has always been a strong-willed individual, and when he sets his mind on something he defends it until the end. Just like when he has keen on seeing me as the Evil Queen." Regina thought sadly.
"Yes, but I never told him that it was wrong. And neither did you." Emma realized. "I think we are to blame for it too. We have never set any boundaries with him."
"Which is why when he doesn't agree he runs. He is not truly scared of us." Regina realized too. "Because of our fear of losing him we have been too tolerant towards his disrespect."
"And today we stopped it from happening again."
"Now we have to make sure he doesn't run."
"Which knowing him he will try to do as soon as we are distracted." Emma huffed in annoyance.
"Well, good thing I never make the same mistake twice."
Emma smirked at her.
"Concerning the education of Henry." Regina added in fake annoyance.
"I have a tracking app on his phone." Emma said innocently. "Installed it in New York and forgot he still had it."
"Well, he may remember he has it so I will go the magic way and put a tracking spell on him that will let us know if he leaves the house without our knowledge." Regina smirked.
"Isn't that an invasion to his privacy though?" Emma asked out-loud.
"Well dear, we are his mothers and he is 15. In moments of crisis he has no privacy." Regina said darkly.
"Poor Henry." Emma gulped.