Emma opened the library's door and quietly strolled in. She stopped for a long moment to let her eyes adjust to the dark and dusty interior. The air smelled of old books with just a hint of something floral. It reminded her of Belle, and she wondered where the woman was as she wasn't at the front of the building. Sighing, she walked around the tall shelves and short tables until she found Belle seated in a corner, reading a thick novel that clearly weighed her hand down as she tried to keep it held up.
"Hey," the sheriff spoke quietly so as not to startle the other woman.
Belle looked up and smiled. "Emma, what are you doing here?"
"I was wondering if you could help me find something." The blonde blushed and shifted uncomfortably. "I was thinking this library might have something other libraries and the internet don't."
Attention fully caught, Belle marked her page and slowly put her book down to rest in her lap. "What's that?"
"Something written about the Enchanted Forest that tells me more than what's in Henry's book." Emma's face held an unspoken apology, as if she were asking something that she should feel sorry for wanting to know. "I figured there are bits and pieces of the other place all around town, so why not history books in the library, right?" She shrugged.
Belle stood up, placing her book in the seat she had just vacated. "We might have something," she said with thought as she walked past Emma, who followed her. "Is there anything in particular you want to know about?"
"The events leading up to, and the war between, Snow White and the Evil Queen." The sheriff held her breath and waited for the backlash she was sure she was about to receive.
Instead, Belle only nodded as she ran a finger along the spines of books that looked so old they might fall apart if a person breathed too hard on them. She pulled out an ancient book bound in cracked leather and handed it to the blonde. "This one should have what you're looking for." She tilted her head to the side. "Why are suddenly interested?"
Emma looked at the cover. The title was written in a flourished script and faded to the point of being almost illegible. A Coin's Two Sides: The History of Our World was the title, but the name of the author had long since vanished from the cover. She raised an eyebrow. "I just thought it would be a good idea to find out what happened without, you know, bothering too many people about it."
It was Belle's turn to raise an eyebrow. "I don't think many people in this town would hesitate to tell you anything you'd like to know. I, personally, don't know very much, but I'd happily tell you anything that you'd like to know that I could." She started the walk back to her little reading corner. "Is that really the only reason you're interested?"
Following behind so she could sit at the table near Belle's chair, Emma could only shrug at the question. She considered her options before she finally answered as honestly as she was willing, "I want to understand what really happened and how… how everyone turned out like they did, and I can't do that if I just take people's word for it." She sat down, placing the book in front of her on the table. "Does that make sense?"
"Yes," Belle's voice was again quiet and thoughtful. "I think Regina deserves a second chance, too."
The comment was random enough that it literally jarred Emma from her chair, and she stood as if she'd been shocked. "What?" Her eyes were wide, and her breath was short. "Why would you say that?"
"Word travels fast." The other woman shrugged. "I heard about the fight you had with Mary Margaret at Granny's, and I read what you put in the paper regarding the topic you want to talk about in tomorrow's town hall meeting." Belle gave her best gentle smile. "I sort of pieced it together."
"So are you going to tell me she's beyond hope?" The sheriff cautiously returned to her seat.
Belle followed, sitting in the chair across from her. "No. I would think I would be the last person to tell you someone is beyond hope. I think there's good in everyone if there's someone there to look for it and help that person bring it to the surface." She reached over the table to place a comforting hand on Emma's arm. "I'm glad you're looking. I think it's important for you to come to your own conclusions about everyone in this town, not just Regina."
"Thanks," the blonde's smile was tired but genuine. "I just think that it's time to end this. How is Regina going to get better if we never give her a chance? I know she's trying. She is. She loves Henry, and she'd do anything for him. And he's such a good kid. He didn't get that way on his own. She raised him, which means she had something to do with that, and, if someone can raise a kid like Henry, then maybe they're not as bad as we think." She winced a little. "Right? Or am I crazy?"
"Emma," Belle's voice held levity. "I'm in love with Rumpelstiltskin."
The blonde had to chuckle. "I see your point, but I'm not in love with Regina. I just think that we should encourage and help her if it means she'll stop trying to destroy all of us."
Belle shrugged. "There are all kinds of different types of love. Just because you don't love her like I do Rumple doesn't mean you don't care about her in some way."
"Are you kidding me?" Emma snorted. "She hates me, and the feeling is mutual. I don't want to 'care' about her, Belle. I just want her to stop trying to take out me and my family."
"It's not a bad thing to care about another person, Emma." Tapping her finger on the book sitting on the table between them, Belle gave a mysterious smirk before she said, "Flip through this, and, if you have questions or just need to talk about it, you can find me three rows over."
The sheriff watched her go with a look that screamed she thought the other woman was nuts. Shaking her head and sighing, she turned to the book and carefully opened it to the table of contents.
The pages were yellowed with age, and they felt stiff to Emma as she turned through them. She frowned at how long the book was, but her eyes brightened with curiosity as they landed on a chapter title The Rise of Queen Regina.
Taking in a deep breath, she flipped to the chapter and began to read, noting the time before she started. She had 5 hours before she had to pick Henry up. That should be plenty of time to learn a few things, assuming no one needed her to go out and do her job.
"This is bullshit," Emma snarled as she stalked over to where the other woman had made a new cubbyhole in which to read.
"I see you have questions about the book," Belle said with a smile.
"Questions? No, I don't have questions. I have," the blonde's voice trailed off as she tried to find the right words for her current emotional state. "How could anyone let a child go through what Cora put her daughter through? Why is that okay? Even when I was in the system, if someone was abusing me, I had a way to get out. How were there not people around to…"
"Emma," voice quiet but strong, Belle held a hand up to stop the rant. "You're forgetting a few things." At the blonde's look that screamed she keep talking, Belle motioned for Emma to take a seat. "First of all, in the world we come from, being a woman automatically puts you at a disadvantage, even if you're royalty. If you're a person without enough power to protect yourself and your possessions, be that power of influence, money, or magic, then someone would come in and take everything from you."
"So you're saying Cora was doing Regina a favor by teaching her that power is freedom and love is weakness?" Emma shook her head in disbelief. "I can't believe you're telling me that."
"No, of course not. But I am telling you that having power was one of a very few ways a person in Regina's specific situation would have been able to gain some ounce of actual freedom." Belle's face held sadness for the woman they were discussing. "Women were often thought of as property, especially in the royal families. But, if a female royal had power, they often had the ability to act as if they were a man; they could do as they pleased. It's a difficult situation to be in at the best of times, and I wish I could say that love would conquer all, but that's not always the case, especially as a royal."
"It wasn't the case for Regina. You know," Emma stood and began to pace. "For a place that's supposed to be a Fairytale Land where people get happy endings, Regina's story really sucks. I mean, here's a kid who only wanted to please her mother, but couldn't because her mother was, and is, an insane bitch. But the kid tries anyway and always fails. Then she has a father who has no balls whatsoever and won't so much as stand up for her when she's getting the crap beat out of her by her power hungry and abusive mother. Then she finally finds love and a way to escape her abusive situation, but the one person who knows about it and she trusts betrays that trust and tells her insane, power hungry mother. THEN said crazy ass mother kills her love in front of her, which takes away her only reasonable way to escape her abusive situation,and tells her it's for her own good."
Emma stopped pacing. "How the hell is that a start to a fairytale with a happy ending? That doesn't make sense at all. It's like the start to a disaster, not a happy ending. There's no way Regina would ever have had a chance for a happy ending because, no matter where you look in any story about the woman, there's not a single person who is both strong enough and who cares enough to support her and help her work through all this hurt that's happened to her."
Belle narrowed her eyes. "Emma…"
"Where was Regina's fairy godmother to come help her get away from Cora? Where was the Blue Fairy to turn Regina into something that her mother could never hurt? Where was anyone at all to help her?"
"Emma…"
"In a world full of magical people who could help her who knew there was something going on that was hurting her because, clearly, fairies know about these things, why didn't anyone help her?" The young blonde's eyes flared with her increasing anger. "I'll tell you why. It's because no one thought she was worth saving, and that is just complete and utter bullshit."
She stopped ranting and tried to catch her breath.
Belle's smile grew and she gave a small shake of her head. "Feel better now?"
"No," Emma spat out. "I feel like punching a wall. I mean, when I was in the foster system, I had people on my side fighting for me. There was always someone. God," She closed her eyes and mentally counted to ten. "No wonder Regina became a raging bag of frigid, spiteful, vengeful crazy."
"So what are you going to do now?" With careful movements, Belle stood up.
"I don't know," Emma said in a voice still shaking with her indignation of things long past. She glanced at her watch. "Go pick Henry up from school."
"Just remember, she's not asking for your pity."
"I don't pity Regina," Emma said as they walked to the door. "But I understand her, and I think it's time everyone else did, too." When they arrived at the front door, she turned to Belle to look her in the eye. "You really think she's worth saving? She locked you up for 28 years."
"I think everything Regina has ever done has been to protect herself by wrapping herself with a bubble of power. She locked me up to get at Rumple who, though I love him, I know has done some terrible things to Regina in the past. I think you should consider the reasons behind her moves for power, not just their aftereffects." Belle smiled. "Besides, I'm not hurt, and I'm here now. Go pick Henry up, and come back if you need anything else."
The sheriff nodded and strolled back outside into the bright afternoon sun. She squinted and wiped at the tears the bright light was causing. The brilliance of the light verged on being painful, but she tried to ignore it. Grunting, she turned to her car to leave, trying to shake off her anger before she had to see Henry and hoping he wouldn't notice anything was off.
