Author's note: Thank you sooo much for all the reviews! Luckily I already wrote the entire story, or else you wouldn't get a new ch till the end of May :)
Chapter 19
One moment, she was tied up near the well, counting the moments until her death. At least she'd die with the knowledge that Scarlett was safe. That her family was safe. As evil as Regina was, Emma knew she was telling the truth when she said that if Emma came with her and Cora, Scarlett would be returned safely back home. What use did they have for Scarlett after Emma was dead? And that was a sacrifice Emma was willing to make.
She'd closed her eyes, waiting for the blade that would spill her lifeblood onto the hard forest floor. The blood that would allow Regina and Cora to create a portal to go home. According to Regina, one of the many methods to create a portal would be to sacrifice someone pure and use their blood. And what better person to sacrifice than Emma? She'd rather sacrifice herself for her family, to ensure that the Regina/Cora threat would be gone forever, then live with the knowledge that they were constantly in danger.
So Emma hadn't even known when Scarlett had come running up, squealing her name. She was so focused on her imminent death that she hadn't even noticed. Well, until she'd felt someone's arms wrapped around her white feathered body. Looked down to see her daughter. Wondered if it was a hallucination. Felt her body warm and light up, bathed in a yellow glow. She'd squeezed her eyes shut. Maybe it was part of the sacrifice.
She felt herself start to grow, her limbs stretching, her body lifted up and spinning in the air. And then she landed gracefully on her feet. Opened her eyes to see her hands. She was back. Back as a human. Even dressed in the same outfit as before.
Emma looked around. Her family was gathered around the clearing, weapons drawn, looks of concern on their faces. Regina and Cora stood, gaping at her in disbelief. Scarlett stood at her feet, a wide grin on her adorable face. Emma bent down to pick her up, surveying the situation in front of her. She had to get everyone, especially her kids, out of here and to safety.
"No." Regina gasped. "How did this happen?"
"Good question." Emma snapped.
"Doesn't matter." Cora butted in. "We have three minutes till sundown. Kill them."
Three minutes. They only had to last three minutes. Quickly, Emma handed off Scarlett to Henry. "Run!"
Henry didn't need to be told twice, as he took off with his sister. Regina and Cora didn't even look twice at them, for they weren't the person of interest.
"Kill them all. And be sure to slit the swan's throat." Regina and Cora circled Emma, Mary Margaret, David, and Graham. Their faces were scrunched up with hatred.
Mary Margaret threw Emma a knife, who caught it gratefully. "Glad you're back."
"Me too." Emma smiled briefly, but that was all they had time for.
And then it started.
Even though Regina and Cora were outnumbered 2 to 1, they had the upper hand, thanks to their magic. Regina threw fireball after fireball, while Cora disappeared in puffs of smoke and reappeared randomly, making it difficult to hit her.
"Careful!" Emma said as she knocked Graham to the ground; they narrowly missed a particularly nasty looking fireball, which went over a steep cliff near the well that overlooked miles and miles of dark forest. The forest immediately erupted into flames.
"Thanks." He said, getting to his feet. For a second, it looked as though he wanted to say something, but before he could Emma turned away. Now was most certainly not the time.
"One minute and thirty nine seconds until sundown." Cora shouted at Regina. "Kill the others!"
It was incredibly unfair, fighting Regina and Cora. Emma watched helplessly as Graham charged at Regina with his sword drawn, but with a mere flick of her wrist Regina threw him back quite easily. He slammed into a tree and was motionless. With a flick of both hands, Cora knocked David down and he hit a tree just like Graham.
"No!" Mary Margaret cried, but before she could charge at Cora, she too was thrown aside. Before Emma could lunge for Cora, she disappeared in a puff of purple smoke.
"What have you done?!" A kid's voice cried. Henry. His eyes widened in shock as he took in his unconscious family. Scarlett was in his arms, her face full of fear. What in the hell were they doing here?
"What're you doing? I told you to run!" Emma shouted.
"I-I heard screams. Wanted to help." Henry stammered.
With a hungry sneer, Regina started towards Henry and Scarlett.
"No!" With a guttural growl, Emma charged straight at Regina, miraculously missing all the fireballs that were thrown her way, knocking Regina off course. "HENRY GO!" She shouted at the top of her lungs.
Regina somehow conjured a sword and they began dueling. To the death. Regina's face was full of malicious hate as she tried repeatedly to slit Emma's throat. The only thing keeping Emma going was that she had to do this. For her family.
"Die!" Regina snarled in frustration as Emma deflected a deadly blow. "YOU WILL DIE!" She gnashed her teeth in fury.
"Don't be so sure!" Emma countered, her face growing red from exertion. She didn't know how in the hell she'd learned to duel, but she seemed to be holding her own. She barely felt it when Regina's sword sliced through her jacket and left a deep gash on her arm. Both were fueled by their mutual hatred, along with Emma's need to protect her family.
"Once you die, I'll take Scarlett as my daughter." Regina mocked as she waved her sword in the air. "She'll call me Mommy."
"STAY AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER!" Emma screamed. With her non sword hand, she reached up and punched Regina in the face. Hard. The force of her punch must've been extremely powerful, as Regina's head was thrown back and she dropped her sword. Her foot tripped over a stray pebble and she went stumbling backwards. Before Emma knew what was happening, Regina went sailing towards the cliff.
"No!" Emma cried. As much as she hated Regina, she didn't want to be the one to kill her. "Grab my hand!" She launched herself towards the cliff, flattening herself down, hand outstretched, but Regina was falling too fast. She disappeared over the rocky cliff, straight down into the fiery forest, screaming all the way down, her face full of fear and hatred.
"Regina!" Emma looked over, but all she could see was the huge forest fire raging down below. No one, not even Regina and all her magic, could survive that. Shakily, she stood back up and turned around. And looked straight into Cora's eyes.
"That. Was. My. Daughter!" Cora screamed. "You stupid bitch! You killed my daughter! AND YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!"
Before Emma could argue that she actually tried to save Regina, Cora thrust her hand straight into Emma's chest. "If I can't have your blood, at least I can have your heart."
It was the worst pain Emma had ever experienced. Worse than anything she'd ever felt in her entire life. Even worse than being shot. It was mind numbing and dizzying and nauseating. She gasped out, unable to scream, as she felt Cora's hand tighten around her heart.
"And after you die, I think I'll take those precious kids of yours." Cora simpered. "I do miss having children around." She looked back at Henry and Scarlett, who were still there, paralyzed with fright. "Or perhaps I'll kill them. That should be fun."
"NEVER!" Emma screamed. Pain radiated through her body in shocking waves as she fought to remain standing. "YOU WILL NEVER TOUCH THEM!"
"Oh you stupid foolish girl." Cora mocked. "Don't you know? Love is weakness. It's not gonna save you." With a sardonic smirk, she pulled her hand backwards. But it remained there, stuck in Emma's chest. A confused look crossed her face. She tried to pull it out again, but found that she couldn't. Yet again.
"No." Emma said shakily. She'd been over this with Regina several years ago in Granny's, just before she'd pushed her through the portal. "Didn't you get the memo? It's strength."
And then it happened. With a great surge of emotion and power she didn't even know she had, she felt something inside her push Cora away. Cora was blasted back and she sailed right over the cliff, falling to a fiery death just like her daughter, cursing Emma all the way down.
She was dead. Cora and Regina were both dead. It was over.
Author's note: Sooo what did you think? Oh and I know this is probably intuitive, but thanks to my BFF MonkeyLovr for all her help with this fight scene.