Title: Vengeance, Sacrifice, and Forgiveness

Author: AoN

Word Count: 4,750

Genre: Drama, Adventure

Rating: PG-13

Feedback: Please and thank you! Let me know what I'm doing right or doing wrong.

Summary: With the Evil Queen's curse weakening and Regina struggling to keep Storybrooke under control, hidden secrets and lies from long ago are beginning to surface – and they want their happily ever after.

Chapter Seven

She tried not to panic when her body hit the water. Lily reassured herself that Snow would come in after her, save her – Snow had told her many times before that she knew how to swim. Lily, who had spent the majority of her life in the safety of the castle walls, did not. Feeling herself being dragged further and further down the river and with Snow nowhere in sight, Lily desperately began to kick her legs and swing her arms as hard as she could. Snow said that was all it took to swim, but the water surface never came and Lily would not be able to hold her breathe for that much longer. Snow had also said that holding your breathe was equally as important, perhaps even more.

But her weak little lungs could not hold out much longer. She could not take it anymore! She had to take another breathe, she had to! Where was Snow? Why was she not saving her? She was in danger – Snow had promised that she would always protect her and keep her from danger. So where was she? Did she lie to her? No, Snow would not lie to her. Snow would save her. Lily believed that she would, she had to.

Natural instincts took over. Lily's body needed oxygen. She tried to inhale deeply. Water rushed into her lungs, denying the salvation they had been seeking. It felt as if needles were slashing into her chest with each attempt. She did not know how long she had been under, but the little girl had soon blacked out.

Eventually the raging river washed her motionless body up on one of its many banks. Her blank void eyes were staring absently up towards the sky. She could not move. Her vision was slowly disappearing, the edges growing black while everything else became fuzzy and out of focus. No, hang on. She had to hang on! Snow was going to find her and everything was going to be alright. They would go back to the palace, pretend that they never left – then Mommy and Daddy would have no reason to be upset. Everything was only getting darker. No, no, no! Hang on!

Wish! She wished that she could hang on. She wished that she could just get up and go find Snow herself. She wished she could see more than just the blackness. She wished she could go back to the castle, to be in the arms of Mommy and Daddy again. She wished… she wished she would stop dying. She was dying.

"I'm sorry, little one… I can't grant you wish."

That voice. Where did it come from? Who did it belong to? Who wanted to grant her wish? A fairy? A fairy! A fairy was talking to her and Lily could not see it. All she wanted to do right now was cry, but she could not even do that. They had snuck away from the palace just to see these fairies and just as Lily was about to slip away, one appeared, but it was too late. Lily was going to leave this world without seeing one.

Somewhere off in the distance, in the forest, she heard the soft howling of a wolf. It sounded so sad. Did it know Lily was dying? Or maybe it knew a fairy was nearby and it could not see it either. Lily wished that the wolf could see the fairy since she could not. She bet the fairy was really pretty – nice too. She wished she could see the fairy for the wolf.

At this point, she wished she could be the wolf. The wolf was lucky – the wolf was not dying like she was.

"That wish, I can grant, little one," she heard the voice say. "You and that wolf, you two will co-exist from now on."

It had been difficult to hear. Everything had been extremely faint. Lily was barely hanging on anymore. Snow was not coming. She would not see her sister again. Or Daddy. She would not be getting any more of his warm, big hugs. Or Mommy. She would not be able to pick apples and make fresh homemade pies with her again either. They should have waited for Mommy and Daddy to have finished with their royal court. Mommy and Daddy would have made them stay on the marked path, but now it was all too late.

Lily did not think it was possible, but the darkness became even darker, but the little girl welcomed it. With it, the pain disappeared. No more burning muscles, no more stabbing needles, nothing. She did not feel anything, but peace. The surrounding nothingness had embraced her, brought her the comfort and salvation for which she had longed. Lily was at ease in the darkness.

But it did not last.

Soon, she felt her body moving forward, the motion of four appendages working together. Was she crawling? Why could she not stand up and walk? Was she at least heading towards the direction of the palace? She could feel the soft earth beneath her feet, branches and leaves brushing up against her body. The forest was slowly coming into focus. How did she get to the forest? Where was the river? Why was she on all fours?

After a couple blinks, she could see clearly and Lily came to a stop. She was much lower to the ground – she had been crawling. She must have crawled away from the river. Now, all she had to do was get up and go find Snow. The two of them would go back home and everything would be okay. Everything was going to be okay. She was not dead, she was still alive.

Lily pushed herself up off the ground. She stood for a few seconds, but she was unable to find her center of balance. She stumbled forward and back, she could not stay up right. The girl tumbled onto her back. What was wrong with her? She had to try again, she was tired from trying to swim – that had to be it. Taking a couple deep breathes, Lily rolled over onto her side. Something did not feel right. She could not extend her arms out, she could not pull herself up.

Panic struck her when she looked down. Lily had been expecting to see her scrawny little arms, not furry paws. She tried to scream, but it only escaped as a loud whimpering yelp. On all fours, she spun around – a tail, she had a tail. How did this happen? Did the fairy do this?

"Hey, what's gotten into you, girl?"

She jerked her head to the voice. A boy, he looked to be Snow's age, had come up to her. He was a little roughed up, covered in various hides and furs, and his sandy blonde hair stood in various directions. Was he from the town? She had never seen any of the town children before, but she had imagined them to be less… dirty and wild. When he took a couple steps more towards her, she stumbled back. As if he sensed her fear, the boy stood still and knelt down slowly, bringing himself down to her level. The wolf was acting extremely odd all of a sudden.

"It's okay," he reassured in a gentle tone. "It's me girl. Your brother – what happened to your eye?"

The wolf's ears perked up. Brother. Her eye. She heard him, but it was something else that caught her attention. It was faint, but she heard her name. Lily quickly turned around. Mommy. It was Mommy! She had to go to Mommy!

She took off, following the familiar voice, with the wild boy right behind her. Lily tried to call back to her – Mommy! Mommy! Her voice was nothing but growls and barks. But she had to tell Mommy she was okay! When she could hear the river, she slowed down. The sound of the river was accompanied by the sound of crying. Was Mommy crying? She never heard Mommy cry before. Why was Mommy sad? Lily was here, Lily was okay! Mommy was sad that she and Snow left the palace without telling her, that had to be it. Lily would go up to her and apologize – the wild boy could talk for her – then everything would be okay. Mommy and Daddy would probably be upset at first. How could a wolf be a princess? But they would find the fairy again, they would make another wish and Lily would be a little girl once more.

The wild boy placed a hand on the wolf's back and silently lead the animal to the edge of the forest that surrounded the river. Although he always avoided other human beings, he could not help but be a little curious as to why this woman was so incredibly distraught. The two quietly watched the older woman scoop the limp body of a little girl into her arms.

"Mommy's here, Lily. Mommy has you. Please. Please, wake up…"

The boy immediately grabbed the wolf who had tried to dash forward, away from their hiding spot. They could not be seen by anyone, he would not allow it. He had to hold down her muzzle when she began whimpering. The wolf wanted to go to the woman, but it was too dangerous. The guard, he had a sword. He would hurt the wolf and the boy did not want to mourn another one of his siblings.

"We have to go, we have to get out of here," he whispered.

No, the wolf continued to protest. Mommy was holding her, but it was not her! Lily was right here! Mommy, Lily was right behind you! Mommy…? As she watched the Queen bury her face against the little girl's neck, the fairy's words came back to her. The fairy could not save her body, but the fairy was able to save what little life force she had left.

Lily had died…

She was not coming back. She was gone.

xxxx

The ability to concentrate on her duties as sheriff had been thwarted by the morning's events that were constantly replaying over and over again in her mind. Every time Emma blinked, the scene unfolded and played out before her. The scene could have been taken out of a terrible science fiction movie, Emma wished it had been. None of it was making any sense at all. She had even caught herself wondering if Mary Margaret had slipped anything into her cup of coffee this morning.

Emma forced herself to ignore it throughout the course of her work day, a damn near impossible task, but she was sheriff. She had a job to do. She did her best to keep herself busy. She had gone back to the hospital; Granny had been upset that she came back empty handed. Before the old lady could probably rip the sheriff a new one, Dr. Whale made an appearance to tell them both that Ruby was okay. Dehydration. That was it. And after a quick conversation with her, Emma could conclude that there was no foul play meaning she had tasered an innocent person.

Innocent people generally did not run.

They did not transform into wolves either for that matter.

No. She was not going to think about that right now.

The rest of her day had been extremely dull in comparison which made keeping her mind at bay incredibly difficult. She patrolled the town, wrote out a few parking tickets, and observed the elementary school as classes let out to make sure everyone was obeying the temporary traffic laws. She was doing everything by the book, especially after that last town meeting. She had made a mistake and now she was paying for it, she had reminded herself as she spotted Henry among the small mass of children crossing the street.

From there, Emma went back on patrol and took the few calls that came in. Slow day in Storybrooke. Five o 'clock did not come soon enough, but when it finally did, Emma swung by the convenience store on her way back to the apartment for a much needed six pack.

Fortunately for her, she returned to an empty apartment. Mary Margaret had said something about grading papers and parent teacher conferences, so she would be home a bit later today. Emma had the place to herself for a little while which meant she could clear her mind in the way she deemed fit.

Taking a bottle, Emma placed the rest of the six pack in the fridge for the time being. After opening the bottle and taking that first sip of beer that she had been craving since this morning, Emma made her way to the stereo and soon rock music was bouncing off the walls. This was exactly what she needed, she concluded before throwing herself back onto the couch. She took another swing, welcoming the bitter taste.

Now she allowed her mind to wander and go over the events of the morning – something it had been begging and wanting to do all day long.

They were running through the forest, heading down to the river, Emma assumed. The only other time she had been in the area was when they had been looking for the escaped David Nolan when he awoke from his coma. Needless to say, she did not know the area very well and she had been losing ground. She fired the taser gun to end the chase. Lucy went down hard, Emma had not expected her to be able to move, let alone nail her in the face – her lip had stopped bleeding soon enough after. Then nothing could prepare Emma for what happened next. Lucy got right up and transformed into a wolf.

A wolf.

Emma's eyebrows furrowed slightly as something dawned on her. She quickly sat up. That wolf. She had seen that wolf before. Twice, actually. The first time had been her first night in Storybrooke. It had been raining, she was just leaving town to head back to Boston when a wolf came up in the middle of the road, forcing Emma to swerve off the road and into the Storybrooke sign. Subconsciously, Emma rubbed the spot on her forehead that had collided with the steering wheel. The second time had been with Graham. They followed the wolf to the cemetery. It was the same one, Emma recognized the red eye. The wolf had been Lucy all along-

No. No, because people are not able to turn into wolves! It was impossible!

Then how could she explain this morning?

Lucy stood before her as the young woman Emma had been dealing with. She watched that woman's body contort and twist in ways it should not have, watched her hair pull back into her scalp, her nose and mouth elongated into a muzzle baring sharp canines… The pelt came through as she stood on four paws, but her eyes had stayed the same. From start to finish, it had been Lucy.

But there was no plausible way to explain it.

Emma took another gulp. She was going through this bottle pretty fast. She did not care. Another swing. There were five more in the fridge with her name on them. By the end of the first, Emma caught herself thinking something beyond ridiculous: what if the curse was real?

As soon as the thought crossed her mind, Emma was instantly on her feet, making a beeline for her second beer. She took half it down in a single swing, ushering in the buzz she had wanted to feel.

How else could you explain that transformation if not for magic? But magic did not exist, neither did happy endings – that was due to Regina's curse, of course. What the hell was she thinking? Fairytales were just that, fairytales. They were only stories. Just stories. She only amused the idea for Henry's sake, it was his world, his imaginary world. It was not real. It could not be real. The curse could not be real.

How could she possibly believe that the reason she had been a victim of the foster system and why she could nto locate her birth parents were because they have been trapped in this town for the last twenty eight years due to an Evil Queen's curse? How could she even begin to comprehend that her roommate was actually her long lost mother who, by the way, was Snow White? How could she fathom the fact that her parents put her in a magical wardrobe to transport her to safety from said curse?

Needless to say, the second bottle was emptied before she made it back to the living room. Emma double backed to the kitchen to fetch the third. When she uncapped it, another train of thought crossed her mind. Leaving the full bottle on the counter, Emma went to grab her laptop from her bedroom. Returning to the living room, Emma sat back down on the couch and balanced the computer on her lap before powering it on. The bottle of beer remained forgotten in the kitchen.

Once she was on the search engine page, Emma typed in 'werewolves' and clicked on the first link that appeared which was home to a drawing of a wolfman sinking its teeth into a woman's neck. Her eyes scanned the block of text, nothing about fairytales. There, no connection to the curse – which did not exist because fairytales were not real, but she was willing to believe in werewolves instead. What was that beer's alcohol content?

Then she came across a sublink that made her a little sick to her stomach. Werewolf fiction. Oh how she did not want to click on that link, but willed herself to anyway. She did not even have to read the following sentence in its entirety. 'In the fairytale Little Red Riding Hood' was more than enough. Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf. Who did Henry theorize Red Riding Hood to be? Who had Lucy been harassing since she showed up in Storybrooke?

Ruby.

Emma's mouth suddenly became very dry and it was a bit difficult to breathe. Her mind was spinning slightly too, but she did not know whether it was from this sudden realization or the booze – perhaps a combination of both. This was quickly becoming too much to handle, she decided, her eyes still staring fixedly at the computer screen. She forced herself to keep reading. Since Henry's book had disappeared, this was her only source – not to mention that Regina currently was not allowing her to see him anyway.

She quickly lost track of time, sitting there and surfing through the internet. The playlist blaring from the stereo replayed itself twice, telling Emma that a couple of hours past, at least. The clock on her computer screen confirmed that fact and just as she was starting to wonder where her roommate was, the music suddenly died, jerking Emma's attention to the stereo. To her surprise, Mary Margaret was standing next to it, looking more than a little concerned about the situation.

"Are there any kitchen appliances causalities I should know about?" Mary Margaret asked.

Emma, shaking her head, quickly closed her web browser. "They're all safe," she promised. "I was just… clearing my head. You know, not being able to see Henry and everything," she murmured.

"He's doing okay – he's happy," Mary Margaret reported.

"Happy?" Emma repeated, eyebrows raised.

"I mean, he misses you, of course," Mary Margaret quickly amended. "But given the circumstances, he's doing okay. What about you?"

"I'm okay too," Emma answered, closing the lid of the laptop and setting it on the coffee table.

Mary Margaret frowned slightly, getting the inkling that Emma was not telling her the whole truth and the evidence found in the next room over agreed with her. "You've gone through two beers tonight already and there's a third on the counter."

"Oh, I forgot about that," Emma said honestly, rising to her feet. "But seriously, I was just unwinding – long day," she explained, not ready to tell her about her little werewolf adventure from this morning. Or anything about the curse in general.

"Are you sure you're alright?"

Emma flashed a small smile and nodded. "Yeah," she replied. "So, I'm thinking for dinner tonight – we should order out."

xxxx

When she first opened her eyes, her vision was extremely blurry and her head was pounding. To say that she felt as though she had been hit by a train would be an understatement; her chest ached with each breathe she took. Lucy blinked a couple times; her vision slowly came back into focus. When it did, Lucy quickly realized something: she had no idea where she was. She instantly sat up on the bed she had been laying on, but the sudden movement caused her head to spin. She leaned forward and grasped her forehead, willing the room to stop spinning.

"You're finally awake.."

Lucy turned to the left immediately, following the voice. She had not been expecting to see the mayor sitting there on the armchair considering they did not exactly see eye-to-eye at all. Why was she here? Where was here to begin with? Their last encounter had not been pleasant. Lucy trespassed into her home after all.

"Finally?" Lucy murmured, barely able to find her voice. "What does that mean?"

"You've been asleep for the last two, almost three days," Regina stated, not moving from where she sat, but she was watching the woman carefully. "I found you on the side of the road unconscious and, although you've done nothing but cause mayhem in my life, I couldn't just leave you there. I took you to the hospital. Dehydration and exhaustion. You really don't take care of yourself, do you?"

Two or three days?

Lucy frowned, straining her memory. She did not remember walking along any road or passing out for that matter. The last thing she did remember was running, being tasered, and revealing her rather large secret to the sheriff. There was a fuzzy blank in her memory after that and Lucy did not like it. "This isn't a hospital," Lucy pointed out, ignoring all the other comments. "They wouldn't have discharged me without my consent, Madam Mayor."

Regina nodded slowly. "You are correct," she agreed. "But there was someone else who could – and certainly did – give consent in your behalf."

At this point, Lucy lowered her hands and sat up a bit straighter as she watched Regina who had remained emotionless. She could have sworn there was a flicker in the mayor's eyes, but Lucy could not be completely sure or positive.

"What you told me that night brought back memories I had wanted to stay buried. So I wanted to disprove you, have you shipped out of this town labeled mentally unstable," Regina admitted. "I ordered a DNA test, under the impression that I'd end your little game once and for all. I wasn't expecting…"

"That you'd be able to decide my medical fate?" Lucy offered. She was not ready to her 'mother' coming from Regina and it seemed like Regina had not been rather prepared to say it herself either.

At first, Regina did not say anything in return. She stood up and walked to the edge of the room farthest from the bed. Neither of them knew how to react. Had Lucy still been that five year old girl, she would have ran into Regina's arms and had Regina still been the warm loving mother Lucy remembered, she would have welcomed it. Circumstances, and the people involved, had changed.

"What happened?" Regina asked when the silence became rather unbearable for the two of them. She kept her question vague, she had to. She could not mention the existence of the fairytale land without revealing the curse nor could she say she never had a daughter in this world, that she was not suppose to exist here anyway. She was supposed to be dead. Regina held her lifeless body in her arms – how was this twenty three year old woman the same person as her five year old baby girl?

Lucy watched her momentarily, contemplating the answer she was about to give. She could not mention fairytale land, Regina gave her no reason o admit the truth. She had to pretend to be under the curse for the time being. "I really don't remember, it was a long time ago," she admitted. "There was an accident – a car accident? You were hurt, unconscious, and I couldn't wake you up. I was scared. I wandered away from the car, to try to find someone to help. I didn't know where I was going. I blacked out and when I woke up, I was with this old couple. I didn't remember anything. I think I hit my head in the accident." Lucy was lying through her teeth, but she had to. "Looking back, they were a little senile, but they took care of me."

"According to the sheriff's report, you've been living in the forest," Regina stated, still emotionless. The entire time the women spoke, she could only see her Lily's body washed up on that river bank. "So who are you lying to? Me or the sheriff?"

"The sheriff tackled me to the ground," Lucy pointed out. "I wasn't about to tell her the truth – not a big fan of being tackled."

"You had no ID on you."

"And still don't," Lucy added. "Senile," she repeated. "They were afraid that the government would be keeping tabs on them if we all had any form of ID. You don't remember the accident, do you?" she asked, turning the tables.

Now it was Regina's turn to lie. "I remember a drunk driver swerving into my lane, driving us off the road. The car flipped, I hit my head. I woke up in the hospital. When I asked where you were, no one would tell me anything at first," she said. Her voice was barely shaking. The mayor had a front to uphold after all. "I later found out the car caught fire not long after they pulled me out and… that you didn't make it."

Lucy bit down on her lip. "I'm sorry," she murmured. "I… I didn't know."

"But they took care of you," Regina repeated, a little coldly. She was trying to look past this reality. She was trying to figure out what could have happened in fairytale land, but she could not get over one simple fact: Lily had died. This Lucy woman should not even be here.

"Yeah," Lucy mumbled lamely. Regina could see right through her, Lucy was certain of it. "So what is this place?"

"An apartment," Regina replied. "Granny's doesn't allow felons-"

"I'm hardly a-"

"You have a record," Regina interjected. "Considering it's the only hotel in town, I've concluded you've been sleeping in the streets – I couldn't have that. Now, I need to get back to my job. The key is on the kitchen counter. I hope this will break your nasty trespassing habit," she remarked.

Lucy nodded slightly. "Thank you," she murmured.

Regina did not say another word, she dismissed herself. Lucy waited until she heard the front door close before collapsing on the bed again and sighing heavily. The story was now out in the open and it was not just of her own creation – Regina had gone along with it. If possible, her head and chest hurt even more. Her memory, the blank. She was missing something, something important. And Regina – she did all this for her. Granted, sans any real emotion, but… Lucy did not know how to react to all this.

She laid there for a long while, until the scent of warm baked apples and a hint of cinnamon reached her nose. Eyebrows furrowing, Lucy forced herself up and entered the kitchen. As Regina said, there was a key on the counter. Next to it – a freshly made apple pie.

To be continued…