Title: Vengeance, Sacrifice, and Forgiveness
Author: AoN
Word Count: 4,300
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 curse weakening and Regina struggling to keep Storybrooke under control, hidden secrets and lies from a distant land surface with the arrival of a stranger from her past, thought to have perished long ago – and they want their happily ever after.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The gunshots were still ringing loudly in their ears. Both sorceresses conveyed annoyance: one unable to believe that the idiotic sheriff could even entertain the foolish idea that an ancient power could be brought down so easily and the other could not even comprehend that the same sheriff would try twice. Mortals in this realm were not exactly bright, Maleficent was learning, and she caught herself almost thanking Regina for keeping her away from such stupidity.
Almost.
As glowing yellow eyes grew brighter, Lucy's expression mirrored that of Emma's, both shell-shocked and color draining from their faces at the sight of the transformation. Dragons were supposed to only be things of fairytales, and even then: Lucy had never seen one herself; she had only heard stories, whereas Emma was trying to grasp the idea that she was currently living in one.
Both Emma's and Lucy's eyes grew even wider as the beast's wingspan expanded, indicating that they were full well over their heads. What sort of damage could a modern day sheriff and a powerless former princess who couldn't even transform herself do to harm a dragon that could so easily end them in one simple whip of the tail or a breath of fire? Lucy, unfortunately, had been taken here. This was a situation she would have found herself in regardless; Emma, on the other hand, came to the mines on her own free will. Emma could have avoided the danger they found themselves in, but she came here. Why?
As the dragon drew her neck back, her head recoiled and her chest cavity began to glow a burning white with flickers of yellow and orange as it began to expand. Now was not the time for questions, far from it. The dragon's nostrils flared with smoke and Lucy felt the panic rising. There would be no escape this time, the dragon made clear, as she stood tall over them. The dragon drew in its breath. Lucy knelt down and threw her arms over her head in a pathetic attempt to protect herself, as if arms covered by a worn leather jacket could protect her against burning firing.
Lucy felt the heat of the flames draw near, but the burning of flesh and intense pain that she dreadfully expected did not follow. Lowering her arms, Lucy peered up. The sight caused a sigh of relief to escape her, if only for a short moment. The flames were trying to hurl down upon them, but they were being held back, forced back by a bluish wave – a force field.
Lucy turned to Emma, who was all right – stunned, but all right. She followed Emma's wide gaze, to the woman standing in front of them both. For a split second, Lucy saw her, the woman from the bleak river, the Evil Queen was wielding magic. The hair on the back of Lucy's neck stood on end. She could almost smell the decaying flesh of the former king, his breathe on her skin that made it crawl as he tried to warn his once pervious daughter against the danger she faced, but his mangled vocal cords would not give voice to words.
The imaginary scent was quickly making Lucy sick to her stomach, as was the vision of blackening, rotting flesh. None of its real, Lucy reminded herself. It was all in her mind, all from that dream realm, the realm in between worlds that could not harm her here. No, another entity, one so incredibly real, was currently more than capable of harming not only her, but also the family that not long ago she did not believe she even had. She had to pull herself together. She had to-
"What do we do?" Emma's voice brought her crashing back down into reality.
Lucy saw Emma eyeing the tunnel that would lead them to the exit, to a possible safety. It was Emma's instinct to flee. When things grew difficult, it was the time to run. Lucy had the same animalistic instinct, one that had taken ages to ignore, to overcome and cling onto the fact that, although she had been on four legs, she was still human, very capable of staring down a werewolf, or a dragon in this case.
She then turned to Regina again, who had now sunk down onto one knee as her extended arms shook. She was struggling to keep the barrier up; their protection was fading fast, but there was no end in sight for the flames above. Regina's eyebrows knitted together and her eyes closed tightly. She was not about to give up. She was trying her best, as she always did, to protect the little girl who had captured her heart so long ago, the little girl that still had it.
Underneath the Evil Queen exterior that Regina had created to shield herself, hid the mother. Lucy was ashamed of questioning that presence.
They were not running.
Emma had placed her gun in its holster on her belt and stood a bit taller, indicating to Lucy that she, too, had reached the same conclusion.
Regina lowered her head as she grinded her teeth together. This was the most magic she had used in coming close to three decades. Her control was not how it once used to be. They were running out of time and they were still without a plan.
"Get out of here!" Regina shouted, not bothering to look up. Why should they all fall prey to Maleficent when there was a chance for two of them to escape.
Lucy's shoulders fell at what Regina was suggesting. The very little remainders of the Evil Queen's façade had vanished.
"Lily, run-"
"We're not running," Emma stated, approaching the glass coffin. She pushed back the rare childhood memories spent listening to these fairytales, how in the end Prince Charming came to Snow White's side and saved her with true love's kiss. It all happened in this coffin. It had been her parents – no, Emma quickly shook the idea out of her head, not ready to accept all this just yet, even with a dragon breathing fire down their necks. Kneeling down, Emma picked up the sword that had fallen from Lucy's grasp. "Can you use magic?"
"What?"
"Magic," Emma repeated. "You can transform into a wolf – can't you use magic?"
"I-" Lucy began, shaking her head. She glanced back up towards the dragon, whose breath was now dying out. All those daydreams that entertained the often bedridden Lily came rushing back: the noble teddy bear, the dragon slayer, flying through the air to deliver the final blow in order to save the village people. It was the same teddy bear that the young Lily played with in that never-ending grassy field with her grandmother, who showed her such a fun little trick, one that Lily had quickly picked up. She remembered Regina being upset, telling her princess not to do it again. It was one of the few times Lily did not listen to her mother. Watching the stuffed animal dance had been so much fun and Lily would often magic the toy itself when no wandering eyes were present.
But Emma was not exactly a teddy bear, far from it, and this dragon was not imaginary either. Not to mention, how long had it been since-
"Well?" Emma snapped.
Before Lucy could protest the idea, she found herself saying yes.
"Good," Emma replied. "Because we're up."
As the fire above them flickered out, so did their surrounding force field. The dragon began to draw in her breath, granting them their small window of opportunity. Regina's arms fell to her side, feeling as heavy as lead. Emma charged towards the beast, holding the blade at her side, not entirely sure how one should wield a blade – isn't this how they did it in the movies?
Emma leapt into the air, raising the sword above her head. She felt herself begin to fall, as did her hope behind their makeshift plan.
Lucy had thrown out her hand, just as she had seen many times before, but nothing happened. "No," she murmured under her breath, throwing out her hand out once again as Emma began to land from her jump. All of a sudden though, Emma was whisked back up into the air. Lucy's eyes widened – it worked, but why didn't she feel anything?
She quickly realized why when she heard a muffled cry. Regina had lifted herself slightly from the ground; her stance mimicked that of Lucy's. The magic had not been Lucy's, not at all. Instead, it was Regina's. Regina was helping the one person destined to destroy everything she had worked so hard to accomplish.
As Emma gained momentum and soared over the unexpecting dragon, she lifted the sword over her head. Emma threw all her strength into one swift motion. She swung the blade forward. The sharp edge connected with the dragon's scaly neck, slicing cleanly through muscle and bone, instantly putting an end to any form of future term.
Regina collapsed as soon as Emma's feet touched the ground.
"Mother?"
xxxx
"What does it mean?"
"It's a way home – back to our realm!"
"Where's the witch that did this to us?"
Storybrooke's main street had turned into chaos. With memories restored, the citizens had poured into the town's center, demanding answers. What they were met with was even more damage to their quaint previously cursed town. The crack that had run along main street in the aftermath of the frequent earthquakes had turned into a fissure, a deep purple glow shinning from within. It was magic, it had to be. It was a way back to their enchanted forest, but none had summoned the necessary bravery to prove it true.
"Let's go home!"
"We've been here long enough!"
"Death to the queen!"
From the outdoor porch of the diner, Granny watched the growing group, shaking her head. It was much easier to bark and squawk, but to take action? There wasn't a leader among them capable of carefully proceeding onto the next step, whatever it may be. She watched as a few people moved dangerously close to the edge of the crack, nearly basking in the purple wispy fog emerging from its source, unknowing if it could pull them in, harm them in anyway. They didn't know what they were up against. This was the Wolf all over again. Some people didn't learn.
"Idiots," Granny murmured, shaking her head in disapproval.
"Isn't it the same way we reacted when we woke?" Ruby asked, walking up to Granny's side. "We were upset too, but we didn't have this gapping hole or-"
"This mob mentality," Granny added, keeping her eyes on the growing crowd. "It will get someone killed, Red. Snow and Charming shouldn't have taken off from the hospital. We need them here."
"I know. I know," Ruby agreed, folding her arms over her chest as she shifted on her feet. "But Emma did go after a dragon, blindly, and after Regina as well."
Granny looked over at her granddaughter who was watching the crowd intently. They both knew something had to be done, but Granny could also tell something else was bothering her. "You wanted to go after them too." It wasn't a guess and as Ruby's jaw clenched, along with her fits, Granny knew she was correct.
"That beast killed my friend."
"Revenge is never the answer."
"I know," Ruby answered. "Which is why I didn't go. I wouldn't have been able to control myself."
"Red."
"They need guidance – a leader," Ruby spoke up, pointing out the obvious. "We were part of Snow's war council – maybe they'll listen to us. I can't stand around not doing anything anymore. If we do, a riot will break out and we don't need that."
Before Granny could remark, Ruby had already gone forward, walking from the edge of the sidewalk onto the street. She knew Granny would not follow after her, although she would have normally expected her to, crossbow ready in hand. Instead, Granny lingered behind because they were both aware that behind them, from inside the dinner, peeking over the usually bright and fluorescent, but now off 'open' sign was Henry. They had promised, in one way or another, to keep him safe. Lingering behind him was the patient they had found in the room, locked up, next to where David was being held. Belle was her name, and she was looking for Rumpelstilskin – Mr. Gold. He was nowhere to be found and she had nowhere else to go. She couldn't just stay in the mental ward.
Right now, there was nothing safer than a crossbow-wielding Granny.
Ruby came to the edge of the forming crowd and cranked her neck up in an attempt to see over them. She could push her way to the edge, but what good would that do? Would they listen to what she had to say from there or simply push her over to see if it truly was a way back to their homeland?
She would hear Granny's silent warning: mob mentality, Red. Don't get yourself killed.
Slowly, Ruby took a couple steps back, ignoring the sporadic chanting of wishing death upon the curse's caster and cries of missing loved ones. She needed to their attention. For a moment, Ruby turned away from the crowd, eyes landing upon a sloppily parked pick up truck in the middle of the lane.
It was enough to give her the boost she needed.
With a bit of a running start, Ruby jumped and lifted herself into the truck's bed, granting herself a better view of their current mess. She was also able to see it for herself: the glowing fissure, a possible way home –
Ruby quickly shook her head. Now was not the time to start thinking like them. They could not be sure what this was. It could easily be a trap created by the curse breaker – a way for the Evil Queen to still win even if she did lose.
She brought two fingers up to her mouth and whistled loudly, a feat she learned from Granny, one louder than any howler she could muster – well, in this form anyway.
The whistle torn through the loud commotion, bring forth a murmuring wave and then silence in only a matter of seconds. With confused glares, mixed with rightfully placed anger, they started to turn around, eyes landing on Ruby.
Ruby felt her throat become incredibly dry at the sight of the crowd turning to watch her, mixed emotions plastered on their faces. The previous time she stood before a crowd, or even among one, they were discussing killing the wolf, unknowning that the wolf was actually among them. Now was not the time to allow fear to get the better of her.
"Listen," Ruby spoke up. "I know that we are all afraid, angry, even, but we can't lose our heads. We need to remain calm. We need to stay away from that-"
"It's our way home!" someone shouted back.
"We can't be sure of that," Ruby replied. "It could as equally be a dangerous trap. We don't know and we can't, we won't risk any lives."
"The queen! Send her through – there's a life willing to risk!"
They were bloodthirsty for a revenge they rightfully deserved. Ruby expected this. "We don't know where Regina is," Ruby answered. "Our priority right now is to determine our next step and-"
"Go after the queen!"
It was like talking to a brick wall. How did Snow and Charming deal with this? Then again, they commanded more attention and respect than she did. She was not part of the royal family, she was not a princess.
"If our memories have returned, we should also assume that her magic has as well, for our own safety," Ruby pointed out. "We have to assume that the queen is equally as dangerous as that fissure. Until we can find Snow and Charming, keep your heads low. Don't do anything rash. We all want to be reunited with our loved ones and we soon will be, but I have to ask for all of us to be separated for a little while longer, until we can figure this all out," she stated, turning her attention away from the crowd for a moment to look back at Granny who stood there, crossbow in hand while she nodded.
xxxx
"Mother?"
Lucy knelt down next to the fallen Regina and carefully scooped her into her arms and lap, mindful of the burn injury on her hand. Panic was quickly rising in Lucy's chest, making it harder and harder to breath. She could feel herself reverting back into the lost little girl she had once been, wandering the forest for the first time on all fours, at night. She tried so hard to call out of her dear mother for help, to come save her baby princess from the scary darkness, but her mother never answered. Long, loud howls to the moon had gone unanswered.
And Lucy felt just like that now, crying long and loud without a response.
"Mother," Lucy stated, shaking her lightly.
Emma dragged the tip of the sword against the rocky ground as she walked up to Lucy's side. "What's wrong?" she asked, kneeling down besides her.
"She collapsed and – and- and- she's not responding-"
"She's breathing, it's okay," Emma reassured.
"She's-"
"She's okay," Emma repeated.
"She saved us," Lucy said.
"What? But you-"
"I didn't," Lucy replied, looking up at Emma for a moment before returning her concern to Regina. "I thought that I could, but I couldn't – it was her. It was Regina."
There was no retort, no comment, not that Lucy had expected one for that matter. It had been a lot for Lucy to take in, it was even more for someone who had been accustomed to their world – to magic, dragons, princes, and princesses. It was one thing to be told you're the child of Prince Charming and Snow White, characters of fables, but it's another to behead a dragon – a sorceress from another tale no less – while being propelled through the air by a wave of magic from the witch who poisoned your supposed mother.
Stories were black and white. This – reality – it wasn't. Reality was many shades of gray. The book painted an either or picture. Good and evil. No in-betweens. No Evil Queens saving the savior who was prophesied to bring upon her end. The town's people would not see it that way.
"Then she overexerted herself," Emma reassured, whether it was herself for Henry's sake or just Lucy, she wasn't entirely sure.
"That's rather obvious," Lucy snapped.
"No," Emma snapped back. "You don't get to be-"
"I don't get to be what?" Lucy dared to question. The sheriff demeanor had vanished. Lucy had seen it fade before, seen Emma's temper get just a bit of the better of her – when they first met, when Emma arrested her and she refused to be compliant to any degree. It had been an annoyance. Lucy refused to provide her name. It had been a simple question. There was a supposed simple answer. However, at the time of the questioning, there wasn't. She didn't have a name, not one she was comfortable using. She used the first to come to mind, one from her childhood.
There was no longer any form of professionalism.
"My life has been turned upside down!" Emma hissed. "Werewolves, magic, and dragons-"
"- are the least of your worries right now, Emma," Lucy interjected. "The curse is broken. That's how she was able to properly use magic."
"The Evil Queen using magic-"
"You, sheriff, unknowningly, have an entire town that's realizing they've been cursed and separated from their loved ones for the last twenty eight years, but it was supposed to last for all time," Lucy pointed out. "You're going to have an angry mob on your hands."
"They have the right to be angry. I have the right to be angry," Emma replied, pointing to herself and then to Regina. "She did this to everyone."
"What about the person who did it to her, Emma?" Lucy questioned. "Does she get the right to be angry too?"
A moment of silence stretched between them. Lucy waited for an answer, a snappy comeback, or remark, but one never came. "We're not too different, Emma – me and you."
"One of us can't turn into a wolf. That's a pretty big difference," Emma mumbled.
"We're both princesses who've been taken away from our families," Lucy explained. "Both forced to live lives never meant for us."
"What are you getting at?" Emma asked. "That we share a connection? That we can relate to one another? You were born into this whole world-"
"So were you."
"It was never mine."
"But it's part of you," Lucy pointed out. "Before this, everything I told you – shown you, things people would call crazy, be certain that I was lying, you believed me. Not only me, but Henry."
"I like I told Henry, there's a difference between-"
"And now you know that difference is no longer there."
"What are you getting at?" Emma repeated.
"I need your help, Emma," Lucy stated. "You're the savior, the long awaited princess. They'll believe you. They'll listen to you."
Emma bit back a short laugh. "Listen to me?" she said, raising her eyebrows. "About what?" she asked, watching as Lucy turned back to Regina. "About her? Against an angry mob?"
Before Lucy could respond, Regina shifted against her, stirred. Slowly, her eyes fluttered opened and she winced. Lucy didn't move, she was frozen in place, as was Emma who was still processing the impossible request. Regina parted her lips, attempting to give voice to a simple statement.
"We're okay," Lucy reassured with a faint smile. "You saved us."
The corners of Regina's lips twitched slightly as she reached up and placed a gentle hand against Lucy's cheek. "You're alive," her voice cracked. Immediately, Lucy closed her eyes tightly, an attempt to hold back the stinging tears. She placed her hand on top of Regina's and turned her head slightly to place a small kiss upon it.
"You've always been my strong little princess," Regina said in a voice barely above a whisper. "I'm so sorry."
"You didn't know," Lucy murmured, shaking her head. "I never came back home."
Feeling uncomfortable, Emma turned around and took a few steps away, distancing herself from the mother daughter duo. It was a reunion she had imagined for herself, among many other scenarios, but her first reaction in facing the woman who was supposedly her mother was to run, run as fast as she could in the opposite direction. That was also her first reaction when she met Henry until she took a moment to collect herself. Had she not, perhaps her life would still entail being a bondsman instead of… all this.
Emma caught herself wondering if Regina ever called Henry her strong little prince. She probably did. As much as Henry tried to convince her otherwise, Regina loved him. There was no pretending, regardless of who Regina was. Emma had seen her interact with the kid, seen how put together the kid, himself, was. Lucy didn't have to convince her otherwise about Regina.
"Can you stand up?" Lucy stuttered. "We can't stay here. They'll notice Emma's gone."
"Don't worry about me, Lily."
"They're going to come for you a-and, there's so much we have to talk about," Lucy admitted. "I'm not leaving you here."
"We're not leaving anyone here," Emma agreed, returning to Lucy's side. Time was not on their side, that much was certain. Mary Margaret and Ruby both knew that she was down here. They'd soon be after her, to make sure she was all right, right? Is that how a proper family worked?
Emma held her hand out towards Regina who glared at it, a bit unwilling to accept her help. Some things, under no circumstances, never changed, especially the mayor's lack of fondness for the sheriff.
"Ms. Swan, you have no reason to help me."
"Sheriff Swan," Emma corrected, extending her hand out a little further to Regina. "And I do. Henry."
Regina continued to glare at Emma's hand in slight disgust. She leaned up slightly; Lucy leaned in against her, anything to help her gain even just a little bit of balance. Regina reached out and took a hold of Emma's wrist. Emma grabbed a hold of hers in return. "…What exactly is your plan, Sheriff?"
With a tight grasp, Emma helped hoist Regina back up onto her feet. Regina staggered forward. Lucy, who was quick to get back up herself, grabbed a hold of her. "I'm fine, dear," Regina murmured, standing a bit straighter. "Well, Sheriff?" she asked again.
"I'm not sure yet," Emma answered honestly.
To be continued.