Chapter 16.
Emma swung her legs over the edge of the playground platform. This was the quietest place she could find in a town that she had found was staring at her as she had passed through it. She had thought her life was complicated before she had come to Storybrooke; what a joke, this place, these people had turned everything upside down.
She knew it made sense for her to be mad at Regina for taking her away from her parents; but the truth was when she'd got to about sixteen and her parents still hadn't pulled her out of her shitty life she decided it was easier to hate them instead. It was hard for her to be mad at Regina when she didn't even know if she liked yet alone loved her parents.
She groaned as she lay her back over the wooden planks that made up a small bridge.
"Hey," a voice sounded from the ground.
Emma grabbed her knee's and pulled herself up, spotting Belle, "Oh, hey," she tried to give a smile.
"You okay?" Belle asked.
Emma shrugged, "Sure, why wouldn't I be?"
"Well, it's a big day for all of us…including you," Belle spoke so gently, Emma didn't even know if she was aware she was doing it, "The whole saviour thing must kinda freak you out."
Emma frowned, "What? Mary Margaret…Snow, whatever, used that word earlier too…" she mused.
"Oh," Belle's smile faltered, "It's what we called you, I guess. You were prophesized to come back and save us from the curse, our land's saviour."
"Saviour," Emma wrapped her tongue around the word slowly before sighing, "I'm no hero," she replied quietly, "You and your friends will realise that pretty quickly."
Belle smiled again, "Hero doesn't always mean what we think it means. In this world, hero can mean almost anything."
Emma shook her head, "Yeah, but villain means Regina, right? And I'm with her, so," she shrugged.
Belle laughed, "I'm sorry, I forget you don't know," she explained, "That man with me this morning? You know him as Mr Gold? That's Rumplestiltskin and he used to be seen as evil too, well some people still don't trust him but I see the good in him. I love him. People know that and it makes them a little more accepting."
Emma pursed her lips as she thought, "Oh. It's just…everyone seems to really, really hate Regina. She told me about what she was like in your land…" she trailed off a moment, looking to Belle for confirmation.
Belle nodded, "She was pretty…awful. Rumple actually taught her most of what she knows," she shrugged, "Anyway, I'm just saying I know what it's like to be with someone who has a dark side."
"Rumple taught Regina?" Emma leaned forward curiously, "So what made him go good then? Was it you?"
Belle blushed, "No… I mean, he didn't 'go good', there was always good inside of him, he just didn't know how to, or have a reason… I think he found it easier to be the Dark One," she finished.
"Dark One?" Emma asked.
"It's complicated," Belle frowned, "The Dark One is a title for Rumple now…a title he took from someone else… it's kind of this dark, magical entity that was feared above all else in our land."
"Wow," Emma's eyes were wide, "That's full on," was all she could think to say.
Belle smiled, "Yeah, I suppose," she agreed, "Mind if I sit?"
Emma shuffled over on the bridge as Belle climbed up, "Course not. So, can I ask you something?"
Belle nodded.
"Do you think he could return to being evil…even if he's been good for so long?" Emma asked reservedly, clenching her jaw.
Belle sighed, "I think anyone can do bad things, don't you? But I guess," she pondered for a moment, "some people are more susceptible to evil than others… I don't know Regina very well, but I've heard the stories, mostly from Rumple, and I think for both of them actually, they dealt with their issues in life through dark magic, and that seems to be somehow addictive and it gets into their everything…their soul, their habits, it's how they cope… But I don't think even evil can completely force out the good from anyone."
Emma smiled, "Optimist, huh?"
Belle smiled, "Naïve, some might say, but I do like to believe that good, that love can overpower any evil."
"Hmm," Emma hummed.
"Does that sound stupid?" Belle asked sheepishly.
"It sounds like something from a fairy tale," Emma muttered, just as embarrassed, "Oh… Rumple is your beast. Beauty and the beast."
Belle quirked an eyebrow.
Emma shrugged, "That's what your tale is called in this land, beauty and the beast. The beautiful woman who turns the evil beast good, I mean, it's simplified obviously, but it's what you were saying."
Belle nodded, "I suppose it kind of is. So, for you to break the curse…with Regina…it must be true love?" now it was Belle who looked curious.
Emma bit her bottom lip, "She's pretty amazing," she found herself saying, before she blushed and looked at her hands, "I mean, she makes me feel like the most important person in the world and she gets me and she is so beautiful, I mean we don't have women like that in the real world, we just don't and…" she stopped, looking at an amused Belle, "I'm sorry," she shook her head, "Sorry."
Belle smiled, "It's okay. It's nice. I knew she had good in her, she just needed someone to see it."
Emma laughed, "You've really got that optimist thing down, huh?"
"So what about your parents? Have you had the chance to talk to them?"
The blonde groaned again, "I don't know. A little, they tried to convince me Regina is trying to use me and I stormed out. Mature, right?"
"It must be hard, though," Belle acknowledged, "You should give them a chance, though. Not everybody is as optimistic as me," she grinned, "It might take the rest of town a while longer to realise that Regina is trying to be good. I mean, you're Snow White's daughter, you have no idea how much that helps."
Emma shifted in her spot, "Yeah, I'm still trying to get a hold on this whole being the daughter of fairy tale's character thing, it's…kind of a big deal."
"Well, you're the girlfriend of a fairy tale character, right? What's the difference?" Belle questioned, before adding, "I mean, the evil queen, she's in these fairy tale's right?"
Emma nodded slowly, thinking, "Yeah, she is," she replied distractedly, "Maybe you're right. I should give them another shot…without being so hot-tempered."
"Emma," Belle said seriously, "It's understandable, you're under a lot of stress. I mean, completely unbeknown to you, you entered into the middle of some family feud that you knew nothing about, you didn't even know the family. Maybe you just need to slow down and give yourself time to process things a while," she delivered this speech tenderly.
Emma nodded, again lost in thought.
Emma walked in the door, putting her keys down and making her way into the kitchen. She smiled at the sight of Regina tending to something on the stove; she always cooked when she was stressed. Emma lent against the bench and watched her, until Regina turned to face her.
Regina whispered an apology before she threw her fists into Emma's chest, earning a pained gasp.
"Regina," Emma whimpered, "What are you doing?"
"I'm sorry, Emma, but I can't lose you," Regina almost had to choke out her words.
"You won't, you can't. I love you, you don't need to do this," Emma pleaded through the pain.
Regina's eyes clouded over as she removed the emotion from her expression, "I love you too, and now you will be mine, no matter who tries to interfere with us," she pulled her lover's heart out and let it beat in her hand.
Emma stared at it wide eyed, "You know it's true love," she tried, "You couldn't have broken the curse if it wasn't."
Regina's eyes widened this time, "How do you know that? I never told you true love was the only thing that would break the curse."
Emma shrugged, "Belle said something about it, it's true, isn't it?"
Regina stared at the beating heart in her hand, "Yes, it's true."
"So then, you know I really love you?" Emma pressed.
Regina nodded, "Yes, I know that," she agreed.
"Then you don't need my heart," Emma concluded, trying to lead the mayor to a sensible end.
"Just because you love me…doesn't mean you will never leave me," Regina said stonily.
"Regina, don't you see? I just want to be with you, it's all I want. I walked out on my parents today because they wouldn't accept you. I let you keep me here in this house for a month without complaining, it drives me crazy sometimes how much and how blindly I love you. I just want to drown in you, but please, let me do it with my heart. Let me show you," the blonde couldn't hold back the lump in her throat any longer and let a couple of tears trickle out of her eyes.
Regina stared at the woman in front of her for minutes on end, with those big pleading eyes, professing her intense love for the brunette.
"You don't mean that," she said eventually, quietly, "You will want to know your parents eventually. You know that."
Emma thought about debating but sighed, "Maybe. Okay, yes, probably. I mean, I have questions for them, sure. But I haven't needed them for twenty eight years and I don't need their relationship advice now."
Regina unintentionally squeezed the heart in her hands as she made to clench her fists and Emma dropped onto her knee's, holding her chest in pain. Regina quickly loosened her grip.
"No, Emma, I'm sorry," guilt-ridden she helped the blonde up, "Family is a strong connection…especially for people like the Charming's."
Emma nodded, "So is true love," she shot back, "You know what has more control than you taking my heart?"
Regina frowned and shook her head, "What?"
"Me giving you my heart," Emma smiled, "And I don't mean the stupid organ beating in your hand."
Regina pulled her bottom lip into her mouth as she pondered, "I just want you to stay," she whispered.
"And I want to stay. We can do this, prove you're good, to this town, together."
"I don't care about this town, Emma," she used her free hand to stroke the younger woman's cheek, "As long as you know."
"I do," Emma held the hand tighter against her face, "You are good, Regina. I see it in you every day," she believed it too.
Regina let out a sob as her hand dropped from Emma's face and silently thrust the heart back into Emma's chest, "If you ever leave me…" she attempted to threat but her wavering tone exposed her fear.
"I won't," Emma whispered, "Just let me love you."
"We could make her choose," Snow suggested, "Give Regina the kingdom and – "
"We can't unleash her on the kingdom, Snow," Charming exclaimed.
"Well, then we can find a way to trap her there," Snow said angrily, "Something!"
Charming sighed, "Snow, if we make her choose between her girlfriend or us right now, who do you think she's going to choose?"
"We're family," Snow replied hotly.
"A family she doesn't even know," Charming reiterated gently, "And clearly she more than knows Regina right now."
"You know that's only because she's got our daughter's heart," tears stung Snow's eyes, "That's the only explanation."
Charming pondered for only a moment, "I don't disagree, but until we know – "
"Until we know?" Snow asked, "Why else would our daughter, the savior fall in love with Regina, she is pure evil. You forget how well I know her."
Charming frowned, "You knew Regina before she was the evil queen… She had good in her, didn't she?"
Snow frowned, "I thought so once… but I was wrong. David, she locked us all in this place, without any memories of who we were or who we loved, for twenty eight years. I'm sure it would have been longer if she could have had it that way."
Charming sighed, "Hm. Look, I think we need to get our priorities here, we need to talk to the town – "
"She's our daughter, for – "
"I know," it wasn't often the Charming's had a yelling fight but pressure was at it's highest point after the curse broke so instead of a happy reunion of true love, they were fighting over the kitchen table, "I know, darling, but for now, all we can do is give her time to cool down while we have a meeting with the town about what happens next."
"Red, hey," Snow hugged her friend tightly.
"Snow, it's so good to see you," Red returned the embrace enthusiastically, "Can you believe all this?"
"I know, it's crazy, we're just trying to get some kind of order…" Snow looked over at her husband who was talking to a crowd.
"And your daughter, have you talked to her? You know, Belle and I saw her in town the other day but I mean, we had no idea…"
"Yeah, well how would you?" Snow smiled briefly.
"So? How is she?" Red pressed her friend for details.
Snow shook her head, throwing up her hands, "It's complicated. We had lunch today," she nodded, "And we really screwed it up. We told her not to be with Regina."
"Hm, well, that's understandable, right?" Ruby raised her eyebrows in question.
"Not according to her… She says it's true love," Snow couldn't have looked unhappier.
"With the Evil Queen?" Ruby looked sceptical, "Surely you're not going to let them stay together?"
"Well," Snow looked around before leaning in, "Are you up for a mission?"
Red's face lit up, "Totally, return of bandit Snow?" she smirked.
Snow rolled her eyes, "Sure, but top secret, okay?" she looked over at her husband guiltily.
Red nodded, "Okay, sure, I can keep a secret. So what's the game?"
"We're going to break into Regina's vault and find my daughter's heart," Snow had a glint in her eye that until now, this town had never seen.
Red nodded slowly, before her face broke into an excited grin; she needed some adventure back in her life, "Game on."