Hey! Again, a huge thank you to everyone for reviewing and following! Hope you like what you read! :)
I do not own OUAT unfortunately.
"She's…Cora?" Aurora choked out, her illness forgotten as she wrapped her mind around a far more frightening threat looming. She looked frightened; so much so that Emma began to wonder if she'd ever be able to wipe that mask of panic off her face. No need to say anything else, she was already on board with whatever scheme Emma wanted to enact.
But, and as Emma had expected, Mulan was not as easily convinced. She was a natural sceptic, which Emma admired because she, too, was hotwired that way. If only she didn't choose that particular moment to show it. She stood upright so as to look down upon the blonde, her towering figure quite threatening against the harsh light of the sun. "And what proof do you have of this?"
"I just know. Trust me on this; I'm not wrong." What Emma didn't factor in was how difficult it would be for someone else to automatically accept her word at face-value. She knew that that Mary Margaret was not her Mary Margaret, the one she knew so well. She was an imposter. And who would be capable of playing such an elaborate switch? Cora. To Emma, it made perfect sense.
Mulan, however, was defiant and refused to entertain her theory without evidence. "You cannot simply assume things about other people without gathering all of the facts first."
"You're one to talk," she scoffed, getting to her feet so that their stares met. There goes her mouth again; seriously, she needed to learn how to take a deep breath before lunging in for the kill. Getting people on her side was not one of her strong suits. She was never really a good 'people person.'
"I'm not sure I follow what you are suggesting."
"What I mean is that you didn't get all the facts about us before you locked us up like prisoners." Worried that she was wasting precious time bickering with the headstrong warrior, Emma laid aside her simmering chagrin and lowered her voice to a whisper again. "Look, I don't know much about this place, but I do know my mother and that woman is not her. Okay? Now, she's going to be back soon and we have to figure out a plan; figure out what to do next."
"Should we confront her?" Funnily enough, Emma didn't see Aurora as the confrontation type, but the steely look in her generally serene eyes seemed to prove that notion incorrect.
"No," Mulan ordered, "we must remain calm, act normal. We must not rouse her suspicion."
"Right, because I'm pretty sure we're all aware that any encounter with Cora isn't going to end up with us holding hands around a campfire." The raised eyebrows and bewildered expressions generated a bitter chuckle from Emma. "I mean, if Cora is here with us that means one thing: she wants us out of the way."
"She's going to kill us?" There was the Aurora Emma had come to know. The girl's breaths became ragged and she gripped onto the log, letting what she hearing sink in. "Then we must put an end to her plans." It wasn't a proposition; it was an absolute. Clearly the princess had had enough of terrible occurrences befalling her and was willing to take action to put an end to it all.
"Woah, easy there," Emma warned. "Before we do anything we have to find out where Mary Margaret is and we can't do that if we're…dead." She paused temporarily to watch the slight breeze ruffle through the grass, the reality of their crisis rising up within her. She closed her eyes, quenching her worries for the time being. "Cora has magic and from what I've seen and heard, magic is unpredictable and always comes with a price and right now we're not in any position to pay any kind of price. We need to be thoughtful; careful."
Maybe it was the situation she was faced with or maybe it was her mother's influence rubbing off on her, but Emma felt far more assured in herself than she had in as long as she could remember. Sure she put up a brave front and demanded to be in control of her own life on countless occasions but never had she felt a sense of purpose before like she did now. Usually she was alone with only herself to take care of, but now she had a family and with that developed a devotion to protect them at any cost.
"You're right," Mulan agreed, clutching her sword. "We need to be vigilant; we must unite against the enemy and save Snow White."
"So you'll help me?"
Aurora and Mulan exchanged a serious glance, reaching an agreement. "Of course," Aurora said, struggling to her feet. "Family is the most important thing a person has." She smiled warmly.
But before Emma could even utter a 'thank you', her whole body stiffened when she caught sight of faux-Mary Margaret ambling toward them, wood and flask in hands. There was an air of arrogance about her and Emma's reasons for hating her continued to grow. "Remember; be natural," she muttered hastily.
"The water is so refreshing," Mary Margaret – no, Cora – said when she reached them and gave Aurora the flask. "You'll feel so much better once you've had a drink."
"Thanks," the princess replied – a little too warily, if you asked Emma. She further noticed her hands shaking as she brought the cup to her mouth, her face relaxing as the liquid slinked down her throat. "That does feel better," she breathed.
"Are we taking rest?" she inquired.
"Uh…" Emma wasn't sure what the answer to that question was; Aurora was still paling as time went on and there was even a hesitancy and a watchfulness as she lowered herself back down onto the log.
"Yes, we'll stop for a half hour before we begin again," Mulan interjected assertively, taking the wood out of her arms and tossing it onto the ground. "I think we'll need more water," she directed to Cora who raised her head at the woman's tone of voice. "And some food for us to eat. Our energy levels are running low."
"Allow me," she offered, smiling sweetly. A sickly sweet smile that made Emma's bones rattle and stomach stir. She wondered what horrible fate Cora had waiting for them, but more importantly for Mary Margaret. Again her fears crept to the surface and the thought of something happening to her made her physically sick. A dizziness enveloped her and she focused all her negative energy onto a tree in the distance so as to keep the feeling at bay. She had to be strong. There was no room for slip-ups and lapses in concentration. "I'll be back soon," she insisted and beamed hollowly at the blonde before skipping on her merry to do whatever it is that villains do.
"What's the plan here?" Aurora probed, taking more sips of water.
"It's simple. We're going to follow her," Emma clarified and Mulan smirked approvingly.
"What good will that do?"
"Every villain has an evil lair, and I'm hoping that Cora will lead us to hers and to Mary Margaret."
She couldn't – no, she wouldn't – say it aloud, but Snow's hope was dwindling. Her best efforts to escape merely manifested into an inanimate, shiny chink on the ground and any progress made after that was practically non-existent. She could try as long as she wanted but the truth was, she hadn't eaten in nearly two days, she was given no water, and the muscles in her arms ached incessantly. There was just no energy left. She hung her head, tired of it all. In fact, the only thing keeping her awake and possibly alive was the belief that Emma was still breathing and as long as that was the truth, she would keep fighting.
Yet as the despair intensified, Snow's memories flashed in front her eyes with one particular, seemingly insignificant moment coming to the fore every time.
It was a relatively recent memory. Emma and Snow were having breakfast like they did every morning; Emma, who was not what you would call a 'morning person', was frowning as she poured her cereal into a bowl and Snow was happily munching on some toast at the table. All of a sudden she felt the urge to ask Emma a personal question and at the time wasn't sure why, but now, thinking back, she realised it was the mother in her fighting to break free.
"Emma," Snow started shyly.
"Yeah?" the blonde asked, assaulting the cereal box as she tossed back in the cupboard.
"What would you say to your parents if you ever found them?"
In her shock, Emma dropped the bowl she was carrying over to the table on the ground, smashing it into pieces and spraying milk all over the floor. "What? Where…where did that come from?"
"I don't…I don't know. I'm just curious. I didn't mean to surprise you so…much. Forget I said anything," she waved off, embarrassed by her prying.
"No, no I'm sorry; it just caught me off, that's all." She pulled out the chair and sat down, ignoring the mess she made; her gaze firmly fixed the door in case she needed a quick exit. Snow waited patiently. "Wow. Well, honestly, I don't know what I would say. I mean, I've imagined hundreds of scenarios in my head and I've devised thousands of speeches but I guess I'll never really know until I'm there in that moment, and I feel whatever I feel. Mostly, I think I'd be…angry. Of course there would be this relief of finally knowing and getting some answers but they did give me away and that's not something I think I could overlook."
Snow remembered being awed at how open Emma was being; it was like she was finally letting her in, finally embracing their friendship – finally showing that she trusted her. She also recalled how angry she was at Emma's parents for giving her up in the first place, despite knowing her frustration was misplaced and now, realizing just how blind she was. Her daughter sat right in front of her and spoke about how hurt she was at being abandoned and yet, there was nothing Snow could do about it. So instead of saying something redundant and have the blonde shrug it off as no big deal, Snow did the only thing she thought fit: she reached across the table and took Emma's hand, which invited a warm smile off the woman.
Snow could tell – and feel – that Emma still harboured feelings of resentment and bitterness now even though she had found her parents and even after what she said in the nursery, and Snow figured that it would be a very long time before those impressions would dissolve.
And that was why she needed to be with her. This was the most crucial time in their mother-daughter relationship and Emma was out there in the forest with someone who couldn't be further from Snow White even if she tried her hardest; someone who was probably going out of their way to make Emma feel unloved or undeserving of her time. And nothing riled Snow more.
Her heart thumped violently in her chest, blood pumped in her ears and all she could picture was Cora ripping out her daughter's heart. Impulsively, she threw everything she had into another attempt at cracking her shackles, her rage rippling through every sinew, ligament, tendon, and muscle. And for that moment it was as if nothing else existed except for Snow, those chains and that one beam of light emitting from the ceiling in amidst the enshrouding darkness. Love was going to conquer, good was going to win.
And as her cry of sweat and strength bounced off the offending walls, a fracture appeared on the already damaged shackle and Snow managed to summon up enough power to pump her hand one more time to break through the stronghold. She gasped loudly in realization and marvelled at her hand as if was some foreign part that belonged to someone else entirely. Raising it up and down in front of her eyes, she scrutinised the bruises that marred her wrist and flinched when she tried to clench her fist. It would take a little while to get the strength back into that.
Hoping, she inspected the other shackle but found it to be fully intact, showing no sign of faltering. She pushed again and again but alas, no progress was made and the euphoric feeling she had felt swept away leaving her in a much more desolate place.
Suddenly, a loud crash rang from the darkness and Snow was catapulted back against the wall, her once free hand securely locked into place with a new metal cell. She panted in her confusion and fear, shifting her gaze back and forth between her hands, tears rolling down her cheeks. She struggled and struggled but she had nothing left.
"You weren't thinking of escaping, were you?" Cora's voice travelled through the gloom, snapping Snow's attention back to reality. She peered into the blackness awaiting her adversary.
Emma, Mulan and Aurora jogged through the forest, following what little of a trail was left of Cora. She had only left less than a minute before they took off behind her, relying on Mulan's stealth and observation and attempting to use Emma's wrath to their advantage. They weaved their way through, watching the footprints ahead of them as they melted into the soft earth, being as silent as possible. Despite Aurora's lack of enthusiasm for anything to do with the outdoors and trekking and her ailment, she was alive in the bush and just as involved as the other two. Emma couldn't help but be somewhat proud of her and amazed to see that the girl had grown such a strong attachment to them; so much so that she was ready to fight for them. She must remind herself to show her appreciation later.
They continued on until Mulan halted abruptly, flinging her arm out in front of Emma. She put a finger to her lips signalling them to keep quiet, and drew her sword, swiping at loose branches. With a few baby steps forward, the three of them uncertainly crept, their shoulders tensed in anticipation. The footprints had disappeared and there was no sign of any other movement in the area. The trail had gone cold.
"I don't understand; how can the trail just end?" Aurora asked. "People don't just vanish."
"Yeah, most people can't, but Cora can. She used magic and now we have no idea where she is or where Mary Margaret is," Emma said, fury surfacing.
"No, we still have the upper hand, here. She doesn't know that we suspect anything."
"That we know of," Emma interrupted.
"That we know of," Mulan repeated. "But I may have an idea of where she is."
"You do?" Aurora said, stunned by this piece of information.
Emma crossed her arms, not exactly in the mood for small talk. "Spill."
"Long ago I heard talk amongst people over what happened between Cora and Regina. I don't have many specifics but I do know that Regina wanted her overbearing mother out of her life and so, she exercised drastic measures to achieve this."
"And those drastic measures were…?"
Mulan scrunched her face, unhappy with the interference. "There were rumours of a…mirror."
"A mirror?" The blonde's eyebrows shot up. "Is that supposed to be code for something?"
The warrior rolled her eyes theatrically. "Not just any mirror; a magic mirror that has the power to transport anything and anyone to another realm. It has been told that Regina sent her mother through a mirror just like this."
"Well that certainly is drastic," Emma confirmed, "but how does that tell us where she is now?"
"There are whispers that the mirror still exists…in Regina's castle. And if Cora is sneaking around, my guess is that she is trying to find a portal back to your land."
"So, you're saying that she could be at Regina's castle with the magical mirror?"
"That's the best guess I have."
There was no time for hesitation; Emma had to make the decision to take a leap of faith and go with Mulan's suggestion or continue to follow a ghost. "Me, too. Let's go."
"Quite frankly, I'm impressed that you broke loose," Cora said mockingly, her silhouette eerie and foreboding. "But did you really think that I wasn't coming back?"
"Cora, what do you want? If you want to kill me then what's stopping you, huh? I'm glued to a wall; there's no out for me."
"Sweet, sweet Snow White, again you miss the most obvious and pivotal plot point. You need to feel the suffering I feel every day at losing my daughter and you, my precious, are going to live with the knowledge that your daughter died by your own hands – or what she thinks are your hands. I didn't come here for a social visit; I came here to tell you that I have bided my time long enough but now it is time for me to move forward." She stepped into the shaft of light. "Is there anything you would like me to tell her before I…execute my plan?"
What did you think? Please be honest! Too much? Too little? Boring? Exciting? I hope you all enjoyed it and please, please review! :)