Chapter 15
When Regina woke the next morning, she found Emma standing at the window staring down in the harbor below. A single cup of coffee in her hand, she seemed lost in her thoughts. It was barely eight thirty and hardly time for such deep thought for the sheriff. Regina looked at her from the bed and wondered what had her so upset.
"Dear?"
"Sorry, did I wake you?"
"No, I used to getting up early. I have a town to run, remember? And, I had a son to get ready for school. I don't exactly sleep in. You should know that by now.'
"I know. I do. I am sorry."
"What are you sorry for?" Regina asked her.
"I've been thinking."
"That is a dangerous habit for a Charming."
"I know."
"Emma, I was joking," she replied getting up off the bed and walked across the room to her.
"I know."
"What is it, Dear?"
"Do you think we are doing the right thing?" Emma asked, suddenly turning around on her.
"What do you mean?"
"With Coraline? Are we doing the right thing? Or, should we let her do this alone?"
"I am not sure I understand your question," Regina told her.
"Do you think that we should be forcing her back to Storybrooke?"
"She needs us," Regina stated defensively.
"I am not saying she doesn't, Regina. But, she doesn't know us. She is looking for something that I am not sure that we can give her. Don't look at me like that. I want to fight. I want to stop this new curse because it seems that we can never just have a peaceful happily ever after ever with our lineages. I've come to grips with that, but that doesn't mean that I want it for my children. She has fought so much…"
"I know that."
"And, now, we are asking her to fight more."
"She is asking us to fight alongside her, Emma. And, I would go back with her if I thought it would help, but I know that if I did that it would cause her not to be born. I don't want to lose your and Henry, but I don't want to lose her either. I will fight and will continue fighting until that fateful day. Please don't ask me not to," Regina explained.
"I am not asking you that. I am wondering if we shouldn't just let her come back when she wants. She isn't looking into your history, Regina. She's looking into mine. I know that I told her that I would take her to New York and I will. I just wonder if we are doing the right thing."
"We are helping our daughter, Emma. We are doing the right thing. We are doing what any parent would in our situation,' Regina replied.
"And what is that?"
"We are trying to help our daughter find her happiness."
"Then, let's wake her and get this show on the road," Emma answered suddenly sated by Regina's answers to her fears.
"I'll do it," Regina told her as she crossed back across the room and knocked on the door to the adjoining room.
She waited a few seconds and knocked again when she didn't get a response. Emma saw the look in her eyes and joined her by the door. She knocked harder than Regina had and called out Coraline's name. When she didn't get a response, she crossed the room back over to her jeans. She pulled them on and headed for the door.
"Where are you going?" Regina asked her.
"To wake our daughter," Emma replied.
"If knocking on her door didn't wake it, we should call."
"Nope."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I have a key," Emma stated holding up a secondary key card to Coraline's room. "I palmed it last night while I was talking to her just in case something like this happened. I like to be prepared. I didn't think that it would look good for me to try and pick the lock."
"Be prepared? In case something like this happened? What are you saying?"
"She might have run again, Regina. Her car is downstairs in the car park. She is smart enough. She could have gone and we would have never known because we were asleep."
"Open it!"
Emma didn't need to be told twice. She went out the door and walked down the hall. Regina didn't follow her. She waited at the adjoining door. Emma dropped the key card into the lock and waited for the green light. She burst into the room and let Regina inside.
The room didn't even look like it had been used. The bed didn't even look like it had been slept in. It was perfectly made. Emma caught Regina's eyes. She already had her cell phone out and was about to call Will, because she didn't know who else could find her as quickly as she could. When she spun around to find the small bag that Coraline had packed tucked back in a chair at the table, she finally let out a sigh.
"She didn't leave," Emma stated.
"How do you know? There is no one here. It doesn't look anyone has been here."
"She left her bag. She wouldn't have left it. She's still here."
"And, how would you know that?" Regina asked.
"Because she is just like me in that respect. She packs light and the essentials. She's a survivor. She didn't run, but she isn't here. She'll be back. We just need to wait."
"How can you be so damn calm about this?" Regina barked.
"Because she is my daughter and I understand how she thinks."
"Well that is reassuring, Dear."
"Let's just go back to our room and wait. I am sure that she has some rational explanation for not being here right at this second. Just…we need to believe in her, Regina. If we can't do that, then we can't help her fight this Blackness," Emma told her.
"Sometimes it is really insufferable that you are a Charming, you know that."
"Hey, I can't help that. At least, I am not as giddy as Snow all the time. And, even you have to admit that it is good that we always find each other. Otherwise, we might have lost Henry in Neverland or we could lose Coraline. That is not something that I am willing to do."
"Nor am I," Regina replied.
"So, being a Charming has its moments."
"At least you aren't nauseating like the two idiots. You don't always think everything through, but you do manage to come out on top after running into the fray. And, I don't think that I will ever be able to fully understand their pervasive optimism, but you are proof that sometimes nature can still override nurture," Regina told her.
"I am not sickeningly optimistic," Emma retorted.
"No, Dear, you aren't. I think that is why I like you so much better. You don't make me nauseous. I actually find you very endearing," Regina said.
"Really now?" Emma questioned her.
Regina smiled and came over to where she was. She gathered Emma in her arms and gave her a deep and meaningful kiss. Emma melted into her arms.
They didn't notice the door to the room open. They certainly didn't know that Coraline had come back into the room with them. She was staring at them, holding a tray of coffee. She just smiled at them and took a swig from her coffee cup. She let them continue to kiss for a while before she cleared her throat.
"Oh…you've brought coffee. Bless you, child. Bless you," Emma stated, letting Regina go and taking a cup of coffee from Coraline's tray.
"Yeah, I know how you can both be a bear early in the morning if you hadn't had coffee."
"I am not a bear," Regina stated taking her cup.
"Um…well, no, but you aren't pleasant until you do," Emma commented.
"Are you insinuating that I need coffee to pleasant, Dear?" Regina asked.
"No, just stating facts about you in the morning. Now, what's the first thing that you get in the morning? A cup of coffee. If you missed getting one at home because Henry made you late, you stop at Granny's. If you are really late, then you wait to get it until you get to the office. There have been mornings I have brought you coffee because we are having a meeting."
"If you insist that I am somehow dependent on coffee, Miss Swan…"
"No, Mom, she isn't. She is just saying that you need morning coffee to wake up and be yourself. I've read your diaries from Neverland. Those weren't your most pleasant mornings. But, don't feel bad about it. Emma needs her cocoa with cinnamon. It's all good, Moms."
They just started at her. They couldn't believe that she knew how well she knew them. It was almost too much for them. But, then again, she did look like both of them. She moved like them. She was the perfect blend of them both. She smiled at them, knowing that they were staring at her in disbelief.
"Okay, so who freaked out first?" she asked them.
"What are you talking about?"
"Who freaked out because I wasn't in the room or I didn't answer the door?"
"Umm…" Emma started.
"We were worried about you," Regina answered.
"So, it was both of you. Got it. I'll leave a note next time."
"Thank you, Darling," Regina replied.
"Look. I know that we are going to have to get used to each other and things are going to be weird for a while, but we are family. And, we stick together no matter what. I know that I haven't acted like I needed you and I am sorry for that, but I just…"
"You don't have to explain, Coraline. I understand. I really do. You don't know us except from Regina's writings. You've probably read everything that Belle could get her hands on, so when you began to read your mother's journals, you had limited things to base it on. You could only use your memories and the stories the Red and Belle told you to see what was true and what wasn't. You didn't know us as well as they did and I am sure that they tried. But, not having your parents or not having parents, it is hard to reconcile things with them when you do later."
"I know," Coraline replied.
"Look, I get that you don't trust us fully. I do. I get that you feel like you should run away and figure out how to fight this thing on your own. But, you do have a family that is willing to help you. We may not be the family you remember or the family that you hoped for, but we are still your family. And, I am willing to fight just because of that," Emma explained.
"As am I, Darling," Regina added.
"I think we should head back. Check out is in a couple of hours and if we leave soon we can make it back around lunch time or just after. It is a four hour trip right?"
"It is."
"Do you want one of us to ride with you, Darling?" Regina asked her.
"You can if you want, Mom. I am sure that there is more you want to ask me. I am not sure that I want to answer it all, but I will do my best. At this point, I don't think it matters. If things are going to change, they are going to change. The journals haven't yet."
"Have you been added to the journals?" Emma asked.
"No, I haven't. But, then, I don't really have that many from around now. I have the ones from before the Curse and up to Neverland. Then they start up around the time that we all end up back in the Enchanted Forest. And, those lead up to the day we fled."
"I think that is a starting point then," Emma stated.
"What is, Dear?"
"Your journals from now are missing in the future. Maybe you hid them so we would have to tell her where to find them. Or, maybe we are already changing the future and that is why she doesn't have them. Could that be it?" Emma asked.
"Or, maybe because I quit journaling a while ago because I didn't see the need any longer."
"Or there's that," Coraline added amused at her mother's.
"Then, you need to start back. Maybe it will trigger something down the road. It might help us later. Or, it could help Coraline in the future," Emma rambled.
"I'll think about it, Dear, but I am not promising anything. We should be going. I don't want to be out here too long and we've already been here two days. We need to get back to make sure that Snow's minions haven't tried to overthrow the Wolf yet and make Snow queen."
"They haven't."
"How do you -? Never mind, don't answer that. Come on, let's go."
Regina let Emma leave the room. She leaned over to Coraline. She held her arms at her side and touched her forehead to Coraline's. It was a sign of endearment and one that Coraline remembered. It was an emotional hug of sorts from her mother, the Evil Queen, when her emotions got the best of her and she didn't know what to say.
"It's okay, Mom."
"Will you let me read them?"
"Your journals?"
"Yes."
"I don't know that I should."
"No, Dear, not the ones from the future, but the ones from the past. I want to know what you've learned about me from them. I want to be able to explain myself, my actions, my emotions."
"You don't have to worry about it, Mom."
"Why not?" Regina asked.
"I know the truth."
"And, what truth is that?'
"Why you picked Ruby," Coraline told her.
Regina back up and gave her a look. Coraline just smiled at her. She didn't let her go before she told her everything.
"I know who Ruby is. I know what you've done for her. I would never betray that trust and neither does she. As far as I know, Emma never finds out why you two are so close. I know that Grams suspects something, but Emma always calmed her fears. The secret is still safe."
"How?"
"I asked her after I read the part when your father told you the truth. It was hard to swallow, but it made so much sense. She is weirdly loyal to the one that tried to destroy her best friend and her goddaughter. But, then she is fiercely loyal to Emma in a way that even Snow couldn't understand. Even when the wars started, you had to send her Snow to protect Snow. She didn't want to leave you or Emma, especially after Granny's death."
"She would."
"Snow sent her to give you word of their coming. She knew that Red was the only one who could break through the lines and not be too injured to pass the message. Red might have also volunteered for the job. She needed to make sure you were okay. That is why she still searched for you after it was all over. You were her last connection. She didn't have anyone else."
"But, she found Belle. She had you and Belle. You are her last connection, Coraline."
"She is my Aunt Ruby, but I don't think she even knew that I knew it all. She hides behind her cape and Wolf, Mom. You know that. What would people think if they knew who she really was? What would they do? It wasn't like it was public knowledge," Coraline explained.
"I know and that was for her own safety. I sent her that cloak as soon as I knew. She was merely a child at the time. She hadn't changed yet, but Granny knew who it was from. I left them alone. I let them get away with things that I have killed others for. I showed her favoritism at every turn because I couldn't acknowledge her properly," Regina told her.
"I know, Mom. She was never bitter about it. She was grateful, especially when you protected the wolves. It made things safer for her and her pack mates. She never forgot what you did for her. That is why she was so strict with me. She didn't want me to get hurt. She didn't want me to suffer for being your daughter. She was trying to protect me the only way she knew how."
"By pretending to be your aunt, when she really was your aunt."
"Yes, Mom, by pretending, like you both did. Never acknowledging the fact that she was your half-sister and never bringing undue attention to herself or to me. She protected the family."
"She knows though," Regina stated.
"What do you mean?"
"She knows now that she is my half-sister."
"I know."
"She tries to help me."
"She does."
"Her mother and my father…"
"She's never betrayed your trust, Regina and she never will. She always advocated banishment or a jail cell for you, never your death. And, do you know why?"
"Because I let her go."
"Because you are her sister and in her own wolf way, she loves you," Coraline told her.
"We need to go."
"We do."
"We'll talk more about this later."
"I am sure that we will, Mom. I am sure that we will. Better not keep Ma waiting or she'll come back up here for us. You ready?" Coraline asked her.
"As I think I ever can be around you, Darling."
Coraline laughed and took her mother's hand, pulling her back into the other room. She grabbed her small pack on the way and the key. Once she was back in their room, she helped Regina get her things and they headed for the elevator. Once they were on their way down, they both let a deep sigh. It surely was going to be an interesting four hours back to Storybrooke. Coraline wondered what tales she and Regina would regale each other with. She laughed again. Things weren't going to be easy, but she had her family and that was what mattered most for them all.
Her family is what she was fighting. Her family is what she was willing to bend all the rules concerning the future for. Family is what she craved and now she had it in spades. She was trying to make sure that she could keep it in the future. Time was her only true enemy now. Time and the Blackness…
They made it back to Storybrooke in due time. The construction on the highways hadn't stopped and slowed them down. By the time they actually made it in town, it was midafternoon and they were hungry. Emma pulled up to Granny's and Regina parked behind her. They walked inside the dinner together. Before they could even sit in a booth, Snow and Charming were coming in the back door. When Emma and Coraline saw them, they redirected to the front booth that had the table edge. Regina didn't say anything as she sat down on the inside of the table next to Emma. Coraline sat at the edge, next to Prince Neal in a carrier.
"I see you made it back," Charming said sitting down.
"We did," Emma replied.
"Was there much traffic?" Snow asked.
"Tons," Coraline added.
Ruby brought over cups of coffee and cocoa and some waters. She didn't bother getting their orders before walking away. As she left, Coraline and Regina shared a look but kept quiet. They said so much to each other now without saying an actual word.
"Excuse me, Emma. I need to get out, please," Regina told her. "I need to…"
"No worries," Emma replied, standing up and letting her out of the booth.
Snow watched as Emma silently watched Regina move around the diner. She didn't say anything because the look on Emma's face told her enough. When Charming caught the same look on her face, he squeezed Snow's knee and kept track of Emma's gaze.
"So, Coraline, how was Boston?" he asked trying to break the silence.
"It was…enlightening, to say the least."
"Did you find what you needed?" Snow asked.
Emma's head spun at the question. She waited for Coraline's answer but she was still apprehensive about the fact that Snow knew that Coraline was her and Regina's daughter. She was still wondering how Snow was processing that little factoid.
"I believe that I have, yes," Coraline answered.
"That's good," Charming stated with his usual smile.
Ruby dropped off plates of burgers and salads. There was a pile of fries. She was turning to go when Regina came back from the restrooms. Emma watched as Regina and Ruby's eyes caught and held. There was silent conversation between them and Ruby nodded. They both headed for the back door, which meant outside to talk, alone and away from prying public ears. Emma decided that she would wait to see how long they were going to be gone before she went after Regina. She was still worried, but she couldn't pinpoint what she was worried about exactly.
They ate quietly. Occasionally, Snow or Charming would ask a question. And, dutifully Coraline or Emma would answer it. Emma could tell that Snow was holding back. She wanted to know more, but she was probably waiting for them to tell her. It was hard for her. She could see it on Snow's face, but it was also probably at the prompting of Charming that she wait to find out whatever she wanted to know. So, she would wait, but that didn't mean that she would be happy about it. Emma could see it and Snow knew it.
"Soon, Mom, soon. We'll tell you everything soon. I promise."
"Regina said something about a dinner at her place. Are you going to tell us then? She made sure to tell me that she wanted a family dinner after you all came home," Snow told her.
"Yes, Snow, that is when we will tell more. We are…still trying to decipher some things and get a better handle on others. I want to be able to answer most of your questions when we tell you."
"As long as you tell us," she stressed.
Regina still hadn't come back in yet for her salad. Emma was starting to worry about her. She was still trying to process her feelings and everything that they meant to each other. It was still new and hard for them both. It wasn't that she didn't trust Regina. She didn't trust anyone else with her, now. Too much hatred and too much pain caused her mistrust issues. She knew that Regina understood because she had her own trust issues.
"Excuse me," Emma told them, standing up from the table.
"Problem, Emma?" Snow asked.
"No, not yet…"
"Just let me know if you need help," Charming told her, watching her go towards the back of the diner.
"Uh huh, yeah," she said as she was almost to the back door.
"She's worried about Mom," Coraline stated.
"We know," Charming replied.
"You don't care?" Coraline asked.
"It…I…we…I just want her to be happy," Snow told her.
"Does she make her happy, Coraline?" Charming asked her point blank.
"Exceedingly," Coraline told them before drinking her cocoa.
Rumple was across the street watching them. He couldn't stand being lied to and that it was the lot of them had done. He was seething. He didn't understand how he could have missed the fact that Coraline was really Regina's daughter. He wasn't sure if it changed anything, but he wasn't happy about it either. How could she have an adult daughter that he didn't know about? Could she be something like Zelena? Could she have been a cast off of Regina's? But, Belle had told him that she was also Emma's.
There they were all sitting like a family and enjoying each other company. Belle told him that Coraline was from the future and it was a future without the Dark One. He doubted this tale because nothing could kill the Dark One. Belle had his dagger. He was safe. He couldn't figure out what angle Coraline was trying to use.
"Why would she come back here? Now? What happens?" he asked himself.
He decided that he would talk to her after everyone had gone home. He didn't want to start anything with the Charmings and if she really was Emma and Regina's, he didn't want to do anything to endure the wrath of them combined. He would be civil at first. He would ask her why she was really there and what his fate was.
He hated that he couldn't see his future anymore. Storybrooke gave him Belle and power, but it wasn't everything he wanted. He would use Coraline to find out what he could about his future. The future could be damned, he was going to get his happiness or he would force to come to him with magic. He used Regina to perform the curse. He found and lost Balefire, again. He gained a grandson and some redemption, but he still craved power. It was his weakness and his own personal curse. He always needed more to not feel like a coward and being the Dark One, he always sought out ways to amass more power and more magic. He would take Coraline's if needed. He would just have to make her understand that it was for the greater good of the town and by that, he meant his greater good.
Emma found Ruby and Regina talking outside. She didn't wait this time. She just burst out the back door and inserted herself into the conversation.
"Well that didn't take as long as I thought," Ruby stated.
"What didn't?" Regina asked her.
"Emma, coming to get you."
"She didn't come to get-…Emma, what's wrong?"
"Nothing is wrong except you are out here and not in there. What's going on? What did y'all have to come out here to talk about that you couldn't share with the rest of us?" Emma asked.
"It is a family matter," Regina stated.
"Considering that we are going to be family and we share Coraline, I consider you already family. So, what gives? What's going on? What are you two telling me?"
"Someone sounds like Henry," Ruby added.
"Seriously, Wolf-pup, not right now."
"Someone want to tell me why this is so important when we just brought our daughter home, 'cause I am really stressed out and tired. I just want to take her home and go to bed. I am sure that Mom and Dad are going to be a handful. I'll deal with them later. Plus, you have a perfectly good salad in there that hasn't been touched," Emma complained.
"I'm sorry, Dear, but this couldn't wait. I needed to know if Ruby had any more information for me. I gave her an assignment to do while we were gone," Regina told her.
"You're lying, Regina. Why are you lying? You know that I can always tell when you are lying. Just tell me. It can't be that big of a deal," Emma stated.
"I'll tell you later, Dear. But, you are right, we should return to your and our family. I call you later Ruby. Be sure to tell Belle as well. We will meet later to discuss the dinner."
"I'll tell Granny I need tomorrow night off. See you later, Ems. I'd better get back inside before she comes looking for me anyway. Glad that you are back, though. I am tired of running the town. I didn't realize how needy half the town is. It is all yours again, guys," Ruby told her, wiping her hands on a towel that she had been holding and heading back inside.
"No, Regina. Just no. We aren't going back inside until you tell me what that was about."
"Can you trust me long enough to wait until later?" she asked Emma.
"Is it pivotal to the Blackness or Coraline?"
"Not really, no, it isn't. I just had Ruby look into some old familial lines for me. She just thought that I would want to know because there was a suspicion was correct."
"You aren't going to tell me, right now, are you?"
"Tomorrow night at the family dinner, I promise. I will tell you everything then. Can you at least give me until then to make sure that it is safe to tell you everything?"
"I trust you, Regina. I'll wait. But, only until tomorrow."
"Thank you."
"I missed you," Emma added.
"I wasn't far, Dear."
"I know that, but it didn't feel that way. I could tell that something upset you. I don't like it when you are upset, especially if there is something that I can do to prevent it. Regina…we have a daughter. We shared a moment in the near future that meant enough to both us to create her. I…don't want to lose whatever it is that we found in Boston. I don't want to lose you…"
"I know that, Emma. I don't either. I'm telling you the truth. This news doesn't affect anything important. It just explains some things that have happened on both sides," Regina told her.
"And how does that help me?" Emma asked her.
"It gave me a reason to keep a little light inside my blackness. There were things around me that I held onto while my mother and Rumple did their worst to me, Emma. Things that I had long buried to protect myself and to the others that were involved in those secrets. I couldn't let harm come to those that didn't deserve it. I know that sounds odd coming from me, but it was the truth. There were those I protected and some may have questioned my reasoning, but they were wise enough not to look into to or question me aloud about it."
"And, Ruby knew where to look?"
"Yes, she did."
"And, for whatever this information is, she never gave it to Snow, either?"
"No, she didn't," Regina replied.
"It must be something extra special then for Red to keep it from Snow," Emma stated.
"It is."
"Then, I'll patiently wait for you to tell me what it is. I don't have to like it, but if Ruby deemed it important enough not to tell anyone about it, then I will wait. But, please, don't make me wait too long or I might have to bug Ruby to find out. She'll eventually give in and we both know it."
"I am sure that she would, Dear. Right now, I just want to go home and rest. I think we all should. Would you mind telling your parents good-bye for me? I am just going to go."
"What about your salad?" Emma asked.
"I've already packed it to go," Regina told her, suddenly holding a to-go plate.
"Regina…"
"If you insist, you can come over later. But for now, I just want to rest. I also need to make Henry dinner. Come over later. Say seven o'clock. Dinner will be ready. I'll be rested and we can talk some more, one on one, once I get Henry plugged into a video game or movie."
"Okay, I'll see you later."
"Dinner, Dear. It is only a few hours away. Until then," Regina told her, kissed her cheek and poofed home before Emma could reply.
"I really hate it when she does that," Emma muttered as she headed back into the diner.
Rumple followed Emma and Coraline to Regina's house later that night. He knew that Belle would be wondering where he was, but she would give him his space. There was just something about the way that the Savior and the Queen were moving around each other that bothered him more and more the longer he lingered. He knew that they couldn't see them and he wasn't daft enough to actually break the plane of Regina's property. He would watch from afar and use his magic to gather the intelligence that he wanted. He would wait and he would find out what he wanted to know.
Before he realized it, dinner was over. Emma and Regina had moved to her study to talk and Coraline and Henry were playing video games. It seemed like another normal night at the Mills house before Belle's revelation except that Coraline was still there. And, that is what bothered him the most. The girl had not simply left after dinner, she'd made herself at home. It just wasn't right when there weren't others over. Regina just didn't let anyone over and she didn't let anyone be alone with Henry unless she trusted them completely. Rumple was the only exception to that because he was Henry's grandfather.
About an hour later, Emma got up and got Coraline and headed back into town. Emma dropped Coraline off at Belle's old place before heading to her parents' small house. He knew that she rarely stayed at the loft unless Henry was spending the night with her. She didn't like the quiet.
He waited until Emma was gone before he approached the door. He still wasn't sure what he was going to say to her. But, his anger was boiling and he knew it. He needed to remain calm. If she truly was the daughter of Emma and Regina, then her magic would be strong and highly unpredictable. He didn't want to start something that he couldn't finish. He needed to find her weakness quickly before she could turn on him.
He knocked on the door and waited. Her look of shock wasn't surprising. He never came to visit her before. He always had Belle invite Coraline over. He was trying to be a good brother-in-law, but now he knew that it had all been a lie.
"Rumple? What do I owe the pleasure of you coming to darken my door? Is something wrong with Belle?" Coraline asked him.
"No, Dearie. Belle is fine. It is you that has the problem," he told her through clenched teeth.
Coraline visibly winced and backed up into the house. She stared at him and could see the flashes of green in his eyes. Unlike Regina, she wouldn't back down to him. She knew his game and his intimidation tactics. But, unlike her mother, she had never been on the receiving end.
"Do come in, Rumple and explain yourself."
"I don't need to come in. You need to come out. This is not your house."
"Ah, but I believe it is. Or, have you forgotten? Belle gave it to me after you two wed."
"No, she gave it to a sister that doesn't exist. You are not her blood, therefore this house is not yours. I want you out," he demanded.
"I don't think that you can do that."
"You have no idea what I can do, Dearie."
"Actually, Dark One, I do. I know more than you think I do. And, the only one that can remove me from this house is Belle and doubt that she will allow that to happen. You have no authority over me. Your words do not move me, Rumpelstiltskin, and they never will."
"So, it is true. You are from the future. Tell me, young imposter, who is the Dark One then?"
"There is no Dark One, Rumple. There is only the Blackness. You are no more."
"Lies!"
"Does it look like I am lying to you?" she questioned him.
"It doesn't matter what it looks like. You have already proven that. You have done nothing but lie since you got to town, whenever that really was. You aren't Belle's sister and therefore you have no legal standing to stay in this house. You will remove yourself or I will call the Sheriff."
"Oh, that's a good idea. Call my Ma and tell her you are kicking me out. She'll call Belle and things will just end badly for all involved. Do you really want that?" Coraline asked him.
"How so?" he inquired.
"If you hurt me, you hurt Belle. And, what does a hurt Belle do to Rumple? She hurts him. And, what happens when Belle hurts Rumple? He gets pushed over the town line and not seen for months. And what happens when he hurts someone that Belle cares about like family? Well, let's just say that you don't want to know. I know that she has your dagger. Would you like me to call her? I'll tell her you stopped by and what you wanted. Do you think that she would take your side in the matter, Rumple? Do you honestly think that Belle would let you hurt me?"
"You've hurt Belle and I will have my vengeance for that."
"Did I hurt Belle? Yes, I mislead her. Did I tell her the truth? Yes, I did. I explained the situation to the best of my ability without causing a major rift in the future. Has she forgiven me for it? I would like to think so, because Belle is a smart girl and very understanding. She is also hellaciously forgiving, as you well know," Coraline said
"You will leave this house!" he demanded.
She heard the storm brewing, but she didn't care. She wasn't going to let another person tell her what to do. He wasn't family. He didn't know what was coming. He didn't understand the magnitude of his actions. Hell, he could even be the trigger for all she knew. But, she wasn't going to budge from that house unless Belle, Regina, Ruby or Emma made her. And, she knew that none of them would.
"No, I will not."
Thunder and lightning flashed across the sky. The rain started down in torrents, but of course, Rumple wasn't getting wet. She was in the house and was glad for it. She disliked deluges.
Rumple started mumbling under his breath. His smile turned sickeningly sweet. There was a smell in the air and then she recognized it as magic. The imp was going to force her hand or force her out. She didn't want to use magic against him. It was still unrestrained, uncontrolled and unpredictable. She might kill him for all she knew when her magic.
Suddenly, her feet were moving across the floor and out the door. She couldn't stop herself. Before she realized it, she was standing in the rain, looking up at him on the steps.
"This is no longer your house. You are not welcome here. You may not enter," he told her, before giving his obnoxious giggle and poofing away.
"Oh, that is what you think, Rumple. Wait until I tell Belle about this. Or, better yet, my Moms. We'll see who wins this battle," she said to the air.
She walked back up the stairs to the door. She turned the knob and pushed the door open. She took a step to go inside and get out of the rain, but found herself flung from the doorway, off the steps and into a puddle of mud.
"Motherfucker! Well, this is going to be an interesting evening," she said to herself as she reached for her pocket and her cellphone. "Well fuck me running."
She looked up inside the house. She could see her cell phone sitting next to her key ring and wallet. And, now, she couldn't get to them because Rumple had put some sort of magical blockade against her on the door.
"Fuckity fuck fuck," she screamed, and ran at the doorway again summoning her magics.