Chapter 13: Enchanted Hearts

"Zelena, what brings you to our humble home?" Emma asks. She tries to keep her voice light, but her eyes are narrowed in suspicion as she quickly moves to stand in between her best friend and foster mother, and she's trying desperately to remember what kinds of magic tricks she knows, just in case this turns messy.

"I came to talk," Zelena promises. "I'm not here to hurt you, any of you. I swear." As if to illustrate her point, she raises her hands in surrender, and Emma can't help but notice the strange leather cuff around her right wrist. It's not exactly her typical style - it's not anyone's typical style.

"Is that...?" Regina asks hesitantly.

"Courtesy of Gold and Mother Superior. I have no magic - you can check if you don't believe me." Mary Margaret and Emma watch with bated breath as Zelena extends her arm in the direction of her half-sister. Regina approaches cautiously, sparks of purple magic flickering on her fingertips. Her hand hovers briefly over Zelena's wrist, and the cuff glows for an instant before Regina steps back and gives a small nod.

"So, what do you want?" she asks curtly. "Make it quick, because I'm not even slightly in the mood to hear anything you have to say right now."

"Regina, I'm sorry," Zelena suddenly bursts out. Emma raises an eyebrow, certainly not expecting that. Mary Margaret lowers her bow slightly, though she still looks ready to shoot at a moment's notice.

Regina is unimpressed. If anything, she's even angrier.

"You think your apology means anything to me?" she practically spits. "You were trying to help my mother - our mother? - murder Emma only a few hours ago! I don't care if she manipulated you, or whatever other ridiculous excuse you have for your actions. If you think I'm ever going to forgive you for that, you're even more insane than I thought."

"Not to mention, you tried to kill both of us yourself yesterday," Emma mutters, because apparently Regina doesn't care about her own well-being enough to mention it, but she does.

"I didn't come here to ask for forgiveness," Zelena says, shifting uncomfortably. "I came because I had a long talk with Gold, and I have some...interesting information that might help you. And possibly me."

"I have no interest in helping you with anything and, since your sole fascinations lately have been trying to kill me or make me relive the worst moment of my life, I doubt you could have anything to say that would possibly help me. Now leave."

"You heard her. Leave!" Emma exclaims.

Zelena's eyes flicker to Emma for a moment before she replies, "Yes, I did a lot of horrible things, and made you mentally relive the worst moment of your life several times. And although I hardly expect you to accept my apology, I am sorry. However, what I'm trying to tell you could help prevent you from actually reliving your worst moment."

Regina's face contorts in fury. "If you even think about laying a finger on Emma, I will-"

"Relax, I'm not threatening your girlfriend."

"I'm not her girlfriend."

"You can call yourself whatever you like; the fact remains that I'm not the one who's trying to kill you."

"Since when?"

"Why don't you follow instructions and leave?" Mary Margaret asks, once again drawing back her bowstring.

"Wait!" Regina's face is white, and her hands are shaking like crazy, but there's a flicker of determination in her eyes. "You said you spoke to Gold. Did he talk to you about...Mother?"

"Yes."

"You have exactly one minute of my attention before I kick you out."

"Right. Well, obviously, she's pissed now that Emma is apparently more powerful than her, and her Plan A is ruined. So now, she's coming up with a Plan B to go after both of you. Regina, I - I didn't realize-"

"Save it. You would have realized if you had actually listened to me in the first place."

"I know." Zelena looks sincerely sorry for a moment, and Emma almost feels a pang of sympathy. Being abandoned is a pretty shitty feeling, it's easy enough to get so caught up in self-pity you don't realize there are worse things.

"So, what did Gold say?" Regina asks impatiently. "How are we going to stop her from killing Emma?"

Zelena takes a deep breath. "He said the reason she abandoned me, and the reason she's so horrible to you, is that she's incapable of love. She ripped her own heart a long time ago, and without it..."

"Hold on," Emma interrupts. "She ripped out her heart? I thought...wouldn't she be dead?"

"Not necessarily," explains Regina, a grim expression on her face. "There are certainly some negative effects to magically removing a heart, but you have to crush it for the person to actually die." Mary Margaret winces.

"But you can't...you can't live without a heart" Emma protests. "I may have gotten a C in Biology, but even I know that! How does any of this make sense to you guys?"

"Magic," Regina and Zelena say simultaneously, both glaring impatiently at the blonde. For a second, they actually look like sisters, but Emma doubts either one would take kindly to having it pointed out.

She clears her throat awkwardly. "Right. Magic. Carry on."

"He thinks if we put the heart back in her chest, then it will solve both of our problems. He said you'd know where to find it."

"There's no guarantee it will solve anything. What if she's just a terrible person who's incapable of love regardless of her heart? I mean, she made you."

Zelena shrugs off the comment. "Maybe she is. You know her better than I do. I just thought it was worth a try. I wasted a lot of time being jealous of you, but I realize now that there's a way for us to both get what we want."

Regina laughs darkly. "I hope you realize that putting her heart back isn't going to turn back time and redo our childhoods."

"And what made you change your tune so drastically in the last three hours?" Emma demands. "As Regina said before, you were helping Cora earlier this afternoon."

"My adoptive father...well, he's a drunk," Zelena says sadly. "And ever since my mother died, he's pretty much hated me. He always says I'm...wicked...because of magic. When I found out about Cora, I thought - you know, because she's such a powerful sorceress - that she'd accept me, and she'd think the magic was a good thing. And I heard what you said about her, but I was just so caught up in this fantasy I had...then when I finally met her, she told me she was proud of my gift, and that was really all I ever wanted-"

"Get to the point," Emma growls. She'd be lying if she said she didn't at least partially understand Zelena's alleged feelings, but she doesn't trust her, at all.

"But once I saw what she was capable of, I realized my father may have been right about magic all along," Zelena concludes, looking down at her feet. "And maybe, Regina, you were right all along."

"You wouldn't be the first to fall under Cora's spell. She does have a talent for manipulating people," Mary Margaret says reasonably. "And replacing her heart...you're right, Regina, that it won't make up for the last eighteen years of damage she's done to both of you, but, at the very least, it probably can't make the situation any worse."

Regina clenches her jaw and crosses her arms tightly over her chest. "I'll think about it," she finally affirms. "Now get out."

xx

Regina is silent for a long time after Zelena leaves, refusing to talk to anyone or touch even a bite of food. Dinner that night is one of the least comfortable meals of Emma's life, and she finds herself feeling terribly for Mr. Nolan, whose idea of a reunion date night with his high school sweetheart probably did not include worrying about an angry sorceress or watching over two badly shaken teenage girls. He pretty much takes it all in stride, though.

He and Mary Margaret keep it light-hearted, discussing such topics as the planning committe for the Miner's Day Festival or the Storybrooke High football team's inability to score a single touchdown this season after the graduation of Liam Jones, Killian's (apparently much less useless) older brother. It's the sort of conversation Emma had expected to take part in much more frequently when she first moved to Storybrooke, back when she still thought it was a normal small town.

She misses those days. The days before she discovered there was powerful magic coursing through her veins, before she learned to set things on fire and levitate objects using only her mind, before someone had tried to rip her heart out (she has to suppress a shudder at that one), before -

Well, she supposes she doesn't want to go back to before Regina. Somehow, Regina manages to be worth it.

The two of them are alone on the living room couch when the brunette breaks her long silence. "Do you think Mary Margaret would let me stay here again tonight?" she asks.

"Probably. You don't...you don't think your mother will come looking for you again, do you?"

"She's on the run from Mr. Gold," Mary Margaret points out, entering the room to water her plants for possibly the third time that day. "She's probably trying to lie low."

"Maybe we can get Gold to have a sleepover," Emma suggests, only half joking. "If he's here, she won't be."

"That's not a bad idea," says Mary Margaret. "I'll call him. At the very least, he can cast a protection spell to keep her out."

"Everything always comes at a price with him, though," argues Mr. Nolan. Apparently, he's still here - Mary Margaret doesn't seem to mind. "What's it going to be this time?"

"What do you mean, price?" Emma asks warily, but she's ignored.

"There's no price that's worth more than Emma's life," Regina snaps, eyes flashing in anger. "I'll sell myself into eternal slavery if that's what it takes!"

Mary Margaret's eyebrows raise slightly before she nods in agreement. "Hopefully it won't come to that, but you're right. We'll do whatever we have to."

"Guy, I'm flattered, but I still don't understand what you're talking about."

"You know Gold's saying, 'All magic comes with a price?'" Regina asks. Emma nods. "Well, if he does magic for you, he typically asks for something in return, and it's usually not something simple like money."

"His prices have gotten a lot more fair since Belle came into his life, though," Mary Margaret points out, typing a text on her phone. "I mean, Miss French, to you."

"I don't want you to sell yourself into slavery," Emma argues. "If he asks you to do something crazy like that, say no. I'm not worth-"

"Don't you dare say that!" Regina shrieks, jumping up from the couch. "You're worth everything! I'm not going to let her hurt you."

Emma swallows hard and pulls Regina into her arms. It's hard to admit, even to herself, exactly how terrifying it is to have someone magically reach into your chest and try to yank out the organ that sustains your life. Even though she knows that, realistically, Regina is no match for her mother in terms of magical power, her vow of protection is still means a lot.

Mary Margaret's phone buzzes almost immediately. "Gold says he'll be right over," she says, sounding a bit surprised. "He says nothing would give him greater pleasure than helping stop the queen of hearts."

"Queen of hearts?"

"It's...it's kind of her nickname in magical circles," Regina whispers into Emma's shoulder. "Because of the hearts. It's her thing."

Emma squeezes her best friend - or whatever they are now, they'll have to discuss that at some point - tighter. "She's not getting mine," she says quietly.

xx

"I can put a protection spell on the apartment," Gold explains, "so you'll be safe as long as you're inside."

"What if she breaks it?" Regina demands. "You know how powerful she is."

"And you know how powerful I am. I'm giving you the strongest spell I have. Now, of course, there's a possibility that Cora can break it, but it would take a while and allow plenty of time to prepare for a fight."

"If it's your strongest spell, then what's the price?" asks Emma.

"Funny you should ask, dearie. It would seem you've been paying attention in my class," Gold says with something that sounds eerily similar to a cackle. He plucks a hair off the sleeve of her sweatshirt. "My price is this."

"My hair? What do you want with my hair?"

"What do you want with it? It's no longer attached to your head."

Emma shrugs. "Fine, whatever." It's weird, but what isn't these days?

"That's all?" Regina asks suspiciously.

"No, of course not. There's something you have to do for me in return. And you, Regina, must be the one to do it."

"What does she have to do?" Mary Margaret steps protectively in front of both girls. "If it's going to put her life in danger-"

"I think Regina knows." Gold gives the brunette a conspiratorial wink that makes Emma's hair stand on end. "I believe Zelena was here earlier with some...suggestions for you?"

Regina glares at her teacher and puts her hands on her hips. "Why is it so important to you to have my mother's heart back in her chest?"

"The question you should be asking, dearie, is why isn't it important to you? Think about your options. Think about-" his head jerks almost imperceptibly toward Emma "-what you have to lose."

In an instant, Regina's arms are around Emma's waist, and Mary Margaret's are around both of them.

"I'll do it," she says, resting her head against Emma's chest so she can hear the heart beating steadily inside. "I'll do whatever it takes."

xx

She's sprinting through the forest as fast as she can, chased by a pack of hungry werewolves. "Ruby, no," she whispers desperately. "It's me - I'm your friend." But the wolf either isn't Ruby or doesn't understand, because it's still chasing her and quickly gaining ground. Its eyes are red but somehow still cold with lack of emotion, and Emma struggles to run faster, her chest heaving with exertion. Outrunning a large four-legged animal with superpowers is no easy task, but she has to try. For Regina.

Suddenly, her body is flying through the air - she must have tripped over a root or something. She lands hard on cold pavement, and as she looks around, she realizes she's no longer in the woods but on the road, at the Storybrooke town line. But the wolf is still there, and now it's practically on top of her. She thinks that maybe if she crawls over the town line, she'll somehow be safe. She's about to drag herself to the other side when the wolf disappears in a puff of black smoke and turns into Cora Mills.

"Miss Swan," she says, cackling wickedly, "did you really think you could escape me so easily, you foolish girl?" She snaps her fingers and Regina and Zelena appear beside her, the latter holding a glowing green knife to the former's throat. "You have a choice," Cora informs Emma. "Leave town now, and never come back. You'll live a long life, but she dies. Or, you can stay and let her live, and I'll rip your heart out instead."

"Emma, go! Save yourself, now!" Regina cries. Zelena snarls and presses the knife harder against her sister's throat to shut her up. Regina can only make terrifying choking sounds now, but her eyes plead with Emma, telling her to run.

"But I can't," Emma whispers, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I promised I would never leave you."

"Emma," Regina croaks. "Please don't make me watch you die." Emma wants to reply, but she can't because Cora has apparently decided her time for choice is up, and there's a hand reaching into her chest, and-

"Emma? Emma!" Suddenly, she feels herself being shaken awake.

"Regina!" she cries, gasping for air. She blinks rapidly, trying to adjust her eyes to the darkness. She gradually realizes she's on the floor of her bedroom, tangled in blankets. She must have fallen out of bed sometime during the nightmare. Regina is kneeling over her with wide, concerned eyes, wearing the same set of pajamas she borrowed yesterday.

"It's okay; you're safe. It was just a dream," Regina says soothingly. Emma thinks that she might feel slightly more reassured if the dream hadn't so closely resembled an event that, despite her previous belief that such a thing wasn't possible, actually happened in the last twenty-four hours.

"Regina, I...she...she tried to-" Emma tries to get her voice under control, but every word she attempts to say only makes her sob harder. It's embarrassing, frankly, to be turned into a blubbering idiot by a nightmare. It's not like she hasn't had one before, but it's the first time she's actually woken up to someone trying to comfort her - she should probably reciprocate the effort and calm herself down a bit.

"I know. I know," Regina whispers. "She tried. But she won't succeed. We'll stop her, I promise." With a surprising amount of strength for her small frame, the brunette helps Emma back into bed before lying down practically on top of her. "She's not crushing your heart."

Emma continues to cry, more quietly now, and holds onto Regina so tightly she's afraid she might suffocate her, but the contact is the only thing currently holding her together. She feels a head settling on top of her chest and her shirt gradually becoming damp, and she assumes Regina must be crying, too.

"I'm going to do it tomorrow, what Gold and Zelena said," the other girl manages to say through her tears. "It's the only way. Maybe if her heart's back in her chest, she'll stop trying to tear other people's out."

"What if...what if she hurts you?" Emma asks. She knows, of course, that Regina has to honor the agreement with Gold, and that having a mother who is no longer heartless might make her life better in the long-run, but she can't stop worrying. What if Cora doesn't want her heart back? What if she fights Regina? What if something even worse happens?

"There's nothing that would hurt me more than losing you," Regina declares, and Emma feels the same swell in her chest that occurred when she finally managed to access her healing magic for her friend's leg.

"I get it, but losing you is not exactly something I'd like to experience either."

"You won't. I talked to Zelena - we planned everything out. I'm going to my mother's vault first thing in the morning to find her heart while Gold and Mother Superior distract her. Then we're going to sneak up and put it back, and hopefully-"

"How can you trust Zelena?" Emma argues. "She might just be trying to screw you over. I've never seen someone reform so quickly. Or, Gold could be trying to screw both of you. I still think he's creepy."

Regina sighs. "I know," she says softly. "But I don't see any other options at this point, at least ones that don't involve killing her, and...I know she's a horrible person, but I still love her."

"I know."

"You think I'm stupid, don't you? Love is weakness, and all that."

"What? No, of course not. And I obviously don't think love is weakness. Maybe your mother won't, either, once she's actually capable of it again."

"Thank you," Regina says, scooting herself up so she can place a kiss on Emma's cheek. "For what it's worth, I don't think it's weakness, either."

xx

A/N: Hope you enjoyed! Something's a'brewing... Coming up next - the proverbial shit hits the proverbial fan.