Chapter 17

Emma leaned against the counter in the kitchen. She was watching the coffee pot brew and trying not to pace around the room. Ruby watched her, knowing she should say something to her friend, but unsure where to begin.

"How are you so damn calm, right now?" Emma asked her.

"Because, I don't know what is going on, but I know that Regina and Snow will explain it soon enough. I want to give them the benefit of the doubt. I know that Snow is your mother, but she is also my friend. Regina is your lover. They may be enemies but sometimes they do come together for a common goal," Ruby replied, "We just need to find out what that is."

"I don't want to wait."

"I know that it is hard, Emma, but we have to do this. You need to let them explain what happened. We can't go off half-cocked. You always tell me that, remember?"

Emma just eyed her. She grabbed some cups from the cupboard and put them on the counter. Rhiannon watched their uneasy quietness and waited for the magically warm liquid that was brewing in the strange contraption. She let them discuss their theories about what happened.

"You wanna say something?" Emma asked Rhiannon.

"About what, Princess Emma?"

"Please stop calling me that."

"But, you are a princess, dear. It would be wrong of me not to address you as such. Besides, I may not know your mother well, but I can tell that she is a strong woman with a stronger daughter. Do you deny this?" she asked her.

"I don't."

"But, you deny yourself."

"I deny myself?" Emma questioned.

"Isn't that how you freed the town to begin with? Your own son had to teach you to believe in your own destiny. You have hard a life, but you realized that it made you who you are. But, yet, you still deny the heredity that you are due for a woman that tried to kill you as an infant. Your choices in life have confused and confounded everyone because no understands you. They all believe that you should fall in line to their thinking, but you haven't and you can't."

"Who are you?"

"I am someone who understands that life isn't what your told will be but what you make of it."

"That still doesn't tell me who you are," Emma stated.

"So what gives with you? You come waltzing in the town and ask for Regina by titles that she hasn't had in years. Within days, you've turned this house upside down and all on the day of Henry's birth. So, I think that you owe her an explanation. If anyone here deserves to know what is going on with Regina, it would be Emma," Ruby stated.

"It is a very long story, my dear wolf child, but it is one that I sure would be best coming from Regina. This isn't my tale to tell. Needless to say that Regina owes me a favor, one in which I have gladly paid over several times. But, we have already hashed this out, haven't we Sheriff?"

"That we have, but that still hasn't answered all my questions," Emma stated.

"I know that and I understand your frustration but I cannot divulge information that is not mine to give. I can tell you that your mother and Regina came to an agreement upstairs. This was not done lightly nor will the consequences be easy for either of them."

"You have done nothing but speak in riddles since you got here," Emma replied.

"What you call riddles, I call truth."

"Some truth when no one else can understand you or it," Emma said.

Snow and Regina knew they didn't hear them come into the kitchen. There was still an uneasy air between them, but there was a lightness between them. Emma turned around finally feeling them behind her. She couldn't believe that they were there together, holding hands and smiling. Emma's mouth hung open as she tried to study the lavender eyes of her lover and the blue of her mother. Rhiannon caught her gaze and turned around to see them.

"Your majesties," Rhiannon stated as she curtseyed.

"Emma," Snow started, crossing the room and taking her hands, "We need to talk, as a family."

"Ruby, can you please leave us for a few moments," Regina asked.

"Sure, I'll go make sure that Henry and David are okay with the girls. Call me, if you need me. Just don't forget that we got a portal jump to take at nine am sharp for Henry's birthday. Granny will be mad if we're late," Ruby told them.

"We'll make sure that we are there. Please make sure that they are, too, Ruby. Thank you for your help tonight," Snow replied.

Ruby nodded. She smiled at Emma and then took her leave. Regina looked on without a care on her face as she made herself a cup of coffee. She grabbed another mug and made Snow a cup. She passed the mug across the counter and to Snow, who took it blindly before taking a sip. Rhiannon and Emma both watched them and their new found friendship.

"Okay, Ruby is gone. Someone want to tell what the hell is going on, now? Why the hell are you both so chummy all the sudden?" Emma demanded.

"I am not sure that you are ready for the entirety of that conversation, Dear."

"I'll be happy with the Cliff notes version," Emma stated.

"A long time ago, in a faraway land, there was this evil queen…" Regina started.

"Whose heart was hardened by the actions of a very naïve girl…" Snow added.

"This queen spent all her time and energy on trying to end the girl who happened to be a princess."

"This princess had a daughter, a savior for the curse that the Evil Queen was going to enact."

"Neither of them knew their fate at the time, but it was their destiny to cross path in a very magical way."

"Yeah, I know all that. But, what about her? Where does she fit into this?"

"Once the King was dead and Snow was on the run, I wanted to visit an old friend. A friend that supported me from when I was a child, she came to me to try to stem the darkening of my heart."

"That I did, but I found that I was too late," Rhiannon replied.

"Too late?"

"I had already started down the path to becoming the Evil Queen. I was ruthless. I was hard on the people. I wanted Snow to die, but then I wanted her to hurt as much as I did."

"It took a curse and twenty-eight years before I finally understood the pain in Regina's heart," Snow told them, as she took another sip of coffee.

"I know all of that," Emma stated. "What I want to know is what happened upstairs. What was that? What did I walk into? No more bullshit. Quit stalling, I want the truth. Why the Hell would you say that you killed Regina? What am I missing?"

"Dear, I'll explain everything," Regina stated.

"Please do," Emma replied.

"I was in pain. I was suffering. There was nothing more that you could do for me. There was nothing anyone save one could do for me. You healed my heart and helped me find the way back to a more gray way of thinking. You helped me redeem my blackness. I may never find the light that Snow bears, but I don't intentionally go out of way to hurt people."

"The only problem with fixing her heart is that her soul was still black. She needed to be forgiven so that her soul would be freed. The only person that could do that was me," Snow explained. "I was the one person that could forgive her because I am the reason that she stepped to dark side. I am the reason that she never found her happiness or the love that she so deserved but was robbed of so cruelly. Plus, in forgiving Regina, I would earn her forgiveness."

"Her forgiveness for what?" Emma asked.

"I killed her mother."

"I forgave you for that. It was a necessary evil that had to be done. It was also something that I couldn't do. No matter how much I wanted to destroy my mother, I would never have enough power to do that. Snow saved us all that night," Regina told her.

"And, with Regina's request, I did the one thing that would heal us both."

"So?"

"In order to earn the forgiveness I so desired, I had to do one last deed to help Regina find the forgiveness that she needed," Snow stated.

"You had to kill her for that?"

"She did. It was the only way that I could be reborn with a clean soul. It was an act of redemption and forgiveness in one. I had to do it. It would free her soul and my heart."

"But, you killed her?" Emma stammered.

"She did."

"I did."

"But, she is alive?" Emma questioned.

"That would be where I come in, my dears."

Emma turned and looked at Rhiannon. Rhiannon took another sip of her coffee. She sat it down on the counter and smiled at Regina. Regina looked back at her with a new light in her lavender eyes. Emma watched the exchange but said nothing.

"You see, Regina and I made an agreement years ago. I was supposed to keep her from going down her dark path, but I was blocked from returning to her when I could have saved her. I couldn't fulfill my end of the oath when she needed me. But, today, I fulfilled my end of the bargain. She did it knowing that I needed her help. I had to get her unbound and pardoned so that she could use her powers to help me."

"So, Snow gets her forgiveness. Regina gets her rebirth. And, you fulfilled your end of an old blood oath. That's all great, but that doesn't explain how Regina is alive."

"She took a potion from my land. It is a magical elixir that helps with the rebirth of a magical creature, such as Regina. She was chosen by the Dark One before her birth. She was meant to be magical. I could feel it before she could. I knew that she was destined for greatness. I just couldn't see far enough into the future to see how it played out. If I could, I would have been there for her then, but I couldn't. It wasn't in my power to help her then."

"So, you gave her this elixir and she didn't die?"

"Oh, no, I was completely dead," Regina answered.

"But…"

"Stop over thinking it, Dear. I died. But, I am alive, now. The elixir did its job."

"So, Regina lives because of some magic potion. Snow and Regina are all friends now. And, I am just supposed to like this," Emma stated.

"That would be the idea, Dear," Regina replied.

"And, I guess I owe you something for this."

"I only ask that you help me in finding my daughter."

Emma looked at them all. She took another sip of her coffee. She sat the mug down and took a long look into Regina's eyes. Regina smiled back over at her. There was a conversation between them that no one could hear, but Snow saw it.

Snow sat her mug down and stepped around the counter. She took Emma in her arms. She kissed her forehead. She held her daughter, pleading for forgiveness and giving her the hope that she would actually find her happiness with a restored Regina.

"Is there anything else that I might need to know?"

"We are still going to the Enchanted Forest for Henry's birthday celebration," Regina told her.

"Anything else?"

"I gave Regina my royal pardon and my blessing."

"Your blessing?" Emma questioned.

"Yes, she has proven to me that she is your true love. She was willing to die to save her soul, to be the person that your deserve her to be, so that she could love you more fully. She has stayed here under my punishment with you because she has chosen you, Emma."

"I think you got that backwards," Emma stated.

"No, she doesn't," Regina replied. "I could have broken free of the spells that you cast. I didn't. You chose to stay here for me. You chose me over a birth rite. You chose love over a crown. I chose you over magic. Your parents could have made you forget me. They could have done anything they wanted to you magically, but they didn't. Do you know why?"

"Because I would have been very upset about that," Emma answered.

"No, they did it for you. They wanted you to choose where you lived. The only world that you know is here. They know both and can fit in both. You…well, Dear, there are some things that even you need to learn about being a princess."

"I never asked for the title," Emma stated.

"Nevertheless, you were born with it. You were born to be savior, too. And, you keep fulfilling that prophecy in spades, Miss Swan. You not only save Storybrooke and your family. You've saved Henry from Pan. You helped me more times that I can count and in the end, you saved me. When my judgment was handed down to be exiled here, it wasn't a punishment and Snow knew that. It was a way for me to try to gain happiness. It was a way for me to see Henry."

"Henry?"

"I knew that he wouldn't come to the Enchanted Forest without both of you. I knew that you would have a hard time leaving here. I knew that you would want to stay. I never expected you to move in with Regina and fall in love," Snow answered.

"So, Regina's punishment was…"

"All an act for the mass, we came to agreement. I would give them the Enchanted Forest and I would get to keep Storybrooke. We both got what we wanted," Regina replied.

"So, I was just icing on the proverbial cake, then."

"Something like that, but tasty icing at that," Regina stated, cocking an eyebrow.

"Still her mother and still here," Snow said.

"Sorry, Mom."

"Sorry, Snow."

"So, okay…Let me digest all of this. I…need to go to bed. We are still going to Henry's party."

"Yes, and while we are there, I plan on announcing my pardon for Regina."

"And, then we are going to…"

"Help Rhiannon find her daughter," Regina answered.

"Should I sharpen my sword?"

"It wouldn't hurt," Rhiannon added.

They all turned to the Celtic woman and laughed. They had no idea what tomorrow would bring, but they all knew that same thing. Tomorrow, they would face it together.