DISCLAIMER:: do not own ouat and its characters. just borrowing for purpose of creative expression. no profit obtained.
A/N:: sorry it took so long to post the mayor chapter, but anyone who reads he gets that from me knows that i have been on a writing ban. the ban is still in effect, however i have a week to post what i want and since that has been ready to post for two weeks, i figured it was the perfect opportunity to post. please review and enjoy.
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-Chapter 57: But I Can't Make Up My Mind-
They were barely in the void between the worlds in the mirror when the mayor felt the queen's hand slip from hers, pulled away by some unseen force. For a moment, she panicked. No, they had to do this together. Her hand swung around in the encroaching darkness, searching for even the faintest brush of fingertips and then she was stumbling through the glass surface of the mirror and into reality again.
All it took was a cursory glance around the chamber before her to know that she was back in the Enchanted Forest. The chamber itself was unfamiliar to her, made from curving ivory marble, intricately carved, too intricate to have been done by hand. This place was magically designed. Wherever she was, magic existed here. She hadn't felt her powers leave her when she fell through the mirror. Good. She didn't know if whoever dwelled in this place was a threat to her.
Queen Regina was gone, as was the mirror. There was no furniture in the ante-chamber, nothing to decorate it. An elegantly carved wooden door stood before her, behind her was a curtain that hung blocking an open archway. For a moment, she stared between them. Which should she try first? Her instincts told her the curtain was a better choice. She walked towards it without hesitation. Whatever was beyond it was no match for her, not with her powers.
She parted the curtain and stepped through into a larger chamber that was equally as undecorated. The only thing in the chamber was a crystal coffin, more expertly formed than the one that had once protected Snow White, though it served the same function. A body rested inside the coffin. A veil blocked her face from view at this angle, but the grand design of her dress bespoke of nobility. She was a Princess of some sort, possibly even a Queen.
Slowly, cautiously, Regina approached the glass. She had no clue if there were any type of traps set around the woman. The chamber around them was obviously meant as a place of honour to put her as she slept. She was loved, whoever she was, respected and adored.
Nothing happened as she came to stand before the crystal encased woman. No spells protected her, no magical failsafes. That was odd. She was obviously someone of note. If this was somewhere in the old world, as she suspected it was, then Regina had been gone twenty eight years; she hardly believed she'd recognise whoever had become royalty of what remained. She looked down into the coffin at the face beneath the translucent veil.
Her breath caught in her throat. Emma's face looked so peaceful beneath the crystal glass that covered it. Regina's hands splayed across the crystal and she bent in close, peering down into the woman inside. What happened to her? She was fine when Regina had left her in Storybrooke. Wait, if she was in Storybrooke, how was she here? What was this?
The only person who could answer that was encased in the coffin. She had to get her out. She pressed on the glass. It didn't budge. There was no way to lift it physically; it was simply too heavy. Magic. It was her only option. She began to recite a spell under her breath, slowly the glass began to slid free.
She didn't hear the footsteps coming behind her until they were through the curtain.
"What are you doing?!"
Regina abandoned the spell and spun to face the woman who'd spoke. She was flanked by two female guards in uniform. Regina threw out her magic to zap them back but nothing happened. She stared at her hands. Her offensive powers were blocked somehow. She glanced down at the woman still in the coffin behind her. No matter how she had come to be here, this was Emma and she needed to be protected. If she couldn't attack them, she could at least protect herself and Emma from their attacks.
She was able to conjure the magic wall of defense between them and the three women from memory, as if she hadn't been without magic for the last twenty eight years. It rose up in front of her, a clear wall, like its own sheet of glass.
The woman who had spoken stepped away from the guards, up to the wall, staring closely at it. She flung her fingers out toward the wall and the magic she expelled slammed loosely against it. She looked to the guards and they also tossed their energy against it but it did not give.
"What have you done with Lady Regina?"
Regina frowned. What in the hell was this woman babbling on about? "I haven't been called Lady Regina since before I was married. Mind who you're talking to. I am still a Queen." She went through hell to earn that title, the lowly witch who stood before her now would not take it from her.
The woman narrowed her green eyes, scrutinising the woman on the other side of the wall. "What do you want with Queen Emma? She is under my protection here. Make no mistake, I will defend her."
"As will I." Regina narrowed her eyes right back. She wouldn't let this woman anywhere near Emma.
The woman glanced back at the guards. "She cannot attack me; her offensive magic is useless here. Altira, go get the Queen. Gandra, go protect Pressiann and the young Princess. Do not let anyone through without my say so." Both guards gave one quick nod and departed. The woman turned her attention back to Regina. "Your energy will wane and when it does, I will be waiting."
Regina matched her pace for pace on her side of the shield. She could sense the threat from the other woman even through the defense shield. The woman was powerful, possibly lethal. "I will not let you harm Emma. I may not be able to attack you directly but I think you will come to learn that I have more energy than you could possibly imagine when it comes to protecting those I love."
The woman stood tall on the other side. "Who are you?"
Regina rolled her eyes. "I am Regina."
The woman walked slowly forward. "I see it in your eyes, you are not her. The changes are subtle. You may fool even the most practised of beings, but I know better. My life has been devoted to the study of the Evil Queen and you are not her."
Regina rolled her eyes. "Well twenty eight years away has an effect on a girl."
The woman's dark green eyes narrowed. "Twenty eight years away?" She turned away, getting lost in her own thoughts.
Regina didn't have time for this. Obviously this woman knew Emma and Emma knew her. She'd clear this all up. Keeping most of her energy trained on fueling the defence shield, she began to mumble the spell to remove the lid once again. She had to get it off.
"You could kill her." The woman beat against the defence shield with her magic, hitting it with everything she could, battering against it while Regina's power was divided.
Regina knew she couldn't hold the shield with her attention divided but she had to get Emma out of there. Finally, with one last heave of energy she was able to push the lid off enough that she could get to the blonde inside. She ran to the open tomb and crouched down beside it, stroking her hand across Emma's cheek.
The blonde's green eyes fluttered open. She seemed disoriented as her head turned from side to side, her veil falling off as she did. Then her eyes focused up on Regina and a smile broke out across her face. "We gotta stop meeting like this my love." She sat up and brought her lips to Regina's.
The brunette sank into the kiss. For this moment she didn't care how Emma had gotten there with her, she just cared that she was here.
Emma broke away from her with a smile. Her eyes caught sight of the woman standing on the other side of the magical shield. Her brow furrowed. "Arazera, what is this?"
"My Queen, she is not Lady Regina."
"Miss Swan, will you please tell this tart who I am?" She couldn't keep the annoyance from her voice as she threw a seething look over her shoulder at the woman.
Emma's hand fell from Regina's cheek. "Miss Sw..." Her eyes went wide. "Madam Mayor?"
Regina turned her full attention back to the blonde. "Who else would it be? Really Miss Swan, do keep up."
Emma rolled her eyes. Oh yea, it was definitely Regina Mills. "Well darling, you don't exactly look like yourself."
Regina frowned. "What do you mean I don't look like myself?"
Emma pointed. "Well the wardrobe for a start."
Regina looked down at herself for the first time since arriving. She was in a gown, a decidedly familiar gown. It was the one her other half had been wearing in Eternity. Her hand went to her hair, touching the long strands. This was not her body! Well it was, in a way, but not how she lived in it everyday. She looked up at the blonde in shock. "What is this?"
"That's what I'd like to know." A blonde woman strode in through the curtain, flanked by a few guards.
Every single pair of eyes in the room turned to Queen Emma.
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They sat around a conference style stone table, each looking from one to the other. Arazera's suspicious gaze never left the imposter in Lady Regina's body, Rowanaldi looked to Emma for answers, Emma couldn't take her eyes off Regina, still unable to believe the mayor was actually here, and Regina studied Rowanaldi, her interest piqued now that she had been informed of who the woman was.
"How is this possible?" The Elf Queen looked between the blonde and the brunette sitting across the table from her and Arazera.
Regina cleared her throat. "Obviously when your Regina and I stepped through the mirror together, something happened that switched us." She had told them about her rendezvous with her other half but had conveniently left out Fate's ultimatum. Regina was determined that her world would be the one to survive at the end of this day and no one here needed to know that. Fate's little idea of having them take a walk in each other's shoes was cute but it would do little to change her mind. Nothing would ever make her turn her back on her girlfriend and her child. Everything she had done had been to get to this point in her life, she loved and she was loved in return. There was no way she could be convinced to sacrifice that. No possible way. She given up too much to get her happy ending; she'd protect it to the death.
"Is it permanent?" Emma seemed more distressed than any of them.
Regina shook her head. "It is only for today."
"Good, then it won't be an issue to lock you up for the duration of the day. Problem solved." The raven haired elf, Arazera she had been called, gave Regina a cheeky predatory smile.
"Arazera, calm yourself." Rowanaldi frowned. She turned to the women across the table once more, her gaze finally centering on the blonde. "The situation is a delicate one, but the magical protections we have on the palace will keep any... accidents from occurring within these walls. Therefore, it is your decision."
Emma placed her hand over Regina's that was resting on the stone table. "I love her. And she deserves the opportunity to know this side of me, and to know our daughter."
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"Really Emma, it's not necessary. I am only here for today." Regina tried to pull her hand away from the blonde's grip.
Emma would have none of it. She smiled, a dazzling smile that had none of the sadness that Emma Swan's always seemed to be tinged with. Her eyes had a life to them, a playfulness, a vivacity, all that seemed to be lacking in her Emma's own green eyes. Emma Swan always seemed resigned, there was a loss of hope, the tinges of a hard life lived. The differences between the two were subtle, easily unnoticed by someone who wasn't intimately familiar with the blonde, but Regina was not fooled. "All the more reason for you to meet her while you're here. You will love her Regina."
Regina let herself be dragged to the chamber doors and Emma pushed them open. The room inside was covered in toys of all kinds, it looked like the display floor at FAO Schwartz. A small, thin girl was playing with a pair of stuffed horses in the center of the chamber. She was in a beautiful blue gown, her black hair was pinned half up to keep it out of her heart shaped face. It fell down her back in soft ringlets, a blue bow keeping it pinned at the top of her head. She looked up with a tan face that was punctuated by the deepest sapphire eyes Regina had ever seen. When they focused on the two women, her entire face lit up, her stuffed horses instantly forgotten.
"Momma! Mommy!" The girl ran across the room as fast as her stick legs would carry her, running straight for Regina like a moth to a flame. She launched herself at the brunette and instinctually, Regina bent low, opening her arms to receive the child's embrace. She lifted the girl effortlessly into her arms as the small arms locked around her neck. "Will you play with me Momma?" The girl looked hopefully into Regina's face, the picture of innocence. She reminded Regina of Henry when he was her age, back before he'd found out who she truly was and named her enemy. She stared into Regina's eyes, into the eyes of the Evil Queen, without fear. It was a rare commodity that Regina was unused to.
She nodded. "Of course I will."
Emma smiled softly at her two girls. Her face glowed with love and pride. She was relieved that the mayor was getting to see her life like this, even if only for a day. If she returned to Storybrooke when she fell asleep tonight, at least she now knew that they'd both go into the coming days with open eyes, even if they couldn't manage to break the curse and reunite the souls.
Emma watched Regina sit on the floor, smiling at how funny the thought of Regina Mills on any floor was, with Savya in her lap. She had one arm wrapped protectively around the little girl's waist as she pointed a long finger at the stuffed horses the girl had been playing with. The plush animals sprang to life, neighing and whinnying as if they were real miniature horses. Savya giggled and clapped her hands together in delight, staring between the horses and Regina in wonder.
Emma bit her bottom lip. It felt good to know that she hadn't lost this life. She got to keep them both. She'd have the mayor and the queen. She couldn't help but feel as if she should be more paranoid, as if waiting for the inevitable 'but'.
"Mommy, come play with us." Savya was looking at her.
Regina gave her that classic smirk that was all Madam Mayor. "Yea Mommy, come play with us."
Emma gave a dramatic sigh. "If I must."
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"What is this place?" Regina looked around the beautiful landscape. One of her hands was gripped in Emma's, the other holding up her skirts to keep them from getting soiled on the ground.
Emma smiled delicately. "This is where we were wed."
Regina froze. Her eyes drank in every detail as if trying to soak it in and memorize it. This place was now that much more important. "It's still amazing to me that you so easily tamed my heart in this world. I saw the look in her eyes. She'd do anything for you."
"And I would do much the same for her. And for you."
Regina looked down at the ring on her finger. She had to admit that there was something so right about the feel of that band around her finger. It felt as if everything was as it should be. "The elves believe in binding souls. Did we...?"
Emma nodded. "I am yours and you are mine."
Regina felt the weight of that settle in her stomach. A soul binding was not something to be taken lightly. Her other half had made quite a life here. She had known what she wanted her life to be. She had a daughter, she had been so sure about Emma that she had magically bound their very souls together. That was not something one just tossed under the rug.
And Savya. Regina had to admit that it was difficult not to be charmed by the little girl. She was young, innocent. She still found wonder in the world. "Will you tell me about your life here so far? I think I'm ready to know now, how you've lived your life in my absence."
Emma nodded. She led them over to a grassy knoll. After Regina magically produced a blanket for them to sit on, the blonde pulled them down onto it. Emma sat back, pulling Regina back against her to sit in her lap. She spent the next few hours telling her everything, who she was, what had happened to her, and, most importantly, what her life had become since she'd met Regina.
As they reentered the palace, a guard appeared before them. "Queen Rowanaldi requests the presence of Your Grace in the war room."
Emma frowned. She glanced at Regina, seeming to consider whether this was something she needed to know. Seeing the stubborn set of determination on the woman's face, she knew it would just be an argument to refuse to let her come. She intertwined her fingers with the brunette's. "Come my love, let's see what all the fuss is about."
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Rowanaldi stood at the head of the table in the war room, bent low over a map the was spread out there. Arazera leaned in close beside her, pointing to a spot on the map and whispering to the older blonde Queen.
Emma's brow was furrowed in worry. "What has happened?" Her hand fell from Regina's as she made her way around the table towards the two elves, who looked up, their eyes stoic.
Arazera's eyes flashed up to Regina, silently questioning her presence.
Emma rolled her eyes at the dark haired elf. "I have told her everything already; no secrets will be given here."
Slowly, Arazera's eyes slipped down to the map once more, though Regina noticed that the rigidity didn't leave her posture. The woman still didn't trust her.
"Forces are gathering outside our borders. I believe they mean to attack."
Emma frowned. "I thought you said the borders were magically held, that they could not be breeched?"
"By humans, no, but we have received word from our guards along the perimeter that they have powerful spell casters in their midst, some among them elves."
"So, they can break through the magical barrier?" Emma tried to keep the panic from her voice.
Rowanaldi pointed to the map. "They're making camp here, a huge host, with smaller camps along here and here. It appears to be the same army that plagued these lands before. The main host is led by two people, a man and a woman. The man is your former husband."
"Hadrian? What does he have to do with any of this?"
"We know not."
Emma couldn't believe it. Hadrian was just a human, from across the sea at that. But the more she thought about it, the more anything seemed possible. Truly she knew very little about her former husband's origins. She knew he was royal, but with the exception of their wedding, she had never had any contact with his family. It was hard to believe that a man she had once cared for and respected could be so different from what she thought he was.
"I have sent more guards to the perimeters. We can hold them while we figure out a plan, but I do not have faith that we will hold them indefinitely. I fear, for the first time in the existence of my kind, the elven lands may be in danger."
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Regina sang the same lullaby to Savya that she had sung to Henry when he was little, a soft cooing thing that soothed the little girl much as it had her brother. Henry was a brother. She smiled even as she sang at that thought. He'd always used to beg her to have another child when he was younger, but any hope of that had gone out the window with the knowledge he was adopted and later when he found out where she had truly come from and the curse that affected everyone in town but him. He would love Savya; he would protect her and keep her safe. Regina's heart wrenched because she knew he would never know her, just as she herself would never truly know her. After today, she would leave this world.
She shot lazy glittering bursts of magic, like contained fireworks, into the chamber above their heads and Savya watched them with tired eyes. Her sapphire irises followed the bursts even as they continued to sag, lulled to unconsciousness by the sound of Regina's voice.
As soon as she was off in dreamland, Regina reluctantly slipped away, closing the doors to the little girl's bed chamber behind her.
Emma was waiting for her in the toy filled parlour. "She loves you, both of you."
Regina fell into step beside the younger blonde Queen as they exited the chamber and made their way back to their own. She looked at the marble walls of the corridor. This was a beautiful palace, much more grand than her own. She could see living here for the rest of her days. "How were you going to do it?"
Emma entwined their fingers as they walked. "Do what?"
"Choose."
Emma sighed. "There is no easy answer. I was bred from a very young age to believe that staying in the Enchanted Forest was an inevitability. It was just what I was supposed to do. I hadn't found the other halves of anyone I knew. I was alone, in a strange land. Here, I'd be surrounded by people I knew. Up until a month ago, it was always this life that was to be mine. But then, you happened, and Henry, and you both helped me realise something very important."
Regina glanced at the woman beside her. "What's that?"
"That I've spent just as much time in that world as I have in this one. I can match each life day for day. It's just as much a part of me as this life is." She smiled sadly. "I knew the moment I met you that I wanted them both, that I was going to fight to keep them both. That's why I tried to break the curse. I figured combining the souls, correcting the split was the only way that was possible. I could care less which land endured, whether the Enchanted Forest or Storybrooke, just as long as I got to keep you both."
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Regina stared down at the woman sleeping soundly beside her. It wasn't yet time to go back. She could feel it. She still had unfinished business here. She got up from the bed and crossed into the parlour. Her time was drawing closer to it's conclusion.
"Hello sweet one."
Regina whipped around and came face to face with a ghost. Emma had told her that afternoon that Daniela had lived, but hearing it and actually seeing her first love standing before her were two entirely different things. She found, after her month with Emma, she didn't feel quite as strongly towards the woman before her, but it was there, that old love, like a long forgotten memory. "Daniela."
A ghost of a smile crept across the woman's face. "It is so good to see you."
"According to the young Queen, you've been seeing me for a great many years."
Daniela's head tilted in acquiescence. "True, but there is a difference between her and you. You were the one who enacted the curse for your broken heart. You are the half that missed me more. I have missed you, the part of you that still loved me so."
"I also am the half that, had I the time to do so, would resent you more. Your absence did not ruin the last twenty eight years of her life. I mourned a life that was never truly lost. I almost turned Emma away because of the love I held for you, because of a loss I was holding in my heart that never truly happened. Your absence made me vulnerable, made me become the monster that stole so many hearts." There was only bitterness in her tone. She didn't have time to care what had caused her to enact the curse; she had more important things to consider.
Daniela smiled sadly. "I know. If I could change it... if I could go back and do what I promised... what it was my duty to do, and protect you from, all this, I would."
Regina frowned. "If you had, I wouldn't have Emma, I wouldn't have my children. Good came from your mistake. I see that now. As hurt as I am, I wouldn't change a thing."
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She stared at the surface of the mirror. Time had frozen again. It was time to return to Eternity; their hourglass must be reaching its end. They would have to decide what was to become of their worlds. It seemed impossible. When she'd arrived here this morning, she'd been so convinced that nothing could change her mind. Now, she wasn't quite so confident. How would she ever decide? She loved Henry, and Emma Swan, but there was a part of her that already knew she couldn't turn her back on Savya and the young Queen. She loved them all.
She took a deep breath as the surface of the glass rippled before she stepped back through and out of this world.