Chapter Thirty-Eight—"Full Circle"

Regina hated waiting, and being told—barely politely!—to cool her heels in someone else's antechamber was a bit much. She'd spent years, even when she was just the mayor of Storybrooke, having people wait on her, not the other way around, and having to adjust to anything else was difficult. Particularly when the people in question kept them waiting for almost an hour, doing whatever it was they did in Wonderland. Finally, an odd looking man with a face that was painted half red and half white showed up, opened the doors, and announced them:

"Robin of Locksley and…friend." The silly little man said looked confused, but Regina followed Robin into the throne room without correcting him. She'd promised to try to do this Robin's way, after all, and that meant putting the Evil Queen persona down, at least for a little while.

"Hello, Will," Robin opened with the cheeky grin that Regina knew all too well. "Or should I say 'Your Majesty'?"

The slender man on the right handed throne laughed. "Well, I'll be damned. I never thought I'd see Robin Hood in Wonderland with—"

"Queen Regina?" the woman to his right squeaked, rather un-graciously, Regina thought. But even the former outlaw turned White King went a little bit green around the edges upon seeing her, and well, that did warm her heart a little.

"Dowager Queen these days," she replied airily, waving a hand. "No need to get up."

They both stared at her, but it was Robin's exasperated look that mattered, so Regina tried a reassuring smile on for size. Of course, she wasn't a particularly reassuring presence for anyone who had grown up in the Enchanted Forest, and Regina knew that, but she supposed that she should at least try. Thank goodness that Robin knows Will Scarlet, she thought behind her attempt at diplomacy, because I doubt he'd listen to me! Scarlet had been brought to Storybrooke by her curse, Regina knew, and Anastasia seemed to originally have been from the Enchanted Forest. Neither of them was going to think she was up to anything good. It was practically reflex, after all. They were hardwired to think of her as a villain.

Villains don't get happy endings. But that wasn't true, was it? They were working at it, both of them were, and Regina was slowly coming to understand that although she needed to fight for her happy ending, it was possible. That thought, more than anything else, gave her the strength to raise her chin and forge onwards, ignoring what she knew people thought of her so that she could do the right thing.

"I know you weren't really expecting us," Robin said, filling the uncomfortable silence with a crooked smile. "But we need your help."

"You need our help?" Anastasia echoed doubtfully. "What would you need our help for?"

"We're looking for someone, actually. Someone that we have good reason to believe is here in Wonderland." Robin shrugged. "Or at least we think he is."

"There aren't a lot of people from the Enchanted Forest here," Will pointed out. "Present company, uh, notwithstanding."

The two monarchs exchanged a glance, sending an odd chill up Regina's spine. Those two were True Love, she suddenly realized. Who would have thought that of an outlaw and Cinderella's (slightly less) evil stepsister? But the magic swirling around them—not Anastasia's magic; that was far less significant—didn't lie. It was much like the power that always drifted around herself and Robin, and it made Regina feel a little bit better disposed towards the White King and Queen.

"We're looking for a sorcerer who apparently made a name for himself here," Regina answered, grinning wickedly. "Jafar."

"We hear he's a genie these days," Robin added helpfully.

Regina shrugged and continued before the other two could recover from their shock. Apparently Robin didn't care to socialize with the pair, so she went straight to the point. "I tried a tracking spell, but I think that I need something of his to make it work. Do you have anything?"

"I don't think locator spells work on genies," Will said after a moment, still a bit wide-eyed.

"How would you know anything about genies?" Robin asked curiously.

The White King shrugged, exchanging a loaded glance with his wife. "I, uh, might have been one for a while."

"You might have what?" Regina found herself echoing dubiously. Of course, she'd met—and manipulated—former genies before, but no one knew better than Regina that freedom for a genie came at a high price. Just look at Sidney. He trapped himself in a mirror with a careless wish, and if anyone should have known better, he should have! Come to think of it, Regina had no idea where Sidney had gone off to after their return from Storybrooke. Hopefully, he'd landed as a human and gone off to do something, well…elsewhere. She didn't need a lovesick puppy trailing her around, particularly if he wasn't stuck in a mirror that she could cover up and get away from.

"You have been busy," Robin put in with a grin, which the outlaw-turned-king returned crookedly.

"You have no idea, mate."

"You're one to talk," Anastasia put in. "What's the Enchanted Forest's most legendary outlaw doing in Wonderland with the Evil Queen?" Her voice took on a slight edge. "And why do you want Jafar?"

Without any conscious decision to let them do so, Regina found her eyes meeting Robin's. Looking at him let her throttle down the immediate desire to snap at these two so-called monarchs (a thief and a minor noblewoman, ha!) and refuse to explain herself to them. Robin had been right; they needed to try this his way. Besides, who was she to cast stones? I never expected redemption to be this damn hard! Being on the side of the heroes didn't mean Regina was required to be nice to everyone she met, but in this case, perhaps a little diplomacy was in order.

"Basically, we're trying to stop him from doing anything…regrettable," Robin explained, clearly noticing that Regina was struggling to behave herself. "Things are getting interesting back home, and there are some people who would probably love to use him against everyone else. We're here to get him, and his lamp, before they can."

"I believe that of you," Will replied immediately. "But her?" He glanced at Regina. "No offense, but I lived in the Enchanted Forest. And Storybrooke. I don't think giving you a genie to play with is a good idea."

Regina couldn't help laughing. "I don't need a genie to get what I want."

Of course, that didn't seem to reassure either of them, so Robin picked up hastily. "You've missed out on a lot in the last year, Will. We've been at war ever since everyone came back from the Land Without Magic. Queen Regina's been a big help."

"Against who?" Anastasia asked as if she couldn't believe her ears, and Regina fought to keep from rolling her eyes.

"It started against the Wicked Witch of the West, but these days, we're trying to stop—or contain, anyway—the Black Fairy," her lover replied, glancing her way again. The hint of worry in Robin's eyes made her scowl, even though it did bring a warm rush of love with it. She was fine, thank you very much, although it was kind of nice to have someone who worried about that from time to time.

"The Black Fairy's just a legend," Will objected.

"Look, we don't have time to argue with you," she cut in. "Either help us or don't. But if you're not going to, just say so, and we'll be on our way. We've got a war to get back to."

And the two most powerful fairies in the world still want my son's heart, Regina didn't say, though the knowledge certainly weighed on her mind. Emma had promised to keep Henry safe, and Regina knew that Rumplestiltskin would keep an eye on him, too, but that didn't mean that she didn't constantly worry about Henry. She'd lost him once, for over a year, as the ultimate price for her own vengeance, and Regina wasn't about to let that happen again. If she had to, she'd wish the damn genie into protecting Henry for eternity, and have no regrets.

Her bluntness made both of Wonderland's monarchs blink and exchange a look. Finally, Will said: "I think we can help you, but Jafar…isn't here. Though I do think I might know where he is."

He looked so uneasy that Regina had to snort.

"Wherever it is, it can't be any worse than some places I've been."

Robin stared at her. "Why did you have to go and say that, love? You know how this works. Now things are only going to get uglier."

Regina just shrugged.

Bae had never much liked Prince Thomas—really, it was a mutual dislike that they both embraced—but after David told him what the idiot had said about Henry, he was ready to take the pretty princeling's face off. Of course, Bae had long since had the same realization about his son, but he'd hoped that no one else would really think about it. Trying to explain why it mattered to Emma hadn't been fun at all; she was plenty smart enough to wrap her mind around the concept of illegitimate birth, but Emma was a product of the world they'd both grown up in. Like Bae, it really riled her up to think that someone might take their prejudices out on Henry. It wasn't Henry's fault that they'd been young and dumb, and he didn't deserve to pay the price for that. Thankfully, David agreed, because Bae could only imagine what a blowup would occur between Emma and her father if David had been inclined to cut his losses like King Francis seemed to think he should.

There were times that Bae really missed the Land Without Magic. At least there most folks hadn't been so damn class conscious, and there Thomas would have just been a yuppie mechanic struggling to make ends meet because you couldn't live in your father's castle forever in the real world. Here, however, Thomas got to play at being important, running around and doing his father's errands because he was a king-in-waiting. It actually made Bae miss Ella, who he didn't know well, but at least seemed to be something of a steadying influence on her husband. She seemed to have learned a thing or two over the years, and probably would have been smart enough to stop Thomas from prattling on about Henry being a bastard.

"If he says that anywhere near Henry, I swear to God that I'll tell Regina and let her eat him for lunch," he murmured to David.

David snorted. "Not your father?"

"Pop's a bit slower to take vengeance. He likes to make people squirm," Bae shrugged. "Regina's scarier in this context, I think."

"You're forgetting that it was your father who made a deal for Thomas' unborn daughter," Henry's other grandfather pointed out with an amused smile. It was amazing how they could joke about things like that these days. "They're still plenty scared of him."

"I'll keep that in mind, then," he promised, keeping his tone light but not really managing to mask how angry he was. Yeah, he and Emma had screwed up, but where did Thomas get off saying that Henry was unworthy because of that?

"Hey." Abruptly, David put a hand on his shoulder, and Bae twisted to stare at the king. "We'll make this right. Legitimizing Henry won't be hard at all. Snow and I will get on it as soon as she's back."

The lump in Bae's throat eased a little; Emma's parents really were good people, and the two of them were damn lucky that neither monarch blamed them for what had happened. Obviously, if such a thing had happened in Thomas' family, the child in question wouldn't have been nearly so accepted. "People will still look down at him."

"Less so if the two of you get married."

"Huh?" Shock tore the word out of him, and all Bae could do was stare at his friend. Had David really just said…?

"You did ask permission to court her and all. That is usually what comes next, Sir Baelfire." If David hadn't been smiling, Bae might have just walked away, but he was. Still, it took him a long time to find words, because it was one thing to date (or court, or whatever they were doing) Emma. Marriage, expected though it was in the Enchanted Forest, was something else entirely.

Even if they had meant to marry after getting to Tallahassee, that had been a lifetime ago.

"I, uh…I mean, damn, David. It's Emma. She's going to make it difficult," he finally managed to respond after flailing for words for several long moments. Bae knew he looked like he'd swallowed a fish, but he so hadn't expected to have this conversation today. "Unless you want me dabbling in your love life…" his father had said. Damn it all if things didn't have a habit to coming around in circles.

"I know," David replied with a smile. "And I'm not trying to push the two of you into anything—though I will warn you that Snow thinks it's a great idea, so you should watch out for that. We'll take care of legitimizing Henry. Just…think about it. I know you make Emma happy, and that's what matters to us. Not titles or crowns. Besides"—and now he grinned—"like you said, it's Emma. She's going to stay with who she wants, not who we tell her to."

"Isn't that the truth," Bae muttered, remembering the girl who had tried to steal the car he'd already stolen. The two exchanged knowing smiles before another ambassador arrived to claim David's attention, and Bae wandered off, casting a glance over to where his son was chatting with Granny. Somehow, the tyrannical old woman had wound up taking over Graham's nursery, but today she had emerged from her little realm to socialize with the rest of the court. But at least she was someone who Bae could trust with Henry. Granny wouldn't let yuppie princes like Thomas say anything horrible in Henry's hearing. Hell, she probably wouldn't let Thomas near Henry just on principle—she'd never much use for royalty that wasn't Snow or David, after all.

Threading his way through the crowd, Bae headed for the far wall, looking for a spot to lean on and people watch while he avoided Thomas. He didn't want to start a fight, and Bae was smart enough to know that if he started talking to the prince in question, he wouldn't be able to be nice. But he was a guest at David's court, and Bae had learned enough about polite society to know that meant he needed to behave himself.

Movement caught his eye as three women strode through the doors, causing heads to turn before people turned back to their original conversations. All three were dressed like noblewomen, with flawless features and great natural beauty. Each seemed to have chosen a specific color as her theme for the evening: the redhead wore blue, the blonde gold, and the very tall brunette wore green. But all three extravagant dresses (Bae had been at court long enough to recognize how abnormal their garb was, particularly when this gathering was far from a ball) shared a common thread of silver…silver that wasn't entirely secular. A chill ran down Bae's spine.

Glancing David's way—he was still busy with that ambassador—Be started heading towards the three women who he was now sure were fae. They were toobeautiful, tooperfect. He hadn't really seen many fae, aside from one or two who wandered into the middle of one battle or another…and that one. The brunette. He had seen her before. That was the fae who had brought King Stefan's castle crashing down around them so many months earlier!

And now she seemed to have recognized him, too, because the fae was headed his way with a knowing smirk on her face. So, Bae studied her openly, meeting her gaze frankly when others looked away. She certainly was beautiful in an ethereal kind of way; something in the smooth way she floated over the ground marked her as clearly not-human, but the affect was alluring instead of off-putting. Her hair was slightly curly, falling to her waist and flowing behind her like the wispy silver cloth lining her gown. There wasn't a breeze in the throne room, but her magic seemed to create one, and as Bae watched, the fae walked right up to him.

She looked different when she wasn't pinned to the ground courtesy of his father's magic, not so furious and far more self-satisfied.

"I remember you," she said immediately, stepping close to him and reaching a hand out to touch his cheek. Bae dodged, but her smile only grew. "Though I had not recalled you being so handsome."

The soft-spoken words made desire stir in him, and Bae felt the telltale tingle of magic working through his bones. But knowing it was there meant he could work with it, and he smiled back as casually as he could, refusing to let her magic wrap around him and make him into a fool. "Then I think you have me at a disadvantage."

"Titania," she introduced herself in a purr, and now her hand did somehow make it to his cheek, long and cool fingers stroking lightly. His heart was beating faster, despite himself.

"Baelfire," he answered without meaning to.

You fool! Names have power, Bae cursed himself inwardly, but by now it was too late to take it back.

"A strong name," Titania replied, silvery gray eyes fastened on his. "A beautiful name."

Emma, Bae told himself desperately. Think of Emma. Picturing Emma's face did help pull him back from the sudden thickness in his throat, the unexpected pulse of desire rolling through him. He didn't want this, didn't want her, and he needed to stay focused. Bae doubted that three fae had shown up just to play with him, particularly what given the other information David had relayed to him. Was this related to what Thomas' father was up to? But this woman wasn't the Black Fairy. Bae remembered her from the christening, remembered how every man in the room had wanted her, remembered the toxically enticing magic that wafted out and filled the room. Titania, this fae, was almost as bad, though, particularly up close and personal.

"Come with me, Baelfire, and experience pleasure like you have only dreamed of," she said persuasively, and part of him screamed to agree.

His heart sounded like a rock band was playing in his ears.

Emma, he told himself again. Think of Emma. But his mouth started to open to agree, and the words would have come out, no matter what he really wanted, had the blonde-haired fae not stepped up to speak quietly to Titania.

"The boy is here," she whispered. "The Truest Believer."

The words dumped a bucket of freezing cold water over Bae's head, and his mind snapped back into itself, the formerly unfocused room suddenly snapping back into full clarity. Henry. "Stay away from him," he snarled.

Titania turned back to look at him. "Protective, are we?" A playful smile touched her pale lips. "Here we come for the princess who took the Janus Stone, and instead we find the Truest Believer. Where do you fit into this dynamic, Baelfire?"

She didn't know, Bae suddenly realized, clamping his mouth shut with a smirk of his own. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

She has no idea. The sudden tightness in his chest was not fear—it was hard-edged fury and a need to protect his family no matter what the cost. Because Emma and Henry were his family, just like his dad and Belle were. He didn't need an official relationship with Emma to consider her family, and Bae had never been hesitant to fight for those he loved. In that, he had always been his father's son.

But there were ways in which he wasn't his father's son, and as Titania's hand touched his cheek again, Bae regretted—for the first time in his life—never learning a bit of magic. He could feel the spell worming into his mind, into his soul, tearing out information and memories and laying him bare for Titania to inspect. He tried to move, tried to yank away from her, but magic held him so still that he couldn't even cry out for help. Her power swirled around him, deep and dark, and Bae could feel it as Titania found the answer she was looking for. Her silvery eyes went wide, just for a moment, and then the too-perfect face split into a victorious smile.

"He is your son," Titania whispered, and then laughed softly. "Oh, this is ideal. I will bring you both, then—the boy for My Lady and you for my enjoyment. Perfect."

Heart still thundering in his ears, Bae forced himself to meet her eyes. "I'm no one's toy."

A few minutes later, Emma felt the surge of magic in her very bones. At first, she thought Rumplestiltskin was responsible—he had been throwing various bits of magic up for her to deconstruct for what felt like hours—but the flavor was all wrong. She'd never thought of magic having a specific taste before, but when Rumplestiltskin abruptly sat up and the magic he'd had her weaving at vanished, Emma knew something was wrong. There was something familiar about this…

"What was that?" she asked.

"Fae magic. And close." He was on his feet before he'd finished speaking, beckoning her along. "Come."

Suddenly, his magic swept them both up and brought them to her parents' throne room. Plenty of recent practice teleporting meant Emma landed on her feet, even though she was surprised by the sudden yank of magic. They landed right on the edge of a crowd of well-dressed and newly terrified people, most of which were rapidly backing away from the center of the room. As if leaning on the wall is going to save them, Emma almost snorted aloud. She'd learned enough about magic to know that putting a little distance between yourself and it wouldn't do you much good if the nasty stuff started flying around. However, her attention was quickly stolen by the three fae near the middle of the room, two of which were facing her father down—who had Excalibur in hand and Henry behind him—and the third who was standing so close to Neal that she might have been kissing him.

Neal, for his part, looked both angry and completely befuddled, bamboozled by the layers of magic that Emma could feel swirling around him. Despite the subject of the lesson she'd just been taught, Emma couldn't consciously identify the different spells sweeping through her lover, but instinct and practise told her what type of magic they were. Fury surged up, and she strode forward without meaning to, power leaping to her fingertips and not even thinking about unraveling anything. She only thought about Neal.

"Get away from him, you bitch," she snarled, slamming magic into the too beautiful fae. An entirely comical look of surprise crossed the other woman's face as she stumbled backwards, but it was quickly replaced by a smile.

"Oh, and the pieces fall into place!" she laughed. "The Savior is the mother of the Truest Believer. How fitting." The brunette glanced at Neal. "What a happy family you make."

"Yeah," Emma replied, not bothering to deny it. Magic came from passionate feelings, and man was she feeling that right now. "And it's a family you're going to stay away from, if you know what's good for you."

"Mind the emotions," a quiet voice reminded her from her left, and only then did Emma remember that Rumplestiltskin had appeared with her. He stood a dozen or so feet away from her now, appearing totally at ease and not crackling power the way she knew she was, but Emma could still feel it simmering under the surface. "Conscious magic, Emma."

She sucked in a deep breath and watched the fae wheel to face Neal's father. "Reverting to your old ways, Merlin? Playing the teacher behind the scenes?"

Rumplestiltskin snorted. "I am what I am. Titania, isn't it?"

"As you well know." Her smile met his, and Emma watched the silent byplay between the fae woman and the former Dark One. Now she could feel the power crackling, and to make things worse, the other two fae stepped up to stand slightly behind Titania, magic swirling around them, too. Meanwhile, Neal slowly backed out of the line of fire, briefly meeting Emma's eyes and then glancing towards Henry.

That silent message came across loud and clear. Going after Neal had just been a distraction, no matter how hot and heavy Titania had been pouring it on. Henry was their goal. The bastards still wanted the Heart of the Truest Believer, and Neal was obviously drifting in the direction of David and Henry, his hand on his own sword hilt. But there wasn't much he could do here—this was a fight between magic users and, heaven help her, Emma had become one of those. She might not quite be in the sorceress category yet…but she was getting close. Far closer than I would have wanted to be a couple of months ago, she thought honestly. Now, hell, I'm not so sure what I want, but I know what I have to be.

Emma would be whatever the world demanded of her, so long as it kept Henry safe.

Rumplestiltskin met her eyes, and quirked a rather naughty smile. "Your lead. I'm just here to teach."

"You're what?" she snapped.

"Enough of this," Titania interjected, her cheerful expression melting into something vicious. "We will take you both. And the boy. Surrender now, or face the consequences."

"Really?" Emma retorted before she could stop herself. "Is that the best threat you can come up with?"

Real diplomatic, Emma. You make a great princess, don't you? But it was hard to be politic when she just wanted to start smashing things. And fae. And of course, Rumplestiltskin was just standing there, watching the fae and working subtle magic under the surface—and had been for a while, Emma realized abruptly. Maybe he wasn't being quite as useless as Emma had thought. Then again, he was Henry's grandfather, too, and Neal's dad. If nothing else, she could trust him to want them to be safe. Knowing him, he didn't give a damn about anyone else in the room, but he'd protect his family.

Briefly, Emma wondered if that layer of protection extended to her, too, or if he just intended to throw her off the deep end and see what she learned. He did teach Regina. Don't forget that. And Regina certainly would have been happy to make Emma face off against the fae until she learned something from the experience. The Evil Queen had tossed her off a cliff, after all, just to see what would happen. And she hadn't apologized, either. Not even once.

"It isn't a threat, Savior. It's a promise." The acidic bite in the fae's voice triggered a memory, and Emma suddenly realized that this was the same fae she'd faced off against over the Janus Stone, the one who had survived the experience and run away when Belle grabbed the stone.

"I've heard that before. Didn't you want to use me as a battery last time? I seem to remember that plan working out just great for you."

Titania didn't answer; instead, a giant wave of magic—undisciplined, raw, and sharp-edged—rushed out at Emma and Rumplestiltskin. It was huge and deadly, enough to make a part of Emma want to run away screaming, and although she'd just spent several hours talking about deconstructing magic, Emma reached instinctively for emotion-based magic. Her counter fed off her fear, and the magic slammed to a stop four feet in front of her. Emma, however, skidded back several feet from the force of the blow, her hands stinging.

A second surge of magic rolled over Emma immediately after the first, this one coming from the other two fae. Thinking hard of Henry—and Neal, and even her father—Emma channeled power into her hands once more, and watched white light rear up to match the purple wave homing in on her. The two met in a shower of sparks, making people yelp and cower back from the display. Henry said something she couldn't catch, only to be pulled back by Neal, who at least was still using his head. Meanwhile, David shouted at everyone else to get back, but the doors to the throne room slammed shut with a wave of Titania's hand, trapping everyone inside. Still, at least the useless courtiers listened, and were now pressing as far back as they could get, leaving plenty of room for this fight.

"A little help here?" she snapped at Rumplestiltskin, feeling breathless already. Damn. The price for that bit of magic was undoubtedly going to be a huge migraine.

The sorcerer grinned, and then flicked a hand at the third attack, one which came from Titania and both of the other two. Every magical sense Emma had was already tingling, which was probably why she felt the minuscule amount of power in the gesture—but could still see how the slender thread of magic slipped inside the heart of the fae's spell, pulling apart the very foundations of the magic. Wide-eyed, Emma watched the spell collapse like a harmless house of cards, crumbling to nothing save fairy dust and disconnected bits of power. Rumplestiltskin, of course, looked smugly pleased with himself.

"Finessetrumps raw power nearly every time, dear. Think, Emma. Use that brain of yours, and you won't need me."

"Are you seriously going to try to turn this into a teaching moment?" Emma demanded incredulously.

"Why shouldn't I?" the sorcerer replied easily. "You already know how to use your emotions to strengthen your magic. Do the rest."

Emma glared, but there wasn't time to do more. The fae attacked again, and this time she remembered to look at the magic coming her way instead of reacting with what had become her first instinct, and sure enough, there was a thread that she could pull to dismantle it. There wasn't time to doubt herself—or time to screw up—so she yanked on that thread with all of the concentration she possessed. Of course, she might have done so a bit too enthusiastically, because the fae's spell came crashing down around them, fairy dust filling the air around them. Her vision went multi-colored for a moment, and Emma sneezed.

"Better," Rumplestiltskin said oh-so-helpfully. "Though do try to use…kid gloves next time. Gentler is better."

"You're talking about being gentle? Didn't I arrest you for beating your girlfriend's father half to death with your cane?" Emma snarled.

"A lapse of judgment," he replied with a shrug, flicking a hand and sending two of the fae flying. Titania managed to stay on her feet, but only barely, and she bared her teeth at the pair, eyes flashing darkly. Her hands came up, darkness sparking between them, and Emma felt the depth of the spell she was building.

Someone needs to tell her about using finesse over raw power, she thought mutinously. But she glared at Rumplestiltskin instead of saying anything to the bitchy fae. "Isn't that what you said about setting that wraith loose?"

"We all have our moments," was the off-hand reply, said in a slightly sing-songy voice that put Emma's teeth on edge.

But damn it if that crooked smile he was wearing didn't remind her of Neal, who had already dragged their son halfway across the room, despite Henry's vocal objections. David was covering their retreat, making sure that Henry was well-shielded by plenty of other people, but Emma still knew that all the people in the throne room couldn't protect Henry from these fae if she and Rumplestiltskin failed. Still, she thought she knew enough about her companion to know that he didn't much enjoy even the idea of failure, which meant that Emma could just roll her eyes at him and retort:

"Yeah, and you've got more than others."

She got the words out just before the next attack came sailing in from Titania, and then suddenly it was a fast and furious battle, full of magic flying at her that Emma had to either block or dismantle. Rumplestiltskin seemed content to pick apart anything she missed, sometimes offering a critique of her style or cheerfully acidic comments that seemed to make the fae want to strangle him, too. Crazy though Gold had always been able to drive Emma, she was capable of appreciating the fact that he seemed able to do the same to their common enemy.

Five minutes after she shot that comment back at Rumplestiltskin—the longest five minutes in Emma's entire life, despite having rather stiff competition for that distinction—Emma had dismantled more than two dozen spells and stopped another ten or so using raw power and her desire to protect her family. Meanwhile, she threw as many attacks as she could, finally abandoning herself to Rumplestiltskin's coaching. She griped at him more than once that he wasn't exactly pulling his weight—but even when the words came out of Emma's mouth, she got the sense that he was still working on something behind the scenes. But the fae didn't seem to notice, so Emma kept her mouth shut on that front. The fact that she was in the midst of a magical fight was weird enough. She didn't even want to contemplate how bizarre it was to trust Rumplestiltskin to have her back.

Until Titania spun around and a complex spell suddenly raced towards Henry, too fast for Emma to keep up with, particularly since she was in the midst of hammering one of the other two fae into the ground. She was fed up with this mess, sick of listening to the three fae laugh at her while she learned and fought at the same time.

"Stop her!" was all Emma had time to shout, and power ripped out of Rumplestiltskin—a fascinating cross between a carefully crafted spell and the type of protective magic that Emma excelled at. The sheer ferocity of the emotion he used shocked Emma to her core, and it sent Titania sprawling.

But there was another kind of magic building, and it wasn't just the shields that Rumplestiltskin had snuck up around Neal, Henry, and David. Titania—and perhaps the other two fae—had been in the process of doing something, something terrifying and aimed at Henry.

"Take the other two, Emma. However you need to. Just do it fast," he snapped, all amusement gone.

Titania was on her feet, now, and instead of facing off with Rumplestiltskin, who was already stepping towards her, she fired a giant ball of blackness towards Emma, and the one hit. Emma had never been struck by dark magic before, and it took her breath away, trapping the scream that wanted to rise in her chest and sending wild convulsions ripping through her. Collapsing to her knees as the world spun wildly, Emma vaguely heard Neal shouting her name and Henry calling for her, too, but the darkness was too strong, and the floor rushed up to meet her face before Emma could form coherent thought. Desperately, she tried to cling to the love she felt for Henry and Neal, to let her need to protect them fuel her magic, but the darkness had its claws too deeply into her, and Emma went down hard.

Vaguely, she felt one of the other two fae fling magic at her, and Emma knew that was going to kill her—but then the spell stopped cold, and a different spell suddenly ripped through her. Her vision cleared painfully fast, and Emma realized that Rumplestiltskin was on one knee at her side.

"Rise and shine, Princess," he said tightly, his left hand extended and holding up a shield between the pair of them and the fae. The same black sparks that had hit Emma snapped and popped as they impacted against the shield, and his face was tight with concentration. Rumplestiltskin's right hand lifted from her forehead, glowing faintly.

Coherency crept back in, allowing Emma to realize that Rumplestiltskin was now shielding the pair of them in addition to Henry, Neal, and David. There was an enormous amount of power swirling around in the air, enough that it made her head spin, and awareness slammed back into Emma with a bang. Groaning, she dragged herself up to her knees, watching a lightshow play over the shield Rumplestiltskin had thrown up. She could see the threads weaving his defenses together as spells rebounded against them, could see them shifting and adjusting as the assault continued.

"Aren't you supposed to be the most powerful guy around? Why can't you take these guys out on your own?" she grumbled, digging deep into her own reserves.

"I could if I wasn't worried about the spells that one cast before we got here," he replied in an undertone, jerking his head towards Titania as they both came to their feet. "If wekill any one of them without dismantling it first, Henry will be transported out of here. Why else do you think I'm playing the defensive game?"

"I thought you were just trying to screw with me. Or teach me something."

"Well, I was trying to teach you, until you went and fell on your face," Rumplestiltskin said with a dry laugh, and despite herself, Emma snickered.

"I'll try harder next time," she retorted.

"I'd prefer this time, if it's all the same to you." They rose together, and Emma could feel his magic continuing to reach out, to counter the many spells Titania had worked while she was alone in the throne room and trying to seduce Neal.

Bitch. I'll teach you to try to steal my man, Emma thought fiercely, and power leapt to her hands as she exchanged another look with Neal's father. A sudden coolness stole through her, and Emma found herself looking at Rumplestiltskin in a different light. She'd never understood him because they'd never had anything in common, but now they did, and she could recognize the same fierce desire to protect those he loved. Those she loved.

"Sure," she replied as casually as she could, shaking her head to clear it. Emma wished the infernally annoying man would have told her that she was serving as a distraction as he did the dirty work—but maybe he had. Emma was the direct sort herself, but she knew Rumplestiltskin well enough to know that he was the king of subtlety. Still, she couldn't help but scowl at him one more time. "There are times I still want to punch you in the face, you know."

She was mostly joking, or at least Emma was pretty sure she was. Rumplestiltskin laughed, anyway, so at least he didn't feel immediately threatened. Then again, how often does he feel threatened? That thought only made her actually want to punch him, him, though, so Emma pushed it aside. When he didn't answer, Emma continued:

"What's the plan?"

Even as she spoke, Emma felt the sudden crack in the fae magic, and she heard both Henry and Neal cry out in surprise. She almost snapped something at Rumplestiltskin, until she realized that he'd finally yanked out the hooks that Titania had set into Neal and Henry both, and although the experience probably hadn't been pleasant, it was a hell of a lot better than the fae being able to drag those two off when they left. Abruptly, Emma realized that Rumplestiltskin had also been stopping the three fae from being able to teleport away. How much power had he been laying out when she was busy boxing with the enemy?

"Take the lesser fae. I'll deal with Titania," Rumplestiltskin replied tersely, stepping forward again.

"Got it." Emma moved right as he went left, and she dug deep into her own reserves.

Emma had never found the bottom of her own power, but she was looking at it now, and yet she wasn't the type to accept limitations, so she just ignored how her instincts told her that she should stop and dug deeper. While Titania wheeled on Rumplestiltskin and started flinging more of that vicious dark magic at him, Emma reached out with invisible hands to smash the other two into one another. Both yelped in surprise, probably not used to an actual physical assault, and Emma grinned. Maybe she didn't have to do magic bluntly like Regina, or even in Rumplestiltskin's tricky and twisted way. She could become a sorceress and still be Emma Swan, could smash things together sometimes and think her way out of situations at other times. She didn't have to be exactly like either of her teachers. Magic or no, she could be herself.

Somehow, that simple thought made everything jump into utter clarity. She might be becoming a sorceress, but Emma was still the same girl that had yearned for a home despite being bounced from foster home to foster home, found love in a stolen car, given up a son who searched her out, and then stubbornly refused to believe until the very last moment when she had to break a curse. She was a skeptic, a believer, an orphan, and the child of parents who had given up everything to save her. Emma'd always been a contradiction, but in that moment she was more at peace with her own idiosyncrasies than ever before.

And maybe that was the key to making her magic work. Or maybe it was just the key believing in herself. Either way, when power came to her hands, Emma could shape it better than ever before. She could understand it, and when the two fae disentangled themselves from one another, Emma was ready, shaping a spell into something like a fast-moving magical bullet. It struck the redhead right in the face, and although Emma was pretty sure that good sorceresses (or witches, or whatever people wanted to call her) weren't supposed to kill unless they had to, she wasn't about to let the fae who'd threatened Neal and their son live. There was only one way to stop these three, and well, maybe the second one would grow a brain stem and decide to surrender once her compatriot was dead.

The blonde whirled even as Titania snarled at Emma: "You'll pay for that, Savior. In blood and pain!"

"Not so likely, dearie," Rumplestiltskin said, flashing out of existence and suddenly appearing behind Titania. His hand went in through her back and then into her chest, making the fae stagger and gasp in pain. Even as the blonde whirled to help, Rumplestiltskin's right hand came free with Titania's heart clutched in it—and Emma's next spell knocked the blonde back.

Insight blazed through her mind, and Emma finally saw the tightly-woven together mesh of the blonde fae's defenses…and the weaknesses in them. Shaping another bullet of power, this one designed to stun but not kill, Emma flung it at the blonde, sending her crashing to the ground next to her dead companion, utterly paralyzed. Now, if I'd only known to do that to the dragon, I might not have felt so horrible afterwards!

"You want to question this one?" Emma asked Rumplestiltskin, walking over to stand next to the blonde fae she'd taken out.

His eyes never moved from Titania's; the two stood less than a foot apart, with the fae snarling impotently at Rumplestiltskin. "No," the former Dark One said with a sneer. "No, we don't need her at all, now, do we?"

"My Lady will know if you try to control me via my heart," Titania hissed, but there was something off in her delivery.

"Oh, I know she will. That's why I have no intention of doing so." Rumplestiltskin's smile was a dangerous thing, but for the first time, Emma's thoughts were completely in line with his. In fact, she was tempted to—

"You can't just kill them," David interjected, stepping forward, Excalibur still in hand. "They're prisoners now."

If Emma had read Rumplestiltskin right, he was certainly more than willing to—was he waiting for her to stop him, or for her to back him up? This could all be a test for anyone in the room: Titania, David, or even Emma herself, but Emma's instincts said that Rumplestiltskin was running a gambit on the fae, not on his allies. So, she decided to go with it, despite the unhappy expression on her father's face.

"Why not?" Emma asked casually. "It's not like we can keep them…unless they give us a reason to."

"We're not—I mean, I'm not—" the blonde yelped from where she was on the floor. "I'll…"

Emma peered down at her. "You'll what?"

"If you even think about betraying our Lady—" Titania wheeled on the other fae, snarling.

"He's Merlin!" the blonde squeaked.

"You're a coward," Titania sneered, and Emma felt magic rising. Titania was undoubtedly one of the more powerful fae alive, and Emma could feel the spell she was working, despite Rumplestiltskin's grip on her heart. Regina had once mentioned that you could enchant your heart so that no one could control you with it, and Titania must have done that, because the darkness rising was clearly meant to kill the blonde. "You—"

She never finished the sentence before collapsing to the floor in a heap, and Emma watched Rumplestiltskin open his left hand, dust trickling out of it and onto the floor. David gaped in surprise, but Emma didn't so much as flinch. Instead, she crouched by the blonde's side, mentally picking up the strand of magic that she had used to paralyze her opponent.

"So," she asked slowly. "Do you want to live, or not?"

A/N: Here's an extra long chapter to make up for the wait before the last one! This one almost became two chapters (It's almost 7,800 words long), but it worked better in one piece. So, my questions for you moving forward: 1) What do you think of Emma's acceptance of her own magic and 2) Do you think the newfound understanding between her and Rumplestiltskin will last?

Thank you so much for reading! Next up is Chapter 39: "Lessons Learned", where we explore the fallout from this battle; Snow, Belle, Ruby, and Grumpy head after the other prisoners Grumpy knows about; and Regina gets in a spat with Will Scarlet.