In the run-down barn near the farmhouse, Zelena stood by, overseeing things as her legion of flying monkeys scratched out the necessary symbol into the dirt floor.
"Alright, that will do nicely," she announced once the symbol was completed, stepping over to examine their handiwork. "Now, let's see how the final ingredient is coming along." With that, she marched out of the barn and made her way to the storm cellar, opening the doors with a wave of magic. Descending the steps leading into the storm cellar, she eyed the cage, where a hunched-over Jefferson was sitting with his back against the bars. The floor in front of him was littered with scraps of fabric, spools of thread, pins, and scissors. When Zelena opened the cage door and stepped inside, he showed no sign of reaction until she knelt down and reached for the object that was clenched in his hand.
"No," Jefferson muttered, unable to even lift his head up to look at her. "No more. Please! No more." Smirking cruelly at the state he was in, Zelena pried the newly constructed hat out of Jefferson's hand and carried off, leaving the broken and dejected Jefferson behind in the cage. As she left the storm cellar, Zelena magically changed the hat into a brain constructed out of fabric.
From the shelter of the surrounding forest, Emma, Regina, Robin, Mary Margret and David watched as Zelena returned to the barn.
"Okay," Emma said, turning to the others. "We're going to need some kind of plan. If we try charging in without one, this probably won't end too well for us."
"Well, we have to save the baby's soul," David pointed out. "And Regina's heart."
"And there's also the matter of the flying monkeys," Robin reminded. "No doubt they'll try to keep us from getting close enough to stop Zelena."
"Not a problem," Regina commented. "I can take care of the miserable apes."
"Just remember, those creatures are our friends," David replied.
"Don't worry. I'll use a gentle touch."
"I can help run interference with Regina," Mary Margret volunteered, glancing over at David. "It'll give you a chance to get our child's soul back."
"And I got your heart," Robin added, speaking directly to Regina.
"Well," Emma mused. "That just leaves me to face Zelena." Taking a shaky breath, Emma, focusing on trying to push aside the lingering clenching feeling in the pit of her stomach, followed after the others as they began to make their way towards the farmhouse, with Mary Margret and Robin readying their bows and David unsheathing his replacement sword.
By the time they reached the entrance of the barn, they saw Zelena was already beginning the ritual, standing in the center of the symbol etched into the ground, rivers of light connecting the four ingredients positioned at equal points around her.
"Zelena, stop this," Regina demanded. "We're not gonna let you succeed."
"And how do you plan on stopping me," Zelena challenged. "The Savior? I know for a fact that she can't control her magic. I doubt she could even turn a fly into an olive."
"Maybe I'll surprise you," Emma commented, hoping she was coming across as confident.
"Oh, please," Zelena scoffed. With an effortless jerk of the head, she magically shoved Emma to the ground.
"Emma!" Mary Margret cried, kneeling down to see to her daughter. As she did so, Zelena glanced up at the rafters of the barn.
"Beautiful ones, if you will?" Immediately, the sounds of monkeys screeching filled the air. Glancing up, everyone saw a large number of flying monkeys perched overhead.
"Go, we've got your backs," Mary Margret instructed, drawing her bow.
In the blink of an eye, the monkeys had all taken flight, darkening the sky like a swarm of flies. Acting quickly, Mary Margret and Regina began firing off a volley of arrows and fireballs, taking careful measure to aim for the wings, avoiding lethal blows.
Taking advantage of the cover being offered, David and Robin made their moves, heading towards Regina's heart and the glass ball where the baby's soul was encased. Before they could reach their intended targets, however, they were likewise thrown backward, the bales of hay breaking their fall. Before they could get to their feet, the strands of hay seemed to link together, forming magically strengthened chains, restraining them.
"Dad!" Emma exclaimed, hurrying forward to try and help free David. Before she could reach him, however, Zelena waved a hand, freezing Emma, Mary Margret and Regina in place. In almost the same moment, the monkeys all fell back at some unseen signal.
"I must admit," Zelena commented, walking up towards them, directing her attention at Robin. "I can understand why my sister and the others are moving against me, but not you. Your son is no longer in danger. There is nothing you will face to lose if I succeed."
"You're plotting to kill Princess Eva," Robin countered. "If you do that, you wouldn't just be killing one person, but making it so even more people will never have been born."
"Ah, so you're looking to save lives. How noble," Zelena said. "Well, what if I were to tell you that I didn't have to kill anyone? I can just convince my mother to keep me, and raise me as her daughter, instead."
"But that would still prevent Regina from being born, wouldn't it?" Robin asked.
"And here, I thought, you'd be pleased by that turn of events."
"Pleased that you'd be erasing Regina from existence? Why would I be happy about that?"
"Don't you want your wife back?" Zelena asked with a cruel smile. At this question, Robin narrowed his eyes in obvious confusion.
"What do you mean?"
"You mean, you don't know?" Zelena chuckled. "You don't know who is responsible for your wife's death?" This question was met with an expression of surprise.
"Marian?" Robin whispered. "You know what happened to her?"
"Yes, indeed," Zelena confirmed. "But I'm not the only one who knows. Isn't that right, Regina?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Regina insisted.
"Oh, what's wrong, Sis? Too much blood on your hands that you can no longer tell them all apart? Perhaps you need a little something to refresh your memory." With a casual flourish of the hand, the mirror that normally resided in Regina's vault appeared in her hands. Before everyone's eyes, the mirror cast off a projection of a circular courtyard.
"That's the courtyard of my father's old castle," Mary Margret realized, recognizing the image. "The one Regina took over when…." Her words died in her throat as the image of some Black Knights appeared in the projection. They were frog matching a woman along, leading her towards the center of the courtyard, where a wooden stake had been erected.
"Marian!" Robin cried out in alarm. "That's Marian!"
As everyone watched in horrified silence as Zelena's projection continued, the Black Knights bound the woman Robin identified as Marian to the stake. As they worked, Regina, or rather Evil Queen Regina, stepped into view. A strangled sound slipped out of Robin's throat as his gaze shifted from the projection to Regina, who had grown suddenly pale. Everyone else was unable to look away, staring in shock as the projected image continued, showing Evil Queen Regina creating a fireball that she threw at the bound-up Marian.
"Enough!" Robin shouted as the image of Marian was enveloped in flames. Without a word, Zelena disrupted the magical recording, but the mocking smile remained on her face.
"So, tell me, Robin," Zelena taunted. "Do you still want to stop me from preventing Regina from being born, knowing that she was the reason your boy lost his mother?" Robin didn't reply, simply staring straight ahead in shock and dismay.
"Robin," Regina breathed, visibly shaken. "I…I didn't know. I…"
"Don't," Robin hissed. "Just…don't." Stricken, Regina swallowed back the rest of her words. Zelena, with a gloating look on her face, started to return to the center of the ritualistic symbol. As she began to cast her spell, the magic that was restraining everyone was disrupted. But everyone was still too shaken from the revelation of what happened to Robin's wife to move. It was Emma who managed to work her way past the shock first.
"Zelena, wait!" she urged, stepping forward. "This isn't the way to do this!"
"Oh, don't waste your time with the inspirational speeches," Zelena scoffed. "Leave that to your dear mother."
"I get it," Emma pressed on, disregarding what Zelena said. "I know you're angry. Cora cast you aside. And then, you grew up alone. Alone and unloved. Never knowing why. Never knowing why you weren't good enough. You never knew what it was like to feel loved. Never knew how it felt to be wanted. And then, you find out that all that time, your mother had another daughter. And the feeling like you weren't enough only gets worse. What made that other daughter so special? What did she have that you didn't? I know what that's like. I've been there, too. I spent my entire life being shipped around from place to place. No one ever wanted me. Every time I thought I found a family who would love me, I'd always have the rug pulled out from under me, starting from when I was three, and my first family returned me to the system when they had their own baby. But here, in Storybrooke, I found my answers. I was able to find my parents, and my son, and people who really care about me. Yes, it doesn't change what happened to me. It's not going to erase the years I spent feeling alone. I can't get all that lost time back. I can't fix what happened. But that's not what matters. What matters is what you do next. It's about starting over, with a fresh start, and not letting past grievances hold you back. And if I can try to start again and build a new future, then so can you."
For a long moment, Zelena just looked at Emma impassively. But then, her expression shifted into irritation.
"You know nothing!" she cried.
Without another word, Zelena fired off a magical blast at Emma. In response, Emma, without even thinking about it, lifted up her hands, producing a stream of magic of her own. The dual magical streams collided in midair, creating an arc of emerald green and white. For a brief moment, the combating magic hovered there, but then Zelena's magic seemed to start to overpower Emma's, swallowing up the white.
"Is that the best you've got?" Zelena taunted with a laugh. Briefly, Emma's expression betrayed her feelings of hopelessness. Until she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. Casting a discrete look over her shoulder, she saw David had managed to take advantage of Zelena's distraction to retrieve the glass ball that held her unborn sibling's soul. He and Mary Margret now stood side-by-side, looking at her with expressions that were a mixture of reassurance, faith and love. It was a look that she remembered seeing on Henry's face quite often.
You can do this, love, said a soft voice, seemingly from the back of her mind.
Out of nowhere, Emma felt as if something shifted into place inside her body. Redirecting her attention back at Zelena, she was surprised to feel like the force of Zelena's magic pushing hers back somehow felt weaker. Moments later, she realized that wasn't the case. Zelena's magic hadn't lost its strength. Hers had actually gained it.
With a fresh resolve, Emma focused on pushing Zelena's magical blast backward, finding that it was far easier than it had been before. And, from the expression on Zelena's face, she seemed to notice that the tide had unexpectedly turned. Without warning, the dual magical blasts exploded outward in a blinding flash of light, and it was Zelena who was forced backward, landing on the ground hard. David, after quickly but gently placing the glass ball into Mary Margret's arms, hurried forward and pulled Zelena to her feet, trapping her arms behind her back. For a brief second, Emma was too stunned to move, amazed that she had actually pulled it off. But when she saw David apprehending Zelena, she snapped out of it and hurried forward, ripping off the emerald pendant that hung from her neck. The moment the pendant was safely in Emma's hand, the lights shining out from the ritualistic symbol on the ground faded, and the glass ball that Mary Margret was holding cracked, releasing the baby's soul, which absorbed itself back into her womb.
"How?" Zelena asked, staring at Emma in amazement. "How were you able to….?" Emma found she couldn't come up with a response, still unable to quite believe it herself. Before she could come up with something to say, the sounds of monkeys screeching filled the barn. Acting on instant, Emma turned towards the sounds, reaching for the gun that she had holstered around her waist, but before she could draw her weapon, the flying monkeys that were surrounding them transformed back into people in a burst of smoke.
"They're back!" Mary Margret cried in ecstatic relief, moving towards them in an obvious attempt at tending to them. A relieved smile appeared on Emma's face, but it faded when she caught sight of the two people in the barn who still hadn't moved, let alone say something.
Robin was standing stock still, making an obvious attempt at not looking at anyone. The expression on his face was filled with anger, but his eyes held a haunted look. A short distance away, Regina was looking at him with a multitude of emotions on her face. After a brief pause, she cautiously stepped forward.
"Robin," she whispered, tentatively reaching out. "I…I'm….I swear, I didn't…." Robin didn't reply, but when Regina's fingers brushed against his arm, he quickly recoiled, directing a look of betrayal at her. Shaking his head, he turned and left the barn without uttering a single word. Regina watched him go with a tormented look on her face, unable to speak until Robin vanished from sight.
"I'm sorry," she uttered. Without even acknowledging the presence of anyone else, she vanished in a cloud of purple smoke. Sharing looks of sorrow and sympathy, Emma and Mary Margret saw to the flying monkeys while David escorted Zelena away.
Emma and Mary Margret moved through the school gymnasium, which had been temporarily turned into a refuge center for the people who had recovered from becoming flying monkeys, helping the fairies and a few other volunteers in passing out blankets and mugs of warm sweet tea. As Mary Margret draped one of the blankets over the shoulders of Mrs. Clogg, she froze upon hearing someone speaking her other name.
"Snow?" the voice said in disbelief. Looking over, Mary Margret quickly spotted a young woman with long auburn hair, who was staring right back at her in amazement. Mary Margret's eyes widened, recognizing her instantly.
"Aurora!" she cried, immediately bending down to hug her friend in greeting. "I can't believe it!"
Emma carefully maneuvered around her mother and Aurora, allowing them time to catch up, with Aurora introducing Mary Margret to Phillip, who was sitting nearby. While she couldn't deny that it was nice to see Aurora again, she hadn't bonded with the princess as much as her mother had.
As she continued on down the row of the restored citizens of Storybrooke, handing out mugs of tea as she went, she realized there was one person in particular who seemed to be staring at her. When she turned to return his gaze, the man started to speak.
"You're Sheriff Swan, aren't you?" he asked.
"That's right," Emma confirmed, realizing that the man looked slightly familiar.
"I thought so," the man nodded. "I've seen the Captain with you and your family quite a bit the past few months." Upon hearing that, Emma instantly realized who this person was.
"Oh!" she said. "You're Starkey! Hook will be glad to know you're back to normal. He, um… he told me how you used to serve under Liam."
"He told you that?" Starkey exclaimed in amazement. "Well, blimey. I don't think he even mentioned that to Milah." Emma briefly looked away upon hearing that, unsure of how to feel about that information.
"If you could, Sheriff Swan," Starkey continued, showing no sign that he noticed Emma's embarrassment. "Would you return this to the Captain the next time you see him? And please, let him know I'm sorry it took so long to return it. But, given the circumstance, I wasn't in the position to do so." Emma glanced over again, curious as to what Starkey was giving her, but the moment she saw what it was, her jaw dropped in shock. It was a key to one of the rooms at Granny's. Specifically, the key to Room Number 5.
"Where'd you get that?" Emma asked.
"The Captain gave it to me," Starkey explained. "It was the day of that emergency town meeting you organized. He passed it to me right before he left to search the area beyond the town line."
"Hook gave you….the key to Room 5?" Emma muttered, her mind frozen over in surprise. "Why?"
"Well," Starkey replied, a sudden blush appearing on his face. "When the curse was still in effect, and I thought I was an accountant named Simon, my path crossed with a pretty lass. Her name is Beverly. Of course, it was Rita at the time, but that doesn't matter. Anyway, Simon was too shy to approach her, convinced that the lady he fancied was out of his league. That is, until you arrived in town and the curse started to weaken. As it turned out, the attraction wasn't one-sided, after all. But when the curse broke, Beverly and I weren't sure what to make of the feelings we had for each other. It took us a while to realize that, while our memories and personality under the curse was a farce, we hadn't stopped loving each other."
"You're saying….Hook gave you the key to his room," Emma muttered, speaking slowly as she filled in the blanks. "So you and Beverly would have a place to go to reconcile your relationship. Which means….you were the one who was in the room that night."
"He said that, after the centuries I'd spent remaining loyal to him, he was glad I….wait, where are you going?"
"I'm sorry!" Emma called back over her shoulder as she hurried out of the gymnasium. "There's something I have to do!"
David steered his Ford truck up the drive, coming to a stop at the front steps of Jefferson's estate. Putting the truck into 'park,' he turned to glance at the man sitting in the passenger seat, only to see that he wasn't showing any intention of setting foot outside, and didn't even seem to notice they'd arrived. Instead, he stared straight ahead, a blank expression on his face. Letting out a sigh, David stepped out of the truck and made his way around to the passenger side door, feeling sympathy for the man who he now considered a friend. It wasn't until this moment that he fully appreciated how deep his mental scars went.
Opening the door, David had to physically coax Jefferson to step outside. When he finally did succeed, Jefferson maintained a firm grip on the heavy blanket draped over his shoulders, his eyes focused on the ground. While he allowed David to usher him forward, his expression remained devoid of life until the front door flew open, hitting the side of the house with a bang. Only then did he look up, just in time to see Grace running out of the house and making a beeline for him. The instant Grace's presence properly registered, Jefferson was on his knees, catching her as she threw her arms around him. Taking this as his cue, David decided to head back home to give Jefferson some space. After all, he was now with his daughter, who could let them know if something unforeseen arose. Before climbing back into his truck, he smiled in acknowledgement at Belle, who had followed Grace outside.
As David drove off, Belle tentatively approached Jefferson and Grace. Seemingly sensing her presence, Jefferson glanced up at her. Meeting her eyes, a small, contented smile appeared on his face. Without breaking his hug with Grace, he reached out a hand towards her. For a brief moment, Belle's eyes widened in surprise, but then she returned the smile and took Jefferson's offered hand. In seconds, Belle was also on her knees, wrapping her arms around Jefferson as well.
AN: To any Outlaw Queen shippers who are reading this, I'm sorry. I lowkey ship that pairing, myself. But it's always bothered me how the show never properly addressed the fact that Regina killed Robin's wife in the original timeline, or even showed how Robin felt about it.