Stage 1 - Part 1
"Just try and focus," Regina urged. Rachel rolled her eyes.
"What else would I be doing," she retorted.
"Failing?" Regina said dryly. "Come on. Lily won't stay away forever. And I get the feeling she's not going to be happy when she makes her return."
"Lovely," Rachel muttered. "Cause I love spending my Saturdays in a grueling training course to defeat an angry fire pit."
"Well it's that or be babysat by Snow and Charming while I go and search for Lily," Regina threatened.
"What was it you wanted me to do again?" Rachel asked, putting on a smile. Regina gave her a look, but pointed to the spell in her book.
"Magic is a very complicated practice Rachel. Much of it is mental, not physical. Just focus on the ball." Rachel glanced at the baseball several feet away. Although, Regina's vault wasn't too big, so it wasn't like it was much of a struggle to get the ball. At least that was Rachel's argument.
"I've tried the summoning spell like a billion times," Rachel complained. "It's never worked."
"Keep that attitude up, and a billion might seem more realistic," Regina said, with no sympathy whatsoever.
"Why do I get the feeling that Emma would have been a more… understanding teacher?" Rachel asked, mentally preparing herself for another go.
"You'd be surprised at Emma's… fierceness at times." Regina smiled wryly. "She was quite the match for me when she first came to Storybrooke."
"What exactly happened when she came?" Rachel asked, in the dark of the previous savior's beginning days in Storybrooke.
"She was the most annoying swan I'd ever seen," Regina said. Rachel gave her a perfectly raised eyebrow. Maybe she had learned something from those lessons.
"What is that supposed to mean?" she asked.
"Emma came to Storybrooke because of Henry. And at the time, I was… not who I am today."
"Henry told me about the curse," Rachel said. "He said Emma broke it."
"She did. And we all thought that would be the final battle. Because at the time, it seemed like it was light versus dark."
"So, she broke the dark curse, and the sleeping curse?" Rachel asked, trying to get her facts straight. Man this family was complicated.
"Yes. But after that, we had a whole group of villains come to Storybrooke. Lucky us."
"But you beat them," Rachel responded.
"So we did," Regina said. "But, unfortunately evil will never be defeated completely. It lingers in the hearts of everyone. Which is why you need to practice." Rachel rolled her eyes.
"I really wanted to help her. I mean, she was my best friend. Really, my only friend from my childhood. And she was always so lost and confused, and she had no one to help her. Even I abandoned her…" Hook was trying hard to suppress a sigh. This had been going on for the last 5 minutes. He knew Emma felt guilty about what Lily was going through. For a brief moment, he thought of distracting the swan with… other matters. But seeing the worry etched on her features pushed any less than appropriate thoughts out of his head.
"I know you want to help Lily. But for now, we need to remain on the defensive. It won't help Lily to just go charging after her. Remember she's still a human. Just an out of control one," Hook said.
"Maybe you're right," Emma said, walking back over to the couch. "Maybe I should just leave it be for the time being." Hook poured her a small glass of wine, hoping it would calm her down. He knew that Emma was suffering. No matter how hard she tried to hide it, he could tell she was missing her power. It had been a part of her for her entire life.
"You can take the lead her. I'll follow you wherever you go."
"Don't you have a way with words," Emma teased, feeling herself relax.
"Well, I have had over 100 years of practice. And I do have a fair amount of charm." Emma set her glass down, and leaned over for a kiss. She thread her hands through his hair, and they both sank down further. Hook wrapped one arm around her slim form, breaking the kiss to stare at her.
"You really are beautiful," he murmured. She smiled, situating herself so she was on top of him.
"And you're ruggedly handsome," she said, pressing kisses to his jaw.
"Devilishly," he corrected, pulling her back down to him. "Why don't we take this upstairs?" he suggested.
"I'd be happy too. In fact-" Emma was cut off by the door being opened, and then slammed shut. Within a second, Snow was in the room, calling for Emma.
"Emma? We need to talk. Lily has-' she broke off seeing the two of them on the couch. She took in the wine on the table, and the state of Emma's clothing.
"Mom!" Emma said, pushing Hook even further away. "You certainly do have timing."
"Yeah, the worst bloody timing in history," Hook muttered, having to suppress a frustrated groan.
"You guys really need to lock the door," Snow said. "What if it was Henry who walked in here?"
"Well he and I already walked in on you and dad," Emma said dryly. Snow gave her a look that said never-speak-of-that-again.
"Anyways, do you think you can separate for a second so I can tell you what happened?" Emma stood up, smoothing her rumpled shirt.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"We really need to get a shirt with that quote on it," Hook quipped, standing, and heading over to Emma.
"There's someone new in Storybrooke," Snow began.
"That's never good," Hook said, remembering all the grief people coming to Storybrooke had caused.
"So, who's this new person?" Emma asked.
"We don't know," Snow said. "But Belle saw her go into the woods where we last saw Lily. She followed her."
"And?" Emma prompted.
"She's controlling her," Snow explained. "This woman who's come can control Lily. Belle said she saw what looked like a heart."
"Someone has Lily's heart?" the couple said in unison.
"Bloody hell!"
Again, I'm sorry for the delay. But I promise I would never leave a story unfinished. That's just not how I work. In fact, these super long pauses will stop. I will try and update 2-3 times a week.
Next Time… the heroes of Storybrooke must figure out the new intentions of this mysterious woman. However, that will easier said than done… Henry has a question to ask a certain young savior