A/N Thank you guys for all of the submissions, I have the four winners and the first two one-shots are up, 'We Need To Get Over It' (not actually a one shot anymore haha) and 'Of Love and (Puppy) Loopholes,' so please check them out if you want to.

Chapter forty-one

"You're sure?" Snow asked.

Gold nodded, "I'm quite sure, my guess would be that she'll be here at any moment."

"But why would she not want the power herself?" Charming asked with a furrowed brow, while he inspected a sword rack, trying to pick the best one.

Gold rolled his eyes at the prince's indecision, and replied, "Cora probably isn't too fond of the idea of being controlled, controlling her daughter, however..."

The blonde leaning against the counter let out a frustrated sigh.

Snow turned to see Emma staring off into space, and walked over to place a hand on her shoulder, "Cora won't win, sweetheart."

Emma snapped out of her reverie, and nodded in agreement. From a bag on the floor she brought out a wooden box, her mother's eyes widened as she realised what it was.

"Emma..." she tried to warn.

The blonde opened the lid and brought out the pulsing red orb. Emma noticed that there didn't seem to be a speck of darkness in it. It probably wasn't in her chest long enough, Emma thought as she tried not to clench her fist around it.

She continued to stare into it, her father coming over from the counter to stand next to his daughter, "Emma you can't," he said softly.

"Why?" Emma bit out.

"Because it's not the right thing to do," Henry announced.

Emma looked over at the door in shock, seeing Neal standing sheepishly behind the boy. Frankly, the image of his ex-girlfriend clutching a beating heart more than scared him, so he was actively trying to hang back.

"Henry, you were supposed to stay at the diner," Emma sighed, as she turned and placed the heart back into the box.

"Ruby told me what happened earlier," he replied, "did she really throw you against the wall?"

Henry came and stood next to her, looking to her for reassurance, though Emma wasn't sure that she was the best person to get such a thing from, she tried. "Yeah, but..."

Henry offered her a smile, and placed a hand on her arm, being unable to reach her shoulder, "you just need to remind her another way."

Emma furrowed her brow, "I tried..."

Henry shook his head, "true love is the most powerful magic remember?"

Neal interrupted looking outside of the door, "there is like some kind of protection right, there's two very angry women out there?"

Emma nodded dismissively, "yeah, some invisible chalk."

The man just furrowed his brow and went to stand next his father.

"You should go in the back, kid," Emma said softly.

Henry looked back at the door that was shaking under the force of a combined fire ball, and quickly jumped up to hug her. Emma brought her arms around the boy, with a sad smile as he whispered, "please save her."

Just as Henry ran to the backroom followed closely by his father, the door finally burst open. Cora walked forward with a maniacal grin, Regina not far behind with an expressionless face. The woman seemed to not be able to keep eye contact with any of them, and she honestly couldn't understand why she should be ashamed because of any of these people. Especially Snow freaking White.

Cora sauntered forward with the dagger in hand, "I expected better than this Rumpel," she laughed, inspecting his seemingly weak defences.

David stood on one side, brandishing a sword, and Mary Margaret on the other with a bow. Emma stood unarmed, though Cora knew that the blonde probably didn't need anything to cause her arm. Especially if the look of pure hate was anything to go by.

"Well as long as you have the dagger, there isn't really much I can do. To be honest, I never thought of you as a common thief."

Cora rolled her eyes, and with a wave of her hand, Mary Margaret and David each hit a wall, "and then there were two."

Emma opened her palms, balls of white energy appearing in each, and she was visibly shaking.

"Come now dear, do calm down. It certainly doesn't help the potency of the spell to be shaking like a leaf."

For the first time, Regina looked up at the blonde. She couldn't help but feel sympathy for the woman. She now realised that she hadn't fully understood what the woman had been planning with her 'memory potion', but then again all of her memories of this woman were now those of anger. It was for this reason that she stepped in front of her mother.

Instantly Emma closed her palms, making the balls of energy disappear, and Regina furrowed her brow.

"What is wrong with you?" Regina asked somewhat harshly.

Emma looked utterly defeated, as she replied, "I would never hurt you."

"Ignore her dear," Cora said casually commanding Gold to remain where her was, she walked over to the Dark One and reached out to give her daughter the dagger.

Instead, Regina ignored her mother and asked, "why?"

Emma gritted her teeth, she had really hoped to be able to say this in a much more romantic setting, but now seemed like it could be her only chance, "because I love you."

Regina shook her head, every cell in her body was telling her to go over to the blonde, but she wouldn't allow herself to trust her again.

"You're lying," she scowled.

Emma shook her head, "you didn't remember everything Regina."

Regina gritted her teeth, and made her way over to her mother.

"Regina, please. You would never be happy as the Dark One, she just wants to be able to control you."

The younger brunette looked at her mother who simply shook her head, "I simply wish for you to never be hurt again, by making you the most powerful person in all the realms."

"What about love?" a little voice asked.

Emma quickly turned to see Neal just run out to grab Henry, and she rolled her eyes.

"Henry, I told you to stay in the back."

The boy shook his head and walked confidently over his mother.

"Mom, you can't do this."

Regina looked at the boy in shock as he placed his hand on her arm. She found that words failed her as a maternal instinct kicked in.

"She is not your mother child," Cora chuckled, though these Charming's were turning out to be far more persistent than she had first thought. "And why would she need love when she had power?"

"So she doesn't end up as miserable as you," Henry sneered.

Emma and Regina's eyebrows each shot up. The blonde hadn't realised that Henry had been so far past is breaking point, and Regina just hadn't imagined any one talking back to her mother.

A ball of energy appeared in Cora's hand and she shot it at the boy without a second of hesitation.

Regina's eyes widened, and without thought to using her magic, she threw the boy out of the way. She doubled over in pain as it hit her in the stomach.

Cora rolled her eyes, she was about to think of a gushing and caring way to say sorry, only for a fist to connect with her face.

As the woman fell to the floor, Emma ran over to Regina.

"Mom?" Henry asked.

Regina looked up at the two hovering faces that each had worry plastered upon them.

Slowly she sat up and felt a burning pain in her stomach. Tentatively she lifted her shirt to find burnt flesh, and instantly felt like throwing up though she refrained.

Henry's eyes widened, but Emma just threw her hand out over it, allowing her magic to focus on helping Regina, it responded instantly. A light glow appeared, and Regina felt a soothing sensation as the searing pain dimmed.

"Are you okay?" Emma asked once she had finished, completely and utterly worried that she may have made it worse.

Regina just shook her head as she looked between the pair. It was now very clear whom she should trust, so she said, "you said I don't have all of my memories?"

Emma quickly looked over her shoulder to see Gold inspecting Cora, though he had moved the dagger out of her reach, they looked deceptively like normal people. Emma shook her head, and brought the phial of liquid out of her jacket pocket.

Regina took it, and inspected the glass for a moment.

Everything rational within her was telling that she should just trust no one, but this boy and woman just felt far too important to dismiss. They had now each faced her mother for no clear reason. So without a second thought, she downed the potion and felt everything flood back.

Taking a deep breath she looked around the somewhat familiar situation, though this time Cora was unconscious and the heart on the counter remained uncursed.

"Emma," she breathed.

The blonde's face split into a broad grin as she leaned forward to capture her lips. The kiss remained short, however, as Henry wedged his way in and threw his arms around his mother.

"As adorable as this is," Cora interrupted, "would you kindly stay away from my daughter?"

Emma looked up see the woman had woken up, a bruise already forming on the side of her face.

The blonde was on her feet in seconds, Cora sneered at the saviour, and a ball of green energy appeared.

"Didn't you already try a death curse?" Emma laughed.

"My mistake last time was not making sure that you actually stayed dead."

Before she could hurl the energy at the blonde, she suddenly went rigid and closed her palm.

Emma furrowed her brow, far from relaxing, before she saw Gold retract his hand from her back.

He caught the woman as she fell backwards, and he just shook his head at the saviour, "I'll never understand why you doubt me so often."

A/N I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter.

I'm planning to take a break from this fic (a hiatus of sorts) though it will only be a week or two. I just want to give my attention to my other fics haha.

Reviews would be appreciated :)