Never bring your heart to a Witch fight
We all gathered on Main Street, and David and I worked to clear the townspeople out of harm's way before Zelena unleashed her fury.
"No one's going anywhere," Zelena declared as she arrived. "This show needs an audience." She glanced at Leroy and casually dismissed him, "Out of my way, Munchkin."
"I'm a dwarf," Leroy corrected.
"That's even worse," Zelena quipped. Her eyes scanned the area for Regina, and Gold reluctantly followed her. "Where is she? Don't tell me she's a coward," Zelena taunted. "Well, this isn't good for any of you. If my sister is not here in five minutes, I'm going to let the Dark One off his leash."
We waited anxiously for Regina. Although she hadn't shown up, I knew she was watching from the shadows, calculating her moves. Zelena counted down the time, and when Regina still hadn't appeared, she declared, "Time's up."
I stepped forward. "He's not killing anyone," I stated firmly.
"Sorry, dear," Zelena responded, looking me up and down. "I don't dance with amateurs. Do you not care about your baby at all?"
"I'm not an amateur; I'm the Savior," I retorted, trying to keep her attention on me and away from the innocent townspeople.
"What of it?" Zelena scoffed. "Seems like someone has an inflated sense of self-worth." I knew I had to distract her, to buy Regina more time. David and Mary Margaret pulled me back as I held my ground.
"Anyone else want to give it a go?" Zelena challenged, her gaze sweeping the crowd.
"I do," Regina's voice cut through the tension as she walked into the circle. "Didn't anyone tell you? Black is my color."
Zelena chuckled. "But it looks so much better on me," she replied, her eyes locking onto Regina's. "I was beginning to think you weren't going to show up."
"I couldn't let my sister off that easily," Regina quipped.
"Oh," Zelena mused, stepping closer to Regina. "So you finally accepted me into the family?"
"I've accepted that we shared a mother, yes," Regina corrected. "But I still have one question. What the hell did I ever do to you?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Zelena asked, her voice dripping with malice. "You were born."
Regina didn't hesitate; she slapped Zelena across the face with a sharp crack. "I've been waiting to do that all day," Regina said with a satisfied smile. I could feel her heart pounding with adrenaline as the tension between them escalated.
"Rumplestiltskin can't save you this time," Zelena warned, stepping even closer to Regina. "He should have chosen me."
"Who?" Regina asked, her confusion evident.
"Rumplestiltskin."
"That's what this is about?" Regina inquired incredulously. "You're jealous of me?"
Zelena's laughter echoed through the air. "Appears someone has an inflated sense of self-worth," she taunted, clearly attempting to provoke a reaction.
Regina moved her fist, and I could sense the magic building. "You still don't realize what you had," Zelena continued, taking a step back, then moving in to face her sister again. "Never did. You got everything I ever wanted, and you didn't even deserve it. But I'm going to take it all from you."
Suddenly, Regina pushed forward with her magic, and a fireball appeared. But before she could launch it, Zelena extinguished it with ease and swiftly wrapped her hand around Regina's throat. I struggled against those holding me back, my heart pounding with fear.
"You can't beat me, little sis," Zelena taunted, tightening her grip. "Everything Rumplestiltskin taught you, he taught me too. But I was the better student." With a forceful motion, she threw Regina into the clock tower, causing Regina's heart to stutter for a moment. I gasped, fighting the urge to break free and rush to the scene.
Zelena vanished, and then Gold disappeared as well. We all rushed to the clock tower, calling for Regina.
"I'm alive, aren't I?" Regina's voice came from inside.
"Gold disappeared; we thought she had..." Mary Margaret began to explain.
"Defeated me? Hardly," Regina replied, emerging from the tower. "You won?" Snow inquired.
"Well, don't act so surprised," Regina retorted, turning to me and giving me a meaningful look. "As it turns out, Zelena wanted my heart. It's a good thing I wasn't stupid enough to bring it with me."
"Any idea why she wants it?" David asked, his concern etched on his face.
"Well, she got your courage, and wants my heart," Regina began. "Those are ingredients."
"For what, a curse?" I asked, my mind racing to understand the implications.
"We're already in Storybrooke," Snow pointed out. "We've already lost our memories. What else could she do to us?"
Later, Regina and I walked together. She pulled me aside and said, "Thank you for keeping me safe."
"Do you want it back now?" I asked, referring to her heart.
She shook her head. "Keep it until the fight is over." We walked together toward her house. "My sister was right about one thing. She said I don't always realize what I have right in front of me."
I looked at her. "What's that?" I asked.
"Just that I don't always appreciate things."
"You wanna go have a drink?" I asked. She smiled at me. "Yeah, okay
While Regina was diligently crafting a protection spell that couldn't be undone by blood magic, Dad and I found ourselves immersed in the task of assembling my baby sibling's crib. We were both eager to return to some semblance of normal life, especially with my Baby Jay causing quite a ruckus inside my belly. I had a strong feeling that her arrival would be right here in Storybrooke.
Meanwhile, my vacation time had run its course, and I was receiving calls from the diagnostic team in New York. I was balancing my work between investigations and the imminent birth of my sibling. My laptop was open on the kitchen table as Dad wrestled with the perplexing IKEA crib, and Mom expressed her concerns about Zelena's potential actions with the protection spell. Regina finally emerged from her spellwork.
"Any idea why she would want my baby?" Snow inquired.
Regina replied with a hint of seriousness, "The number of spells involving baby parts would surprise you. That greenie is clearly one twisted Witch. But as long as we're in here, we're safe."
"That's useless," I interjected. "I think we need to stop playing defense and start taking the fight to her."
"Did you not see how I barely outwitted her yesterday?" Regina countered. "She has powerful magic."
"I have magic too," I argued, my frustration evident. "You've seen me use it; I just can't always control it. But if you taught me..."
Regina interrupted with a laugh, "Now, why does this feel so familiar?"
"I'm ready this time," I asserted.
Regina laughed, then seemed to consider my offer. She then made her conditions clear. "You're pregnant this time. Fine, I'll help you. But if we do this, we do it my way. This isn't like drinking stale coffee at a stakeout or performing surgery. This is a way of life. You have to suspend what your scientific mind tells you is reality. You have to fully commit to it."
I nodded firmly. "Not a problem," I assured her.
She glanced at the anatomy texts open on my computer screen and raised an eyebrow. "Take a sabbatical. You won't have room in your head for diagnostics."
I sighed, recalling that I had just returned from a sabbatical. "Regina..." I began, but her raised eyebrow silenced my protest.
With a resigned nod, I pulled my phone out of my pocket. "Foreman, it's Cameron..."
Regina cut through my conversation with a decisive command, "Meet me in my vault in one hour." With that, she turned and walked out of the apartment, leaving me with a choice to make.
I walked down into Regina's vault alongside her, eager to embark on this magical journey. Her first words of caution were, "Don't touch anything."
"How am I supposed to learn magic if I don't touch anything?" I retorted, unable to resist touching a peculiar-looking object as I followed her.
"The same way I did with Rumple," she responded, her gaze drawn to a reptilian claw, severed from some unknown creature. "We're going to create a solid foundation first and then build your skills from the ground up." She paused, a stern tone entering her voice. "I said, don't touch."
Regina confiscated the object from me, and I couldn't help but feel like an eager child caught with their hand in the cookie jar.
"While we're here, who's looking after Henry, the unCharmings?" Regina asked, diverting the conversation to more mundane matters.
"Um, actually Hook is," I replied.
"Those two have been spending a lot of time together lately," Regina noted, her concern evident.
"Hook knew Neal. He's comforting him. And he's good with him," I explained.
"I trust him," I added after a moment, a revelation that seemed to surprise even myself. "He brought me back to Storybrooke, and he didn't have to."
"Of course, he brought you back," Regina said, her tone containing a hint of something more.
"What's that supposed to mean?" I inquired, genuinely curious.
"Seriously?" Regina turned to face me fully, her expression revealing her thoughts. "You're going to pretend everyone doesn't see the yearning looks and doe-eyed glances?"
"Oh, absolutely," I replied with dripping sarcasm, raising an eyebrow. "Because I'm such a master at hiding my feelings, especially from the queen of observation."
Regina sighed, frustration mingling with something deeper. "Emma, maybe you should outright reject the pirate," she suggested with a casual tone, her voice tinged with a hint of jealousy. It was evident that Hook's relentless pursuit of her was wearing thin on Regina, and she wanted him out of the picture.
I met her gaze, my heart pounding as I considered her words. "I know, but he just doesn't seem to get it," I replied, my voice filled with uncertainty. The truth was, I wasn't entirely sure where Regina and I stood, but I couldn't deny the pull between us any longer.
Regina's eyes bore into mine, and at that moment, I wished for clarity in our complicated dance of emotions.
Regina swiftly moved on from that loaded conversation, apparently unfazed by my emotions. "Let's start with roots for incantations," she said, handing me a book and opening it to a page.
"What language is this? Spanish?" I blurted out, peering at the incomprehensible text and diagrams.
"We're not making Tapas; we're making magic," she replied, her annoyance evident. "It's Elvish. Well, half-Elvish."
"I'm never going to get this. Is this how Rumple taught you?" I asked, frustration creeping in.
"Rumple was a bully. He didn't suffer fools, and he certainly didn't coddle his students. If he tried to teach you how to swim and you couldn't learn, you drowned," Regina explained, turning away and closing the book, shutting down my hopes of understanding.
"Drowned?" I questioned, bewildered by her statement.
"That's it," she whispered, a spark of inspiration igniting within her.
"That's what?" I inquired, intrigued by her sudden change in demeanor.
Regina raised her hands, and we were enveloped in a cloud of smoke. Before I knew it, I found myself clinging to a rickety bridge, fear gripping me tightly. "Regina, what the hell are you doing?"
"Teaching you to swim," she replied calmly, though her lack of empathy was evident. "You said cadavers helped in med school. Think of this as hands-on training."
"Are you out of your mind?" I exclaimed, panic mounting.
"Every time you've exhibited your power, it's been spurred by your instincts," Regina said, standing at the edge of the precarious bridge. "So today, we're going to push those instincts until you master them."
"I suppose a little more reading doesn't sound so bad now," I muttered, desperately seeking an alternative.
"You can stop me," she stated cryptically.
"Stop you from what?" I asked, genuinely puzzled.
"This," Regina declared, extending her hand with her palm facing downward. Suddenly, the bridge began to collapse beneath my feet.
"What the hell are you doing?" I shouted, gripping the dwindling boards for dear life.
"Making the bridge collapse," Regina replied nonchalantly. "You can either stop it or die."
As the boards beneath my feet gave way, my desperation grew. "Regina, that's enough, stop it!"
"No, you stop it," she retorted firmly. "No more hand-holding; you have to do this. Reach into your gut, you know you can do this."
At first, I thought she was being needlessly cruel. Then I heard her encouragement, felt her heart squeeze with fear, and knew that I could indeed do this, even if she didn't believe it.
"It's inside you, Emma," she urged as the rope near my hands began to fray. "Save the bridge. Save yourself." I felt the power surge within me, and the bridge responded, lifting me back to safety.
"Did I just do that?" I asked, disbelief coursing through me.
"Yes, but all I wanted was for you to re-tie the rope," she said, managing to look annoyed despite the evident relief in her racing heart.
"It's like you said, instinct," I replied, still catching my breath. "Why are you pissed? I did it. Why does it matter how?"
Regina's frustration dissipated, replaced by a sense of awe. "You think I'm mad because you didn't listen to me?" She gazed at me, her eyes filled with a mix of emotions. "I'm mad because... Look at all this potential inside you! And you've been wasting it."
We returned to the loft, and I couldn't have been happier spending the entire afternoon with Regina. But our little bubble burst when there was a knock at the door, and it turned out to be Killian. He greeted me with surprise, "Swan, I didn't expect to see you here."
I furrowed my brows in confusion. "What do you mean? Where's Henry? Is everything alright?"
"He's fine, lass. He's with his grandparents. I thought they might be back here," he explained.
I breathed a sigh of relief. "We haven't seen them," I said, glancing back at Regina, who looked concerned. "If you're not with Henry, what have you been doing all day?"
"I was enlisted to help Ariel find her lost prince," Killian replied.
"Really?" Regina said, intrigued. "That fish is in Storybrooke?"
"She was, yes. And we found a clue in Gold's shop that led us to discover that Eric had been shipwrecked on Hangman's Island, just off the coast of the Enchanted Forest."
"Zelena's curse must not have reached that far," I said.
"Ariel's on the way there now. She wanted me to say goodbye to Mary Margaret for her," Killian explained.
"Well, at the rate mermaids swim, she's probably already there," Regina remarked. "In fact, let's find out."
Regina got up and headed for a mirror. I followed her, curious about what she was planning.
"I thought you couldn't use mirror magic to look between worlds," I commented.
"I can't," she confirmed. "But after seeing the raw power you possess... I think maybe you can."
"There's no need. I'm sure she's fine," Killian chimed in, looking uncomfortable. "Anyway, it's bad form to spy on such a private affair."
I ignored his comment and focused on Regina's guidance. I closed my eyes and looked inward, searching for Ariel. I concentrated on our friend and tried to connect with her presence. It was strange, but I could see her. "You did this? You brought them together?"
"No, it was Ariel. She never stopped believing," Killian explained, while Regina continued to observe the scene, clearly annoyed by it.
The moment passed quickly, and my parents walked in with David. Henry excitedly told us about driving David's truck, and Regina was livid. She tried to use her job as an excuse, but it only made Henry enjoy it more.
"She's right. Someone could have been seriously hurt," I pointed out.
"Only if you're a mailbox," Mary Margaret countered.
"It was so much fun," Henry chimed in.
"What can I say? I have a reckless, carefree... fun side," David added with a grin.
Before Regina and I could delve further into the subject, my mom asked Killian about Ariel, and we filled her in. We ended up having a family dinner at Granny's.