With a summons from the savior, everyone had gathered in the Sheriff's station the next morning to watch an old home video the blonde herself apparently made on the small TV in the bullpen Emma had discovered the previous night. Amelia tried to watch the video as she stood between her husband and Belle her eye's kept drifting to Regina stood over Emma's shoulder as she watched the grainy footage.
"Give it back, Kevin. The camera is Emma's, not yours" Ingrid's or the Snow Queen's voice came through the TV as they watched her defend the young savior against a bully.
"Emma, that's you" Mary Margaret observed seeing her daughter on the tape so young "You must be...".
"13, maybe 14" Emma answered her mother.
"Are you missing the part where she's with the Snow Queen?" Regina interrupted the pair looking at the blonde "Emma, you knew her before you came to Storybrooke?".
"Apparently my run-in with her in town wasn't the only memory she erased" she explained to the others "All this time in this foster home, or whatever that place was... It's gone".
"Join the club blondie" Amelia drawled out; Mary Margaret looked back to the red head giving her a sympathetic smile.
"Look, I-I just don't understand how she even ended up in this world" Belle added from next to her.
Turning in her seat the savior looks towards Gold and Amelia for her answers "We were hoping Gold and Amelia could tell us that. You spent more time trying to get here than anyone" she told Gold before looking at former assassin "And you jumped a few worlds in your previous life. How the hell did she do it?".
"Considering the time, I spent on the same task, I'd love to know" her Uncle answered the woman. Making the woman to turn to the red head with arms folded across her chest in deep thought.
"Lia?".
"The Brotherhood didn't exactly keep tabs on the ins and out's of jumpers in the Enchanted Forest unless they were considered a threat. Only the Creeds were recorded because of the limited of beans we had, and even then, some possibly weren't. The only times I got them were during my Widow days were from Rumple himself and they were a rare reward at best" she couldn't help but notice the former Queen exaggerated eye roll at the assassin's explanation.
"Does it really matter how she got to Emma?" her father chimed in "I mean, shouldn't we be more concerned about why?".
"Obviously, she needed her for something" Regina spoke up "But what? Well, that's our next problem" the former Queen added with a sarcastic smirk looking towards the former assassin.
"Well, we do know she's hiding somewhere in the north woods" the former assassin replied "Tom and I combed every inch of her shop. We tore apart her house. She must have cleared everything out days before, or at least know about our vision to know what to hide. Which means she's a step ahead of us even".
"Which means she must be hiding something" Hook concluded from the back of the room.
"But where?" The savior asked the group open for suggestions.
"What about her ice-cream truck?" Henry suddenly suggested making all the adults look to him and Tom.
"Whoa. Snow Queen has an ice-cream truck?" Emma asked her son and his best friend.
"We're kids. We notice these kinds of things" he shrugged at his mother as the elder of the two nodded along.
"Then we split up into groups" John announced to the group, stepping forward to face them all. "We search the town, the woods. Hook, Amy, Regina, Emma, you take the west. Gold, you're with me and David for the east" everyone stood in stunned silence as the former privateer took charge of the situation, like he did every time on the Godspeed.
He seemed to sense the awkwardness after a beat as everyone stared at him at his eagerness to Captain the group as a curios brow both appeared on the former Queen's and his wife's face's.
Quickly realizing what he had just done as everyone replied to his instructions with stunned silence "Uh.. old habit" he mumbled to the group scratching the back of his head.
"It's okay" David chuckled out out stepping forward to face his family trying to come up with a plan himself only to say "We'll do his plan".
"I think we all know I work best alone" Gold argued with the Prince and Captain.
"Well, no time to argue that. Belle, how are you at tracking?" David asked the young brunette.
"Uh, actually, I-I think I'll be more helpful at the library. Maybe I can dig something up on the Snow Queen".
"I'd like to come with you, Belle, if that's okay" Elsa asked the librarian "Maybe something about my sister will be there, too. Unless you'd rather not have the company?".
"No, n-not at all. I would love some" With that the family set off to John's instructions filing out of the station to the when Tom did his best to push by the other's to get to his mother.
"Mom!" the boy called out to her making her stop to face her son "What can I do?" he said with excitement in his voice.
A gentle smile grew on her face as she answered "Stay here and look pretty" she tapped him lightly on the cheek before turning to catch up with her 'team'.
"Mom" he lowly whined embarrassment quickly rounding her to stop her "Come on. I haven't done anything since coming here, we haven't had a lesson in weeks".
"That's because of the woman out their hell bent on freezing us all, she's already gone for your father and I, what's stopping her from going for you".
"Mom please I want to learn, I was doing okay back home, anyway you're still hurt from last night. I'd feel better if I came with you" he points out to her.
The redhead let out a frustrated sigh, already knowing this was a losing battle with her son wondering if she was ever this stubborn with Romeo in her training days "You're serious about this aren't you?".
"I am" he tells her without missing a beat "I want to learn".
Amelia paused thinking about his proposal "Okay" a wide smile grew on his face at her agreement "But you have to listen to everything I say".
A wide grin appeared on his face before throwing himself into hug. that she quickly mirrored "Thank you, thank you thank you" he muffled into her shoulder before quickly pulling away from her to catch up with the others "Hey! Wait up!" she heard him yell out.
"He always that excited to train?" she heard John ask her as they walked out of the station together.
"At first, before I actually gave him some actual competition" she replied making him chuckle seeing Tom with a smile on his face as they let themselves out of the building.
As soon as they stepped outside David was waiting one side of the street while the others in her team stood waiting for her to catch up as Tom bounced around on the balls of his feet looking like he was ready to sprint forward with no hope of being caught up to.
"Stay safe out there, call if anything happens" the former Captain tells her.
"Always" she promised as the taller man leans down to kiss her on the lips only to move her head around at the last moment so they met her cheek. "See you soon" she whispers before turning around to catch up to the others.
"Tom coming with us?" Emma asked the woman.
"Yeah. Hope you don't mind some lessons while we're out there" she announced to the others as she caught up to them.
"Fantastic" she heard Regina whisper to herself as they started their search for the Snow Queen's ice cream truck. This was going to be a long search.
West of the search the former Master Assassin and her apprentice trailed behind the others' in their party as she went through some refresher lessons with him to pass the time looking for anything that the Snow Queen might have left.
The mother and son's eye's shone gold as they stared at the backs of the others walking ahead. "Remember what I said about magic users, our sense can see their magic around them, like background energy, its there but it can't be seen by eye alone".
"I see it. Emma's and Regina's are different" his eye's flicker between the waves of energy that come off the women highlighted in blue.
"That's because of the kind of magic they use. While Emma runs on being the product of true love-".
"Light magic" Tom supplied to his teacher.
"Exactly. Meanwhile, Regina's is darker mixed with some light. Do you notice how the energy around her is more contained and controlled in comparison's to Emma's?".
"Yeah" he said blinking his vision off to listen to his mother. Not a second later the redhead blinked off her own sight.
"That's because she's honed her magic over the years, like Assassin's hone their skills. You can tell just by that how well they wield their magic and well how little they've used it, gives people like us the upper hand in a fight".
Regina couldn't help but glance towards Emma with a smug smile at Amelia's teaching to Tom while Emma rolled her eye's at the red head's words, as Hook lightly chuckled at them.
"With practice you'll be able to sense a magic user by feeling whenever they're near, the magic that surrounds them is unique to them, like a fingerprint".
"That's how you know who's coming, you feel them".
"Right, but try not and let them know that, otherwise they'll find a way of cloaking themselves better, then things become a little difficult" a playful smirk grew on the redhead's face as she looked towards Regina, she decided to raise her voice so she could hear clearer "A sorcerer's worst trait is their confidence in their magic and their underestimation of an assassins skill".
"I hope you're not talking about me, are you dear?" Regina called back not able to hid the sly smile on her face. It seemed like last night conversation melted away at that moment.
"Well there was the incident with you and the rabbit if I remember right" she made the former Queen recall during the first few years of their partnership. The redhead had challenged the former Queen to capture a wild rabbit the fastest without resorting to her magic to simply summon one. It was safe to say Amelia had won that one with some ease.
They set out a number of challenges against the other over the years in order to kill some time as they got to know the other more. Regina set challenges she knew Amelia would struggle with while she excelled in others. There was a few times the the seasoned assassin found herself impressed by the Queen. Especially when they raced Achilles and Rocinante down the Queen's road. The redhead was quickly humbled by the brunette's skill as she raced ahead of her on most occasions.
"What happened?" Emma asked the pair with intrigue.
"That's something you don't need to know" Regina sniped as Amelia laughed heartily to herself as they caught up to the front three.
"Long story short, Swan. I won".
"You cheated" Regina quickly accused her.
"And you're still a bad loser" she tells the former Queen as her phone started to ring, the group came to stop as the redhead answered the call "Robin?...We're close, keep a tight perimeter until we get there, shoot anything frosty" she hung up the phone and looked to the others "The Merry Men found something near their camp, it's not to far from here" they nodded heading into the direction of the camp leaving her and Tom alone.
She could tell by his chest that his adrenaline was already pumping through his veins at the prospect of finding his target, she remembered that rush well. He stared into the direction like a predator waiting for its natural instincts to take over as his eye's turned gold. He couldn't help it their minds were hardwired into finding their target no matter how little or much they had been trained.
It was like a flight or fight mechanism. Except someone with their 'gift' seemed to always be stuck on fight.
"Hey" she called out to him placing a hand on his chest she felt his heart beating rapidly as he clenched his fists and jaw. Her voice seemed to snap him out of his instinct to re-focus on her his eyes returning back to their normal brown as they looked at her "Breathe" she repeated Romeo's words to her verbatim "It might be nothing, keep calm and stay on task, don't deviate and if the Snow Queen show's up-"
"Defense" he answered instantly "escape as quickly as possible" giving the boy a sharp nod he ran forward to keep up with the other's leaving the former assassin to herself as a wave of guilt or dread washed over her at the prospect of putting her son in the line of fire and his eagerness to run into it. It felt like someone had a grip on her heart and they wouldn't let go. She hated it.
This was probably how Romeo felt everyday since he took her on as his apprentice and everyday after that. She never wanted this for her children, that was the promise she made when she found when she pregnant with him.
All she could do was clench her fists as hard as she could willing the feeling to go away.
"Luv?" Hook asked seeing as she hadn't moved since getting the call from the thief "You alright?".
"Yeah" she breathes out as the feeling in her chest eased as her tight fists un-clenched at her sides.
"That didn't look like nothing luv" he observed from the look on her face. Like she'd just seen a ghost.
"Do you ever think I'm playing right into Angelo's hands" she asks the pirate as they caught up with the others. The only other person who knew what the former caretaker was like "Training Tom to become a killer. To be like me".
"No" he tells her as his mind went back to the night they first met "That demon wanted you to become your worse-self, while you endeavor to bring the best out of your boy. And he loves you for it".
"Romeo tried to do that as well" she reminded him "Rumple once told me that I was destined to become one of the most powerful being's in all the realms. Even more powerful than him".
"He did?" he curiously asked the woman.
"Hmm" she hummed "Far fetched I know, but then Romeo told me of a battle that went beyond Wicked Witches or Snow Queen's, one that he had to pass onto me when he died, what if they're connected?"
"Maybe its something you need to ask the man himself" referring to her Uncle. She hoped he wouldn't say that "Maybe he'll more forthcoming now he's turned this new leaf".
"If Rumpelstiltskin had truly turned a new leaf then I'll give you a bottle of my best rum on the house" she wagered him making him smile to himself.
"Or you need to have a little more faith in yourself and the boy. He's not you. Remind yourself that and maybe you'll have a chance of forgiving yourself for falling into that demon's trap yourself".
A pout appeared on the assassin's face as a she looked at him with a raised brow at his advise.
"You've gone soft Jones" she says playfully pushing him away from her making him laugh.
"Aye as you have Montague".
Setting out east of the woods in search for anything connected to the Snow Queen, the former Prince and Captain trekked through the dense forest in comfortable silence as the latter was happy to let the former to lead them through.
"So, how are things going?" the former Prince asked the man next to him.
"Better" the Privateer answered "I'm getting used to the technology now, Amy's promised to teach me how to drive so she doesn't to take me everywhere. Tom loves it here".
"And things with Lia?".
"Better. Despite...everything".
"You mean Robin" just hearing his name put a sour look on the man face. Does everyone know? "Look I know its none of my business-".
"That's right it's not" John added but the Prince carried on instead.
"But it was an honest mistake, something similar happened with Mary Margaret and I during the first curse".
"It wasn't a mistake" he corrects the man "And it wasn't just the one time either. It was an affair that lasted months and now he's in love with her and has been ever since" John ranted on before pausing to take a calming breath "…All I know is that we need to get out of here as soon as possible if we have a chance of moving on with our lives. No Queen's, no distractions, just us. Like its always been".
"And where exactly would you go? Somewhere outside of main street" he asked thinking he was talking about somewhere on the outskirts of town. There wasn't much unless he was thinking about some of the suburban areas.
"Amy's talked out a few places in the land, I like the sound of Boston, it's far enough to get away from all this but not too far for Tom to visit".
This sent off alarms within the Prince's head "Have you talked to Lia about this?".
"David" Emma voice cut them off from the walkie on David's belt "Call off the search party" Emma said into the walkie "We found the truck near the merry men's camp"
"Understood. Over" David said into the radio as he eyed the Captain.
"Let's go" John told the man before heading west towards the camp and the others before David could say anything more.
Robin Hood was the first to greet the search party as Emma and an eager Tom led them into the clearing where they had found a seemingly abandoned ice cream truck that Henry had told them about.
"David, call off the search party" Emma said into the walkie as they approached the abandoned looking truck in the middle of the woods "We found the truck near the merry men's camp".
"Thanks for keeping an eye out" Amelia tells Robin as she carefully inched down the slight decline minding her weak ankle. Seeing her slight hesitation the thief takes her hand steadying her as she slides down, looking up to see Tom gazing around the area with his gold eye's taking everything in he could.
"Gladly. She's the first sheriff I don't mind assisting" he tells her glancing towards the young teen "Tom seems to be getting better at his gift" he say with a fond smile.
"He is, he wanted to learn, who am I to say no" she replied as they stopped at the edge of the clearing.
Robin didn't let go of her hand as he lowered his head towards her "Uh, Amelia" he whispered to the Assassin "I was hoping we could talk".
"Um, in case you haven't noticed, we're about to storm an evil ice-cream truck" Regina yelled over to the thief interrupting the quiet conversation he was trying to have with the redhead.
"John and David are on their way" Amelia tell her friend "Keep an eye out for me".
"Of course" he says with a nod as she takes her hand out of his to make her way over to her son who was still surveying the area around them for anything.
"You could have just said, "maybe later"" Emma tells the older woman as they approached the vehicle with Hook.
"I know you're trying to make everything better, but staying out of it is your best bet" Regina tells her "It's bad enough I'm stuck with you and captain guy-liner making eyes at each other".
"I don't make eyes. And what about you and Lia's little play-fight back there that didn't sound like nothing" she reminded the woman as they got to the door of the truck.
"Anything milady assassin?" Hook called out to the red head as the three waited outside the truck for the all clear.
"Go on" Amelia encouraged Tom as his eyes blinked back to normal, he looked to the others puffing out his chest ready to give the other the all clear they needed to enter the abandoned vehicle.
"I-its all clear" he stammered out to the other's making him cringe in disbelief. He couldn't believe he messed that up. Hearing a light chuckle from his mother the redhead gave the others a nod of confirmation as they opened up the truck and entered.
"That was great. Your confidence will grow the more you use it" the former assassin tells her son stroking his arm in comfort as she noticed his heart rate continue to rise.
"Really?"
"Yes, just keep breathing, you need to calm down" Tom took in a deep breath through his nose before her shakily breathed out again. As the adrenaline continued to flow through his bloodstream. He felt like he could run and climb for days without a break.
"Is this what it always feels like. Doing this? Being an Assassin".
"It does but you need to control it not the other way around otherwise you'll find yourself feeding it to feel something".
"Like you did?".
"Yes" she told her son honestly. He saw her face drop as she looked down in shame at her past which only made the young boy to engulf her in a hug, holding his mother tight. Silently telling her, he loved her no matter what happened in the past. All that mattered was the future they were building in Storybrooke.
A dead end. Well not much of a dead end but they found that the Snow Queen knew more about the savoir since she ended up in this world as a baby. John and David had found them in the clearing as the assassin tried her best to hide from the others as she lent back on the side of the abandoned truck as her thoughts took a deep dive into what she felt earlier as she saw Tom flourishing under her teachings.
On one hand she wanted to take Hook's words and tell herself that Tom wasn't her. He wasn't put under the hardships of the Brotherhood, but on the other hand she just didn't want him to be be like her, to just be normal. With no gift. Like she could be with Robin all those years ago. Normal. Boring. Unimportant.
But the damn prophesy she had been born with said otherwise. Rumple stopped her. And she didn't regret it as it took her to fall for the woman underneath the Evil Queen that stood mere feet away from. So close by so far away at the same time.
Gods she was a mess, thumping the back of her head against the metal truck seemed to be the only thing to shake the thoughts back into order before a voice interrupted her petite existential crisis that seemed to be her life at the moment.
"I can't help but think you're avoiding me" Robin greeted her rounding the truck to find her. He seemed to be the only one to be able to find her while her head swam.
"Not well enough" she replies seeing Regina and John either side of the clearing looking straight at them "We've got an audience" she tells him guiding him further away from the other's to talk privately.
"You're upset because of what I said…" he starts as they climb up the slight incline away from the main group "That I'm still in love with you. I suppose I should never have told you, not after I asked you to find a way to save my wife".
"That's not why I'm avoiding you" she tells him not sure how she can tell the man in front of her how they were failing to find a way to cure his wife.
"Then why can't you even look me in the eye?" he accused her making her look up into his eyes.
"Because I don't know how to tell you the truth" she admits to him.
"You know you can tell me anything. Have years of friendship really meant nothing?".
He was right. He could tell her anything even if it broke her heart, she had to do the same for him now.
"We've looked in every spell book in Regina's possession, every codex we brought back in the curse, experimented with every potion in her vault. She even tried to defeat the Snow Queen to force her to reverse the spell. But... Nothing we do seems good enough".
"But it will be, Amelia. I have faith in you I always have. You will figure out a way eventually"
She always loved his optimism, even in the darkest day he always had so much faith in her. It never wavered, not even now when she need him to stop.
"That's what I'm trying to tell you. I'm not sure I can figure it out. Robin, I'm sorry, but if you truly want to save Marian... You're gonna have to forget about me. And find a way to fall in love with your wife again. The only hope we have to break the curse is True Love's kiss like it did for John" she gulped "Like it did for me".
He knew there was something else he wasn't telling her. he knew her too well to know when she was holding back. "What else are you trying not to tell me about?".
"John knows about us" she tells him pulling off the band aid "I had to tell him otherwise he would've heard about in the town gossip column".
"He's upset" Robin simply says "Understandable".
"I honestly don't know; he's hardly spoken to me about it, I've never seen him this upset since.." she stopped herself from bringing up the only other time he wouldn't talk to her.
"Since?" he tried to prompt her.
"Doesn't matter" she brushed him off getting back to the subject at hand "Clearly he hasn't confronted you, since you're still in possession of all your teeth" she tried her best to make light of the situation they had all found themselves in, knowing it would break some of the tension between them, it seemed to work as a small smirk grew on his tired face even for a split second before disappearing.
"Then what should we do?" he asks her becoming serious again.
"We do nothing. You need to find a way to love you wife again while I try and fix every little problem that's appeared ever since Swan and Hook performed their miracle".
"Amelia" he breathed out seeing the pain that lied behind her eyes.
"We can't see each other until this has all blown over and it will. Because I don't how much longer I can take not being your friend".
She missed him. And that was the only clear thought that came out of the mess.
"Okay I understand. Thank you" she says before his eyes see something over the assassins shoulder. With furrowed brows the redhead turned around to see what he was looking at. In the clearing stood her husband staring right back at them.
"Oh for Odin's sake" she cursed as she left the thief where he was to deal with "Fucking men" she cursed as she ignored the painful thump coming from her foot and ankle to deal with the man at the bottom.
Catching the flash of red out of the corner of her eye the former Queen saw the former assassin emerging from behind a tree thundering towards her husband as she see's Robin step out to see the men in a staring contest. The pair stood their ground until the redhead finally reached the man she once sentenced to death.
"Not here" she told him sternly taking his forearm in a firm grip before he finally relented his standoff with the thief and turned with his wife away from the thief who was left heart stricken for the former assassin. She wasn't the only one in town missing the woman's presence in their life at least.
"Regina?" Emma' voice brought her out her thoughts of the redhead as she watched Amelia leave the clearing with her husband in tow. They watched as the pair kept their heads down as they slipped away not bringing any attention to themselves. The tactic seemed to word as they were the only three to notice the couple leaving "What do you think that's about?" the blonde asks her.
"I don't know, but it seems that she's in the middle of it all".
The couple hadn't stopped walking away from the site of the ice cream truck until they finally came to a stop in the middle of nowhere completely alone. She didn't need this right now.
"You know the whole alpha macho thing isn't a good look for you" the redhead started turning her first love. They had been silent the whole way.
"What did he want?" John demanded to know.
"I was telling him that we were running out of idea's to save Marian. There's nothing we can find to help her. She needs True Love's kiss".
"And he can't give it because he still loves you".
"Well its safe to say now that you're still mad" she notes out loud.
"Of course I am. He manipulated you-"
"He never manipulated me" she quickly put his theory down rolling her eyes at him "Don't put words in my mouth".
"How do you know that?" he scoffed at her.
"Because I loved him too" she blurted out at the man "I was willing to give up everything for him, even the Evil Queen. A fresh start somewhere I wouldn't constantly be reminded of how much I messed up the life we made"
"How about now?".
"How the hell can you ask me that?" she asked him in disbelief. "If you hadn't noticed I chose you, and he know's why I can never love him like that again. He didn't just hurt the Widow, he hurt me, he hurt us. He let the man who knew where our son was go. How could I ever forget that?".
"And you forgave him for that!" he angrily retorts.
"Yes because he's my friend. He kept me from drowning in my own darkness. He was there when I needed him the most, and didn't run away when things got too hard, something you have first hand experience at" she spat at him knowing exactly what she was talking about. With hands on his hips he head bowed forward in shame not able to look her in the eye "You ran when I needed you the most. But I still loved you".
"-We can argue all we want about the past but it won't change anything, what's done is done. You need to let it go. We both do" she tells him before turning to leave him only to freeze seeing Emma and Tom stood a distance away.
"Sorry to interrupt" Emma greeted them seeing that she had interrupted an argument between them, the former Captain looked up to see that they had an audience seeing a pale looking Tom stood with her with a hand set firmly against his stomach as he looked like he was about throw up "Tom's feeling a little sick".
She knew what was wrong straight away. She remembered the way it felt whenever she used her vision for too long when she was younger. She pushed him too far today, and now he was paying for it. The knot she felt in her stomach she felt earlier pulled even harder than before, but instead of letting it paralyze her with fear. She made herself remember the simply solution to his minor ailment.
"We'll see you back home" she tells the former Captain before turning away from him to approach her son and the blonde leaving her first love behind "Come on let's get you to Granny's I know just what you need" she says taking him from the savoir as they started their trek to leave the forest.
"You know what's wrong?" Emma asks the redhead who seemed to know what was going on with the usually healthy teenager. She looked too calm not to know "Regina had a look at him she couldn't figure it out, he just turned. We thought it might be the Snow Queen".
"It's not her" the redhead calmly tells her "He'll be fine Swan, don't worry. He just needs something to eat" she tells the woman before the savoir hands the teen over to his mothers capable hands.
Looking over to the Captain the savoir watch his son and wife walk away from him knowing that his plans of escaping this town would be harder than he once thought.
"Sugar cubes?" Tom questioned his mother from where sat on the other side of one of the red booths at Granny's with a small bowl of the sat between the pair as the teen eyed the sweet cubes in confusion.
She had quickly learnt that while she and John were having their private conversation, the teen's world suddenly spun before him making his stumble on his feet until David had caught his shoulders before he could go any further. Hearing the alarm in the Prince's voice the group became alert as the others quickly came to his aid as they saw how pale and lethargic the usually energetic teen had become.
She couldn't help the smile on her face as she heard how the former Queen practically pushed everyone aside to get to him, thinking it was the Snow Queen responsible for his sudden ill health.
But that still didn't explain why how sugar cubes would help him feel better. All he wanted to do was curl up in bed and sleep for the next week or month. He'd never felt like this before, but his mother's calmness told him she knew exactly what had happened to him. She always did.
"Your Grandfather would give them to me whenever I got a little sick after using my sight for a little too long when I was younger." she informs the teen as he takes one in his hand "He told me it was a small price we had to pay for our gift so to speak . It drains a lot of our energy when used for a long time like today, which means we need to find a way to get that energy back".
"-but luckily for you this world offers a lot more than sugar cubes" she says just as Granny places a tall mug of hot cocoa in front of the teen with a extra helping of whip cream and marshmallows. His eyes seemed to brighten up just seeing the treat in front of him.
He had caught the hot cocoa and cinnamon 'bug' from the Charming's.
"Here you go honey, drink up" she tells him with a reassuring smile.
"Thanks Granny" the teens replies as Granny takes the bowl of sugar cubes away with her.
"Don't expect one every time, young man" his mother quickly tells him as he picks up a marshmallow and plops in in his mouth "Sugar is only for emergencies. I don't want too many trips to the dentist in the future" she warns him making him chuckle as the color in his face returns to his face "Everything is about balance for us. Which means we need to eat the right foods to replenish the energy we used to use our gift so nothing like today happens again, once that balance is found it can work in our favor. Our sense become sharper when we use it and it helps us filter out some of the noise around us when we we're not".
"He told you all of this?" he inquired with her, trying to eke out the subject about Romeo. It had been a while since they had spoken about him.
"He did" she answered with a small upturned smirk.
"I couldn't imagine doing this alone like you did" he muses out load to her.
"I wasn't always alone you know" she mused in reply.
"I know. You had Romeo" he says with a sad smile. He missed him too.
"I wasn't talking about Romeo" she corrects him "I was a little younger than you are now when Romeo took on another apprentice".
"Really?" he interest seemed to peak up at the new information.
"Seeing how close you and Henry are remind's me of her. We were sisters and like them too. We grew up together, trained together, fought together and against each other like only sister's could. There was literally nothing I wouldn't do for her and she the same. We loved each other".
"But aren't attachments like that against the rules?" he asked in confusion as he nursed his cocoa.
"Do you know why I still call them my old family" he shakes his head at her. He never understood the sentiment behind the wording if they were people that hurt her and she killed
"-Because they were exactly that" she continued "Family. The assassins become your parents. Siblings. Aunts and Uncle's. It went deeper than a blood relation. We trusted each other with our lives. We were a family, or at least what we thought a family should be".
"Does that mean you killed her too?" he queried with her with a hint of sadness lacing his voice thinking he would never meet the woman her mother saw as a sister.
"No. Fortunately, she left just before Romeo's secret was exposed. She got away".
"Do you know where?" she saw the excitement in his eyes at the thought that she might be in Storybrooke "Do you think she's here?"
"She's not. I checked. I have no idea what happened to her after the last time I saw her and that was a little before the first curse" she tells him. But the one thing the former assassin did know is that her sister would never want to see her again. But she couldn't help but miss her.
"I'm sorry".
"Don't be. Finding a balance isn't just limited to what you eat. It can be about the people around you. The Brotherhood frowned upon attachments because they would be put them in front of the mission we had, thinking they made us weaker. Romeo encouraged it because he knew how much stronger were with them than without".
Something she seems to keep forgetting lately.
Leaving her son to finish his drink under Granny's watchful eye. The redhead went to the one place she knew she could find the former Queen. Hidden away in her vault.
She needed to find her balance again one way or another. There was a reason why she slipped last night and it wasn't the ice or the Snow Queen. It was because of the way she left things with the woman desperately trying to find a cure for her. Not for Robin. For her.
The former assassin easily found the woman in the her part of their vault with yet another book under her nose as she tried to find another way to help her soulmates friend. She hadn't seemed to notice her presence as the assassin lent her shoulder against the stone threshold as the took some of her weight off her weak ankle. God's that felt good as some of the pain ebbed away even for a minute or two.
"Hey Queenie" she greeted the former Queen making her look up from the book she was reading.
"What are you doing here?".
"I just came down here to thank you for helping Tom earlier, he said you came to the rescue earlier".
"Well it's not like you or your husband were around to help" she mused to the assassin.
"What can I expect? I did get myself into a silly love triangle after all" paraphrasing the woman's words to her the previous evening.
She knew her words would come back to haunt her. That's why she was here to have it out with her over what she had said to her. "I didn't-".
"I know how you meant it. It's okay. You've been down here, reading every book in existence while I've hardly done anything but complain".
"That's not true" the former Queen tells her putting her book to the side "You were the one to tell me about her heart".
"We both know that won't last forever Regina" she reminds the older woman "I told Robin that true love's kiss is the only way now".
"I'm sorry".
"Don't be, its been hard on everyone, least of all him. I just want him to be happy, that all I've ever wanted, even if can't be with me".
The former Queen couldn't help but think the redhead wasn't talking about the thief at that moment. She wanted her to be happy even after all the ways she's been pushing her away for choosing John over her.
"He will be. Just give him time" Regina tells her as she stand up from the chest she was sat on to take a few steps towards the assassin only to stop in the middle of the small room nervously straightening her blazer.
"Good because I don't think I'd be able to not have him in my life".
"If I know him well enough by now, he would do anything to keep you in his".
"Thanks again for today. We're lucky to have you looking out for us" .
"Your Welcome" she replies with smile, as Amelia turns to leave the vault only for her eye to catch her slight limp. She was hurt.
"You're hurt" the former Queen observes out load in concern with furrowed brows.
"Oh, I slipped on some ice last night. My fault, should've been more careful on that ice bridge".
"Ice bridge?" the former queen felt her heart pound in her chest at the thought that the assassin had heard what she admitted to Emma last night. She had been there. She forgot that Emma wasn't just looking for Elsa she was looking for Amelia as well.
"You know the one Elsa made. I'm just lucky you and Emma were there to take care of that ice giant together" the redhead laughed off as she moved to leave again only to be stopped again.
"You..didn't happen to hear anything that was said?".
"Nope" Amelia says shrugging her shoulders "Not a thing" but the older woman saw through her answer straight away. She had heard her, but she wasn't; going to hold it against her "Why do you ask?".
"No reason" the former Queen's shrugged glad the woman wasn't going to question her further.
"Did you know that our son's got a job with my Uncle at his shop?".
"I had actually, it was Henry's idea apparently" she tells the redhead.
"Really? Because Tom said it was his idea" the redhead questioned her "Is there anything going on that I should know about" she curiously asks her.
"Maybe they just want to get to know their Grandfather and Uncle" the queen suggested to her.
"Sure" she accepted knowing that wasn't the reason. Those boys were up to something, she just didn't know what yet. "Night Queenie" she says with a quick wink and smile before climbing the staircase, feeling the pain in her ankle suddenly feel better as she put some wight onto it, it wasn't as painful now.
"Goodnight Melia" she hears the former Queen whisper just before she reached the top of the steps making a smirk appear on the redhead's lips hearing her nickname be heard for the first time which felt like ages.
She had found some balance in her life again.
AN: Hello there!
Small tease of a new OC for the second half of the season. eek!
We're getting there...
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