Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot and any unrecognizable characters and dialogue.
Shaken by her confrontation with Harry's father, Evie was glad to see the back of him when he and Emma ascended the beanstalk. There was a faint worry for her niece, even though she knew said niece was a grown woman more than capable of taking care of herself, that she pushed aside. Having already seen the way Emma reacted to the concern of her parents, she knew the blonde wouldn't appreciate it even when it came from an aunt.
"Evie?" Mary Margaret touched her arm carefully. "What was Hook talking about?"
Aurora and Mulan were listening intently, though the warrior had the decency to try and pretend otherwise. The once cursed princess clearly still harbored resentment for the role she believed they played in her lover's death.
Choosing her words carefully, Evie bit her lip. "Harry's father seems to be operating under the assumption that I removed Harry's heart."
Mary Margaret's jaw dropped. "What?! That's ridiculous!" Incensed on her little sister's behalf, she looked moments away from tearing up the beanstalk herself when Evie grasped her hand. "Isn't it?"
Unable to meet her sister's gaze, Evie looked down at their intertwined fingers. Swallowing past a sudden lump in her throat, she struggled to admit that she had used Dark Magic, had secretly stolen her mother's spell book and taught herself. That she had had no other choice but to fight back if she ever wanted to be free of her mother.
"Evie?"
Unbidden, tears sprang to her eyes and her lower lip trembled. Without a word, Mary Margaret pulled Evie into her arms, holding her tightly. Hiding her face into her sister's shoulder, Evie tried in vain to stop the silent tears at what she had done to get away from her mother. Dark Magic had poisoned her mother, her grandmother, and it had almost succeeded in taking her too.
"See?" She heard Aurora hiss to Mulan, openly glaring at the pair, not bothering to keep her voice down. "I told you, she's just like her mother!"
It hadn't been the first time someone compared her to her mother, and while she knew it wouldn't be the last, Evie refused to be cowed. "I'm sorry," she snapped, pulling away from Mary Margaret to glare at the princess. "Just because you are a carbon copy of your mother - right down to the tacky name I might add - doesn't mean I am. I'll admit I'm like my mother - she was all I had. But I will not sit here and listen to you speak of me like that."
Mary Margaret had known that Evie, despite everything that had happened, still loved her mother. And Mary Margaret could sympathize, as a small part of her still cared deeply for her former stepmother. "That's enough." She announced loudly when it looked like her sister was going to claw out Aurora's eyes. "You need to stop blaming people for things they didn't do," she pointed at Aurora, before turning to her sister, "and you and I need to talk."
Without another word, Mary Margaret took hold of Evie's hand and dragged her out of earshot of Mulan and a gaping Aurora. The other princess was getting on her last nerve, and she was afraid if she spent anymore time in her presence she was going to join her sister in murdering Sleeping Beauty's daughter. Besides, this was family business, and there was no need for anyone to hear the airing of any dirty laundry.
"Evie, you're shaking," rubbing her sister's arm, Mary Margaret steered her to a boulder, her concern growing. "What is it?"
"I-I have removed a heart before." Her fingers twitched, something in her chest aching at the reminder of that horrible moment.
Mary Margaret forced herself to ask. "Whose?"
"Mine." Hazel eyes swimming with tears, Evie flinched at the horrified gasp her sister failed to smother. "I removed my heart."
"When?" Without thinking, Mary Margaret pressed a hand to Evie's chest. Her heart was beating steadily, if a bit rapidly. "I don't… I don't understand."
"After my mother took Harry's heart, after she separated us… I was desperate, Mary Margaret. I had to get away from her so… I stole my mother's spell book."
Evie had never told Mary Margaret where or how she'd learned magic, and she had never asked. Assuming Regina had attempted to corrupt her daughter with dark magic the way she had done to herself, Mary Margaret hadn't pressed. Both sisters had been unwilling to dredge up any unwelcome memories and bad blood between them.
"My mother wasn't going to stop; there was only one way to get her to let me go."
"No!" The words hadn't made it past Regina's painted lips before her daughter's hand went into her own chest. Horrified by the sight of her precious daughter clutching her own heart, Regina made to step forward.
"STOP!" Fingers clenching the glowing organ, Evie's knees buckled as she squeezed it. Bile rising in her throat, she forced herself to continue despite the shaking of her limbs. "Come any closer and I'll crush it, I swear!"
"Evie," hands raised in placation, Regina tried to reason with her daughter. "Please, just -"
"NO! I'm done doing what you want mother!"
"I left that night, and used my mother's spell book to find Charming, who led me to you." Evie admitted, having never revealed this to anyone, not even Harry. "She never would have let me go, Snow. Please don't hate me."
Without a word, lowering the hand from her mouth, Mary Margaret drew her sister into her arms once more. Trembling something fierce, Evie went willingly, terrified her sister would never forgive her. She wasn't sure she'd forgiven herself yet, well aware of the gravity of what she had done.
"It's alright, Evie," smoothing a hand over Evie's tangled curls, Mary Margaret shushed her gently. Pressing a kiss to the crown of her head, she tilted Evie's chin up and smile sadly. "I understand."
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