Emma followed Mary Margaret out of the large bedroom, leaving Regina behind. As they made their way through the large corridors of the castle, Emma couldn't help but go over Regina's breakdown in her mind, she hadn't expected it, who would have?
Regina, who was always so in control, suddenly ripping at her clothes…crying. Crying! She'd never seen her cry before. Her heart squeezed painfully in her chest. She tried to remind herself of all the terrible things Regina had done, but the image of her on her knees, her clothes strewn about and tears running down her cheeks softened the anger that thinking of her usually brought up.
Snow led them up another staircase, this one was smaller than the opulent one that led from the main hall to the royal quarters. Emma surprised herself with how quickly she was catching on to terms like "royal quarters", it was sort of like immersing herself in one of her favorite fantasy books. Scratch that, it was exactly like immersing herself in her favorite fantasy book.
They turned into yet another hallway, this one the smallest Emma had seen up till then, although it was still large enough that four or five people could walk comfortably astride. At the end of it was a blue door. It looked like a perfectly normal door, which caught Emma off-guard. Snow strode to it confidently and opened it, then she turned to smile at Emma.
"Here we are," She said, a shade nervously.
Inside, the room was lit with a soft blue light, the sunlight filtering through curtains on the large vaulted windows. Furniture and toys were strewn about haphazardly, Emma bent down next to an upturned crib, reaching for a tiny stuffed rabbit. She picked it up and examined it. It was dusty and old. Twenty-eight years old to be precise.
"There it is," Snow said.
Emma looked up and followed her gaze, her hands automatically pulling the toy to her chest.
In the corner of the room stood the bottom half of a tree trunk, two small doors fashioned into its face. Emma strode forward towards it. A beautifully decorated carpet covered the floor in front of the tree. It must once have been a deep red, though it was now gray with dust and age, save for one spot, a black puddle stained the fabric. Emma knelt to examine it.
"That's where your father was struck down by the Queen's men" Mary Margaret said quietly.
She looked down at Emma and gave her a small, sad she walked to the tree. Emma joined her, stuffing the rabbit in her pocket. She opened the small doors and looked inside, it was empty.
"Where's the on switch?" She asked,
Snow gave a small chuckle, "That's not quite how it works" she said "it needs magic".
"Snow!" A voice startled them, and they turned to see Lancelot striding through the open door into the room, "Emma!" He smiled broadly.
Snow lit up "Lancelot! What are you doing here?"
"I heard you were attacked by Ogres, and I had to come see if you were alright" he said, his eyes twinkling. Emma frowned.
"Where are Aurora and Mulan?" Snow asked, and Emma heard the same uncertainty she felt in her voice.
"I've sent them to hunt for some food" he said easily, as he walked over to the tree. He looked at it for a long moment, he turned to Snow,
"Is this it? The portal?"
Snow nodded, "The same one Emma went through" she said, "but it won't work without magic".
"Well that shouldn't be a problem, should it?" he asked, and continued at the two's questioning glances, "I'm sure Regina can get it to work." He turned back to gaze at it, his long dark fingers stroking the old wood.
Snow turned to her daughter, her hand going to the sword around her waist and grabbing it by the hilt, Emma took a step back in surprise as Snow unsheathed the sword, pointing it at Lancelot.
"Stay away from him, Emma" she cautioned, "He's not who he say he is,"
"What are you talking about?" Emma said, confusion clouding her face, "Who the hell is he?"
"There's only a handful of people in this land who would have recognised Regina" she said slowly, "and only one who wouldn't have killed her on sight."
Understanding dawned on Emma, "Cora" she said, fear gripping her insides.
A puff of purple smoke enveloped Lancelot, a moment later it dissipated to reveal Cora. She was smiling, a smile that wouldn't have looked remiss on a vulture.
"Clever girl" she said, chuckling.
Emma took another step back, whenever she thought she was getting used to magic, it took her by surprise again.
"Where's Lancelot?" Snow was asking,
"Oh he's dead" Cora didn't sound the tiniest bit remorseful, "I killed him a long time ago."
"And you've been posing as him ever since!" Snow said, her anger spilling into her words,
"Well they'd never listen to me! And besides, every kingdom needs a hero, don't you think?" Cora was still smiling, and she didn't flinch when Snow rushed her, sword first. With an easy flick of her wrist Snow was pinned to the wall, unable to move. Emma flung herself towards her, but Cora's magic hit her like a brick, pushing her onto the floor.
"Why are you doing this?" Snow gasped, as Cora neared her,
"I'm going to take my daughter home" she said "It's been too long since we've been together"
Emma crawled her way to the tree as she listened to Cora, her heartbeat racing, hoping she wouldn't turn yet.
"And you know" Cora continued, "I have to thank you, I never thought it would be you, Snow White, who helped me reconnect with Regina"
Emma had managed to make it to the tree, she grabbed a bit of gunpowder, or what she supposed was gunpowder, which Mulan had given her to start a fire earlier, and poured it onto the wood. Slipping her lighter out of her pocket she tried to light it, her fingers trembled with the effort, finally the powder caught.
"No!" Cora shouted, a fireball appearing in her hand, she flung it in Emma's direction.
It would have hit her, though she had rolled away, were it not for Mulan's intervention, her sword cutting through the fire, effectively stopping it in its path. She and Aurora stared at Cora, who glowered at them.
"We're not done here" she growled, then, in another puff of smoke, she was gone.
—-
Emma and Snow watched as the magical tree, the one that should have been their ticket home, burnt down to ashes. They were quiet for a long time, as the fire crackled and danced. Aurora and Mulan had retreated to a corner of the nursery, respectfully.
Once the ashes had stopped smoking, Snow turned to them.
"Let's go" She said, with finality.
"What about the portal?" Mulan asked,
Snow sighed, looking down at the small pile.
"I don't think there's anything we can do about it now" Emma said, her shoulders slightly hunched. That was it. Their only hope of getting home, burnt to nothing. They were going to be stuck there for the rest of their, hopefully short, lives. She had the brief vision of herself fighting an ogre barehanded. She sighed.
"We'll find another way" Mary Margaret said, she took Emma by the shoulder,"We always find a way"
As she turned away, Emma rolled her eyes.
"Reina is in the main hall," Mulan told them, as Snow guided them down hallways, staircases and passages that Emma was certain they hadn't seen before.
"Right, I almost forgot about her," Snow said, a tinge of venom in her words.
Emma had been surprised at the sheer size of the room, when they'd come in, she was certain there was some magic at play, as the castle looked much smaller on the outside than the inside. The main hall's large wooden doors, through which they had come in, were easily twice her height; they'd only managed to open them because the wood had begun to rot. Inside, the high vaulted ceilings were supported by a dozen columns, each as wide as she was tall. When they had arrived the hall had been lit from huge windows set high up near the roof, illuminating the beautifully decorated ceiling, although now it was dark. At the far end of the hall was a dias, in between winding staircases that led up to the royal quarters. On the dias stood two thrones, time had chipped away at the outer layer of gold paint that made them look like metal, revealing the wood beneath.
Regina sat on one of the thrones. Emma saw her mother flinch. Snow strode towards the dias.
"What are you doing?" She asked, this time the venom was evident.
Regina faked mild surprise at Snow's tone.
"Sitting" she cocked an eyebrow, daring Snow
"On my throne"
"Oh, is it?"
Snow fumed, her fists clenched, she glared at Regina,
" ." she ordered
Regina let her head hang back, then, with enormous effort, she sighed, and got up.
"Happy?" she asked,
Emma found herself, once again, rolling her eyes.
"Enough" she said, glaring at Snow and Regina, "We have more important things to worry about"
Regina nodded, stepping off the dias towards them,
"Did you get the portal?"
"No, someone got in the way" Snow said, she pressed her lips together, and Emma was sure she was hiding a smile.
"Who?" Regina asked, eyebrows furrowing.
Snow smiled, slowly, deliberately she looked at Regina, "Cora".
Regina froze, Emma could see her mind racing, trying to make sense of the word.
"Cora?" She asked, her eyes had gone wide with terror, "Cora, my mother?" her voice cracked slightly, and Emma felt a cold shiver run down her back. If Regina was afraid of this woman…well Emma wasn't sure she wanted to see what she was capable of.
She was interrupted by the sound of Mulan's sword being unsheathed.
"Your mother?" her voice was steely, the tip of her sword pressed against Regina's neck, who jutted her chin out and stared at Mulan defiantly, her fear vanished.
"So you really are the Evil Queen" she said softly, stepping closer to her, her eyes slitted.
Regina's eyes narrowed, and a small smile appeared on her lips, she raised her eyebrows. Emma wondered if she enjoyed this.
"Are you scared?" she mocked, she stepped closer, pushing the tip of the sword further against her, a drop of blood ran down her neck and into her corset, but she didn't flinch, her eyes trained on Mulan.
"You have no magic," Mulan said evenly, but her eyes betrayed her, growing wide.
"No" Regina agreed, "Which is going to be a problem now, with my mother around"
"You can't expect us to trust you!" Mulan said, she turned to Snow, eyebrows raised.
Snow sighed, she looked between Regina and Mulan, then at Emma.
"I don't trust her" Snow said finally, "but I know she wants to get home as much as we do,"
Mulan's eyes narrowed, "She's dangerous, I don't think we should take her with us"
"She's the reason all this" Aurora started, her hands gesturing to the ruins of the hall, "Happened".
Regina's smile disappeared, "I need to get home to my son" she said, Emma didn't correct her, "I'm not the same woman I was when I cast the curse, I want to be better, for him" she finished looking at Mulan pleadingly. The truth was, Regina's life was in her hands.
Emma stepped forward, her hand going to Mulan's shoulder,
"We need her, we need magic" The two exchanged a look, then Mulan lowered her sword,
"Fine" she said, "but I'm keeping an eye on you"
Regina cocked her head in understanding. She turned to Emma, "We do need magic" She said, "But the only person who can take this" she raised her hand showing them the black leather wrist cuff, "off, is Lancelot".
"Ah, right" Emma said sheepishly, "We didn't tell you,"
"Tell me what?" Regina's eyes narrowed,
"Lancelot is dead, Cora has been masquerading as him this whole time" Snow said.
Regina was quiet as she looked between them,
"You mean the man who put this on me, was my mother?"
Emma saw a shiver go through her, and she wondered again what kind of woman Cora had to be, to scare Regina, of all people.
"Which also means," Regina continued, "that the only person who can take it off, is my mother"
When no one answered, she sighed. Her fingers combing her hair in frustration.
"Isn't there another way?" Emma asked.
"I'll just go check in my magical library, which, oh, Snow just so happens to have burnt down" she said sardonically.
"Could your mother have left any magic books around?" Snow asked, ignoring the jab.
"Maybe" Regina conceded,
"If she's been living at the camp as Lancelot, she may have left them there" Aurora said.
"Let's get back to the camp then" Emma said,"There's nothing left for us here, anyway"
—-
They had agreed to go back to the encampment, but it had been several hours since they'd arrived at the castle, and night had fallen, shrouding everything in darkness. Spending the night in the castle seemed like the best route, especially since Emma wasn't very keen to encounter another Ogre.
The castle had hundreds of bedrooms, between the servants quarters and the royal families', however, the events of the day had left all of them shaken, and the cold had begun to penetrate in their bones. So,they'd decided to drag some mattresses into the kitchen, a spacious room in the underbelly of the castle, and sleep there.
Mulan and Aurora had lit a fire in the kitchen's large hearth. The room itself was smaller than the main hall, but rather longer, the counters on either side were filled with various cooking utensils, pots, pans, cups and cutlery. Running along the center of the room was a long wooden table, it had clearly been used for preparing food, and knives of various sizes had been left strewn on it. The kitchen could have easily been filled with people just moments before, if it wasn't for the thick layer of dust and grime on every surface. She remarked this to Snow, as they sat on the mattresses on the ground, which they had carefully placed between the table and the fireplace.
It was Regina who answered, "The curse took everyone as they were going about their lives, they didn't have time to clean up" She said quietly. She had taken the bed on the far side, between Emma and the wall. Snow said nothing, she stared into the fire.
"I found some tea leaves" Mulan said, she'd been rummaging in the cupboards, "I'm going to boil some water"
Emma got up, her stomach was rumbling like crazy, she had been used to going to bed hungry as a child, but she'd forgotten just how painful it was in the many years since.
"I'll help," she said, at least the warm tea would quiet her stomach.
"It's alright, I've sent Aurora out to get water from the well" Mulan said, and indeed, Aurora made her way back into the kitchen as she spoke, lugging a big pot with her. Splashing sounds accompanied every step she took. She hooked the pot on the metal arm in the hearth, pushing it into place above the roaring fire.
Once the water boiled they added the tea leaves Mulan had found, and, in little cups they'd found in the cupboards they drank in silence. Emma was grateful for the warmth, the night was cool and the fire could only warm them so much. She'd also given Aurora her jacket in a moment of chivalry she was now slightly regretting.
"Good night," Snow said after they'd all finished their tea, laying down and seemingly falling asleep continued to stare into the fire for some time, before the day's events finally caught up with her. She looked at her companions and noticed Mulan and Aurora had elected to sleep on the same mattress, their bodies huddled together for warmth. She turned to Regina, who was already asleep, her knees hugged to her chest.
With a sigh she curled up on the mattress, they had tried to get the dust off, but layers of it had stratified on it, and the smell curled into her nose and throat, making her cough.
"It's dusty in here," she muttered to no one in particular. Unexpectedly, she heard Regina turn towards her,
"Sleep with your head up," She murmured,
"My head up?"
"Not facing the mattress," she heard Regina sigh quietly, the Queen wasn't very patient with slow learners.
"Right," Emma shifted so she was on her back, it was easier to breathe that way, but also much colder without the warmth from her limbs. She shivered. Then she sighed, her body ached with fatigue, and her head throbbed, but she was so cold. Was it going to be another sleepless night? She listened to Mary Margaret's slow deep breathing and sighed again, wishing she was asleep. She adjusted herself again, trying to curl her knees to her chest while keeping her head turned towards the ceiling.
"Miss. Swan," Regina's whisper was frosty, "Are you going to toss and turn and sigh all night?"
"Sorry, I can't sleep, it's too cold in here"
"Why did you give the sleepy princess your jacket then?"
"She was cold," Emma said, pouting a little.
Regina sighed irritably, "You are an idiot"
Emma heard Regina shift, and a moment later she felt her mattress dip under her weight, she held her breath, letting it out only when she felt Regina's arm around her waist, her body pressed close to Emma's.
"You will tell no one," She said icily, her voice incredibly close. Emma grinned,
"You're cold too, aren't you?"
"Shut up," she murmured in reply, but Emma heard the smile in her voice. With Regina huddled next to her Emma's limbs stopped trembling and she felt herself slip into sleep easily.
—-
"Emma?" Mary Margaret's voice cut through her dream, and Emma opened her eyes with a gasp, she sat up, feeling someone's arm slip off her body and a grumble from her left. She turned to see Regina, half-awake, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Her mother stood above them, staring at her, an unreadable expression on her face.
"Yeah?" Emma said, as nonchalantly as she could manage.
"Morning" Regina said, sitting up on the mattress, her hair was tousled and she ran her fingers through it, trying to fix it. Mary Margaret stared at her for a long moment, before slowly turning her gaze back to Emma.
"We're going" She said, and, as Emma rose, she caught her disapproving glance. With a sigh, she rolled her eyes.
They walked ahead of the others, leaving the castle behind, as they made their way through the trees, Snow turned to Emma.
"What was that?"
"What was what?" Emma asked, already knowing what her mother was about to comment on.
"You slept with Regina!"
"Oh my god Mary Margaret, you make it sound like we had sex!"
Snow blanched, she turned and grabbed Emma's wrist,
"You didn't!" Emma felt the heat rise to her cheeks, as the mental image of her and Regina tangled into one another appeared in her mind's eye, she felt her heart race as she imagined what the Queen sounded like. She shook her head, both to Mary Margaret's words and to clear her head.
"Of course not! We just huddled for warmth" She reassured her, "Mulan and Aurora did too, you don't think they're having sex right?"
The two automatically glanced at the warrior and the sleeping beauty, who walked together, talking quietly. Were they..? Emma didn't finish her thought.
"No, no, It's just…Regina"
Emma sighed, then she grabbed her mother's hand,
"Mom," She said, to drive the point home, "I can't stand Regina, she's done awful things to me, but I was freezing last night"
Snow nodded, relief evident in her eyes, as she walked away Emma thought back to the night before. She hadn't really been disgusted by Regina's decision to sleep next to her, but that was because she'd been half-asleep and freezing cold, and Regina had been oh-so warm. She turned to look at the woman in question, her eyes following her as she made her way over some boulders, she should hate that woman. She did hate that woman. The woman who tried to convince her son that he was mad. The woman who used Graham. Who tried to kill her mother, several times. Who tried to put her under a sleeping spell. The list was endless. Emma felt her heart harden as the fleeting memory of the soft scent of Regina's hair was banished from her mind.
Thank you everyone for the lovely comments on this fic! I hope you like this chapter and we're about to get into the heat of the action soon! Also I have other stories on AO3 under the same name if you're interested, I can't post them to FFNet because they're a bit darker!