97Here we go with more from this wacky story with more than 6,700 words! And I made a cover for it so woo!
Plenty of things happening here, so let's get started.
Just reminding that this is a fic surrounding darkish themes, so talks on death will happen.
It was late at night, and Emma was taking a bath. She had just returned from a long trip, and needed to wash herself from all the soot and grime she had acquired.
The house was dark, everyone was asleep, which was why she frowned when she felt a presence enter the bathtub behind her. She was rinsing her hair, so she couldn't turn around right away and look, but when she did, she found Regina standing there, gloriously naked.
"Hey, did I wake you?" Emma asked, running her fingers through her hair as she got the last of the shampoo out, trying not to ogle her girlfriend.
Regina was honest as she replied, "Somewhat. Well, actually I was sleeping quite lightly, hoping to hear you come back."
Emma gave an apologetic smile. "Sorry. For the waking and for the long trip. It was a tough battle."
"That many casualties?" Regina asked, moving closer to Emma.
"Kinda. The terrain in that world made visibility really bad, so you can imagine how that ended."
Flinching in understanding, Regina gave a nod. "But you're back."
Emma grinned. "Of course. I always do."
While that was true, Regina couldn't help but wonder 'what if'. Emma's job wasn't exactly safe, and although she was technically immortal, she still worried. Emma had told her that before Hyperion there was another, Cassandra, but she had been usurped from her position by a spiteful group of mortals that believed their friend had unjustly died; Emma declined to give her details how that had happened, just gave her a general idea. So Regina was somewhat afraid that her lover might be taken from her.
"Hey, what are you thinking about?" Emma asked, closing the gap between that little bit more.
Regina's response was to surge forward and claim Emma's lips with her own, her arms looping around Emma's neck, drawing their bodies flush. They kissed under the shower head languidly. It had been two weeks since they had last seen each other, and the need to feel close to each other was paramount.
They ended up spending quite a while of time under the spray of water, catching up and bathing the other. Emma was appraised with Henry's growth. The nine year-old boy was starting fourth grade in the morning, and he was absolutely ecstatic.
That became apparent when Emma went to wake the young boy up the next morning while Regina prepared breakfast, and found him already awake, preparing his backpack meticulously. "Ma! You're back!"
Emma smiled and went to sit on the edge of the bed, luckily finding a spot that wasn't covered in brand new school supplies. "I am, the trip took a bit longer than I thought, but hopefully now I'll be here for a good long while."
"Good. I missed you." Henry went to give Emma a hug, and Emma wrapped her arms tightly around the young boy's growing frame. She had missed him so much as well. When they parted, Henry returned to getting his stuff ready. "So what was the trip for? More people lost their jobs?"
Henry wasn't aware of Emma's actual job, due to the crazy and dark nature of the profession, but because Emma was unable to lie, they created a fictional job that sounded much like her role as Death that she could vaguely talk about. So they came up with having Emma work as a human resources employee for an out-of-town company, specializing in helping laid off employees transition.
"Essentially," Emma responded with a solemn nod. Technically it was true, the deceased weren't working anymore. "It took a bit longer than I expected, but now I have time off, so you can tell me all about how excited you are for starting the school year."
The enthusiastic rambles ran through Henry's packing, and breakfast. At one point, Regina looked at Emma as if to say 'see? I told you' and Emma just smiled fondly and nodded.
Together the small family walked Henry to school, and the couple watched Henry make his way the rest of the way to the school until he was inside. Once he was gone, Emma held her arm out for Regina to loop her own arm around, and they started to walk to Town Hall.
"So I was thinking about what you told me before I left," Emma began, "about getting a job in town."
Regina turned to look at Emma, intrigued. She had suggested that Emma get a job in Storybrooke, otherwise she would grow bored doing nothing all day. Sure she had enough work as Death that she didn't have to pick a second job, and she did work for enough time that she deserved a break, but Regina had seen Emma getting restless again. When that had happened in the past, Regina had set Emma on organizing the town's paperwork, an extremely dull job that Emma actually seemed to enjoy for some unnatural reason. Then again, considering who she was, unnatural was somewhat relative. But she had suggested to perhaps get something more permanent. "Oh?"
"Yeah, I figure you're right, and I thought about helping Graham. He told me has space on the budget for a deputy, and it seems the most this town gets is a cat stuck in a tree," Emma explained. "So it'd be an easy job to keep me occupied."
That was true enough, Regina had seen the budget space, and Graham had mentioned it the last time he went to drop off paperwork. "Alright then, we'll just do the application for it and then you can be welcomed to the force, Deputy."
Emma grinned smugly at the title. They headed to Regina's office, where Emma got started on the paperwork. After a few minutes of filling in the information, Emma stopped and looked up at Regina. "Uh, question."
Regina looked up from her paperwork with an inquisitive look. "Very well, answer. What is it?"
"What do I put for my last name?" Emma asked.
They had managed to get away for the past nine years without giving Emma a last name. She was always just Emma, she'd never had one, and didn't have the need for it.
"I don't think Mills would fit..."Emma continued.
"No no, it wouldn't make sense unless we were married," Regina shook her head. "But let's consider something that would make sense. Is there a particular name that you like? Or a word, perhaps an animal? It doesn't have to be overly complicated, but you should want it to stick."
Emma thought about it for a while. "How about Swan?"
Swan could definitely work. But Regina was nothing if not curious. "Certainly. What inspired you?"
"I suppose swans are fascinating in their own ways. They are a bit tricky when they die though," Emma commented. Emma didn't elaborate, and instead continued to write on her form. Once she was done, she handed it over to Regina for her to check.
"Very well, Deputy Swan. Everything seems to be in order; I'll let Graham know that you'll be coming by later," Regina said after a few minutes of looking over everything, smiling conspiratorially when Emma winked at her.
In the afternoon, Emma went over to pick Henry up with her newly minted deputy badge clipped to her waistband. Henry, who had come rushing out excitedly, paused with what he was about to say the minute he saw the shiny addition. "Whoa ma, you're a cop?"
"Yep, just started," Emma responded proudly.
"But what about your other job?" came Henry's innocent question.
"Oh this is just so I don't get bored on the downtime." Figuring that she knew why Henry was asking, she added, "Don't worry kid, I'm still going to be around, you know I love you and your mom very much, right?"
Henry nodded, seeming infinitely more reassured via the answer to his silent question.
"So, how was school?" Emma asked as they walked back home.
"It was so cool! We're going to be taking care of birds!" Henry ecstatically said. "Ms. Blanchard is making it part of an experiment. We'll be building them houses and helping to feed them!"
Emma nodded, impressed. It definitely was new, and clearly a surprise. Mary Margaret had mentioned nothing the last time they talked. Then again, she was absolutely smitten with the newly woken David that she talked of little else when they met up.
Henry had continued speaking. "I've already picked mine, he's super colourful, and I've named him Aurelio! He likes the name."
"It's a creative name kid. Do we get to meet the bird?" Emma asked.
"If you guys sign the form then yes! Otherwise we just keep it at school," Henry explained.
"Well I'm all for it, but your mother might not be so easy to sway," Emma said. "Unless we do something to bribe her with?"
Henry grinned up at his other mother, liking the way she thought.
When Regina got back from work, she was almost overwhelmed with the smell of freshly baked cake wafting towards her. As she made her way to the kitchen, she saw Henry and Emma putting the finishing touches on a cake.
"What's the occasion?" Regina asked, startling the two.
"Nothing," Henry said, in a voice that was entirely too innocent to be genuine.
Regina narrowed her eyes and looked to her girlfriend, expecting an answer. "Emma?"
"What can I say, babe, he just got the urge to bake something for you," Emma responded with a dismissive shrug. Henry had been insistent that baking her something was the way to go, so she technically wasn't lying.
Still keeping her eyes narrowed and trained on Henry, Regina moved closer to him. "Very well, what do you want?"
Henry silently huffed, knowing he was caught. He explained about Aurelio, and promised he'd take care of the bird, but could he pretty pretty please keep him at home sometimes? Regina subtly glanced at Emma, seeing what she thought. Emma shrugged as if to say 'why not?'.
"Okay, but he's your responsibility, understood?"
"Yes! Thank you mom!" Henry exclaimed, going to hug her and Emma.
About a year later, Emma was returning from her shift at the station, eager to wind down and spend time with her family. She found Regina sitting outside in the backyard, reading a book.
"Hey you, having a lazy day?" Emma asked, leaning down over the top of the reclining chair to give Regina an upside-down kiss.
"Hmm, well I'm trying to enjoy the last bit of summer," Regina responded with a hum, smiling up at Emma. "How was your day?"
"Pretty uneventful. Archie lost Pongo, so I had to deal with that." Emma then looked around and frowned. "Where's Henry?"
Regina jerked her head towards the house. "He's inside, he's been sort of quiet every since I picked him up from school. I tried to talk to him, but he said everything was fine, despite not sounding like was fine at all, and I didn't want to press too much."
They had told Henry about being adopted last week, and while Henry had taken the news in stride, he still had been a bit sullen ever since then. Both women had wanted to give Henry his space to process it. Although he knew that both Emma and Regina loved him, he had probably been under the impression he was biologically related to at least one of them.
Emma frowned. "I'll try to talk to him, okay?"
"I'll go with you," Regina said, sitting up and heading inside behind Emma.
They found Henry in the living room, poring over a long book on his lap. "Hey kid, how was school?"
"It was alright," Henry glumly said, not looking up from his book.
Emma went to sit beside him on the floor. "Whatcha reading?"
Henry looked up at Emma, seemingly debating something before saying, "Fairy tales."
From a little ways back, Regina was halfway between frowning and panicking. The book Henry had wasn't one that they owned, and it seemed too fancy to be from the library.
"Ms. Blanchard gave it to me, she said she thought it might be an interesting read," Henry said. "And these stories aren't like the Disney versions."
That made Regina panic just a little bit more, and she made her way towards Henry, crouching on his other side. She recognized the scene on the open page. It was her crashing the Charmings' wedding. These weren't just random stories, it was a record of their past lives. What would Mary Margaret be doing with such a book?
"Oh yeah?" Emma was asking, clearly not noticing Regina's inner turmoil or what exactly Henry was holding. "How so? Do thing happen differently?"
"Yeah," Henry nodded, looking between his two moms. "And...they seem real."
Emma finally seemed to connect the dots, and looked up at Regina. "Why do you think so?" she asked, not looking at Henry.
"Because the characters there look like the people in this town!" Henry explained. Then he saw that Emma wasn't looking at him, and then turned to Regina. "Mom? Are these stories true?"
Regina wanted to lie, she wanted to say 'no!' and then steal the book in the dead of night to burn it, afraid of what such a revelation would do to their dynamic. She had done despicable things in the past, things that would terrify young Henry, and she didn't want to lose her son, she couldn't. But then she looked at Emma. Sweet Emma who encouraged her to be honest, that never judged her even at the height of her evil reign, and still loved her unconditionally. Surely Henry would think the same? After all, he had learned from Emma's morals.
"Yes."
Henry didn't look scared at the revelation, in fact, he looked surprised and even a little bit excited. Whether it was because she gave in to something so easily, or because he had just been confirmed to be living in a town full of fairy tales wasn't very clear. "Whoa, so you really were the Evil Queen?"
Regina smiled a bit and sat down, happy to see that Henry didn't flinch away or scuttle from her. "Yes, I was. Although I hope to consider this just a part of my past, it is very much true. But I promise I haven't been that violent and evil for a very long time."
He was absolutely fascinated, and then turned to Emma. "What about you, ma? Were you a fairy tale too?"
Emma chuckled and shook her head. "Not exactly kid. I did meet your mom in the Enchanted Forest, but I'm no fairy tale."
"Then what are you?"
"It's a long and complicated story, one that I will tell you one day when you're older."
"Not now?" Henry asked, pouting a bit.
"Not now. Trust me when I say that you're not ready for it."
Henry tried to work the puppy dog eyes, but Emma would not budge. He was way too young to have to deal with such a heavy topic such as death, no matter how much she hated keeping this from him. But maybe one day he would be ready. She just hoped he would be as understanding as he was with Regina.
Regina decided to veer the conversation back on track. "Henry, I know this is a lot to process, and you must have millions of questions," - Henry nodded, he was chock-full of them - "so we'll give you a few days to figure it all out, and when you're ready, you can just come to us and talk, okay?"
He once again nodded. Truth was, if it wasn't for his mom's uncanny resemblance to the Evil Queen in the story, he never would've guessed they were one and the same. His mother was so kind, it was hard to believe she was the most famous fairy tale villain at one time.
For Henry Mills, his entire life had just been turned upside down. Yes, it's true, he had been a bit down upon finding out that his moms weren't blood-related to him, but he had been getting over it. He knew they loved him very much, they always found time to care for him, let him know he was cared for, and he believed them.
But his teacher for the second year in a row, Ms. Blanchard, had seen him feeling down, and told him that she had a book she figured he would enjoy. She arrived the next day with the book in hand, and told him that fairy tales were full of stories about everything. Found families, beating the odds despite everything, and they all had happy endings.
He had been vicariously reading the book from cover to cover, having finished it earlier that day. That's when he saw it. At first he thought he was crazy, but Ms. Blanchard looked just like Snow White in the book did! Sure it might have been his imagination, but then he started to realize that there were people, people that he didn't remember knowing, also appearing in the book. Even his mom was there!
Despite her past intimidating role and appearance, he figured on asking her for her side of the story. But when he got home and his mom asked him what was wrong, he balked. What if he did the wrong thing by asking? What if she wanted to forget? What if Emma didn't know about it and he brought this up and destroyed everything?
And then when he was once again approached by his parents, he decided to throw caution to the wind. He saw how his mom's expression grew hesitant, but he could never find it in his heart to hate his mom. From what he read, the book was heavily biased, and his mom was not crazy, she was fun and happy and silly, especially with ma around.
What did keep his gears turning was trying to figure out how his ma fit into everything. She knew mom from the Enchanted Forest, but wasn't a fairy tale character herself and clearly had a shady past. What could she possibly be hiding?
He would find out.
Emma heard the door slam shut and looked up from her book. It was her day off and she had been enjoying the calm, until she heard Henry stomp into the house, seeming none too happy. She knew why; she wished she didn't, but she did, and she could only innocently call out, "Hey Henry! How was school?"
Henry came in with a deep scowl and tear tracks on his face, fists clenched as he threw himself at Emma, clutching her tightly. "Henry, what happened?"
"Aurelio's gone," Henry sniffed. "He's dead!"
"I'm so sorry Henry," Emma responded, heart aching as she brought her son even closer. The bird Henry had chosen had apparently been quite old, and he had simply keeled over from his age earlier in the day. She had personally overseen the transition, so she knew Henry would be beaten up over it.
She heard Henry quietly ask, "Why did he have to die?"
"It's a part of life Henry," Emma tersely explained, hating that she had to be talking about this to him. He was far too young, and she wanted to protect him from this.
"I don't like it. Aurelio was my friend!" Henry huffed, breaking from the hug to cross his arms.
"I know, but this isn't something you can control."
"I want him back."
Emma looked apologetic. "You can't Henry, I know you want to, but it's just not possible. But don't worry, he's in good place."
"Where did Aurelio go?" Henry asked.
Stumbling over her words a bit, Emma said, "Well, he uhm, h-he got taken to the place that everyone goes when they... er, die."
"Heaven?"
"Something like that. The point is that Aurelio is being taken care of."
Popular culture meant that Henry had gotten a bit well-versed in what supposedly happened after death, so he turned his pouty frown towards her, eyes determined. "Matt told me that's not what happens."
Emma had to hold back her laughter. "And is Matt an expert?"
Henry nodded seriously. "Yeah, he did a project about it last year. He said that Death, the Grim Reaper, dealt with the dead."
This was getting a little bit too close for personal comfort for Emma, so she just dismissively said, "Well if Matt did research, then I'm not one to argue."
But Henry had kept thinking, and then he brightened. "That's it!"
"What's it?"
"I have to talk to the Grim Reaper! I'll ask him and get him to return Aurelio!"
Emma cringed. "Henry, that's not how it works, you can't get Aurelio back!"
"How do you know?" Henry exclaimed, getting angry.
"I just do, and you can't just talk to Death, it's not like there's a phone number that you can call because you're not meant to be able to get in touch!"
"Well I'll just ask Matt! He probably knows how to summon him, and I'm going to get him back, just you see!" And then, without another word, Henry got up and ran to his room, stomping up and letting the door slam closed.
Emma sunk her head into her hands and let out a groan. She was royally fucked.
When Regina got back home, Emma told her what happened, and after reassuring her girlfriend with a hug and a kiss, Regina went up to talk to Henry, to see if she could diffuse the tension.
Knocking on the door, she heard Henry distractedly mumble, "Come in," before she pushed the door open. Henry was at his computer, probably sending emails back and forth with Matt to get the answers he needed.
"So, you lost Aurelio," Regina began, going to sit by Henry's bed. Henry nodded and she continued, "and you're going to complain to Death about it?"
Henry once more nodded. "He can't take Aurelio away."
It took Regina few seconds to understand who 'he' was in reference to. Of course, in Henry's mind, Death was the Grim Reaper, who was supposedly a man. She tried to tell him that it wasn't good for him to become so determined to get Aurelio back, and that she understood about letting an animal they had formed a bond with go. "There's not a day that goes by and I don't miss Rocinante, but over time you start to heal."
"No, I won't. I don't want to heal, I want him back! Mom, the curse...if it were to break, would magic return?"
Regina was surprised, to say the least, about the turn the conversation took, but she had an inkling she knew where this was going. "I don't know, Henry, I'm not sure what will happen when the curse breaks. But before you ask, even if magic did return, you as a non-magical user wouldn't be able to see Death if he didn't want you to. Not to mention you'd need someone else to die for him to appear."
Unbeknownst to her, Regina had just given Henry quite a lot of information. Her attempt to dissuade Henry from breaking the curse had actually told him a lot more than his research compiled from internet articles and Matt's findings. Clearly, his mom had met Death.
"I'm actually feeling kinda tired mom," Henry said, yawning. "Wake me up for dinner?"
Regina nodded, standing up to allow her son to head to bed. "If you need me for anything, just call, okay?"
With a nod, Henry gave his mom a quick hug before collapsing onto his pillow.
Making her way downstairs, she found Emma pacing in the study. She barely made her way inside before Emma began her barrage of questions. "So? How did it go?"
Regina's face contorted into an unsure expression. "Not as bad as I expected, but he's still hurting."
Emma made a noise with her tongue. "I wish I could reassure him someway, but there's nothing I can do. Not without telling him the truth and scaring him away from me."
"Well we should think of something, he mentioned the possibility of the curse breaking."
This got Emma to stop and look wide-eyed to Regina. They hadn't really spoken all that much of the fairy tale revelation since they admitted to Henry that it was real two days ago. They had decided to let Henry process everything before talking about it again, and he had probably been doing just that before Aurelio died, and now it was all tangling up into a very dangerous web.
A web that snapped the minute that Regina went to wake Henry, and found him gone.
"Where could he be?" Regina asked, trying not to panic, hugging herself.
Emma put a comforting hand on Regina's shoulder, rubbing gently. Then she made her way to Henry's computer, turning the monitor on. In his haste, he had forgotten to close the browser, and both their eyes widened. "A Greyhound to Boston? Why would he go to Boston?"
Regina sucked a breath. "Emma, he's probably trying to find you."
"Find me? What? I'm right here."
"Not you you; Death. I told him that he would only find Death if there was someone dead. He must've had the same idea as I did when I first tried to find you."
"But Henry wouldn't be able to see me without magic," Emma pointed out.
"Yes I told him that, but you know that he will at least try. He's persistent like that. You mustn't waste any time, he'll probably be arriving soon and it's night out."
Emma nodded solemnly. "Don't worry, I'll bring him back."
Regina nodded, "I know you will."
She brought Regina in for a big hug. "We'll be back before you know it, okay?"
After nodding her agreement, Regina felt Emma's lips on hers, reassuring her that everything would be fine. It had to be, she couldn't bear losing her family. A few seconds later, she was alone, Emma used her magic to transport her to Boston, much easier and quicker than driving.
Henry tried to pretend that he knew where he was going and what he was doing. But the truth was, he was lost. How was he supposed to find a dead person? He really should have thought this plan through a bit more. The busy city was teeming with lights and sounds, it disoriented the young boy who was used to calm town streets and lazy residents.
Then, he heard sirens, followed by three police cars zooming by. Grinning, he set off at a run. A few minutes later, his lungs were burning, but he was there. A crowd had gathered around the murder scene, as was wont to happen, while police set up a perimeter, getting people to move back.
When an officer approached Henry, he frowned. "What are you doing out so late by yourself, young man?"
Gaping, Henry tried to come up with an answer, but floundered. He was caught.
"There you are, Henry!" Henry whipped around, eyes wide in surprise as he saw his ma running up to them, blonde hair flying. "I'm so sorry officer, my kid just saw the police cars and started running off, you know how they can get."
The police officer nodded knowingly. "Tell me about it. Anyway, this is no place for a young man to be."
"Oh for sure officer, come on Henry," Emma said, holding her hand out to him.
Henry took the hand, and together they walked away from the scene. Once they were a bit away and in a quieter part of the city, she turned to him, crouching so they were at eye level together, and hugged her to him. "We were so worried, Henry."
He gave in, wrapping his arms tightly around his mom's neck. "I'm sorry mom, I just wanted to get Aurelio back."
"I know you miss him, Henry, but you can't just run away to try and find Death," she responded, breaking away to look at him, checking for injuries.
Looking relatively repentant for his brash decision, he apologized. Then he looked at her curiously. "How did you find me?"
"Using my instincts," Emma airily responded, knowing that she was reaching dangerous waters.
"And how did you get here so fast?" Henry continued. "I just got here."
"I have my methods. Now come on." Perhaps she should have thought about her method of transportation a bit more.
But Henry didn't budge. "I don't believe you."
Emma sighed. "Henry, you know I don't lie."
"Do you know Death too? Is that how you got here so quickly?"
"You could say that..."
"Why are you being so vague?" Henry asked, crossing his arms.
"Because there are some things that you're just not ready for," Emma explained.
"But if you know him, you can ask him if he can make an exception!" Henry excitedly concluded.
Emma sighed. "Henry, enough."
"But-"
"No buts. Aurelio is gone. I know you miss him, but he can't be brought back. As much as you want, Death doesn't have the power to bring him back, she only helps those who died to transition."
"How do you know? You didn't even ask!"
Emma countered, "I didn't have to ask, I know without a doubt that Aurelio can't be brought back."
And then everything became clear. His eyes widened and he took half a step back, mouth opening in shock.
"Henry? What is it?" Emma asked, not noticing her slip-up.
"You're Death," he breathed. "You called Death a her, and you knew mom in the Enchanted Forest even though you're not from there; you said you had a dark background. That's how you know everything about this."
Emma put her hands up placatingly. "Henry-"
"Is it true?" Henry insisted.
"Yes, but please don't freak out."
"Why would I freak out?"
Emma let out a bitter laugh. "Henry, you just found out one of your mothers was the Evil Queen a few days ago, and now you know your other mother is Death. Not exactly a winning combination."
Okay, Henry had to admit it was a bit surreal, and overwhelming.
"Now come on, let's go home. I promise that you won't come to any harm," Emma reassured him, holding her arms out to him.
He accepted the embrace, and Emma looked around her to see if anyone was nearby. Once the coast was clear, she teleported them away and back home.
Regina gasped, getting up from the couch and enveloping both of them in a hug. "I was so worried Henry," she murmured. She hazarded a guess that Henry now knew about Emma's real identity, and she kissed her girlfriend softly, trying to reassure her.
After they broke apart, the three of them sat down, and told him the entire truth. Henry listened raptly as they told him of the first time they met, subsequent visits and keeping each other company. They spoke of their falling out and eventually Regina tracking Emma down on this world.
"Great minds think alike," Regina winked at Henry, who beamed at his mother.
"So, you two are retired?" Henry asked.
Regina made a so-so gesture. "There's not a lot of work here for an Evil Queen, so yes, I did retire the persona."
"But you still hate Ms. Blanchard?"
"Not as much as I did. 28 years plus getting a family of my own somewhat dampens the need to exact revenge. And since your mother has become friends with her, I can't exactly off her, now can I?"
Henry beamed at her, then turned to his other mom. "Ma?"
Emma took a deep breath and smiled. "Well, as you can guess, I don't work in HR for a nameless company. When I go on trips, it's for Death-related matters."
To say Henry was fascinated would be an understatement. "I have the coolest parents ever!"
They chuckled, glad that Henry was taking it in stride. "So you're okay with this?"
"Yeah. It'll take a while getting used to it, but we're family," Henry simply explained, before launching himself between them, letting their arms cocoon him. "I love you guys."
"We love you too Henry," Emma softly said, pressing a kiss to his forehead.
A wave of light pulsed out from them at alarming speeds. A few cars outside had their alarms triggered, but they had only eyes for each other. Henry was the first to speak. "Did we just-"
Emma turned panicked eyes to Regina. "We broke the curse, didn't we?"
Regina nodded slowly, shocked.
"I'm super sorry Regina, I didn't know-" Emma began, before being swiftly cut off by a kiss from Regina.
"It's alright, it was bound to happen. Now we just have to figure out how to survive this."
"Survive what?" Henry asked.
"The town," Regina simply responded. Emma didn't need clarification, she knew just what exactly her girlfriend was expecting to happen.
And sure enough, it didn't even take half an hour for the town to clamour their way into Regina's front yard. Henry was instructed to hide in his room, while Emma and Regina went outside, the first rays of light creeping up.
Regina had at first insisted that she would deal with this by herself, but Emma would not take no as an answer, cutting off all arguments with a swift kiss. "I love you, and I'll protect you tooth and nail, so if you think for a second that I'll leave you alone with them, you're sorely mistaken."
To say Regina had been speechless was an understatement, so she merely nodded. Her reverie was broken as they came outside and the crowd got wilder.
"Off with the Queen!" one voice yelled.
Emma zeroed in on Dr. Whale, letting out a growl. "Silence!"
They immediately shut up, surprised a bit at their Deputy's loud command. She saw Mary Margaret, David, Ruby, Granny, Graham, Mother Superior, and Archie at the front of the mob. "Emma, you can't honestly be supporting-"
"My girlfriend? Yeah I'm supporting her," Emma defiantly said, standing a little ways in front of Regina as a a shield.
"But Emma she's the Evil Queen!" Ruby started. "She cursed all of us!"
The crowd began to get rowdy again, agreeing with Ruby's assessment.
Shaking her head, Emma held her hand up, and everyone stopped. Regina was fascinated with how Emma managed to take control of the situation. "I get it, you all feel robbed and wish you hadn't just woken up after 28 years, feeling absolutely discombobulated at where you found yourselves. But look around you. Look at all the improvements to your lives you've gotten by living in this world. Notice all that Regina has given you."
Everyone was quietly introspecting Emma's words. So, feeling emboldened, Regina spoke up. "I know I don't deserve your forgiveness. I have done a lot of unspeakable things in the past, and I do hope one day you'll forgive me. But like Emma said, look around you. This world is breathtaking, and in no way will I apologize for this. It has given me a family, and everything I could've hoped for, and I hope it has or will do the same for you."
"So while you get your comfy life playing house, we are supposed to keep suffering, is that it?!" Whale spat out.
"We didn't suffer!" Mary Margaret countered, rounding off on the good doctor.
"Mary Margaret's right!" David said, turning to the crowd as he made his way closer to the two women. "As are Emma and Regina. The conditions that led us here aren't ideal, but we can make the best of it. It definitely beats having outhouses and frigid winters without heating and hoping the fire didn't die out. Who's with me?"
The town shouted their agreement, siding with the royal duo.
"You are all insane! Absolutely insane. Have fun sucking up to the royal bitch and her lackey," Whale huffed, walking away, as did a few others, clearly in disagreement of the Charmings' support.
Granny rolled her eyes at Whale's ridiculous antics and said, "Alright folks, free breakfast is on me, so come and get it!"
The rest of the town left, following Granny. The only ones who were left were the Charmings, and the fairy nun. The latter said, "Well, I'd say that was a crisis adverted."
Emma nodded. "Yeah, but I'm keeping an eye on Whale, he seems like a loose screw."
"Indeed," David agreed.
Mary Margaret bit her lip for a moment before she asked, "Emma, I don't recognize you from the Enchanted Forest, who were you in the old lands?"
"Oh, I'm not from there, actually..." Emma mumbled.
"But I can vouch for her," Regina piped up after a moment. She had been quiet up until then, unsure of what to say in front of the Charmings, afraid she would say something wrong.
"As can I," Mother Superior added. She was also one of the few people who also knew who Emma truly was, and they had formed a fairly good camaraderie in the centuries they had known each other.
The Charmings were satisfied with the answer, and they left to go join the town for breakfast, Mother Superior tagging along. Emma and Regina had declined in joining, deciding that they would enjoy their time with Henry and each other.
"Well, that wasn't so bad," Emma said as she took a hold of Regina's hand and they walked inside.
Regina chuckled and nodded. "Thankfully. But I have a feeling this is only the beginning."
About a week later, Graham was sitting in his office, working the graveyard shift by finishing on some reports, when he heard heels making their way to him. He looked up and saw an older lady with brown hair flecked with grey, and a younger woman with auburn hair enter his office.
"Good evening ladies, anything I can do to help?" Graham asked with a tinge of sleep in his voice.
"Why certainly," the brunette responded. "You can tell us all you can about this quaint little town..."
That was chapter 3!
The curse is broken, and Graham is in trouble! Yikes! Pretty sure it's obvious as to who the newcomers are, but take your guesses!
I'd love to know your thoughts on this chapter, and whether you want to see this continued. Meanwhile, I'll be updating A Thief in the Night followed by drabbles, and then Equals!