97Sooo, over a year later and I'm updating.
I know, I know, why did it take so long? Mainly there was one review in the previous chapter that really didn't stick well with me so it took me a while to want to return to this.
Despite the long wait, I hope it's nonetheless enjoyable, and sorry for the delay!
"Yes," Emma said with a shaky nod.
Regina could hardly believe her ears. "'Yes'?" she repeated.
Emma let out a laugh. "Yes, of course I do. You've- You've captured my heart like no one else has Regina. And, and I feel so lucky that you accept and love me for me."
"You sap," Regina laughed. "I'm the one doing the romantic speech here."
Before Emma could come up with a retort, Henry suddenly burst into the room, eyes wide and a wide smile on his face. "Did ma say yes?"
Regina turned around and burst out laughing, nodding.
Emma opened her arms. "Come here you two."
The three of them gathered for a hug, content that things would work out for them.
Emma would finally get to experience what it was to be loved and treated just as Emma, not Death.
Regina finally felt her redemption coming to a head. She had the happy ending she always wanted.
And for Henry, he finally felt that his family was coming together.
But of course, nothing could ever be that easy.
The next day, Emma could just sense that something was different. Regina tried to wave it off, but she could feel it too. As they were walking down Main Street, everyone started crossing to the other side of the road, giving them peculiar looks, and whispering under their breaths.
"She told them," Emma said with a pang. "They know."
Regina didn't have to ask to find out who she was talking about. "What-"
Emma's shoulders slumped as she said, "John Barnable just muttered 'Of course the Evil Queen would align herself with Death.'"
Before Regina could react or even say anything, she felt the air shift. She knew what the shift in air meant: Emma was particularly emotional. As she turned to face her partner, she saw that Emma was heading towards Mary Margaret's apartment. "Emma wait!" she tried to call out.
Emma obviously chose to ignore her and kept on walking, so Regina followed along, catching up once they reached the stairs, reaching out to her to clasp her arm before she could take another step forward. "What are you doing?"
"I need to know why," Emma said, and there was so much hurt in her voice that it broke Regina's heart. Hearing that, she was prepared to wreak havoc on Mary Margaret herself for hurting her fiancée.
And so she let Emma continue up the stairs and patiently stood beside her as Emma banged on the door to Mary Margaret's loft and crossed her arms.
When a sleepy David opened the door and recognized who was in front of him, he immediately backed away, face paling, now wide awake and alert.
"Where is she?" Emma plainly asked, her voice even, not betraying the hurt she felt.
"Why?…You're not getting her!" David exclaimed with a conviction that seemed more bluster than anything.
Regina scoffed, figuring she should step in before either of them wreaked havoc. "Relax Charming, we're here on a peaceful mission."
David let out a mirthless chuckle. "Death and the Evil Queen being peaceful? No way."
Emma huffed, losing her patience, not enjoying his tone or the use of their monikers. "You keep acting that way and you will find out why people fear me."
David crossed his arms and stepped right up in front of Emma. "Is that a threat?"
"David? Who is at the- Oh." Mary Margaret had just approached the door and saw her husband standing toe to toe against Emma. Regina looked torn between smiting David herself, or pulling Emma away.
Emma rounded on Mary Margaret, not moving from her position. "Did you tell the whole town? About who I am?"
Mary Margaret floundered for a second before looking defiantly up at Emma and saying, "I didn't tell anyone. The only person I told was David."
David scoffed, backing away from his impromptu stand-off with Emma before saying, "And anyway, they have a right to know."
"David!" Mary Margaret hissed, reaching out to clasp his arm in an attempt to glare at him.
Regina had had enough. "'A right to know'? You have no right to tell another person's secret."
"She's Death!" David exclaimed, not looking at Mary Margaret. "That's not a secret to be kept. It's a fact to be known!"
Regina saw how that had affected Emma, and the subtle flinch she gave, so Regina stepped close to her fiancée, placing her hand on Emma's back for support, and she muttered, "If you two had a brain between the both of you, you would see that your little misconception isn't doing anyone any favours. Come on Emma, let's go."
Emma followed along in a daze, leaving Mary Margaret and David both stunned.
"I refuse to let you leave."
They were in Regina's office, Emma pacing while the former sat behind her desk.
"You can't do that," Emma mumbled.
Regina sighed, setting down the pen she had been fiddling with. "I know I can't physically stop you. But listen to me Emma, just last night you were ready to set down some roots, marry me. You can't let them destroy that for you."
"I'm not- I'm doing this for you and Henry. I mean, I can't let you guys take the brunt of the whispers and comments and judgement."
"Because people don't have plenty to say of the Evil Queen?" Regina dryly asked.
Emma sighed. "That's not what I meant. Death is who I am, not a past I am trying to leave behind. You're not the Evil Queen anymore, you're trying to get a second chance and I'm just holding you back. "
"No," Regina intoned, leaving no room for interpretation. "You're not doing us any favours. How do you think Henry will feel if you leave? How do you think I'd feel?"
Emma floundered. "I-"
Regina continued. "I can understand what you're feeling, but I can't let you just leave Emma. If you want to take a few days to clear your head, I feel it'd be an excellent idea. But please don't leave."
After a few beats, Emma nodded. "I won't. I'll just wrap things up at the station, we can then meet and deal with your mother and her accomplice, then I'll join my helpers for a few days, let the town calm down."
Regina acquiesced, and they shared a soft kiss before they parted ways.
When Emma reached the station, she was surprised to see Mary Margaret there. Before she could open her mouth, the brunette blurted, "I promise Emma, I didn't tell anyone anything."
That threw Emma in for a loop. She hadn't figured Mary Margaret would be so determined to clear her name. "I know."
"You do?"
"You can't lie to Death," Emma said by way of explaining.
Mary Margaret let out a small exclamation of surprise before shaking her head. "Nonetheless...I am also sorry for David's outburst...he has a particular hatred for all things magic. You see, he's had a more superstitious upbringing-"
"So I'm the epitome of everything he dislikes," Emma finished for her.
"Yes," Mary Margaret nodded. "But don't worry, I'm setting the record straight, you don't deserve his or anyone else's ire." Then she took a deep breath and looked around the room. "So…"
Emma raised an eyebrow as Mary Margaret let the word hang. "Yes?"
"Is the position for a deputy still open?" she asked with a sheepish smile.
Emma couldn't help herself and smiled fondly at the other woman's question. "It is. If you want, you can start filling the form, I have to visit yesterday's duo, and then we can talk."
Emma had visited the underground level of the hospital a few times, and in the past, no one had ever given her any problems as she made her way through the halls. Of course, that was before everyone knew the truth. One thing was to let the Sheriff through, another was to let Death roam the hospital.
As Emma walked now, some of the staff let out little yelps before finding the nearest room to duck into, others stood defiantly in front of their charges as if protecting them. Emma took a deep breath and wished she'd have had the foresight of having turned invisible before coming.
Nonetheless, she persisted, and once she reached her destination she saw Regina already waiting for her. Nurse Ratched didn't even blink or look up, she merely asked, "Rough night?"
"You could say that," Emma wryly responded, sharing a smile with Regina. "Our two newest guests behaved?"
Ratched now looked up, her expression indiscernible as always. "The older lady, Cora, moaned and yelled like a banshee all night long. The other one has remained mute, but she could even give me a run for my money with that glare of hers."
Emma controlled her surprise at the nurse's quip. She honestly hadn't thought the other woman was capable of humour.
"Well, you won't have to deal with them for much longer," Regina responded, heading towards the hallways.
Following her, Emma made her way to Cora's cell. Once she was inside, the older woman finally got a good look at Emma and let out a gasp. "Stay away from me!"
Regina scoffed. "If she had the power to kill you, you'd already be dead."
Cora blinked, registering that information. Then she swallowed and said, "I suppose you've outdone yourself Regina. You got Death as your pet, not an easy feat I'm sure."
"She is no one's pet," Regina uttered.
"And that's not who Regina is anymore," Emma clarified, taking a walk around, noticing how Cora flinched every time she approached her. She decided she would use that to her benefit. "Afraid of finding out what happens should you die?"
Cora scoffed, keeping her eyes on her daughter. "I am not afraid."
Emma let out a mirthless laugh. "Please. Cut the shit Cora. You have killed plenty, you enjoy being on the executioner's side, but you tremble before the thought of having to join those you killed. You cannot lie to me."
That sobered Cora up. "Why are you two here? Do you need me for something?"
"No. Just to tell you that we have made sure you will never find peace." Regina said matter-of-factly.
Cora scoffed. "I will escape." Then she turned to Emma and added, "And then, I don't care who or what you are, I will end you, and with that, I shall become the new Death."
Emma let out a hearty laugh. "Now you're just trying to compensate fear with rage and anger. And I promise you, you won't escape."
"How can you be so sure of that dear?" Cora asked, plastering a calm smile on her face.
"Because you won't remember Storybrooke, or your daughter. You will live the rest of your days in isolation, always missing something, and never knowing what it is. It will drive you insane, and you will suffer for it."
Seeing the fear in her mother's eyes, Regina smirked. "Oh yes, you are about to receive a one-way ticket to the land without magic."
"You won't do that. You're entirely too emotional and soft to do such a thing." Cora countered, her voice trembling ever so slightly.
"Oh not for you, mother," Regina responded.
Emma added, "Plus, she is the one who came up with the idea in the first place."
Cora noticed then that she had no escape via conventional means. "Please, I will do anything," she blurted letting fear seap into her voice.
Regina shook her head. "Oh no, you don't get to sweet talk your way out of this. Emma has already arranged it."
Cora's shoulders sunk. She was out of tricks, and out of words, and now she would get what's coming to her, and she would play along for now, until the opportunity came to escape. If there was one thing Cora knew, was that she always got her way, and that she always won.
When Emma and Regina entered the next room, the glare they got was positively murderous. The woman was sitting on her cot, arms crossed, like she was angry for having been kept waiting.
"Do you think Cora muted her?" Regina asked.
Emma nodded. "I believe so, but for what reason?"
Regina was stumped. "Only way to know is to return her voice."
And so Emma released the other woman from the spell surrounding her.
"Well about bloody time," were the first words out of her mouth. "I swear I thought I was going to have to undo the spell myself and figure out how to escape from this hellhole."
Neither Emma nor Regina were expecting that, and they both faltered.
The woman stood up from her cot. "I am Zelena, the Witch of Oz."
"The Witch, or one of the cardinal witches?" Emma sought to clarify. Regina meanwhile was watching everything mildly confused.
"The one," Zelena responded with a sniff. "The cardinals were...indisposed."
Regina cleared her throat. "And what, pray tell, were you doing with Cora?"
"Why, I was trying to find you," Zelena stated. Then she added, "You're my sister, and from what I understand, you two are in great trouble."
Elsewhere, Gold walked towards the old well, and grabbed a vial from the depths of his jacket. He poured the contents and stood watching, patiently. He had set everything in motion, and no matter what the outcome had come of Cora's visit, Gold had had enough of playing his role. He had his son, now there was nothing holding him back. With the town now knowing of Emma's real identity - courtesy of himself of course - the next phase of his ultimate plan could begin. He would amass all the powers in the known universe.
And then he would truly be unstoppable.
Oooh dun dun duuun.
Gotta love dramatic Zelena. Then again, I feel like that's her default setting.
So, important things are happening, and we only have two more chapters left!
Next up will be A Thief in the Night, and Equals!
Love to know your thoughts!