15You know, I don't think I've ever seen such an incredible amount of people upset at how a story was ended since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows came out.
You guys really didn't like the preview for this story, and to be honest, it surprised me?
On one hand, I feel like a lot of people just wanted the story to end with a Happily Ever After, and sure, I can see the appeal.
But I also wanted to get this story to its sequel, and figured the best way for it was to commit to it via a preview.
Anyway! I figure I'll try to end this drama once and for all by getting this sequel started so I can hopefully minimize the amount of digital glares I get. I also deleted that section from the original fic so people can just not have to deal with that if they don't want to.
Everyone knows the first part, but I'm still including it here.
Enjoy? I hope?
And this first chapter is dedicated to Jo for their support.
"You know what I'd much rather do?" Emma said, pulling Regina closer to her.
Regina bit her lip and responded, "What?"
"Stay home with you and cuddle up to watch a movie while my parents take Henry for the rest of the day."
"Well we can always do that after we finish," Regina said.
"Perfect. It's a date," Emma grinned.
And Regina couldn't help but smile back. It was like everything was coming together.
Little did they know, that date would never happen.
"It's been a month. I can't bear to keep seeing her like this." Mary Margaret looked over to the corner booth at Granny's, where Emma was looking down her shot glass as if it held some divine answer for her.
David sighed. "Me neither, but at the same time, a broken heart takes a while to mend."
Mary Margaret huffed. "Her heart was stomped on, David! You saw that video. We all saw the video. Regina was using Emma."
"Hell, even I was shocked," Ruby commented, sidling up to them from the other side of the counter. "I fully believed Regina cared for Emma."
"And instead," David began, before holding up that morning's edition of the Mirror. "We get this."
The headline blared: Queens of Darkness ready to take over Storybrooke in new election?
"I mean really," David continued. "Because Queens of Darkness doesn't sound ominous at all. Is Regina even trying to get re-elected?"
But Mary Margaret wasn't too interested in the new political party Regina and her new friends from the Enchanted Forest had created. What bothered her was her daughter's heartbreak.
She sighed and walked over to her daughter. "Hey honey, can I join you?"
"Mom," Emma slurred, smiling at her, looking quite inebriated for 3 in the afternoon. "Sure, pull up a chair."
Mary Margaret looked at the empty banquette across from Emma, and figured that she could just sit there. "Emma, we're worried about you."
"I'm fine," Emma said, going back to looking at her glass.
"No honey, you're not fine. We know that Regina broke your heart. I mean, seeing that video made me upset, I can't imagine how it must've made you feel. And with Regina then leaving you and going back to her house without so much as a thank you...but you have to be strong."
Emma scoffed. "Strong? I'm weak mom. I fell like an idiot for the one person who would never love me back."
Mary Margaret tried to not focus too much on the fact Emma kept calling her mom. "I know Emma, but what about Henry? He needs you."
"Henry'll be fine. He always is." Emma sullenly looked at her glass and twirled it around in her fingers. "I mean, Regina still cares about him."
Suddenly, an envelope appeared in the middle of the table. Mary Margaret gave a surprised yelp that immediately had David rushing to her side, but Emma was far too drunk to really register surprise, and just picked up the envelope. It was blank, and Emma opened it to find a card, with a simple message written in a beautiful calligraphic script that, as far as anyone knew, had her smiling for the first time in weeks:
Call it magic, call it true
Ruby had also shown up, and she plucked the card from Emma's grip, and groaned. "Another one?"
"Another one what?" Mary Margaret asked, scrambling out of her seat to look at the card. "I don't get it...what does it mean?"
"It means there's a new Serenader," Ruby said. "And they're going for Emma now."
"Serenade- I thought Emma was the Serenader?" David's brows kept getting more furrowed. That secret had become public knowledge when the video had come out, which hadn't helped Emma's image, nor her credibility.
"Yeah, but apparently yesterday Emma got a letter left at her door that basically told her that it was now her turn to be serenaded," Ruby began to explain.
"You know," Emma piped up, still very much inebriated, sitting up straight and fishing for something in her jacket pocket. "I'm right here. And I've got the letter right here too."
Mary Margaret took the folded paper in her daughter's hand and opened it up to read.
Dear Emma,
I know your heart is hurting, but please know that I think you deserve the world. Which is why I have decided to take the mantle of the Serenader to show you that you are loved. Alas I am not sure I will be able to match your dedication, but I will strive for it, because you are worth it.
Yours,
The Serenader II
"Eloquent," was all Mary Margaret was capable of saying. She honestly didn't know what to make of it. The last time the town had a Serenader it hadn't ended well for the town.
"Yeah," Emma hummed and snatched the letter back up and stuffed it once more into her jacket. "Well, I think I'll be off..."
Mary Margaret, David, and Ruby watched as Emma tried to stand up, until the latter took pity on her and rushed to help.
Leaning heavily on Ruby, Emma said, bleary eyes unfocused, "I'll see you around."
As the Charmings watched their daughter leave, they turned to each other. The past month hadn't been easy for them, between watching their daughter drink herself to misery, plus their various disagreements on how to handle the situation hadn't made things easy.
It had taken a lot of convincing to get David to not go after Regina, but between the fact that it wouldn't be well-seen to take out the town's Mayor, Regina did have her very powerful cronies at her side, any attempts would surely end very badly for him.
Mary Margaret just wanted to talk things out. She was even willing to talk to Regina. She had seen how Regina had been with Emma, while Emma was in the hospital recovering. That one week was when Mary Margaret truly saw the love that existed between them, and she knew that Regina wasn't that good of an actress. She was too emotional for it, despite pretending otherwise. There was something deeper going on.
Unbeknownst to her, Mary Margaret was correct.
Once the door to Emma's apartment closed, it was as if Emma was magically sober again.
"I get keeping up appearances," Ruby began, crossing her arms in front of her, "but your liver isn't going to be too happy with this act."
"My thoughts exactly," a voice spoke from the shadows. Regina.
Emma grinned and looked between Ruby and what she could see of Regina. "Come on guys, do you actually think I would be drinking myself to a coma like that?"
Ruby gave a non-committal hum, "Wouldn't be the strangest idea you've pitched."
Emma sent a glare Ruby's way while Regina let out a snort.
"She does have a point you know?" Regina added, stifling a tiny laugh behind her hand as she stepped out of the shadows.
"Seriously?" Emma rounded off on Regina, getting the latter to smile ruefully at her. And as soon as Emma and Regina's eyes locked, it was as if the entire room disappeared, and they only had eyes for the other.
Ruby shook her head playfully, noting that it was probably her time to leave. "Alright you lovebirds, I should leave you to it before Granny has my head."
"Thanks Ruby," Emma distractedly said, stepping closer to Regina.
"Hi," Emma said, pulling Regina closer to her by her waist.
"Hey," Regina responded, wrapping her arms around Emma's neck. "Did you get my messages?"
"I did, but you know you don't have to do this, right?"
"I know, but I want to. Between keeping up appearances with my new friends and my mother, I need this to distract myself." Truth be told, Regina was also tired of hearing the whispers of pity that Emma had been so naive to fall for Regina. In Regina's opinion, Emma deserved the world.
"Right, the so-called Queens of Darkness, how is that going?" Emma asked, grimacing. They had started to slowly dance in each other's arms, but neither was paying too much attention, rather they just continued to move in small circles, missing each other's presence.
Regina huffed. "Slowly. I want to know what their plan is, but so far I've got nothing."
"You'll get it, and then we will finally be able to put this behind us and finally have our happy ending," Emma said with a confident grin.
"I would like that very much," Regina breathed, surging forward to kiss Emma deeply.
See? I wouldn't put Emma and Regina through that again. Otherwise there would've been no point to the first story, but I digress.
It was mostly for me to have that rectified, as I will admit that it's been a major block for me to continue my other stories until this was somewhat resolved.
Now, I'll try to update Rarest of Christmas Miracles and get that finished and then I'll get the finishing chapters for Flirting with Death, as well as some Supercorp fics.
I'd love to hear your thoughts!