I don't own these characters.

19: Heaven

The entire Swan-Mills family had never been so happy to come home. It felt like burdens had been lifted as soon as they entered the house. They had pizza for dinner and just hung out on the couch. Lucia did not remember much of what happened, but refused to be away from either of her mothers. Henry stuck close to Emma, wanting to make sure she was okay and also wanting to make sure she took it easy, but he did not really talk about anything. Regina could not help looking at Neal with sorrowful eyes.

"You want to tell me what happened?" Neal asked as the kids nodded off. Henry never could stay up late, even as he got older. He was a morning person through and through.

"The Blue Fairy… I just keep thinking about how she was using you to rid our realm of the Dark One and it just upsets me more and more. You were nothing but a pawn to her," Regina said. Blue definitely was "the ends justify the means" type of person. It explained why she was so interested in Snow, who also seemed to think that just because she was doing it that made it right.

Neal yawned and stretched. "I suspected that after a while, but always dismissed because she's the Blue Fairy, you know? But, apparently, that just means she's a bitch."

"Amen to that," Emma muttered.

Regina glanced at Emma, who was cuddled up to her right side with Lucia lying across both of them. The color had not returned to her face just yet, but she stopped sweating by the time they had gotten to the airport in Massachusetts. She had been refusing painkillers, insisting she felt better. Regina would not force her to take any.

"Uh… what did you do to her anyway?" Emma asked, eyes drifting to Regina. She was clearly tired, but fighting sleep for the moment.

"Do to who?" Neal asked.

"The Blue Fairy. Before she rushed us outta there, Regina, you did something to her. I know it," Emma said.

Regina shrugged. "I bound her magic as best I could. She might be able to cast small spells, but nothing grand ever again and every time she tries, she'll feel my touch of darkness in her. The pain… well, let's just say I will taste her screams." A wicked smile curled onto her face.

Neal's and Emma's faces scrunched up. "You bound her magic? How? You haven't practiced magic in three years and you can just do that?" Emma could hardly believe it.

"I'm not out of practice and I'm quite knowledgeable now, more so than I ever was in Storybrooke or the Enchanted Forest. This is why it was so easy for me to come up with a solution for the well and determine it was Rumple who tampered with the damn thing in the first place," Regina replied.

Neal scowled. "What the hell do you think he was trying to do?"

"Probably draw magic from the well and try to use it to leave the town with magic," Regina said.

Neal shook his head. "He'll never want to give up that power."

"No. Hopefully, Snow and her shepherd discovered him before he figured out the town line was no longer cursed. I don't want that man showing up on our doorstep again," Regina said.

"That makes two of us," Neal agreed.

"Don't worry. If he does, I'm arresting his ass for trespassing and harassment," Emma declared.

Regina smiled. "Ever the white knight."

"Why white? Why not red knight?" Emma pondered. Regina and Neal both smiled. Emma was so gone.

"I'm going to change the dressing on your wound after I put Lucia in bed," Regina said, running her hand through Emma's hair. Tomorrow, she would pamper the hell out of her wife, starting with her favorite breakfast foods.

"Our bed, please," Emma requested, glancing down at their baby girl.

Regina smiled. "Of course."

"I'll get Henry up to his room," Neal offered. He was the only one who could move Henry and it would be a struggle for him.

"You staying?" Emma asked.

"Yeah, I think I will." This was not a surprise.

Regina grabbed Lucia while Emma slowly rose to her feet, following Regina up to their bedroom. She put Lucia down in their bed and then turned her attention to Emma, who pulled her shirt off. The gauze taped to her side was hardly red and the wound in her side looked like was old, somewhat bruised and yellowish, even though she had just gotten it that afternoon. There were some dark blue lines going through it, though, signs of Blue's magic. Blue had infected Emma, trying to end the Savior over who had rights to Lucia.

"Sorry I couldn't heal this better," Regina apologized as she went to their bathroom, needing medical supplies.

Emma scoffed as she slumped over a little. "You healed it. I'm the one who just wanted to get the hell outta there and rushed you through it." She wiggled, undoubtedly trying to get comfortable, even though the wound pained her. A tight grimace ripped through her face, but she did not make a sound over the agony.

"I don't blame you," Regina replied as she returned to the bedroom. She had not been dying to stay there either.

Emma groaned as she finally found a position she liked, slumped over the edge of the bed. "Do you ever wonder what went wrong with those people?"

Regina shook her head and went to work on Emma's side, wanting to put antiseptic on it despite it being scabbed over. She would wait until tomorrow to see what it looked like to decide if she wanted to chance using magic on it. "No, they don't generally enter my mind anymore and back when I had to see them, I thought about them in terms of being gnats, little pests, creatures to be destroyed when they annoyed me. I can only assume they don't like exercising free will. Whatever the case, we don't have to worry about them anymore."

Emma nodded. "Never again."

"Agreed." Storybrooke would have to learn to fix its own damn problems.

Regina quickly finished with the bandage. She probably would not have to change it again. She would keep checking on it, though. Emma eased back into her shirt. Regina leaned down to give Emma a little peck on the lips.

"All better?" Regina inquired.

Emma wiggled a bit, wincing as she moved. "It hurts a bit, but it's nothing too bad. Nothing some homemade donut holes couldn't cure." She flashed a hopeful, charming smile.

Regina chuckled. "Of course." She would make some tomorrow.

"You know the donuts are the reason I work with you, right?" Emma teased, showing she would definitely be all right.

"Yes, I'm sure the donuts are the only reason," Regina replied drolly.

They crawled into bed, both moving close to Lucia, even though they knew she would end up across both of them. Toddlers slept like madmen, but this bed had never felt so good. Lucia could sleep as twisted as she wanted.

"Do you think my parents will actually make their way back here?" Emma asked as Regina reached across Lucia to rest her hand on Emma's thigh. They both leaned in and kissed Lucia before settling back on their pillows.

"I'm not sure." Regina was not sure what Snow and David would do. These were the same people who did not want to discuss anything with Emma and shocked her with news of a sibling without even having a talk with her about her own childhood or about them leaving her. Regina did not doubt that Snow and David loved Emma, but they did not seem to know how to be parents to her. Making it worse, they did not seem interested in trying to figure it out.

Emma's hand found Regina's arm and Emma sighed. "You know what? Out of all of this, I'm happy I grew up here."

This did not surprise Regina. "Because of microwavable nachos?" she teased.

Emma laughed. "Those are definitely a good reason, but I just feel like I have a better moral guide than a lot of you guys and I grew up without parents."

Regina rolled her eyes. "In my defense, my mother was crazy, missing a heart, and murdered someone in front of me. Let's not even discuss the fact that she was conned by a sociopath into having me for his own nefarious gain." She was fairly certain in any world, she would have been a mess.

"Yeah, but does everyone have that excuse? And even if they do, why do they all have that excuse? If not that one, what excuse do they have? It's crazy for everyone to have an excuse. I'm just happy that didn't happen to me. Don't get me wrong, a lot of foul shit did happen to me, but I made it out okay and I think I'm finally okay with that."

"We are who we are because of past circumstances."

Emma took Regina's hand into her own and squeezed it tight. "Yeah. I hope we can make those circumstances good for Luce and Henry."

"We will." Three years out of Storybrooke and Henry was blossoming. They could not be more proud of him. Lucia would hopefully be the same.

"I love you and our family."

Regina smiled. "I love you as well and our family. Now, you should get some sleep. You're still hurt."

Emma nodded. Regina carefully sat up, not wanting to wake up Lucia. She placed a soft kiss to Emma's lips. Emma kissed her back and they settled down for the night.

Regina did not fall asleep immediately, despite how comfortable the bed was. She just watched Lucia, as did Emma. It was not clear how much time went by, but their door creaked open. Henry poked his head in.

"Moms?" Henry called.

"Come in, sweetheart." Regina waved him in.

Henry practically jumped into the room, closing the door behind him. For the night, they all forgot he was a teenager as he crawled into bed next to Regina. He hugged her and then reached over to mess with Lucia's fingers.

"You okay, buddy?" Emma asked, sitting up just enough to have a clear view of Henry.

"That was scary. I thought I was gonna lose all of you," Henry admitted in a low voice.

"It'll take a lot more than that to get rid of us," Regina said.

"Yeah, we still have to embarrass you for prom, after all," Emma remarked.

Henry chuckled a bit. "I already know Mom's going to flip that she's not a princess and you're going to flip no matter what."

"I will have you know I wasn't always a princess," Regina said.

"Yeah, but being royal might as well be sown into your skin now," Henry replied.

"He's right. I've seen you do some pretty regular things in a regal manner," Emma added.

Regina scoffed. "Is there anything you want to talk about Henry?"

"No, I'm just trying to process this whole thing. I mean, I already knew the Blue Fairy was sketchy thanks to Dad and, plus, she never helped you, but I didn't think she did stuff like this. It never even occurred to me that changelings could be real, but for her to target Luce just because she's yours…" Henry shook his head. "And then the townspeople actually shooting at you guys for trying to rescue Luce…" He blew out a long breath and rubbed his forehead.

"Well, you know everyone in town isn't like that, Henry. There's some good people in Storybrooke," Emma pointed out. This was true.

Henry nodded. "Not enough." He looked down at his sister. "I know she doesn't really remember anything, but do you think she'll be okay?"

"She's fine," Regina assured Henry. Lucia was strong, apparently. Hopefully, the pixie dust had not done anything to her that they had failed to notice.

"I'm glad. I've never felt so mad while watching them shot at you while you were trying to just get Luce back. I wondered if that's how you used to feel all the time, Mom. I mean, I felt like I could've killed them," Henry confessed.

Regina turned and ran her hand through his hair. "You don't have to think like that anymore, Henry. It's done and over. Not to mention, we're not going back there. You don't have to worry about them." She hated that they made her little prince feel that way, though. He did not need that on his soul.

Henry nodded. "Yeah. I didn't expect the town to be so… crazy."

"It's not everyone," Emma reminded him.

Henry nodded again. He stuck around for about an hour, watching them, being watched. Without a verbal goodnight, he kissed them both on the cheek and went back to his room. Hopefully, he was all right, but it was good to know he would come to them if he needed to talk.

"We're doing okay, huh?" Emma said.

Regina reached out for her wife. "Despite it all, yes, we're doing okay." And this was true. With this thought, she was able to sleep, after Emma drifted off anyway.

-8-8-8-8-

After a week, things seemed to be back to normal. It was Emma's day off and she was in the den with Lucia, playing with her blocks. The doorbell rang. Emma gave Lucia a strange look.

"You expecting someone, kiddo?" It was noon, so everyone else was at work or school. Maybe it was a package.

Lucia giggled. "Mama!"

"I don't think that's Mama."

Lucia's face scrunched up in thought. "Hen?"

"I doubt it's Hen either. Let's go check it out."

Lucia nodded with excitement. They made their way to the door and there stood Ruby, in all of her glory. Emma let loose a squeal that made Lucia jump while Ruby grabbed her into a hug. Okay, so maybe she and Regina had broken the Curse completely.

"What are you doing here?" Emma asked, pulling her friend into the house.

"Trying to build a life outside of Storybrooke. I've come to learn from the masters, if you don't mind," Ruby replied.

Emma laughed. "I don't mind. I'm sure Regina won't mind either and Henry, of course, will love to see you again."

"He just wants to interview me more." Ruby turned her attention down to Lucia. "Hey, Luce, you remember me?"

Lucia nodded. "Ruby. Fun stories."

"That's right! Can I get a hug?"

Lucia wasted no time in doing such. Emma gave Ruby the grand tour. Ruby was obviously impressed with the place, but Emma was not surprised. Ruby had not seen much in the way of housing in this realm. Well, and the house was freaking awesome.

"You're doing mighty well for yourself, Emma," Ruby said as they settled in the living room.

Emma placed Lucia on the red and white carpet to let her play with her toys. "Well, it's a team effort."

Ruby nodded. "You got a good team."

"I know. You know you're part of that team, right?"

Ruby grinned. "Wouldn't be here if I didn't. It's all right that I'm here, right?"

"Of course, Rubes. Granny was okay with you leaving?"

Ruby nodded. "The plan is for me to get settled and she's going to join me. She's trying to sell the diner and the B and B. She's also going to try to talk Tinker Bell into coming since she's already over most of the town anyway."

"I doubt Tink will need much convincing."

Ruby shook her head. "Probably not. She's been trying to explain to people that the Blue Fairy wasn't a freaking god with the way they worship her and what Regina did to her was something she deserves."

"You've seen the Blue Fairy?"

Ruby shrugged. "People went to see her, trying to help her. Tinker Bell couldn't believe people would do that after actually seeing her kidnap a child and finally being confronted with the fact that there had been a couple of missing kids in Storybrooke." Shaking her head, she sighed. "People are stupid."

"Yeah, but you don't have to deal with them and Tink doesn't anymore either. Like I said, it won't take much to convince her."

"I had hoped Belle wouldn't need much either, but she's going to stick it out since she's married to fucking Gold. I still don't understand that one."

Emma snorted. "That makes two of us. I mean, I know I'm all married to the Evil Queen and whatnot, but Regina's even said that felt like a lifetime ago. I know she's changed while Belle knows Gold is still slime. What happened with him, anyway?"

"We managed to catch him before he went over the town line and last I checked he was in jail with squid ink keeping him in. Snow and David are trying to get him to confess to messing with the well, but he's denying it. I'm hoping this will be the thing to get Belle to see the light and understand he'll always be a selfish prick."

Emma nodded. She knew there was something there between Ruby and Belle, but she did not want to ask about it right now. It might just hurt Ruby. It was nice to know her parents caught Gold before he got away, though. He almost destroyed the town and for what?

"Anyway, are other people leaving?" Emma asked.

With a smile, Ruby nodded. "Yeah, there's a few people planning to follow me and Granny outta there. Storybrooke… it's not home and we definitely weren't happy with the way you got treated when you were in town. Something happened to those people and we just don't want to be around them anymore."

"What about Mary Margaret and David?" Emma did not want to call them her parents, even though she wanted to try to build a relationship with them. They had called the day after the Swan-Mills family got home, so that was a good thing.

"They're trying to hold it together, but…" Ruby shook her head. "I think this thing opened their eyes to a lot of stuff they'd been able to ignore before, especially with the Blue Fairy. Her trying to justify taking your kid… well, it was hard for them to work that out. It's hard for them to hear people defending her."

"Good. They shouldn't be able to work something like that out and they should hate that someone could defend what she did."

"Yeah, and to be honest, I've been wondering about a couple of the missing children's cases in Storybrooke. Was someone letting the fairies steal kids to be changelings? We lost a few fairies to Pestilence and fairies don't grow on trees. It's one thing to not think about it in the Enchanted Forest because the place is huge and everything, but Storybrooke is a few thousand people. Those kids… a bunch of people knew them and they're acting like it's okay if it was the fairies who took them."

Emma shook her head. "Ruby, don't think about it. You're free. It's a great place to be. We'll work on getting you settled. Me, Regina, and Henry."

With a smile, Ruby nodded. "You're a good friend."

Emma shrugged. "To a select few."

A few hours later when Henry came in, he was surprised and pleased to see Ruby. Regina seemed less surprised when she came in. She agreed to allow Ruby to stay at the house until Ruby got on her feet. Ruby did not need as much as they had had needed at first. The way the Curse broke, Storybrooke was now a real place and everyone's papers were real, too. Ruby just wanted to get out of there, so she needed a home and job. They helped her find those things nearby. Eventually, Granny joined her, as promised and it never occurred to Ruby that living with her grandmother could be remotely uncool.

Tinker Bell also left with Granny. She needed a little more help than Ruby and Granny, as she did not have any papers and, unfortunately, no practice in being in this world. But, they all helped her out. She seemed relieved to be away from the Blue Fairy and magic. She, Ruby, and Granny were welcome at the Swan-Mills residence whenever they wanted to stop by.

Slowly, but surely other people leaving Storybrooke contacted them. Most were not bold enough to show up at their door, but they got several phone calls. Neither of them minded. It would be almost two months before Emma heard from her parents again, though.

The first few phone calls from her parents were awkward, after the one checking up on her anyway. They were silent, not knowing what to talk to her about. At first, they filled her in on Gold and the Blue Fairy. Gold remained locked away, still refusing to admit to doing anything to the well. Blue, though, had confessed to letting Gold toy with the well, claiming she hoped to open a portal to return to the Enchanted Forest. Margaret and David did not believe her. They suspected Blue made a deal with Gold to leave town and be rid of him while also hoping he had enough power to eliminate Regina, who she continued to insist was a far greater evil. Emma rolled her eyes.

After that, Mary Margaret always inevitably told her about Leopold and his development. Emma did not mind. It was hard to think of him as a brother from meeting him just once and having this rift between their parents, but she did not mind Leopold. Besides, she had kids of her own to go on about. Mary Margaret and David listened to her boast about Henry and Lucia and even asked questions of their own. Sometimes, they spoke to Henry and even tried to speak with Lucia, but it was impossible to have a phone conversation with a toddler.

Eventually, though, Mary Margaret and David turned up. They started small. They came for weekends, always making sure to stay at a hotel. Then, they started popping up for holidays. Leopold ended up very attached to Regina, who called him "Leo," never Leopold. Emma knew why and did the same. Leo and Luce ended up good friends and became known as a dynamic duo around their little slice of suburbia.

-8-8-8-8-

It had been fifteen years since they last saved Storybrooke and they had lived up to their vow to never return. Lucia was now sixteen and Regina took her to get her first tattoo. Lucia had not shown any signs of magic, not even when she was highly emotional, but Regina would rather be on the safe side. Emma decided to tag along as well.

Over the years, they had explained many things to Lucia, from her birth to her close call with magic. Lucia did not remember any of this, but she did have nightmares of the Blue Fairy even now. Beyond that, she thought it was cool that her mothers would let her have a tattoo, even if she did not get to pick it out exactly. Regina had given her a list of symbols to choose from.

She understood why she would get the tattoo. Talks about magic had been going on around her for as long as she could remember thanks to her grandparents and Leo, who still lived in Storybrooke. Lucia expressed some curiosity recently, wanting to go visit Leo. They would wait and see about that. For now, they needed to make sure Lucia did not accidentally steal someone's energy or blow something up when she got angry or turn into a full fledge demon.

"Leo will be super jealous," Lucia snickered, looking at her wrist as the tattoo artist finished up. She took the needle like a champ, which made Emma smile proudly.

Regina had all of her tattoos restored after they burned off during that horrible day in Storybrooke. She had not felt the pull of her magic, the demonic magic, or even True Love magic since that day, but it was best to be safe. Sometimes, she was certain she burned herself out, but it did not matter. She did not doubt she and Emma still had true love, but they did not need it reaffirmed every three seconds like certain couples in the Enchanted Forest. They lived like everyone else in this realm, they had faith in each other and in their relationship.

"It's looking good," Emma commented, her face rather close to the tattoo needle. She glanced up and winked at their daughter.

"I've done enough of Regina's tats for you to know my work is always excellent," the artist replied.

Emma glanced at the artist and smirked. "Your modesty could use some work, though."

The artist scoffed. "You're the last person to talk about modesty. I'd say some things, but your daughter is here."

"Thank you for not sharing." Lucia laughed a little and then stopped, fearing her tattoo would get messed up.

As soon as the tattoo was done, Lucia was on the phone, calling her brother. Henry lived in LA with his girlfriend. He was there for work. He had become a best-selling author with his "Alternative Fairy Tales" series. Basically, the stories he had been writing — biographies for citizens of the Enchanted Forest — were now novels and people loved them. He did not publish any stories unless he had the permission of the people from the Enchanted Forest. So far, he had six novels out, Snow White, The Evil Queen, Peter Pan, Rumpelstiltskin, The Prince and the Pauper, and Red Riding Hood. Each book told the individual stories of the titled characters, although Peter Pan was more about him and his dad than Peter Pan. He was now working on connecting all of those tales, just as they had connected in real life. A movie studio wanted to talk about a movies series.

Henry indulged Lucia as she bragged about her tattoo and how she had not flinched while getting it. This was important because when Henry got his first tattoo, he complained about the pain for a week. The parents could practically hear Henry rolling his eyes.

"He thinks he's so cool because he has more than one tattoo now," Lucia said, giving her mothers a sneer that was meant for her brother.

"Well, he's got a few years on you, Luce," Emma pointed out. "Let's go get some lunch for the tough girl." There were a few places to eat within walking distance.

Regina agreed with that and Lucia practically chirped at the idea. She had inherited Emma's appetite, and also her sweet tooth. Unlike Emma, Lucia liked to bake, so she could make her own sweets. But, Emma did not need to know how to bake as she had a wife and daughter who both loved to do it.

"Oh, can we go show Uncle Neal after?" Lucia inquired.

"If he's home, of course," Regina replied.

Lucia grinned. "He'll flip."

Regina smiled, but she doubted it. Neal wanted her to get Lucia a tattoo sooner than she did. She and Emma did not see the point of it, though, and he conceded they were the parents. This was their main job. It did not involve magic, curses — unless they were coming from Emma over a boy daring to court their baby girl — or anything truly deadly.

What it did involve was freaking out over Lucia wearing makeup, making sure her grades stayed perfect as she had dreams of going to Stanford, freaking out when she was out beyond her curfew, and telling her that debating with her uncle did not count as practice for the debate team. Lucia was not a difficult child by far, even now as a teenager.

For them, it was more difficult about the people their daughter attracted. Lucia was gorgeous and intelligent, which Emma liked to say she got from Regina. She was also street smart and witty, which she inherited from Emma. People flocked to her. Sometimes, it was the wrong type of people, but Lucia generally hung out with good kids with her mothers rarely having to express concerns.

"Thanks, Mom." Lucia leaned over and kissed Regina's cheek. "And, thanks, Ma." She kissed Emma next. No, not a difficult child at all.

Lucia moved ahead of them, giving them the illusion of privacy. Regina and Emma put their arms around each other's waists and smiled at each other. Emma pulled her close. Rumple had been right about one thing. Regina's happy ending could not have possibly been in the Enchanted Forest because it was right here.

"Can we get ice cream after lunch?" Lucia asked with a beaming grin, interrupting her mother's thoughts.

"Uh, I think it would be weirder for us to not get ice cream! How is that even a question?" Emma laughed.

Regina shook her head. "What am I going to do with you?"

"You've been asking this question for twenty years. Let it go," Emma replied with a grin of her own. Lucia grinned with her and it was hard to believe they were not blood related. But, Lucia was Emma's daughter through and through. Yes, this was a very happy ending.

The End.

-8-8-8-8-

Thank you for sticking around for another tale from this Lunatic. I'm going to return to my padded cell, but I will be back. I hope you return when I do. And, if you would, please, maybe check out my books under the name S.L Kassidy over at Amazon. There are links on my profile. Thank you again. I appreciate all of the support.