If I Tremble, an once upon a time fanfic

Author's Note: This story is dedicated to my dearest love. Happy Valentine's Day, my sweet! I hope you enjoy this.

"I know we're sparring partners and all, but if you don't take a chill pill, you're gonna break my collar bone, then pass out from exhaustion," Emma grumbled, pushing her partner away.

"I don't have time to play games, Swan. This isn't a joke to me," Regina shot back, rising to her feet as she pushed off the mat.

"It's not a joke to me either! I just don't want to see you kill yourself – or me – over one match."

"Are you gonna get up and hit me, or just lay there and bitch?"

Scowling at her partner, Emma pushed off the mat herself and stood up abruptly.

"Shut up and hit me, then, wise-ass!" Emma shouted, putting her hands in front of her face and forming them into fists to prepare herself for the shot Regina was undoubtedly going to take.

Emma wasn't wrong. Regina's glove flew directly at her. Regardless of knowing it was coming, Regina's mean right hook caught Emma's jaw and sent her stumbling backwards.

"Pathetic," Regina laughed. "Come on, Swan. That can't be all you've got. Surely, you're not tired already?"

Emma shook her head and advanced without warning, punching twice, once with each fist, missing both shots before landing the third punch against Regina's cheek.

This all would have been fine, except that Regina faltered, moving backwards. Emma could see in an instant that the woman had become dizzy and that she probably had double vision. Realizing that Regina was in no condition to fight, she began to call out her name.

"Regina? Hey… You okay?"

But Regina was doubled over, staring down at the mat, with her hands on her knees, looking as though she might vomit.

"Regina," Emma repeated, approaching her boxing partner.

The brunette's hand reached out and stopped her, though, holding her off, but Regina never looked up to meet Emma's concerned gaze.

"I'm fine," Regina managed to say. "Let's do this."

"Regina," Emma sighed. "We've been at this for hours. The only reason I landed a hit was because you are exhausted, and probably dehydrated. Now, come on. Let's call it a night. Besides, you look like shit."

"Well, thanks, Captain Knows-a-Lot. I really needed to hear that."

"Actually, you did. You're going to beat yourself into the ground and have nothing left for the match if you don't give it a rest."

"How are you still going then?"

"Natural talent, I suppose," Emma replied playfully with a shrug. When she saw the rage in her friend's eyes, she couldn't help but laugh as she explained, "I conserve my energy. Something you need to learn to do. You're a better fighter than me. I just learned to pace myself to improve my stamina."

"Ugh," Regina groaned. "Stop making sense. It doesn't suit you."

"Would it kill ya to be nice to me for once?" Emma laughed, wrapping an arm around Regina's shoulders to steady her as they walked towards the locker room.

"I don't need—" Regina tried, but Emma interrupted her.

"Let me help you, Regina."

Rolling her eyes dramatically, Regina huffed, "Fine. But don't you dare get your sweat on me."

On the night of the long-anticipated match, Emma watched with bated breath as Regina stepped into the ring to face off against her opponent. Each round felt like it lasted hours, and with every swing Regina's opponent took, Emma found her own muscles tensing. Each blow that landed on Regina's face – though there weren't many – caused Emma to flinch.

God, I hope she's gonna be okay, Emma kept thinking, anxiously waiting for each punch.

Regina could hold her own in the ring. There was no doubt about that. But having pushed herself so hard had taken a clear toll on her ability to concentrate and keep up her stamina. By the fourth round, Emma could tell that Regina was nearly spent.

When the next blow came, it was swift and vicious, and Emma's trained eye knew before it even made contact how much it would hurt if it connected.

Standing on her tip-toes, Emma screamed from the side of the ring, "Dodge left!"

Regina could barely hear her over the roaring crowd, and by the time she did realize what Emma had said, it was too late.

As soon the ref called the match in her opponent's favor, since Regina was on the mat and hadn't moved, Emma leapt to her feet and jumped under the ropes to kneel beside her sparring partner. Pulling Regina into her arms and cradling her head gently, Emma watched for signs of consciousness and found none. When Emma saw that Regina's eyes weren't opening, she felt panic strike her and quickly realized just how much she cared for the woman in her arms.

I see the fear in your eyes. I feel the pain in your heart
How can something so well put together be so torn apart?
You are the beauty I want. You are the angel I need
I find the proof of God in every single word that you speak
You smell like girly shampoo. I love when I smell like you
Reminds me why I wake up

Of course, when the EMT hopped into the ring to put Regina on the stretcher and take her to the hospital to be evaluated, Emma insisted on going with her in the ambulance.

At the hospital, after the doctors had run several tests, Emma sat anxiously in the chair beside Regina's bed.

"Is she gonna be okay?" Emma anxiously asked the attending doctor.

"She has a concussion. She needs bedrest for now, and we'll have to monitor her for at least twenty-four hours due to the severity of the impact, but yes… She should be perfectly fine."

Emma felt her head drop into her hands as warm tears of relief filled her eyes.

And if I tremble at the sight of you, it's not because I'm cold
It's because I'm staring at the girl I want to love me when I'm old
I swear with all my heart; every word I write for you is true
And I won't hesitate to give my all for you

Regina came to shortly thereafter and found Emma seated beside her, still bent over with her head in her hands.

"What happened?" Regina asked, voiced straining as her eyes fluttered open.

"Jesus Christ!" Emma cried, startled back into reality by the sound of Regina's voice. "I thought you were out cold."

"Oh, fuck," Regina groaned, reaching up weakly to rub her eyes. "No, no, no, no, no!"

"Regina… Hey… Calm down, okay? It's just one match. There will be—"

"Shut up, Swan! That was my chance! There were professional scouts there! I could have—"

"Regina!" Emma nearly shouted, rising to her feet as she wiped the few remaining tears from her eyes. "Enough. It's one match. Stop being such a fucking pussy about it. You're not superhuman. You don't have superpowers. You will not will every match you ever fight. It's unreasonable. So, get over, it okay? Yeah, I know it sucks, and I am sorry. But it doesn't make you less of a great fighter. It doesn't mean you'll never have the chance again. It just means that next time, you need to fucking take care of yourself, instead of running yourself into the ground until you literally get knocked unconscious."

Stunned into silence by Emma's harsh but caring words, Regina simply stared at Emma as the woman's cheeks turned a noticeable shade of red.

"Were you… Were you crying?" Regina finally asked, suddenly becoming anxious at the thought of Emma's tears.

"Shut up," Emma snapped. "I don't cry."

Hearing just how quickly and defensively Emma had responded, Regina's lips curled into a half-smile as she replied, "Mhmm. Sure you don't."

You are the stars in the skies. You are the sound of the rain
You are the strong sense of calm that takes away all the pain
You are the rush of the wind. I'm just a man on his knees
Praying to God to grow old with the girl of his dreams
You've got my heart in your hand. You've got my hand if you want
So please love me forever

"Oh, my God," Regina groaned, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. "Sooo glad to be getting out of this sterile Hell-hole."

Emma laughed at this and wrapped an arm around Regina's shoulders.

Smiling, she replied, "I'm glad too. It was weird to see you sitting still for once."

"Yeah, yeah. Don't count on it happening again, Swan."

"I would've hoped you'd have learned your lesson by now with pacing yourself and taking breaks?"

"Hardly. Nothing keeps me down, kid. Nothing."

"I'll teach you to relax yet, my friend. It's a lesson you'll have to learn sooner or later, or you're gonna keep losing matches," Emma retorted with a shrug.

Scowling at the woman beside her, Regina shook her shoulder to remove herself from Emma's supportive arm.

"Hey… Don't be like that," Emma sighed. "It's reality, okay? People need rest in order to fight the best fight they can."

"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, isn't your big fight coming up next weekend?"

"Uh… Yeah… but, um…"

"But, um, what?"

"I… uh… I think I'm gonna back out of it."

"You're going to what?"

"I think I'm going to back out."

"Why the Hell would you ever do that?"

"I've decided to pursue a career in music," Emma replied, deadpan.

Regina stared for a moment before asking, "Are you fucking kidding me right now?"

"Nah," Emma laughed. "I just moonlight on the side."

"What?"

Suddenly serious, Emma shrugged and answered, "I dabble."

"You play music?"

"Well… I sing and play guitar."

"Holy shit. Who would've thought?"

"Not you. I made sure of that," the blonde laughed. "I knew you'd think it was stupid."

"First of all, it's not stupid… and second of all, why are you really backing out of the fight?"

"Because if even you can lose a fight, I definitely won't make it."

"Hey! That's horseshit!" Regina cried, turning on Emma and putting her hands on the woman's shoulders. "You are a great fighter, and you know it. We're not competing against each other. We're sparring partners. We're here to better each other, not to compare ourselves to each other. Our competition is with other fighters, and you know that. You can do this, Swan. I know you can. Don't back out of the fight."

Shrugging her shoulders, Emma dropped her gaze and asked, "So, um… I, uh… have a gig tonight at the local pub, actually, and um… I was wondering if maybe you wanted to come watch me?"

"What? Really? You have a gig? Like, you're singing in front of a bunch of people?"

"And playing guitar…"

"Wow, Swan. That's impressive."

"You didn't really answer my question…"

Thinking for a moment, Regina smiled and replied, "I'd love to see that side of you. All I can picture is you kicking ass, so I'd love to see how different you are on a stage."

Expression brightening, Emma smiled and said, "Very different."

"Thanks for coming," Emma greeted her friend, at the door of the pub, offering a shy smile.

"Of course," Regina said, returning the smile.

"I didn't expect you to want to come watch me make a fool of myself," the blonde laughed, pushing a slightly-shaky hand through her long, wavy locks of hair.

"What?" Regina gaped. "Why wouldn't I want to come see you play? And I'm sure you won't make a fool of yourself."

"Oh, just you wait."

With a nervous grin, Emma turned and disappeared to gather her gear for the show.

Before stepping onto the stage, Emma could feel herself beginning to sweat nervously, in a way she hadn't since her very first public show. It wasn't anything fancy. It was just an acoustic set for some local people. But still, even though it wasn't a 'big deal,' Regina was here to watch, and she was about to see a very different side of her than Emma had ever offered up before.

Feeling the fear and doing it anyway, Emma stepped up onto the tiny stage. She found Regina in the small crowd in an instant. Emma would know that shimmering, dark brown hair and those chocolate eyes anywhere in the world.

Taking a deep breath, she sat down on the stool in front of the mic stand and announced, "So I don't know if anyone noticed, but today is Valentine's Day." After allowing the group around the stage to laugh, Emma continued, "And boy, do I hate it. But Valentine's Day is special to me this year, because even though I might not have a Valentine, there's actually someone I'd like to dedicate this song to…" Taking another deep breath to steady herself, Emma finished, "Regina… Happy Valentine's Day."

Of course, Regina had completely forgotten about the normally-useless holiday, so when Emma dedicated the song to her, her face immediately turned a royal shade of red. Still, as embarrassed as she was, she couldn't tear her eyes away from the woman on stage and she began to sing.

"And if I tremble at the sight of you, it's not because I'm cold
It's because I'm staring at the girl I want to love me when I'm old
I swear with all my heart; every word I write for you is true
And I won't hesitate to give my life for you

And if I die before I wake, in the night just look above
With every star that greets your face, I am giving you my love…"

When the song was over and the group around her began to clap, the sensation of dizziness flooded Regina's body once again.

"Thanks, guys," Emma announced into the mic as she waved at the small crowd. "Always a pleasure."

Part of Emma wanted to run out of the building as though it was on fire. The other part of her knew she couldn't avoid or run from the situation she'd just sparked. So, once again feeling the fear and doing it anyway, Emma hopped off the stage and approached Regina, guitar in hand.

"So, uh… Yeah. That's me on the weekends…" she said shyly, tempted to look down at her feet but refusing to break Regina's gaze.

"You were… You were fantastic."

"Nah."

"No, really. You did a wonderful job. But, um…"

Of course there was a 'but.' Emma felt her heart sink, but she forced herself to stay composed. After all, it was sort of her own fault for going out on a limb like that.

When Emma said nothing and Regina noticed that she was beginning to look downtrodden, Regina explained, "But why dedicate the song to me?"

Taking her third steadying breath of the night, knowing full well her breathing was currently erratic, Emma replied, "Because you're the only girl I've ever even been able to imagine being my Valentine. I guess I just thought you should know how special you are." When she noticed just how shocked Regina looked, Emma added, "No expectations. No requests. Nothing has to change or get weird. Just thought it was only fair to let you know what's been going through my head." Regina still looked dumbfounded, so the blonde sighed and said, "I should get going. I'll probably be at the gym early tomorrow. Need to work off some nervous energy, I think. Hopefully I'll still see you there?"

At first, Regina hesitated, but when Emma finally gave up on getting a reply from the stunned brunette and started to turn around, Regina knew she had to act fast if she didn't want to ruin whatever it was that they had.

"Emma, wait," Regina said, grasping Emma's arm.

Fighting her own fears and inhibitions, Regina pulled the woman in as she turned around and pressed their lips together.

When they finally broke away – Emma had to end the kiss due to breathlessness – Regina whispered, "Thank you. No one's ever done anything like that for me before. I'm sorry I didn't react right away. I just… I'm kind of in shock."

"You don't have to thank me," Emma said, as she stared into Regina's eyes, feeling dazed and slightly confused by the woman's response. "Just know that I don't have any expectations, okay? Nothing has to change, and I—"

"Kiss me, you idiot," Regina laughed, pulling Emma in by the collar of her shirt and connecting their lips.

Gratefully, Emma returned the kiss.

Deep in the still of the night, I hear your voice in the dark
It fills the empty spaces taking over my broken heart
You give me strength to go on. You rescue me from the pain
I'm crazy for you 'cause your love kept me from going insane
You stole my heart with one kiss. Embraced my soul with your lips
And I'm forever grateful

The next morning, things felt different, and both were unsure how to react to one another.

Emma arrived at the gym first, so she was already there working out when Regina got there.

"Hey," the blonde greeted her sparring partner.

"Good morning."

They stood there for a moment, both beginning to feel themselves tremble with anticipation and uncertainty.

Then, Emma offered, "Shall we?"

"Of course."

Once in position, Emma's nervous smile appeared, and Regina returned it with a bright, confident one. Emma knew she was ready to spar, and it was obvious that she had returned to the gym with a newfound energy, although Emma couldn't place where it had come from. In fact, Emma herself felt her own burst of energy as she engaged her friendly opponent. Still, and very much to her surprise, Emma had Regina on the mat in mere minutes.

"Why don't you just stay down?" Emma joked. "Clearly, I brought my A game today, and clearly, you did not."

The snarky grin on Emma's face infuriated Regina – and filled her stomach with butterflies – but she was focused enough to want to stand. When she tried, though, Emma was on her in an instant, pinning her to the mat.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Regina laughed, surprised at Emma's playfulness. "This isn't wrestling, you dork. Get off me."

"Surrender!" Emma cackled, pinning Regina's shoulders down.

Rolling her eyes, Regina overpowered Emma – with the help of the element of surprise – and reversed their positions, making sure that Emma was pinned firmly on the mat as she straddled her hips.

"Never."

Emma blinked a few times, suddenly noticing how radiant Regina looked when she was confident, rather than frustrated and acutely focused. The way Regina's hair fell in her eyes when she leaned down was captivating, and Emma couldn't tear her eyes away.

"So, uh… Does this mean you like me, like me, or…?"

"Shut up, Swan," Regina chuckled, kissing Emma softly and savoring the taste, leaving Emma feeling both relieved and content.

Author's Note: The song used in this fic is "If I Tremble" by Front Porch Step. Please feel free to review and leave some feedback! Hopefully this didn't suck.