Hey everyone! This is my very first Swan Queen fic so I'm a bit nervous about posting this... You might have seen this up on tumblr a few days ago, I posted it there too. (By the way if you feel like it, come and find me there under the name reig27 I'm new there so I'll follow back and stuff! ;) )
This is definitely AU! I really hope you'll like it!

Disclaimer: I don't own the show or the characters

Chapter 1

Running. Running away as fast as she could. As far as she could. Faster, harder, further. Those were the only thoughts in Regina's mind as she shot through the woods, ducking between bushes, sprinting along little paths then leaving those paths just to stumble across the undergrowth of the dense forest.

Her endlessly streaming tears blurring her eyesight, her anger tightening her chest. And pain, oh so much pain is was unbearable, making it hard to take the next breath, making it hard to go on. But she had to. She had to get away. She had to run as far as possible. Because while she was running she could pretend it didn't happen, she could pretend Daniel was still alive, she could pretend she wouldn't be forced to marry the kind in less than a fortnight. She could pretend she was free. While she was running, she was free…

Another time she might have gone to the stables, she would have chosen riding as a way to make her forget. Yes, she most certainly would have done that. Not this time though, not when Daniel's memory was still so fresh and clear in her mind. The taste of his last kiss still on her lips. And the feel of his limp, dead body in her arms.

Her breathing labored, she could barely keep going but she didn't stop, didn't allow herself to slow down. Her sobs came out raggedly, echoing around the quiet woods.

She knew she didn't have much time. She knew she couldn't run away, not as far as she wanted… She knew that any time now her mother would start looking for her and she would find and stop her with magic…

She shuddered just thinking about that dark, evil thing. Magic. There was nothing she hated more than that.

The ground was wet and slippery and she fell, collapsing next to a large trunk, her body hitting the fallen tree as she finally allowed the crying to take over her. She curled up, pulling her knees to her chest and burying her head in them as heaving sobs shook her body and she grieved for all that she would never be able to have.

She wanted to scream, she wanted to break things, she wanted to fight her mother… But she had no chance against her, she was so weak, so helpless.

Images invaded her mind once again, images she tried so hard to keep out of her head, ones she knew would haunt her till her last day and she gasped for breath as she felt her shattered heart tighten even more. She saw her mother's hand in Daniel's chest, she saw the pulsating, deep red heart clutched in her fingers, she heard the shocked and terrified choking sound that involuntarily slipped past the stable boy's lips as her mother squeezed. She saw the way his face contorted in excruciating agony and she wanted to shout again as she saw in slow motion how he fell to the ground. Then her mother's cold, heartless tone rang in her head 'Love is weakness, Regina'. And she just realized how true that was, she had so much love in her heart, her broken heart and all her chest throbbed with that love but she was utterly weak as well.

She pushed herself up from the ground, almost tripped up again but she held her footing as she blindly started to run again. Run from those images, leave them behind to have blissful emptiness fill her whole body.

The darkness of the night enveloped her and she staggered from tree to tree, trying to keep herself upright but she was so exhausted, so drained and so hurt. She was aching all over. She wished she could just die. Miserable and heartbroken and wretched and so completely alone.

And as she took off again, breaking into an unsteady running she imagined there might be a world out there were she could be free, she told herself if she ran fast enough maybe she could leave this all behind, she imagined that if she ran fast enough, hard enough she could turn back time. That maybe when she was eventually forced to go back home Daniel would be there, waiting for her with a secret smile on his lips, his arms ready to embrace her…

Suddenly her movement was halted though and she fell back on the ground. For a moment she thought it was her mother's magic, that she conjured up an invisible wall in front of her so she couldn't run further but then she heard the groan of someone in the darkness.

She pushed herself up into a sitting position and she squinted, her eyes adjusting to the dark enough to see the form sprawled out on the ground just a few feet away. The form moved and sat up as well and Regina's eyes widened when she saw that it was a girl as well. A young girl with curly blonde hair tumbling down her shoulders and green eyes blinking back at her in surprise.

"Are you alright?" she asked and for a moment Regina just stared at her breathlessly. Then she nodded, not trusting her voice. "You sure? Because… well don't take this the wrong way, but you don't look okay… " the girl told her and instantly a blush covered her cheeks. "I-I mean… not that you aren't pretty… because you are very beautiful… I mean I can't really see much of you in the dark now…But I'm sure you are very pretty… I just…" the girl spluttered nervously and she crawled closer the still unmoving Regina.

A small sound somewhere between a chuckle and a sob escaped Regina's mouth without her permission and she quickly looked down.

"I'm fine." she croaked out, her voice raspy and low.

"Oh my God, are you crying?" the girl gasped in concern and Regina felt a tentative hand on her back. "Did I hurt you? I'm so sorry…"

"You didn't hurt me." Regina shook her head, wiping at the tears that were on her cheeks, retaining from putting too much emphasis on the word 'you'.

"What happened to you?" the girl murmured worriedly and Regina looked up to see her scanning her up and down. She knew she must have been a strange sight in her torn and dirty gown with disheveled hair, puffy eyes and red nose.

She just shook her head, refusing to make eye contact with this stranger. They stayed like that for a long moment, Regina staring down at her lap but feeling the girl's intense eyes on her.

"I'm Emma." she heard the shy voice and as she glanced up she saw a tiny smile light up the other girl's whole face.

"I'm Regina." she said after only a second of hesitation.

"What are you doing out in the woods so late, Regina?" Emma asked her and there was something so gentle about the way her name rolled off her tongue, in the way she gazed at her with sparkling green eyes that Regina just wanted to get lost in this moment. Forget all her pain. But she couldn't answer her, as her brain registered the question the pang in her chest, all her tormenting thoughts returned and tears pooled in her eyes once again, making Emma's face haze over.

Her tears rolled down her cheeks and she wanted to hide away but much to her surprise in the next moment she felt two arms around herself, pulling her into the warmness of the other girl's chest.

And there and then, she broke. She let all the pain curse through her, her throbbing heart pumping liquid hurt all over her body as she heaved with endless sobs into this unknown girl's chest. And as the images flooded her mind again, as she was swallowed in her despair and hopelessness Emma was her anchor, her soft voice whispering into her ear, her surprisingly strong arms squeezing her, her tender fingers running up and down Regina's back. She was the only thing that kept her from going mad from the scorching anguish.

When her tears subsided and everything became eerie quiet around them Regina sniffled and pulled back embarrassedly. She swallowed several times as she wiped her cheeks with the back of her palms. She felt spent, worn, raw. But she also felt strangely calm, her racing heart returning to its normal speed. The adrenaline all gone and now she became all too aware of her surroundings. Of where she was and who she was with and just what had happened.

"Please excuse me…" she murmured as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, knowing that it probably didn't help her appearance much. Her mother would probably have a heart attack if she saw her now.

"You don't need to apologize, Regina." Emma told her warmly and she reached out to touch her but Regina shied away from her hand. "Hey!" she called to her and she couldn't help but raise her eyes back to those green orbs. "It's okay. I don't know what happened… I get it that…you don't want to tell me, that you don't want to talk about it. When something horrible happens, you don't want to talk about it because that means facing it and you aren't ready for that. Also I'm just this girl you literally bumped into and… And I know that sometimes you just have to… cry it out. Let it all out. And that the best someone else can do is just to be there for you. And I don't know why you're out here now Regina, I don't know if there's someone waiting for you, if there's someone who would have been there for you but… I'm glad I could be there for you… even if that was the most I could do…" she said, honesty gleaming in her eyes and then she smiled. And that smile was enough to ease Regina's discomfort, it was the light in the seemingly infinite darkness. That smile was the save haven, the oasis of peace that Regina needed in that moment.

"Thank you…" she whispered gratefully, the corners of her own lips tugging upwards without her noticing.

"I was right. You truly are beautiful." Emma said after a silent moment and Regina flushed.

As they were sitting on the ground between leaves and grass and soil she finally took the time to take in this girl. As she already noted she had blond hair, but Regina just now realized it was the loveliest shade of gold, cascading down in rich waves and curls around a stunning face with those unforgettably green eyes, high cheekbones and soft pink lips. She was wearing brown leather riding pants and shirt and she had a dark green cloak on. She was slim and tall. But as Regina looked more closely she also saw that Emma was about the same age as her, she couldn't have been more than 18.

"So are you, dear." she told her softly.

Minutes stretched long but neither of them noticed as they gazed into each other's eyes, finding some sort of weird, unknown tranquility in each other, a deep understanding between two strangers neither of them ever experienced before. Then all of a sudden voices sounded from the distance. Yells and cries and sounds of marching and stomping and galloping horses and snores and as they girls snapped out of their haze they could see the light of torches cutting through the darkness of the night, swaying and without doubt approaching.

"Can you see her?"

"Nothing yet…"

"Keep going!"

"Ahead!"

"You know the order, we gotta find her!"

The voices mingled together, muffled and strained, reaching them just like the messages of the breeze but both girls' eyes widened. Regina was sure they were her mother's guards or just people from the house coming to search for her to take her back and Emma looked equally as worried and in that moment Regina realized she didn't even know what the other girl was doing in the woods. If she was lost, or a runaway if she was being chased if she was in trouble or in danger, if she was noble or a peasant…

But she didn't have time to wonder because the voices were getting closer and now she could recognize the tones of their men, the men she knew since she was a little girl. She knew if they found her with Emma they would take her back to the house as well and her mother would punish both of them even though Emma did nothing wrong. No, she couldn't let her get caught…

"You have to go…" she whispered hurriedly as she stood up on still wobbly legs. Emma stood as well, patting down her backside as she did so.

Their eyes met for one last time and Regina wished they could stay like this, wished she could get to know this girl who saw her in her most vulnerable moment, who held her and gave her exactly what she needed without a second thought. She wished it was a different place, a different time and they could maybe become friends. She wished she didn't feel so empty and inhuman inside as she nodded at this girl who saw her break apart.

"Thank you…" she whispered once more.

"Anytime!" Emma winked at her playfully and she couldn't help but let a small grin spread across her face as she watched the other girl practically throw herself into the woods "Oh and Regina?" she paused to glance back above her shoulder. "I know we don't know each other but…you're stronger than you know, never forget that!" she told her before disappearing from her sight within seconds. And for some reason Regina did feel just a little bit stronger as she turned away with a sigh, towards the approaching light of flames and the yells of 'I can see her' 'She's here!' 'We found her!'

So this was it... What do you think? Please review, I would love to read your thoughts on it!
Thank you for reading and a huge thanks to those who take time to review! :)