The air was bitterly cold at this time of night in Storybrooke. Silence hung in the towns small deserted park, eerily quiet except for the crackle of leaves in the crisp spring wind. Even though the weather was a harsh, dry type of cold, Emma could still sense something in the air.
It was almost electric and it seemed to fill even the dark, lifeless park with energy. Magic, she suspected. Emma almost felt it tingling in her fingertips, the magic that had created this whole mess, magic that had caused Neal to die in her arms. Thinking about that moment, watching his face slacken, and feeling his last breath leave his body, it was too much to handle. Emma screamed into the night, a short, clipped burst of energy before she slouched against the hard bench, feeling completely drained. She allowed herself to cry again. Not the uncontrollable sobs she tried to conceal from Henry while she was taking a shower, but soft and slow, like she had no energy to stop them or react to the warm tears streaming down her face.
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The tiny bell chimed as Regina entered Grannies diner, too upset about Henry to cook dinner for one once more. On top of Henry not remembering her, she had no new leads on the Wicked Witch and so she had no reason to call Emma or show up at the Charming's to catch a glance at her son.
Henry. Maybe I'll get a drink tonight, she thought. She needed to stifle the nagging thoughts of the wicked witch terrorizing her town and, most importantly, her family. Regina walked up to her usual stool at the counter and sat down, waiting to be noticed. Soon she caught Red's attention and shaky hands slid her menu on the marble surface. Glancing up, Regina saw Red was looking unusually depressed.
"I am assuming you don't know what happened to Neal, Regina." Ruby said, in a monotone voice, lacking her usual spark.
"I guess I haven't, dear. What is it now? Has he turned himself into a monkey?" Regina snickered at her own joke.
"He's dead."
Dropping all traces of humor from her face, Regina looked at Ruby and questioned for more information. Emma had separated Neal's body and Rumple's body with magic, for some god-forsaken reason. She couldn't help but feel a tinge of pride in knowing that Emma had successfully performed magic, and a high level of magic nonetheless. But then she felt nothing but empathy for the blonde. Unfortunately Regina knew exactly how it felt to watch a loved one die right in your arms. First with Daniel, then with her father, then again with Daniel, and finally she endured the incredible pain of watching her mother die in her arms. Of course, a lot of the pain was induced by her insufferable mother, but it had hurt more than she could have even imagined.
"Why did she need to separate Neal and Rumple?" Regina said.
"Now that is unclear, at least for me. I don't really know the whole story yet but it sounded like Neal had brought Rumple Stiltskin back in The Enchanted Forest and they had to share a body, possibly? Honestly that's all Granny and I have heard from the Charmings. Snow told me that Emma wouldn't talk about it anymore than she absolutely had to."
"Oh, well I could see how she'd be very upset," Regina tried her hardest to make a sympathetic face, because quite honestly she had mixed feelings about Neal being around her son, and if she was being truthful she didn't like the thought of him being around Emma either. But she didn't want to seem cold for the wrong reason. "Thank you for telling me, Miss Lucas."
Regina ordered her meal and sat in silence for the duration of her dinner. She couldn't help but think of Daniel dying at the stables in Storybrooke, and how absolutely no one was there to comfort her after. Regina had almost gone insane with the pain of it. If Emma was anything like the person Regina took her to be, she knew the blonde would be trying to hide how devastated she truly was.
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Pacing in her bedroom, Regina couldn't stifle the thought of Emma being alone in pain. She knew Emma had Henry and her parents, but surely Emma didn't want to share her tragic sadness with her son, and Snow would be too much to handle. The thought of Snow's sympathetic face appeared in her mind and she suppressed a groan. Not that Snow shouldn't be sympathetic, but the thought of Snow with her brows knit in worry and eyes gleaming with tears sent a shudder down her spine. Too close to home, this entire situation is too close to home, she thought, stomping her foot like a five year old.
Maybe that's why Regina couldn't rest, it wasn't because she wanted to see Emma, no. It was because she could picture the intense pain and suffering that comes with losing someone that you care about.
I will just do a quick location spell and make sure that Emma is home and safe, Regina thought. She entered Henry's bedroom and took a picture of Emma and Henry that Emma had given to her son a while back. As she placed her hand over the photograph a purple haze appeared, trailing out of Henry's room and down the stairs. Regina followed the haze downstairs and quickly grabbed her coat, shaking into it trying while slipping on her black boots. Stepping out the door she felt a little foolish, this was just to put her mind at ease, she thought. Just so she knew Emma wasn't hurting alone.
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Regina reflexively started to turn right, down the street where Snow's little apartment was but the purple smoke trailing in front of her car lead to the left instead. For the first time through out this impulsive little trip Regina felt like her gut was right about checking on Emma. A few minutes later she found herself right near the old park that was close to the beach. Regina remembered it as the place where Emma and Henry would hang out alone when Emma first came to Storybrooke.
Pulling up onto the curb, Regina could see blonde hair reflecting the moonlight. The purple smoke trickled around Emma and then vanished. Emma's head perked up questioningly and then snapped back glaring at Regina.
Regina held her arms up in a sign of peace, "Is it okay if I come sit?"
Emma responded by shrugging her shoulders, it wasn't exactly the response she was looking for, but she figured she was allowed to sit.
"I can't talk about it, Regina."
"I know," Regina said gently as she slid over on the bench. "I shouldn't have come. I just wanted to know that you were safe, for Henry," Regina said as she went to get up.
"No, stay. Please." Emma said, so softly Regina almost didn't catch it. Regina slid towards the grieving blonde, her pants catching on the little wooden splinters as she edged over.
"How did you deal with it? I wasn't even in love with Neal anymore and I… I feel like I'm falling apart." Regina watched as Emma looked up to the sky as if it held all the answers. She was shaking a little, no doubt due to the lack of warmth that silly red jacket of hers was providing. Slowly and carefully closing the gap between them so that their legs were touching, Regina took her leather gloves off and placed her hand over Emma's. "I didn't deal with it."