This is a SwanQueen one-shot, so if you don't like it, don't read it. Though, on a lighter note, if you do enjoy this please drop me a review, as this is my first OUaT Fanfiction, though I have written for other shows.
Hey Gina, I know you're probably riding by now, so you don't have to reply. I'll be waiting at the stables in an hour to pick you up.
Regina slowed her horse to a halt before reading the text from Emma. She was currently on a trail ride through the woods on her horse, Rocinante, who'd miraculously survived the curse and had been waiting patiently for her at Storybrooke stables, though she'd not thought to look for him until Emma had spied his saddle in the hidden room beneath her father's crypt. However, she'd left his saddle down there and decided to use one from this world, as they were far comfier.
Regina clucked at the horse and nudged his sides with her heels, signaling it to begin moving again, and pushed him into a steady trot to keep him warm. It was only autumn, but the leaves had turned and a bitter wind stung her cheeks.
Soon enough they were moving at a steady canter through the woods, and Regina was overjoyed at the sensation of the powerful creature beneath her. The steady thrum of Rocinante's hooves against the floor was soothing, and she could feel a grin spread across her face.
Regina pulled back gently on the reins to slow down when she felt Rocinante get faster and faster, but he kept pushing on. She could see a bend in the trail ahead, and didn't want to take the corner at such speed, though once she'd pulled sharply at the reins and he'd not slowed, with the corner fast approaching, she knew she had no hope.
Still, when rounding the corner Regina tried to steady her steed as much as possible, but knew it was a fruitless attempt when she felt his limbs slipping from beneath him. Then she was falling, and everything went black.
SWANQUEEN
Emma tapped her fingertips against the steering wheel as she guided the bug towards Storybrooke stables, on the way to picking up Regina. She'd been spending some quality time with her mother for the day, while Regina spent her time at the stables. Her thoughts were interrupted as a horse came crashing through the trees on her left, making Emma brake jerkily to a standstill at the side of the road. She rushed out of her vehicle, and only when she looked properly did she realize that it was Regina's horse.
"Gina?" She said shakily, wondering where her wife was, but brought herself back to the present when she knew she needed to catch Rocinante.
"Here boy," She whispered, holding out her hand to the spooked horse. He had mud slicked down the right side of his body, and Emma did not want to ponder the implications of this.
Once she safely had the horse's reins held tightly in both hands she began leading him back to the stables, moving quickly to the building not far ahead.
"Mandy?" She called out to the stablehand, not knowing what to do with the steed.
"Emma?" The confused woman asked as she walked around from the side of the barn, and saw the savior holding the horse.
"Have you seen Regina? I just found her horse in front of the woods." Emma asked hurriedly. Mandy shook her head.
"The last I saw of her was her setting off for a trail ride a little while ago."
"Which trail?" Emma asked, and the red head pointed to the path over Emma's shoulder.
"Thanks, I'm going to go look for her, can you take care of Rocinante?"
"Of course," Mandy replied, taking the horse off of Emma's hands, "Call me if you need any help, you have my number."
"Okay, thanks." The blonde called over her shoulder as she took off for the trail, pulling her cell phone out of her pocket as she did so, quickly tapping out Regina's number and holding the device to her ear as she ran.
"Pick up, pick up, pick up," She mumbled, but hung up when the phone switched to voicemail, "Dammit, Gina I need to know if you're okay."
For the next thirty minutes Emma frantically scoured the trail, until she saw a flash of color around a corner. Red, as in the red of Regina's riding jacket.
"Regina!" Emma called, pushing the branches away as she skidded through the mud around the corner, then slumping on her knees at the brunettes side.
"Gina, can you hear me?" She asked loudly, cupping the woman's cold cheek with her hand. A moan left Regina's lips before-
"Emma?" She slurred, her eyes flickering as she tried to focus on the head above her. The blonde almost cried; she was so relieved.
"What happened?" The brunette asked, leaning into Emma's touch.
"I was going to ask you the same," She told her, "I was so worried about you." Emma looked Regina up and down, trying to look for any injuries, and spotted trickle of blood at the woman's hairline.
"Where does it hurt?"
"My head hurts a little…" Regina admitted, though Emma assumed she was toning it down.
"You're lucky you were wearing your riding helmet or it could have been a lot worse. Anywhere else?" Regina groaned as she pushed herself up on her elbows.
"I'm fine, I'll live." Emma sighed.
"Regina." She admonished, her eyes flashing.
"Okay, my ankle hurts a little, I think Rocinante landed on it." She admitted. Emma winced, knowing how far into the woods they were.
"Do you think you can walk on it?" Emma asked, as she helped Regina sit up fully.
"There's only one way to find out." The brunette replied, so Emma moved back, holding out her hands to help her up. The second Regina put any weight on her leg her knee buckled as she cried out, and she would have hit the floor for a second time if Emma did not catch her.
"I'm guessing it's a no, then." Emma said, once she had one arm safely wrapped around Regina's waist.
"So it would seem." The woman replied, as they slowly made their way back down the trail.
"Why don't you heal yourself?" Emma suggested, although she was sure she already knew the answer.
"I can't, what could I tell Henry? I can't use magic for my own benefit." She grunted out as she hopped along.
"I'm sure this is one of the situations where he'll allow it, Gina." Regina shook her head dejectedly.
"That's not the point, I can't just pick and choose when I want to use it or not. If I use it now I'll be more inclined to use it again, and I can't do that to him." Emma reluctantly agreed, and decided to drop it.
"How's your head?" She asked, realizing that Regina was still wearing her riding helmet.
"It's okay, it doesn't hurt anymore than before." The woman sighed, "Did you find Rocinante?" She asked suddenly, as if the fact that she hadn't seen him hit her.
"Don't worry he's fine," Emma placated her, "I saw him when I was in my car to pick you up, so I walked him up and gave him to Mandy." Regina breathed a sigh of relief.
"Oh, thank God. I couldn't stand it if something happened to him because of me." Emma looked at the brunette's sullen expression.
"What happened?" Emma asked, and Regina took at deep breath before replying.
"We were going quite fast, and I couldn't slow him down before the corner and he slipped. It was stupid to be going so fast on a trail, and I should have tried harder to slow him down." She admitted, looking down at the mud coating her riding jacket and breeches.
"Gina, it's not your fault. Accidents happen, and Rocinante's fine." Emma consoled.
"But he might not have been." Regina pointed out, and though Emma disagreed she knew that the woman's mindset right now would not let her sway her opinion.
A little while later, Regina could finally see a break in the trees, giving her glimpses of the stables. A sigh of relief from the woman beside her proved that Emma had seen it too. Both of them were exhausted: Regina from her fall, and Emma from practically carrying Regina the entire way back. As soon as they broke the tree line they saw Mandy standing with Snow, David and Henry, each looking more worried than the last.
"Mom!" Henry shouted when he saw them, running over.
"Are you alright?" Charming asked, running his hand through his already ruffled locks, "We were about to come looking for you!"
"I'm sorry, I should have called." Emma apologized. Snow approached Regina's side, and pulled the woman's arm over her shoulder to help her daughter to support her.
"Regina are you okay, where are you hurt?" She asked as they began to lead the brunette over to the truck.
"I'm okay Snow, my ankle just hurts a little." Emma rolled her eyes.
"Regina." She peered around at Snow, "She hit her head too, and I have no idea how long she was unconscious for." Snow gasped.
"Mom?" Henry asked worriedly, while Charming put the tailgate of the truck down, and helped her sit.
"I'm fine Henry, don't worry." She smiled warmly, taking his hands in hers, and even though they knew this was a lie, no one tried to correct her for the sake of the boy, though Regina winced when Emma eased off her riding helmet to inspect the cut and bruise that adorned her temple.
"I don't think you need stitches…" The blonde murmured, though Snow did provide a handkerchief for Emma to press against it.
"How does your leg feel?" Charming broke Regina's train of thought. She shrugged.
"It's throbbing a little, but I'm not sure if it's broken or not."
"I didn't want to have a look at it in the woods because the riding boot seemed to be doing quite well in supporting it," Emma interrupted, "But if it's swelled up it's gonna hurt like a bitch to get off." She said, shrugging unapologetically at Regina after the woman narrowed her eyes at the vulgar language, though Regina was rather preoccupied with the thought of having to actually get the boot of. Maybe Emma's expletive was rather accurate.
"Do we have to take my boot off now?" Regina tried to cover her worry, though she knew that the adults around it would see through her wall in a moment.
"And risk not being able to get it off later?" Emma asked her. Regina nodded dejectedly, seeing her point.
"Okay,"
"Okay?"
"Okay." She confirmed, bracing one hand against the truck and slipping the other inconspicuously into Emma's, though the others didn't mind as they'd seen it all before. Charming knelt down on the gravel by Regina's feet, and if he weren't about to cause her a great deal of pain she would have laughed at the metaphor.
He began by slowly pulling down the zipper on the back of the boot (Thank God they'd been invented in this world), and cupped a hand around her heel. Though he tried to be as gentle as humanly possible, it still brought tears to her eyes, and she was sure she cut off the circulation in Emma's hand.
"You alright?" Emma asked, when Charming set the boot on the ground and Henry sat by her side, taking her other hand.
"Yeah." She tried smiling, though it must have appeared as a grimace, due to what Snow said next.
"Regina, maybe we should take you to the hospital. You at least have a small concussion, and you should probably get an x-ray." The brunette panicked as soon as she heard the word hospital, and Emma sensed it in her demeanor.
"No, I don't need to go. My ankle's only sprained, because I can move it now that the boot's off, and I don't have any symptoms of a concussion." She was adamant.
"Regina…" Snow tried, but the mayor wouldn't let her get another word in.
"No, you know that Whale is the only doctor in town and he is not coming anywhere near me." Her tone led to no arguments, though it quivered when she shivered slightly from the cold.
"Okay… But lets get you in the truck, Gina, you're freezing!" It was only then that Regina realized that the tips of her fingers and her nose were numb, and she was only wearing a thin riding jacket against the cold, due to her getting warm when riding.
Snow moved to her other side to help her into the truck,
"Sweetie, you're so cold! Why didn't you say anything?!" The younger woman asked, and was surprised when the brunette didn't dispute the pet name.
"I don't…" Regina mumbled, her tongue feeling like cotton in her mouth as she shivered once again. It was then that Emma gently helped her into the truck, and Charming turned on the heat after turning the key.
"Gina, Snow and David are going to drive you home, and me and Henry will meet you there, okay?" Emma asked gently, passing Regina a blanket supplied by Snow from the back of the seat.
"Okay." She attempted a smile, and the blonde smiled back, before backing away and shutting the truck door. When they pulled away, Regina kept looking for her in the wing mirror, until they turned a corner. She was thankful that Charming drove slowly over the small bumps in the road, and she felt herself drifting into sleep.
SWANQUEEN
"How're you feeling?" Emma asked as she approached the couch Regina was seated on in front of the fire in her study.
"I'm feeling better, the painkillers have kicked in." She smiled, and reached out to gently take the herbal tea Emma offered to her.
"Thanks." She offered, as Emma sat down beside her, making sure not to jostle her too much.
"Not nauseous at all?" Emma checked, and Regina shook her head in reply.
"I'm glad you're okay, you had me scared for a while there." Emma told her, wrapping an arm around Regina's shoulders.
"I'm sorry," The brunette replied, letting her head drop onto Emma's shoulder.
"Don't be, it was an accident," Emma consoled, "I love you, 'Gina."
"I love you too." She replied, as the blonde pressed a kiss to her temple.
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