A/N: This is the oddball fic responsible for making me take a little longer to produce the next part of Small steps. It's heavily inspired by 30 days of Night, a vampire movie. Especially the ending-bit. In my opinion vampires should be scary as hell, and not cuddly creatures that sparkle in the daylight. But again that's me, and that's what this premise builds upon.
I actually do not refer to the monsters in this fic as vampires. It is left intentionally unambiguous. (It is also not what the story is truly about)
All my thanks to my beta and best friend Antti, he is also the one that drew up the illustration that goes with this story. A better version of it was posted on my tumblr.
-x-x-x-
Time is running out.
"The barrier won't hold them forever."
"No it won't." Regina answers, even though she knows Snow probably meant it more as a rhetorical question. "Even with the Blue Fairy and I taking turns, we will run out of energy eventually, and Miss Swan is not yet strong enough to be of much help."
"Then we need a plan."
"I agree, we can't sit around and do nothing," David chimes in to support his wife. "Even if we can't take the fight to them, there must be something we can do."
"Actually, we only need their plan," Regina says, rubbing at her eyes. She can feel the exhaustion already setting in and wonders if maybe they should have thought of this sooner.
"What do you mean?" Emma asks softly. Up until now she had been quietly watching the exchange, but she could almost sense the makings of an idea born out of desperation. Something told her she wasn't going to like what Regina would be proposing they'd do.
"The reason we're currently grasping for straws is because we don't know what they're planning. We know they don't care much for the rest of the people out there, but they've been besieging the convent the minute we barricaded ourselves in here," Regina explained.
The group of people around her still looked a bit confused at where she was going with this. Besides Emma that was. Regina couldn't help smiling at the blonde savior upon seeing the look of dawning realization settle on her face. When they put their differences aside, they always did make one hell of a team. And a team they were going to need against the bloodthirsty horde that was trying to break through the barrier spell that protected them.
"They either want one of us, or they want something that's here. They also took some people alive, we need to know what happened to them too. That and we need to know what their game-plan is if we even want to stand a chance to defeat them."
It was David that voiced everyone's thoughts first. "You want to capture one of them don't you?"
"Wait," Snow mutters, holding up one of her hands in the universal stop-sign. "Let me get this straight. You want to capture one of those things and do what.. interrogate it? Do you even know the risks we'd take? If it gets loose, every single one of us will likely be done for."
"Regina's right though," Emma says, ignoring the disapproving look her mother throws her. "What choice do we have? Up until now we've been letting them run the show. Finding out more about them can only help our cause, even if it is risky."
"Say we do try capturing one of those... things," David frowns as he fumbles for a correct description of the creatures they are facing. "We can only track them down during the day, and even if we capture one of them, they will be nothing but a pile of ashes before we can bring them in."
"Leave that part to me."
Emma raises a single eyebrow at Regina's statement. "Don't tell me you plan to go out there?"
"We'll go," Snow says, sharing a quick look with her husband.
"How the hell is that any better?!" Emma questions exasperatingly.
"I'm going with them, Miss Swan."
"Your magic doesn't work on them, and Henry already lost one parent today, he can't lose you too." Emma pleads.
Regina sighs. Emma had a point of course, but they were running out of time and options. The sun would come up soon, they had to make the decision now. "Can I have a quick word with you please," she asks Emma. At the questioning glances from David and Snow, Regina rolls her eyes. "Alone, if you don't mind?"
Emma nods wordlessly at her parents and after a few worried glances back, they leave quietly.
"I'm sorry," Regina begins. She wrings her hands, avoiding Emma's inquisitive gaze. "I understand if you blame me for..."
"Neal's death?" Emma finishes, the name a choked out sound stuck somewhere halfway in her throat. Her eyes fill with unshed tears as she thinks about his sacrifice. How he'd tried to save his father and Belle. How he'd been torn to shreds by three of those demonic creatures. She swears she can still hear his screams echo around the hallways of the convent at times. His remains are still somewhere out there, amongst the dozens of other victims. Emma's not sure if she'd even be able to recognize him if she went out there to look for him, but she still vows to give him a proper burial once all of this was over.
"I don't blame you Regina. If it wasn't for your quick reaction, all of us might be dead now. If that's the reason you want to go out there, out of some sort of misplaced sense of guilt, please don't."
"Are you sure you aren't just annoyed that I'm trying to steal the limelight, seeing as you're the savior and all?"
Emma scowls at that. "This isn't funny Regina."
"I know dear. But you should know that even if I can't harm them with my magic, I can still protect your parents. That and the cloak I have to capture one of those things. I'm the only one that knows how it works. I'll suggest to Snow and David to take Ruby along with us, she can serve as an advance scout."
"I still don't like this idea," Emma mumbles, shuffling her feet and biting her lip nervously. She stares into Regina's eyes for a long moment. Her heart speeds up and she feels her stomach plummet. She steps into Regina's personal space and slowly, hesitatingly raises one of her hands to brush the other woman's cheek. There is no dwelling on why she chooses to do this now, why she allows all of the carefully maintained walls to just fall away and lets Regina see the naked worry on her face. Perhaps it was a long time coming. Emma smiles then, her hand dropping down again.
"Just come back. I don't know how to do this without you."
Regina swallows audibly, her heart leaps into her throat. She grasps the hand Emma had caressed her with previously and claps it into her own, lacing their fingers together. "We'll talk more later, okay?" she says softly. At the confirming nod she smiles and holds on just a little tighter.
They stand there in front of one of the large windows, silently basking in each other's presence for a few minutes more before they rejoin the rest of the group.
An hour later the sun comes up, and Emma watches the foursome leave the convent with a heavy feeling in her heart. She has barely slept since this whole ordeal started two days ago, and though she's tired, there was no way in hell she would be able to close her eyes until they were back.
-x-x-x-
There's only a sliver of daylight left when they finally do return and Emma immediately senses something is wrong. She can only just make out her parents carrying something wrapped in thick black fabric; which Emma assumes is one of the creatures. The relief at the mission have succeeded immediately changes to worry when she spots a slightly limping Ruby carrying an unconscious form cradled in her arms.
Emma lets out a shocked gasp and rushes towards the group. "What the hell happened?!" she all but yells out as closes in on them and gets a closer look at the bruised and battered form of one former Queen. She's never seen Regina look so small, so fragile. Emma feels unbidden tears well up in her eyes. Regina's head lolls against Ruby's shoulder, her eyes are closed, but the twitches and frowns on her face clued Emma in that Regina's slumber was anything but peaceful.
"We managed to sneak into one of their nests with no problem," David says, exhaustion shining through with every word he speaks. "Actually managed to kill two too before all hell broke loose. We thought there were only four of them," he explains, wiping a trickle of blood away from one of his brows. "But there were two more in an adjacent room. They took us by surprise. Regina saved our lives by casting a barrier, but one of them managed to throw her clear across the room. She hit a few chairs and went through a table and has been unconscious since."
Emma closes her eyes in an attempt to establish control over her rampant emotions. Relief washes over her at the thought that Regina hopefully only suffered from a minor concussion. She reaches for one of Regina's wrists. The steady pulse that greets her confirms that the woman was likely not badly injured and would be back on her feet in no time flat.
"Can you carry her inside by yourself Ruby?"
"Yes, the wolf's strength makes her as light as a feather." Ruby grins toothily by way of an answer. "Don't worry about my leg, I just misstepped a little when we checked the basement, it's just a light sprain, nothing too bad. Your parents are at the end of their wits though," she says, tilting her head back in the direction of Snow and David who are struggling with their newly acquired prisoner.
"Is that.." Emma asks Snow, eyeing the covered up form moving around in front of her. "One of them?"
"Yeah, Regina managed to secure his feet and arms with magically reinforced chains, and wrapped him up in that cloak before we got interrupted. We should probably take him to the basement of the convent. The doors there should be thick enough to hold it if something does go wrong."
Emma nods, she takes another look at Ruby entering the building, then helps her parents drag their prisoner to the basement. The dwarves and Granny manage to steer away most of the onlookers, to Emma's great relief. She could do without having to explain to every single curious person, that this might be their only chance to turn the whole thing around before it was too late.
After they tossed the prisoner on the floor of the dusty basement, Emma is surprised when David approaches her and tugs her away to a corner of the room. "There's something you should know Emma," he tells her, watching wearily from the corner of his eyes as Snow tries to undo the wrappings of their guest. "One of the two occupants from that other room was Archie. Or at least something that used to be him."
Emma's jaw sags open and she only just has the presence of mind to cover her mouth with one of her hands to stifle the anguished wail that rises up from her throat. "No.." she mutters, tears sliding down her face. "I thought... I knew they were taking people alive but.."
"They are turning our people into monsters," David confirms, gnashing his teeth with barely suppressed anger. His eyes shoot fire as he looks at the form writhing around on the dirty floor. "I wanted to kill that thing right there and then, if it wasn't for Snow stopping me, I would have."
"Archie?" Emma asks weakly.
"I'm sorry. It.. he wasn't Archie, Emma. He wasn't like them yet either, but he didn't even respond when we called him by his name. He was the one that threw Regina, we had to..."
Emma swallows around the sudden lump in her throat. She notices the unshed tears shining in David's eyes and lays one of her hands on his shoulder. "Let's just get this over with then okay? The sooner the better."
"So what do you think we should do next?"
"I think no matter how we proceed, this won't be pretty," Emma says, pinching the bridge of her nose. She looks at Snow and David standing in front of her, swaying a little on their feet, it's pretty obvious they have slept even less than Emma has herself. "I'll try to question that thing first, Regina can probably help when she wakes up, I'm sure she'll know of some interesting techniques to make people talk."
"Emma.." Snow protests.
"No. Mar..Snow, look, you guys are about to fall asleep on your feet over here, that and the whole Archie incident. I don't think it's a good idea right now if you were present here. We don't know how that thing will respond, it might just taunt us, and I don't want any of us to kill it before we know what their plans are."
"Emma's right Snow," David agrees. He puts his hands on Snow's shoulders and looks her in the eyes. "The prisoner is secured and won't go anywhere. And we can both do with a few hours of sleep." He turns to Emma. "Wake us when you need anything okay? Anything, I mean it Emma..."
"I will," Emma vows. "Before you go, help me secure him to something. I think we can hang his chains from one of the hooks near that steel crossbeam. It's not perfect, but it'll do."
They manage to secure the creature's chained hands pretty easily, though Emma is adamant about leaving the dark fabric wrapped around his head. She's not yet ready to confront one of these things yet, not after personally witnessing what it could do to people. That and she's pretty sure the fabric also somehow muffles or mutes it, which to Emma comes like a blessing in disguise.
It's not until her parents leave, albeit reluctantly, and only after a lot of prodding by Emma, that she realizes that she has absolutely no plan of approach. The only thing she was rather certain of was that the prisoner was unlikely to cooperate. Which left her with only one option to make him talk; torture him. That was the crux of the problem. Just the thought of causing deliberate pain to another being, human or not, was making her stomach revolt, let alone actually carrying out the act.
"They don't like fire."
Emma jumps up in surprise. She turns around shakingly to see Regina looking a little worse for the wear, slowly making her way towards Emma. "Jesus Regina, you almost gave me a heart-attack."
"I did actually knock. Your beloved parents notified me you might be in need of assistance."
"I know you guys aren't exactly on best terms yet, but there's need to be so sarcastic," Emma grumbles, shaking her head with dismay. "And what do you suggest we do? Your fireballs won't work you know."
"I know dear." Regina rolls her eyes at Emma stating the obvious. Once again. "There's a blowtorch near the workbench behind you. I remember seeing it when we did a quick inventory of this place two days ago."
"I can't believe it's just been two days. It almost feels like weeks," Emma says as she puffs up her cheeks. "Okay let's just do this then?" She grabs the blowtorch from the counter next to the workbench and hands it over to Regina. "How are you holding up by the way? You looked like you had taken a serious beating out there."
"I'm having some rather serious anger issues right now, if you must know. I think this might actually be therapeutic in a way."
"That's... just disturbing, Regina," Emma mutters darkly. "Even for your standards."
"Well... I am the Evil Queen, remember?"
With that statement Regina flicks her wrist and the fabric covering the creature flies off. Emma lets out a little gasp at seeing the hideously contorted face of something she presumed was once a human being. The thing's face was ashen, and it's mouth was larger than a human's. The eyes were a pale orange hue, and they almost appeared to be glowing. It blinked owlishly for a few seconds before tilting his head to study his captors. An evil smirk widened his mouth even more and revealed a glinting row of grotesque teeth. A shiver travels across Emma's spine as she gives the creature in front of her another quick once-over.
"Are you my entertainment?" he asks, a smug look on his face. His voice sounds oddly scratchy as if he had smoked for decades.
"I'd like to think you are ours," Regina responds sweetly. She brandishes the blowtorch and holds it just inches away from the creature's face. It wasn't close enough to harm the being yet, but the warning was clear; they meant business.
"You might as well kill me now, I won't tell you anything."
"We'll see about that," Regina says, eyes narrowing dangerously. She sweeps the torch across the thing's chained hands and smiles at hearing it shriek in pain. "Good to know your kind isn't immune to pain at least. There's a lot more where that came from dear."
Emma tuned it all out as she walked to a far corner of the basement. The whole thing was making her stomach turn and she figured it would be best to let Regina do her thing instead of making a fool out of herself.
She doesn't know how much time has passed when Regina seeks her out again. She looks pale, exhausted and it makes Emma wonder how much of it is because of the day's events taking their toll on her.
"Did you get anything useful out of him?"
"Yes," Regina's response is instantaneous, though the downcast expression on her face already told Emma whatever would follow wasn't going to be good news. "Nothing good I'm afraid. They are here for us, Emma. Everyone else is just collateral damage as far as they are concerned."
"Us.. you mean.." Emma swallows thickly. "Why?"
"Magic. They want you and me, and I figure the Fairies too. It's ironic in a way, they are immune to magic, but they can't go into the broad daylight without it. They, or at least their leader, thinks that by experimenting on people with magic aptitude they might be able to evolve."
"Could they?"
"I don't know," Regina admits as she wrings her hands. "I don't know these...creatures, they are different than us. Certainly they are able to turn humans into one of them, so who knows what else they are capable of."
"So what's the plan?"
"I don't know," Regina admits once more, unable to stop herself from sounding lost and confused. "There might be more... a lot more of them..soon. We can't.."
She's stopped from saying anything more by the door of the basement swinging open with a loud crash against the wall.
"Regina!" Snow's voice rings out frantically. "We need you up there. Blue... I..it's the barrier it's weakening!"
Regina shares a quick glance with Emma before she rushes towards the door. "Just keep an eye on him, and please... don't do anything stupid until I return," she yells over her shoulder as she vanishes from sight.
Emma bites her lips as she hears the consternation coming from the floor above her. She knows Regina will likely be able to handle this just fine by herself, but it still takes her every ounce of willpower to not rush up the stairs to assure for herself everything was okay.
It takes her a few long minutes of staring aimlessly at the wall and listening to the constant moaning and whimpering coming from a few feet away for her to face the creature once more.
He chokes out a laugh when he sees Emma walking towards him. His blood-streaked and badly burned face contorting into a smug look. "Your time is running out, you know."
"So is yours," Emma shoots back. She angles her face a little closer to him, her eyes boring into his faintly glowing orange ones. "I'm not afraid of you."
"You should be." He spits at her then and Emma takes an involuntary step backwards, one hand wiping the bloody spittle away from her cheek.
"You see that?" he continues. "You know what our blood does to you? When your kind is dead it will turn you into us. But when you are alive...you'll actually feel it."
Emma gives him a blank stare, wiping the blood away on her pants. "Just shut up," she bites out, turning her back towards him.
"It's slow, and painful. And you'll feel your body adjust gradually, until it becomes the perfect host for us. And all the time you'll be aware of it, until your existence just fades away." He laughs once more, the sound distorted in the cavernous basement. "And you... will be just like us."
Emma feels the implication of his words sinking it's claws into her, but she doesn't reply. She's already engaged the bastard enough as it stood. She's thankful for the silence that lingers after that.
Emma thinks she's been dozing for just a few minutes when Regina returns, but it might have been hours instead. In the darkness of the cold clammy basement she doesn't have a clue about the passage of time anymore.
"Hey," Emma offers up by way of greeting. She immediately notices the way Regina holds on to the wall and counters, seeking support to hold herself up right wherever she can. "What's wrong? What happened?"
"It's the fairydust," Regina explains, her eyes closing as she leans back against the wall. "There's almost nothing left. I had to use a large portion of my magical reserves to reinforce the barrier."
Emma stares at Regina dumbly, unable to wrap her mind around what the former Queen was telling her. "Will it hold?"
"Tonight? Yes."
"Tomorrow?" Emma questions, unable to mask her fear at what the answer would be. "How much dust is left exactly?" she asks when Regina doesn't meet her eyes.
"There's..." Regina hesitates. She doesn't have the heart to voice that there was a chance the barrier would fall tomorrow, or the night after that at the latest. She lowers her head into her hands, trying not to succumb to the bone-deep weariness that was threatening to take a hold of her body. "The fairies should have enough for tomorrow." It's not exactly a lie at least. She could only hope Emma would leave it at that.
"Regina..." Emma can feel her eyes filling with tears she's refusing to shed. Just how much time did they have left? If the barrier would fall...
"We'll think of something Miss Swan," Regina responds. Her mind is too clouded by how tired she is to say anything more comforting. Truth was that she was drawing a blank right now on what options they had left. Right now she could think of none.
Her legs almost give out as she tries to move away from the wall and it's only Emma's quick steadying grasp of her arms which stops her from colliding with the floor in a most unpleasant way.
"Come on, let's get you tucked in Your Highness, you really need to recharge your batteries. The basement-floor isn't exactly a comfortable place to sleep, and there's no way I'm going to carry your sleeping form up the stairs."
"Hmmm."
The fact that Regina wasn't even trying to protest told Emma enough about the state she was in. She drops Regina off in a secluded and unoccupied room. It only held a large couch, but it would have to do. Most bedrooms were shared by multiple people and Emma knew Regina could use as much undisturbed sleep as possible.
She also knows she could use some sleep herself, but Regina's fairydust bombshell was still echoing around in her brains. As quiet as she can, she makes her way back down the stairs and observes the creature hanging from the chains. From where she's standing, half obscured by the darkness in the room, he looks to be resting. Almost looks peaceful, his features unblemished by the demon within that took control whenever he was awake. It's misleading she knows. If it wasn't for the magically reinforced chains he would have been loose a long time ago and likely killed every single one of them in the process.
Emma's eyes settle on the open wound on his forehead just above one of his dark bushy eyebrows. She watches the steady flow of blood that trickles down his cheek, clinging momentarily to his chin before dropping into the small puddle at his feet.
She can't shake what he told her. She can't ignore the truth of the rapidly declining chances of anyone making it out of this alive, any longer either. None of them would, except for Ruby, she thinks. Because of her nearly inhuman strength she was almost as strong as them.
Almost.
And Emma realizes then with a starting clarity, that there just might be a way out after all.
She stares at the blood trickling down the creature's face for a long time afterwards.
-x-x-x-
Regina wakes up to a familiar voice talking to her. She can't place it yet, but she can feel two small hands on her face trying to shake her awake.
"Hrmmh," she lets out, her eyes blinking against the blinding light that assaults her. She's completely disorientated and it takes a long moment for the fog in her head to clear up enough for her to become more aware of her surroundings.
"Mom? Please wake up!" She connects the dots then. Henry. "Please, you have to wake up," he yells out, sounding more frantic than she's ever heard before.
"Henry?" she questions, as she groggily moves her body into a reclining position against the couch pillows. "What is it?"
"It's Emma, she..I.." his voice trails off, and Regina finally manages to focus enough to take in his tear-streaked face.
"Slow down sweetheart, just tell me what happened."
"She's gone. S-she woke me a few hours ago, told me to tell you a few things, but I was too sleepy, I didn't...I didn't know," he mumbles out, sniffling. "She took grandpa's sword with her."
Regina immediately bolts up right, ignoring her protesting stiff muscles. She feels a little anger mix with her rising anxiety. But she doesn't voice her suspicions of where she thinks Emma went to her son. He was already out of his mind with worry as it stood, Regina didn't want to add to anymore to that. "What did she tell you Henry?"
"That you weren't evil, and that I should make it up with you. That you... loved me very much."
Regina can't stop tears of her own from rolling down her cheeks. Of course Emma told him that. Always the White Knight. Always the saviour. "I do love you very much Henry," Regina tells him, enveloping him into a tight hug. She doesn't know what else to say to him and settles on pressing a few kisses on the crown of his head.
Her eyes drift from the boy in her arms to the clock on the wall and her eyes widen in shock almost instantly. Had she really slept that long? Her heart starts to beat double time as she thinks of how many hours there are left until the day breaks again.
"Henry, what about the barrier, did the fairies..?"
"Mary Margaret said they reinforced it again, but those things didn't come this night mom," he says, his face scrunching up in confusion at his own words. "Why didn't they? Did Emma.."
"It's okay Henry, don't worry about it right now all right? Can you do something for me?" When he nods, she swallows around the sudden lump in her throat and prays she's doing the right thing. "Tell Sno...your grandparents to keep everyone inside until it's light again at least okay? No one is to take a step beyond the barrier."
"What are you going to do?"
Regina averts her eyes away from his inquisitive gaze. Sometimes he reminded her way too much of his birth-mother when he got this too-wise look for his age, on his face. "I need to do something, please, just do as I ask? I'll be back in a few hours, I promise."
At his wordless nod she shares a bittersweet smile with him and places one last kiss on his forehead before she makes way for the back entrance of the convent. No one has to know where she goes, and she trusts Henry enough to not tell anyone or to follow after her. Regina can feel an acute sense of dread settle in the pit of her stomach at the knowledge of what she might find out there, and she doesn't want him to be present when she does.
Regina stops just in front of the barrier and peers into the darkness that stretches out in front of her. She absentmindedly takes note of the edges of the horizon already brightening with the looming daybreak.
"It's a little weaker I think," a voice rings out from a few bushes to the side of the convent.
"Emma.." Regina gasps out her name.
"But it's still surprisingly strong, I can't breach it. Well at least, not yet. It's a little ironic don't you think? I wanted to say goodbye to my parents, but I guess maybe I shouldn't. Not like this," Emma whispers the last words even as she approaches the barrier and touches it with one of her hands. An invisible force stops her and Regina watches helplessly as the magic sparks off Emma's hand.
"What did you do?" Regina questions, as she takes in the other woman's appearance. Emma still looks mostly like herself, but there's the smallest hints of orange in her eyes that burns brightly in the darkness of the night. "Damnit Emma, what the hell did you do?!"
"What I had to," Emma yells out, her fist impacting on the barrier in front of her. She yanks it back right after, hissing in pain. "You would have done the same. I got most of them you know? Even got their leader I think. He had this glowing orb on him that I destroyed, I figure it was how he might have called more of their kind. Though I destroyed David's sword in the process, I'm sure he's going to love that one."
"Emma," Regina whispers softly. She reaches out with one hand, but retracts it before it can penetrate the barrier. A few stray tears make their way down her cheeks as she bites back a sob. "Damnit," she grounds out. "Why?"
"Why? I could ask you the same thing... why aren't you more happy?" Emma asks, her eyes glowing a little brighter for a second as she stares at Regina. "I saved everyone."
"Except yourself."
"Can't have everything."
"That isn't funny Emma, God." Regina shakes her head and steps through the barrier finally. "Maybe we can fix this. I could try to find a way to revert you back, it might take time but.."
"No," Emma says vehemently. She steps into Regina's personal space and reaches out with one of her hands. A searing lance of pain strikes her somewhere in her guts and she winces. It was getting worse. There wouldn't be much time left. She stops her hand just in front of Regina's face, waiting to see if the other woman would let her or would pull away. She lets out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding when Regina stands her ground, eyes trained on Emma's own. Emma traces Regina's cheek slowly, reverently, just like she had a few days ago. The thought that this would be the last time hits her right there and then. She can't stop the tears from welling up with the thought.
"It wouldn't be me. I would be like that guy in the basement of the convent. I would be like them. A monster in a cage. I don't want it to be like that Regina, please, you have to understand."
"But with magic we could.."
"I'll be immune to magic remember?" Emma smiles sadly as she lets her hand fall away and takes a step back. Creating some distance between them. "I've already made my peace with this Regina. I'd rather be dead than live like them, like a monster."
"Don't..d-don't say that," Regina chokes out. "There's still time. Henry.."
Emma's eyes flash dangerously and she steels her jaw at the mention of their son's name. "I said goodbye already, so please, don't bring him up. At least he'll be safe now. All of you will be. I couldn't..." Emma casts her eyes down, wipes a few tears away from her cheeks. "You saw what they did to Neal, to Archie, that would've been all of our fates Regina. Henry, my parents, everyone would've been dead and they would've taken us and probably the fairies alive, experimented on us until we became just like them. I just couldn't let that happen. Why can't you accept that?"
"I.." Regina felt the words gets stuck in her throat. How the hell could she explain that she couldn't imagine a future without Emma in it. How could she explain that after all these weeks and months of growing closer, this wasn't the ending she envisioned for them. How could she explain her heart breaking with every breath she took, every second that ticked away to the inevitable. To the sunrise she wishes so very much at that moment, would never take place.
Emma wants to reach out to Regina upon seeing the devastated expression on her face, when a new wave of pain completely overwhelms all of her senses at once. She howls in agony and doubles over, sagging to her knees. Her hands dig into the hard-packed earth, desperate for some relief from the pain.
Regina is at her side within a second, feeling out of her mind with worry. "Emma what's wrong? What can I do to help?!" Regina cries out as she hesitantly reaches out towards the body wracked by pain.
"Uhnf," Emma gasps out, feeling her stomach contract painfully. Her guts felt on fire, and it took her all of her willpower to focus on Regina's frantic voice calling out to her. "H-how much, magic, do you...have left," she mutters in between her agonized whimpers.
"A fair amount I think," Regina answers as she supports Emma as she tries to stand up again. "Why? What are you thinking?"
"One last favor. Take me to the pier? If I can only see one more sunrise I want it to be there."
"Emma..." The sound is more of a choked off sob than anything else.
"Please?" Emma begs. "For me. I-I want it to be there. With you."
Regina wordlessly nods, hots tears scalding down her cheeks. She grabs hold of both of Emma's hands and closes her eyes, focusing on where she wants to take them. There's a tingling sensation on every bit of her skin that touches Emma's and Regina realizes she'll never experience that again either. The acute sense of loss that hits her then almost makes her magic stall while they are still teleporting. But to Regina's relief they materialize on the hard wooden boards of the pier a moment later.
Almost immediately when they arrive Emma collapses into a violently shaking heap again. This time Regina doesn't think twice about it and gathers her up into her arms, letting Emma's head rest against her shoulders as she continues to be wracked by waves of pain rippling through her body.
"I didn't think it would be like this, you know?" Emma says softly after the pain subsides a little. She reaches upwards with one of her hands and brushes a few stray locks of hair hanging in front of Regina's eyes behind her ears.
"What did you imagine?" Regina wonders out loud as she stares into fiery orange eyes staring up at her. The sight is hypnotizing where it should be scaring her. She knows it won't be too much longer now before Emma turns completely. Her eyes catch on the horizon, at the first signs of the sun rising and doubt clouds her mind once more.
"Something a bit more romantic, I dunno..." Emma quirks a smile at the dumbfounded look on Regina's face. "A fancy dinner in some intimate setting, candles, some music to set the mood. You know, the works."
"For what exactly?"
"Admitting I've been in love with you for a long time now."
"Emma.." Regina whispers into the halo of blonde hair surrounding Emma's face.
Emma casts her eyes down to the dirty wooden boards of the pier then flicks them to the sea. To the myriad of oranges and yellows in the sky, marking the start of another day. "I just thought you should know. I can't..without.." Emma trembles as she speaks. There isn't much time left, and she still has so much more to say. "It's important to me. You are important to me. You always were, even when we didn't get along and I-I kept screwing up my courage to tell you how I really felt."
"You shouldn't..." Regina finally says after a moment has passed.
"Shouldn't what?"
"Love me."
"Don't say that." Emma props herself up a little in Regina's arms and grasps her chin. "Just don't. You deserve to be loved. The woman I've come to know over the past couple of months is worthy to be loved. You just have to let others see that person too."
"I didn't think it would be like this either," Regina admits after a moment. She tilts forward and brushes their lips together for the first time. And the last time. Regina swears there's the hints of something magical where their lips touch, a spark of something that would've been great. In another lifetime. They part again a second later, their breaths mingling together as they stare into each other's eyes.
Regina chokes back a sob when the first rays of light hit the foot of the pier. "I don't know how to do this without you," she echoes Emma's earlier confession.
"You won't need to. I'll always be here, in a way."
"Isn't that a little cliche?" Regina manages to joke while tears slide along her cheeks unchecked.
"Only if it isn't true," Emma says,, sliding one her fingers across Regina's trembling bottom-lip. "Don't let me go please," she asks softly. They both knew she wasn't just talking about Regina holding her in her arms.
"I won't."
Emma averts her gaze when the light hits her eyes, almost blinding her with its intensity. The burning sensation starts soon after that and she hides her head into Regina's chest, hissing at the feel of her skin flaking away.
"I-I can't feel...A-are you...h-holding me?"
"Always," Regina whispers to her, placing a kiss on the crown of her head. "Always Emma."
She squeezes her eyes tightly shut when Emma starts to scream out in pain a moment later. And then there's just the silence that follows in it's wake. The weight in her arms grow lighter and lighter until it feels like it's barely there at all anymore.
When she opens her eyes again she can do nothing but watch numbly as the ashes slowly scatter in the wind.
And looking down at the last handful of ashes slipping through her fingers, time runs out.
-x-x-x-