A big thank you to Erin! Her ideas were awesome and very helpful also for making every chapter of this fanfiction looks like I know English very well, which I totally don't :D You rock, girl!
In your opinion what is the thing that people want most I am not talking about the thousands of things that come to a person's mind every time they think about what they need. No, I amnot talking about new socks, lights for the bathroom or a new phone. Nor a new computer, or a holiday to another country… I am talking about that thing that everyone is trying to reach, even if they haven't realized it yet.
When you think about it, one pretty simple word could shade everything else… A word, for which you would give everything… just a word… Happiness.
Who would've thought that in a moment like this, surrounded by burning furniture and stifling smoke, Regina's mind will be filled with those kinds of thoughts. Maybe it was true what people said, that when a person is face to face with death, their whole life passes in front of their eyes. They remember all of the things they didn't do, all of the wasted possibilities and the good moments with the people they loved.
Actually in Regina's thoughts, next to the word happiness, was hanging one name in particular – Daniel. Well, she definitely hadn't imagined death like this, to be burned alive in her own apartment. How ironic, a few hours before, in her closing speech, she had mentioned Joan of Arc and now her body was going to feel a similar agony. But maybe, the smoke was going to choke her before the flames got the chance to caress her. Actually it didn't matter how was she going to get to the end, what did matter was that soon she was going to be with Daniel. They were going to be together, and totally happy, like before.
Like before…
Somewhere in her mind the voice of her mother didn't want to get her peace. "What are you doing, Regina? Stand up and get out of this apartment. Are you just going to die like you're nothing? I haven't raised my daughter to be a pathetic human being. Fight for yourself, Regina. Fight for yourself, come on, be strong, Regina!"
"I'm tired of being strong, mother. I'm tired of always trying to be the best. I'm tired of being miserable. Now I have a chance to be happy again, to not feel so empty. I have a chance to be with Daniel again. So leave me alone."
"I am your mother and I know what is best for you, Regina. Stop fooling around laying on this floor and show that the Mills family never give up, no matter the circumstances."
"Not this time, mother. Not this time..."
...
Sitting at the desk, waiting for the woman to finish with gathering her stuff, Henry's thoughts were roaming like a ball on a football playground. But yet, one specific one was standing out from the others.
"Aunty MM, what is a soulmate?" Henry asked curiously.
Mary Margaret who was pretty much used to any kind of questions that little toddlers had, was a little taken aback by this particular one. She thought for a few seconds, trying to decide what the best way to explain the meaning of this word to the 5 year old boy was. "Almost 6!" Henry's voice echoed in the woman's mind, bringing a smile to her face.
"A soulmate, Henry, is… A person with whom you have an immediate connection with, the moment you meet, a connection so strong that you are drawn to them in a way you have never experienced before… "
The little boy's face was pure seriousness, while he was absorbing the woman's words, "Aunty MM, I think that there is something wrong with me…"
"Why do you think that, Henry?" Mary Margaret asked worriedly, getting closer to the boy.
"Because, I think my soulmate is chocolate chip cookies…", Henry answered with a little pout, "Every time I see them I feel that kind of a connection…"
Mary Margaret exhaled loudly, barely keeping her laugh at bay. The cuteness of this little boy was endless. "No sweetie, there is nothing wrong with you, I feel that way about chocolate cake."
"Oh, really…" asked the boy excitedly "I like chocolate cake, too... but not as much as cookies"
"Yes, Henry, really…" the woman smiled, gently tousling the little boy's hair.
"I know which's momma's soulmate…" the toddler said quietly like it was a big secret.
"Really…" Mary Margaret whispered, looking over her shoulder to make sure that no one was there, "Do you want to share?"
The boy thought for a few seconds and then nodded waving with his hands for the woman to get closer to him. And when she did, he whispered the secret into her ear.
Mary Margaret couldn't hold it in this time and chuckled, but almost immediately so as not to offend the boy said "You're right, Henry. You're mother does have a strong connection with grilled cheese."
The toddler's face was lightened by a big proud smile. He was happy with himself.
"Come on, Henry, time to get home."
…..
A car exploded just when the firefighters got there. The whole building was on fire. It was like a giant burning beast.
"WOW!" exclaimed Graham getting out of the fire truck. "This is bad, bad, bad…"
"Let's go, let's go…", David shouted and started giving orders, "Graham, go to the roof and make an opening for the fire. Swan and Jones, you two to the top floor and work your way down. Hood, go to the ladder escape and tell us what we're looking at!"
"Keep moving people…" Jones said to the people who were coming out of the building, while he and Swan were forcing their way through it.
"Swan, go to the second floor, I'm going to check the first", the man said.
"Fire department! Is anybody here?" Jones shouted breaking the first door. He waited for a few seconds, scanning the place with his eyes quickly and went to the next door.
When he was at the last door of the floor, "Fire department! Is anybody here!", a child's scream came from the inside and Jones went for it. He found a little girl hiding under her parent's bed "Come on, kid. Everything will be alright, let's get you out of here!"
"Swan, how is it going with you?" he asked into the portable radio, while carrying the child.
"One more to go…" came the woman's voice.
"I found a little girl…" the man informed her, "I am going out."
"Kids need fresh air, coming right up!" the woman said moving to the last door. "Fire department! Is anybody here?"
The woman could barely see anything, the smoke was like a fog and the flames were everywhere. She tried again, asking if somebody was there, but the only sounds were cracking flames. Just when she was going to leave, something got her attention. A woman was lying on the floor.
"Jones!" she shouted into the radio "I found a woman here…"
Swan went into the apartment and saw that the woman's leg was under a shelf. Luckily for the firefighter the flames hadn't reached the shelf yet, so she managed to pull it off of the woman's leg and just when she was going to take the woman into her arms and get the hell out of the apartment, a burning rafter fell to the floor and blocked the front door.
"Shit!" the woman cursed under her breath, "Jones, little help here!" she said into the radio.
"Give me a minute, Swan!" came the man's voice.
But she didn't have time, another wave of flames came from behind the two women.
"Shit, shit, shit!" exclaimed the firefighter, "I don't have a minute, damn it!"
She pull off her gear coat (something that very much wasn't allowed) and while murmuring to herself "I hope you don't too weight much, lady!" she took the unconscious woman and haled her up on her shoulder. With her other hand she threw the gear coat over the rafter and with "It's now or never!" she jumped over the rafter and got out of the apartment.
"Swan, couldn't you just have waited like I told you to!" said Jones, who just got there.
"I never listen to you, Jones, you know that!" the woman chuckled, "Come on let's get out of here!"
The man just rolled his eyes and murmuring to himself "UGH, women!" followed his co-worker down the stairs to the exit of the building.
If you enjoy this story in any way at all, please leave a review and let me know :)