Have some Swan Queen.
Canon up to 3x03: Quite a Common Fairy
Regina couldn't say this adventure – and she was using the word extremely lightly – in Neverland was the worst she's ever experienced, she also couldn't say she was really enjoying it. Enjoying it would imply she was garnering some sort of pleasure from it, and traipsing around through a dangerous forest with a large group of people who wouldn't be opposed to her head on a platter wasn't exactly her idea of a good time.
The assimilation of Tinkerbell into their motley crew could either be a good thing or a bad thing, but she felt comfortable enough to speak at least somewhat freely with her, which was a definite plus.
So when the tree came crashing down in the midst of their group, the first person she searched out was Tink. She spotted her quickly enough, looking frazzled but safe, and over her shoulder, Regina also saw Emma grabbing blindly for a handhold and pulling herself to her feet.
A cursory glance revealed no one else on their side of the tree, and she had to admit, of all the idiots that made up their farce of a rescue team, Tinkerbell and Emma Swan were the two she could actually stand without stifling some serious murderous urges. Maybe Hook's Lady Luck didn't completely hate her after all, just frowned deeply at her the majority of the time.
"You okay?" Emma called, and Regina picked herself up off the forest floor and began dusting herself off as an answer. She could all but see Emma roll her eyes at her.
Tink muttered something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like curses Regina had only heard from Hook, and she turned away to hide a smirk as Emma sighed audibly. Obviously, she wasn't exactly thrilled to be stuck with them.
And they're definitely stuck, because Regina had felt a barrier surge up from the tree when it had fallen, and the three of them were trapped on the same side. The smell seemed vaguely familiar, but she couldn't quite recall where she had smelled it before.
She was still trying to place it when there was another loud crash, and Regina instinctively flung herself back from the sound and landed in a heap back on the dirt. Another tree had fallen, and this one had been stopped by the barrier, its limbs pressing against the invisible wall. The magic that had uprooted it smelled the same as the barrier.
"Disgusting," she mumbled, hating the scent of it in her mouth.
"Great," she heard Emma say dryly. "Now what?"
There was a strained creaking, and Tinkerbell emerged from the tangle of branches she'd fallen into. "We're not getting across that tree, that's for sure."
Emma sighed and reached up to card a hand through her hair, but she looked more annoyed than angry. Regina realized why a moment before Emma spoke again, her voice low with aggravation. "Hook's still got the damn map."
Funny that her parents and her apparent not-boyfriend were stuck together on the opposite side of the tree, and Emma was more worried about the stupid map that may or may not even be useful anymore. Regina stood up again and brushed a few twigs out of her hair.
"If I could suggest a plan without it being dismissed without a second thought," Regina said, with more than a hint of bitterness; Emma threw her an exasperated look but motioned for her to continue. "We follow the barrier until we find a weak spot that I can successfully break through. The barrier is strongest here, likely Pan's way of trying to separate us."
"How do you figure it's Pan?" Emma asked.
"You smell that?" Emma lifted her head and sniffed, then grimaced. "Magic always has a scent and each person's magic smell differently. This is the same smell that that enchanted map was giving off when it was first given to us."
Emma frowned; she looked thoughtful and didn't seem to immediately have dismissed Regina as her parents and Hook had been doing since they'd set off from Storybrooke. She opened her mouth and tasted the scent again, and she then seemed to reach a conclusion.
"All right," she said, and she sounded tired again. "Lead the way, Regina."
The tree stretched on for several meters, and once they reached the end of it, the three of them paused for a moment to attempt to see the other half of their group. They were nowhere to be seen however, and no matter how loudly Emma called, no one responded.
"I expect it's soundproofed," Regina remarked, and Emma glared at her.
"You couldn't say that before I spent the last ten minutes yelling?"
Regina shrugged. "It was a theory, dear, and you've just proven it." She fully expected a dirty look in response, and she wasn't disappointed.
It's tough going after that; the forest seemed to have turned against them, doing everything it could to dissuade them. The vines had grown and twisted together, and it took the combined efforts of Regina and Emma to clear a path. Tinkerbell trailed behind them in silence.
Between the three of them, they were making enough noise for a small cavalry, so when the large creature came barreling out of the trees with a fierce bellow, she'd be lying if she said she was taken by surprise. She had never been particularly adept at white magic – maybe she could have been if things had gone differently – so the best shield she could produce before they were trampled into the ground was a large wall of fire.
The flames burst up in front of them, and the beast roared as it crashed into the wall. As it backed away, Emma's hands fumbled with the handle of her sword. She drew it just as the creature barreled through the flames and roared at them.
It swiped at them, and Regina yanked Emma back with her magic and just out of its reach. The thing's massive paw slashed through the air where Emma had just been.
Regina downed a tree in an attempt to crush the creature, but it easily broke the tree in half and continued advancing toward them, teeth bared and a low growl rumbling from its throat. Each step it took, Regina mirrored backward, eyes wide and hands up as she tried to place the creature.
The thing was massive, almost three feet taller than she was and heavily muscled, and covered with a thick russet fur. Its arms hung low, and long, yellow claws scraped furrows into the ground as it crept toward Regina, and as it loomed closer, its putrid scent made her gag.
She recalled stories she'd heard as a child of a large ape-like creature that had once lived in the Enchanted Forest and fed on shepherds' sheep and cows. The stories had turned to legends after a short time, and most people assumed that a shepherd had miss-seen what had killed his animals.
However, it wasn't a myth, because it was staring down Regina now, and it looked angry.
There was a loud cry from behind her, and Emma flew by, sword raised. She swung it down hard, only for it to glance off the creature's fur without leaving behind so much as a scratch. Emma swore loudly, and went sprawling once more as the thing's claws caught her stomach.
"What is that thing?" Tink squeaked as Regina swallowed thickly and tried to come up with a plan.
"A mapinguari," Regina answered grimly. "Supposedly a figment of some poor man's imagination."
"Seems pretty real to me," Emma groaned from the ground. She started to get back to her feet, and Regina absentmindedly dropped a hand to her. With a bit of leverage from her sword, Emma grabbed her hand and allowed Regina to help her to her feet. "Ideas, Your Majesty?"
Regina flinched at the title and quickly dropped Emma's hand. "Aim for its face," she suggested. "It might not have armor there. I'll grab it, and you attack."
In her peripheral vision, she saw Emma nod and lift her sword. After a moment to collect her strength, Regina reached out with her magic and seized the mapinguari by its head and yanked it to the ground. A loud crash echoed as it smacked into the dirt, and she extended her grip to the creature's thrashing limbs as Emma charged from beside her.
The mapinguari screeched as Emma's blade sliced through the flesh of its face. It fought against Regina's grip for a few moments before she released it, and it struggled to its feet and crashed away through the undergrowth.
When the sounds of its retreat had faded, Emma relaxed, and the tip of her sword dropped to the ground.
"Well done, Miss Swan," Regina said. "I didn't know you had it in you."
Emma let out a sort of strained laughing noise, like she was half-asleep. When Regina looked at her, she blinked and realized that there was blood staining the front of Emma's shirt where the beast's claws had caught her, and as she stared in horror, Emma slumped against her sword where the blade had sunk down into the soil.
"Emma!" Tink cried, hurrying to her side. She hovered over her with an anxious expression, looking unsure of what to do to help. Without any fairy dust, she was unable to do anything.
"I'm okay," Emma said stubbornly, despite the obvious fact that she was anything but. The red stain on the front of her shirt was spreading; she was still bleeding heavily.
The woman was such an idiot sometimes, and it was completely obvious where she'd gotten it from. When Regina told her as much, though, Emma just chuckled quietly and sunk farther to the ground.
"Can you heal her?" Tink asked Regina as Emma slumped against the nearest tree, her free arm wrapped around her stomach.
Regina shook her head. "My magic's useless for healing." Although. She was struck by an idea, and she frowned at Emma. "I have an idea." She turned to Tinkerbell, who was watching her eagerly. "Go gather some firewood; we're probably going to be stuck here for a while."
With a nod, Tink turned and disappeared through the trees. When she had gone, Regina turned back to Emma, who looked to be drifting in and out of consciousness.
"Emma," she said quietly as she knelt down beside her. When she didn't respond, Regina reached out and shook her by the shoulder; Emma groaned but opened her eyes. "My magic can't help, but yours can."
Emma snorted weakly. "What magic? I can't do anything."
"You've never been taught," Regina retorted, and Emma narrowed her eyes at her. "So I'm going to teach you."
She grabbed Emma's hand and set it over the wound. "Just focus. Recall what you felt when you opened the portal to the Enchanted Forest through Jefferson's hat."
"I didn't do anything," Emma muttered stubbornly, and Regina scowled.
"I couldn't have opened it without you," she said; Emma gave her an unreadable look. "You can do this. Concentrate."
Emma stared at her for a few more seconds before she looked down at her stomach. She took a deep breath and then made a face like she was trying to lift a car. After a minute, she looked up at Regina with an exasperated expression.
"It's not working," she said petulantly, and Regina resisted the urge to roll her eyes at how much she sounded like Henry when he didn't get his way.
"Making faces at it won't heal it, dear," Regina responded dryly. "You need to concentrate, try to picture it healing." She nodded at Emma's stomach. "Try again."
Emma sighed but did as told, and after a moment, Regina could feel the open wound on Emma's stomach begin to stitch itself shut. It was slow going, however, and Emma stopped after a moment, beads of sweat rolling down her face.
"You make this look easy," she grumbled, and Regina stifled a smile.
"You're doing very well for someone who has never tapped into their magic before, dear. Keep going; you need to close this wound as soon as possible."
With a deep frown, Emma focused again, but the wound was closing even slower now and Emma was sweating profusely with the exertion. She was struggling; her hands were shaking badly.
Regina's instinctual reaction was to take her hand and give Emma her own magic, but Emma's magic was light and hers was not. She wasn't sure what would happen when they combined.
The hand that Emma had hovering over her wound turned slightly, and Regina's eyes focused on the small flower tattoo on her wrist. She hadn't noticed it before, or maybe she had but her recent reunion with Tinkerbell had only just jogged her memory.
Despite never having seen her father's royal crest, the tattoo on Emma's wrist was the same as Charming's crest from the Enchanted Forest. The same crest that also had a – Regina sucked in a sharp breath at the realization and reached out to grab Emma's wrist without thinking about it.
In a few seconds, Emma's wound had completely closed from the effects of their combined magic, and it took Regina a few moments to realize that she had a tight grip on Emma's wrist. She immediately released her like she'd been burned but couldn't stop herself from continuing to stare at the tattoo.
"Thanks," Emma said quietly, looking at Regina curiously.
"Um, yes, of course." Regina stood up and absentmindedly brushed off her clothes, pointedly avoiding meeting Emma's probing eyes.
Before Emma could say anything, luckily, Tinkerbell reappeared, an armful of wood in her arms. Emma made to stand up and held her, but she let out a pained cry and clutched at her stomach. They'd managed to close the wound, but it was apparently still painful.
"Stay there," Regina told her, and Emma frowned but leaned back against the trunk of the tree as Tink gracelessly dropped her armful of wood a few feet from them.
It was easy enough for Regina to light the fire, and once she had, Tinkerball asked what had happened in her absence. In answer, Emma lifted the hem of her shirt, revealing what had until recently been a gaping wound but was now sewn shut like it had been done by a doctor. That must have been why it still caused pain; they hadn't been able to make the wound disappear, just closed it.
"How do you feel, Emma?" Tink asked, and Emma simply shrugged with a grimace in response.
A short while later, Emma had fallen asleep hunched over with her head on her knees, and Regina was staring into the fire, lost in thought.
"What are you thinking so hard about?"
Regina blinked and looked over at Tink, who was frowning at her. For a moment, Regina considered not telling her, but then she realized how stupid that would be. Tinkerbell was the one who had told her about her supposed soul mate in the first place; if she was going to talk to anyone, it would be her.
"Is it possible that when you used that fairy dust, we found the wrong person?"
Tinkerbell's frown deepened. "I'm not sure. I suppose it could have been; fairy dust doesn't always work like it's supposed to. Why do you ask?"
"I think that maybe we took the meaning too literally."
"Explain."
Regina sighed and reached up to rub at her forehead. She had had a headache since she had mixed her magic with Emma's again, and it felt like her brain was scrambling. "We assumed that we were looking for a tattoo of an actual lion."
"And you think otherwise," Tinkerbell said, leaning forward eagerly with a wide grin. "Who, then?"
"Do you remember King George's royal crest?"
Tink frowned and hesitantly nodded. "You're not about to say you think your soul mate is Prince James, are you?" she asked dryly, and Regina felt nauseous at the very thought.
"Not a chance," she replied with a grimace. "I set my sights higher than idiots.
"Glad to hear. So who do you mean?"
Regina hesitated. Maybe she was reading too much into this, or it was simply wishful thinking, seeing what she wanted to see. Yes, magic had a nasty habit of not doing exactly what its caster desired, but that didn't mean that it had this time.
"Regina," Tink prompted gently, and Regina shook herself.
"Emma has a tattoo on the inside of her wrist," she finally said reluctantly. "It's of one of the flowers on Charming's royal crest."
It was like Tinkerbell had been hit in the head. She jolted up straight, and her eyes flew to where Emma was curled at the base of the tree. "The crest–"
Regina nodded. "Has a lion in the center, yes."
"Holy shit. So are you going to tell her?"
"Are you insane?" Regina snapped, and then recalled what had happened the last time she'd been in this situation and sighed. "Even if I wanted to, now isn't exactly the best time. And what would I say: 'Hey Emma, it turns out your tattoo means that you're my soul mate! Sorry to ruin your life again!'"
She didn't realize how loud she'd gotten until Emma grunted in her sleep. Regina quickly fell silent, watching anxiously, but Emma didn't seem to have woken.
"I've already ruined her life enough," Regina added quietly, heading off whatever Tink so obviously wanted to say. "I'm not going to do it again."
Tinkerbell gave an exasperated sigh but didn't argue, just fixed her with a sympathetic look.
/
When Emma woke a while later, they set off again; Emma winced with every step but managed to keep a steady pace. Against her better instincts, Regina stayed close by in case she stumbled; Emma had shot her a disgruntled look the first time she'd reached out to catch her when she'd tripped over a tree root but hadn't complained otherwise.
As Tinkerbell was leading the way and struggling through a thick bunch of vines, Emma hesitantly set a hand on Regina's bicep. "Hey," she said quietly, and Regina glanced over at her with a frown. "Um." Emma reached up and rubbed at the back of her neck, looking nervous. "Do you think that maybe you could teach me to use my magic while we're here? I think it would be useful if you weren't the only one able to use it."
"You would trust me to teach you?" Regina asked incredulously.
Emma shrugged, and she looked rather uncomfortable now. "Well, I don't really have many options to choose from, but yeah, I do. My parents," she grimaced at the word, "might not, though."
"It's a good thing I haven't cared about their opinions in years, then," Regina replied darkly, and Emma gave a small smirk that Regina found herself returning.
For a moment, the two of them smiled at each other. Then, Emma opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, Tink's voice yelled, "Are you two coming or not?"
She didn't sound particularly angry, but nevertheless, the two of them hurried off after her. As they were pushing through the undergrowth, Emma spoke again, her voice so quiet Regina almost missed it.
"You didn't ruin my life, Regina."
Regina whirled to face her, eyes wide, but Emma was staring at the ground, and her cheeks looked pink. As Regina opened her mouth, unsure of what to say but feeling the need to say something, Emma hunched her shoulders and stepped past her.