Dark rain clouds ripped light from the sky. The unstoppable force of night drowned everything else. Only endless shadows of grey, a flickering torch, and two pairs of eyes remained. Green with flecks of gold, and brown with traces of blood red, faced off each other. They stood by the edge of the forest. Fog oozed out, sticky and wet, as it searched to extinguish all remnants of warmth.
The green eyes looked amused and bemused. Her lips pursed. Her brow creased. She waved the flamed torch in front of the other woman.
"Don't tell me the all powerful Evil Queen is afraid of a little fog?"
The words stung. Regina visibly winced at the remark but said nothing. Instead she let out a sigh. The air thick with cold.
"Seriously? You're afraid?" Emma asked.
"Me afraid? I see you don't know me at all Miss Swan."
But Emma knew. She could see it. The flicker in the deep brown eyes, the slight twitch on the other woman's upper lip, revealed all. The Queen, Regina Mills, was petrified.
Emma swung back to the forest. "It's just a bit of fog."
"Can't you feel it? It's unnatural. Perhaps imbued with magic," Regina said. Fear laced her thoughts, and seeped into her voice.
It was Emma's turn to sigh.
"We have to try," she said.
"Agreed, but a little caution would not go astray. Like waiting for daylight."
"You want to make camp, here?"
"Yes," Regina replied. Her voice sounded with renewed conviction and authority, and a tinge of her usual sarcasm, "I'm not suggesting we build a fire Miss Swan, hold hands, and sing 'Kumbaya'."
"Sure now?" The smile on Emma's face grew. The look that Regina gave her made chills run down her spine, and forced her smile to falter.
Together they looked for a large tree, a pine or similiar, that would give them shelter from the starting drizzle of rain and the encroaching fog. They found one with a large base that spread out, metres wide, with dry dirt and some tinder underneath. Emma managed to build a small fire. She let Regina light it with her magic. She extinguished the torch and stored it behind them. She sat in front of the smoky fire and watched Regina remove high heeled boots that were incongruous with their plight.
"Can't you summon up a practical pair of hiking boots instead?" She bit back another piece of sarcasm when she saw the red feet, bloody and swollen from two days of hard walking. She leaned forward to try and examine them. "Why didn't you say anything sooner?" Emma's question had a modicum of sympathy and warmth in it.
"It's nothing a bit of rest won't heal," Regina snapped as she shooed Emma away with an irritated hand gesture. She then proceeded to rub her cold soggy feet with cold soggy hands.
"You're joking right?" Emma didn't let Regina's false bravado stop her. She removed the fussing hands with a firm grip.
She touched the raw skin. The other woman tensed and bit back a small cry.
Emma gently felt around the woman's left foot. She inhaled sharply like it was her pain and not the other woman's. "Your ankle, it looks, broken."
"What gave it away, the bone jutting out?" Emma pressed down hard and Regina let the cry escape. Seconds passed as she composed herself, and arched an eyebrow at Emma. "Your powers of observation never cease to amaze me."
"And your stubbornness and stupidity never cease to fuck us all over," Emma snapped.
"Excuse me?" Regina jerked her foot out of Emma's hands. She limped to the other side of the fire in a huff and lay down. Her back to Emma.
"Sorry, sorry Regina. I didn't mean-"
"Goodnight Miss Swan."
"Regina, please-" Emma's voice trailed off. There was no response. She sighed and sat down in front of the fire. She warmed her hands and stayed awake till she heard Regina's breathing alter. Into sleep. An exhausted sleep.
She then lay down herself. She watched the other woman and let her breathing soothe her own.