A/N- Soo...while writing Chapter 6 of Follow Her, Protect Her, this idea that's been haunting me for a month or two now has actually come to light. I started writing, and...Yeah, couldn't stop. As always, let me know what you think! And to my followers, stay tuned for Chapter 6 of FHPH :)
It was a bright, sunny day at the Storybrooke stables.
Clear skies, beautiful wisp of a breeze, and a scenery of freshly bloomed flowers in time for the beginning of Spring.
It was appropriate enough for a family picnic; two parents, their daughter, and their grandson in tow.
Horses neighed as the small boy reached his hand out, a cube of sugar placed in palm.
With the help of his grandfather, the boy mounted the horse selected for him, hands shaking slightly as he grabbed the reins.
"Now, Henry, if you show him fear he can't trust you. And if he can't trust you, then the experience won't go so well for horse or rider."
"Got it, grandpa," Henry smiled, sitting up straight, ready to tackle on his first lesson.
But it abruptly stopped with a screech that sounded like the scratching of a disk on a record player.
"Miss Swan?!"
"Oh no..." The blonde video taping the whole thing groaned, pressing the record button on the camera to turn it off; avoiding any embarrassing moments shown on the video starring her son.
"What the hell are you doing with my son?! Are you trying to kill him? Your harebrained mother knows the dangers of riding a horse without proper training. Yet she'd allow an eleven-year-old to do it, thinking the results to go oh so candidly, am I right Snow?"
The pixie-haired woman rolled her eyes, at the former Evil Queen, knowing how gruff the woman could be at times.
The blonde sensed the tension, which she couldn't have in the air for long if they were to get back to the activity at hand.
"Regina, don't worry about the kid. He's fine. Look, if it makes you feel better, why don't you show him how its done? Apparently you were some kind of motorist back in your days, weren't you?" Emma grinned, but the brunette narrowed her eyes at the idiot.
"Cars have motorists, Miss Swan. Horses have handlers, or riders. But of course I wouln't expect someone with the brain of a goldfish to understand anything about the fine beauty of a horse."
Annnd...there she goes with the insults...the blonde quickly ignored the woman, walking over to one of the horses, grinning up at the creature.
"C'mon, Regina. Unless you're chicken? Did you lose all of your skill in your old age?"
"Excuse me? I'll show you old, you dimwit," glaring at the woman, but breathing out her excess rage as she changed her fuck-me heels into riding boots, the brunette mounted the horse, glancing at her son.
"Henry, watch me. This is how to truly ride a horse."
She hadn't experienced it in so long that when the horse took off, the thrill caused her heart to leap into her chest.
She was finally free, and the feeling lingered all the way down to her bones.
This is what the young girl who had happiness and naiveté deemed as independence.
When the horse had traveled too far a distance, she turned around and started to come back, seeing her son on the horizon, shouting and cheering "go Mom!" something that had not only warmed her heart, but distracted her for a moment.
And that distraction led to her foot slipping, kicking the horse on its side resulting in it bucking back out of pain.
Regina slid down the horse as he spiraled out of control, whinnying in complete shock.
The sound pierced Emma Swan's ears from afar as she looked up from her conversation with Henry to see a horrific sight of obscured restraint coming from Regina.
She didn't think twice.
She didn't have to.
The horse she had created a quick bond with was easily acceptable, as it didn't take much for Emma to jump on its back and rush to save the brunette.
David and Henry cheered her on, but one woman watched in the background, a horror-stricken look upon her face; her heart melting in her chest as a flashback replayed itself through her mind.
She had seen this before...
The tables had been turned now, it appeared.
But one other thing bothered Snow White.
She was clumsy at riding. Always had been; being saved as a child from a horseback incident proved that.
And Charming wasn't exactly the best rider in the world either.
So how-
Her thoughts were cut short as the blonde neared her destination, and she soon found herself cheering her daughter on as well, the ideas spewing through her mind being pushed back momentarily.
That place in her mind where she knew the truth.
"Regina! Hey!" the blonde shouted, a grin forming upon her lips.
"Miss Swan! So nice of you to finally show up! As you can see, I'm in a bit of a bind here!"
Emma rolled her eyes, "really? We have to resort to antics? C'mon, now. I'm trying to save your ass, so slow the damn thing down!"
"Don't you think I would if I could?!" At that point, her grip on the reins slipped, and she started to fall, only to be grabbed and pulled up by the Savior herself.
"You...You saved me...Thank you. You are a rider of considerable skill, Miss Swan." Regina actually smiled at that moment, her hand resting upon Emma's own.
"It's nothing, really...I mean...You're the Mayor and I'm..." she laughed softly, not knowing how else to word it.
"...I'm...me."
What?
Brown orbs gazed into blue-green irises, searching for something incomprehensible to anyone but the brunette.
She had heard those words before...
In a completely different manner than they were spoken now.
My life...it's...well it's far from life as queen...
The shock finally slithered its way to her very being, and Regina finally succumbed to the loss of consciousness.
"Regina!"
Regina...
Regina, can you hear me?
Yes...I...I can hear you.
You have to do it...
You have to live on...
But I can't...
Not without you.
I believe you can.
Let me go, Regina.
And..
Please, don't say it.
And learn to love again...
The woman was jerked awake from her dream, sitting up in bed with a loud gasp.
"Where the hell am I?!" the defensive shout caused padded footsteps to be heard from another room.
"You're awake!" Emma grinned, rushing over to the woman's side, examining the bandage on the right side of her forehead.
"That's some fall you took there, Madame Mayor. Knocked your senses clear out."
"Miss Swan, care to tell me what the hell I'm doing in my own room? And where is Henry?"
"The kid is with my parents. I didn't want him to bother you. I told him you needed rest. You fell of a horse, Regina, don't you remember? I was able to pull you to safety, but when you fainted, you fell off and hit your head. You were bleeding pretty badly. But I said the word 'hospital' and everyone looked at me like I was crazy. So Mary Margaret patched you up and we brought you home."
"You let Snow White 'patch me up'? Are you insane?!" The glared gaze set upon the woman would've turned her to stone if she had the power to do so.
"What's so bad about that?"
"The woman has the mind of an infant! Did her singing birds carry me to my room, or was that the lunk of a man you call your father?"
Emma had enough of the insults, getting up to walk out, but her wrist was soon captured in a vice-grip.
"Please, don't leave...I'm sorry. I just...ugh, I knew it wasn't a good idea to take Henry to the stables. He could've been hurt!"
"Ok, listen, enough about Henry. This isn't about him. This is about us. So, I'm going to lay down a few ground rules with you, because apparently you need some TLC, and I unfortunately am kind enough to put my ass and dignity on the line to do so. My name is Emma. Em-ma. Are you bad at pronunciation? Because if so, I can write it down to help you sound it out."
When the other woman rolled her eyes, she continued.
"Secondly, my parents were nice enough to carry you, Your Unconsciousness, into the damn bedroom and make sure nothing bad happened. So can you ease up on the mocking a little? They don't deserve that."
"Fine. I'll try. Are you happy?"
"Yes. Are you all right? You had quite the fall," Emma pulled up a chair, sitting next to the brunette.
"I'm fine. Thanks to you. How did you even know the proper way to maneuver a horse? Have you had training?"
"It's strange, I've never ridden one before. I guess I saw you were in trouble, and I wanted to save you."
She didn't fail to notice the reddening blush flashing upon Regina's cheeks.
There was tension there.
For as long as the blonde had come to town, she knew the she and the woman in bed had always resorted to dancing around their true feelings.
"Regina?"
Emma watched as the woman turned her face away to block out onlooking eyes. But her hand rested under the brunette's chin, turning her so that they faced each other once more.
"Mis-Emma...Please...D..Don't.."
The blonde leaned forward a bit, their lips only a hairsbreadth apart; they could both feel each other's hot breath on their skin.
"Don't what, Regina?" The woman asked, nearing closer and closer.
Her heart in her throat as she swallowed it back down, the woman moved closer as well, shaking her head.
"Don't stop me..."
She leaned over, finally pressing their lips together when her eyes shot open, overwhelmed with a startling sense.
Her hands pushed on the woman's shoulders, and she gazed into the woman's eyes once again.
"Emma..."
"Regina don't...Please...This is what I've wanted. This is...Beyond the insults, the fighting. Everything...Don't pull away. Please."
Though it was against her wishes, second meeting of their lips forced the both of them to pull away as a flash of white light consumed them, leaving both women speechless.
"What-" But Regina was quickly cut off by a horror-stricken Emma as her hands touched her lips, then touched the brunette.
"I...I need to leave," the blonde whimpered, backing away; a different light seemed to shine in her bluish green eyes.
"Emma, what's wrong? You said you wanted this, why-?"
"Regina, I need to go!"
And with that, she stood up, running out the door, forgetting her promise to care for the brunette in bed.
Mary Margaret was making lunch for Henry, promising him they could visit his mother after Emma came back.
She did not expect her daughter to come rushing through the front door, pinning her to the wall with an angry glare.
"Why?!"
David nearly flew down the stairs, hearing the commotion as he grabbed his grandson and pulled him into another room, going back towards the confrontation.
"Emma, what the hell are you doing?! Get off of your mother!"
"No! Not until she tells me why...You knew, didn't you? All this time, you knew! Could you tell when I was born? Did you think I wouldn't remember?! Answer me!"
Snow's expression changed from shock to understanding as tears rushed down her cheeks.
"Yes...I knew."
"And that's why you tried to keep me away from her? Were you trying to destroy her happiness again?!"
"No, Emma, I...I didn't believe it myself. I never met him. But...There are things about you that yes, remind me of him. And that's how I knew. I didn't want you to get hurt. You know she's evil!"
"Ok, what is going on here? Who is he?" David asked with curiosity.
"You do remember...don't you?"
A voice behind them startled the three people in the room, turning towards a bandaged Regina, purple smoke vanishing at her feet.
"Charming...grab your wife and take yourselves for a walk. I...I need to talk to Miss...to Emma."
"Like hell I will." The man growled, reaching for the gun in his holster, but was soon stopped by his daughter.
"We need to talk, David. I'll...I'll explain later. Or maybe Mom could do that. After all, this wasn't the first time she's kept something from her family."
"Emma, please..." the woman's eyes were on the brink of tears as she was led away by her husband.
"How much do you remember?" the approaching brunette asked, her hands resting on the blonde's cheek.
"Everything...I think I know now why Cora couldn't take my heart."
"Only half of it...You're...You're still a different person, there's still part of your heart in there."
"Is this real? I don't...I don't understand...Everything goes dark after a while."
"I think you know why...I brought you something." Regina pulled a ring out of her pocket, a treasure she held dear to her.
"But its yours...I can't take that from you...Not when...Not when I gave it to you in the first place..."
"So we'll start anew."
Regina leaned over to kiss the woman, but not before staring into those eyes that had captivated her so many moons ago.
Daniel was in there, that much was true, and somehow, some way, he had managed to come back through the person she had never thought would hold his memories.
He had been reincarnated into Emma Swan.
A/N 2- Annnddd that's it! Please be sure to check out my RedBeauty story Follow Her, Protect Her! This is originally, in my mind, a oneshot, HOWEVER, depending on what you guys want, I might, MIGHT be inclined to turn it into something more. Lemme know!