Save You from Yourself
It was a perfectly executed three pronged attack that eventually brought the Evil Queen to her knees. Even with the enhanced power she had collected from the many dark creatures she had enslaved in her bid to take over Storybrooke, she was no match for the combined power of three badass witches.
Regina, flanked on either side by Maleficent and Zelena, drove her magic even harder as her mirror image sank to the floor in the intense effort to keep the constant barrage of their magic from penetrating her shield. Nega-Regina (as Emma ridiculously insisted upon calling her) proudly held her poise even from this weakened position, a stream of red flowed from her nose at the exertion.
Channelling her magic through one hand, Regina used the other to reach into her pocket, her fingers closed around the coolness of the shard of Olympian crystal.
"Time to end this once and for all," she yelled over the roar of magic.
They had determined, in theory, that even in its fragmented state, the rock could still be used to wipe someone from existence, if the trio routed their collective power through it. Timing was everything, they had only one shot and once they awoke its power, they wouldn't be able to shut it off until it had consumed a soul.
Only Regina picked up on the subtle shift in her counterpart's demeanour that exposed her fear - the Evil Queen's magic was about to give out.
"Now!" Regina called to the other two as she held aloft the splintered weapon, directing her own magic into it. They followed suit, and blue flecks of lightening joined their pooled magical stream.
Nega-Regina screwed her eyes closed in concentration, if she was to meet her end, it would not be kneeling in front of her enemies. She forced herself to stand. Locking eyes with Regina, she stared at her defiantly. Regina's eyes narrowed to mirror the expression, before widening suddenly. At almost the same time, she felt a warm hand on her shoulder and a powerful surge of magic pass through her, strengthening her shield and blocking the deadly magic.
Emma.
"Emma, what are you doing?" Regina demanded.
"What I should have done on the rooftop in New York - stopping you from making a huge mistake… Regina you can't just cast a part of you aside, blame her for all your wrong doing and then destroy her, that's not how this works, you need to own your actions…accept yourself…forgive yourself. You earned your redemption through hard work and sacrifice, this…this is the easy way out, you're better than this, if you kill her, you'll become the person you think she is."
Zelena rolled her eyes at the monologue, while Mal seemed oddly touched by it. Regardless, they were all in a perilous situation, the magic was starting to destabilise.
"Stand aside," the brunette yelled at the Saviour.
"No," Emma said firmly.
"Emma, I can't…" 'stop the crystal,' she would have finished, if the pirate hadn't chosen that moment to show up and fire a gun at her.
"Emma, No!" she heard her own voice yell desperately in stereo as the saviour stepped in front of Nega-Regina, before lowering her shield in order to send a blast of energy at him, stopping his attack on Regina.
Regina didn't have time to re-direct the crystal's magic. It hit Emma square in the chest and she dropped to the ground with a sickening thud.
Letting the now harmless stone fall to the ground, Regina brought her hands to her face in horror.
Nega-Regina was by Emma's side in a heartbeat. "You stupid girl." she reprimanded emotionally, leaning over the prone figure.
"Emma, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to," Regina cried, distraught, coming to kneel at the opposite side to her twin.
"S'okay," was all the blonde managed before her eyes fluttered closed and her breathing became shallow.
"When will you stop sacrificing yourself for everyone?" Nega-Regina said softly, tears rolling down her cheeks.
And, as if some unseen force was directing them, both Reginas leaned down in unison to kiss opposite sides of the saviour's forehead. A swell of bright white magic accompanied the kisses and Emma's eyes fluttered open.
"Maybe, when the people I love stop finding themselves in mortal danger."
The End.
A/N So this was the product of a challenge to write a split queen, swan queen story on the go. Failed miserably at keeping the word count down, and barely posted it before midnight. However the entire fic was written on my phone over a whole day's work and my friend's birthday drinks. So apologies for the unpolished nature and all spelling, grammar errors etc...