SwanQueen AU The Enchanted forest
The princess looked up at her lover's face with a smile. The older woman ran her fingers through Emma's hair and caressed her cheek. "I love you…" She whispered quietly.
"I love you too." The blonde answered. They got lost in each other's eyes and just sat there. After a while the younger woman moved her head from Regina's lap and sat up slowly, still gazing into her warm brown eyes. Regina smiled and pulled her close before gently pressing their lips together. Emma wrapped her arms around the older womans neck and deepened the kiss. Just in that moment the door to Emma's room opened and her father, Prince Charming walked in. He stopped dead in the doorway and stared as his daughter and the former queen jumped apart.
"What the hell is going on?!" He yelled.
Emma blushed and couldn't get a word out. It would've been hard to explain why a guy was in her room, but an older woman? That was impossible, her father wouldn't understand. He was still staring at her, waiting for answer when Regina spoke up. "That's none of your business Charming."
The Prince turned his head at the all too familiar voice. "Regina? What are you doing here?! And I do believe it's my business."
"Well, I'm sorry for intruding in your castle. Maybe we should do this outside, dear?" She said the last part to Emma.
"No you won't. Emma Swan, you're coming with me." Charming said to his daughter.
"Excuse me, Charming, but why do you care about what the servants do, I get that it was wrong to let me into the castle, but you can't blame her, she doesn't know who I was before."
"Of course she doesn't. And how do you dare calling her a servant?!" The Prince's face was turning red. "How do you dare coming into my home? It's been 18 years, and you're back again, trying to take away our happiness? Can't you just leave us alone?"
Regina looked taken back.
"I know it's been 18 years, but I've changed. I will leave." She turned to Emma. "Do you want to come with me? I can't come back here again…"
The prince interrupted before Emma could answer. "She's not going anywhere."
The older woman glared at him. "Why not? You can't make her stay."
"Of course I can, she's my daughter for gods sake, and you're done taking away our happiness. We thought you had finally decided to leave us alone, and now you're back, trying to seduce our daughter and make her come with you."
"Your daughter?"
"Yes, don't play dumb Regina."
Regina looked at Emma who was biting her lip with her eyes averted to the ground.
"Emma?"
"I'm sorry Gina…"
Charming left the room to get Snow White. While he was downstairs he also called for some guards to seize the former queen. He was sure she was playing them and planned on taking their daughter from them. He and Snow got a magical leather cuff they had saved just in case. It was created to prevent the person wearing it from using magic.
When they came back they saw Emma sitting close to the former queen. They were having a quiet conversation and didn't notice Snow, Charming or the guards. David walked into the room followed by the guards and before Regina or Emma could react the guards had grabbed the older woman and dragged her out of the room. Emma jumped up from the bed and tried to run after them but was stopped by Snow. "Emma… You can't go after them. You don't know who that woman is." She said.
"I don't care who she is! You can't harm her. If you're going to banish her from our kingdom then I'll go with her!" Emma tried to wiggle out of her mother's grasp but Snow was stronger than she expected her to be. "Let go of me!" She yelled.
Snow pulled her into an empty chamber. "I'm going to tell you about who she really is if you can just calm down, and I'll tell you what will happen to her, okay?"
The princess nodded and pulled away her arm and slumped down in a chair.
"Emma, do you remember the stories I used to tell you about me and Charming and the Evil Queen? And about how it all began?"
"Yes, of course I do."
"Good. Well, this might be hard for you to hear, but Regina is the Evil Queen. She tried to destroy ouŕ happiness so many times, and now she's trying again. I don't want her to hurt you like she hurt hundreds of other people."
"She wouldn't do that to me." Emma felt confident. "What is going to happen to her?"
"She's done so many evil things, and we've given her a lot of chances to change, but every time she does something evil again, and now she's back. I can't let her take you from us, turn you against us. We love you so much honey and we just want to protect you." Snow took her daughter's hand.
"What. Is. Going. To. Happen. To. Her?" The younger woman was running out of patience.
"She's going to get burned on the stake. I know it's not like us to do something like this, but we have to protect you and the kingdom. We don't have a choice."
"When?" Emma whispered.
"Soon, half an hour at most. You'll have to watch so you should go and change into something more suitable. And don't even think about going to see her, she might harm you or make you do something."
Emma got up and ran out of the room and into her bed chamber. After about twenty minutes of crying she didn't have any tears left so she got up and changed into a white and silver colored dress since her mum had taken away all of her pants a couple of months ago. The princess walked out into the courtyard and sat down in her chair next to her dad. When Regina came out, pushed by two guards Emma could see the bruises on her skin, probably from fighting back. Her dress was changed into a grey one. The guards pulled her up onto the platform and tied her hands to the pole above her head. The former queen looked up and a spark of hope showed in her eyes until David grabbed Emma's arm to prevent her from running to Regina. One of the guards lit a torch.
Charming stood up and started talking.
"Today Regina, the Evil Queen will answer to her crimes. Too many times has she been given a chance to change but not taken it. We thought she was gone for good, but today we found her in my daughter's chambers. She was once again trying to take away our happiness. Let the fire be lit."
The guard threw the torch onto the platform and soon the fire started to consume the wooden construction.
Emma's eyes were wide open as she watched Regina. Noticing her father wasn't holding her arm anymore she stood up and ran to Regina, jumping over the circle of flames at the bottom of the platform. She threw her arms around the former queen and buried her face against the older woman's chest, sobbing violently. Regina rested her chin on top of the young woman's head.
"Emma, you can't be here, you'll get hurt. Go, there's nothing you can do."
The blonde ignored her.
"I'm not leaving you. I-I can't. I lo-love y-you."
"Oh, Emma, I love you too, but you can't die. You're worth too much to me. I can't let you do this." Regina kissed the top of her head.
"Can't you use your magic to get out of here?"
"No, they blocked it with the leather cuff on my wrist. I can't take it off." The flames came closer and closer, Regina could see them rising high behind her young lover. "Emma, please go now! Or you'll die! I can't let that happen." Emma answered by wrapping her arms harder around Regina.
"I'm not letting go of you." She could feel the heat of the flames on her back and the fear ran through her veins like lava. Regina saw the fear in the younger woman's face.
"Yes Emma, fear the fire, it'll burn you, hurt you. It'll feel like your skin is melting and dripping down from your body, it'll be the worst pain you've ever felt." She was trying to scare her away.
"It'll be worth it." Emma whispered into her neck. "Anything is worth being with you."
Regina knew it was low of her, but she had one thing left to use against Emma. She changed her expression from scared to death to stone like and cold. "Okay, then. This wasn't how I planned my revenge, but it works. Taking away the thing they love most. Did you honestly think I cared about you, little princess?" She could see the hurt look in Emma's eyes and felt herself die on the inside. "I never loved you. I never even cared about you. You know why? Because I'm the Evil Queen, and I want revenge." Emma stared at her and took a step back, right into the flames and Regina gasped her cold face cracking with fear and Emma was back in her arms once again.
"I knew you couldn't mean that, but you had me really worried…" Emma said.
Regina was about to tell Emma to please leave and save herself when she remembered something. "Emma, you can remove the cuff!"
The blonde reached up to remove the cuff but when she touched it it felt like her arm got cut off. "I can't, there's something keeping me from doing it." The tears started to fall from her eyes when realized it was to late, she wouldn't be able to save them, so she just wrapped her arms around her Gina, closed her eyes and imagined them in the cabin where Regina lived. She felt the flames licking her back and arms, burning in her face, and then there was nothing.
Emma woke up with her arms wrapped around someone, she could hear birds sing, smell fresh air, smoke and the amazing smell of her older lover. The sun warmed her face and grass tickled her back. Her eyes shot open and she saw green leaves and a blue sky. The brunette next to her moved a little, nuzzling closer, burying her face in the younger woman's neck. She gently shook Regina awake. "Gina...we're not dead. At least I don't think so. We're on the opposite side of the lake from your cabin." Regina sat up and looked around.
"How did we get here?" She asked.
"I don't know, I just know that I was thinking about this place when fire consumed us,"
"Emma..? Did you know that you have magic?"
"No, and right now I don't care." She rolled on top of Regina and kissed her hard...