Disclaimer: I own nothing beside my crazy mind and my computer… and sometimes it's more them owning me…
Note: based on those prompts by Belleways
- you're not a friend, you're just a lover
- i am too weak to be your cure
- you were famous, your heart was a legend
You got no luck today… After the Queen threw you out of her bedchamber a few days ago, your first assignment is to guard the royal Hallway… the one leading to her room. The same room in which you made love to her. The same room in which you showed her what it really means to make love to someone. The one she kicked you out of and told you you were never to visit again. This is just great.
It's not like you have feelings for her. No. She saw that you couldn't have feelings for anyone anymore. Well, not "love" feelings anyway. But somehow, your heart, or what's left of it, yearns to hold her again. To erase her pain. To soothe her anger and make her happy, again.
You stop dead in your tracks. What was that? Nothing, must be the wind. This castle is a freaking draught. You resume your walk. But then you hear it again. It's soft. Almost inexistent. And it's coming from the Queen's chamber.
Maybe someone got in there. Maybe she is hurt. Maybe someone is hurting her. Maybe she can't call for help. Maybe she can't defend herself.
It's with those thoughts that you burst in the room and… no, there is no intruder. The Queen is safe. Safe? She is… sobbing?
"Majesty, I thought… I heard… and then I just…" you're out of breath. Your emotions have taken the best of you. Your care for your Queen and the fear of her getting hurt made your blood ran incredibly faster in your veins and your heart is pounding in your chest.
You watch her snap her head and look at you. You know that this is supposed to be a death glare, but it would seem that tonight, she is as helpless as you were when she ripped your heart. She is stunned to see you here, in her chamber.
"What are you doing here? I told you to never enter this room ever again! Get out!" she snarls at you. But years of practice made you recognize this kind of aggression. She is nothing more than a wounded animal trying to protect herself. And the best protection is, after all, aggression.
And you approach her like you would approach any wild and wounded predator: with extreme caution.
"My Queen… what is causing the tears on your beautiful face? Maybe I can help you… let me help you…" you say, softly, trying to still your voice to a comforting tone. Trying to pacify the beast.
"You couldn't begin to understand what it means to be me… what it takes… how much it's eating me alive… how, when I wake up every morning, I wish I was someone else… how I wish I had made different choices… how I am stuck in this… this… this role, this character I've created for myself… how I hate that…you can't possibly comprehend the pain I'm going through… the shame…" and she is sobbing again.
You watch her collapse, you barely have time to catch her. She is running out of energy. Running out of time. You know it is not right to wish for that, but you hope that she'll soon get her revenge. You wish that her fight would finally come to an end and she'd be victorious at last. Even if that means the death of the young girl.
"My Queen… I wish I could take away your pain… tell me how and I'll do it. I promise you, I won't fail you this time…" you just can't take to see her suffer like this. This reminds you of how broken she looked a few days ago.
She locks her eyes with your and it feels like she is watching your soul. Testing you. Seeing if you'll be true to your words.
"You were famous, your heart was a legend, what have I done?! You were a wolf, I made you a sheep. One more mistake in my life… When the time comes, Huntsman, it won't be the heart of Snow White I'll ask you to take… it will be mine."
You look at her, trying to process her words. Is she? Will she ask you to…? You can see she is serious. There is no game in her eyes.
"No… no… no My Queen… I couldn't… what you are asking of me-"
"- is the only cure for the illness inside of me…" she suddenly looks pale. She must be more tired than you thought. She doesn't know what she is saying. You have to believe that. In the morning, she will be herself again. The night brings the worst into people. It tends to make them have bad thoughts.
"You told me that I was a wolf but you made a sheep out of me… My Queen, I am too weak to be your cure… But I can be your friend… Everyone needs a friend, Regina"
You hear her gasp as you softly kiss her forehead. You're holding her because right now, even if she won't admit it, that's all she needs. She needs a friend to hug her. And you feel her slowly relax in your arms. The sobs are fading away and the tears are drying on her cheeks.
You stay like this, without a move, without a sound for a few minutes. Watching the flames dancing in the fireplace.
Then you feel her hand slowly rising up your chest, to your neck and finally cup your jaw. When she looks at you, you can see the fire in her eyes. Not the one keeping you warm at night. A totally different kind of fire. The wounded animal is gone. The hungry predator is back.
"You're not a friend, you're just a lover" she says to you just before she claims your lips for a passionate kiss.
Tonight, for the second time, you show her love as you hold her in your arms. You make her feel. Anything and everything but this pain in her heart. You try to bring her back to life. Yes, she ripped your heart. But you can't help but feel for her.