Coming back
The pitter patter of two set of footsteps running across the white and black corridor echoed behind the figure of a bright-eyed teen and the Squirtle that did his best to keep up with the long strides of his human friend. The boy, smiling and with her clothes rumpled due to the run, stopped with screech in front of a closed door, a few people pullulating the hall looking first at the boy and then at the wheezing Squirtle before smirking quietly to themselves.
The door Henry had stopped in front of was definetely expensive looking and thick, in embroidered letters the name of Regina Mills shone in golds and blacks, a sign that, as a chief of Storybrooke's Gym, it only fitted the brunette woman who was probably waiting for the boy inside, having by now certainly heard his footsteps. Nodding towards the little Squirtle, who looked tiredly to the teen before letting himself slide down the wall until she finally let his paws rest against the cold floor, Henry knocked twice before entering, his bright smile turning a grimace at the sight of her mother's back looking towards her.
The Squirtle peeked from one side of the door and sighed inwardly. There they went again…
"I think I told you something about not running inside the Gym" Regina's voice sounded tired, like a mother who had already told such rule over a hundred times now and certainly didn't expect to be listened but still hoped to be so.
"I know but…" Henry started, squirming slightly under the gaze of her mother when the brunette woman turned towards her, her hands resting on the edge of the table where maps of the forest that grew around Storybrooke and beyond rested.
Ever since The Collector, Regina's mother, had begun attacking the Gyms and cities near the forest Henry had seen her mother spend many hours of her days studying the maps and reuniting herself with many famously known trainers from all over the forest with no avail. Cora was still strong and well-hidden on the hills at the other side of the forest and many pokémons and young trainers had gone missing ever since the first day of war had begun. Henry had always been mindful of entering her mother's office. Especially because, as a child, he had always feared the regal-looking Umbreon that seemed to follow his mother's footsteps wherever she went. However, after the threat had started to get known, Henry had been asked by Regina herself not to barge inside the office, the woman trying to protect her son as much as possible from any gruesome detail that could be discussed on the office.
Which hadn't refrained Henry from running inside the Gym to the amusement of trainers and personal alike but that was another story.
The office was bathed in the dwindling light that came from the two windows that stood at Regina's back, the details on black and white that decorated walls and furniture mixing with Regina's preferred red color. Her eyes seemed to shine as well as the badges and trophies that covered the farthest wall from Henry's place. The Umbreon eyed both mother and son lazily from her usual place near the darkest corner of the room and Henry felt a shiver running down his spine like he normally felt whenever she looked at the creature; her intelligent eyes seeming to follow his movements. Unknown for him the Squirtle at his feet trembled too, having finally reunited enough strength to become closer to the teen.
"I'm sorry" The aforementioned teen said again, his hands playing with the hem of his shirt, the bounce on her feet now obvious not only to the ones that still lurked at the other side of the door but to Regina as well. "I just wanted to tell you… she is here" He finally said, forgetting every other word he could have said, eager to tell his brunette mother the news.
Regina swallowed once before taking a step towards the boy, the pressed blouse and pants seeming to crumble as Henry nodded once in order to acknowledge the question he felt burning inside his mother's eyes.
"She…?" Regina asked nonetheless, maps forgotten as well as her usual coldness.
Henry bit down his lip, knowing all too well what his mother must be feeling. It had been months since they have ever known something about Emma, everything they had been able to learn had been from few trainers that had managed to pass the circle Cora had created around the gyms and villages that still resisted inside of the forest. And that hadn't been much. The blonde's mother herself had started to lose any hope and even if Regina always kept a strong front Henry knew that his own mother had started to doubt that the blonde woman would ever return back to Storybrooke's Gym ever again.
Henry from his part had been always optimistic. If he was stubborn his blonde mother was twice that and he still needed to know someone as strong-willed as her.
Still, when she had seen the figure of the Arcanine that had become his mother's singular friend and the silhouette of his mother herself half an hour before on the way to the main path that directed to the Gym, he had felt a heavy burden being lifted off his chest.
Emma had seemed to be okay, tired and with slightly haunted eyes she did her best to hide from Henry but alive. The boy had certainly hugged her close and when the blonde had chuckled -the arcanine happily jumping from one side to another as he and Henry's Squirtle get to see each other after months of no contact, something that certainly would seem strange but was decidedly adorable due to the height difference of the two creatures- the first thing that had come from Henry's throat had been: "How?"
Emma had smiled at him before ruffling his hair, her arm angled strangely as if a part of the blonde's mind had hoped to find a shorter boy than what Henry was now but neither mother and son had decided to dwell on that fact.
"I need to speak with your mother before anything else kid, but I will promise to tell you everything later. Where is she?"
"On her office" The teen had answered, his legs already twitching on his jeans. "I will go ahead and tell her, just keep walking okay? I will see you there"
He hadn't let Emma say another word, the dust behind him being the last thing Emma saw of him as the arcanine tried to bit the cloud of dirty a few times, confused of where his young human friend had go.
"I just left her on the main path, ten minutes or so away from the gate" The boy started, knowing that he was technically banned from being outside without someone who looked for him. He hoped that his mother wouldn't focus on that this time. "She seemed to be okay. I told her that I would…"
"Does Snow know?" The brunette said brusquely, her mind seeming to go way faster than Henry's. The Umbreon sensed the change on her trainer's demeanor and frowned, a grumble growing inside of her chest as Regina's own frown seemed to grown.
The blonde's mother, one of the few that helped in the Heal center, could have been one of the first stops Henry could have taken but the teen had been too preoccupied to reach for his mother to even think about the short-haired brunette.
"No" He admitted with a sigh. "I wanted to tell you first"
Regina closed her eyes as her left hand went towards the ring that still hung from her neck ever so after so many months. Neither Henry or she had talked about the day the blonde had left, or about the ring that had appeared suddenly on the woman's neck. Snow had tried to ask but Regina had been adamant on her will of keeping silence. And even if many rumors had been born due to that it was only Henry and she the ones who knew the whole story.
"Go and bring her to the gates" She instructed opening her eyes again. At their side the Umbreon shook her head and tail, seeming to yawn as Henry nodded twice, ready to turn and go towards the Heal Center. His mother's voice was what made him stop, the Squirtle at his feet stumbling twice as he eyed the other pokémon warily.
"Henry, thank you"
The teen bite down his bottom lip and hummed, turning after a second, decided to find Snow as fast as he was able to. He did want to ask though, about his mother, about his other mother, about what was going to happen between the two of them. He, however, didn't exactly want to know, not for now. And so he run.
A gentle breeze caressed Emma's naked shoulders as she swallowed once, her eyes finally falling on the Gym's gates, rustier and studier looking than what she had last seen back when she had left. At her side her arcanine moved closer to the doors, curious and excited of the inside.
"What do you think?" She asked to the creature standing as tall as she was as she caressed the fur of the animal, the pokémon looking at her once before seeming to look back to the gates. "Do you think she is going to forgive me?"
The pokémon didn't answer, not that Emma had ever expected him to but a tired smile appeared on her lips, a sigh already escaping her lungs as she let her hand fall at her side. "Yeah, I guess I will need to…"
Her musings were interrupted by the sound of the gates sliding through the forest floor as they were opened from the inside. Turning briskly towards them she barely got a glimpse of the figure of a woman crossing the now open gates when the shadow of an Umbreon she knew far too well came towards her, blocking protectively the silhouette of the woman she knew was standing in the now open passage.
Her arcanine growled. His height and musculature definetely in stark contrast with the lean lines of the Umbreon, her intelligent eyes seeming to judge Emma's.
"I don't want to fight" Emma enunciated, knowing that the black creature had never exactly liked her.
"Tell that to your arcanine" A second voice reached her ears as both herself and the Umbreon looked at where the voice had sounded, the dark animal slowly receding and letting Regina stop in front of Emma, eyes bright and something the blonde hoped to be an affectionate smile dancing on her lips. "He is growling"
The arcanine whimpered when both women eyed at him, clearly sensing he had done something wrong. Chuckling, Emma caressed him once before returning back to Regina, drinking on the sight of the woman, on the dark clothes that had been her signature ever since they had met each other close to five years ago. Her green eyes noticed the ring on the woman's neck but she didn't dare to comment on it, not in that moment at least.
Unknown to her Regina was doing something similar to her, looking at the disheveled state of her clothes and hair and the tiredness that seemed to come in waves out of her. She, however, seemed to be okay and the brunette woman let out a sigh of relief. Apparently Henry had been right; Emma was okay.
"He is nervous" Emma finally spoke, her voice trembling as she enunciated the words, her throat seeming unfamiliar with talking as it broke a few times. "The circle around the gym has become…"
"Thicker" Regina finished for her "We have tried to break it but for now every pokémon we have sent…." She trailed off, not wanting to dwell on details.
Emma hummed not knowing what else she could say. Scratching the back of her neck her other hand pointed at the path she had just come from, she decided on keeping herself as professional as possible "There are a few points on it that are easily breakable though, I think I will be able to point them all on a map if you want"
Regina pursed her lips, the Umbreon at her side trembling as she sensed the tension coming off the woman. "That's why you left after all, right? To gather intel"
Emma bite down her bottom lip, not knowing if the question was supposed to be a reminder or not. She had decided to cross the border, that much was correct, in order to know more about their enemy after months of only seeing pokemons and trainers alike disappear on the woods. Her decision though had been… ill-timed to say the least and after months alone, not knowing if she would ever be able to cross back she felt stupid for not having realize it sooner.
"I… guess" She started, stumbling on her feet as she was enveloped on a tight hug, Regina having finally closed the distance between the two of them. With the air on her lungs being knocked out Emma needed a second to regain control of her body, her green eyes widening as she finally realized what was happening. "Regina?"
"Don't you ever dare to do something as reckless as this Miss Swan" The muffled voice came out at her neck with just the slightest hint of its usual aloofness. "Am I clear?"
Both women separated, Emma still dumbfounded due to the hug and Regina already blushing slightly as she realized what she had done. The arcanine tilted her head but smiled, sensing his blonde's friend sudden happiness on the way the woman tried to hide a smile. The Umbreon, however, seemed to judge Regina's actions by narrowing her red eyes, a small growl coming out of her.
"I'm… sorry" Emma finally said, realizing how Regina's hand seemed to have rose impulsively towards the ring Emma herself had given to Regina that night before she had decided to go, the birthstone she had asked to be put there glowing under the sun.
"You better be" The brunette admonished, relaxed now as she truly believed that Emma was indeed alive and well. They still needed to talk about a myriad of things, the plans of her mother being the most pressing ones. For now, though, she let her mind drink on the sight of those green eyes she had thought she would never see ever again.
Unknown to them a teen and his grandmother were looking at where they were with similar smiles on their lips.
"Told you Ma was ok" Henry said, now holding his Squirtle close to his chest as both Emma and Regina smiled awkwardly at each other, the blonde raising timidly her hand in order to caress the brunette's temple.
"Indeed" Snow said back, noticing the soft blush that spread all over her daughter's face and chest as Regina kissed her wandering hand quickly before turning towards were they were seated. "Indeed she was"