Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon A Time, it belongs to its respected owners. I am merely writing these stories for entertainment purposes only. No profit was made.
A/N: I hope you like this, I like writing it. Please review, I'd love to heart what you think.
In Her Heart
She lay there in a cell shivering.
A young woman sat up in her little corner of hay. Her hair was ragged and knotted. Her hand searched the floor. Feeling a sharp prick on her finger, a nail, she grasped it. Picking it up from the floor she scratched a line into the wall. One of seventy-three. Letting it go, the nail clinked softly. She turned her face to count the lines, pressing her fingertips in the dents she had made. Slowly making note of them as she ran her fingers along the wall, repeating the process, over and over again.
Her eyes were lifeless, searching for meaning where there was none.
She heard a scream. Leaning her head against the wall she listened. Closing her eyes she remembered her own shriek.
"I'm innocent! Please help me! You have to believe me. I'm sorry. Whatever I did I'm sorry! Please...you've got to listen to me...you've just got to."
No one had listened and she still didn't know why.
She had no memory to turn to. No past to hide in. No identity. No life. It was almost as if she had never existed.
She glanced at the irons wrapped around her wrists.
What had she done? She must truly have been evil. Had she ever been loved or had she always this way? Empty. A void pulsing for need. She'd do anything to fill it. Was that what made her do the terrible things to deserve this life? A life of hollowness. Of barely existing.
A door opened up the flight of stair that lead to this pit of shadows. A place of former people. Light streamed through and the woman closed her eyes. She hated light. Mostly because she was unused to it. All she knew of the world was in those dark walls and sometimes that's all she wanted to know.
She heard the sound of soft steps. A shadow pressed in the light. It was then the young woman wondered if another was to join them. The shadow stopped in front of her cell.
She looked up to see a woman in an elegant black gown. The young woman pulled her matted hair aside to look up at the woman so unlike her.
The woman turned to a guard. "I haven't seen her before. What is she doing in my dungeon?"
The man shrugged. "I don't know. She doesn't appear on any record. She merely appeared. We assumed that-"
The woman held up her hand and the man began to choke, he tried to grip his throat finding to relief. He found none.
It wasn't until he collapsed that she released her hold.
Regina put her boot on his throat. "Well you assumed wrong. If one of you men hadn't made noticed your mistake this woman may have stayed here for eternity. I do not keep the innocent in chains. Is that understood?"
The man's eyes were wide with fear. He nodded quickly. "Yes my Queen."
She took her foot off him. "See to it that it doesn't happen again or I will not be as merciful next time."
With that the woman reached into coat. Her fingers grasping around for a bundle of steal, a collection of keys. She slowly went through them, as the clinked together gently. The woman stopped as she picked out a key. She pushed it into the lock and slowly turned it, opening the door.
She leaned down, reaching for the woman's wrists. The woman simply huddled into her corner clinging to her irons. She refused to give them to the woman.
The woman in the nice gown simply went to sit next to her. "I'm not here to hurt you. My name is Regina. I just want to help you. Give me your hands and I'll take the chains off you."
Looking into the woman's eyes she saw sincerity, the truth.
"Then what?" She rasped. "Are you going to kill me?"
Regina smiled gently at her. "No. I'll take you up those stair, to a warm room, to a bath. We'll even get you some clothes. I'm sure you'll find something you like."
The woman once again stared into Regina's eyes. Then without hesitation she presented her wrists. The irons fell away and she felt the other woman gently rubbing at the skin that had been cut raw from those chains for too long.
Glancing at them Regina frown. The young woman was going to scar. A reminder of her forced captivity. Of a life that almost happened. One suffering in chains.
Regina gently took the woman's hand into her own, helping her up. The woman swayed and would have fallen if Regina hadn't steadied her.
Regina looked to one of her guards. "Please take this woman up the stairs immediately and to a warm room."
The guard went to the woman who flinched away from him. Without hesitation he grabbed at the woman causing her howl in fear. She began to try and claw herself away from him.
Regina immediately stopped at the iron bars to see the woman struggle. Moving her hand quickly the man was tossed aside. She quickly moved forward to grab the woman before she fell.
"Why did you struggle?" Regina asked her gently.
Her fingers moved the woman's hair from her face to look into panicked eyes. Eyes that didn't see reason.
"I was afraid," the woman looked to the floor, she was shivering. "I don't want to be touched by them. They beat prisoners that make too much noise. They put your chains on too tight if you cry. I don't want to be hurt again."
Regina's eyes softened as she took the woman in her arms. "They can't do anything to you without my say so. I won't allow them to harm you again. As long as your with me, no one can."
….
The woman had scrubbed herself clean, washing the grime from her body. The water caressed her as she felt its warmth envelop her. It made her feel better, but that emptiness still gripped her heart, like a cold hand clutching at her taking away any chance for the warmth to fill her.
Closing her eyes she imagined that a cold stone, black and filthy was where her heart should be. Just as her cell was.
Standing she emptied that bath and took a soft white towel. Wrapping it around her she walked into an extravagant room. She didn't like it. It was too perfect, like the smile of a doll. Fake and meant to be something it wasn't, a false imitation of warmth.
She looked at the gown on the bed. It was beautiful, but not what the woman wanted. Instead she turned to the closet to find it full of clothing, everything too neatly put away. She grabbed a pair of leather pants and a top.
As she pulled on her boots there was a knock at the door. She looked up and a man entered. A guard. She couldn't help but flinch. Regina wasn't there and she didn't trust him.
He held out a cloak, "The Queen wishes for your company. She is in the apple orchard, I am to accompany you."
The woman stood taking the dark blue cloak from him, she quickly put it on. It shined softly, she eyed it strangely. Instantly she felt warmth surround her.
He explained. "To stop the snow from freezing you. She enchanted it."
She nodded tugging the hood over her head and followed the man to the orchard.
There she saw the Queen in a beautiful dark grey gown tending to her trees. The Queen took an apple biting into it with its juice dripping down her chin.
The Queen walked to her glancing to the man. "It's fine, you may leave us."
He nodded and with a quick bow he left.
Regina quickly wiped her chin. "You look much better, too thin but we can fix that. How do you like the cloak?"
The woman eyes met the Queen's gaze, unafraid. "It's fine. What am I doing here? Am I evil?"
At first the Queen smiled in amusement but she found that fleeting as she realised the gravity of what the woman asked.
She stopped to gently touch the woman's cheek. "Don't you know?"
The woman faulted, looking at her boots. "I don't know. I'm afraid of what I must be if I was there. I must have been horrible."
Regina immediately took the woman into her arms. "Trust me, I know of darkness and you are anything but that. Do you understand? I don't know what you were doing there but it couldn't have been of any fault of your own. Haven't you heard, no good deed goes unpunished?"
The woman hesitated, slowly bringing her arms around the other woman.
She buried her face in the woman's shoulder. "I'm afraid of myself. I don't feel, not truly. It scares me."
Regina brushed her fingers through the woman's hair. "That will pass. It always does, I promise. Do you remember anything at all?"
The woman paused. "My name...I think it's Emma...Emma Swan."
Regina smiled. "Well Emma it's wonderful to meet you. I want to show you something."
Pulling away Regina saw the hesitation in Emma, as the woman reluctantly left her arms. Regina felt herself frown, she want to help this woman, this innocent. She wanted to take away that fear. It made the Queen ache, but for what? She couldn't answer.
The Queen took the woman's hand, she walked close to her as the walked through the orchard and the snow. She stopped when they came to a balcony with the largest tree of them all, it's branches standing proud and tall.
Regina gently touched it's trunk. "I planted this as a child and have taken care of it ever since, because of that it has flourished." She looked out into the distance, at the forest, towns and so much more. "Do you see all that, it's my kingdom and because I care for it, it flourishes like this tree."
Emma leaned against the tree looking into the beyond. "How far does it go for?"
Regina smiled softly, "As far as the eye can see, and even more than that."
Emma's eyes widened turning quickly to the other woman. "Is this real?"
"Yes," Regina return the woman's gaze, happy to see the wonderment. "If you want, you can be apart of it and live in my palace. We could even find you something to do. If you wanted."
Emma moved forward, holding the woman to her. "Yes, I want to."