A/N: Wrote and posted this on Tumblr and thought I'd share it here. The words just came pouring out so don't get mad that this isn't an update of one of my many WIP fics and just enjoy. Well, hopefully you enjoy. :)
"I shall destroy you if it is the last thing I do."
It's a threat that came back to bite Regina in the ass. Before, she'd only wanted Emma gone, but now she only wants to help her. Unfortunately, helping Emma means doing the one thing she no longer wants to do.
"Destroy me."
Emma had asked her to do that as soon as they found her in the Enchanted Forest. Emma believed she was the only one would could do it if it was the last option they had to protect those around the blonde. Apparently, the other woman still believes that because she's asked her to do it again.
"Don't tell anyone I asked you to," Emma adds. Regina's initial instinct is to shake her head and deny her request because she can't–she won't–do it. But it's all Emma wants and her eyes are wide and pleading. It's clear to Regina that she's desperate and it's all they have left, or so they all think. She can't deny Emma. She can't refuse anything when it comes from Emma. It's then she realizes that for someone who's supposed to be in a loving relationship with Robin Hood, she's never felt this strongly about him or his safety.
She went to New York to save him from Zelena's clutches and she's stuck by him through the complications of the birth of her niece and the reason behind why she even has a niece, but there's something deep within her that draws her toward Emma. There's something she feels that compels her to throw herself into the fire to protect, to help, to save. Emma has magic and while most of the time she's an idiot, she can still take care of herself. Emma doesn't need her–well, lately that's debatable–but she feels this urge, this drive to do everything she can for Emma.
She swallows the giant lump in her throat and nods her agreement. She'll do what Emma wants, what she's asked her to do twice now in only a matter of two short months. She doesn't want to, but she will. She will because it's what Emma wants.
But that's not what happens. Not the way she planned it to happen at least. Because the way she destroys Emma isn't by killing her or ridding her of the darkness. No, she does something so much more painful than that. She sees the panic and fear in green eyes. She understands better than anyone the shift that she then witnesses from panic to loss. Emma looks absolutely gutted as Regina falls further and further toward death. That's how she destroys Emma. Not by the blonde's death, but with her own. And that is much worse than anything she could have physically done to end this, end Emma. It didn't have to be that painful, though.
As she feels herself slipping away, her breathing shallow and heartbeat slow, she starts to remember a memory Emma has taken from her for a second time before the big battle. She remembers the well in Camelot. She remembers holding the dagger and looking at Emma with tears in her eyes as she begged her to let go of whatever was holding her back, whatever was keeping the darkness tethered to her heart, body and soul. If Snow, Charming, and Hook hadn't intervened, Emma might have actually said it out loud. That confession could have saved them a lot of time and energy and casualties.
Instead, it's her blood that gets Emma to finally say it. It takes dying in the blonde's arms just like Daniel had died in hers for Emma to express the one thing that could truly free her from the prison of darkness and Dark Ones of the past.
"No! Regina, please. Please, don't leave me. Stay with me. Stay here. Henry needs you. Ineed you. Please, please."
When her eyes start to flutter and she fades in and out of awareness, she catches a look in Emma's eyes she's only ever felt in her own expression. She's never seen Emma like this. Not up close and never with such emotion directed at her. And then Emma says it.
"I love you."
Emma says it and everything changes. She feels lighter. She feels ready. She can go now.
"I…love you, too." She smiles up at Emma, her lips quivering as she struggles to do more than just breathe, and she wants to laugh. She wants to laugh because her happy ending really is an ending. She wants to laugh at herself for not having the strength to say those three words first. She wants to laugh because while Robin has given her an instant family that she could have possibly been comfortable with, Emma's given her a family she's worked for. Emma's given her Henry and a friendship. She's finally reached a good place with Snow and Charming and she's found four reasons to be thankful she's made it this far in life. She could have died so many times before and then she never would have known what this feels like. She could have died without knowing true happiness and without seeing that Emma and Henry and Snow and Charming have all contributed to her finally feeling at home in the world.
Emma looks shocked to have heard her say "I love you, too" and she gets it. She doesn't blame her. It's been there, it's been between them, for a while now and they've just never said it. They've only ever after acted on it with unspoken meaning behind all of what they've done for each other.
"Wh-Why didn't you- Then stay. Stay with me," Emma begs and cries and Regina vaguely feels the pressure of a warm hand caressing her face. But it's difficult to feel anything when her body continues to shut down. She's freezing and her mind is blanking on all the things she wants to say. She knows, though, that even if her mind could have supplied her with the words, her mouth and lungs wouldn't have been able to form them. She's running out of breath quickly and she's almost out of time. It's almost over.
She slowly exhales as she relaxes her entire body and then closes her eyes. She doesn't want to fight anymore. It hurts. Everything hurts, but surprisingly not her heart. Her heart feels as full and warm and in love as it had been before she'd been manipulated into the monster she'd been as the Evil Queen.
Faintly, she thinks she hears Henry's cries and she hopes he doesn't see her like this. She knows she's a mess, bleeding out on the pavement like she'd bled out in front of everyone in the alternate reality Isaac created before Emma's sacrifice. He's seen her die before and even though that death didn't stick, he doesn't deserve to see her die again. Especially since this death will stick.
That's what she thought, anyway, but then there's a flash of white light behind her closed eyelids. Her body jerks and her back arches, her chest thrust up toward the sky and suddenly she isn't cold anymore. Suddenly, she's flooded with warmth.
And then she gasps. Her eyes shoot wide open as a burst of multicolored light streaks through the air. As it passes, her eyes refocus and she sees Henry and Emma crouched over her. They each have and wet eyes and tear-stained cheeks and she feels rather than sees that they also each have a hand on her.
Henry's hand is on her arm and Emma's is somewhat inappropriately on her sternum. Except it's not inappropriate. Not when she finally figures out what happened.
At first she thinks it's Henry. He's saved her with True Love's kiss like she and Emma have both broken curses by kissing him. But she sees the awe on both of their faces and then sees the surprised looks on everyone else's. And by everyone she does mean everyone. Snow and Charming and just about half the town, Granny included. And Robin.
His pained and slightly disbelieving expression is what confirms that it wasn't Henry who saved her.
"Emma," she breaths out, her voice barely more than a whisper and still a little raspy from the effort it required her to speak with her dying breaths.
"I'm gonna need to learn or create a spell that makes you invincible until the day you die of natural causes," Emma says. "No more near-deaths for you. Got it?"
"I agree," Henry adds. "If you know a spell that'll do that, teach it to her."
It's then Henry collapses on top of her and squeezes her in a tight hug. Emma's hand is trapped between their bodies, but the blonde doesn't seem to mind. She just moves her free hand to Regina's hair and strokes it with gently probing fingers that massage her temple and scalp. It makes Regina sigh with relief and pleasure.
Emma hesitates a moment before she leans in and more carefully embraces the two of them in a loving hug. She wants to fuss and argue until they let her sit up, because she's still on her back on the hard ground in the middle of the street, but she can't complain when she feels this good. She has something now, something she's had for some time and has at most times taken for granted, but now she's aware of what she has and she's not letting go of it. Ever.