HEY GUYS, I'M BACK AGAIN. MOST OF YOU KNOW I SHIP GREMMA, BUT THIS GOT IN MY HEAD SO HERE IT IS. I HAVE ANOTHER ONE-SHOT I'M WORKING ON AS WELL AS ANOTHER CHAPTER TO 'ONCE UPON A TIME IN A LAND FAR FAR AWAY'. I KNOW I NEED TO UPDATE 'THERE'S A LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL', TOO. STUPID PLOT BUNNIES LOL. THIS TAKES PLACE AFTER 'THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER', BUT BEFORE THE FINALE.
DON'T OWN ONCE UPON A TIME.
Regina glares at the floor, thinking if she stares at it long enough maybe Daniel will appear. She doesn't allow tears to form in her eyes –her mother would never approve. She can't be weak. The door to her office swings open, banging the wall and no doubt leaving a nice little hole to fix it. The curse had been broken three weeks ago and while many things had changed, one thing hadn't: Emma Swan still had no idea how to knock or stop destructing her property. Regina rolls her eyes, putting her stoic mask back on with an air of annoyance.
"What can I do for you, Miss Swan?" She isn't really all that surprised when Emma drags her from her chair and slams her against the wall, breaking yet another thing in the process. Regina's hands are pinned above her head and Emma's forearm is across her throat.
"You killed Graham." The blonde growls, her nose barely an inch away from the Mayor's. Regina resists the urge to roll her eyes again.
"He was remembering. What else was I supposed to do?" She shrugs.
"I don't know, lock him away! You didn't have to kill him!"
"He was a liability. I don't know what you came here for, but if you're going to punch me then get it over with; I have work to do." Regina huffs. Emma releases her.
"I'm not going to hit you. I've read the book." She begins pacing. "You're a psychopath, for one. More importantly, you're a traumatized victim and I only pity you." This time, Regina's the one who goes after the Sheriff. Victim. She's no victim. That would mean she's weak. Still, she can feel sweat beading on her forehead, a voice in the back of her mind screaming it's true. She's swinging madly at the blonde, and Emma takes the blows for a few moments. Regina needs to get this out. Then, she easily over powers her, once again pinning her against the wall. She's not doing this out of hostility; the brunette needs to calm down before she hurts anyone. Regina still struggles, fighting with all her power to get out. Emma has to push her body against hers to keep her relatively still.
"I'm not a victim!" Regina yells, still thrashing.
"Regina, your mother abused you. Can't you see that? You're trying to hard to please her, to make her happy, to be enough for her." At this, a sob catches in the brunette's throat as she fights for control. Never cry, Regina, her mother's voice repeats in her head. She stops fighting physically, too exhausted to do anything. Emma lets her go, and Regina tries to push away from the wall, only for her legs to give out. The blonde catches her, then leads her to the couch. Once they sit down, the sobs finally break free, racking her small frame. She clings to Emma, who wraps the woman in a tight embrace. She doesn't know what she's doing, she never meant for things to get this far. Regina would no doubt be furious at her, and that's the last thing she wants. Neither knows how long they say like that, but when the sobs finally subside, Regina looks absolutely broken. Her hair is a mess, shooting out in all directions. Her eyes and face are red, but she isn't scowling. Emma recognizes the longing.
"All I wanted was for her to love me." Regina whispers
"She couldn't." Emma says. "She believed love is weakness, and she was power-hungry."
"It is." She insists in a small, fragile voice that is decidedly un-Regina-like. "Every emotion is."
"No it's not." The blonde smoothes Regina's hair out for reasons unknown to her. She feels as though she's compelled. "It makes you human."
"It hurts so much." God, Emma hates heart-to-hearts.
"That wall," she begins, remembering her roommate turned mother's words, "May keep out pain, but it may also keep out love."
"My true love is dead." Some of the bitterness returns.
"I know what you mean." Emma nods solemnly, thinking about Graham. "We're not that different, you know. You said that I'm alone because I'm incapable of feeling anything for everyone, and I used to think the same of you."
"But it's not true."
"We do feel."
"You love Henry." Regina says, trying to sound hateful, but she can't.
"Of course I do, he's my son. He's your son, too." Emma says firmly, reaching out and squeezing Regina's hand. "I'm not trying to take him away. I just… I feel the need to protect him. All I want is to make sure he's happy and have a small role in his life."
"I want to love him so bad, Emma. I don't know how to." There's no hostility in her voice.
"Be everything your mother wasn't." The blonde says, and Regina looks at her with scared eyes.
"You don't know what it was like."
"We're more alike than you think." Emma really doesn't want to get into this.
"How many of them hurt you?" Regina asks, feeling some semblance of remorse for the first time. Because of her, this woman had gone through so much; apparently it was more than abandonment issues.
"More than half." Emma swallows.
"What did they do?" She feels compelled to ask since she's responsible.
"Excuse me? You have no right to ask what they did."
"After the state you saw me in?" Regina looks at her expectantly, putting her cold mask back on.
"I…" Emma opens and closes her mouth a few times. "They hit me, pushed me down stairs, a couple even used me as a cigarette dowser." Now it was Regina's turn for her mouth to fall open.
"That's horrible."
"Yeah, well, it's not like you did it so…" Emma shrugs and begins pacing again.
"Is that all you came here for? To accuse me of being a murderer?" Back to business.
"I just… I came to tell you that while I'm mad, I don't blame you."
"Thank you." Regina nods. "And, if you tell anyone about this, I'll be forced to punish you."
"Relax." Emma smirks. "I won't let anyone know you actually have feelings if you don't tell Snow and James that I was abused."
"Deal." The brunette holds out her hand, and Emma shakes it.
"I'll hold you to that."
"I wouldn't expect anything less." Regina says, and the blonde walks out with a little bounce in her step.
SO, AGAIN, THIS IS MY FIRST SWAN QUEEN. I DON'T SHIP THEM, I JUST GOT THIS IDEA, AND IT'S MORE FRIENDSHIP THAN ANYTHING SO DON'T HATE.