A/N: Hello people. Here's an AU Swanqueen Christmas prompt requested by fanfiction user Kylie Williams. It is based on Regina trying to bring back Emma after she has died and how she finally accepts the truth and lets her go. Hope you guys enjoy it. Merry Christmas!
Prompt: Letting Go
Cold. Regina ran her fingers along the portion of the white satin sheet beside her which, once upon a time, were warm and emitted the scent of cinnamon.
They emanated the smell of Emma Swan and comforted Regina. But now it was all gone. There were no slender arms pulling her into the balminess, no lingering cinnamon aroma, no hot air clouds blown against her neck, no cascade of blonde hair spread across the pillow, no tender kisses on her cheeks to wake her up in the morning; there was no Emma Swan.
It had been eight months and seven days since Emma had sacrificed herself to make Rumpelstiltskin relinquish the happy endings of all the people of Storybrooke. After she and Regina had discovered the library of books which dictated the lives of all the people of Storybrooke in Merlin's household, they had managed to get happy endings written for everyone. In the process, their platonic relationship became something more and when Merlin showed them their story with the men that they were in love with at present, neither of them felt truly happy at heart. One day, while rummaging through the books, Regina and Emma came across one with the cover of a large swan with a black tiara on top of its head. As they shuffled through the pages, it appeared to be a love story between them. It was then that they both had the biggest epiphany of their lives; no matter how hard they struggled to find true love elsewhere, in the end it would always come back to them. Emma wanted to fix Regina but instead Regina mended Emma's broken heart and gave her the ability to love again. Regina wanted to feel happiness and resorted to destroying there people's happiness in order to get it, but Emma made her selfless and gave her the greatest joy in her life; Henry. Their eyes met and they fell in love and in that moment they understood the gooey and clingy relationship of Snow White and Prince Charming. In that moment, Regina's blackened heart had small speck of gold, burst within and Emma finally felt complete.
The savior had given happy endings to everyone and for a short while, it seemed everything would work out. But Rumpelstiltskin returned to Storybrooke with the notorious villains; Cruella de Vil, Maleficent and Ursula. They stole the books and began to corrupt the happy endings. Together, they were so powerful that not even Regina and Emma combined could shun them. With darkness spreading like wildfire across town and chaos running rampant, everyone was destitute. Belle tried to reason with Rumpelstiltskin but his heart was cold and the dark powers inside him were so strong now that there were no emotions left in him. It was when Maleficent kidnapped Regina and tried to exact her revenge for having her dragon form murdered that Emma, helplessly went to Rumpelstiltskin. She struck a deal with him and all the happy endings were returned. The villains vanished from town and there was a huge celebration everywhere. With Maleficent, Cruella and Ursula evaporating in puff of smoke, Regina freed herself and went to the town square where everyone cheered and clapped for Emma. She ran to the front of the crowd and looked at Emma with the biggest smile. Everything was perfect once again. Emma's face, however, was flushed and wet with fresh tears trailing down her cheek. Her mouth barely formed the name 'Regina' when a loud whooshing sound from behind her erupted and sucked all the life force out of her.
A lot of events happened within the next minute. There was a collective sound of gasps being drawn in, a clatter of something metallic, Rumpelstiltskin's dagger, on the pavement, a familiar sound of high-pitched giggling, the smile fading from Regina's face, Emma's limp body dropping to the ground beside what could only be Merlin's Hat and a smirking figure behind Emma disappearing in cloud of red smoke.
Everyone stood stunned and motionless, unable to digest what had just happened. After what seemed to be hours of silence, Snow White's shrill scream pierced the air and she fell beside Emma's body, cradling her head in her lap. She was followed by David and Henry, who knelt beside Emma and began to cry hysterically. Rumpelstiltskin had freed himself of the dagger by taking all of Emma's magic and in turn, her life. The people moved closer to Emma's body and started wailing. All except Regina, who was glued to her spot, unable to process anything that had just happened. The memory of Emma's lips shaping her name replayed in her mind again and again. She stood in shock and stared at the place where Emma was standing just a minute ago.
When it finally dawned on her what had happened, she pushed through the crowd and stood before Emma's body. With one hand, she grabbed the hat and with the other, she grasped Emma's cold hand and disappeared back to her mansion.
The hat was dark and no longer blinking but Regina still believed she could figure something out to bring Emma back. She sealed herself in house and prevented anyone from entering, disregarding the cries and knocks outside her door. She tried every spell, every potion and used every bit of her magic to bring Emma back, but failed. For eight months, she tried to bring the warmth back in the blueish, ice cold body of the woman that she loved. There was no spell left, no book page un-turned and no potion untested. Snow's loud crying and Henry's constant begging finally reached Regina and she opened the doors to her house.
It was Christmas time by then and the town's people had decided to give Emma a funeral on the day before Christmas. Everyone had come to term with the savior death and it was Regina that they felt sorry for, who had yet to let go of Emma.
The coldness from the sheets beside her, sent unpleasant chills through Regina's body. She got up from her bed and looked at Emma's unwrinkled side of the bed. She put on the same pale greenish dress she had worn when she first met Emma and left the house. The sunlight blinded her eyes after almost a year of not having seen it. She made her way to the graveyard where everyone was standing beside Emma's coffin. One by one, each of them came up and offered a short speech in Emma's honour; talking of her bravery and her kindness. Snow and David gave their eulogies which made a lot of people tear up and when Henry gave his eulogy, everyone started to cry. Thinking the ceremony was finished, the priest stood up. However, Regina stepped in front and spoke her first word after the hat had drained Emma of her life
"Wait," she pleaded, "I have something I would like to say." Every eye turned towards Regina and the priest returned to his seat. She walked towards Emma's open coffin and stroked the side of her cheek.
"Oh, Emma. I hope you can forgive me." She addressed Emma more than the rest but spoke in a loud enough voice for everyone to hear. "I feel like I have failed you by not being able to save your life. Where is a damn savior when you need one right? " She chuckled and her eyes began to water for the first time since Emma's death. "Sweetheart, I did everything I could and now I've finally come to terms with the heart-wrenching reality. You're not coming back and I've come to let y-you go." Regina started choking up.
"I can no longer hold back the ocean that threatens to wash over me each time your name is caught in my throat. Emma, its Christmas tomorrow and my only wish is that I could have a minute with you to tell you how much I love you and to tell you how I sorry I am for causing you all the pain that I did. I'd like to believe that you've gone to some place where you're wearing your favourite white vest and boxers and listening to me right now and saying 'Woman, I've never known you to be so sentimental. You're damn sexy when you cry.'"
By now, there was a constant stream of tears flowing down Regina's cheeks. Everyone was bursting into tears all around her.
"The prophecy said you were supposed to save the heroes and give them their happy endings. But you Emma Swan, you remarkable woman; you saved this villain too. You gave me hope for happiness before you even met me, through Henry and when you arrived in Storybrooke, I knew you were going to change my life. I just didn't think it would be this way. Because of you, I felt what it was like to love again and because of you, I now understand that I need not destroy anyone's happiness to get my own."
A huge guttural sob escaped Regina's lips and she bent down to plant a kiss on Emma's forehead. "You've fulfilled your mission. You've given every person in this town a happy ending, including me. You can rest peacefully now, knowing you have no loose ends behind." Regina's voice started to crack and become a little high pitched as she struggled through the tears to finish her goodbye. Henry reached forward and wound his arms tightly around her waist.
"I want you to know that your life will always be the best part of mine." She clung to Henry for her dear life and parted her final words. "I will take care of our son and I'm sure, one day he will grow up to be as amazing as his mother." Her bottom lip quivered and she moved back, slowly whispering the words. "Until we meet again, Miss Swan."
A/N: I changed a little bit of how the Merlin's Hat worked because I wanted to give Emma a proper funeral. Hope you like this one-shot please review and send in your prompts via inbox! Cheers!