Part I
Lost in the Madness of her Own Mind
Glossy, brown eyes stare absently out a smudged window, the black pupils caressing the darkness that lives beyond the glass, as if taking note of each forlorn raindrop. The woman slumps further into her chair, her full, cracked lips moving silently as she soothes herself with her quiet ramblings. Her eyes widen suddenly as her gaze is filled with a flicker of colour, a burst of life that rattles up her spine and ghosts across her heart. Ripe, red apples decorate the dying limbs of a tree below her window, a flash of scarlet imprints within her mind as if the colour holds a deeper meaning somewhere within her shredded soul.
Reaching out, her hands quivering with desperation, the woman presses her fingertips into the cold glass and shivers. Tracing her nails over the faraway pieces of red, as if she can feel the skin of the apples beneath her touch. The woman's chest fills with a tight warmth that quickens her pulse and her focus grows distant as her crumpled black and white memories flash behind her dark eyes; a small boy plays beneath a hearty, healthy apple tree, his smile seems to light up the entire world as his hand folds into the woman's, their fingers lacing.
A shudder of cold washes the woman to the shores of reality as her palm slides away from the window, her large brown eyes trembling with tears. Dark strands of hair curtain her face, drowning her features in shadows as she falls into herself, tightly pulling her knees to her chest. The sound of a door opening makes the woman lift her face, her tear streaked cheeks luminous in the ominous room. A woman in red cautiously walks towards her and kneels down, setting her hands against the woman's knees. The touch is warm with a tinge of compassion and it allows the dark haired woman to lay down her defenses as she eases her feet back onto the floor.
Licking her lips, the dark haired woman looks up through her tangled hair and into familiar green eyes, her heart stutters in her chest as her gaze caresses against golden curls. Leaning forward, the dark haired woman grips the other woman's collar in her hands, her fingers curling around thick, red leather as she pulls. "Happiness," the dark haired woman murmurs, her dark eyes flashing wildly as she brings her and the other woman's faces closer together, "does happiness exist?"
A tight frown pulls at the blonde woman's lips and her green eyes flicker away from the fearful, desperate gaze of the brunette. Tears create a rawness within her throat and the blonde gently wraps her palms around the brunette's shivering hands. Pulling them away from the grip they hold on her jacket, the blonde shifts her gaze back into the watery brown eyes in front of her as a plastic smile sets on her lips. "Yes, Regina," the blonde whispers, comforting the dark haired woman as she absently strokes a thumb across the other woman's cold knuckles, "happiness exists."
They sit that way for what feels like an eternity, the brunette's eyes unfocused and tear-stained as they stare out the window, while the blonde's heart seemingly breaks within her chest as she continues caressing the disturbed woman's hands. Eventually, the pain that prickles between them becomes too much, and the blonde chokes on a sob as she realizes the dark haired woman has once against lost herself within her mind. Clearing her throat quietly, the blonde pulls herself away from the other woman and crosses the room, opening the door and soundlessly shutting it behind her.
In the cool, white hallway is where the blonde allows herself to crumble, and she leans her back against the door, her spine curving with grief, as hot trails of tears slip down her cheeks. When the sorrow within her heart grows far too heavy for the blonde to carry, she turns around and stares into the small, clean window in the door of the dark haired woman's room. As her green eyes trace every curve and swell of the woman's body, trying to remember all of the horrible things she has done, the blonde still cannot seem to condone this type of punishment.
A familiar crackle in the air ripples behind the blonde as someone approaches her, and her back instantly stiffens as she reaches up a hand and presses her palm against the glass. "You do realize what we're doing to her, don't you?" The blonde questions the person behind her, her voice cracked and stilted with her own remorse, "we took away her memories, we took away her happiness. We stole everything from her." Spinning around, tears blurring her fiery green eyes, the blonde sneers at the man standing in the hallway with her. "She's lost in the madness of her own mind, and I cannot—I will not be apart of this anymore."
The sadistic smirk that creeps across the man's face makes the blonde's stomach coil in disgust and she can nearly feel the bile rise in her throat as he takes a step closer to her. "If I'm correct, Ms. Swan," he whispers in a slow, lilted tone that makes the blonde's eyes burn with fury, "you and I made a deal some time ago—I'm simply getting my repayment."
Harsh pressings of self-loathing tangle within the blonde's limbs and she bites down hard on her tongue, as if the pain will somehow soothe the hatred she currently harbors towards herself. "No," she whispers to herself as she clenches her eyes closed, hoping to hide away from the reality of her choices. "I'm done, Gold!" The blonde screams suddenly as she tries to brush past the man, but fails as he catches hold of her arm, violently jerking her back. A look of defiance cloaks across the blonde's face and her green eyes sharpen as she struggles against him.
Though, the fight within her quickly dies as the realiaztion of his strength and power careen against her face with the force of his hands gripping her cheeks. Turning the blonde around, the man makes her look through the window—forces her to watch helplessly as the brunette paces throughout the tiny room, her lips moving quickly as she mumbles to herself. The blonde's despair prickles within her eyes and droops against the curve of her mouth as the man whispers into her ear, "no, dearie, you will never be done—you will live with the grief of destroying the Evil Queen—of destroying the mother of your child. This is your payment."
His hands roughly pull away from the blonde's face and she slumps against the door as she listens to his footsteps fade down the hallway. Pressing her hand to the window once more, the blonde feels the truth ring forcefully within her ears, knowing full well what she has done to the brunette. And as her fingers ghost across Regina's frantic body, unable to actually touch her through the glass, Emma sobs as her eyes overflow and slowly shut, closing out the mad world that she has found herself living in.
A/N: This was written for a prompt I received over on Tumblr, and since this idea quickly came to me I wrote it down. This is only suppose to be a one-shot, but if there is interest I could possibly take expanding it into consideration, as I really enjoyed playing around with this idea. Anyway, as always, feel free to leave a review!
