Sorry, not beta-read.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but I wish I did.
"Don't do this, Emma", Regina took a step forward, her hands raised palms forward, showing her intention to stay out of the fight as long as possible. "Please"
"Oh, so now we're back to the first-name basis! Aaaand… we're back to pleading. What happened to the "Evil Queen does not plead, she just kills" motto? Afraid that there may be small collateral damage?" the Dark One hadn't moved an inch from her position near the crib but hadn't stretched her hand to it either.
"If you want me, take me. Just leave the baby alone", the Queen's voice turned into her familiar growl by the end of the sentence. She was getting nervous, and her best coping mechanism against it was, up to this moment, being intimidating.
"Here, Regina, give us some fire", Emma went on with the mocking, and, at the very same moment, Regina felt two things: her palm got warm as a fireball formed itself on it and her shoulder was squeezed all the way to the squeeze actually being painful.
"Regina, you have to fight this, dear, you have to control yourself, you can't beat her with the dark magic", Robin tried to talk some sense into her, using pain to reach out, to make her listen – and she did, taking a deep breath and stepping in front of her soulmate once again, reclaiming the position she had taken as soon as Emma had appeared in the room.
"Daddy", she is standing beside him, biting her lip, her hands folded in manner which just so reminds him of her mother.
"Yes, my little Princess?", he turns away from the porridge he has been stirring on the stove and takes in the way his daughter looks: her brows creased with worry, her bright blue eyes full of tears, her whole posture just screaming worry and insecurity. He kneels on one knee in front of her, his hand coming up to her shoulder. "What's wrong, my beauty? Has something happened?"
"Was... Was my mom bad?" she doesn't specify which one, but he knows, he knows from this look on her face, from her confusion, which one she is speaking about. He knows, and he flinches, he always does now whenever she is mentioned, it's almost unconscious, he just can't control his emotions, it's too much, they're too much, they're eating him alive. He wishes he could control them, though, since his precious little darling notices the way his face contorts and runs away from the kitchen and up the mansion's massive staircase, sobbing loudly. He curses under his breath and follows her, turning back abruptly and switching off the stove with the porridge on it before continuing his way upstairs.
"I told you, take me, fight me, leave her alone!" Regina hissed, raising her hands but not doing anything, afraid that Emma could use baby as the shield or come up with something equally terrible.
"I've already told you, I don't want you, I don't want her, I want your sister! And what better way to get a chance to meet a mother than to be near the child. That's how I met you, remember? Anyway, the moment she comes and uses her magic against me, she'll be powerless and mine", Dark One's plan was simple but effective.
"You can't have them: neither the baby nor Zelena", the Queen included her sister in the list, not even thinking twice about it.
"And why do you care, all of a sudden? It's not like it's your daughter anyway – and we all know how much you hate your sister, so just sit back, relax and watch a movie with this forest-smelling boyfriend of yours", Emma was reluctant to fight Regina, that much was obvious. The reason behind it – whether she was afraid to lose or just unwilling to hurt her – was somewhat more of a mystery.
"I care because, unlike you, miss Swan, I do not leave my children", this was a low blow, and Regina regretted saying it the moment the words came out of her mouth, thinking that they might provoke the blonde, but, thankfully, they actually worked the other way round. Emma's mouth twitched, her brows creased and her eyes snapped tight shut, leaving her with the expression of pain, guilt and remorse on her face, expression which was so Emma and so not the Dark One. It lasted mere moments, in some two seconds she regained her control and opened her eyes, looking around with the same tired and unamused look which she had ever since they came back to Storybrooke from Camelot. She opened her mouth, clearly wanting to say something, but then a cloud of green smoke appeared right between her and Regina.
"Finally, the mother of an hour", Emma said, waving her hand and freezing Regina and Robin in place before the former Evil Queen could react, distracted by her sister's appearance.
Robin finds her in her bedroom, crawled on the floor with her back against the side of the bed. The sight is heart-wrenching, four-year-old should not have to deal with such pain, and it is his responsibility to make it right again. He has to find the right words, and he has to do it fast.
"Hey, Princess", he smiles his best cheeky smile and comes to sit next to her, his hand instantly beginning to stroke her beautiful auburn hair, "I believe you wanted to talk about your mom, didn't you?"
The young girl nods and lifts her red-rimmed eyes to meet her father's gaze.
"Then talk we should", he smiles encouragingly and leans down to kiss her forehead.
"Was she bad?" little beauty repeats her question in a trembling voice, and he can't stand it anymore, he gets on his feet and scoops her into his arms, holding her close to his heart.
"She was not, little one. She was a hero, and you know this much already, don't you?" he can feel her nodding against his chest, and he sits down on the bed, adjusting her position on his lap. He cups her face with his hands and leans back to get a better look at her. "Then why do you ask? I hope you don't think that I would ever lie to you, do you?"
It took a couple of moments for Zelena to take in the scene which was evolving in the room and even less to flare up upon seeing Emma in such a close proximity to her baby.
"Get away from her!" her high-pitched scream made the windows rattle. A second later the room was filled with yet another cry, the one of the little girl.
"Why, don't shout, dear, you're scaring the baby", the Dark One tilted her head towards the crib, letting the snarky comment out with her voice void of any emotion, "Not a behavior of a mother, is it?"
"I said get away from her", Zelena hissed, "And I am her mother!"
"Ouch, two mothers in one room, isn't it too many for this little bundle of joy? Come on, you don't think they're gonna let you have her, do you? Look, your sister is already all possessive behind your back, she's gonna take your child from you, she's not gonna let you get near her – that is, unless you hope to be able to take her first", Emma raised her brow, the rest of her face just as emotionless as ever now.
"That's the thing, dearie, I do hope", Zelena shot back, her best sassy intonation up and running but her eyes never leaving the crib.
"Well… then try", the Dark One formed a huge energy blast on her palm and threw it in the direction of the crib in a matter of seconds, clearly trying to provoke the Wicked Witch to use her magic.
"No, Daddy… But Neal said she was..."
"Neal has to learn to hold his tongue, my treasure. But yes, he's right in some way. She… she was bad. Once upon a time. But she changed. Everyone didn't believe it, you know, and she wasn't making it easier to believe either, but she… she truly had changed, and now we all think she would have made a wonderful mother – or aunty – to you", he scoops her closer to him, stroking her hair and rocking back and forth a bit.
"But how do you know she had changed?" her large blue eyes are looking at him with such hope that he can't help but beam at the thought how right they were to choose her this name. Thinking about the matter at hand gets his smile to pale several shades, turning from a beaming one into a sad one.
"I know, Hope, because she made it all happen; because she is the reason we are sitting here together; because she gave me a chance to hold you like this and you – a chance to hold me", well, this is the truth. Or at least half of it. But he can't very well tell her the whole of it; it would be too much of a burden for her to bear, and it was agreed that they were not to tell her at least until she is of full age, preferably not even then, not ever. He agreed to that but at the same time he feels like he is robbing her of it, like he is denying her the only chance she would ever get to know her mother, like he is lying to her, manipulating with these half-truths… He can only hope that all his thoughts are not written all across his face when his girl moving on his lap pulls him out of his moral dilemma.
"I see. Then she was good to give us that!" and she nuzzles closer to him, and she wraps her arms around his neck, and after she kisses him he feels that everything is right. Everything is as it should have been. The sacrifice was not in vain.
Regina struggled against Emma's magic, trying to break it and save the child or at least be able to open her mouth and warn her sister, still hoping that Swan would stop the blast if both she and her sister failed to do so – after all, Emma was dark but, hopefully, not dark enough to kill the baby, which went on crying, by the way. Sadly, the only thing the paralyzed Queen could do was stand and watch the scene which unfolded before her eyes: Emma throwing the blast, baby crying so loudly and Zelena jumping between the blast and the crib. Everything fell silent the second the blast hit the red-head into the chest. She took a step back upon impact and then fell to the ground with the loud thump.
The Dark One looked genuinely shocked.
"Who knew she had it in her", she murmured, looking at the crib and then at the fallen woman."Well, my condolences, Regina", with that and a flicker of her hand Emma was gone.
Regina and Robin were both able to move, and as he started towards the crib, Regina ran to her sister and kneeled in front of her.
"No, no, no, no, no", she pleaded, spreading her hands above her sister's body, hoping for something, anything, at least some tingling of magic in her fingers – but there was none.
"Robin…", an unexpected sob escaped her lips, and her heart squeezed painfully in her chest, "Robin, she is gone."
Author's note: I was thinking about adding some fluff but then decided against it. OutlawQueen fluff is easy to come by, and this was about Zelena's sacrifice, but if you think I should continue this one, let me know.
Also, I was kind of trying to write it so that the readers wouldn't be able to say straight away who the girl was asking about - Regina or Zelena. Please, let me know whether I nailed it or failed xD