Title: Confrontation

Summary: Emma confronts Regina about Snow and her vendetta then later seeks her advice about magic.

Genre: Drama
Characters: Regina, Emma, Hook
Rated: T (lang)
Dis: I don't own OUAT

Note: I started a little OUAT forum, if you all are interested the link is on my profile page. I just opened it yesterday. Fic, art, and vids welcomed as well as discussions: ouat . hyperboards . com

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Regina didn't have time to react to the flying fist that connected itself with her jaw. She fell onto her back, dazed as the taste of blood filled her mouth. Blinking she looked up to see Emma Swan, hands clenched at her sides, practically breathing wildfire out of her mouth.

"Get up," she said, shifting in her stance.

"How dare you!" shouted Regina, standing on her feet, twigs and leaves sticking to her coat and hair.

"All this time… All this hate… Because of a ten year old trying to help you? I'm tired of you attacking my mother whenever you get the chance. Even here! It needs to stop NOW."

Regina smirked, licking the side of her mouth where she could feel the cut.

"Ah, shared some mother-daughter bonding time together I see. It was all harmless; I wasn't REALLY going to drop her into the Dreamshade bush."

"What is wrong with you?" shouted Emma. "You know what she's going through with David! You still have all this hate for the child she used to be. No wonder Henry knew you were the Evil Queen from the start!"

"She broke a promise…" started Regina.

"That's what kids do sometimes! And she thought she was helping you!"

"And look where it got her," muttered Regina, looking away, eyes watering with the thought of Daniel.

"Yes. Your MOTHER killed him. Not Snow… All those lives lost, because of your hate of a child. You're pathetic."

"Like you're any better," muttered Regina. "Giving up your son the way you did."

"And I regret it every day," said Emma. "Because he ended up with you… With someone willing to kill because of what a child did. So if Henry were to do something like that, what, you'd try and kill him too?!"

"No! Of course not! He's my son!"

"And Snow was technically supposed to be your daughter," said Emma. "Look how that turned out."

"I don't have to explain myself to you," said Regina, dusting herself off. "Next time you hit me, I'll…"

"What?" asked Emma, taking a menacing step forward. "You'll kill me? You've tried that before and remember what happened then?" A flash of guilt flitted across Regina's face. "Your mother couldn't even pull my heart out and kill me… I'm not afraid of you."

Regina, gritting her teeth, marched away from Emma who only relaxed when she was certain she was gone. Emma brought her hand up to her forehead, trying to ease some of the tension away. When she heard the rustling of leaves she turned, ready to resume her argument with Regina, but instead it was Hook. He reached for his satchel of rum and handed it to her.

"Looks like you need it after that last little scuffle with her highness," he said.

"I shouldn't have done that," said Emma, fingertips playing over the stopper before pulling it out with a pop. "We're supposed to be finding Henry and instead I'm fighting Regina."

"You made a good point, though."

"Maybe…" She shook her head then fixed a glare in his direction. "Were you spying on me?"

"I was merely making sure she didn't flay you alive," he said, crossing his arms over his chest. "You're welcome, by the way. Give me my rum back."

Emma rolled her eyes then smirked before taking a drink. He scoffed, acting enraged but she saw the pull of a smile at the corners of his lips. She corked the satchel and started walking back toward camp, thrusting the satchel non-too-gently into his gut. He grunted, taking it from her before following. Slowly his eyes drifted downward and his face split into a grin. The one good thing about walking behind Swan was the view.

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Regina looked up and was immediately annoyed when Emma came to sit by her at the campfire. She grabbed a stick and had a minor urge to stake the bitch in the heart before thrusting it into the flames, stirring the red hot embers at the bottom.

"What do you want?" asked Regina, using her free hand to pull the lapels of her coat more snugly over her shoulders.

"I came to apologize for hitting you," said Emma. "What's in the past is in the past. I should be more focused on Henry and not you and my… Mother."

"Still getting used to that idea, Swan?"

"Yeah." She settled in next to Regina. "She wants me to call her mom and David dad… How about you? Should I be calling you grandma?"

"Hell no."

"Didn't think so."

They sat in silence until Regina dropped the stick. She pulled her legs up to her chest and hugged them, unintentionally mirroring who really could have been her step-granddaughter if things had been better. She sighed, looking up to gaze at the stars. So much brighter in Neverland they twinkled like diamonds and honestly was the only beautiful thing about this dreadful place. She now understood why Hook never wanted to come back.

"About my magic…" Regina looked back to Emma. "I don't know… I have it but…"

"You don't know how to use it," said Regina. "I can understand that."

"When the big fight comes, I might have to use it and…"

"I just think of things that makes me angry," said Regina with a shrug. "It tends to get it flowing. Like…"

"My Mother?"

"And other things… Pan, Gold… You." Regina smirked and Emma glared, far from amused. "You're different though. You're the product of true love. Like you said, my mother tried to pull your heart out and failed. I suppose with you, all you need to do is channel your love for Henry and it will work."

Regina picked up the stick she'd been holding, the end of it still smoldering. She drug it around in the dirt until the wood cooled then sat crisscross before holding the wood out in her open palms. She gathered that familiar boil that resided in her gut and the piece of wood started to float, a purple hue surrounding it. She lowered it into her hands then turned her head to Emma, handing her the stick.

"Your turn."

"You serious?" asked Emma, suddenly nervous; holding out the stick like it was a bomb.

"You said you wanted to learn. Make it float."

Emma swallowed; green eyes wide, a look of utter fear on her face. Taking a deep breath she relaxed her hold on the piece of wood then closed her eyes in concentration. She did what Regina told her to do. She thought of the people she loved in the past and loved now in the present. Henry, Neal, David, Snow… She thought about her desire to get Henry back and at the sound a Regina's light laughter she opened her eyes to see the stick floating in front of her: white light surrounding it.

"Pure magic," said Regina, dark eyes studying the stick. "That will come in use later I'm sure."

Emma didn't answer her. All she could do was stare at the stick, a new sense of purpose filling her. So many battles have been fought in her life with and without magic but this one was the most important. She would save everyone, she'd defeat that brat Pan, and she'd get Henry back.

Nothing nor anyone was going to stop her now.

END