My stories usually come from dreams but this time I was inspired by a song called Staying Up by The Neighbourhood. I was singing along and then this image of Emma&Regina appeared in my mind so I finished whatever I was doing (I guess I was piling up the wood in our garage) I don't remember correctly and ran to my pc to write this short and very easy fanfic in Czech. Here is the translated version. I hope you will like it. I know I will never be as good as some of the OUAT writers who I really admire for their amazing writing but at least I enjoyed writing it and it made me happy. English is not my first language so please forgive me for the mistakes. :-)

P.S. In case someone here can speak Czech, this is not the exact translation. I added some words here and there to make the story readable in English. Czech language is so rich in words and I had hard time to come up with good versions of sentences so the story itself makes any sense to you.

Nightmares

How can I sleep if I don't have dreams?
I just have nightmares.
How can it be?
I still believe something is out there.

"Emma, you look terrible!" usually Regina didn't have any reason to say that but today the reason was obvious. Emma closed the door behind her and entered the Granny's, her feet took her to the bar where she sat down. Her eyes kept starring into some kind of emptiness apparently only she could see. The mayor's presence didn't even surprise her and so she didn't try to hold her sigh in. Her palms went up to her forehead where she expected some support for the heavy head. This blond girl was dragged down.

"I will be fine," her voice was so weak that all the people around her assumed she couldn't open her mouth to talk properly. At other times fresh-looking blonde in a red leather jacket and skin-tight jeans now looked more like there was nothing else she expected to happen in her life than an attendance at a funeral. Her own. A pinch of a chair moving around the tiled floor filled Emma's ears and she could hear the sound of someone running towards her.

"Emma?" Henry ran up to her with a horrified look on his face. He did not know what had happened, he was not sure how to approach his mom in such situations. He had known her only for few weeks and there was still so many things to get to know about her. He grabbed her hand to let her know he was just right there, standing by her side. Emma did not move. Had she not been so wasted, she would immediately hugged him and went along to the playground, where they were so happy together.

The restaurant door opened and Mary Margaret peeked in her eyes carefully exploring the room. She was looking for Emma. „Here you are," she breathed deeply and crossed the room taking quick steps. „You should see a doctor, you've been suffering for too long," Mary sugested and Henry's eyes traveled from one woman to the other. He had no idea what was going on with Emma and Mary's worried voice scared him. „What's wrong, mom?" Henry tried to keep the eye contact with his mom but Emma was too tired so she hid her face in her palms again. Regina standing near just shivered with Henry calling another woman his mother, she couldn't just easily accept that. This Evil Queen was his mom for too long to be replaced by another human who decided to become a part of his life after not caring since the kid was born.

„Last couple of nights I had trouble sleeping, I can't sleep," Emma explained her problem to her son. He had the right to know since he has shown such concern. Without moving away from his mom Henry took another chair and moved it closer so he could sit down, his hand touched Emma's. If only he could do something to make her feel better.

I have terrible nightmares which won't let me sleep. I wake up and I am scared and I can't fall asleep again," the blonde added and turned over to face her friends who surrounded her compassion in their eyes. They were there to show Emma how supportive they could be. Only Regina stayed behind.

„Doctor can't help me. One night the dreams were so scary that I asked Mary Margaret if I could stay in her apartment, I thought that having some company would solve the problem but yet my nightmares came back," even though telling others about her struggle might make her weaker and vulnerable in their eyes it also felt like a huge relief. She didn't have to keep a secret from anyone anymore.

„The next night Ruby found Emma trying to get into the diner," Mary added and her eyes met Ruby's.

„She was completely frightened and not able to speak a single word. I almost had to use violence to drag her to my room and put her into my bed. She begged me to stay with her for the rest of the night," Ruby described her experience with Emma. Regina standing in the corner of the room just hatefully smiled. It seemed her plan was working. Her effort to force Emma to leave not only the town but also its residents was so strong that for it to succeed the mayor was willing to do whatever was necessary even if she had to use a bit of some magic. Bad dreams were her specialty so what was happening right in front of her made her enormously happy.

"It's time to go home, Henry!" Regina said with a firm voice. She knew what kind of approach would work perfectly on Henry. Direct and clear. Henry stood up from the chair but what you could see in his face wasn't an excited look. He wanted to stay. Regina crossed the room, stood behind Emma and laid her hands on her son's shoulders letting everyone know who this boy belonged to. Tired Emma raised her head and looked into the mayor's eyes. Thanks to the tiredness and the lack of sleep she couldn't notice the expression on the brunette's face that would normally point out that something wasn't quite right, after all Emma had her superpower always ready for use. For once her skill of recognizing lies remained hidden behind the veil of fatigue and fear of what will come to haunt her dreams this night.

"I hope you will enjoy some nice dreams tonight, miss Swan," Regina said sarcastically and literally pushed Henry out of the restaurant.

The lights illuminating the corridors and rooms darkened. The door of Henry's room opened and Regina looked in. When she saw her little boy laying in his bed reading a book a light smile appeared on the brunette's face. Only one look at her son filled her with happiness which she has been searching for her entire life. Emma's exhaustion prevented her from being with Henry as much as she used to be before. It was nice having Henry home more. In her mind she silently congratulated herself for the magic she was able to use to succeed.

"You should turn the lights off and go to sleep. You have school tomorrow," Regina warned Henry about the late hour and smiled at him. "I will see you in the morning," a light kiss flew through the air and before she closed the door a silent "Good night, mom," made her heart jump with joy.

"Good night, son," she answered and her steps led her to the bedroom. Her hand briefly touched the door handle and she could see herself in bed already. In the exact moment when she slightly opened the bedroom door a ringing sound filled the house.

"Are we expecting someone, mom?" a voice was heard from the room where only a short moment ago she put her son to sleep.

"No, but don't worry I will take care of it. Sleep," Regina answered calmly. On her way to the stairs the mayor took a bathrobe from bathroom and ran down anxious to find out who is bothering them at such a late hour. In her head she was getting some words ready for the one who was brave enough to keep her from much - needed sleep.

"Why are you both...?" Regina opened the front door and when she saw the face of her rival in front of her she decided rather not to finish the sentence. "Miss Swan, what are you doing here?" the brunette asked a question Emma expected and already had her answer ready.

"If you came to see Henry ..." Emma pressed a finger against Regina's lips to stop her from talking.

"This time I am coming to see you," she said and her answer brought a look of fear to Regina's face. Why the person she hated the most - with who she was in such a delicate conflict and cast a curse of restless sleep over her - was standing at the doorstep of her own house? Was it possible that she could see through her plan? No! She couldn't be that smart. For a brief moment when their eyes met Regina could feel Emma's hopelessness and a plea for help. Every normal person would be filled with pity for someone who was in need but Regina wasn't a member of the "normal people" group.

"I don't know where to go. I would never guess I would end up in front of your house asking for help, but .."

"Miss Swan I am not a doctor and I think I can't be any much of help here. I don't even know if I would help," Emma wasn't surprised by the mayor's acidity. She had nothing else to lose. She needed help and kinda hoped she would find it here. Her instincts were rarely off so Emma hoped they weren't off now.

Surprisingly Regina stepped back from the door and gave Emma a hand sign to enter the house. The blonde nodded her "thanks", lowered her head and entered the most beautiful and luxury house in the town. Regina closed the front door and led Emma into a big and very nicely furnished dining room. When Emma looked around the room a comfortable sofa caught her eye. She decided to try it out without waiting for the house owner to give her any permission. Wearily she let her body sink into the cough and leaned against the soft backrest. Even if it was against everything Regina had planned for her, she couldn't overcome the feeling that she should help Emma to calm down. She opened a wooden wardrobe that was standing against one of the room walls and took a soft blanket out. Regina used the blanket to cover the blond girl. It was incredibly hard for her to keep a friendly face and convince herself to give Emma even a tiny help.

"I will let you sleep here this night. If your nightmares are back you will find me in my bedroom upstairs, turn left and it's the first door," Regina gave her some words of comfort then turned around towards the stairs ready to turn the lights off and leave Emma alone.

"Can you stay here with me?" Emma whispered and her words made Regina feel like a sharp knife just went through her heart. She didn't know what to do in situations like this. She didn't know how to react or what to feel. Nobody has ever asked her for such a favor let alone it would be a woman asking. Regina didn't even notice that she stopped breathing. She turned back and looked at Emma. She couldn't describe what was going on inside her. She didn't like it at all but on the other hand she was curious how it felt if someone was asking for your presence. Regina lowered the lights and took another blanket from the wardrobe and went to the sofa. Without a single word she sat down next to Emma covered herself with the blanket giving the blonde some space to lay down and rest her head on her lap. "Thank you," Emma whispered and closed her eyes. Now Regina was really glad Emma couldn't see her. She didn't know where she should put her hands or how to relax a little. The tension she was feeling inside pushed her into the sofa, she was sitting motionlessly her hands in the air waiting for what would happen.

"Well I guess there's nothing to thank me for yet," she whispered but Emma couldn't hear her. She fell asleep. A silent breathing filled the room. Regina finally relaxed took few deep breaths and used the body lying on her lap as a support on which she slowly and gently put her hands. This night was the first night when Emma properly and undisturbed slept despite the fact that it was Regina who cast the spell of the nightmares.

The End

I hope you liked it. It's just an ordinary ff. I would love to hear some feedback. Thank you.