AN: Just a small scene that kept playing in my mind. I don't know about you, but I'm worried. The new season is going to be absolutely crazy. Anyways, hope you enjoy :)
Disclaimer: Don't own Once.
She stood there, her hands shaking. Her mind was barely made up, but she had to do something. She couldn't let their last conversation be in a rush of darkness and goodbyes. They deserve more than that, she deserves more than that. "Dammit, Emma," she whispers under her breath, her hands trying to stay still, her eyes focused on the cool steel of the infamous dagger. The streets were quiet now, everyone asleep. Snow and Charming and the idiot pirate gone, worried, tired. But, no, Regina stayed. Out of sight, but not out of mind. She needed to see Emma.
They all agreed that Regina keep the dagger, although the final decision was not without a fight. But she knows more than anyone else about dark magic, so obviously the former queen should take the right. But the brunette couldn't stop staring at the cursed blade, couldn't stop thinking about the blonde who paid the ultimate price for her happiness. How could you let this happen, she cursed at herself. And now, standing in the spot where Emma Swan, the person that she's hated almost more than Snow White, the person who shares a son with her, the person who never gave up on her redemption, lost everything. For her. "I can't believe this is happening," her voice barely audible.
Regina lifts her hand to wipe her cheek of angry tears, hating that she's acting so vulnerable, so weak. But her mind's made up, she has to talk to Emma. Regina takes a deep breath, trying to calm herself. With both hands she grips the dagger, staring at the carving of Emma's name, and closes her eyes.
"Dark One, I summon thee."
With what must've been the rush of holding the power over the Dark One, combined with her own magic, Regina felt it. Felt her. She slowly opened her eyes and with a cruel twist of fate, she was scared. Emma's piercing green eyes stared back at her, her back straight, her face stoic. Just looking at her, it almost seemed like a dream, that nothing really happened, that it was just her mind playing tricks – but Emma's gaze was no trick. "You called," the blonde spoke, no question on her lips.
Regina's anger almost brought her to a dangerous edge with those two words, Emma's fate making her blood boil. "How. Could. You," Regina's voice echoing across the silent Storybrooke.
But Emma didn't reply, which only angered Regina more. The brunette stepped up closer, a couple feet distant between them. "How could you do this, Emma? What the hell were you thinking!" Still, the blonde didn't give a reaction. Regina stepped closer. "Why won't you answer me, dammit! How could you do this? What about Henry? Your parents? What about your life? Everything that you've worked so hard to build?"
Emma still didn't answer, her eyes hollow to Regina's questions. Regina wanted to strangle her, wanted to scream at her, but only a few tears spilled down her cheeks. "How could you do this to me," she whispered, only a few inches between them. Her hand still grips the dagger, her knuckles turning white from the pressure. She lowers her voice to a deadly note, "Answer me, Dark One."
Finally, Emma's face changed. But instead of its stoic appearance, sadness fills her eyes. Regina's resolve falters at Emma's distress, knowing that her command must be obeyed. But before she can revoke the words, Emma finally speaks, her voice cracking, "Because I love you."
Regina starts shaking her head, moving back slightly, not sure exactly how to process those words. "What do you mean you love me?"
Emma tightens her fists, trying to stay in control, but failing against the power of the dagger. "I'm…I'm in love with you, Regina." Emma bows her head, breaking eye contact, her shoulders sagging.
The brunette turns around, her heart racing, emotions swirling around in her head, clouding any sort of thought. Her mind escapes to the moment Emma struck the dagger into the darkness about to consume her soul, to the final moment Emma locked eyes with her before it took her, to the feeling of time stopping when she realized that maybe actions do speak louder than words. But it all happened so fast, and rationally Emma would've done that for anyone, or at least, she thinks so. Regina looks up, her eyes searching the skies for answers, when a part of her heart, the part she thought was never going to be seen again, finds it way to the surface. "Oh, Emma," she says, her voice almost unfamiliar as she drops to her knees.
In a spilt second, warm arms wrap around her, blonde hair clouding her vision. "I'm sorry, Regina," Emma whispers, her hands making circles on her back.
Regina laughs, not understanding why Emma is comforting her after everything that's happened. But instead of more doubts, Regina wraps her arms around the blonde, pulling her close to her body, needing to feel that she's still alive.
After a second, Regina pulls back, enough to look into the piercing green eyes that saved her so many years ago. "Emma, listen to me." She lifts her hand, tracing the soft skin of Emma's face, her fingers brushing her hair free from her vision. "I promise that I will do whatever it takes to bring you back from the darkness. I will not let your sacrifice be for nothing."
But Emma paused, moving back slightly, her hands dropping from Regina. "My sacrifice?" Emma slowly stands up, staring down at Regina, her eyes changing from love to indifference in a split second. "You're wrong, Regina. Now? Now I'm perfect. And nothing and no one can take that away. Not even you."
Regina widens her eyes, starting to open her mouth to speak, when suddenly Emma disappears in a cloud of black smoke. Silence fills her ears, and the former Evil Queen stares down at the dagger, wanting to summon Emma back, but knowing that she shouldn't. She stands back up, evening out her clothes, running her fingers through her hair, and wiping her cheeks. Her eyes catch a patch of light glinting off the infamous blade yet again.
"Emma," she whispers to the air. "I will not let the darkness destroy you… if it is the last thing I do."