A/N: another little oneshot for you. And in case you weren't aware, I'm currently unemployed, hence the insane amount of writing I'm getting done! This fic is for the 400th reviewer of Always Alone, franzih24. Prompt is revealed at the bottom as always. A little angsty and mentions of past abuse. Set some time in the future (if you're being optimistic about SwanQueen …)
It took her a while to identify exactly what had roused her from deep slumber. The bedroom was shrouded in darkness and the chink of sky visible through the heavy drapes was pitch black. It was nowhere near morning. She turned towards the illuminated clock on her beside table and squinted at the glowing digits which informed her she had only been asleep for a couple of hours. Then she heard it. A whimper.
"Regina?"
Emma sat up and leaned over her wife who was lying beside her. Regina's face wore a pained expression, sweat glistening on her brow and her lip trembling. Emma sighed. She thought this had stopped. It had been over a year since she had been woken in the night by Regina's distress. Gently, she laid her hand on Regina's shoulder and shook the sleeping woman.
"Gina, honey. Wake up."
The body writhed beneath her touch and Emma pulled away at once, her heart clenching. Her hand had done that. Her hand had caused Regina pain. She balled it into a fist, fingernails digging into her palm. But she knew she needed to wake the brunette.
"Regina," she said a little louder. "Regina, come back to me. It's just a dream. Please, wake up."
Her head thrashed on the pillow, a cry escaping her lips. Emma couldn't stop herself from throwing her arms around Regina's twisting body and pulling her into a tight hug.
"NO!"
"Regina, it's ok, it's me," Emma said, her eyes sparkling with tears as she held the writhing body tightly to her own. "I'm not going to hurt you. Wake up, Regina. Please."
She felt the brunette take a deep, shuddering breath and sit bolt upright, dislodging Emma's arms. Wide-eyed, Regina stared around the room, her heart racing and her skin tingling with fear.
"Regina."
The soft voice behind her made her turn. Through the darkness, she saw Emma propped on her elbows, concern etched on her features as she watched the petrified brunette.
"Emma," Regina breathed out, all but throwing herself onto her wife's chest.
Emma's strong arms wrapped around her once more, holding her close to her body as the tears fell from both their eyes. Regina clung to the familiar, safe, loving figure, the images from her nightmare slowly fading as she did so. Emma's hands rubbed soothing patterns on her back, her lips kissing the top of her head.
"Do you want to talk about it," Emma asked when Regina's sniffles had eventually stopped.
"Not really," Regina replied.
"Ok."
They lay in silence, Regina listening to the steady beat, beat, beat of Emma's heart beneath her cheek. It was Emma who was in her bed now, not him. It was Emma who slept beside her each night, not him. It was Emma she had married and was going to spend the rest of her life with. Not him.
She craned her neck, seeking out Emma's mouth in the dark. Their kiss was salty, the tears mingling on their lips and tongues. Emma rolled onto her side, pulling their bodies flush together and kissing Regina back. It was slow and delicate, loving and reassuring. Exactly what Regina craved. She wasn't surprised; Emma always knew what Regina needed.
"When will they stop?" she whispered when they broke apart. "I mean, it's been over thirty years. When are these nightmares going to stop?"
"I don't know," Emma admitted. "I thought they had, to be honest."
"Me too," Regina said. "It had been so long since the last one."
She rolled onto her back and felt Emma slide closer, an arm over her waist and her head nestled on the pillow beside her own.
"What prompted this one?" Emma asked quietly after a while.
"It was his birthday yesterday," Regina said. "I'd completely forgotten to be honest but I ran into Mary Margaret in Game of Thorns when I was buying you that rose. She was going to lay some flowers for him. I didn't even know she had a grave here."
"It's in the cemetery," Emma said, remembering how her mother had once mentioned the epitaph she had had commissioned for her long-dead father.
Regina nodded silently. She couldn't blame Mary Margaret for wanting to remember her father. After all, Leopold had been nothing but doting to the young princess. And he had been a benevolent leader to his kingdom too. It was only his young wife who had known what kind of a monster the man could become behind closed doors. Those long, painful, scary nights might have been decades ago but there were times when Regina's sub-conscience replayed them like they had happened yesterday.
"Do you want to speak to Archie again?" Emma suggested.
"No," Regina replied.
The therapist hadn't helped. After all, his PhD had been given to him through a curse of her own making. She couldn't quite believe Emma had talked her into going at all. But then again, there were a lot of things she had done since her relationship with Emma began which she wouldn't have expected. The blonde had changed her. In a good way.
"Thank you again for the rose," Emma said, feeling slightly guilty that her wife's romantic gesture to her had been the catalyst for the nightmare. "It's beautiful."
"Just like you," Regina said, turning to kiss the blonde's lips briefly.
Emma smiled dopily and stifled a yawn. "Sorry."
"Don't be," Regina chuckled. "I'm sorry. I'm the one who woke us up."
"You don't have to apologise," Emma said at once. "None of what happened was your fault and neither is the fact that you still have nightmares. I'm just glad I'm here for you when you do."
"I'm glad you are too," Regina said. "Come on, let's go to sleep."
Emma's arms tightened around Regina and she nuzzled her face closer against her wife's neck. The brunette sighed in contentment, her eyes slipping closed once more. Behind their lids, the faint image of her ex-husband still remained but glowing brighter, stronger, was the beautiful blonde, in whose arms she now lay.
A/N: and the prompt: something angsty concerning Regina's past with Leopold would be great. Or in the Troubled Teacher's universe something concerning Regina's past. Maybe Regina has a nightmare and Emma is there to comfort her.