Disclaimer: Once Upon A Time and its characters are the property of ABC/Disney and its creators.
Notes: A special thanks to my beta (lostandalone2011; fanfiction*net/u/5389158).
Credits to the cover belongs to: mishka47*tumblr*com
Glass Angel
Regina did not come in time to the Snow Queen's hideout. She did not come in time to prevent the spell the Snow Queen cast on Emma, but she did came in time to help Emma fight one last time.
"Now, Emma!" Regina shouted and looked at Emma, who looked a little stunned.
The Snow Queen smiled satisfactorily. This was her long-awaited chance to put an end to Regina's life and to continue with her plan. She stared at Emma, realizing that her spell was taking effect. It would only be a matter of minutes now before Emma transformed completely. She turned to Regina to gloat. She was so blinded by her illusion of winning that she did not see the final act of bravery coming from Emma.
With her arms extended in front of her body, Emma directed all of the little energy left within her towards the Snow Queen. Regina joined her much powerful magic with Emma's with a determination to not budge from there until the Snow Queen was reduced to a heap of ice crystals.
There was a big flash when Emma and Regina's magic combined. Regina instantly felt the warmth of the power coursing through her body and out of her fingertips. She wondered if Emma felt the same.
Blindsided by their unexpected attack, the Snow Queen resisted as much as she could; but her magic was not as prevailing as Emma and Regina's combined strength. Her melting skin was all the proof she needed to see just how powerful they both were, and she soon realized that she had lost this battle. Her final cries and screams did nothing but echo off the ice walls of her hideout, making it shake.
As Regina struggled to stay upright, she looked at Emma, noticing that the blonde didn't have to worry about staying still. The Snow Queen's spell had already taken hold of her legs; her feet were completely frozen and buried in the ice below her.
The ice ceiling began to crack, making the ground shake again. Regina focused on using all that was left of her energy to throw the Snow Queen against the wall behind her. She shielded her eyes with her arms when the Snow Queen hit the wall and her body crashed against the mirror.
There was a loud crash and then, there was silence. She lowered her arms, looked around, and saw thousands of ice crystals suspended in the air. The hideout shook once more, presaging the inevitable: it was about to collapse.
"We have to get out of here right now, Emma!" Regina said with urgency, turning to face the blonde.
It was not only her feet that were stuck on the floor, but her entire body. The Snow Queen had succeeded. Emma was now just an ice sculpture.
Regina walked over to Emma, scanning her whole body, as she thought about what she could do to get them both out of there. The floor trembled again. She did not have time to think. She had to act quickly.
She approached Emma's frozen form, and putting one arm around the blonde, prayed that she could them get out of the icy deathtrap in time. She closed her eyes, pressed Emma's icy body against her own and concentrated hard on her mansion, not noticing the purple smoke that began to engulf them both.
As she opened her eyes, and the last of the purple smoke wafted into the air, there they were: in front of the mansion. Regina sighed with relief and directed her attention towards Emma. She had to act fast; she needed to keep Emma's heart from freezing completely, otherwise the spell of the Snow Queen would be irreversible.
She brought her hand up to Emma's chest, and stared into her cold, icy blue eyes. Without a second thought she forced her hand into the blonde's frozen chest, and wrapped her fingers around the still warm heart. She pulled it out while watching Emma closely. The heart was still beating; it still had life in it. The Snow Queen's spell had failed to freeze the Savior's heart.
Regina had ripped hundreds of hearts throughout her life, but she had never felt anything quite like what she felt in that moment when she held Emma's heart. She stared at the heart for a few seconds... she had to protect it, keep it safe, otherwise it would freeze just like Emma's body.
She would need magic involucre, strong enough to protect the fragile heart. Regina did not have enough strength to use her magic and apparate herself to her mausoleum. There was only one thing to be done then, and she was not sure if it would work.
She stared into Emma's blank eyes, and apologized in case if what she was about to do didn't work. Regina looked one last time at the beating heart in her hands. She could never explain what she felt when she touched it, but there was something different in that heart; a strange familiarity she didn't feel with all the other hearts she held, and crushed. She could swear that she could hear it whispering to her, calling her by name. She allowed herself to hear it, and what it said to her was exactly what she knew had to be done.
The heart throbbed in her hand with that strange energy that ran through her fingers. With a quick and precise movement, she pushed the heart against her chest. Her body fell forward, forcing her to kneel as she grasped Emma's arms for support.
It took her a few seconds to recover. Regina placed her hand over the right side of her chest, where Emma's heart was now beating. She then moved her arm over her own heart on the left. She couldn't tell the difference between the two heartbeats; both hearts seemed to beat together as one.
Regina looked up at the ice sculpture. Emma was looking straight ahead, not at Regina. Regina knew well that the blonde could not hear her or answer her, but she still made her a promise that night that she would find a way to break the Snow Queen's spell.
The only witnesses who had been there that night were the stars, the moon and Emma's heart that beat stronger in Regina's chest when it heard her vow.
Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months. All types of counter spells were used, but in vain. By the end of the second month, the entire town was convinced that Emma would never return to life. Storybrooke had changed completely. Of all the curses the town endured, none of them took away the one thing that had allowed it to prevail through it all – the hope of a savior.
The ice sculpture remained at the entrance of Regina's mansion. No one dared to move it from there out of fear of shattering Emma into a thousand pieces. It seemed as if Emma stood guard, protecting Regina's place, but it was Regina doing all she could to protect Emma's heart, which still beat inside her chest, though no one knew of this fact even after all these months.
Through the window in her room, Regina saw Emma. From there, Regina could see the steady stream of visitors Emma received. She did not need to be near to hear what they had to say to Emma to know how much these visits meant to Emma. Emma's heart would let her know just how deeply she still felt; it beat stronger when Henry or her parents visited her.
One night Regina decided that watching Emma from afar was not enough. So she went downstairs, walked out the mansion's front door and stood before Emma. She stared at Emma, and felt an inexplicable, but strong desire to touch her. So she did. The cold was almost unbearable, but Regina simply bit her lower lip, trying to ignore the pain, and closed her eyes. It was extremely painful to touch her, but Regina resisted the urge to pull away and searched for Emma's hand, whose icy fingers she squeezed with her warm ones.
Regina wanted to make sure that Emma felt her; not only her physical presence, but her resolve to keep fighting for Emma's life. The two hearts in her chest started beating rapidly in unison, and she smiled. This was Emma's answer. Emma knew that Regina was still fighting to bring her back.
Regina came back every night after that. Little by little she found herself sharing with Emma all her thoughts, her anxieties, her fears and her dreams. She always held Emma's hand firmly during these conversations, even if the cold pierced through her skin and chilled her blood. Little by little, the cold stop bothering her and little by little, she learned to understand Emma better. She began to feel what Emma felt, she took Emma's heart as her own, to the point that she began to ask herself if she could ever bear to give it back to her.
One night, after Regina had poured her heart out to Emma, she realized that the heat of her touch was causing Emma's fingers to melt. The next day when there was no more hand-holding, Regina felt Emma's heart sink in her chest. It was as if Emma was telling her that Regina's warmth was worth melting over a thousand times, but Regina would not allow her emotions to endanger Emma's life.
The first days of December arrived, bringing cold and small snowflakes to Storybrooke. Regina did not decorate the mansion. The lights on the roof were the only symbol from Christmas that she allowed.
She knew that although she could avoid the symbols of gaiety at will, she could do nothing to prevent the arrival of Christmas itself. Since she had no reason to celebrate, and besides, she did not want to leave Emma alone, on that Christmas Eve, Regina stayed in her room, by herself.
She walked to the window, leaned herself against the glass and watched Emma downstairs, illuminated by the few Christmas lights Henry had strung up. She smiled to herself, and took both hands to her chest as she watched Emma surrounded by children who had come to sing Christmas carols.
As the children sang, Regina found herself crying. But they were not the tears of sorrow she knew so well. In fact, they were not even her tears. She cried because she felt Emma's heart get overwhelmed by the children's singing. She wiped the tears, and lay down on the bed.
She could still hear the faint, but melodious voices of the children singing. Regina's thoughts wandered away, and as she took a deep breath, placing her hand over Emma's heart, she allowed herself to be lulled to sleep by the children's voices.
An incessant tapping sound woke her in the middle of the night. Regina got up, a little stunned. The noise continued. She looked around and realized that it came from the window. Regina went over to the window only to discover that it was Tinker Bell tapping for attention.
Regina opened the window, and allowed the Green Fairy in. Tinker Bell was able to revert to her former size, no bigger than a butterfly, and back to her human form when she got her powers back. Tink flew around the room, making a sharp turn and landed next to Regina in her human form.
"What are you doing here?" Regina asked.
"It's Christmas," Tink replied. "And I have come to bring you this," she continued while taking out from the folds of her dress a small vial containing gold dust.
Regina recognized it immediately as Pixie Dust. She stared at the vial in silence, waiting for an explanation.
"This is my Christmas present to you, Regina," Tink said. Regina shook her head, not understanding what was happening. "I know you must be wondering why now, after so many years," Tink continued, "but you were right, you know."
"I was right? About what?" Regina asked, confused.
"You were right when you said that the spell had not worked," Tink explained, but Regina frowned. "Everything happens for a reason and you weren't supposed to meet Robin Hood that day."
The fairy approached Regina and handed her the bottle. Regina held it in her hand, but she could not comprehend what was happening.
"He was not meant to be your happy ending," Tink continued talking.
"But you said – " Regina tried to say, but the fairy did not allow her to speak in return.
"Well, I know what I said, and I was wrong," she replied. "Blue was right when she punished me. I had gone too far. The Pixie Dust led you to Robin Hood, Regina, because your heart was full of fear that you'll never find a happy ending. That day, the Pixie Dust was guided by that fear, and fear, as you know so well by now, usually leads us to bad choices," she concluded.
"So if I had gone to him, if I had given him a chance, it would not have brought me happiness?" Regina asked and Tinker Bell nodded.
"What would have happened then?" she asked again. Tink smiled at Regina and shrugged.
"Some questions are best left unanswered, Regina. Let the past be where it is and give yourself another chance to find happiness," the fairy continued. Regina stared at the bottle in her hand and then looked into the eyes of the fairy, who seemed to understand her unspoken insecurity. "It will work this time, Regina."
"And how can you be sure?"
"Because there is no more fear in your heart. You have learned that some things are best left behind and you have learned to let love take precedence to guide your choices."
Regina turned away from Tink and looked out the window. She thought of Emma, thought of everything that the two of them had been through in the last few months. She thought of how much Emma had changed her and how much Tinker Bell's words rang true.
She had learned to love again.
Emma had taught her to love again.
That thought made her tremble because she feared that the Pixie Dust might take her to someone else. She stared at the bottle in her hand and felt her heart again fill with fear, but Tinker Bell was still there and held her hand.
"Your heart is full of love, now, and you know where it comes from. Don't worry so much; just let love guide you," said the fairy, moving away from Regina.
Regina looked at the bottle again. If Tinker Bell was right, the Pixie Dust would take her exactly to her true love, and if both the hearts beating in her chest were right, she knew well to whom the Pixie Dust would lead her to.
With her mind made up, Regina opened the bottle in her hands and felt that the two hearts barely fit in her chest. She poured the contents of the vial on her palm, saw it shine and brought her hand to her lips. The two hearts beat even faster in her chest now. She closed her eyes, and made her wish. Then opening her eyes, she blew the dust lightly. It immediately flew out of her hand and hung in the air for a moment. But the moment was long enough for Regina to take a step forward and be engulfed by that magical dust.
The Pixie Dust created a path in her room. Regina began to follow it while the path kept forming further. She went downstairs, closely following the path, and it took her at the main entrance of the mansion. She stared at the door, which was closed at the moment, and hesitated for a second before opening it.
Regina could see that the Pixie Dust had crossed the threshold. The magical path glowed in the air, telling her exactly where she was supposed to go. It was only the door that separated Regina from her happiness; she just needed to open that door.
And like before, she did.
There was the path that the Pixie Dust had created, suspended in the air, shining more than the Christmas lights on the roof of her mansion and covering Emma's ice sculpture form completely.
This time the hearts did not accelerate, instead they stopped for a second. She held her breath and took a few small steps towards Emma. The light surrounding Emma was completely green light; same as the color of her eyes during the day.
Regina went and stood before Emma. Her eyes filled with tears, her hearts tightened as she touched Emma's hand, without fear this time that she could melt and disappear right before her eyes.
Emma looked like an angel, with that green light enveloping her.
She looked like an angel made of glass.
An angel without wings, who looked so fragile and vulnerable, but Regina knew better: Emma was anything but fragile or vulnerable. Regina approached her, her lips trembled with the thought of what she was about to do.
There was silence as her soft lips touched Emma's hard and icy lips. She closed her eyes as she kissed, her lips pressed tightly against Emma's, one of her hands touched her hair, but she still could not feel its softness.
After a few moments Regina pulled back, breaking the kiss and looked frustrated at Emma. But that frustration soon gave way to another feeling. The path that the Pixie Dust had created encased them both completely. And if Emma had shone before, now she was glowing.
As the glow slowly faded, there was no longer the green light surrounding Emma. Instead, her eyes lit up just as brightly now. Regina stared at her, feeling a rush of anxiety take over her. But before she could say anything, Emma approached her.
"I felt all that you felt, Regina," Emma said. Her voice was low, almost hoarse. She needed to work hard to form a complete sentence.
"Everything?" Regina asked. Emma nodded. "And could you hear me too?" Emma nodded again and Regina felt stupid as tears started running down her face.
Emma, however, did not care for her tears, but Regina still wiped them away, although it was impossible to wipe them all. Emma came closer to her. There was not much to be said between them, the two of them knew well what they wanted from each other.
"It was very foolish of you to go after the Snow Queen alone," Regina said, trying to regain control of her emotions.
"Well, we both agreed that I'm an idiot, didn't we?" Emma replied, which made Regina laugh a little.
"If you do something like that again, Emma," she replied, "I promise I'll kill you."
"I thought we had agreed that you are done trying to kill me," Emma said. "Well, either way you have my heart now. I think you can do just whatever you want with me."
Regina nodded as she approached the blonde closing the little distance that existed between them. Her hands reached Emma's hand. They were no longer cold as before and she no longer had that inexpressible look on her face. Regina smiled to herself; she could touch Emma now, without fear of destroying her in the process.
"I must return your heart to you," Regina said while reaching into her chest. But Emma's hand stopped her from going further.
"I believe my heart is exactly where it is supposed to be," Emma answered and Regina smiled again and their lips sealed together, making it clear that nothing more needed to be said.
"Merry Christmas, my Queen," Emma said between one kiss and another.
"Merry Christmas, my angel," Regina answered back.
The cold was gone now, giving way to the warmth that only the two of them could create. There came one day when Regina gave Emma her heart back, but there never came a day that she stopped felling it inside herself.
Regina had grown quite used to the angelic form of Emma at the entrance of her house. She came to believe that it was indeed an angel that stood there with Emma, giving her life and then had flown away, but it was never forgotten. So during the Christmas that followed, Emma and Regina decorated the mansion with lights, artificial snow, a giant Christmas tree in the living room and a glass angel at the entrance of the mansion.
"It's beautiful," Emma said, staring at the glass sculpture.
"But not as beautiful as you looked that day. I know what's missing," Regina said and with a quick flick of her wrist, she made the sculpture light up in green light. Emma turned to her and searched for her hand. The two smiled at each other as they stared at the beautiful glass angel right in front of them.
There was no sadness on Christmas that year. It was not only that Emma had been reborn last Christmas, but Regina too had started a new life. And every day that she spent by Emma's side, she felt more alive.
"Don't you want to get up to open our Christmas presents?" Regina asked Emma, who mumbled something inaudible and turned to the other side of the bed.
Regina leaned on her elbow and watched Emma go back to sleep. Her fingers made a way through Emma's blond hair and her mind wandered far away for a little bit. Her mind went back to when her heart was black and completely taken over by darkness.
She remembered when she believed that the only happy ending she would have was when she would get revenge from Snow White. She sighed and thanked silently for Emma to have shown her a new way; she thanked Emma to have taught her to love again. She leaned over Emma, touching her hair with her lips, and waking her up in the process.
"Henry will wake up and open all the gifts by himself," Regina whispered to Emma, who smiled and pulled Regina to her, filling her mouth with kisses. "We don't want that he does it alone, do we?" Regina continued as Emma wrapped her arms around her neck and pulled Regina back to her, stealing another few kisses.
"I really want to open the presents with Henry, but I cannot imagine what under that Christmas tree could be better than what I have here," Emma replied, in her sleepy voice. Regina then filled her with kisses, before getting out of bed and giving her an ultimatum to dress up and go down.
"Regina?" Emma called and Regina stopped at the door.
"What?"
"Merry Christmas, my Queen." Emma said. Regina did not hide a smile and, before leaving, she returned to the bed and gave Emma a long kiss.
"Merry Christmas, my angel." Regina said, before finally leaving the bedroom.
Emma and Henry looked like two children, sitting at the foot of the Christmas tree, while Regina watched, sitting in an armchair. Emma directed her a look when she found a gift box with her name on it.
"I told you I did not want anything from Christmas, Regina," Emma said.
"Everybody wants something for Christmas, Emma," She replied, smiling at her.
Emma did not waste time and opened her present to find out that she had got a puzzle from Regina.
"A puzzle?" Emma asked. Regina laughed and shrugged as she stood up and walked towards her, sitting by her side.
"Well, I wanted something that would keep you busy for a while," Regina explained. "You know, just so you don't get into any trouble."
Emma smiled and stared her present. It was a puzzle of the map of the US, with all its states and capitals.
"1500 pieces should keep me busy for a while," Emma replied leaning toward Regina and thanked her with a kiss.
Days passed joyfully, and it was soon New Year's Eve.
Regina walked from one side of her room to the other, as she put on her earrings and looked for her heels. She called for Emma, who should have been dressed up, but got no response from the blonde.
She went downstairs and called again for Emma, receiving a low and distant answer. Regina then rolled her eyes, knowing well what Emma was doing. She walked to her study, and on opening the sliding doors she found Emma, sitting behind the office desk, staring at the pieces of the puzzle spread before her.
"Emma, you should be ready already," Regina said, trying her best to stay calm.
Emma raised her hand, as a sign for Regina to wait, her gaze was fixed on the pieces of the puzzle, completely scattered on the table before her.
"There is a piece missing," Emma said quietly.
"We can search for it later, Emma," Regina answered her, rolling her eyes in impatience.
Emma was working on this puzzle since Christmas day, but had not made much progress. All she had done so far was to separate the pieces by format and then put together the pieces that formed the frame of the drawing; she had not begun putting together the actual puzzle yet.
"No!" She said, leaning against the chair and staring into Regina's eyes.
Regina crossed her arms and struggled to keep the bossy pose, but that did not fly with Emma.
"I made bet with Henry that I could finish this puzzle before January is over," She replied. "How can I begin the puzzle if one of the pieces is missing?"
"Emma, we are still in December," Regina said. "Actually, there are just a few hours left before December is finally gone and I want to spend these last hours with our family. So, if you want it too, I suggest you get up and get dressed," she completed, quite authoritatively.
Emma stared at her with those green eyes that always managed to convince Regina to do what she wanted.
"I counted and recounted the pieces, one of them is missing," Emma said in a voice that sounded like a plea.
"Okay," Regina said, "you have five minutes to find this piece."
"But it might take all night!" Emma said, frustrated.
Regina approached the table, placing her two hands on it and leaning toward Emma.
"So, use your magic," she said slowly, as if she was speaking to a child.
Emma stared at her, thought for a few seconds and then got up, rubbing her hands together in a way that made Regina laugh. She lifted one of her hands to the height of her face, her fingers moved as she cast a location spell.
A small point of purple light appeared on the tip of her finger and flew through the office. Emma closely followed the small little light that swirled around the room, without appearing to have a track.
The little light suddenly stopped and with a speed that Emma could hardly follow, went directly to Regina, and crashed into her chest, exploding and illuminating her completely with a purple light.
Emma stared at her in silence, waiting for an answer that made sense.
"I think you did something wrong," Regina commented.
Emma, even more frustrated now, repeated the spell and again the same thing happened.
"Maybe you're thinking of something else," Regina suggested. "Or the other possibility is that I have swallowed the piece, which I'm sure I'd remember if it happened," she continued, trying to hold back a laugh.
Emma tried the spell again, and again the same thing happened. She then gave up and snorted angrily.
"We can look for it later, Emma," Regina said, "now go get ready or we will get to the party next year." Emma could not help but laugh at the sarcasm.
The two parted with a kiss. Regina waited until Emma was out of the study and then looked at the pieces on the table. She lifted one of her hands and with a flick of the fingers, repeated the spell that Emma had conjured seconds before.
This time, however, the spell seemed to work correctly and Regina smiled, pleased, as she saw that the little light had illuminated one corner of the office. She walked up to the light, and then reached down and picked up the piece Emma was looking for.
She got up, went to the table where the other pieces were and a thought crossed her mind. Instead of putting the piece together with the others, she kept it to herself.
Emma managed to get ready before the year was over and Regina, for some reason, put the last piece inside her purse. The two left the mansion hand in hand and Regina squeezed Emma's hand harder against hers when they passed by the glass angel.
Hours later, it was time for the countdown to welcome the New Year.
Emma was sitting on the couch with Regina right beside her, while the two of them watched little Neil, dressed all in white, running around the room.
Regina remembered of the missing puzzle piece and looked for it in her purse. She looked at the piece, without giving it much thought, and then turned her attention to Emma. She was smiling at something Neil was doing. She turned to Regina and searched for her hand, their fingers entwined, and Emma could feel the piece that Regina was still holding.
"I forgot to tell you," she said when Emma unlocked their hands and opened Regina's hand, revealing the missing piece of the puzzle. "I found it," she continued and handed the piece to Emma, who held it against her fingers.
Emma stared at the piece in her hand and smiled to herself. She did not notice when her eyes filled with tears. It all made sense now, she thought to herself, when she stared at the image that was on the missing piece, and smiled even more. Her eyes searched for her little brother, who was now sitting in a corner of the room.
"Is everything all right, Emma?" Regina asked. The blonde nodded and smiled at her, wiping the last tears from her eyes.
"The location spell I cast wasn't wrong," Emma replied, making Regina frown. "It did show me the piece I was searching for," she concluded.
"You're not making much sense," Regina said, making her laugh. "But I still love you," she continued.
"I love you too," Emma replied. "And maybe someday I'll explain, but just know that it all makes sense now," she added and looked at the piece of the puzzle in her hand.
She ran the tip of her finger on the drawing that was in the piece. Florida was the State represented there, along with its Capital: Tallahassee.
The sky outside lit up with fireworks, announcing the arrival of another year. Emma and Regina looked at each other and silently thanked whatever gods maybe for finding themselves in each other.
Merry Christmas =*