Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time or any of its characters. That's not going to stop me from putting them through Heck.
The Savior's Heart
Emma didn't know how long she had been down in the vault, clinging to Regina. She absentmindedly lifted one of her hands, marveling at how the trembles that had plagued her since her first vision were gone. She felt better than she had in ages.
And it was all thanks to the lifeless woman in her arms.
The tears had finally stopped and Emma couldn't help but feel a bit numb. Distantly, she knew that she was going into shock, which seemed somewhat ridiculous since she was perfectly alright. Heck, she was better than alright! But Regina had paid the price.
Actually, now that Emma thought about it, she wasn't totally numb. There was an ache in her heart that she couldn't quite quench. It was a familiar ache, one that she had felt once before. Ironically, the last time she had felt had been as Regina had died on the forest floor, blood staining her fingers and the ground beneath her. All because she had given up her potential for a happy ending to save Henry.
Emma was beginning to see a pattern here.
It just showed that underneath it all, Regina truly had been a hero. Because even in a world where heroes were villains and villains were heroes, no one had truly changed. Hook had still fought until the end, Rumpelstiltskin was still a coward, Zelena was still jealous of her sister, and Regina still gave up everything for her loved ones. What a twist.
At that moment, Emma heard the sound of footsteps coming up behind her. Holding Regina closer, if possible, and slowly turned to see who would dare enter.
Zelena and Maleficent stared back at her with wide eyes as they took in the scene. Their eyes went from Regina's body to the dust and box near the mirror and right back. Emma winced as realization dawned on their faces.
"Stupid!" Zelena muttered, and she turned away, cursing more under her breath. Maleficent just closed her eyes to stave off the pain.
Emma closed her eyes, too, their pain bringing her own back. Plus, she pondered, how am I going to explain this to Henry? He's going to be devastated. And she and Mom were finally getting along… She clutched at her heart, hoping to soothe the ache away.
Wait. That was it.
Emma's eyes popped open and they immediately sought out Zelena. "Zelena." Emma croaked, and wow, she hadn't realized her voice sounded that bad. The witch turned towards her, trying to hide the glassiness in her eyes. Emma could understand the sentiment. "I can't do it anymore, so," she took a deep breath, "I need you to rip out my heart."
The two women stared at her. A slight sneer made its way to Zelena's face. "Attempting to use my sister's coping methods?" She tried to jab at her weak point though she was obviously using it as a front to hide her pain and confusion at the request.
Emma knew that, so she didn't rise to the bait. "I need you to rip out my heart." She repeated. "And then I need to you to split it in half and give part of it to Regina and return the other half to me."
The ladies quickly caught on to her plan, and they exchanged a glance. "Didn't you already try this with the pirate?" Maleficent asked, frowning.
"I did." Emma admitted. "But this is different." Regina was different than Hook.
She had been so sure that it would work with Hook, but now she realized that she should have known it would fail. Part of her did love Hook, but Henry, Regina, and her parents would always come first. A lot of the time, it didn't seem like he could understand that. He wanted her to choose him, and while she did do that, a lot more than she really should, it wasn't enough.
Things with Regina were different though. They always had been. Their situation was also complicated. Regina had raised Henry and loved him just as much as Emma did. She was her partner now, both in raising Henry and in fighting to keep Storybrooke safe. They had been through so much together, and in a lot of ways, Regina was the only one who truly understood her. That had shown in the letter she had left, in the way they talked, heck, even in the way she had known exactly how to manipulate her in the beginning.
They had come so far, too. They had started as enemies, fighting over Henry and because of their roles as Evil Queen and her as Savior. They had become begrudging allies, and then they had morphed to friends. Regina was the only one Emma had known she could entrust the dagger to. Emma was the only one that Regina entrusted the most important thing in her life, Henry, to. There had always been something more to them, even at the start, but it had only really come to fruition as they had gotten past all that.
All of this told Emma that somehow this would work. It had to work.
She couldn't simply let Regina die.
Zelena's expressions had turned thoughtful, and Emma knew it would just take a small push to get her to agree. Maleficent however, stepped forward and crouched down to her level. She stared Emma right in the eyes.
"I do hope you realize what you will be doing." She said, her voice serious.
"I know." Emma tried to coat her voice with her conviction. "With shared hearts, there is plenty of danger." Her parents had highlighted that all too well recently.
"Not that." Maleficent shook her head. "Have you wondered where the Evil Queen is?"
That made Emma pause. She hadn't really thought of why the Evil Queen's remains weren't here like when Jekyll and Hyde had died. Her focus had been more on Regina.
"For her to not be here," Maleficent patiently explained, "means that she's back where she belongs." She pointed at Regina. "Inside of her. If you bring her back, the Evil Queen will be back, too, though she will be contained. Is this what you really want?"
Emma thought about that. She remembered Regina admitting how hard it was to contain the part of her that was the Evil Queen, how she had to fight to be good every day. She also remembered how bitter Regina had been, wishing that she had just sucked it up and kept the Queen inside so she would never have hurt her friends and family. She knew what Regina would think.
"Yes." Emma assured Maleficent, and her gaze wandered down to Regina's face, that smile still evident at her triumph. "Besides, I'll be there."
Maleficent's lips quirked up into a smile. "Very well." She stood and stepped aside as Zelena walked up, rolling her sleeve back.
"This will hurt," was all the warning Emma received before Zelena plunged her hand into Emma's chest.
Emma held back the grunt of pain, and she couldn't help but think that it felt different from the time Regina had done it. It was over in a flash though, and then Zelena was holding her heart. She watched the witch split her heart with a twist and hand her half of it.
With gentle fingers, she took half of her heart. Emma could feel the nervous beats pulsing against her palm. She closed her eyes to center herself before she opened them. And then she carefully slid the part of her heart into Regina's chest.
As she did so, she could feel Zelena shoving her half into her chest from the back. Emma was just grateful that it had, at the very least, gone in. That was further than she had gotten with Hook. She drew back and held her breath, eyes flickering over Regina's face. Within the half of her heart she had left, hope fluttered.
Regina awoke with a gasp and a cough. Her eyes flew open and she looked around in confusion until they settled on Emma. "Emma? Wha - ?" Her bemused question was cut off as Emma pulled her close for a tight hug.
"You're okay!" Emma grinned, and she felt tears prickling her eyes. She had thought she'd be all cried out but it wasn't the case. "It worked!"
"Emma…" Regina returned the hug though Emma could still tell she was confused. Though it took a few minutes, in which she relished the contact between them, all too soon Regina remembered what had happened. "Wait." Regina pulled back and studied Emma's face. "How am I alive?" Worry dashed across her expression and her eyes narrowed. "What did you do Swan?" She hissed.
Emma just grinned. "No Underworld." She promised, knowing where her thoughts were taking her. She knew Regina had figured out as she looked around and noticed their surroundings. Emma noted that at some point, Zelena and Maleficent had left. "I gave you half, Regina."
"You gave me – " Regina cut herself off as she realized the truth. Her hand came up to feel the heart beating in her chest. "You gave me half your heart?" The disbelief in her voice stung a bit.
Regina never expected anything of Emma in regards to the two of them, but her surprise whenever it kicked up a notch always made something in Emma's chest squeeze.
"Yeah." Emma couldn't stop smiling.
That's why she didn't see Regina's reaction coming.
"You idiot!" Regina whapped her on the head. "You moron! This is one of the worst ideas you've ever had!"
"Me!" Emma retorted. She drew back a bit, indignant. "What about how we both agreed not to let the other sacrifice themselves?!"
"We were running out of options! Besides, I saw to it that you'd have a fighting chance!"
"By sacrificing yourself!"
"Says the person who just gave up half of her heart!"
"Yeah, because I love you!"
Silence rang in the aftermath of Emma's declaration. The two stared wide-eyed at each other. Regina's jaw had dropped open in shock.
"You – you – " She finally stammered. "Why?"
"Why?" Emma just gave her a look of disbelief. Still, this was going better than the outright rejection she'd been expecting. "That's really what you're asking me?"
"Well…" Regina looked a bit flustered, a rarity for her. Emma decided to savor it while it lasted. "You are with that pirate." She pointed out.
"But he's not you." Emma replied. "You… you were willing to sacrifice yourself and give me your time in the hopes that I would be able to live on. He… he wouldn't do that."
"You better hope that spell still holds up since you decided to bring me back." Regina grumbled.
"We could share the time?" Emma nervously tried to crack a grin. "I mean, if you really want to?" She quickly amended upon seeing Regina's deadpan look.
Regina snorted and stood up, dusting herself off. "Really, Miss Swan," she said and Emma's heart sank for a moment, "did you really not understand what I meant when I said I was afraid to raise Henry alone?"
Emma blinked up at her, and her words began to register. A smile bloomed across her face.
"And seriously," Regina was pointedly not looking at her, "do you think I'd be willing to sacrifice my life and time just for anyone?" She tossed her hair back a bit. "There's only two people on that list. Guess what the common denominator is."
"You like me?" Emma bounced up and stood beside her.
"Emma, please." Regina said, in that exasperated fond tone that was basically just for her.
"C'mon, I know it." Emma teased.
"Of course you know it." Regina stated, walking towards the exit. "This wouldn't have worked if we didn't love each other." She gestured at her chest, which made Emma stop and stare at the other woman's back.
"What?" Emma squeaked, because she hadn't known that.
"So, yes." Regina turned around, and she had that smirk on her face. Her winning smile. "I love you, too."
Emma could feel the blush rising to her cheeks even as Regina's smirk widened. Regina turned on her heels and continued on her way. After all, there was work to be done.
After a moment, Emma's brain restarted and she quickly followed. Catching up to the woman, she hesitantly reached out and clasped Regina's hand. She smiled as the fingers curled around her own, and she didn't need to look at Regina's face to know her expression had softened to that fond, caring smile she loved.
Meanwhile, the Savior's heart beat in two chests, two souls having been made whole.
AN: Again, I'm not as familiar with the show as I could be, so I hope I've gotten the characters right. I really do enjoy happy endings, or at least hopeful ones, so that's what I try to deliver. Let's see how this holds up with the midseason finale coming up. These two work so well together.