Who do you choose?
It has been days since Regina crushed the Evil Queen's heart. No one has seen her since. She asked me to keep Henry because she needed some time to herself. Of course I agreed but that doesn't keep me from worrying about her. Sitting at Granny's, I asked for another shot of whiskey. Slinging it back, my phone buzzed. It was a text from Regina.
Miss. Swan, please come to my crypt. -R
After paying, I made my way towards the graveyard. Descending the stone steps, my stomach flopped. There's something wrong. "Hey Regina, what's up? I thought we were passed the whole "Miss. Swan" thing unless you were mad at me." Turning the corner, there she sat. There is something off her but I can't place it.
Dark eyes moved over me slowly. "I just wanted to get your attention, Dear. That's all. Come, take a seat." She patted the bench beside her.
There is definitely something wrong. I did as she asked. "Henry misses you. And everyone is worried. We've not seen you for days."
"Yes, I know I have been absent the past few days. I needed some time to collect myself. But I thought at least you, of all people, would come looking for me. You always do."
There is definitely something not right here. But what is it? "If the past few years have taught me anything, it's to do as you've asked unless it's something really stupid. Then, well, you know I'm an idiot and I never listen."
A soft smile tugged at the brunette's lips. "You're not an idiot, Emma. Stubborn, yes, but no idiot."
There's something different in her eyes. "Why did you want me to come here, Regina?"
"I just wanted to thank you." Regina placed her hand above my knee and squeezed. The simple action caused me to stiffen. "No need to be frightened, dear. We're friends, aren't we?"
"Who are you really?" I stood quickly. "The real Regina would never try to seduce me. She feels nothing for me." I tried keeping my voice even but the ever growing lump in my throat made that difficult.
"Very observant." Standing slowly, the brunette was enveloped in a cloud of purple smoke. Once it dissipated, the brunette wore an elegant black corseted dress.
I couldn't believe what I saw. "How? We watched you die?"
A sinister grin tugged at the woman's red lips. "It's going to take more than that to get rid of me." Before I could run, the Evil Queen waved her hand rendering me motionless. "Oh no. You're not going anywhere, Savior." Her voice dripped with seduction as she came to stand before me. "You're of use to me because you're special to Regina." Gently, she ran the back of her fingers along my cheek.
Try not to look down. Try not to look down. Keep your eyes on her face. My brows knitted. "I'm special to Regina?"
Red lips turned upward in amusement. "Of course you are." Taking my chin between her thumb and forefinger, she turned my head side to side. "I see why she wants to ravish you. Especially when you curled your hair. You've let yourself go a bit, Savior. But, I'd love nothing more than to take you right here on the floor." I gulped at the thought. "And from the looks of it," pausing, the brunette leaned in until our lips were a whisper apart. "You wouldn't mind. Isn't that right, Miss. Swan? I can already smell your arousal, my pet." A moan escaped my throat as the Evil Queen planted a hard kiss on my lips. I couldn't help but get lost in the sensation of Regina kissing me. This isn't the real Regina. Don't give in! My heart started to pound as her tongue ran across my bottom lip. Giving her assess, our tongues battled. Mine lost. I whimpered with need when I felt strong hands roam my body and stop at my breasts. It's been so long since I've been touched. "Yes, that's it. Give into me, my sweet Savior."
I moaned loudly when I felt a bite on my neck. "Regina..." My eyes shot open when all movement halted.
Dark eyes burned into me. "You're not thinking of me are you? You're thinking of my weaker half."
"She's not weak!" A deep blush made its way up my neck. "Yes I was thinking about my Regina."
"Of course you were." Taking a step back, the brunette sighed. "I was right. You love her with all of her faults."
Biting my lip, I whispered. "I do, yes. I've seen you before and I see that Regina, my Regina, isn't who she is without you. When she crushed your heart on the roof, something died inside her. You died. The look on your face was heartbreaking. Regina won't admit it, but she felt broken when she destroyed you. You're a part of her. We all have a dark side. You were in Regina when I was the Dark One so you understand. None of us have spoken to Regina since that night, but, I can only imagine that she's not the same person without you." The Evil Queen's eyes softened. Is that tenderness I'm seeing?
"You're right about everything. Regina isn't the same person. She's weak without me." I was about to protest, but she continued. "Not weak like that. She has no drive. When Regina and I are together, we give each other our best and worst qualities. But you, the product of true love, has somehow found a way to stop my bad qualities from making their way through like they have for so long. Regina has changed since she's met you. She won't admit it but I will. You've given us hope. But we're scared." A sarcastic laugh bubbled up the Evil Queen's throat. "Yes, I, the Evil Queen, can be scared."
"You're human so of course you can be." My voice was light.
"You understand us when no one else can. That's why I need your help. You can't get rid of one of us without destroying the other." Horror consumed me. "And from the looks of it, you don't want that." I gave a simple nod. "Without me, Regina is slowly starting to die inside. She doesn't realize it but she will die soon if we don't get put back together. It wasn't my heart she ripped out and destroyed. It was hers."
Blood drained from my face. "Then rip mine out, break it in half, and give it to her." My voice cracked. "She can't die. Henry needs her." Tears glistened in my eyes at the thought of a life without Regina in it. "I need her."
"You really do love me." She paused, "Us."
I smiled sheepishly. "What's keeping my Regina alive if she doesn't have a heart?"
"The remaining magic she has. Once that's gone, she dies." With a wave of her hand, the invisible restraints were gone "You need to bring her here so I can split your heart. If I'm seen, your parents will try to kill me; again."
"Okay."
As I walked past the brunette, she placed a hand on my shoulder. Meeting her gaze, I noticed her eyes were soft. "Thank you, Emma. I've seen and felt how you've changed us and I am forever in your debt. You managed to fill a void I never thought could be filled."
"Daniel?" She gave a simple nod. Remembering what I saw in Camelot, I sighed. "I'm sorry Cora did that. I truly am. You didn't deserve that."
"Looking back, maybe it was meant to be. If he had lived, we would have never met you." Cupping my face, the brunette caressed my cheek with her thumb. "Now, go get your Regina."
xxx
Arriving at Regina's, I knocked on the door. I became worried when no one answered. "She's going to kill me for this." Kneeling, I took out my boot knife and started picking the lock. Before I could finish, the door opened. Glancing up, I saw the brunette looking down at me.
"Emma, how are you?" Looking from me to her door, her brow creased. "Would you mind explaining to me why you're picking my lock with your knife?"
"Oh God...you've turned into a Charming." I twitched at the brunette's newfound cheery optimism.
"Is that such a bad thing?"
"Yes! I'm sorry but my parents' optimism is all I can handle." Standing, I shoved my hands in my pockets. "Uhm..can I come in?"
"Of course. I just made apple turnovers." Glancing over her shoulder, she smiled. "Don't worry, dear. They're not poisoned."
"That's good." Entering the kitchen, I watched as Regina cut one in half. "Join me at the table?"
I did as she wished trying not to flinch at the sound of her voice. "Regina, how do you feel?"
"I feel fine. Much better now that the darkness is no longer a part of me." We ate in silence. I became extremely uncomfortable when Regina started humming. What the hell? Really? She's so...blissful. If she wasn't dying, I'd feel even more like an ass for forcing that pain on her again. But from what the Evil Queen said, I make her happy. She's just too scared to admit it. "Emma?"
"Hmm?"
"You went somewhere. Is everything alright?" There was genuine worry in the older woman's eyes.
"Sort of." How to start this conversation and not be thrown out?
"What's wrong, dear?"
"Biting my lip, I hated what I was about to say. "Are you truly happy? I mean to the point that if you died in the next few weeks, you'd be fine with it?"
"Emma, I know you're not used to this side of me. But I'm not dying anytime soon. What's brought this on?"
Just spit it out. "You have no heartbeat."
"What?"
"Check. It's not real. When you destroyed the Evil Queen side of you's heart, you destroyed yours. Regina," I stood and knelt in front of her, taking one of her hands in mine. "You're dying. You probably won't last long. You need half a heart and, I'm sorry but, you also need that darkness. That was part of who you are. Moving on from that has made you stronger. Yes, you're damaged because of it but that's one reason why I've..." My words were stopped abruptly by a harsh slap to my cheek.
"Get out, please."
She's mad but not truly angry. The normal Regina would be furious at me. "Regina..."
"Emma, leave."
xxx
"Well that went well." Walking into the crypt's main room, I was met with a confused Evil Queen. "She's not buying it. Although, I don't think all the darkness is out of her. She slapped me. But the creepy thing was she was happy when she did it. Her optimism is going to make me vomit."
"She didn't admit anything to you?"
"No. I was cut off before I could tell her the truth about how I feel." I rubbed my cheek.
"If she slapped you, there's still some of me left. A shard, but still some of me. Maybe we need to play on that."
"Oh no. I am not hurting her. Absolutely not." Groaning, I sank into a nearby chair.
"Not hurt her. Make her admit what she won't. If there's that shard inside of her, then jealously is too. I think, she may need to see you with someone else."
"She's seen me with Hook and nothing happened."
"Regina was distracted with Robin. Now she's not." The Evil Queen's eyes lit up with mischief.
"I'm not sure I like where this is going." I paused when her smile grew. "You are not allowed to take me on her front porch."
xxx
Walking into Granny's, all conversations stopped. The Evil Queen had disguised herself as Regina. Taking 'Regina's' hand, we made our way towards a booth. "Emma?" Ruby was just as puzzled as everyone else. "When did..."
"It's a very, very long complicated story." I became more uncomfortable as the Evil Queen wrapped her arm around my shoulders. "Can I get my normal?" Ruby took our orders and went to the kitchen. The diner was still silent.
Leaning in, the brunette whispered, "Dear, I think we've made an impression."
"I believe we have also." All eyes were on us as we ate. I tried playing along with each loving advance the Evil Queen made but I felt like I was cheating on my Regina. Which is nuts because she's half of my Regina. God my head is starting to hurt.
Suddenly, the door opened and a frazzled Regina walked in. All motion stopped once more. "Emma, who is this?"
I shrugged, smiling nervously. "Miss. Hyde?" The brunette's brow creased.
"Regina dear, if you won't take Emma, I will." I shivered as the Evil Queen's voice dipped into its harsh tone.
"How? I destroyed you." The same questions raced through Regina's mind that mine had.
"Emma tried to tell you. But then you slapped her. She's mine now, dear." Turning my face, the Evil Queen captured my lips with a passionate kiss. "You could have had this, Regina. But you threw it away. You were too weak and now she's mine."
"I am not weak!" Regina's voice lacked its normal strength.
"Yes you are." The Evil Queen nearly pushed me into the floor as she stood. Regina's eyes flashed to me worried. "You need not worry about her. I'll take care of her in ways you never could. She loves me now." I tried to protest only to be cut off. "Silence. You'll never have that happiness again and it will kill you. It will eat away at you until you finally die." With that, the Evil Queen pulled me to my feet, and nearly dragged me out of the diner.
Once inside her vault, I spoke. "What the hell was that? How could you say that to her?" My voice rose with each word as my blood started to boil. "I can't believe you used me like that. That was not part of the plan!"
"Just wait." A moment later, we heard footsteps coming closer. "Do you recognize them?"
"They're Regina's favorite set of boots." An eyebrow rose in question. "What? The first year I was here, I listened for that to act like I was doing paperwork." Before Regina could turn the corner, my back was against the stone wall with the Evil Queen's lips firmly pressed onto mine.
"What the hell is this?"
Turning my head, I caught the woman's gaze. "Please Regina..." I yelped as teeth dug into tender flesh. Regina panicked and tried to create a fireball. The one that appeared was a mere candle flame.
"I told you, she's mine." The Evil Queen's voice was husky as she tossed me to the floor. "She's my pet."
"She's not your pet." Regina's voice was laced with venom. She tried once more to create a fireball but collapsed in my arms. "What...what's happening?" Her voice became weak.
"You're dying Regina." Tears glistened in my eyes. "You need her to complete you. But you also need love. The love I have for you. And I can prove it. I want you to take my heart. If it means you live, then I will gladly die."
The Evil Queen scoffed. "Stop being such a drama queen, Miss. Swan. She's only going to take half of it."
"But Emma, I can't..."
"You have to be open to love. Otherwise you won't find it. I know I'm not Daniel but I want to make you happy." Leaning back, I allowed the Evil Queen to plunge her hand into my chest. Pulling it out, both of the brunette's gasped. "What?" Looking up, I saw my heart glowed red with a golden tent. "What the hell?"
"It's true. You were born to stop the darkness." The Evil Queen smiled tenderly. "You are our true love." Breaking the heart in two, she gave half to me. "Place it in her chest quickly before she dies." I did as instructed. In the same instant, the Evil Queen returned my half of the heart.
Warmth, pain, happiness, sorrow, love, and anguish flooded my system. "W-what is this?" Looking up, I was met by a fading Evil Queen.
"It's everything we feel." A single tear ran down her cheek before she vanished. The motionless woman in my arms gasped.
"Regina?" Holding her close, I prayed it worked. "Are you..."
"It worked." She met my gaze. "It actually worked. I knew it would work with your parents but...I never thought someone could love me like that."
I smiled with a sob of joy. "Oh thank God your back to normal." I pulled the brunette against me a moment before pulling back. "Of course someone could love you like that. You're perfect." Regina opened her mouth only to be cut off. "You're perfect to me so don't argue. You're too physically weak to do that now. Let's get some rest and then you can yell at me."
"I plan on it." she paused, "You idiot." Tangling a hand in my hair, Regina pulled me down for a tender kiss.