So I've been wanting to write a proper SQ thing for a while, and finally the finale gave me the inspiration to finally do it! This is a fix-it of sorts, so obviously massive spoilers for Operation Mongoose.
Remember that Emma's character is going to seem a bit off due to being Dark One!Emma. Enjoy!
In that moment after Emma disappears, it's like they're in a vacuum. There's no air, Regina can't breathe, and if anyone around her is speaking she sure as hell can't hear them. The only thing in her mind is the look of terror on Emma's face as the darkness took her. Meanwhile, the only thing in her body is the agonising pain in her chest right where her heart is, like she can feel it screaming out in complete denial of what has just occurred.
There simply aren't words for the bizarre numbness she feels. But movement in the corner of her vision brings her back to her surroundings and she sees the pirate making a move towards the dagger that now bears Emma's name. In a move that is pure reflex, Regina dashes forward to snatch it off the ground just before Hook can get his grubby hand and hook on it.
He shoots her a look that is equal parts annoyance, confusion and resignation.
"I'm the magic expert here," Regina finds herself saying, "And she sacrificed herself for me. So this is staying with me, and I'm going to work out how to fix this."
Hook hesitates for a moment before nodding.
"Do you really think you can, Regina?" Snow asks, sounding hopeful despite her obvious devastation.
"That or I'm going to die trying." Perhaps it's not the right thing to say, given that the whole reason Emma did it was to let Regina be safe and happy, but strangely no one questions her.
"Is there anything we can do to help?" Charming, as per usual, means well but couldn't be more useless. Regina just shakes her head and makes to turn away, only to find Robin's hand on her arm.
"Regina-"
"Whatever it is, Robin, it can wait," she says, probably a tad more sharply than intended, but being Robin, he is understanding and nods.
"Good luck, then."
"Thank you."
Before they can say another word, Regina makes herself disappear in a cloud of smoke and reappear in her mansion. She needs space to think. Although she starts to pace, she stops dead when something critical hits her. Henry doesn't know yet. She almost reaches for her phone to tell him. But you can't just tell a child over the phone that one of his mothers has just been taken over by the ultimate evil.
The pacing resumes. Panic builds up in her chest with every stride she takes and she doesn't understand it entirely because yes, what is happening is bad, and one of her friends is in danger, but that isn't all there is to it. This is Emma. The woman she tried for long to get out of her life entirely. Her son's other mother. Her friend. The strangest yet most important friend of all.
And it hurts. It hurts like nothing she has felt before, to know that Emma is almost definitely lost to darkness for her sake. It hurts almost as badly as Daniel, and worse than all the times she has lost Robin. And the thing is, she knows it isn't just because this time it was her fault.
When did Emma become so important to me?
The question stumps her, but this isn't the time to be worrying about someone other than the Saviour. By now, Emma is likely coming to terms with her new self, and Regina knows that she has to get in early before Emma lets the darkness rule her or change her thinking more than it already will have. After all, she's dealt with the Dark One before – she's scared for Emma, not of her.
So, with a shaking hand, she grips the dagger and holds it up in front of her.
"Emma Swan," Regina says, so quietly she has to wonder if it even will count. She tries again, and says it like a prayer, like a last hope that if her name is still a part of her – and the dagger's inscription means it is – then surely at least a part of the true Emma must remain. "Emma Swan…Emma Swan."
For a moment there is just silence. Regina doesn't even dare to breathe. And then with a scream the likes of which Regina has never heard, and a cloud of pure darkness, Emma's form appears in front of her. The new Dark One is on her knees and screaming with blatant agony and rage, and the sound of it all is almost too much for Regina to bear.
"Emma?" She says tentatively. Emma looks up. Her hair is a loose mess around her shoulders, while her pale jumper is gone, leaving her in her jeans and a dark tank top. But none of that is significant compared to Emma herself. Her skin is a gaunt colour that sparkles like Gold's had done back in the Enchanted Forest, only Emma is more of a vague silver as opposed to his green-gold that had made him resemble a reptile.
Her eyes, those eyes that had been so guarded and sincere all at once, are by far the worst. Her pupils are taller and wider, just to look the slightest bit wrong without appearing entirely inhuman. But it is the cold misery in them that has Regina's eyes filling with tears.
"Oh, Emma," Regina whispers.
Amongst the turmoil, a flicker of recognition is visible on Emma's face. "Regina?" She croaks, with a roughness to her voice that Regina has only heard in instances like the time she had been about to kill Lily.
Still, knowing that Emma's first reaction is to say her name and not to attack her is something. "Yes," Regina says, nodding, "How potent is the darkness? Are you still yourself at all?"
"I'm not completely gone," Emma manages to say as she stumbles to her feet, "But it's inside me, Regina, and it's getting stronger every second."
"True Love might be able to stop it, Emma," Regina instantly suggests, feeling her heart hammer against her chest with the utter need to save the Saviour. "I'll send for Henry-"
"No!" Emma yells, the absorbed darkness visible in her eyes as she drives Regina back a step with the force of her command. Then her demeanour shifts to something more controlled. "I could kill all of them. It's inside me, Regina. I understand it, everything you and Gold ever did, how you could hurt and manipulate and kill to get what you want. All that potential is in me now."
What chills Regina is how easily Emma says it, like it's so normal. She doesn't sound upset. She's already accepted it. But she knows that is the Dark One speaking, because inside Emma is fighting every second against her new nature. And Regina knows this because somewhere along the line, Emma made her believe in her.
Screw religion. Screw magic and pixie dust. If she believes in anything, Regina believes in Emma Swan.
"But you won't," she says, with a confidence that would have surprised her five minutes ago.
Emma laughs. It's eerie and just wrong because it's cynical and cruel. Regina knows because once upon a time that was her laugh. And she remembers just how dead inside one has to feel before it comes out.
"Won't I?" The blonde asks, lifting an eyebrow. "Unless you know what I want, how could you be sure?"
Regina frowns. "What do you want?"
Those cold eyes do a very deliberate once over of Regina's form. "Have you really never guessed?"
The ex-queen licks her lips nervously. "I honestly don't know what you're talking about." At least, she's intent on believing that. Because there's no way Emma could be meaning what her mind is suddenly wondering. The universe isn't that twisted….is it?
"Because ever since I came to Storybrooke, I've put the happiness of others before my own," Emma says, with a mocking tone to her voice, "And I've kept quiet because hey, everyone else is happy, and really I probably had enough happiness, more than I deserved."
"I don't understand."
Emma smirks. "See, Hook was alright. Being with him made him happy, and I know I could grow to care about him, so that's what I did." It is bitterness ruling her voice now, and all the while Emma's narrowed eyes are focused on Regina so intently that the brunette feels like there must be a serious lack of oxygen in the room. "But now?" Emma laughs again, and the second one is even worse than the first. Regina wants to be sick. "Now I'm the Dark One. And that means being selfish as hell and being powerful enough to have everything I want but was never going to let myself have."
"Which is what?"
Emma stares, and for a moment Regina thinks she can glimpse the real Emma underneath it all when she says, "You."
Regina can't move. Can't speak. Definitely can't breathe. That simple word breaks down all the barriers she has ever built, and she realises that she's been subconsciously fighting her feelings for Emma since the day they met, and shielding even herself from being able to see the obvious.
That she is completely, utterly, and hopelessly in love with Emma Swan.
The pain in her chest makes sense now. Hell, everything makes sense, even if it is the most ridiculous and nonsensical thing to ever happen. The Evil Queen loving the Saviour. The world certainly has a sense of humour.
"For how long?" Regina knows that she has loved Emma almost this entire time without being aware of it until just now, but had Emma known earlier?
Emma just keeps her gaze steady, and Regina knows that the Dark One isn't truly ruling her, at least not yet. This is Emma Swan with a horrific burden, not the darkness using her as a puppet.
"Emma, I can see that you're in control right now, but I can also see how hard it is for you," Regina says, not caring how her voice sounds like it is pleading, "Please, tell me how long you've known that was what you wanted, while you still can."
"I think I wanted it from the moment I saw the real you, when Henry was sick," Emma tells her, her voice choked with the effort of remaining in control, "But I knew when I saw you in the past and you looked right through me. I couldn't stand you looking at me like that, like I meant nothing." She winces and clutches at her throat, but continues on a moment later regardless, but her words are more deliberate. More measured. Not able to be said with the same ease. "The darkness doesn't want me telling you this. I can tell, it's…it's scared, I think."
Regina has a fleeting thought as to why that might be, but it's a hope she can't allow herself to have. "Emma, that's good, keep talking."
"I stayed with Hook because you had Robin by then, and I figured you were back to hating me because of the Marian thing," Emma mutters, and then begins to talk with a conviction that Regina is impressed by but also wary of. "But now? Now I don't fucking care. You're the only thing I want Regina, and I don't care who I hurt with that."
With her heart pounding, Regina blinks tears out of her eyes. "Do you love me?"
"No!" The shout is like a knife to the chest before Regina realises it is a reflex of the Dark One, not Emma herself if the matching tears in Emma's eyes are anything to go by.
"That's the darkness talking," Regina says quickly, "It's scared, it knows what can defeat it, the only thing that has a chance." She takes a few steps forward so that she can grab Emma's hands in hers and make a promise to not let go for anything. Her ex-enemy blinks and winces but holds her gaze. "Emma…" Regina bites her lips because saying it is so bizarre when she's only just realised it minutes before. But at the same time, somehow it is the most natural and obvious thing to say in the world. "Emma, I love you." Emma's eyes mist over. "You said you couldn't stand me looking at you like you were nothing. That's because a part of you must have known that it was because it was the complete opposite of reality. You are everything, and I think somehow you always have been."
Tears roll down Emma's cheeks and god it looks like the darkness is torturing her internally for having to hear that, and Regina can't watch it hurt her for a minute longer. If she's right, and suddenly, looking into Emma Swan's distraught eyes she just knows that she is, then she knows what she needs to do next.
"Emma, it's making you think that what you're feeling is just want, or need," Regina tells her firmly, "But it's not. You know it's not. Those things aren't a threat to it. But you know what is. What it's making you reject."
Through it all, Emma manages to nod hopelessly, her eyes showing the emotion she's being forbidden to voice.
Regina smiles faintly at her, if only to cover how terrified she is, before taking Emma's silvery face in both hands and pulling her into a desperate kiss. The Dark One's body tenses but Regina doesn't falter, she just holds Emma all the tighter and keeps her lips firmly against Emma's. And that's when she feels it. Vibrating through her like an avalanche of magic and love and emotion all at once. True Love's kiss. True Love. Right in front of her all this time, and now under her hands and lips.
And then she feels Emma shuddering and finally kissing her back, her arms winding around Regina's waist to bring her even closer, and when they stop for breath Regina can see the silvery hue melting from Emma's skin. So of course, she kisses her again, over and over until she can be sure that Emma is going to be okay, and they end up falling to the floor in a mess of laughing and crying and kissing.
Emma brushes Regina's hair from her face from where they are both sitting on their legs or heels. Her eyes, those wonderful eyes, are now back to how they should always be - green and perfect and shining with emotion.
"I love you too," she murmurs, and Regina just smiles at her widely and easily. Being with Emma like this, it turns out, is as simple and easy as breathing. It's just right. "Thank you." They lean into each other, their foreheads touching as they just sit and allow themselves to process everything that has happened.
"I'm so glad you're okay," Regina says, still with her eyes shut and with no intention of moving for the next ten years.
"I am thanks to you. You saved me."
"You never gave up on me. I wasn't about to give up on you."
Emma moves back just far enough to be able to give Regina a smile before she is wrapping her arms around her true love and yanking her into what Regina realises is in fact their first hug. Regina hugs her back with everything she has and allows herself to feel secure and loved for the first time in far too long, with the knowledge of knowing that this was destined, and that this is how it was always meant to be, magical books or supposed past soulmates be damned.
There would be men to deal with and apologise to later, parents and a son to explain things to, but for now, it was just them. Emma, alive and fully herself, and Regina, the true loves that had been right under everyone's noses all this time.
And Regina knows, that regardless what anyone else might think, their story is the greatest one of them all.
Honestly, the relief that came with writing this is insane. I really hope you guys liked it, please let me know what you thought!
Much love and VIVA LA SWAN QUEEN,
-MayFairy :)
p.s. the picture I used for the cover of the story is NOT mine, credit to whoever did the amazing manip!