Separation
How Episode 6 (Season 3) should have gone. No Ariel storyline. Swan Queen. Rated T for a sprinkle of language.
Regina began turning away from the incompetent group of idiots.
"Wait. Where are you going?" demanded Emma.
"To save OUR son!" Regina replied impatiently. She put the emphasis on the word "our" in hopes that Emma would come to her senses about why they were in Neverland in the first place.
"We need to stick together," said Emma, trying to sound confident but faltering slightly.
"No! We don't," said Regina, shaking her head, "You may be prepared to risk Henry's life over some heartbroken fool's errand but I'm not! I'm tired of waiting around." Emma's expression dropped and her heart sank, her eyes silently pleading Regina to stay with them…with her. Regina caught the half-second of longing in Emma's eyes but chose to ignore it, brushing it off as her hopeful imagination. She'd stayed with the Charmings and Hook for long enough and they were getting nowhere.
The motley crew could go and save Emma's "true love" if they wanted, but Regina was going to get her son back, their son back. Why couldn't Emma realize that all Henry needed was his moms and everything would be okay in the end? Oh right, she was too wrapped up juggling a horny pirate, an ex who abandoned her for 12 years, and her infuriating excuses for parents. Regina moved again to leave. She got a grand total of 30 feet away before she heard footsteps thudding after her. She knew by the lack of stealth that it was Emma.
"Regina…please," Emma said, stopping Regina with a hand on her arm. Regina turned to face the Savior.
"I have to do what my instincts tell me, Ms. Swan," said Regina, trying not to loose her patience with the blonde, "And right now they're telling me to be a mother and go get our son."
"You're mad so now we're back to the whole 'Ms. Swan' thing?" Emma asked. Regina raised her eyebrows ambiguously but didn't answer so Emma continued, "Anyway, we both just want Henry back, but getting him won't do us any good unless we have a way home. And right now…Neal is looking like our only option." There was a silence.
"Do you love him…Neal?" Regina asked in a barely audible tone. Another silence engulfed the women.
"Yes," Emma replied frankly, "I wish I didn't, because that would make this whole thing…fuck, my whole life a lot easier, but yes." Regina looked away momentarily, not being able to meet Emma's eye as she confessed her love of someone else. The pain was like a dagger to Regina's heart, but on the outside, nothing more than a moment's flash of hurt shone in her eyes.
"Don't let her see your weakness," the voice of the Evil Queen echoed in Regina's head. So Regina kept a stiff upper lip and began to walk away again. Then the blonde spoke again.
"Regina, don't you fucking dare leave me!" shouted Emma with a sudden wave of confidence toward the Queen. Regina spun around, eyes wide. Emma had never ordered her around quite like that. Something about the stubborn but pleading look on the Saviors face made Regina nod with quiet acceptance and follow Emma back to the campsite where the others were waiting.
Knowing Regina was just a few paces behind her, Emma led the way back to the group. She had no idea where the sudden outburst had come from. Maybe she was worried about Regina wondering on her own, maybe she thought the island might bring the Evil Queen out to play, or maybe she just didn't want to do this without Regina by her side.
Despite the rocky start the two women had had, since both of them realized it was best for Henry to try and be civil to each other, Emma realized she'd seldom faced magical enemies without Regina there to guide her through it. Peter Pan being the most dangerous magical enemy yet, Emma was not yet willing to do it without her.
The group of unlikely allies arrived at the Echo Cave. They started to file in until Emma noticed that Regina seemed hesitant.
"Hey, comin'?" asked Emma rhetorically, "Hell, we literally can't do this without you. By now, Pan knows you're still with us and we won't be able to get Neal without your secret."
"Thank you, dear. You've made me feel so wanted," replied Regina sarcastically. Emma grinned stupidly at the Regina's blatant annoyance with her, it made the situation a little less terrifying and a little more normal.
"After you… dear," Emma replied mockingly, motioning for Regina to enter the cave ahead of her. Regina rolled her eyes but went in before Emma, "Come on, Regina. How bad can it be? We all have to do it."
"Oh, just wait until you hear it though," said Regina as the darkness of the cavern engulfed them.
The group admitted their secrets one by one: the pirate claiming his love for Emma, an admission which had made Regina's skin crawl and blood boil with loathing, Snow expressing her want for a new baby, and Charming's announcement of how he couldn't leave the island. Then it was the Savior's turn. Shit.
"Neal," Emma started, sounding more tired and broken than Regina had ever heard her sound, "When I heard you might be here, that you might still be alive, I knew I should be happy but I wasn't. I was terrified. I didn't understand why until now. From the moment I saw you in New York, from the instant you snuck back into my life I knew…I knew I never stopped loving you. And before I even had a chance to take a breath I-I lost you once more and all that pain that I had pushed down for all those years just came rushing back and I-I didn't know if I could go through it again. I love you, I probably always will. But my secret…is that I was hoping this was a trick. I was hoping you were dead because it would be easier for me to put you behind me than to face all the pain we went through all over again."
As Emma's choked out her secret behind a mask tears running down her cheeks, the last bit of the stone bridge was formed. Regina briefly allowed herself to wonder why that was Emma's secret when Emma had already admitted the same thing to her earlier. Emma stepped hesitantly onto the bridge before deeming it stable and rushing to Neal's still sealed cage. She drew her sword and began hacking the bamboo with it.
"Emma," Neal said calmly, "You know that's not how this works." Everyone turned and looked at the stone-silent Queen. Regina looked up and realized it was her turn, and turned as white as a sheet. How could she tell her secret after the speech Emma had just given? She barely had a chance to breath after it. In fact, she might never breathe again after a show like that. Tears began welling up in Regina's eyes and she clasped a hand over her mouth to muffle the sob. David furrowed his brow in sympathy and walked over to the woman who'd tried so long and hard to keep him and his wife apart and put his hand on her arm.
"Hey," he cooed, "It's okay." Across the abyss, Emma's heart ached seeing the strongest woman she'd ever met break down.
"Regina," said Emma simply. Regina looked up and her eyes met Emma's bright green ones. They glistened with unshed tears and begged Regina with everything she had. So Regina sighed and wiped her tears away with her handkerchief. She savored the last deep inhale she'd take before bearing her heart to the fools around her.
"I'm in love with Emma Swan," she said. The entire cave fell so silent a feather fluttering to the ground would have rung out like a gunshot. Emma stared open mouthed at the former Evil Queen. Yet, sure enough, the side of the bamboo cage facing the stone bridge faded away into dust and Neal stepped out, pulling Emma into a hug. She hugged back but the face of shock remained.
Regina immediately exited the cave once she saw the interaction, tears now flowing freely and streaming down her face. Regina willed herself to stop crying, but nothing she told herself kept the tears at bay. Emma had three potential lovers to choose from and it seemed pretty obvious she was at the bottom of that list. And as much as it killed her, she made a guess about who Emma had chosen.
The rest of the group slowly came out of the cave. Three people confessing their love for Emma had created an obvious but unspoken tension, not to mention the new wedge between Mary Margret and David. Emma panicked for a moment when she didn't see Regina but then sighed with relief when she spotted the brunette sitting on a rock overlooking the island and the sea just beyond.
Emma separated from Neal, wordlessly telling him that she needed to be alone with Regina. He nodded in understanding. She slowly walked over to the rock Regina was currently perched on and waited a long moment after Regina noticed she was there.
"So…that's your big secret…" Emma started awkwardly, not knowing how to approach the topic. Regina shrugged, never taking her eyes off the horizon, "Help me out a little here, Regina. I don't exactly know what to say to you right now." Regina's gaze snapped up to Emma and she stood up.
"Why say anything, dear. Why not just stay over there with your other suitors that I'm sure your mother would be more willing to approve of. Do and say whatever you want because clearly no one here has any control over what you do, but don't you dare come over hear and try to talk to me because you feel sorry for poor little Regina!" said Regina, getting defensive.
"You know that's not why I came over here," said Emma, facing Regina and sizing her up.
"Do I?! Do I really know, Ms. Swan?" Regina shot back, "Because you sure as hell haven't won the award in the past for sharing the inner most desires of your heart!"
"Don't you fucking lecture me about sharing how I feel in a healthy manner, Regina! If I remember correctly, I'm not the one who went on a life long rampage to destroy my stepdaughter because of how I felt! And why? Because you're problem is not that you don't have a heart, no, that was your mother. Your problem, Regina Mills, is that you can't separate your feelings from your actions, and every single action is part of some big elaborate dream of revenge since you can't move on from anything!" Emma was shouting now, but regretted the words the second they left her lips. Regina's face was a terrible mixture of hurt and anger.
"Is that what you think of me, Emma? After everything we've been through and everything you did to convince Storybrooke that I wasn't that person anymore! Am I really still the Goddamn Evil Queen to you? Have I proved nothing?" Regina screamed, shoving Emma's shoulder not with the intention to hurt, but to make her point.
"Regina, please, I didn't mean it!" said Emma quickly.
"Oh really? You know, normally that would be enough for me, but you're just full of surprises lately, aren't you? 'Regina, I kissed Hook but it didn't mean anything!' 'Regina, I love Neal!'" mocked Regina, her chest now heaving, "Just go back to your boyfriend, Emma because we both know who you've chosen and I don't. Want. Your. Sympathy."
"Fine." Said Emma shortly, "I won't give you my sympathy. Just this." Before Regina could ask, Emma pulled her in roughly by the waist and brought their lips together for a fraction of a second. "Still so sure of who I picked?" said Emma, releasing Regina and beginning to head back toward the rest of the group.
"Wait," said Regina. Emma turned to face her with her eyebrows up. "I know you don't think I'm the Evil Queen anymore. I'm sorry. I just got…scared." The last word came out as barely a whisper. Emma's ears had to strain to catch it. But catch it she did and she offered a small smile. Emma stepped back in to Regina's personal space but didn't touch her.
"Yeah," she said, looking down into the chocolate colored eyes, "I'm scared too. But that's the thing about working this out with someone else. Maybe, if we do it together it won't be so scary." Emma smirked down at the shorter woman, who wrapped her arms around her neck and brought her in for a proper kiss. Emma reciprocated immediately.
"Oh, and I love you too, Regina," said Emma softly, resting their foreheads together. Regina laughed softly at the sheer absurdity of the situation.
"Do you think they saw?" she asked Emma.
"No, I know they did," laughed Emma, "And it's gonna be all kinds of awkward when we go back over."
"Maybe if we do it together it won't be so scary," suggested Regina, making Emma chuckle. Emma kissed her again, savoring the time between now and when they'd have to face Emma's parents and the two men who'd proclaimed their love for Emma.
"Together?" asked Emma, offering out her hand.
"Together," confirmed Regina, lacing their fingers together.