A/N So! Like I did with Halloween I plan to hold a series of prompts that have Valentine's Day as the main connector between them. If you ever want to send me some prompts with this you either can do through here or through tumblr (shadowdianne) The first one is by thegardensofthemoon who is more or less responsible for my decision to do this once again.
Original prompt: "Can you do something with Take my breath away by Berlin Valentine based?"
PS: This is also the final sequel of "Goodbye" in case anyone was wondering what the hell has happened here. This one shot will be the only one linked to that story but if you haven't read that one I would suggest to take a look in it. To the ones that loved the idea without this however can perfectly well keep that fic like that.
Disclaimer: They aren't mine.
…Still anticipating love
It was strange being at the other side of the barrier after all that time, feeling magic caressing her insides. It was strange the pull that she kept feeling on her right hand, the line that had slowly disappeared after she had taken out her ring once she had crossed Storybrooke's frontier appearing once again, almost as if she had never have left.
It was an illusion though, and she still could remember that much magic to know that it was only a manifestation, the embodiment of the reason why she had finally decided to step in, clutching her heart with one final swallow and closing her eyes, her car doing the rest.
It was still strange, almost painful, the way everything seemed so eerily familiar. She almost could taste on her mouth the sensation she had once felt and suffered the first time she had crossed unknowingly that barrier with a Henry that she still could wrap her arms around him without feeling that she had already grown old. Magic and time, a time that almost seemed to be holding its breath in the same way she did; the first and final curve approaching slowly but surely in front of her, the forest framing the entrance of the town, the first buildings welcoming her with slowly fading brown colors.
She clutched the wheel between her hands, the borders of her vision clouding with tears, abashing thoughts coming back, the look of those brown eyes looking at her from her mind's eye. So strangely similar to their other mother, so much she had wondered more than once if Henry wasn't at the end the biological son of the former Queen instead of hers.
He had just looked at her once they had arrived to the university, a look of tiredness covering his normally bright disposition. He was on his final year, he would soon be nothing like the boy she had once met. But some things never changed and when Henry had looked at her only one word had escaped his mouth.
"Go"
She didn't ask what he meant; the two of them knew that after all those years, after Emma's attempt of running, after the faded love, she still cared deeply of that other woman who had loved so fiercely she had become the villain of a story that wasn't just anything but twisted words of her own prolonged fate. She hadn't needed to think twice, she had just nodded and turned, igniting the car's engine and not daring to look back or cry in front of her son, remorse and regret grazing her throat.
She had loved Regina, she had adored her even before she still could grasp her head around the idea of her being anything else than a simple friend to her. She had been ecstatic the day they had married and devastated the day she had believed she didn't love her anymore.
She didn't have an explanation, nor even a word to say, but as she had driven towards the barrier she still knew by heart she had realized that she really didn't care about words, just the burning sensation that Regina, and perhaps herself, deserved a conversation that hadn't been there the first time she had go.
And perhaps…
Perhaps.
Emma exhaled and turned, trying to look ahead and not pay attention to the ones that started to look at her from both sides of the road, magic vibrating, growing, almost scorching her from inside.
She was late, she knew that, she was already far too late for anything, she really didn't have a reason to be there, a reason to even try to make Regina talk. She didn't deserve it.
And still, still the old tales of what the two of them could have done resonated inside of her. She had loved, she had lost, she had found, she had fallen in love. She had become a person that she had once loathed and she had grown out of that persona only to find herself alone.
She didn't have anything else to offer but she still wanted to try it. Perhaps because, even if she still was a real person, a flesh and bones character who hadn't had the opportunity to live its prewritten life, she had learnt about forgiveness and chances, about love and quests that sometimes didn't need to be explained, just felt.
And so, as the young girl she had been once, full of hope and yet almost vibrating with remorse, she parked the car in front of the mansion she had left all those years ago, thinking she would never be there again, thinking she would never have the option, thinking she would never be needed there.
And she knocked the door, holding her breath, smiling when brown open eyes looked at her once the door opened, perfect red lips opening in surprise, a flash of hurt coming in sharp quiet waves from that body she had once known as well as her own.
She still loved her, far too much, she still anticipated the moment that sensation of warmth and hope filled her stomach whenever she thought about her, she still cared for her, even if she tried to think otherwise.
She couldn't really say anything, she didn't have the answers, nor even the words. But she still muttered a soft "Hi" that made the two of them tremble, the promise of something else hiding behind those words, taking their breaths away.
Regina raised her left hand, caressed Emma's face and nodded just once.
Emma licked her lips.
"Hi" The brunette finally replied.
And Emma smiled.