I couldn't sleep so I got up before the sun rose. Everyone in camp was still asleep. It had been a week since I started having to camp with Emma, the Charmings, and that damn pirate. I hated him most of all. He couldn't keep his eyes off of Emma and it was pissing me off. As I looked over the cliff into the sky that was turning a blood orange from the sun, I thought about Emma and our son. We came here to save him. There was something different about Emma here. It was of some surprise to me when I finally realized I cared for this woman whom had been a thorn in my side for the past few years.
"Thinking about what I told you Regina?" I jumped as Tinkerbell came to sit beside me. "Sorry for scaring you." I said nothing. "I meant what I said; it's not too late for you to be happy."
"I'll be happy when I have my son back and he's safe." It came out more of a hiss then I had intended.
"I meant for love Regina. I know you never went into that pub back then and that yes, the fairy dust lead you to him but…I think it was wrong." This interested me. I thought fairy dust was never wrong. "Yes it is true that your true love has a lion tattoo but…"
"Get to the point. I know I screwed up all those years ago. But no one can love me like that. Not with how black my heart is." My voice rose slightly but I knew I had to lower it. I didn't want to wake the Charmings up. If I wanted peace they had to be asleep.
"That's where you're wrong Regina. Someone does love you…truly loves you. You just can't see it. But you love them too. You just won't admit it to yourself."
"You're lying." I stood and walked away. I wasn't about to listen to this fallen fairy's bullshit.
"Regina, listen to me." She took quick steps to follow me into the woods. "If you want to find your true love you don't have to look very far. The person is a protector and can use a bow very well." Horror swallowed me. The only two people I knew who could use a bow and protected people were the Charmings. I suddenly felt nauseous and stumbled over to a tree. "Are you okay?"
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I looked up and saw Emma with a knife to Tinkerbell's throat. Tinkerbell had her hands up in surrender as she looked down at me. I had slid to the base of the tree from the slight dizziness.
"She's okay Emma. We were just talking. You can let her go. She won't hurt me." Emma studied me a moment to see if I was telling the truth or not. That little superpower of hers was slightly annoying but it did come in handy at times.
"Alright." She let her arms drop and Tinkerbell stumbled a few feet from us. "Are you okay? You look sick." Emma held out her hand to me. That's when I noticed the tattoo on her wrist. How long had she had that? I took her hand and she pulled me to my feet.
"Yes I'm fine. Just a bit of caffeine withdrawal." I brushed the dirt and leaves from my pants and blazer. How had I not noticed that before?
"I've got some coffee beans that should take care of that. I always carry a bag with me if I go on a trip and don't know when I'll get caffeine again." I couldn't believe what I was hearing. She had coffee beans and didn't tell anyone?
"I've been going through caffeine withdrawal for six days and you just NOW mention you have coffee beans with you?" The color drained from her face.
"I thought you were just sick because of the lack of food. If I knew it was from lack of caffeine I would have shared them days ago. Just don't tell anyone else. I'm running low on them."
"Deal." I could feel Tinkerbell watching us as we walked back to camp. She had a smug grin on her face too; I could feel it. The sun was halfway over the mountains by now, as Emma dug through her bag. She tossed me a little battered brown satchel. As I untied it, the smell of coffee filled my nostrils and brought life to my body. I took three beans and tossed them in my mouth. Emma chuckled as I tilted my head back when I felt the surge of energy rush through my veins.
"They are a magic of their own aren't they?" I nodded as I swallowed.
"They are indeed." She only popped one bean into her mouth before putting them away. "Aren't you going to eat more than one?"
"No. Since we're sharing them now, we need to conserve them. I know we won't be here much longer but just to be safe." A small smile crossed her face a moment.
"What?" She stood and walked into the woods again. She picked up the axe before leaving camp.
"Nothing." I followed. She was keeping something from me. "It's just; we share Henry and now coffee beans. Both things we hold dear to us. They are completely different but it's just…I don't know. I just want to get back home with Henry."
"You want to go back to the Enchanted Forest?" I stood back as she started to swing the axe down on a piece of wood. It split in two clean pieces.
"No. Storybrooke." I raised an eyebrow. "I just want things to go back to the way they were. Well, kinda like they were."
"What do you mean?" I handed her another piece of wood. She obviously needed to get some frustration out or she would've had someone else chop the wood.
"I mean, all of us back in town. Me the Sheriff and you the Mayor. Mary Margaret as the school teacher and life being simple. I don't want us being at each other's throat though. That I don't miss. But the simplicity I do. I promise when we get back and things go back to normal, I will never be late with paperwork again." For once I actually laughed.
"You're not as much of a thorn as I thought. As long as we don't fight over Henry, I believe we could work together well." Emma stopped and stared at the wood.
"You would be okay with us raising Henry…together?" Her voice was shaky and she never looked at me. I had never truly gave that idea any thought.
"I believe we could work on that. You're parents won't like the idea very much." This is when the old Emma showed itself. She rolled her eyes as she drew the axe back over her shoulder. I handed her a piece of wood.
"At this point, I don't care much of what they think. One thing that this trip has shown me, is just how annoying and blind they are. They don't know how the real world works. I love them, don't get me wrong, but the situation is complicated. Henry loves us both and we both love him. It's not fair if either of us have to give him up." I was quiet as I watched. "What?"
"Nothing. But yes, I'd like if we could share Henry. We just have to get him back first." Emma stood straight and dropped the axe. She locked eyes with me and placed her hand on my arm as she spoke.
"We will find him Regina. I promise you that." Her hand felt warm on my arm. There was a moment of silence before she let it drop. "Now, let's take the wood back to camp before my parents come looking for us. They don't like when I'm alone with you."
"Why is that?" The thought amused me as I grabbed wood.
"They think you're going to turn me evil or something. They don't want my heart to be as black as yours. Mary Margaret and David both think that your heart is totally black."
"What do you think?" It was nice talking peacefully with Emma. No one was around to annoy us.
"I don't think it's totally black. There's no way you could love Henry the way you do if it was. And there are other times where true love and pure emotion shined in your eyes. If you're heart was fully black, that wouldn't happen." She bit her lip and cleared her throat. I guess, from the blush on her cheeks, that she was kicking herself for saying too much.
"Thank you Emma."