Thanks for the feedback, guys! And thanks to my awesome cyr1988 beta, who's also helping me with out the descriptions :)
Sleeping didn't come easy to either woman. Emma wasn't sure if it was because there was no way they could tell if it was day or night and their circadian rhythm were completely off. Or, if it wasn't for the fact that they were caged in a glass box, surrounded by their demons that kept them wide-awake. It wasn't like she was tired and needed to sleep anyway.
The blonde had tried to start a conversation with Regina several times, but ever since she saw her demons, Regina was glued to her spot, staring out of the glass with a haunted look. Looking through the glass, Emma wondered what got Regina in such a trance, but it didn't matter how much she tried, she could only see her own demons, and not Regina's.
"You know what's weird?" Emma started rambling, to keep the silence at bay. The silence was deafening. She hated it because it allowed the demons in her mind. She did not want those emotions or doubts. She never bothered to see if Regina would answer because she never did after the demons first appeared. Emma continued with her chatter, "I'm not even hungry. And you know about my appetite."
The observation seemed to catch Regina's attention, because she turned from the glass and looked at Emma, "Well, that's indeed strange."
"And we haven't had the need to use the bathroom, thank God! Because you're beautiful but I don't think I'd like to see you taking a dump." Regina's jaw dropped "Oh, I'm sorry. Should I say number 2 instead?"
"You think I'm beautiful?"
Emma rolled her eyes "Even blind people can see you're gorgeous! You had a magic mirror telling you that you're the fairest of them all."
"That's a Disney misconception. Sydney served other purposes than mere vanity."
"Anyways. How long have we been here? Feels like days, but we haven't eaten nor slept. Though, I don't feel like I need to," Emma pointed out. "It's like... "
"We're stuck in time." Regina finished for her before returning her gaze to her demons, "What do you think our captor has in store for us?"
Emma shrugged "Dunno. You were the Evil Queen."
"And you're the Dark One," Regina remarked in a deadpan tone.
The blonde winced at the remark. "Sorry, shouldn't have brought our titles into this."
"It's alright, dear," Regina waved her hand, dismissing Emma's concern, "It's not like I'm not constantly being reminded about that," she added, pointing with her index finger to a place outside of the glass wall, where Emma only saw blackness.
"The Evil Queen is one of your demons?"
"One of the many I have, yes," the brunette replied, "Can't you see my demons?"
"Nope," Emma replied and stood next to Regina, "What do you see?" she asked, curious to see whether Regina would tell her or not.
Before the former Queen could even think if she wanted to share her malignant spirits with Emma, the room around them changed. And suddenly, they were not in a glass cage anymore.
The scenery had changed to a place Emma had never been. They were standing in the middle of an open field, the grass up to their shins. On the horizon, Emma could only see trees and an abandoned stable. Everything was surrounded in a dense fog.
Unconsciously, Emma took Regina's hand and laced their fingers. "Where are we?" Emma whispered, hoping she wouldn't attract unwanted attention.
"This is the place I grew up," she explained, and Emma saw her swallow, "Or at least something that resembles it."
Emma hoped the place didn't look like that when Regina was growing up, because it was nothing but sinister and ghostly. The sun wasn't out. Dark, stormy clouds were out and threatened to unleash torrential rains. The trees were barren and looked like leaves wouldn't grow. The stables weren't fit to hold horses. It was a minute away from being kindling in a forest fire. It was definitely not a place for a little girl to grow up. She took advantage of the silence to look around, hoping to find clues to why they were there and what did they had to do to go back to their cage.
Suddenly, she saw something approaching them. At first, it was a black blur, but as it came closer, Emma realized it was something that looked almost identical to a horse. However, it was severely undernourished; its bony framework was visible from a distance. Its mane, rather than regular hair was a long veil that resembled black fire. And of course, it had red eyes.
"What fuck is that?" Emma asked when the horse had slowed his gallop.
"That, is my horse, or was,"
"You owned one of the four horses of the apocalypse?"
Regina didn't even bother to answer Emma's question. She was taken back by her horse's appearance. The horse seemed rather cagey of Regina as well. The animal approached to them cautiously.
Judging him by his gruesome appearance, Emma took few steps backwards, but Regina stayed rooted in her place. Regina let go of Emma's hand after the blonde tried to pull her backwards.
"Regina!" Emma yelled in a whisper. "It's gonna hurt you."
"His name is Rocinante," Regina raised a hand towards the horse "And he'd never hurt me. He was a true friend." She explained while Rocinante sniffed around her, deciding if she was his Regina or not. After a moment or two, he pressed his forehead to Regina's palm.
"What happened to him?"
"I killed him." Regina's voice broke a little bit while she confessed her deed "His only sin was that I loved him too much. At the end, his death was in vain."
"I'm sorry." Emma placed one hand on Regina's shoulder and squeezed it. Regina had once told her the price she had had to pay to enact the curse. It was clear that the horse had been collateral.
Regina stayed in silence, but her hand went from Rocinante's forehead to his neck, where she started petting him.
"I'm sorry, Rocinante." she told him "I'm sorry I was so caught in revenge that I hurt you," tears started rolling down Regina's cheeks.
Emma, despite of her fear towards the monstrous looking horse, placed her hand over Regina's. Keeping it in place over Rocinante's soft fur. Regardless of being behind Regina, she didn't press her front against the other woman's back, considering it would be wise to respect the brunette's personal space.
"This is Emma," the brunette told the horse "She also sacrificed her life for me."
Rocinante pressed his head against Emma's shoulder, and the blonde took it as a sign of acceptance and mutual respect. Emma was still not used to the horse's supernatural appearance, but she didn't back off. This animal obviously meant a great deal to Regina.
"You've got to let him go, Regina," Emma commented "I'm sure that Rocinante isn't angry at you for what you did, Regina."
"How can you possibly know?"
"Because I'm not angry," the blonde replied, "Because, for you, I'd do it all over again."
Regina didn't say anything to Emma's confession, but Emma felt how the brunette leaned against her body. The former Queen looked at her stallion for few minutes before sliding her hand from below Emma's and snaking her arms around the horse's neck.
"Thank you," she whispered to the horse's ear, but it was loud enough for Emma to hear. "I love you." she added before stepping away from her horse, her back now fully pressed against Emma's front.
Emma snaked her arms around Regina's waist, hoping it would provide support and protection to the brunette. The brunette placed her hands over the blonde's, as she heard Rocinante neigh and ran away from them, into the mist in the woods.
"Goodbye, Rocinante."
