Because people asked for it, and I actually felt up to writing it. I don't think it's as good as the first chapter, but I hope it's enjoyable nonetheless.
Emma had never made it a habit to eavesdrop on something that didn't concern her – it was a skill she'd had no choice but to learn when she was chasing people across the country – but Regina whispering with Tinkerbell while she was asleep was something she found herself curious about. She had no idea what had happened between the two of them back in the Enchanted Forest, and she'd thought that maybe she'd learn something by pretending to still be asleep.
She'd definitely learned something, though, just not exactly what she'd expected or really wanted to. She hadn't heard all of it, but she'd heard enough to realize what they were talking about. It had definitely been a surprise, though.
Out of all the things she expected Regina to think about her, them being soul mates wasn't anywhere on that list. Hell, they'd only recently learned to get along just enough to not push each other into the nearest patch of Dreamshade.
There had been something about a lion tattoo apparently and mention of David's royal crest from the Enchanted Forest, but she'd mostly been lost trying to keep up. From what she'd gathered, her flower tattoo that she didn't actually recall getting – probably alcohol, if she had to hazard a guess – could possibly make her Regina Mills' soul mate.
The idea of which was laughable, but Emma hadn't been able to bring herself to laugh. It was weird, thinking about someone you'd been throwing rocks at for over a year in a context other than something ranging from simple aggravation to anger so fierce Emma had had to take a step back and calm herself down. In fact, she'd almost blown her cover when she'd bit back on a laugh at how ridiculous Regina had sounded, but luckily, she hadn't been subjected to the wrath of Regina Mills. Again.
Actually, she wasn't sure what had motivated her to reveal herself to Regina afterward; maybe that mapin-whatever thing's claws had been laced with something that had messed with her head.
Regina hadn't retaliated yet, though, but Emma was still on guard, waiting for the moment she would. Maybe she'd wake up tomorrow and find herself hanging from a tree or something more creative; maybe she'd be woken up by being dropped in the middle of the ocean. Anything was possible with a pissed off Regina.
Their magic worked together much better than they did, and maybe that was what she'd been missing. Even when the two of them had been at odds, their magic had cooperated with each other, despite how volatile Emma's could be and the fact she'd almost blown up the loft while trying to use it after the first time tapping into it.
Her foot caught on a tree root, and she stumbled forward a few paces before she caught herself. She was thinking about this too much; she needed to concentrate on finding the others and then Henry. There would be time to think about this soul mate shit later.
/
They found a weak spot in the barrier after a few hours of searching, and Emma grudgingly admired how thorough Pan had been with it. Yeah, they'd made progress very slowly, but it had still taken them a while to find a way through.
As they emerged on the other side of the barrier, Emma felt like Regina's magic was wrapping around her. It was thick, likely because she was standing right in the middle of it, but the smell of it wasn't cloying like she expected such a high concentration of Regina's magic would.
Pan's had been strong enough to choke her, but while Regina's was strong as well, it wasn't unpleasant. In fact, Emma felt she could easily come to enjoy it.
They headed back in the direction they'd come once on the other side of the barrier, and as they were walking, Emma couldn't resist asking, "Hey, Regina, why didn't the smell of your magic choke me like Pan's did?"
Tinkerbell snorted. "Really? I thought it smelled horrible."
"It depends on the person," Regina replied without even acknowledging that Tink had spoken. "And your view of the caster. I expect your parents would find it appalling – if they could smell it, that is."
"They can't?" Emma asked curiously. She'd watched more than a few Disney movies in her childhood, but she'd never heard anything like this of magic. Of course, she had been watching the second-hand, watered-down versions, so that was really to be expected.
Regina shook her head. "Usually only those who have touched magic themselves can smell it. Your parents haven't, despite what they might think. They've only touched it indirectly."
"So what does it mean if I didn't think it was horrible?"
"It means you don't hate my guts," Regina replied nonchalantly, and Emma rolled her eyes as she ducked under a low-hanging branch. Trust the Evil Queen to make everything sound more dramatic than it really was.
Not five minutes later, Emma heard the sounds of what sounded like at least twenty people thundering through the forest, and she was entirely unsurprised when it turned out to be Mary Margaret, David, and Hook.
After the initial surprise at meeting up with each other again, Emma found herself crushed between Mary Margaret and David. She let out an unimpressive squeak and began struggling against them, but they held tight.
After a minute, she managed to extract herself, but it wasn't without a fight. Her stomach was burning with pain, and when she grabbed in instinctively, they were on her again, this time crowding her and loudly asking what was wrong.
"Stop it!" she yelled, and they quickly shut up, staring at her with wide puppy eyes.
"What happened, Emma?" Mary Margaret – because she still couldn't stand to call her Snow – asked, looking at Emma like she was on her deathbed or something equally stupid.
In lieu of an answer that would more than likely just prompt more questions, Emma lifted the hem of her shirt to show the partially healed wound where the mapinguari had tried to put a hole in her stomach. Instantly, she was accosted again, but she effectively stopped them by raising her hands.
"I'm fine. Me and Regina healed it."
As one, Mary Margaret and David turned to Regina, who up to this point had been pointedly not looking in their direction.
"Oh, what," she snapped when she realized the two of them were glaring at her. "You think I brainwashed her? I lent her my magic, just like she did me with Jefferson's hat and when we stopped the trigger."
Her eyes flashed dangerously, and Emma stepped between them before anyone could throw the first punch. Again.
"Stop it, all of you," she growled. "You're acting like children. Is it too much to ask for to just get along, at least until we find Henry and get off this damn island?" She glanced from Mary Margaret and David to Regina, who she stared down until she huffed and turned and stalked away. When the other two didn't look like they were going to agree, she added darkly, "I was talking to you too."
They seemed to finally realize she was being serious and backed down as well, though they both looked as aggravated as Regina.
Honestly, it was like babysitting a bunch of kids. Actually, no, they'd be more forgiving, never mind. They were acting like a bunch of petty teenagers, and unfortunately, her parents more than Regina. All Regina had done – this time, at least – was defend herself.
"I trust Regina," she told Mary Margaret and David in a tone that booked no argument. "She saved my life; it's the least I can do."
The two of them both desperately looked like they wanted to say something, but she turned and walked away before they could even open their mouths. She didn't want to hear any of their excuses today; she'd already heard too many of them since the curse broke.
"Didn't think I'd see the day you'd be siding with the Queen," Hook said as she passed. She ignored him, but he stood up from the tree he'd been leaning against and fell into step beside her. "Thought you'd listen to Mommy and Daddy."
She punched him hard in the shoulder and felt a surge of satisfaction when he grimaced. "You call them that again and I'll make a necklace out of your teeth."
"Prickly, aren't we?" He didn't give her a chance to respond and lengthened his strides to lead the way; she scowled at his back.
Emma pulled the map out of her back pocket and flipped it open, scowling when she realized that the location of Pan's camp had changed again. "Head back toward the left, Hook," she called, and he waved a hand in response and changed course.
The first time the map had changed, they'd all been confused. According to Hook though, the island changed at Pan's whim, so this was likely just Pan screwing with them. But as they had no other way to locate him and Henry that everyone agreed on, they were forced to follow the map. Odds were they were just walking in circles, but no one had yet to come up with a better idea – one that was approved by all parties, at least.
Without any fairy dust, Tinkerbell was barely any more useful than Hook, barely because at least everything she said wasn't laced with a crude innuendo that made Emma want to dig a big hole and leave her at the bottom of it. Regina had been the only one to offer an alternate plan, but she'd been shot down by Hook, Mary Margaret, and David so much she'd stopped mentioning it.
They stopped after a while because Emma's stomach was hurting her so badly she was having trouble keeping up with the others. She had no sooner sat down, though, than Regina took a seat beside her.
"Want some help?" she offered quietly, and to Emma's surprise, she held out her hand without so much as a sarcastic remark.
For a moment, Emma wondered what she meant, but a twinge of pain from her half-healed wound made her feel like an idiot. "Thanks," she mumbled and took Regina's hand in her own.
Regina was silent as Emma used their combined magic to completely heal herself. It was far easier this time, and within a minute, Emma lifted the hem of her shirt again to find that all that was left of the once gaping wound in her stomach was a thin line of a scar.
She didn't realize she was still holding Regina's hand until she felt Regina subtly try to withdraw it. Hurriedly, she pulled her own hand back, trying to ignore the prickling heat climbing up the back of her neck. She muttered an apology, and Regina gave a stiff nod and looked the other way.
An awkward silence settled over them, and after a minute, Emma was unable to take it. She crossed her legs and leaned forward with a sigh, and she could almost feel Regina's curiosity. "So, about this 'our magic' plan you mentioned?"
She turned her head to see Regina grinning with a malice she hadn't seen in a while. In a way, it was comforting to see, if a bit unnerving.
Well, at least it wasn't directed toward her this time.
/
Unfortunately, Regina's plan required Emma to have a somewhat adequate mastery of her magic before they could proceed, so a short while later, Emma was back to concentrating so hard it felt like her head was going to explode.
"You look ridiculous."
"Not helping," she snapped back, and she could practically hear Regina roll her eyes. "If you're just going to complain, you could at least try and help me while you do it."
She heard Regina sigh as if teaching her magic was the most irritating task she'd ever had to accomplish. "Fine," she said, stepping around Emma, who lifted her eyes to watch her. "Magic is strengthened by emotion, whether it's anger or something else. We're going to save Henry, right? Focus on happiness or love, whatever's easier."
Emma nodded and focused back on her hand, trying to thrum as much happiness as she could manage. Briefly, she felt a small flame flicker in her palm before it vanished, leaving her more frustrated than before.
"Do you always make such strange faces when you concentrate?" Regina asked curiously from her right shoulder, and Emma rounded on her angrily.
"You know what, keep your damn opinions to yourself from now on! If you're not going to help, go bother someone else!"
There was a low creak as Emma glared at Regina, but she only acknowledged it when it came again, louder, and Regina lifted her eyes to look at something behind her.
The creaking sound, it turned out, had been a tree wavering, a large chunk carved out of the bottom of the trunk from a source Emma expected she knew, and as it started to fall their way, Emma spun on complete instinct and grabbed Regina. She threw them to the ground and braced herself as a loud crack sounded.
She felt something connect with the back of her head, and she winced and curled protectively around Regina, trying to keep her from being smashed by the tree. Once everything had quieted, she pushed herself up and found herself surrounded by thick foliage.
To her surprise, Regina didn't immediately shove her off, but Emma shifted off of her and began bending the limbs of the tree back so they could get out. She held a few of them back, and Regina quickly took the hint and crawled out of the tree.
Once Emma had followed her, they sat next to each other and stared at the fallen tree; Emma reached up and gingerly prodded the spot on the back of her head where the tree had hit her. She glanced over at Regina to make sure she was okay, and aside from looking a bit ruffled, she seemed to be.
"Well," Regina said, sounding slightly out of breath. "I suppose anger also works, although obviously not exactly as desired." Emma breathed a laugh, and Regina gave her an unreadable look. "Thank you."
A sincere Regina never failed to make her uncomfortable, and Emma shrugged lamely in response. It had been an instinctual reaction; she hadn't even realized what she was doing before she had already grabbed Regina.
Of course, Mary Margaret and David had to burst into the clearing at that moment, shattering whatever awkwardness had yet again settled between them. Emma was somewhat relieved to see them but also aggravated – and maybe at Hook and Tinkerbell as well for apparently not being concerned over their well-being.
"We're fine," she said exasperatedly before any of them could ask, but that didn't stop Mary Margaret from hovering like an over-protective parent. Emma looked to Regina for help, but she was too busy ignoring them and picking the debris off her clothes.
David, predictably, had turned angrily on Regina, who just sneered at him so fiercely that he backed down without a word. "It was an accident," she answered his unspoken question. "Emma got a little angry and unintentionally took out the tree."
Predictably, Mary Margaret and David turned to Emma for confirmation, who nodded weakly and waved them away. "I obviously still need to work on this, so go back to whatever you were doing so I can practice."
They both looked reluctant to leave, but when she frowned and pointed back the way they'd come, they trailed away like a pair of puppies.
"You have them remarkably well-trained," Regina remarked once they were gone, and Emma turned a glare on her as well to find her smirking evilly.
"Oh, shut up."
/
Emma was careful about her temper after the whole tree incident, and with a cooperative – finally – Regina, she found it was easier to learn to control her magic. More than a few times she almost took out another tree, but they luckily avoided destroying the homes of any more wildlife.
"I'm hungry," Emma complained almost two hours after they'd started. She looked up from the flame flickering in her palm to look at Regina, who immediately wiped her expression blank and replaced it with her usual scowl.
"Fine. You've made more progress than I ever thought you would in such a short amount of time considering your previous track record."
Emma quickly leaped to her feet, her muscles protesting at the sudden movement after sitting still so long, and held out a hand to Regina, who looked at it like it might attack her. "Come on, Your Majesty," Emma teased with a grin, but it faded when she saw Regina flinch.
"Don't call me that," she said quietly and it sounded like more of a plea than an order. Emma lowered her eyes to her feet and nodded, and after a moment, she felt Regina take her hand.
"I'm sorry," she mumbled as she helped Regina to her feet.
Regina shrugged weakly and didn't look at her. "It's okay. Just, don't do it again." The title obviously made her uncomfortable, so Emma didn't hesitate to nod her agreement, and Regina briefly squeezed her hand in response before letting go.
"So when do we go?" Emma asked, changing the subject before she became too distracted by the fading tingling feeling in her hand. She shoved the hand in her pocket to try and stifle the feeling.
"We should rest for a few hours," Regina replied, "and then we can go and save our son."
Emma smiled; the word 'our' sounded a lot better than screaming at each other over ownership of Henry. She liked it better this way.
/
When they arrived back at where they'd set up camp earlier, they found a shirtless David with the other three crowded around him like they were magnetically attracted to him. Emma stopped and opened her mouth to say something before deciding against it and heading for where a leftover grilled animal was sitting next to the fire.
Regina, however, had no such reservations. "Looks like idiots actually are attracted to each other," she remarked, and all four of them looked at her with expressions like she'd kicked a kitten or something. She scowled. "What now?"
"Well," Hook drawled, "it turns out the 'idiot' got himself shot with some Dreamshade back when we were fighting the Lost Boys and decided that now was the best time to tell everyone."
"I thought Emma might be able to help since she can use her magic now," David argued, sounding more like a petulant child than a prince.
Emma found herself put on the spot as five sets of eyes turned to her, ranging from pleading to curious to whatever Regina's blank expression meant. She lifted a hand and tried to say something, but her voice didn't want to work. When no one took their eyes off her, she managed, "I thought it was incurable."
"It's supposed to be," Hook said. He reached up to scratch at his cheek, "But the product of true love has never tried to stop it." He raised his eyebrows at her and jerked his head toward what Emma could now see was a black, gaping wound down the side of David's chest.
She reached up and rubbed at her face before pushing her hair back. "Okay, fine." What was she supposed to do, leave her father to die of a poison slowly seeping through his veins? "I'll try."
The others stepped aside as she approached David, but she hesitated, unsure of what she was supposed to do. She barely had a grasp on basic magic; how was she supposed to deal with a supposedly incurable poison?
"Relax," Regina's voice said quietly from her shoulder, and she felt Regina's fingers wrap around her forearm.
David looked between the two of them nervously, obviously uncomfortable with Regina so close to his daughter and helping to feed her magic. But he didn't say anything, just swallowed thickly and steeled himself.
Emma didn't realize she was frozen until Regina tightened her grip on her arm, and she started with a jolt. She could feel Regina's magic curling around her, surprisingly pliant and cooperative. After spending so much time with her own magic, she could feel the nuances in Regina's a lot easier.
Wisps of it seemed to cling to her as it drifted around her, but it wasn't unpleasant by any means. In fact, it actually felt quite nice.