A/N: My sincerest apologies for this ridiculous wait. My life had been really screwed up as of late with my new job, dropping out of college, getting read admitted to another school, figuring out what I want to do with my life...among other things. I also may have been recovering over that season finale; it definitely made me rethink where I was going with this. But that is no excuse. Thank you, all of you that have followed, favorited, reviewed, and read the story so far. I was so happy with the response I got, even though it was my first story!
I own nothing of Once Upon a Time or its characters. If I did, that finale would have gone differently, at least in how they handled Marion...
One year ago...
"Regina! No, please, Regina! Wait!"
The queen quickened her pace as she left the diner, ignoring the blonde's couldn't even look at her. She knows that if she did, the darkness quickly growing in her heart would cause her to lash out at the other woman. So, Regina disappeared in a puff of purple smoke and reformed back at the abandoned barn.
Regina was furious. However, her initial anger at the blonde was quickly turning into despair and the horrible feeling of being betrayed. Again. She looked at the spot where the portal had been only a short time earlier that day. Needing to be alone, Regina decided to stay where she was, knowing that if the blonde was foolish enough to look for her that she would first look at the mansion, then to the queen's crypt. This way, at least Regina would have enough time to calm down, lest she did something everyone would regret. And so, with her arms wrapped around herself, the former queen stared forlornly at the ground, lost in thought.
She didn't even notice the woman that lurked in the shadows.
The woman watched the queen, unsure if she should make herself known or if she should remain hidden. Though the queen did not seem to be a threat, the woman in the shadows could not be careless. She was at first frightened by the sudden appearance of the queen, but now she felt concern. It was obvious the brunette was saddened; greatly so, in fact. However, no matter how much she wanted to comfort the woman in front of her, experience had taught her that it was better if few knew of her existence. So, the woman in the shadows would wait until the brunette left. Then she would emerge and find herself a better hiding place. Perhaps somewhere cold and secluded in the forest...
Regina was brought out of her thoughts by the familiar sound of booted feet. She stood still, refusing to acknowledge the blonde that had entered the barn. Emma stood in the doorway, her earlier confidence when confronting Regina at the diner had seemed to vanish at the sight of the rigid form of the queen in front of her. Emma took a deep breath and proceeded to enter the barn.
"One step closer, Miss Swan, and I will throw you from this barn." Regina's attempts at calming her inner darkness were looking to be in vain. Her anger from earlier was rapidly coming back to its full strength.
"Regina, you have every right to do so. I screwed up, I know. I brought someone here who shouldn't exist anymore! But I couldn't let her die! I just..."
"NO!" Regina screamed at her, losing what little self control she had. "Don't you dare say you're sorry! Do you know how many "sorry's" I've heard from your damn mother?! Your apologies wont change anything, just as it didn't with her." Regina finally turned to look at Emma, her eyes blazing with purple fire, her magic just barely contained. "Once again, your family has ensured the destruction of any chance of happiness I might have had."
"Regina, please...", started the blonde but the queen wouldn't listen.
"No, you don't get to speak!." She was furious! But eh blonde was also quickly reaching her own limitations of self control.
"REGINA! Shut up for once and let me try to fix this!" Emma was sure Regina would throw her out on her ass right then and there, but, surprisingly, Regina didn't move. She didn't make a sound. Emma was sure if this was a good thing either, but she took the chance to quickly get out what she had to say before she was thrown. Again.
"I know how angry you are right now. I get it. You're hurt beyond belief and it was my fault. I hurt you when I'm supposed to be you're friend." Regina scoffed at this, but Emma continued on. "Yes, Regina, I am you're friend. But please understand that I had no way of knowing who she was! I didn't know I was bringing back Robin's supposedly long-dead wife! How could I know?! She never once told me her name!"
"Miss Swan, you meddled with time and space by..." But Regina was quickly interrupted.
"Emma! My fucking name is Emma, Regina!" yelled the blonde.
"You don't get the right!" yelled Regina.
They both stared at each other; breathless. The anger had started to fade from both of them to be replaced by sadness and guilt on both ends. It was Emma who broke the silence first.
"Regina. Please. I care about you. You are my friend! You have to know, that after everything we've been through, after everything we've done, that I would never intentionally hurt you." Emma looked at Regina imploringly.
"Neither did your mother, at least in the beginning," came the quiet reply. Regina looked into Emma's eyes.
"I have done everything that I could to change. For once in a very long time, I felt as though things were finally good in my life. I got everyone's memories back! I defeated my sister using light magic! I had finally done something good; I made Henry proud of me. He loves me again and had complete faith in me. I thought I had something I had never really had: Family." Emma gave a small smile at Regina as she said this but Regina didn't notice. She kept speaking. " I had people in my corner, believing in me. I thought that I had a chance to love again. But then I guess I was only deluding myself." The brunette didn't realize it, but she now had tears streaming down her face. Emma's heart broke, realizing that she had caused this break down. It was the first time Emma had truly seen Regina's face so open. Her usual mask had broken, but Emma wished it were under different circumstances. The former queen continued.
"Maybe I've done to many wrong things in my life. Maybe it's too late. Maybe I am just a villain. And villains don't get happy endings." The brunette turned back away from the blonde and was silent for a few seconds. Finally, she spoke again.
"Emma."
The blonde's heart rose a little at the sound of her first name being spoken again by Regina, but quickly sank again at the queen's next words.
"I believe myself to have changed enough to not feel the need to feed into the darkness growing in my heart once more. Besides, my son would never forgive me if something happened to you by my hand. But know this," she turned to look back at the blonde, utter despair and grief visibly in the dark and expressive eyes, brimming with tears. "Should you ever come near my home, I will not hesitate to throw you across town. I don't want to see you again."
Emma looked at Regina, her eyes filling with tears as well. "Regina, don't do this. You still do have a family! Henry and I are still you're family! Don't do this." The blonde felt her heart breaking.
"Please."
Meanwhile, the woman in the shadows watched with great sorrow as the two woman in front of her fought back and forth. It was obvious to her that these two meant a great deal to one another, but that there was a bond of broken trust that must be repaired. The woman believed that the two in front of her didn't not fully realize just how much each meant to each other. The woman in the shadows believed that she and the brunette had a great deal in common and, though it seemed that the blonde understood her feelings towards the brunette to some extent, the woman knew that it would take something drastic to get the brunette to even acknowledge what she had right in front of her. So, the woman decided to take matters into her own hands to do one last deed before she left the world for good. She would help the two in front of her find their happy endings. Sticking to the shadows, the woman gave a flick of her wrist, aimed at the blonde.
"Please."
Regina couldn't look at the blonde any longer. She turned her back to Emma.
"Go away, Emma."
Suddenly, the temperature in the room dropped. It was if someone plunged both women into the Atlantic. Regina barely registered what was happening when she heard the blonde yell her name.
"REGINA!"
She turned to find Emma surrounded in what appeared to be snow. Emma looked at Regina, her fear evident on her face. Regina moved to grab Emma's hand as the whirlwind grew stronger.
"I got you, Emma!"
But as Regina was about to grab Emma's outstretched hand, the blonde vanished.
A/N: Chpt 3 will be up soon, I promise. And I'm sure you guessed who the "woman in shadow" is. Subtly isn't really my thing. R and R's please. Also, I apologize again for the ridiculous wait. Thanks for reading!