Chapter Three
"Did you manage to get any sleep?" Snow asked, standing in the doorway of the cabin.
"No…" Regina said, keeping her back to her one time step-daughter, "I'm not tired, I need to figure this out…"
"It'll still need figuring out after you get a few hours' sleep Regina." Snow said.
"But if I don't sleep, it'll get done a few hours earlier." Regina replied.
Snow sighed and closed the door.
"How's my mom?" Henry asked as she walked back out onto the deck.
"Still determined to stay awake." She said, ruffling his hair.
She then got a flash, that was Emma's thing, no one else did that but Emma.
"Sorry Henry…" Snow said.
"I wish everyone would stop saying that word to me," Henry said, "what happened wasn't any of your faults, it just happened."
He ran off to the other end of the ship, leaving Snow standing there with tears in her eyes. She looked up to the stars.
"Come back to us Emma," she said as the tears fell, "he needs you… We all need you."
x-x-x-x
"There has to be some way to undo this." Regina said, walking around the cabin, "this isn't right…"
All magic comes with a price she heard Emma's voice in her head again this is that price.
"No," Regina said, "this is never that price."
She turned and looked at Emma's bed.
"Never that price…" she repeated.
There was a knock at the door.
"What?" Regina shouted.
The door opened and Hook walked in.
"Now a bad time?" he asked.
"Get out." She said.
"Henry is worried about you Regina," he said, "don't leave him alone."
"He's not alone, he has Snow and Charming." She said.
"He needs his mother." He said, before leaving the room, closing the door behind him.
Regina fell down to her knees. She needed his mother too. She was really getting to like having Emma around.
She stood up and walked over to the side of the bed, sitting down on it she allowed herself to cry.
"Snap out of it Regina," she said to herself, "you've felt pain worse than this before…"
No you haven't said the voice in her head this is worse than anything you've ever felt. Should have told the girl how you felt. Love might be a weakness Regina, but ignoring the very fact that it exists is a bigger weakness.
"Get out of my head mother!" Regina shouted into the darkness.
The door opened.
"Don't you knock." She said.
"Sorry…" Henry said.
"Oh Henry…" she said, turning to him, "I'm sorry… I thought it was Snow again…"
"She's worried about you mom…" he said, walking over and throwing his arms around her, "we all are…"
"I'm okay Henry…" she said.
"No you're not." He said, "I love you mom…"
"Me too…" she said.
He backed away, his eyes full of concern.
"You can't even say it anymore…" he said.
"Say what Henry?" she asked.
"That you love me," he said, "it's always 'me too'."
"I'm sorry Henry…" she said.
"Ever since what happened on the island…" he said, "it's like your heart is missing…"
"Not missing," Regina said, "just hurting…"
"Can I ask you something…" Henry said.
"Anything." Regina replied.
"Did you love her…?" he asked, "did you love Emma?"
The tears started to silently fall from her eyes.
"Honestly…" she started.
"Always has to be honesty…" Henry said.
"I think so…" she said.
He nodded.
"You're okay with that?" Regina asked.
"She's the Saviour," Henry said, "she saved you… she saved you for me…"
Regina kissed the top of his head.
"It's getting late," she said, "think you can sleep?"
"Can you?" he asked.
"I'll try," she said, "for you…"
He smiled, hugged her again and left the room.
Regina waited until he left before going to Gold's room.
"What can I do for you dearie?" he asked.
"I need your help." She said.
"Yes you do." He replied, "because this isn't how it was supposed to turn out. Without her everyone is stuck in Storybrooke, Belle is stuck in Storybrooke…"
"All I've done in the last three days is try and find a way to undo this," Regina said, "you're the Dark One, haven't you thought of something?"
"I have," he said, "but it's not for me to do, you have to do this one on your own…"
"How?" she asked.
"Regina," he said, "every time you've had some kind of problem, your mother, your husband, your step-daughter, you've come to me. I cannot do this for you."
"I can't…" she said, "I've been through every spell I know, there's nothing…"
"Don't use your head," he said, "use your heart…"
"My heart?" she asked.
"Yes…" he said, "your heart…"
"Use your heart he says," Regina said, "don't use your head… what a great help he is…"
She picked up Emma's leather jacket and held it up to her nose. Breathing in she let out a sigh.
"I miss you Emma…" she said.
There was a knock at the door.
"Yes…" Regina said.
Snow walked in, with tea and food.
"I thought you might be hungry…" Snow said.
"I'm not…" Regina said, "but thank you…"
"I know how you felt about her Regina…" Snow said.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Regina replied.
"I know a broken heart when I see it…" Snow said.
Regina didn't say anything.
"I hope you get some sleep…" Snow said before letting herself out of the room.
Regina was tired, so very tired. She laid down on the side of the bed, the other side was Emma's.
"I love you Emma…" She said, pulling the jacket to her chest as her eyes closed.
Waking up the following morning, Regina instinctively looked to the other side of the bed, what she wasn't expecting was the deep green eyes looking back at her.
"Morning…" Emma said.
"Are you… Are you really here?" Regina asked.
"Yeah…" Emma said, "I'm really here…"
Regina slowly reached out her hand, placing her hand on Emma's cheek.
"See," Emma said, placing her hand over Regina's, "really here…"
Regina moved her hand, and Emma laced their fingers together.
"Should probably go and see the kid…" Emma said.
"He'll be really upset if you don't…" Regina replied.
Emma smiled a little and let go of her hand. She slowly got out of bed, she was a little unsure on her feet.
"Legs still a little shaky…" she said to Regina.
"I'll help," Regina said, "give me a minute to make myself a little more presentable…"
"You look perfectly presentable to me." Emma said with a little smile.
"I look like a mess." Regina replied.
"If you say so." Emma said, sitting back down on the bed.
Emma tried to avert her eyes as Regina got changed. She glanced over to Regina just as she looked at her. Emma blushed slightly and smiled a little.
"Sorry…" she said.
"No you're not." Regina said with a laugh, "sorry you got caught maybe."
Emma laughed.
Regina got changed and walked over to where Emma was sitting.
"Shall we?" she asked, holding out her hand to Emma.
Emma took her hand and stood up.
"Put your arm around my shoulders," Regina said, "I won't let you fall…"
Emma stumbled as she put her arm around Regina's shoulders, her face ending up extremely close to the former Evil Queen.
"Sorry…" Emma said.
Regina smiled a little.
"Will you stop apologising." Regina said.
"Sor…" Emma started, "yeah."
They walked down the corridor to Henry's room.
"Apparently this is the room his father used when he was on this ship." Regina said.
"Neal was on the Jolly Rodger?" Emma asked.
"From what Hook said, yes." Regina said.
"There is so much about that man that I never got to know…" Emma said.
"He loved Henry," Regina said, "isn't that enough?"
"I guess it's going to have to be…" Emma replied.
Regina kissed Emma's temple, which caused Emma to close her eyes, sigh, and smile a little.
"What time is it?" Emma asked.
"Early," Regina said, "really early…"
"Helpful." Emma said with a laugh, "too early to wake him up?"
"He'd kill you if you didn't." Regina replied.
"True…" Emma said.
She opened the door to Henry's cabin, the sight that met her nearly brought tears to her eyes. Her little boy was there sleeping, he looked like the most peaceful thing Emma had ever seen in her life. She moved her arm from round Regina's shoulders and walked over to his bed.
She kissed him on the head, which caused him to wiggle a little in his sleep, Emma let out a little laugh.
"He is so cute…" Emma said.
"He gets that from his mom…" Regina replied.
"When did you turn into a soppy person?" Emma asked with a laugh.
"I could've been talking about myself," Regina said, "You just assume I was talking about you…"
Henry woke up.
"Emma?" he asked, "you're okay?"
"Hey kid," she said, "other than aching in places I never knew existed, I'm okay."
He jumped out of bed and threw his arms around her waist.
"Ouch…" Emma said.
"Sorry," Henry replied, "didn't mean to hurt you."
"It was a good hurt…" Emma said, wrapping her arms around her son.
"I'm so glad you're okay." He said.
"Me too kid, me too…" she said, looking at Regina, who had a small smile on her face.
"How did you do it?" Henry asked Regina, "How did you undo it?"
"I don't know if it was me that did it Henry." Regina said.
"It had to have been," Henry said, "no one else could have."
"She was honest with herself…" Mr Gold said from the doorway, "it's good to see you up and about Miss Swan."
"Thanks…" Emma replied.
"Your mother is going to be beside herself." He said.
"Probably." Emma said.
He walked away, heading back to his own cabin.
"What does he mean you were honest with yourself?" Emma asked Regina.
"No idea." Regina replied, "You know he loves his riddles…"
"True," Emma said, "for some reason I'm really hungry…"
"Then we'd better get you some food." Regina said.
Regina was leaning against the wall in the galley, Snow hadn't stopped fussing over Emma since she woke up, and Henry was bombarding Emma with information about what had happened in the last three days, Charming couldn't stop smiling. Everyone, it seemed, was happy again.
"We'll be in the Enchanted Forest soon," Henry said, "it's going to be so cool to live in a castle. I can start using real swords, riding horses, it's so cool."
"Real swords?" Emma asked, "how about you stick to the wooden ones for now."
"You and granddad use real swords," he said, "mom can use one too, and grandmother can shoot arrows. Mom, I'm going to have to start learning, I'm going to king one day don't you know."
"You're 10," Emma said, "There's plenty of time for that."
"I got my first real sword at 8." Snow said.
"Really not helping." Emma said.
"Sorry," Snow said, "but he does have a point Emma, he is going to be king one day."
"One day in the very distant future," Emma said, "how about he concentrates on being a kid for now."
"I just thought of something," Henry said, "is mom going to live with us in our castle?"
"Erm…" Emma said, "I don't know kid…"
"Can you?" he asked, looking at Regina.
"There's going to be a lot to work out when we get to the Enchanted Forest Henry," Regina said, "we'll work something out."
"There's plenty of space right," Henry said looking at Snow, "I mean it's a castle…"
"Like Regina said, there's a lot to work out…" Snow said.
"You're going to lock her up aren't you," Henry said, "you're going to lock her away for forever…"
No one said anything.
"Tell me the truth." Henry said.
"Henry…" Snow said, "Things are different here. Regina knows that, she needs to be held to account for what she did."
"Are you going to be held to account for what you did?" Henry asked, "Or am I the only one who remembers you killed Cora?"
"Henry…" Emma said.
"You're going to let this happen?" Henry said, "You can't, she's my mom Emma, you can't lock her up. She's changed, you know that."
"I know Henry," Emma said, "and I'm going to do everything I can to make sure she doesn't get locked away forever…"
"Execution would actually be the order of the day," Hook said, "if I remember the laws of the Enchanted Forest correctly."
"We're not going to execute her." Snow said, "That's really not an option."
"That's something I guess…" Emma said.
Emma yawned.
"Still tired?" Hook asked, "You slept for the best part of three days."
"I wasn't sleeping…" Emma said.
"Do you remember anything?" Regina asked.
"I'd rather not talk about it…" Emma said, "If that's okay… I'm going to go back to bed for a little while, I'm exhausted."
Emma stood up from the table, stumbling backwards.
"Need a hand?" Regina asked.
"No," Emma said, "thanks, I can manage…"
As soon as she closed her eyes the flashes started, the memories, the darkness. She was in so much pain, but had no idea where it was coming from.
"I want the boy back." The shadow said.
"He's my son," Emma said, "You can't have him."
"I will get him back." Came the reply.
"You and whose army?" she asked, "You'll have to go through me first."
"You are nothing but an amateur," the shadow said, "you cannot stop me, I will defeat you, and I will have the boy."
"Like I said," Emma said, "you and whose army."
The pain was searing through her now, it felt like she was being burned from the inside out.
"She's screaming," Regina said, "she's in pain…"
She ran from the galley, followed by everyone else. Mr Gold was already at the now open door to Emma's cabin.
"He has her." Gold said.
"Who has her?" Regina asked, "she's right there, what are you talking about?"
"The shadow has her mind…" Gold said, "he tasted her magic when we fought him, he has found her."
"Get us away from this island Hook," Regina said, "now."
"That isn't going to help." Mr Gold said.
"What do you mean?" Snow asked.
"She has to fight it," Gold said, "she has to defeat it in her mind."
Regina went over to the bed, knelt down next to it and took Emma's hand.
"Emma," she said, "honey, you have to fight this."
"Honey?" Snow asked.
"Not now Snow…" Charming said.
Henry smiled as his grandfather looked down at him and winked.
"Come on Emma…" Regina said softly kissing Emma's hand.
Emma's eyes shot open and she took a sharp intake of breath.
"What the hell just happened?" Emma asked.
"Is it over?" Regina asked, looking at Gold.
He nodded and walked away.
Emma looked at her hand, which was still being held in Regina's hand, and then she looked at Regina's face.
"You are one confusing woman Regina Mills…" Emma said.