A.N. I listened to I Shall Believe by Sheryl Crow for this chapter ..
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Regina pulls away and threads her fingers through Emma's before her eyes get captured by the allure of golden sea green again. She sighs softly and tightens her hold on Emma's hand. "Were you ever going to tell me?"
Emma looks away, quickly tilting her head to the side but Regina cups her chin and she's gently guided to focus on Regina once more. "You wont like the answer."
"How can you keep this from me?" Her eyes darken and Emma knows there is a storm of emotions swirling inside of her. Regina's face and eyes always tell her more than words ever could. She sighs and pulls Regina's hand up to her lips and quickly places a kiss along the inside of her wrist. She watches as the older woman's eyes flick to a lighter shade before darkening again. And this time Emma knows the darkened color is stemmed from passion, not anger. Emma definitely prefers being on the receiving end of that look.
"You're distracting me with .. with .. "
Emma turns her hand over and brushes her lips along the soft padding of Regina's palm. "Hmm .. with?" She listens as Regina takes a breath and then watches as brown eyes dilate.
"I thought you said no kissing?"
"On the lips .. but the flesh .. " Emma shrugs before pulling Regina close and inhaling her sweet scent while kissing the inner curve of her neck. She brings her lips up to Regina's ear and whispers, "The flesh is fair game."
Regina's heart beats fast and butterflies begin to flutter around inside her stomach, starting an enchanting chaos that she feels all the way down to the tips of her toes. Emma continues to kiss her, to nibble at her pulse point.
"You kissed Henry on the forehead and the curse broke - "
"Yes, because it was true love for our child but a kiss born out of true love between us .. has to happen here." Emma gently taps Regina's lips with a fingertip.
"And you know this how?"
"I honestly don't know how I know exactly .. I just do." She shrugs again and taps her forehead, smiling at the woman sitting before her. "Some random things .. knowledge is just in here now, floating around." Emma laughs quietly before she finds herself being pushed back against the headboard as Regina sits on her lap.
Kisses soft as rose petals are placed along her forehead, then cheeks, two more get brushed along the corners of her mouth before a trail of them dip along her jawline.
No lips Regina. Promise me.
Regina sighs and nods her head before her lips find Emma's rapid pulse point.
That's not an answer, Madame Mayor.
Take what you get, Miss Swan. And I'm still mad at you but -
She wraps her arms around Regina, sliding her hands quickly down her back before cupping her ass, drawing Regina flush against her. Their chests touch and Emma wants nothing more than to magic them naked as she feels Regina shudder in her arms and watches the older woman bite her lower lip, dark eyes dilating once more and oh yeah, Emma is a goner. She slides a hand between them and begins to unbutton Regina's silk blouse.
I do love this shirt, I know first hand just how soft it is .. soft like you and your kisses. Hmm .. like rose petals.
Rose petals? Why Miss Swan, are you trying to woo me?
Emma kisses her neck, before she sweeps a light path down the woman's newly exposed flesh, stopping to dip a tongue inside the sweet valley of Regina's cleavage before giving the woman a kiss there.
Maybe. Is it working?
Regina cups Emma's face, bringing her to eye level again as she slides the pad of her thumb gently across one cheek. Yes.
They stare at each other for a moment and Regina can't help but sigh in content as she catches glints of trusted sea green flashing like lightning bugs inside golden caramel.
What are we going to do, Emma?
I have no idea.
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"So what do we do now?" David asks.
"I have no idea .. I think, it's between them." Henry nods to the stairs and looks back at his grandparents.
Snow and David exchange a look before Snow moves around the counter and sits back down in her seat. "The final battle .. do you think this is it? This is what Rumple meant .. what he saw?"
David rubs his face hard before slamming his fists down onto the table. "Why does everything have to be so .. so .. "
"Doom and gloom?" Henry asks.
"Poetic?" Snow wonders.
David narrows his eyes at his wife before saying, "I'm gonna lean more on Henry's take, doom and gloom it is."
"Well, I think it's beautifully poetic .. The Queen and the Savior - "
"Um .. yeah sure, kind of still trying to wrap my brain around the fact it's Regina and our daughter, Snow."
Henry covers his mouth to stifle a giggle because his grandparents can be so funny at times. And this is definitely one of those times.
"Well, yes, but I mean .. all of this has led us to here." Snow leans back in her chair and sighs, "I mean, who would have thought?"
David leans his elbows on the table, resting his chin along closed fists before mumbling, "Not me, that's for sure."
And all Henry can do is smile as he steals a glance back toward the stairs.
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Regina brings her lips to Emma's forehead and kisses her there as she closes her eyes. She wishes this kiss was enough to save Emma. She wishes Emma was wrong. But she isn't wrong. Kisses placed on foreheads are just that. Kisses. No magic. No curse breaking. Just a gentle motion felt along Emma's skin like calm waves lapping at a shoreline. Regina sighs and buries her face inside the security of Emma's neck. They find themselves hugging for the second time in one day and then Emma realizes Regina is letting her hold her as she cries softly in Emma's arms.
Regina doesn't want to cry especially not in front of Emma .. not now. She just can't help it, the tears fall and she has no control to stop them. She feels strong arms pull her in even closer and a steady warmth envelops her. Emma might be dark now but she is still so warm along Regina.
Emma doesn't say, it's going to be okay .. or please don't cry .. Emma doesn't say anything. She wants to but she knows it won't help. All she can do is hold the woman she has come to love and she wishes she could fix it. Fix it all. And then Emma has a thought and it is born out of desperation and love for Regina. Because she really doesn't like to hear Regina cry. At all.
"Hey, what if .. what if there's a way to give you new memories .. or I don't know, make you forget about this .. the book .. me."
And Emma knows she should have stuck with just saying, 'it's going to be okay' or something cliche like that because in a second she feels Regina tense in her arms and pull back, releasing their hold, their connection.
When Emma's eyes find Regina's they are .. different. Not dark. But not Regina's. If that makes any sense, which it doesn't, Emma thinks. But still, Regina's eyes are different yet somehow familiar, like she has seen that certain gleam in them before, and then it hits Emma like an anvil falling out of the sky, right onto her head.
At Granny's Diner, the night Robin was reunited with his long lost wife, Marian. The way Regina had looked at her. You .. you did this.
Emma's eyes continue to search Regina's and yes, it is definitely the same look as then.
Damn. Yeah, she should have stuck with, 'please don't cry'.
Emma thinks it's a good sign she is still sitting on her lap though. She didn't puff away or jump off of her, so that is a plus, it's got to be.
Wrong. Oh so wrong.
"You truly are an idiot, Swan. A complete idiot." The slap is quick and the stinging from it races across her cheek like sandpaper.
The swirl of blue smoke clouds her vision and when she can see again, Regina is gone.
She watches the last of the smoke scatter and she buries her face in her hands. Yeah, it's more like the Queen and the Idiot.
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Regina finds herself standing outside the pawn shop and as she enters the building and hears the bell chime against the slamming door, she can't help but feel this has been the longest day ever. She wants nothing more than to crawl into her bed and sleep and she realizes quickly that just isn't her. At all. Regina has never wanted to crawl and hide ever. She feels drained though. A certain tiredness she has never felt before and she has an uneasy feeling that she knows what it means, why she is indeed feeling this way.
She realizes Belle is staring at her as her eyes begin to focus on the woman standing behind the counter.
"You're .. you're connected to Emma, Regina .. it's .. I was just about to call you. He's - "
"Awake and well .. no doubt to our trusty Savior, I'd imagine. Remind me to send Miss Swan a thank you note." Rumple makes his way completely out from behind the curtain and wobbles a little despite the support of his cane. He leans against the counter top and Belle steals a glance at Regina.
"You bastard! You knew about all of this, didn't you?! Every damn thing .. you planned it, you - "
"Enough! You know nothing. I knew nothing - "
"Like hell you didn't! You are going to fix this Gold, do you hear me? You are going to - "
Rumple laughs and shakes his head, pointing a finger at the irate woman standing before him. "You don't tell me what to do."
Belle comes around the counter and stands between the two of them, allowing some much needed interference because one look at Regina's face tells her everything she needs to know. Regina is on the verge of throttling her husband or conjuring a fireball .. something .. anything that will inflict bodily harm and she just can't stomach any of this turmoil any longer.
She puts her hands up and tries to reason with them both.
"Look, we need to stop all of this arguing and start just talking .. okay? If we all just work together we can - "
Rumple's face softens at the sound of his wife's voice and he frowns at her. "Belle, I told you .. it's not possible - "
"What did you tell her? What's not possible? Rumple, I swear on all the hearts I have crushed you better start filling me in on what you do know .. now!"
He narrows his eyes at her but Belle's voice breaks in before he has a chance to reply. "Rumple, please, for once just do the right thing." His eyes find Belle's and the weight of those words freezes him to his spot.
Regina scoffs and turns around heading for the door as she says over a shoulder, "Please, we'll both die from old age before that man ever does the right thing, Belle. This is a waste of my time."
"She's dying Regina."
Those three words stop her cold as the confirmation she had been dreading fills the air around them all. Emma's face whispers through her mind as she closes her eyes and then Daniels flashes as well. The nightmare she had just a short while ago begins to play again and memories of Daniels death dances with it. She quickly wipes a tear away that has escaped and lifts her head back up before turning around to face this.
"She's not .. dying." Regina shakes her head and curses her voice for breaking as her eyes capture Rumple's.
And at least he has the decency to look sympathetic as he says, "She is .. and I imagine you are feeling things .. Emma in a way. True love has you two tethered and it can be .. extremely powerful especially between two magical entities like yourself and Miss Swan."
"Her name is Emma, for god's sake, you can at least have the decency to call her by her name since all of this was meant for you! We should have just let you die! What the hell is the point of saving you, your heart is black no matter what! You have no sense of redemption, nothing! You are - "
"A bastard .. yes, so you keep saying." He raises his hands in a wave of surrender and nods to the regal woman. "Regina, if I could save .. Emma I would."
"I don't believe you."
"Fair enough. But I would whether you believe it or not. I .. can we sit please? And - "
"I'm not sitting down with you, what's next, you'll have your wife offer me tea and cookies?" She rolls her eyes and crosses her arms in front of her chest. "This is hardly a social call, Gold."
"Regina, he's still weak and .. he needs to - "
"I don't care. All I care about is - "
"Saving Emma .. I know Regina, but you saw the bruises, correct?" His eyes grow warm with sadness again and Regina wants to punch him square in the jaw. She even goes as far as to take a step forward but somehow her feet stop on their own accord.
"Well, imagine that, for someone who claimed to know nothing, you sure know - "
"I will tell you everything that I do and did know but I need to sit, you can join me or leave. The choice is yours, dearie." The man turns and limps away, going back behind the curtain.
Regina can't help but think of the Wizard of Oz as she watches the curtain swoosh back in place. That's who Rumple has become, just a man who wishes or thinks he should have all this power but really it is all just an illusion. Smoke and mirrors. He can't grant wishes .. a brain, a heart, the nerve to someone. He is just a man now and as she flings the curtain back and walks into the room, her eyes catching as he winces in pain while sitting down, she realizes that she is all alone in this. Her mentor, her tutor, the man who guided her all those years ago, who set her on this path, he can not walk it anymore with her. She truly is on her own and an ache begins in her heart she can't truly explain aside from the fact that it feels an awful lot like when she lost her mother and father. She feels parentless all over again.
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