Chapter 11
"No... I mean... well not exactly." Regina hurries to reply hoping to keep this conversation from boiling over. She wanted to explain but couldn't find the words fast enough.
"You..." Mary Margaret says in an angry whisper. "You..." She can't even say what it is she means to say because she's already too riled up by this new revelation. She fumbles to get to a stand and throws a flat hand in to the glowing orb Regina had left floating beside them. This action causes the light to die out and she moves quickly to leave this space through the darkness.
Regina growls before she gets to a stand herself to call out after the other woman, "Running away? It's no wonder your daughter reacts this way, its second nature to you both... running the second things get to be too much!" Regina shouts in to the darkness then she hears the ferocious rustle of tree branches instantly knowing what direction the woman has run off to. "What about that pep talk she gave you huh?" Her voice breaking as she fights off angry tears. "The one she gave you about not running away from me every time I tell you something." She says breathlessly as she hurries to catch up with the woman.
Not too far ahead she hears a thud and a cry out in pain and she knows the woman has probably tripped and fallen on that dislocated arm. Again she conjures up a light and gestures for it to float in front of her so that she can see the woman scrambling to get to her feet once more but she's in too much pain to do so.
Regina rushes to her and proceeds to roll her over even as the woman cries out in anguish. She can't help the sudden sense of déjà vu that sweeps over her, remembering the night she chased a young Snow out of the stables, the night she shared that secret with this same woman when she was just a girl. She growls again trying push back those memories. She had to get this situation under control or else they might get discovered by the wrong entities.
Mary Margaret tries to push Regina away from her as she comes to lie on her back. She's gasping and not bothering to hold back her tears. Anger is clearly expressed in her actions as she thrashes and continues to bat away Regina's hands.
"Oh for heaven's sake!" Regina barks out through clenched teeth. "Stop this! Stop fighting me! You're acting like a child... I'm trying to help you!" She insists as she forcefully grabs at the good arm and jerks the woman to get her attention. "I know you're upset!" She yells at her once more. "I know…" She trails off and she watches as Mary Margaret continues to cry as she now rests on her back.
Regina watches with a cringe as the woman's body wracks with each sob that escapes her, her own eyes filled with unspent tears. She inhales sharply as she tries once more to speak to the woman. "I… I did not murder your father. I mean… I was still responsible for his death yes but... well I can't take that back." She whispers as she reaches out to grab a hold of the uninjured arm. "I swear to you I didn't do that to hurt you. It… I know it doesn't excuse what I did. I was still the reason he died but… I…" She sighs and lowers her head. What did it matter now of the details? Her point was made, she had now confessed.
Mary Margaret remains silent as Regina tries to explain but she simply is not in a mood to put Regina at ease. She did not feel the least bit sorry for her right now. Dealing with an injury seemed like nothing at this moment. Her father, the only other person who mattered to Snow White back then, had been dealt a death sentence by Regina.
Regina finally lifts her head to look the woman's face over. "I know you will never be able to forgive me for that." She says shaking her head but Mary Margaret does not reply, she simply stares up in to the night and she continues to breathe erratically. The pain in her arm is too much and she winces as she removes her uninjured arm from within Regina's grasp to touch at her now aggravated injury. Regina takes notice of this. "If you're not going to speak to me at least let me heal you now. You're in pain." No reply, not even an argument. "If you intend to run off and leave me behind here at least you might do so without hurting yourself further." Still Mary Margaret does not speak. Too tired to argue she simply lifts her chin so that she cannot see Regina and the older woman takes this as a sign of surrender.
Regina reaches out to the dislocated shoulder and conjures her magic. Her hand glows with a purple hue and she grabs a firm hold of the younger woman's shoulder. Mary Margaret shuts her eyes tightly and flinches but holds in any cry she might want to release. There is a subtle pop as the younger woman's shoulder is magically set back in to place and once set she does not hold in her pained filled whimpers.
"I'm sorry…" Regina whispers to her as she still holds on to the woman. "I'm sorry…" She says again but it's not clear if she means for the pain in healing her or the fact that she confessed to arranging her father's death.
Even though she appears to be healed Regina does not release her hold on the once injured arm. She feels that if she let's go the woman might make a run for it and no one needed to be lost tonight, not in a land quite foreign to both of them.
Still proving to be quite the stubborn one Mary Margaret does not speak nor does she meet Regina's eyes in the dim light of that blue orb that still hovers close by. She does however continue to shed tears though they are not accompanied by any sobs to indicate whether it is due to physical pain but Regina cannot be sure of that without asking. "I know you don't want to talk to me but… how is your arm now?"
"It's fine." She replies in an angry mutter.
"Good." Regina says politely with a nod but still she does not release her hold. She does something rather unexpected instead. She starts rubbing circles with her thumb in to the once wounded arm. It might be from her years raising Henry that she first picked up this sort of timid gesture of comfort but it was really all she had to offer at the moment.
'Henry' she thinks to herself. He had changed her life completely. Here she was the Queen of a long forgotten land who had now raised a boy as her own son appropriately naming him after the last person she ever loved. She had hoped that Henry would be someone who might fill that void the darkness of magic had once created and while at first he did fill some sort of space in her heart the older he got the more she was reminded of how difficult it was to win over the heart of someone else without taking it by force.
Regina's musings are interrupted as Mary Margaret grabs at Regina's hand that is still touching her shoulder. "I told you I'm fine." She mutters angrily. "You can let go of me now."
"If I let go of you you're just going to run off again." She says simply and then she unintentionally jerks in shock when the younger woman's eyes dart to meet her own. Her face scrunches in confusion and she looks away uncomfortably.
"You're afraid I'll leave you?" Mary Margaret asks skeptically.
"Yes." Regina says not sure why this is so shocking to the younger woman.
"I'm not leaving you behind Regina." The woman says, her voice still proving how irritated she still is by everything that has just happened.
"Really… so what was that back there? Just heading out for a midnight run?" She asks with a quizzical tilt of her head. "You were running away and angry or not... I will not let you leave me."
Mary Margaret raises her eyebrow at this. Regina really was afraid to get left behind. Since when did she start having abandonment issues? "Well I'd say I promise not to but I'm sure you'll just comment on how my promise holds no value to you so all I can say is I'm not going leaving you. I'm not talking to you about any of this either so just... put that light out and get some rest. We'll head out to look for the others at first light." She suggests and with a jerk she pulls her shoulder from within Regina's grasp to roll over.
Regina sits and watches as the other woman settles in. It wasn't simply the idea of being abandoned; it was the fact that this land was one she had never visited before. In fact the only other time Regina had ever been this worried about getting left behind was when she went to Wonderland to retrieve her father. The idea of getting abandoned in a world in which she did not have the upper hand made that a place she did not want to be left behind. She stuck close to Jefferson then, practically clung to him, knowing the instant he figured out her own plan to abandon him he might do that to her instead. With this in mind as she starts to lie down she reaches over and grabs a fistful of the woman's coat and merely hangs on.
Mary Margaret leans her head up to look back over her shoulder. "What... are you doing?" She asks uncomfortably.
"Nothing! Just... go to sleep." Regina says with as much bite a she can muster hoping this will keep any further questions at bay.
Mary Margaret turns back around and cannot help but smile to herself supposing this is some sort of coping mechanism. As long as they didn't have to talk or argue for the rest of the night she was willing to let this uncharacteristic action slide.
The blue orb fades in to nothing and the two woman fall asleep without any further sleep talking or haunting revelations of the past.