Xena and Gabrielle rode through the first night and all of the next day reaching the spring in record time, they had brought with them several containers to dredge up the mineral sediment from the bottom of the spring. Xena didn't know how much of it they would need but to make the antidote, they would boil it down. So they brought four large jars filling them to the brim while Gabrielle made a light camp. Gabrielle brought the recipe for the mineral and put the jars on flat stones that surrounded the fire so it will cook down, Xena added herbs that would act as a catalyst and stirred each jar with a birch twig.
They settled down for a few hours while the concoction cooked. "You want to hear about Rumpelstiltskin? Emma said he is her son's grandfather," the bard asked quietly and snuggled into Xena's powerful arms.
Xena laughed, "Of course he is, I've heard the story, but never by you my bard. So does this start with 'Once Upon a Time'?"
Gabrielle laughed, "Of course it does. Once Upon a Time… There was a cowardly man who lost his wife to a villainous pirate… He felt helpless and powerless, and when his son was in danger, he took on a wizard's power and became The Dark One in order to save him. The darkness corrupted his soul, and he ended up losing his son anyway. Legend says he could see the future and bend it to his will and has been searching for a way to get his son back for a millennia." Xena settled back and listened to the rest of the story.
Emma lifted her head and her neck popped under her stiff muscles. There was a very tall, very muscular brunette Amazon standing in the doorway leading to the semi-private room in the back of the hut. Emma cleared her throat, and the Amazon turned to her. "My name is Eponin. I have been accosted by the Queen to attend to your needs or defend you if the need arises, you are under my care, if you need anything, please ask Your Highness."
Emma couldn't help her mouth drop as the woman started speaking, "Holy crap, you are a real live Amazon!"
Eponin maintained her stoic stance, "Yes, Your Highness."
Emma struggled to stand, stretching her muscles tense from sitting on the floor all day. She caught the term the second time around and asked with a brow furrow, "What is with the Highness crap?"
Eponin's eyes flicked about, "Queen Gabrielle mentioned you were a Princess, Your Highness."
Emma laughed a little, "I suppose I am, but I'm not used to people treating me like royalty. Emma is fine." She held out her hand to the warrior and was surprised when the woman firmly grasped her forearm. "Amazon handshake. Cool."
She shook herself from amazement then noticed it was dark, almost on cue her stomach growled loudly. She smiled as Eponin broke her stone attention stance and smiled. "I suppose dinner, would be to your liking? Your Highh.. uh… Emma ?" Emma looked down at Regina, and her stomach growled again as if to answer for her.
"Okay okay, monster! Yes. Please." She laughed, "Eponin right?" Eponin nodded a short salute. Emma then strode toward the exit and informed the healer she would be going to the mess.
Once they were outside, she got light headed, and instinctively Eponin grabbed her about the waist. "Easy does it, Emma."
Emma blushed a bit as she noticed Eponin's muscles flex, she smiled, "You're an Amazon!"
Eponin just laughed, "let's get to the tent and get some food in you." Emma, with a sheepish smile, simply nodded.
The warrior went behind the serving area and got the plate down off of the warming stone for Emma. "You didn't eat the porridge Xena brought for you this afternoon, so our Queen set aside dinner for you."
Emma dug in, the meat was sweet with some sort of gravy and what tasted like mashed potatoes but were orange, and something passable for green beans. "So where are the girls?"
The Amazon Queen mentioned that the Sheriff could get upset at Xena and Gabrielle's absence. Eponin equated upset with anger, so she was careful with her words. "Ok," she started slowly, "They went to go get an ingredient for the potion to help your friend. It is nearby, and they will be home tomorrow night."
Emma stiffened, and hope sparkled in her eyes when she whispered, "They found something that will help?"
Eponin nodded. Emma came undone, covering her face as she silently wept. Eponin had prepared for Emma to be angry they left without her, not crying. Queen Gabrielle said angry, not crying! Wincing, she offered, "Um… is there anything you need?"
Emma sniffled and in a small voice said, "No. Wait… why didn't they wake me? Where did they go?" She had stopped eating altogether and was looking more what Eponin considered the proper emotion, anger.
"Our Queen left instructions for you to be taken care of, but not disturbed." Seeing the confusion in the blonde's eyes she softened and reached over the table to touch her hand, "You seemed like you needed the sleep." Emma accepted that and started eating again, her mind spinning with questions the warrior didn't seem to have the answers to.
Tomorrow night. I get her back tomorrow, and I'll never let her go again.
Eponin informed Emma that there were sleeping accommodations arranged for her, but she could stay with Regina if that is what she wanted. "Either way, I'll stay with you."
"That makes me feel better, Eponin, thank you," she finished up her dinner and expressed the desire to return to the healer's hut.
"Absolutely, Emma. However, if you have the need, the Queen has made her personal bath available to you, it is backed to a heated spring and is quite spectacular." Emma thought about that for a moment and realized she probably could stand a bath but was hoping the offer wasn't a hint in that direction. "Okay, a bath sounds good. Let's do it."
Emma was led to where the Queen's quarters were, grabbed a bundle that Gabrielle left for Emma consisting of several large fluffy towels and clothes to sleep in. Behind the queen's hut was the cave to her majesty's personal bath, the air was cold and as Eponin lit several torches that lined the walls the steam lit up a misty white fog rolling off the in-ground pool. There were petals along the top of the water and the air smelled of lavender and spice.
Emma gasped and turned to Eponin, "This place is incredible!" and Eponin chuckled.
"I'll be outside the door if you need anything."
Emma nodded and thanked her. Once the warrior was gone, she got undressed and slid into the hot water. She ahh'd her way down into the silky heat. She laid back dipping her head under. This was definitely better than the rinse off she had in that cold river the other day.
Why the hell the girls would ever leave this place is beyond me.
Although she enjoyed the relaxing bath, she made quick work of it, eager to get back to Regina. She dressed in the short shift Gabrielle left and a pair of what looked like boy shorts. She snickered to herself, "That is so awesome. Amazon undies." She gathered up her Amazon garb and left the bathhouse.
When Emma was finished, Eponin directed them back towards the healer's hut. They walked in silence, Eponin wasn't a big chit chatter, and Emma didn't know what to say, but it wasn't an awkward silence, just peaceful.
When they entered the hut Eponin offered to take Emma's clothes to be cleaned by the launders, Emma asked if they could take Regina's as well, not really knowing where Regina's clothes went off to. She was dressed in a similar shift to what Emma had on; they changed her that first night after the brunette lost consciousness. Emma knew they couldn't leave her in the binding leather she was wearing but felt wrong and dirty as she and Gabrielle undressed the unconscious woman.
"I'm not sure where her stuff is, maybe Xena still has it in Argo's pack?"
Eponin looked thoughtfully, "Knowing my Queen, it is probably already been laundered and in your hut."
Emma nodded knowingly, Gabrielle certainly did think of everything. Eponin took Emma's clothes and did a short salute and said, "I'll return in a moment to stand guard, Your Highness." Then turned and left.
"It's just Emma," the blonde said to an empty room. She dropped her arms down to her sides and turned to sit next to Regina. She again picked up the woman's hand, her perfectly manicured painted nails made Emma smile. She began to speak before she even realized she was.
"Regina I'm back. Dinner was good. You would have loved it. Their potatoes are orange! Xena and Gabrielle found something that will hopefully help you, so you just rest for now okay? This whole mess will be over soon, and we will go back to Storybrooke and be okay. Henry is going to be so happy to see you, and I bet he is leading David and Mary Margaret on a new operation to find us right this minute." She smiled thinking of her son and what he would name the op to find his mother's. "So you just rest R'gina, I got your back. Always." Her thoughts led to times when the Snow Queen had frozen Marian and the pain that caused Regina. Emma closed her eyes at the memory.
"Miss Swan, one thing is abundantly clear, you've NEVER had my back… and you never will."
Pushing the words that were spoken in hurt and betrayal aside, Emma continued filling in Regina of the plan, as far as she knew it. "So, the girls, they will get the stuff that is going to help snap you out of this. It will be okay. Everything will be okay. We will go back to how it was and everything will be okay again," she said quietly, uncertain which of them she was reassuring.
The one whose name is not mentioned came to her mind. "H-hook," she whispered. "I never told you why I did what I did to him." Emma took a deep breath and rested her forehead against the cool hand of the queen, drawing her strength. "He loved me, when we first got together, I know he loved me. I couldn't love him back. I mean I tried, I did, because I thought I would, one day and you were…"
She looked at the peaceful face of her friend and couldn't help when the scene blurred in her upset, "I didn't think I had any other option. I didn't have any other option. Then when Robin left, things got crazy with well, our lives, and then the darkness came after you." Emma recalled that terrifying night the dark one's evil went after Regina, and she brushed aside tears from her cheeks. "We were all in Camelot because of me. He was going to die because of me!" She shook her head at the memories as if they weren't the truth she knew them to be. "His love for me got him killed, how could I not try and save him?"
She set down the Queen's hand over her abdomen and sat back as if admitting fault on this would turn the world against her. "I should have known he would turn dark. I should have known better, I'm sorry."
"Perhaps if I had been strong enough, I would have broken his heart instead of leading him to his death. Perhaps if I'd been strong enough, I would have told you when I got back from New York that…"
She is unconscious. She is poisoned, she can't hear you.
She huffed at herself. She's asleep Swan!
"But… you were with Robin. I saw how happy you were and… and… so I stayed with him. I was selfish. I thought if you were happy, I could be too. Until Marian."
A tear rolled down her already streaked face. "I know you thought I betrayed you, but really, I would never, ever hurt you like that. Our friendship took a hit that day and then again after Hook, and I know you forgave me, but I have never forgiven myself. For any of it. I almost lost you and Hen because of my cowardice." She sniffled back her tears, cleared her throat and continued, "I couldn't lose you then, and I can not now. All you gotta do is come back to me, Regina. Come back to me, and we'll go home, and everything will go back to normal." She lifted Regina's fingers to her lips and then bowed her head squeezing her eyes closed.
After she was silent for several moments a soft knock on the wall grabbed her attention. It was Eponin with a sheepish grin.
"You heard that, huh?" Emma twisted her mouth to the side and blushed.
"No Your Highness, well… not all of it, I heard you speaking and returned to my post." Emma smiled tightly at the use of status once again.
I'll never get used to that.
"Are you sleeping here then?" Eponin asked knowingly.
"Yeah, but I can't do another night on the floor. I'll grab the cot next to her. Maybe I can push it closer? I feel better if I can touch her." Eponin nodded and moved the light cot right next to the sleeping queen. "There you go. If you need anything else, don't hesitate to call for me Your Highn… Emma," she corrected remembering Emma's awkwardness of her title.
"Will do Eponin. Thank you again." With a curt nod and the little Amazon salute, the woman returned to her station outside. Emma crawled into the cot next to Regina grabbing the queen's hand in her own, "Good night Your Majesty." She closed her eyes and slept hard, well into the next day.
Xena let Gabrielle sleep while she made up the solution that was required to make the antidote. The paste that was created within the jars had settled, and along the top, there was a thin oil like substance she was able to skim off into another smaller jar. It appeared the amount they were able to extract from the four jars were sufficient to make four doses of the antidote. She figured better to have too much than too little, then stowed the sealed jar in Argo's bag. She cleaned up their camp, packed their gear and woke up Gabrielle.
"I'm up," the bard mumbled sleepily. "Did we get what we need?" she asked, her eyes still closed. "Yup. If we leave now, we could be back by the afternoon. "Okay okay okay, I'm up for real this time." Xena took the jars down to the spring and filled them with more mineral from the bottom.
Just in case.
Gabrielle met her down by the water's edge with both horses ready to go. "Do you think we will need more?" she asked.
"No, but I just have a feeling this isn't going to be as smooth as we think."
Gabrielle laughed, "Seriously? When is anything?"
They rode through the night, and mid-morning stopped to care for the animals. Once watered, fed and rested they made good time making it back to Amazon country by mid-afternoon.
Emma was already up and was sitting with Regina when they got back. Gabrielle entered the healer's hut, Emma jumped up and ran over to her wrapping her arms around the bard. "Seriously? Couldn't you say goodbye? Fill me in, what is this stuff? How do we administer it? What is it going to do? Tell me everything!"
Gabrielle rubbed Emma's back and pulled away looking her in the eye. "Listen, don't get your hopes up, this is just a shot in the dark, but the most likely candidate for an antidote. Xena is mixing up a batch right now, and we were able to prepare the mineral while we rested yesterday evening. It's a binding agent that once introduced into the body will adhere and hopefully," she stressed again, "Hopefully, it will reverse the effects. She has been under quite a while, but with a little luck, this should work."
Emma reined in her emotions knowing the cautionary words Gabrielle spoke were truth. "Okay," she said tentatively. "You're right. Is there anything I can do?" Gabrielle shook her head and walked over to the side of the bed where they had Regina, she looked drained. Emma could see the stress of the last week had taken its toll on the blonde Queen as well.
"No, I mean if you want to go ask Xena she is in my personal quarters working. I'll stay here with her." She sat next to the bed on Emma's stool. "Yeah, I think I'd like that. Thanks, Gabrielle. For everything." The bard looked exhausted, Emma surmised they must have only had a few hours sleep in the last few days. "You should probably sleep though. You look like you could use it." The bard smiled, "I'll lay down on your cot in here, I don't want her to be alone." Emma nodded and retreated towards the Queen's quarters.