Author's Note: The songs they dance to in this chapter are Too Darn Hot by Ella Fitzgerald and Let Her Go by Jasmine Thompson. Their first dance is based off of Amy Purdy and Derek Hough's Jazz to Too Darn Hot. Their second dance is based off of Charlie White and Sharna Burgess' Contemporary to Let Her Go by Passenger.

WEEK 9

But I ain't up to my baby tonight
'Cause it's too darn hot
It's too darn hot
It's too darn hot

Well you only need the light when it's burning low
Only miss the sun when it starts to snow
Only know you love her when you let her go

Even though they're not sure that they've made it to the semi-finals – Emma is refusing to think about the possibility of elimination although it's always there in the back of her mind – they start rehearsals on Tuesday morning because they can't afford to miss out on any practice time.

"We've got jazz and contemporary this week." Regina tells her. "So we've got a lot of work to do. Let's start with jazz."

"How are you feeling?" Leroy asks her when he gets her alone for her the first of her on the fly interviews of the week.

"Nervous." Emma admits easily. "Every other week by this point, I knew I was safe. And now I don't. I have to wait until tonight. And that's freaking scary, because I don't want to go home. I don't want to have made it this far and to go out before the semi-finals. And then if I did make it, I don't want to go out on the semi-finals either. Like, at this point, the finals are my only option. They're my only goal."

"Why do you think that is?"

"Because I want to win. I want to win this for Regina, I want to win this for all the fans, for everyone who is voting and supporting us. And I want to win for me. To prove to myself that I can."

Leroy smiles at her and she watches as the little red recording light goes off. "Between me and you, sister? I think you can do it."

Emma smiles. "Thanks, Leroy."

The results show is a blur. Emma knows that there are musical performances and montages of the show the night before, but she doesn't process any of it. All she knows is that there is a double elimination tonight and she needs to survive it.

"It's time for our first elimination of the night. Can we have Emma and Regina and Robin and Marian come down here please?"

Emma's heart seizes up in her chest and her grip on Regina's hand is vice-like. No. This cannot be happening.

When they get to the bottom of the steps, Regina stays behind Emma, her arms encircling Emma's waist, holding her. Robin has an arm around Marian's waist, and he's got that smug looking smile on his face that makes Emma want to punch him right in the trachea.

"One of these two couples was the couple with the highest score when the judges points and the viewer votes were tallied. The other will be leaving us tonight." Sidney says and Emma's heart springs back to life in hope, although there's a voice that tells her not to think like that.

"Emma, you chose to take on both Mills sisters in a high energy quickstep. It was a risky move… but it paid off. You're going to the semi-finals!"

Emma jumps up in joy, shouting as she spins to hug Regina, who spins her around, feet off the ground. Beside them, Robin is being told that he's no longer in the competition, but Emma doesn't even notice.

Milah and Killian are the other couple that are eliminated at the end of the show, which leaves Jim, Mary Margaret, Ruby, and Emma to compete in the semi-finals.

Emma is sad to see Milah and Killian go because she does feel close to them after everything. Killian hugs her and tells her to go take the mirror ball.

"That's the plan," is Emma's reply.

Emma ends up back at Regina's after the results show. Everyone else was going out to a club to hang out, but both Emma and Regina had declined the invitations. Regina had said she needed to get Henry to bed and Emma had claimed tiredness, but secretly hoped that she could come hang out with Regina, which is what she did.

"Henry would like you to go say goodnight to him." Regina tells her as she descends the stairs.

Emma sets her wine glass down and gets up. "Sure thing."

She climbs the stairs and goes into Henry's room with a smile. "Hey kid."

"Hey, Emma."

"You all tucked in for the night?"

"Yeah." Henry confirms, then looks at Emma. "I'm really glad you made it through tonight."

Emma laughs. "Me too, kid. Me too."

"You and mom are going to win." He sounds so sure.

"I hope so. I'm gonna work really hard to try to make that happen. And you know your mom is gonna make me work really hard to try to make that happen."

Henry laughs and then there's a bit of silence until Henry yawns and then looks over at her. "What happens after?"

"After what?" Emma asks, sitting down on the edge of his bed.

"After the show is over. Will you go back to Boston?"

Emma blinks. "Well, probably, yes. I mean, that's where I live. That's where my job is."

"But can't you stay here? Get a job here?" Henry sits up then.

"Henry, it's not that easy. There's no guarantee that I could get a job here and I certainly couldn't afford to stay in the apartment I'm living in now."

"When you win, you'll get the money from that. And there'll be endorsement deals and stuff you can do. And – and if that doesn't work, Mom's got tons of money. You can move in here with us and –"

"Henry." Emma's voice cracks just the littlest bit over his name as she puts her hands on his shoulders. "It doesn't work like that. Not in the real world."

"But – don't you love us?" Henry's on the verge of tears and his emotions aren't helping Emma's.

Two tears slip down her cheeks. "Oh, kid. Of course I do. Besides Lily, you and your mom are the two most important people in my life. I love you both so much." And now she's admitted it out loud to Henry, which she shouldn't have done, but she can't help it. She does love him and his mother with everything she has. She wishes more than anything that she could just do what Henry is asking – move in and live with them in an insta-family. But it doesn't work like that, not for her.

"So why can't you stay?"

"Because realistically, it doesn't work like that, kid. But I promise you, I promise, that I will still keep in touch and I will come to visit. You aren't going to get rid of me that easily."

Henry launches himself at her, hugging her tight. Emma rubs his back, trying to calm him.

"She's so much happier now, since she's met you." He says softly when he pulls back. "She was so distant for a while and then even when she wasn't distant with me anymore, I could tell she was still so sad. But she's not now. I don't want her to lose that."

"I don't either. But I don't think –"

"It is from you, Emma." Henry is certain. "She loves you. I know she does."

"Henry," Emma says and her voice is a little firmer now. "Please, just lay down and go to sleep, okay?"

Henry seems to understand what Emma needs from him and he nods, laying back and closing his eyes. "I love you, Emma." He whispers, his eyes scrunched shut.

Emma leans forward and brushes her lips across his forehead. "I love you too, kid."

Then she stands up and wipes off her cheeks before walking out of the room and going back downstairs to find Regina.

Thursday is the first day they work on their contemporary piece. They spend all of Wednesday working on the jazz routine, which Emma loves. It's different from anything they've done so far, but Emma thinks they're going to nail it.

Contemporary is a very different animal though. There are no real hard and fast rules like the other dances. It's all about the emotion of the dance and Emma is once again convinced that Wendy and the rest of the music producers must enjoy inflicting pain on Emma because their son is Let Her Go.

"Contract. Release. Contract. Release." Regina coaches, standing with her hands on Emma's stomach and back and having her work on contracting and then releasing her muscles. "Yes. Right there. That's what I want. That's what you need."

Emma so wants to crack a joke about other muscles that need to contract and release, but she doesn't. She's trying to stay focused to get through to the finals, after all.

"Good, now let's work on that first lift." Contemporary also has a lot of lifts, which Regina is choreographing strictly for her to lift Emma.

"I want to do some of the lifts." Emma insists.

"Emma –"

"I'm strong enough. Honestly, I'm probably stronger than you." Emma counters. "And they keep talking about not being able to tell the celebrity from the pro and they were all excited when I led the tango. I really think we should do them equally. Can you trust me to do them?"

"Of course I trust you." Regina says so quickly and easily that it makes Emma's heart soar and ache at the same time. "Alright. Fine. We'll change the lifts."

"Good." Regina says they finish the contemporary routine. "I think we're good for today. We'll pick it up and refine it tomorrow."

Emma wipes sweat off her brow and shakes her head. "Let's run it again. It still feels choppy. It's supposed to flow."

"Emma," Regina touches her shoulders, "we've gotten a lot accomplished today. We still have all of tomorrow to work."

"But tomorrow we need to work on the jazz piece because I'm still getting out of sync in that one leg section." Emma does feel like she needs to run the contemporary dance again, because it's definitely still choppy. But truth be told, she just doesn't want to leave Regina yet.

"So we'll do both tomorrow." Regina says. "You don't need to push yourself this hard, Emma. It's my job to push you and I'm telling you that now you need to relax."

"I need to win, Regina."

"And you won't win if you're injured. We're stopping for tonight. Tomorrow we'll work on the leg section of the jazz and go through the contemporary until we've got it flowing smoothly. But remember when we talked about having fun and not getting bogged down? That's why we need to stop right now."

Emma sighs but agrees. "Okay. Fine. Tomorrow."

"What are you doing?" Emma asks as she watches Regina walk over and pick up her phone.

"We're taking a break." Regina says, holding the phone up to her. "This time, I'm in charge of the Dubsmash."

Emma blinks. "Seriously?"

"I've got just the thing." She grins, hitting play on the audio. Emma bursts out laughing.

It takes them four tries to record the video because Emma keeps busting up. Regina stays perfectly in character the whole time.

ReginaMills All of America is rooting for you EmmaSwan

They're doing their jazz routine first, which Emma thinks is best because she's not sure what kind of an emotional state she'll be in after the contemporary and she wants to enjoy the jazz.

They actually have them last in the dancing order though and Emma decides that tonight, she's going to really watch the competition as that – competition.

Mary Margaret and David do a beautiful Viennese Waltz that earns them their first perfect score of the season and Emma can see why they've made it this far. Mary Margaret is totally likeable and she and David have definitely been falling in love over the season, which she's sure America is eating up.

Ruby and Peter do a tango that is incredibly sexy but also shows off what a good dancer Ruby really is. She's got a fire about her that works on the dance floor and Emma knows that her fan base is helping voting wise too.

Jim and Kathryn have a quickstep and Emma is floored by how well he does. She knows he's a soccer player, but to see him so light and quick on his feet is pretty amazing. He leads Kathryn easily and Emma enjoys watching them dance.

They're all great competitors and Emma is proud to be among them. She just hopes she gets to go to the finals against one of them.

Emma gets her cue as the music starts and she begins to move towards Regina, who is sitting at the table in the center of the dance floor. She climbs up onto the table, letting her legs swing down. Then the beat kicks in and she shifts across the table in front of Regina, crossing and uncrossing her legs as she goes.

She and Regina play a bit with Regina in front of her, and then Regina spins her around on the table. When she comes to a stop, she is laying flat on the table and Regina has laid down on the floor underneath her. She begins to move up the table, switching legs as she goes, praying that Regina is going at the same pace as her under the table.

When she gets to the top, she's thrilled to see Regina standing up at that end, lifting the table and sending her sliding down the table to the floor. They dance at each end and then move together on one side, both sitting up on the table and then spinning around.

This is the part that Emma had struggled with because their feet had to move perfectly, but now, as she goes through the steps of crossing and kicking, she can tell that they're doing it.

They finish out the number with a few moves on the dance floor and then Regina lifts her up, with Emma's legs both extended out, spinning until they reach the table once again. Emma is deposited on the table and Regina kneels on the floor, looking up at her.

The audience erupts in cheers and Emma hops from the table, pulling Regina up and into a hug. "That was awesome!" She laughs as they head to the judges.

"Emma, Regina, and a very happy table." Sidney cracks as they reach him. "Bravo. Jefferson."

"Too darn good, that's what it was! Every week you keep surpassing yourself with creativity and inventiveness. This was classic jazz at its best. Fantastic."

"Astrid."

"Girl, you were working it. Both of you! That looked like it was so much fun to do and you killed that routine."

"Gold."

"Regina, there have been times throughout your years on this show that I've seen you hold back or go the easy route with choreography. I don't know why, but I think it may involve a little bit of fear. And tonight, it's so clear to me that there was no fear in the room when you created that piece. It was extraordinary and you should be proud. Both of you."

"And Lacey."

"This show is about the moments to me and when you slid down that table, tonight it was one of those moments that you will never forget and the audience will never forget. You have earned your place here, Emma, and I believe you have earned your spot in the finals."

Emma wonders if getting perfect scores will even not feel this thrilling, but somehow, when those paddles all come up with 10s on them, she doubts it.

"Are you okay?" Regina asks as they move into the lighted circle where they'll be dancing.

Emma takes in a deep breath and releases it before she looks over at Regina and nods, smiling. "Yeah. I am."

Regina looks at her for a long time and then nods. "Good."

They've gotten the female vocalist to sing the song again tonight and Emma feels goosebumps as the music starts.

Regina is behind her, lifting her hand up and placing a kiss on it before Emma pulls it back. They move together and then Regina reaches around and flips her over. Emma continues on into the next motion as though she was never upside down, leaning back and trusting Regina to catch her as she falls.

She stands up and then runs across the dance floor, dropping to her knee as Regina comes over. This time she lifts Regina up above her head before letting her back down.

They move on the floor, mirroring each other as they fall to the floor and get back up, reaching and pulling. Contracting and releasing. Then Regina lifts Emma up and over her shoulder and Emma rolls off her back to stand up. Regina stands and moves to Emma, who lifts her up and then spins, with Regina laying back in her arms, parallel to the ground. When Regina comes up, she leverages herself on Emma's thigh and steps over her shoulder, stretching back into another pose before Emma stands and spins around, holding her bridal style before placing her back down on the ground.

They move close together, with Emma's hands coming to Regina's cheeks and she's surprised to feel wetness under them. There are tears in Regina's eyes as she grasps Emma's wrists with her hands and pushes her back before turning and moving away as the song fades out.

And you let her go.

The audience is on their feet, screaming for them, but all Emma can do is watch Regina's back.

When she turns back around, there's a smile on her face and it's like she was never crying at all.

"Are you okay?" Emma whispers as they move over to hear the judges' comments, but Regina just smiles at her.

"Of course, dear."

"Emma and Regina with our final dance of the semi-finals. What a great finish. Let's get the judges thoughts. We'll start with Astrid."

"That was poetry in motion. And we've seen it before, but I think dance really show cased, that you two are a perfect match. You're very yin and yang and that union between you is beautiful."

"Gold."

"That dance was fantastic. You two continue to show just how suited you are for each other and for this competition."

"Lacey."

"Emma, you are an artist, when you dance. The attention to detail is incredible. It had a dramatic story arc that you could follow all through the choreography. It transcended technique. That was just astonishing."

"And Jefferson."

"I agree with Lacey. Regina, the choreography was amazing, and Emma, the way that you danced – doing those lifts with Regina. It was phenomenal. No matter what happens tonight and for the rest of the competition, you have to know that you truly are an incredible dancer."

Their scores are perfect once again, leading them to have what Tina calls "a perfect night".

And when Regina takes Emma's hand and leads her first to her car, then through her front door, and up into her bedroom, Emma has to agree with her.