The Beauty of the Beast
Chapter 36

Emma looked down at her hands and blinked twice.
She had no idea what she just did or how, but she would worry about that later.
Cleary she had done magic, because her palms were still tingling, but she was too worried about Regina to give a damn about that freaking hocus-pocus.

As soon as she saw the crypt in front of her, Emma knew that it had to be bad. Really bad.

She did not hesitate to storm inside, did not hesitate to head downstairs, but the moment she caught sight of Regina, she stopped dead in her tracks.

The mayor was standing there, obviously ready to crush her own heart and Emma knew that one wrong word, one rushed move could be fatal.

"Regina…please stop." It was barely a whisper, but it was enough to get the brunette's attention.

"You need to leave. Let me end this now and for all." Regina had not even dared to look into the blonde's direction, but at least she had stopped squeezing her heart for a second.

And that moment was enough for Emma to hurry over and grab the mayor's arm, "Please don't."

"Emma, go. Just go. I can't…I…" Regina's fingers started to tighten round the heart once again.

"Think about Henry…he needs you!" Emma commented quickly, her voice pleading.

"He will be better off without me." The mayor responded dryly.

Emma knew there was no point in trying to tell Regina how much their son loved her, because the brunette was in a very dark place right now, so she had to try something else. It was the one thing left on her mind, "What about me? Because I'm not better off without you….I need you, Regina. "

"You don't."

"I do. I hate to admit it, because I'm stubborn as you know…and I love my independence and everything…but I need you. You are my happiness…if you're crushing your heart…you'll crush mine too." Emma moved her hand to Regina's chin and made the brunette look at her.

And to Regina's surprise there was nothing in the blonde's eyes, but honesty, which caused her to loosen the grip on her heart, "Why? Why would you say that?"

"I can't explain it, I just know that we are somehow attached to one another…and I guess…I think I might be able to prove it." Emma knew her plan could backfire at her in the worst way possible, but she had to know for herself.

"How?" Regina watched her closely, when Emma reached out her hand, "Give me your heart?"

"I beg your pardon?" The mayor looked at her in utter confusion.

"Regina, please. I won't hurt you, I promise. Give me your heart, please."

Emma stood there, waiting while the former evil queen seemed to debate with herself, but then Regina placed her heart in Emma's hand, obviously waiting for something bad to happen, because as soon as the organ was placed on her palm the brunette ducked her head.

"I'm not going to hurt you. You are safe with me, Regina. You have my word."

That said the blonde took the mayor's hand with her free one and put it on her chest, "I need you to trust me, Regina...because I need you to do something for me."

It took the brunette a while to respond, but in the end she nodded, "What do you want me to do?"

"I need you to take my heart out." Emma said it as if it would be no big deal, but she was aware of the fact that it was. In fact it was a huge deal, especially since Regina had no emotions left inside and could easily kill her, but the blonde was convinced that she was doing the right thing.

"What?!" Regina glared at Emma in disbelief, in shock even.

"You are the only one, who can do it. And I trust you not to harm me. I want you to take it out…I need you to do it." The blonde was surprised how serious and confident she sounded.

"I can't do that, Emma. Chances are high that I would crush it before you could blink", the brunette reasoned, but the blonde shook her head, "You won't, Regina. I trust you. I know that you won't do it. Please…"

Regina did not understand. What was Emma trying to do? Or to proof for the matter?

This was a stupid idea, it was suicidal in fact.

But something in Emma's eyes told her that the blonde was sure that everything would go well.

How could Emma have so much faith in her? After all that had happened, after what she had witnessed only minutes ago? How could Emma still believe in her?

"Take a deep breath…it could hurt a little", Regina stated and Emma closed her eyes, took a deep breath.

Hurting a little had been an understatement and Emma had needed all her willpower not to crush Regina's heart, which she was still holding in her hand, but the pain was gone before Emma could have blinked.

And then she felt nothing anymore.

Just plain darkness. And emptiness.

Was that how Regina had been feeling for a long time? Combined with the pain of loss and rejection?

Regina stood there, looking at the brightly shining heart with fascination.

It was a beautiful red heart with a dark spot inside, but to her it was flawless none-the-less.

Emma watched the brunette for a while, taking glimpses between her own heart and Regina's and with every look she became more aware of the fact that she was actually right.

"So, what did you want to prove?" Regina asked all of a sudden.

"This", Emma held out the mayor's heart, but Regina turned away, still not able to look at it.

"Regina, I need you to see this. Henry was right after all…we're meant to be."

It took Regina a while to move her head back, to actually face the darkness of her own heart, but once she caught sight of it her eyes widened in disbelief, "That's impossible."

There it was – right in front of her – the undeniable truth.

Emma held it in hand. The answer to pretty much everything.

Regina's heart was all shades of purple, completely dark in some corners, but there was this bright red spot in the middle. A spot, that had the same form and size as the dark spot within Emma's heart.

Their hearts practically were the exact opposites, they matched each other's perfectly.

How was that possible?

"I don't understand. It makes no sense."

"Actually it does. But we can talk about this later…for now…we need to get our hearts back in…and get out of here", Emma suggested carefully and Regina nodded immediately.

The pain had not been as bad this time and it had taken only a second for Regina to replace Emma's heart back into the blonde's chest, but now she was standing there, looking at her own heart, which was still in Emma's hand and she hesitated again.

"Regina, what's wrong?"

"I never meant to hurt you, but I did. And you have every right to never talk to me again…to turn your back on me…"

"I'm not even mad at you. Mary Margaret and I had a long talk today. She made me understand why you did it. She helped me deal with it and I'm glad that she did. I wouldn't have made it without her", Emma answered truthfully and the brunette glared at her in surprise, "Mary Margaret…as in Snow White…helped you understand…that I'm not the bad guy in this?"

"That she did. Shocking, isn't it? She even yelled at David and I heard something about him sleeping at the shelter if he wouldn't back off." Emma chuckled and moved forward, "Let me do it. I think I can fix this…it's you and me after all."

Regina locked eyes with Emma to let the blonde see that she was serious about it as she confirmed, "You and me."

And then the brunette felt a hand on her chest, felt the warmth returning to her body, felt the beat of her heart again. And she also felt a connection to Emma, which had not been there before and she looked at the blonde to make sure that she was not hallucinating, but Emma just gave her a smile, "Don't worry. I feel it too."

Emma had wanted to bring Regina back to the mansion, but the mayor had not been very fond of the idea, because that house was "cold" after all.

The blonde had to smile at the comment, but she had brought the exhausted brunette to her apartment none-the-less. It had not hit her till she was about to unlock the door, that her place was a total mess, but what should she do now?

So, Emma closed her eyes and flung the door open, but once she blinked into the living room, she realized that her place was all cleaned up.

Mary Margaret.

Thank God for her mother. Right this moment Emma was beyond thankful for her thoughtful and caring friend and mother, because seeing the apartment in its smashed "glory" would have caused Regina a heart attack. At least it would have made her feel guilty and that was the last thing they needed tonight.

Emma made Regina sit on the couch and headed over to the fridge to pour them something to drink, when she caught sight of the note, which was pinned to her message board.

'I made David clean up. Hope you don't mind. Maybe we can meet up tomorrow afternoon? For a coffee at Granny's maybe? Have a nice evening. Hope things with Regina went well. MM'

The little note put a big smile on Emma's face and she pulled her phone out of her pocket to send a message to Mary Margaret – to let her know that everything was okay and to confirm their coffee appointment for the upcoming day.

Emma and Regina had been sitting on the couch for a while – in silence.

Both of them lost in thought, both of them trying to process what had happened earlier. It seemed to be a lot harder for Regina though, because to Emma it was quite obvious by now that the brunette was her destiny.

And the more she thought about it, the more sense it made to her. Henry had been right all the time – they were meant to be together.

How had she missed out on all the signs? It was as clear as day to Emma now though.

They had fought with so much passion, had tried their hardest to get rid of one another, it was ridiculous.

It was like one of those fairytales. Hell, they all were part of a fairytale after all.

They could easily be part of 'The Beauty and the Beast' although she was not much of a beauty and Regina clearly was not a beast.

Well, maybe she had been one in the past, but the brunette had changed and Emma had brought the beauty of that woman back to the surface.

"What are you thinking about, dear?"

Regina's voice had Emma out of her thoughts immediately, "Uhm…I was just thinking that…you are a very beautiful woman."

The brunette chuckled at the comment, "Is that so? Because I feel like I've been run over by a truck."

"You just need some sleep…that's all." Emma smiled and reached out to move a strand of hair out of the mayor's face and Regina nodded, "I better get going and pick up Henry…"

Right that moment Emma grabbed her arm gently and made her stop, "I talked to Ruby before I found you and she said he can stay with her for the night. She doesn't mind. So, why don't you just stay here and get some rest. You look like you could need some sleep. I sure do."

Regina was already sitting on the bed, when Emma returned from the bathroom, wearing her usual sleeping clothes – panties and a tank top.

Unfortunately that gave away even more of the blonde's bruises and the brunette glared at Emma in shock, "I'm sorry. I should have known that…"

But before Regina could continue, Emma was already sitting next to her, silencing the brunette by pressing her index finger against the mayor's lips, "Don't. It's not your fault. It was mine. I knew I was getting too worked up for my own good, but I did nothing to stop it."

That said Emma slid under the covers and Regina followed suit, just to get pulled into the blonde's arms only a second later.

She did not even try to get away from Emma, because she needed the contact more than ever, needed to hear the blonde's heart beat in her chest.

Emma knew that they had a lot to talk about, but it could wait till tomorrow. Regina simply was nowhere near ready to face what the revelations of the day truly meant.

They would have to face it though and they would do it in time.

They would do it together. Step by step.