"Okay," Emma knocked as she entered Regina's bedroom, "the doctor said we have to make sure to change the bandages on your back at least three times a day." She stopped at the side of the queen sized bed and looked down at the brunette, who was staring up at the ceiling, refusing to make eye contact. "Are you ready?"
"I don't understand why we can't hire a part-time nurse to do this," Regina grumbled, still staring straight at the ceiling.
"Because I can do it, Regina, and it's not like I have a lot going on at work. As you well know, unless there's some new storybook villain around, the town has less than a 1% crime rate. The last time I took someone to jail, it was Ruby for chewing up Archie's flowerbed during the last full moon." The blonde sighed. They'd been having this same argument since before Regina was released from the hospital earlier that day.
The nurse had shown Emma what to do that morning with the first bandage changing of the day, but Emma had a difficult time actually seeing anything because Regina kept squirming. Now that they were back at the mansion, it was time to actually put her knowledge to the test, and it looked as if the older woman wasn't going to make it easy.
"Come on, Regina, I promise I won't hurt you, and they have to be changed." She crossed her arms and stared down, waiting.
"I've already told you I can take care of my back myself. I don't need your help, Miss Swan," the brunette snapped in reply, turning her head away. "You may go."
"Okay, first of all," Emma took in a deep, calming breath, "I am not your servant. You can't just dismiss me like that, your Highness. Second of all," she could feel the knot forming in her back from the stress of this situation, "I'm sure you probably could take care of your back by yourself, but it would be super hard to do and super painful because of your ribs. Why not let me help you?"
Regina was quiet for a long time, eyes unfocused. Slowly, she breathed in, seeming to come back from wherever she had been. "I'm unaccustomed to receiving help for such things," she replied quietly.
Emma winced, dropping her hands to her side. No one should be accustomed to being that alone. "Well, get used to it because I'm not going anywhere, and, when someone I care for is hurt, I help them, so get your ass out of bed so we can go take care of your back."
It took a few slow movements and a lot of grunting and huffing, but Regina finally pushed herself out of bed, refusing the blonde's offered hand. She moved with purposeful footsteps to the master bathroom and took a seat on her vanity's stool, paying careful attention to be far enough into the middle of the room to give the other woman sufficient space to work. "I warn you that it may appear rather… gruesome," she said in a cold voice as her eyes tracked Emma's movements around the bathroom.
"Yeah, I sort of saw it this morning," Emma commented as she pulled out supplies. "I thought Pain healed you?"
"He did, but healing potions, like most healing spells, can only do so much. After that, the damage simply has to heal on its own." Licking at her dry lips, Regina allowed Emma to help her remove the button down sleep shirt she was wearing to reveal her bandaged torso. "You're not going to wear gloves?"
"Why? You afraid I have something contagious?" Rolling her eyes, Emma began to gently remove the bandages. "I assure you I'm virus free." She stopped and leaned back from her kneeling position on the floor to give the older woman a cheeky grin. "I even checked myself for rabies after that little run in with Walsh."
"How reassuring," Regina replied dryly, "but I was actually concerned for your health. Most people would wear gloves when dealing with my wounds."
Realizing the underlying issue, the younger woman let out an 'Oh' in a hushed tone. Giving a small shake of her head, she went back to work. "No, Regina, I'm not afraid to touch you." She scooted around to fully face the other woman's back both to see what she was doing and to give Regina at least a modicum of privacy. "I think this last part might sting a little. It looks like the bandages are stuck. I'm sorry ahead of time."
Regina didn't so much as flinch as the final bits of covering were removed, though it had been far more painful than a sting. Instead, she sat up straighter and squared her shoulders, keeping her eyes facing forward. "How is it?"
Emma's eyes scanned over the wounds. She knew it had been bad. She hadn't realized the real extent. Despite herself, she could feel the tears stinging her eyes. Regina's back was covered in partially healed lash marks. They crisscrossed her skin, leaving a cruel looking checkerboard pattern. She hurt forRegina.
Swallowing down the lump in her throat, she answered hoarsely, "Pretty bad."
"Yes, well, I knew that already." Regina sounded unemotional, as if she were completely mentally detached from her current state. "Be sure to clean the wounds with the antiseptic first, then apply the salve. It's best to go with the grain of each lash mark as best you can. I realize that may be a tad difficult considering how many there are. Also, be sure to…"
Emma's eyes continued to go over the lash marks. They fell to faint lines hidden under the fresh red marks. She took in a sharp breath as she stared at them. "Regina," she called out, one thought suddenly on her mind.
The brunette ignored her. "Also, be sure to spread the salve on as evenly as possible. Later, once the wounds are no longer raw, we'll need to use…"
"Regina." This time Emma raised her voice, cutting the other woman off. From her position on the floor, she could just see the other woman from the shoulders up in the mirror, and she turned to look the reflection in the eyes. "How many times have you had to do this?"
"Direct someone who is incompetent as to how to properly do something?" The brunette scoffed. Even in her bruised and beaten state and even though she was almost completely bare in front of the younger woman, Regina still somehow managed to come off as above reproach. "Far too often, Miss Swan."
Emma's frown deepened. "Your mother…"
"Is dead, so there's no reason to rehash anything regarding her now, is there?" The brunette let out an intentionally overly dramatic sigh. "Are you going to tend to my wounds, or shall I do it?"
Shaking her head in disbelief, Emma slowly reached forward to gently touch an old wound, now nothing but a faint scar behind the harsh red streaks running over the darker woman's skin. "Why?"
It was clear to what the younger woman was referring. Regina could hear all the whys in that one word, and she didn't want to answer a single one. She didn't want to think on why her mother had beaten her, why she had been forced to remain in such an abusive situation rather than running, why no one had come to her aide when it was clear she was being so horribly abused, nor why she grew up believing she deserved such severe punishments. She didn't want to think on why. She wanted to forget the whys, and she had for a time, but that time had passed. She realized now she would always have to remember why. There was no real escape for who and what she was. She recognized that now.
Despite herself, her body shuddered, and her skin burned where Emma was touching her. She knew what was there. She remembered when she'd received that particular beating. She had no desire to relive a single moment of it.
It no longer mattered. That was in the past in a different time and a very different place. However, she accepted she'd have to say something or risk the subject being brought up again in the future.
"Children are meant to behave," Regina replied coolly, jaw flexing with the effort not to yell. "And there are consequences to actions." She raised her chin defiantly, eyes dead of emotion as she stared at their reflection.
Emma slowly shook her head. "No, Regina." She furrowed her brow, anger starting to slide slowly into her eyes. "No child deserves to be beaten like that." She took in a breath, body going rigid with her outrage. "That's not how it works. You don't treat people like that, especially children."
It was the anger on her behalf that caused Regina's cold resolve to break. She had been expecting pity or sympathy. That's what normally happened when people found out. At least, before she was Queen, that was the reaction. After she was Queen, very few knew, and those who did kept it to themselves, lest they risk being killed or worse by the Queen. Regina would not stand for pity to be thrown her way. She didn't need pity. That was a weakness, and she was not weak.
However, anger was never in the mix, especially not anger on her behalf. Those who found out later assumed she fully deserved whatever painful thing happened to her. Those who knew while it was happening simply stood by and allowed it, not wanting to help because they feared for their own safety and only offering comfort after the fact.
It was Emma's anger that made Regina's own anger dissolve, and she looked away as the heat rose up her face. She wasn't embarrassed; she was flustered. Anger on her behalf was a foreign concept to her. It made her feel unsure.
"It was a long time ago," she replied quietly, voice soft.
"That doesn't matter, Regina. It still happened." Emma could feel herself getting angrier by the moment. Her concern for the other woman intensifying with the swirl of other emotions rising up in her. She was angry no one helped the brunette when she was a young girl so she wasn't hurt like this. She was angry it kept happening. She was angry Regina was once again having to suffer because she was a pawn in someone else's game. She was angry at everyone and everything that had ever hurt Regina because Regina hadn't deserved in the beginning. In the beginning, all she'd wanted was to be loved. That much Emma knew based on her conversations with Mary Margaret over the years.
It was wrong on so many levels, and it was not okay how easily Regina tolerated the abuse she'd been put through. No one should be so accustomed to being used, hurt, and left alone that they feel more uncomfortable being taken care of than being left hurt and broken on the floor.
Regina's voice brought her back from her mental rant. "Emma," the other woman said in a pant. "What have you done?"
The blonde snapped her eyes to older woman's back and gasped. It was perfect. There wasn't a mark. "I… I don't," she ran her hand lightly over the perfectly even skin. "I don't know how…"
"You healed me?" Regina slowly moved, taking in a deep breath and exhaling with ease. "My ribs feel better, too." Standing in nothing but her silken pajama bottoms, Regina stared at herself in the mirror. "You have to put it back, Emma."
"What? Put what back?" Panic and confusion were warring with each other in Emma's mind. What had just happened?
"My scar." The brunette pointed to her face, her lip and nose on the right side as perfect as the left. "I've had it for too long. I don't recognize myself without it. You have to put it back."
"I got rid of your scar?" The blonde stood in a fluid motion, physically turning Regina to face her so she could examine the other woman's face for herself. The bruises, the cuts, and the scrapes were all gone, and so was the distinctive scar on the older woman's lip. "No," she blinked wide eyes as she stared. "How?"
"Light magic is extremely effective at healing. Whatever you were thinking about when you focused your magic to heal me must have prompted your magic to go further and heal older physical wounds as well." Regina closed her eyes, taking a moment to think over all the scars on her body. She glanced down, searching for them but found nothing. "I don't have a single scar," she turned around to show her back again, "Do I?"
Emma stared hard, searching. "No," her voice cracked. "You don't, but, Regina, I wasn't consciously trying to heal you. I didn't even know I could, so how am I supposed to put a scar back on you, and why would you want it back?"
"Not all scars are from negative situations," the brunette answered as she reached down to pick her shirt up. She slowly slid it in place, grimacing at the feel of the cold material on her heated skin. "The scar on my lip and nose are from something I prefer to remember." She turned around, eyes flickering with a touch of suppressed pleading. "Will you at least try?"
"If that's what you really want, I guess. What should I do?" Emma was clueless. She watched as Regina reached down and took her left hand placing on her face where the scar had been.
"Remember what I looked like before, focus, and let your magic do the rest. It should come naturally." The brunette's eyes were piercing as she held Emma's gaze. "Try."
Still not really understanding why Regina wanted this but nonetheless willing to try for the other woman, Emma closed her eyes and pictured Regina in her mind's eye as she had looked before Hades. When she opened her eyes and dropped her hand, she couldn't believe what she saw. The scars were back, and, oddly, she felt better for seeing Regina with the imperfection than a second before with perfectly unmarred skin. Somehow, this version of Regina felt right; it felt more real. She felt…
"Perfect," Emma breathed, a smile pulling at her lips. She nodded, eyes twinkling. "I've always liked that scar."
Cocking an eyebrow, Regina smirked. "Is that so?" She leaned in just a hair. "Any particular reason?"
"It makes you look like a badass, which," the blonde replied, her smile pulling just a touch wider, "I find very attractive."
"I'll keep that in mind," the brunette purred. Her eyes danced with mischief. "Henry is staying at his grandparents' tonight. When do you have to go back to work?"
"I don't. I took a half day," Emma stepped back, "And I think I know where you're going with this, but how about we just cuddle?"
Regina rolled her eyes. "You can't be serious?"
"Like a heart attack," the blonde replied. "I don't want us to rush into anything, I don't want to not be around you right now, and I definitely do want an excuse to hold you just so I know you're okay, and not because you need to be held. So, you know," she shrugged nonchalantly, "do me a solid and let me hold you. Maybe even let me to kiss you?"
"Do you a solid?" Narrowing her eyes, Regina chuckled. "I have two preteen boys living in my house." She did her best to sound off put by the entire thing, but her eyes said she very much wanted the same thing as Emma. "Well, if you absolutely insist on being clingy, I won't stop you. It's the least I can do for you healing me, after all."
The younger woman grinned. "Right, the least you could do," she agreed with an adorably dorky nod of her head.
"And," the brunette added, a chuckle seeping into her voice, "you don't have to ask to kiss me, Emma. You may kiss me whenever you'd like so long as it's not wildly inappropriate."
The blonde's grin beamed. "Noted." With a swift movement, she reach out and pulled Regina in, kissing her deeply. "I'm going to go change. I'll be back in a few, okay?"
It took a moment for the other woman to recover, her voice still a bit breathy. "Okay."
Emma was out the bathroom door a second later, leaving a very worked up and amused brunette behind.
Regina took a moment to strip and really examine her body. It looked completely untouched. Except for the scar she'd demanded Emma return, her body was absolutely perfect. It was mind boggling. She'd heard of healers who could repair old damage, but she'd never seen anything quite like what had just happened to her. Once again, Emma Swan had amazed her.
This time, she was thankful for the surprise. None of the other scars were ones she would have ever kept if given the chance. Having them whisked away was its own form of a new start, and she was happy to take it.
Deciding it was an excellent time to shower and get the stench of the hospital off of her, she turned the water on to warm and waved a hand to put fresh bed sheets on her bed as she walked across her bedroom to her closet to gather fresh night clothes.
It wasn't until she stepped into the shower and closed the glass door behind her that it struck her at how powerful the feelings of protection must have been for Emma to manage that level of healing, and, in that moment, she felt both terrified and thrilled. Finally, someone was really, truly on her side without strings attached.
Regina hadn't felt this way since Daniel.
It felt good. It felt right. If felt… fragile.
She cried as the shower beat down on her because anything so fragile could easily break, and she wasn't sure she could handle losing another person or having her heart broken again. She wasn't sure she could continue to be that resilient.