It's nightfall and the cold wind of the night makes its way inside my coat but I barely register it. I'm looking out the sea again, the stillness of the waters both calms me and makes me nervous. The view of the night is as beautiful as it was in the morning, even though there is something about the dark that captivates me a little bit more. The silver moon up in the sky is glowing in the water, providing much-needed light in all the darkness of the night. Dark and light. Two opposites that yet complement each other. One can not exist without the other. Not here, at last.
The ship suddenly slows its movement and I look to my side only to see Capitan eyeliner slowing the steering wheel. I don't know why the idiot is doing that but if he thinks for a second I will let him delay our arrival at that cursed island one more second than absolutely necessary, he is sorely mistaken.
"Why are you slowing down?" I say "In case you didn't know my son's life is in danger"
"Oh, I know my hotheaded Queen. My plan is to bring us to the far side of the island makeup to the wireless part of the river and sail right through to take them by surprise" He says and sighed "The Irony"
"What irony?" I ask feeling annoyed already.
"I've spent more time than I can remember trying to live this place to kill Rumplestiltskin and here I am sailing right into its heart as my guest of honor. Not quite the happy ending I was hoping for"
"Greg Mendell said something funny to me," I say looking at Hook "He said I'm a villain and that villains don't get happy endings. Do you believe that?"
"I hope not. Or we waisted our lives"
Hook says that looking at me and I can't hold the stare for long. He can either because he soon looks ahead of him as I look down the floor. The words of Owen...Greg had been playing over and over and over again in my head ever since I've spoken with Emma earlier. I don't know why speaking with her brought his words back to my head, but it did. What if they were true? What if I've gone too far? What if I'm doomed to never have a happy ending? What if, as Hook said, what if I've wasted my life?
I hear Emma's voice shouting and that pulls me out of my thoughts. I walk a little further and see her screaming at her parents. I know it's wrong but I can't help the smile. I don't hate them with the same force I once did, but it stills amuses me seen them been screamed at although it worries me that Emma is the one doing so. What have the two idiots done this time to make her this angry? Probably another hope speech. Gods, how much I hated hearing their hope speech. I wish I could shove it deep inside them up a place where the sun doesn't usually shiny. I jump a little when I see smoke on the deck and then Rumples voice saying:
"No, you won't"
"A wardrobe change," Hook says next to me.
"I'm going to get Henry," Rumple says.
"We agree to do this together," I said already feeling my anger built.
"Actually, we made no such agreements," Rumple says back.
"Why are you doing this?" I hear Emma's voice asking.
"Because I want to succeed"
"What makes you think I'm gonna fail?" Emma asks.
"How could you not? You don't believe in your parents, or in magic, not even yourself"
"I slayed a dragon, I think I believe," Emma says.
"Only what it was shown to you. When have you ever taken a real leap of faith? You know the kind with absolutely no proof? I've known you some time, Miss Swan, and sadly despite everything you've been through you still just that bail bonds person looking for evidence. Well, dearie, that's not gonna work in Neverland"
"I'll do whatever it takes"
I keep on hearing the bickering between Emma and Rumple trying to imagine where he is going with this. It doesn't take long for me to figure it out. I see him spinning his cane on the wooden floor and then he is gone. Just gone. Right in front of my eyes. That traitor. I should have known. I should have known he would just abandon me alone in the ship with all those incompetents. That bastard! I walk downstairs to the place I'm now calling my room and sit down on the bed. I take off my coat and try to make my magic work again, but it's still too weak. I can't transport myself to the island as rumple did but at least it's stronger than it was before. The ship tilts and that worries me more than my magic. I run up only to see the two idiots behind the steering wheel.
"What the hell are you two doing?" I ask.
"Trying to keep it steady," Snow's annoying voice says.
"Hold on" Charming screams.
"Prepare for attack" Hook's voice says behind me.
"Can you be more specific?" I ask.
"If you got a weapon then grab it" Hook shouts.
"What's out there? A shark? A whale?" Emma asks.
"A Kraken?" Charming continues.
"Worse" Hook says and pauses "Mermaids"
Right! The mermaids. Emma had warned me about them earlier and it surprises me that she asks only about the sea creature that she believes to be the truth. Rumple was right, her lack of faith can be a problem in a place like Neverland. Not that I know much about the place, but let's face it, an island full of pre-teenager kids with magic running around, that…it can't be good. The ship rocks and the annoying sounds they make are getting to me. Gods, weren't they supposed to have lovely voices to attract the sailors? The one I met certainly did! I hold on to the rope, trying to keep my balance as the waters became more and more agitated. They hit their tails on the wood and I'm genuinely afraid they might open a hole in that old bathtub. I see Charming running to the cannon and finally, the idiot does something that I can agree on.
"We caught one" snow screams and I see her and Emma pulling soothing from the water.
"One?" I say "There are dozens of them"
I feel the anger building inside of me and then the familiar tingle on the tip of my fingers. I smiled as I realized that it's my magic. It has always come from a place of anger and right now, I'm damn furious.
"Enough of this"
The fireball burns hot in my hand and I throw it in the water. I feel another one coming and another as a keep throwing them trying to burn as many mermaids as I possibly can. It feels good to have my magic again to feel it burning deep inside me.
"There," I said when the mermaids swim away "They are all gone"
"Not all of them," Snow says "What about that one?"
I look down and see a mermaid caught in the net Emma and snow is trying to pull up. I use my magic again and bring it to the ship, even though I know I shouldn't be using that much magic. Not now anyway. The mermaids appear on the floor and I have to admit she is not half bad, for a fish.
"Get that thing off my ship" Hook screams.
"No," I say "Now we have a hostage"
"I hate to say it but I'm with Hook. Those things just tried to kill us" Charming says.
"And perhaps we should find out why," I said
"How? By torturing her?" Snow asks.
"Well, if we need, sure"
Then suddenly the fish is blowing into a shell, a noise so loud that I have to cover my ears. She threats us, saying that this was a warning and Gods, how I want to kill her. I probably would if it wasn't for the Charming clan next to me.
"What did you do?" Charming asks.
"Let me go," The fish says.
"Not until you tell us," I say "Or we'll make you tell us"
We start to have an argument, Hook saying she is a liar and Snow defending the fish. Of course, she was. That doesn't even surprise me. The storms get worse, AND I actually jump when I hear lightning. I see Charming going for a sword and putting it around the fish's neck and for the first time in...ever, I feel something other than repulse for the man.
"That's more like it Charming," I say getting closer to them "Filet the bitch"
But the idiot suddenly has a conscious attack and walks away from her saying something about not being barbaric. Gods, out of all people I could have been stuck with, in this ship. I feel anger building inside me, much stronger than it was before and my magic is burning like hot oil inside my veins, ready to burn everything around me. The storm makes worse as I start to argue with fucking Snow White and it takes everything in me not to burn her right there and then.
"Stop, that's enough. We need to think this through" Emma screams.
"I already have," I say and use my magic to turn the fish into wood "There. That should stop the storm"
"Regina! What did you do?"
I don't know the answer to that. I don't know why have I done that. I shouldn't have done that, but something inside me was so angry at the fish that I couldn't stop myself. I look up and see the storm getting worse and then a wave, bigger than anything I have ever seen before is right in front of us. Shit! What the fuck have I done? I hold on to the rope with all of my force as we pass through it. Snows come to me screaming about how all of this was my fault. Of course, she would blame me. At least I've done something! I scream back at her and we start to argue, she wants me to undo my spell and there is just no way in hell I'm going to do that. I could if I wanted to, but I won't just to spite her. But then the unexpected happens. I feel a blow on my face and fall down to the impact. The fucking bitch hit me. It takes my brain a couple of seconds to process the fact but as I stand up, one thing is certain. She will pay for this.
"Is that your best?" I ask.
"Not even close. I'm so tired of you ruining my life"
"I ruined your life?"
And that's it. The audacity of that little cunt, accusing me of ruining her life? I strike back and punch her in the face, stronger than the little punch she gave me. She jumps at me and we start to fight and I feel alive again. Gods, it's so good to hit that little bitch! I don't even bother using my magic, I want to feel my fist on her, I like the feeling of her neck around my hands as I squeeze the air out of her lungs. I'm so close to throwing her into the water now, and I can't decide if I'm happy or sad to see her became fish food this fast. Maybe I'll cut her into pieces and then throw her parts in the water. Then somewhere on the back, I hear Charming screaming Emma's name and I don't know why that gets my attention. I let go of Snow only to watch the blond idiot jumping in the water. What the fuck is she doing now? And why the hell I feel my heart squeeze inside my chest when I see her falling down. Snow screams her name and I follow her to the opposite side of the ship. One of the ropes breaks loose and I see something metallic hitting her head and once again that horrible squeeze in my chest happens. Why am I so worried about her? It's not my fault if she is dumb enough to do something so ridiculously idiotic.
"EMMA" Snow screams.
"idiot" I can not help but say it. She is an idiot.
"Regina, get her up here"
"I..I...I can't. Not in this storm, I can't even see her" I say truthfully "I'll just bring up water and half her leg"
Then her idiot father decides to do something heroic and for the first time in my life I appreciate the act. I help Snow tie the rope around him and he jumps in the water. It takes a while before he reemerges again, but when he does, Emma is with him and I feel a relief wash over me. We pull them back inside the ship, putting all my straighten into it. They are ridiculously heavy! Then hooks do something behind me and then he alone rolls the ropes to bring them both back inside the ship.
Emma lies on the wooden floor, her face completely pale and I feel anguish inside me. Gods, please make her be okay. I need her to get Henry back. I can't do this alone. I keep telling myself this is the only reason why I need her to be okay, but deep, deep, very deep down I know this isn't the only reason. I care for her. I don't know why I should, she IS the one who took Henry away from me, and yet, I care for this idiot. She spats water and I take a big deep breath that I didn't even know I was holding as relief washes over me. She's fine!
Charming brings her down to the little room we share and lays her onto the bed completely wet. Emma is shaking with cold and instead of changing her out of her clothes the idiot just throws a blanket over her wet body. The cut on her forehead is nasty and leaking out blood and I know I should say something but I can't bring myself to do so. Not in front of them anyway. I go upstairs and leave them to deal with their daughter. The night is clear now, and the moon is shining bright above me. The waters are calm again and I feel less angry. I take a deep breath in and look out the sea again, trying to see a piece of land. But there is nothing apart from water.
I don't know how long was I upstairs but, I imagine it was a very, very long time because I feel ridiculously tired now. I sigh and turn around to go downstairs hoping the two idiots are no longer in my cabin. It's a relief when I walk the corridor and see them together on the bunker bed. I keep walking forward and enter my shared room with Emma. It's dark and silent and I imagine she must be sleeping. I sit down on my bed and try to be as quiet as possible can while removing my boots.
"Hey," Emma says scaring me.
"You are awake!" I state the obvious.
"Yeah, I was just pretending in case it was Mary Margarete and David again"
"Right!" I say "How are you feeling?"
"I'm cold and my head hurts," Emma says "So, not very good"
I look at her, the little light that came from the moon is enough for me to see how pale she still is. And wet! Gods, they didn't even bother to put on dry clothes on her. The wound on her forehead is no longer leaking blood but the nasty cut is still there with dry blood all around. Without thinking I summon my magic. I know I shouldn't do this, I've already used it too much earlier but I just can't leave her like that. I feel the usual burning on the tip of my fingers and then I look at her and stretch my hand. I make the usual movement with it and just like that her clothes are dry and the cut is gone.
"Wow," Emma says "How the hell did you do that?"
"Magic, dear"
"Thanks," Emma says "Even my headache is gone"
"You are welcome," I say "We should rest now"
"Yeah, we should," Emma says "Goodnight, Regina"
"Goodnight, Emma."