p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" align="center"ustrongChapter 2/strong/u/p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" align="center"A Song for You/p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" align="center"em"I know your image of me isn't what I hope to be. I've treated you unkindly. There's no one more important to me. So darlin', won't you please see through me?"- Donny Hathaway, A Song for You/em/p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Where's my son?" Regina breathily panicked while entering the emergency room. She hadn't been able to find Henry anywhere and she was running out of places to look when she got the call from the hospital. /p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"She didn't want to believe it. In fact, she was choosing not to. It was a freak accident, a divine coincidence set forth to make Regina panic. Her heart was beating out of her chest and then she felt a strong, yet slender hand forcefully pull her by the arm./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"The shorter woman couldn't see who had grabbed her, but she had a guess based on the visions she was coming in and out of. She saw lazy mornings making breakfast for three people rather than two. An image of Emma under a sheet, almost as if they were in their own private blanket fort, filled her mind. Almost as quickly as it had appeared, it disappeared as she felt herself being hurled through the air./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Her body made contact with a cold, metal shelf. Before she could fully turn around, Emma was in her space again, grabbing her harshly. As the taller woman began yelling about her doing something Regina's vision blurred again and glimpses of a supposed future filled her mind. The blonde in her visions was vastly different from the blonde she was in the room with./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""What the hell are you doing?!" The brunette screamed before her back slammed into another cold, metal surface. This surface however did not give way like the shelf had. Pain shot up Regina's back as her mind was going back and forth between reality and visions. Her face grew red at the similar moment her mind was playing. Emma had her body pressed firmly against her in this vision, but the room was filled with a different energy./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"She felt offended by the vision, but also worked up. She was choosing to blame the adrenaline of the fight she had been thrust into and it became easier to root herself in the present reality rather than the 'future'./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Stop this! My son…" She pleaded before her eyes met the angry green orbs of Emma. She was briefly transported to a moment where the blonde's eyes were not burning with pain and resentment, rather alive with something unfamiliar to Regina. She didn't have a chance to ponder if it was love because she snapped back to reality when she felt the cold skin of Emma's wrist pressed against her throat./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Is sick because of you!" The blonde was screaming, and Regina was just trying to process everything that was happening. With the surprise assault she had been distracted from the reason she was here in the first place. Her son. Henry. "That apple turnover you gave me, he ate it!"/p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Emma's last three words cut through the air between the two women. Confusion and anger halted for a brief moment, both of them feeling the weight of Henry's current state pulling them into a painful reality. Regina felt as if everything in her body came to a screeching halt. She couldn't be surprised, she knew if Emma thought Storybrooke was about to no longer be home a visit to their son would be the next step./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""What?" The brunette breathed out, just above a whisper. Her deep brown eyes searched Emma's face for some sign of wavering. She wanted this to be a joke, a ploy that the blonde and Henry concocted to get her to admit the truth and that the curse was real. Finding only truth in the younger woman's face, panic began to stir within Regina. "It was meant for you!"/p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""It's true isn't it?" It made sense that Emma was fixated on the idea of the curse. She'd thought Henry was troubled this whole time and her reality is beginning to shift in a way that would be hard for anyone to fully understand, especially when they had to do it all at once. Regina had no idea why she was still even entertaining the facade, but she had done it so long that defending it was her first instinct before she could think of any other options./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""What are you talking about?" Even she didn't believe in the ignorance she feigned. Regina could feel everything tumbling down around her, but she didn't have the strength to deal with figuring out what to do with all of the pieces. She had no chance to say anything further before she was pushed further into the metal surface the blonde had her pinned against./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""It's true isn't it?!" Emma was infuriated, but it was only pain that Regina found laced in her voice. She felt attuned to the blonde's emotions and felt pitiful as their shared pain washed over her. Her lips began to tremble and Emma's voice got softer. "All of it."/p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"It was a statement. There was no going back. Emma knew the truth, and Regina felt a thick lump form in her throat before she resigned herself to the reality that was unfolding before her. Oddly, she didn't even want to lie to the blonde. In a moment of such deep pain, the brunette also felt…relief? There was no way it could last long, the title of Evil Queen also coming with this revelation for Emma. But in just this moment, she would take a small amount of release from the burden of such a secret being lifted off her shoulders./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Regina's head softly hit the metal locker behind her as she sealed her fate. Her eyes closed before speaking truth into the air around the two women./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Yes." The word served as both a beginning and an end. Even in the uncertainty that the shorter woman felt, she couldn't help but feel empathy towards Emma, as this had to be a lot to take in. Her voice almost broke with the confession, and as the blonde began to develop tears in her eyes Regina's heart somehow broke even further./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""I was leaving town." Emma almost pleaded, as if it would take them back to a few hours earlier and change all of this. The blonde's fingers gripped tighter around both of Regina's arms and the physical pain it caused seemed to dampen the deep throbbing of emotional pain within her stomach. "Why couldn't you just leave things alone?" /p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Regina felt vulnerable, too vulnerable. She spoke one word of truth and now every truth she knew was ready to pour out of her. The words she said next came from somewhere deep within her, traveling from her chest, through her lips, and coloring the tense cloud of emotion that the two women were engulfed in./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Because as long as you're alive Henry will never be mine!" It came across like a rebuttal, but Regina was not refuting her role in this./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""He'll never be anyone's unless you fix this." Emma's dark tone was laced with a threat that both of them knew the taller woman wouldn't be able to stop herself from acting on if something were to happen to Henry. "You wake him up!" The other woman demanded and Regina felt her last truth coming forth like a train that couldn't be stopped./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""I can't!" She screamed at the blonde before feeling herself begin to cry. She had no energy to fight Emma back and if she was honest she didn't want to./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Don't you have magic?" Emma inquired, confused as to why Regina couldn't just undo what she did. The brunette knew there was no god, not one that would ever save her, but she found herself internally begging someone for a miracle. Her eyes met green orbs again and she wished she could soothe their wielders' pain./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""That was the last of it." There was so much Emma didn't understand, but Regina hoped she knew if there was something she could've done she would've already done it. "It was supposed to put you to sleep!" She wasn't angry at Emma, but she did feel accusatory in this moment. Why couldn't she just have thrown it away? Or left it? Or EATEN it? Only Emma could find a way to resist the irresistible./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"The blonde seemed to ponder feeling hurt for a fraction of a second, but her face grew long with worry./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Well what's it gonna do to him?" The question was genuine. For this first time since Regina arrived at the hospital Emma let go of her and it finally felt like she could think again. The fog of the future, or visions, or whatever Gold put in her head dissipated at the lack of contact and the gravity of the situation fully settled onto her./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""I don't know." Regina spoke as she stared at nothing. She couldn't look Emma in the eyes, but she forced herself to so that the blonde could feel her honesty. "Magic here is unpredictable."/p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Regina could feel Emma's eyes searching her soul, looking for a sign of hope…anything other than what the taller woman brought up next./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""So, he could…" Anger was no longer entwined with Emma's words, all Regina could hear was pain. /p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Yes." She figured it was best not to sugarcoat anything at this point. It was well known Emma was strong, but she had never seen the woman this way. It was almost as if her green eyes were those of a child, searching for someone to make sense of what was happening. Regina admired how Emma could be so strong, yet so vulnerable with what she felt. She was going to do everything she could to save Henry, but a new motivation arose within her chest…to protect Emma from any pain caused by the brunette's own doing./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""So what do we do?" Emma begged softly, looking to Regina for answers. She wished she had answers to give./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""We need help." She said moving past the blonde's body, careful not to touch the woman so she could stay focused. "There's one other person in this town who knows about this…who knows about magic." The last word came out as though it was poison and she heard the subject of her confession taunting her in her head em'All magic comes with a price.'/em/p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "Mr. Gold." Emma was on the same page without needing to hear Regina say anything else./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "Actually, he goes by Rumplestiltskin." The brunette didn't want to overwhelm the woman, but she felt she was owed the truth. They would only be able to work together to save Henry if Emma trusted her. Which, she could tell Emma did by the incredulous look the blonde shot her. It was hard for Regina to imagine what all of this sounded like to someone who only ever knew this reality and was taught that magic and its likeness was all make believe./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: center;"∞/p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Regina followed Emma into Rumple's shop. She had filled the blonde in on how she came to realize Henry was in danger, while leaving out the more…revealing details. She had no idea if Gold would help them, but she was optimistic since he let her borrow his vehicle./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "Ah! You told her!" He quipped at Regina and Emma's brows furrowed while she looked him up and down./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "Told me what?" The blonde asked while Regina's eyes widened, signaling for Rumple to be quiet. He caught on quickly and must have been feeling generous because he softly said:/p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "Nothing." His voice overlapped with Regina's, speaking the same word at the same time. His generosity continued as he quickly changed the subject. The brunette found herself twice in one night feeling grateful towards the man. This was a rare occurrence and if she had the time, she'd probably go out and buy a lottery ticket since there were apparently no more rules to this reality she had so carefully cast everyone into./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "So!" The man began, "Do my eyes deceive me, or is that the look of a believer?"/p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "We need your help." Emma clearly did not want to waste anymore time and neither did Regina./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "Indeed you do. It seems quite the tragic ailment has befallen our young friend." His eyes locked with Regina's, non-verbally telling her 'I told you so' before verbally telling her as well. "I told you magic comes with a price."/p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "Henry shouldn't have to pay it." There were still tears in Regina's eyes, and Rumple's accusatory tone was not helping. However, she couldn't refute his accusations, and she wouldn't try to./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "No, you should." He cut her off, "But alas, we are where we are." The air grew tense between the man and the raven haired woman, but it was quickly dispersed by a welcome interruption:/p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "Can you help us?" Emma's question was pure, her request genuine./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "Of course," the man began to oblige. "True love, Ms. Swan." He quipped and shot Regina a look. Her eyes widened again and he continued: "The only magic powerful enough to transcend realms and break any curse. Luckily for you, I happened to have bottled some."/p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "You did?" Regina questioned, wondering why he hadn't mentioned this before. She didn't understand why he worked so hard to deter her efforts if he could've just broken Emma's sleeping curse the moment it was put in place./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "Oh yes…" He seemed very pleased with himself, having the body of Mr. Gold, but the tact of his true self. "From strands of your parents' hair I made the most powerful potion in all the realm. So powerful that when I created the Dark Curse, I placed a single drop on the parchment." He feigned a similar motion to putting a drop on the paper, animating his words in true Rumple fashion. "Just a little safety valve."/p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "That's why I'm the savior. That's why I can break the curse." Emma chimed in./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "Now you're getting it." He seemed pleased he could coach the blonde through her realization./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "I don't care about breaking the curse. All I care about is saving Henry." The blonde replied hurriedly, seemingly desperate to be done with this entire ordeal./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "Which is why its your lucky day." the man answered. "I didn't use all the potion. I saved some for a rainy day." /p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "Well it's storming like a bitch. Where is it?" Emma softly tried to coax the information out of him./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "Where it is, isn't the problem." He began, "Getting it is what should worry you." It was clear to Regina that the blonde was nervous. The thick tension of worry filled the air around them, so she took charge to get what they needed out of the man./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "Enough riddles." The brunette's tone was absolute, but she wasn't raising her voice. "What do we do?"/p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "You do nothing." Gold retaliated, "It has to be Ms. Swan." Regina felt guilt envelop her and she persisted./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "He's my son, it should be me." Her intent was to take responsibility for the state Henry was in, but as it fell on her ears she knew it sounded territorial. /p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "All due respect, but it's her son, and it has to be her." Gold bit back, barely above a whisper as if he was telling her a secret. "She's the product of the magic. She must be the one to find it." /p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" Regina knew Emma would never deny a challenge, especially if it meant saving the day…especially if it meant saving Henry. She firmly believed the blonde was capable of whatever she set her mind to. The woman had proven it time and time again. She did feel, though, that dealing with Gold, with Rumple, was something Emma may find herself regretting. Before she could warn the taller woman a determined voice filled the air:/p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "I can do it." Emma said, matter-of-factly. Regina tensed her neck, biting her tongue at saying what she truly felt: that Emma was being a emfool/em. She only held back because the woman couldn't have known any better, not yet. Regina had no intention of letting her find out the hard way to be careful with alliances involving Rumple./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "Don't trust him." Her tone ruled out 'trusting' Rumple as an option, as if they had another one to fall on. The blonde was quick to call her out:/p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "What choice do we have?" The woman was genuinely asking. If there was another option she would love to try it./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "That's right, dearie." Gold chimed in, "What choice do you have?" Before Regina could ponder committing murder with a witness that she obviously couldn't successfully get rid of, Emma's voice brought her back to the matter at hand./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "Where is this magic?" The blonde searched for an answer./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "Tell me, Your Majesty, is our friend still in the basement?" Gold taunted, a perverted satisfaction in his voice. Regina felt a pair of green eyes fall on her and the last thing she wanted to do was try and explain what the man was talking about. /p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "You twisted little imp." She began, disbelief growing within her. "You hid it with her?!"/p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "No, no, no, not with her." He rebutted, "In her." Regina felt her body get colder, if that was even possible. This was not going to be easy./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: center;"∞/p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Regina sat within her cell. She wasn't entirely sure why Emma had stopped the town from killing her, but she assumed it must have been due to Henry. It warmed her heart that while he probably saw her as evil she still meant something to him. Something enough to keep her safe./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" Unfortunately, 'safe' was relative. The blonde had saved the boy with true love's kiss, but only one of them got to celebrate. The kiss had also broken the curse and now she was locked up for her 'crimes'. Gold had paid her a visit and she knew what was coming for her. 'A fate worse than death' was surely true. Regina felt like she was a farm animal waiting for the slaughter. As the lights began to flicker on and off and the electricity crackled, she knew the show was about to begin, but prayed it was someone else coming for her…anything other than what Gold had brought her way./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" Her hand was sizzling with pain. It was uncomfortable, but it did take part of the dull ache away from how she felt inside. It gave her something to focus on other than Henry's thoughts of her. As the air grew cold she called out:/p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "Hello, who's there?" She was praying for the angry mob at this point, but when she saw two red glowing eyes and a figure draped in torn cloth floating towards her she knew her prayers had been heard by no one. The being gestured towards the locked door of the cell before ripping it off its hinges without even touching it. Regina only felt consumed by fear for a moment before a sinking feeling settled within her body. She was coming to terms with her belief: this is what she deserved./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" She began to feel her life force being pulled away from her. It started at the beginning, causing her to slowly lose sense of who she was. As her earliest memories onward started being drained from her mind, she saw snippets of each one. Visions of laughter played before her, she felt happiness. Then as the memories came from a later time her feelings became darker. Anguish and hatred filled the empty space being left by the life that was vacating her. She almost felt like she would overflow with these feelings until she saw her first memory of Henry./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" It filled her with joy to see the boy. He was young in these memories, with a pure heart full of love for Regina. She felt a tear rolling down her cheek, still on her face as the feelings turned to pain watching Henry grow to resent her. She never wanted to hurt the boy…she would do anything to make him happy. If only she had the chance to, now…/p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" She was losing any sense of who she was now as her memories were pulled from her mind. She could feel she was not well liked, but wasn't sure why. She knew she had a son, whom she loved, but it didn't feel like they were in a good place. /p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" emI hope I can make it up to him. /emShe thought, not recalling her current predicament. That is when she saw what felt like the last thing left of her. A blonde, with warm green eyes. She felt like an old friend. No, a lover. A soft smile spread across her face. She felt herself fading away, but she felt safe…she felt at home with the woman in her mind./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" All of a sudden she was slammed with an overwhelming pain. Her brain was on fire, screaming at the sheer force of all of her memories coming back to her. The being had severed its connection, losing what it had taken from the raven haired woman. Breath re-entered her lungs and it burned like poison. Regina's brain went on overdrive trying to reabsorb her entire life all at once. She felt a pair of warm hands meet her cold skin, trying to pull her up. /p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" The brunette could barely stand as her brain had to work even harder to cope with the visions Emma's touch was giving her. She wasn't sure what happened in the next few moments, she felt herself speaking but was unsure what was actually coming out of her. She stayed in this state until she heard her son's name./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "I made a promise to Henry." The woman next to her spoke, "She's not dying." Regina looked towards the other woman, trying to sort out the Emma from her visions and the Emma from reality. Could they really be the same person? Now, with the blonde saving her from Prince Charming's anger and need for vengeance, was the first time she believed they just might be./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"emA/N/em: I cannot express to you all how much I am enjoying writing this adventure for Emma and Regina. There is so much more to come and I hope you all are enjoying so far. As always, let me know what you think! Just to give you a hint I'm already working on Chapter 5. ;)/p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" align="center"A Song for You/p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" align="center"em"I know your image of me isn't what I hope to be. I've treated you unkindly. There's no one more important to me. So darlin', won't you please see through me?"- Donny Hathaway, A Song for You/em/p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Where's my son?" Regina breathily panicked while entering the emergency room. She hadn't been able to find Henry anywhere and she was running out of places to look when she got the call from the hospital. /p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"She didn't want to believe it. In fact, she was choosing not to. It was a freak accident, a divine coincidence set forth to make Regina panic. Her heart was beating out of her chest and then she felt a strong, yet slender hand forcefully pull her by the arm./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"The shorter woman couldn't see who had grabbed her, but she had a guess based on the visions she was coming in and out of. She saw lazy mornings making breakfast for three people rather than two. An image of Emma under a sheet, almost as if they were in their own private blanket fort, filled her mind. Almost as quickly as it had appeared, it disappeared as she felt herself being hurled through the air./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Her body made contact with a cold, metal shelf. Before she could fully turn around, Emma was in her space again, grabbing her harshly. As the taller woman began yelling about her doing something Regina's vision blurred again and glimpses of a supposed future filled her mind. The blonde in her visions was vastly different from the blonde she was in the room with./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""What the hell are you doing?!" The brunette screamed before her back slammed into another cold, metal surface. This surface however did not give way like the shelf had. Pain shot up Regina's back as her mind was going back and forth between reality and visions. Her face grew red at the similar moment her mind was playing. Emma had her body pressed firmly against her in this vision, but the room was filled with a different energy./p
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p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"She felt offended by the vision, but also worked up. She was choosing to blame the adrenaline of the fight she had been thrust into and it became easier to root herself in the present reality rather than the 'future'./p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Stop this! My son…" She pleaded before her eyes met the angry green orbs of Emma. She was briefly transported to a moment where the blonde's eyes were not burning with pain and resentment, rather alive with something unfamiliar to Regina. She didn't have a chance to ponder if it was love because she snapped back to reality when she felt the cold skin of Emma's wrist pressed against her throat./p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Is sick because of you!" The blonde was screaming, and Regina was just trying to process everything that was happening. With the surprise assault she had been distracted from the reason she was here in the first place. Her son. Henry. "That apple turnover you gave me, he ate it!"/p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Emma's last three words cut through the air between the two women. Confusion and anger halted for a brief moment, both of them feeling the weight of Henry's current state pulling them into a painful reality. Regina felt as if everything in her body came to a screeching halt. She couldn't be surprised, she knew if Emma thought Storybrooke was about to no longer be home a visit to their son would be the next step./p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""What?" The brunette breathed out, just above a whisper. Her deep brown eyes searched Emma's face for some sign of wavering. She wanted this to be a joke, a ploy that the blonde and Henry concocted to get her to admit the truth and that the curse was real. Finding only truth in the younger woman's face, panic began to stir within Regina. "It was meant for you!"/p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""It's true isn't it?" It made sense that Emma was fixated on the idea of the curse. She'd thought Henry was troubled this whole time and her reality is beginning to shift in a way that would be hard for anyone to fully understand, especially when they had to do it all at once. Regina had no idea why she was still even entertaining the facade, but she had done it so long that defending it was her first instinct before she could think of any other options./p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""What are you talking about?" Even she didn't believe in the ignorance she feigned. Regina could feel everything tumbling down around her, but she didn't have the strength to deal with figuring out what to do with all of the pieces. She had no chance to say anything further before she was pushed further into the metal surface the blonde had her pinned against./p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""It's true isn't it?!" Emma was infuriated, but it was only pain that Regina found laced in her voice. She felt attuned to the blonde's emotions and felt pitiful as their shared pain washed over her. Her lips began to tremble and Emma's voice got softer. "All of it."/p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"It was a statement. There was no going back. Emma knew the truth, and Regina felt a thick lump form in her throat before she resigned herself to the reality that was unfolding before her. Oddly, she didn't even want to lie to the blonde. In a moment of such deep pain, the brunette also felt…relief? There was no way it could last long, the title of Evil Queen also coming with this revelation for Emma. But in just this moment, she would take a small amount of release from the burden of such a secret being lifted off her shoulders./p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Regina's head softly hit the metal locker behind her as she sealed her fate. Her eyes closed before speaking truth into the air around the two women./p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Yes." The word served as both a beginning and an end. Even in the uncertainty that the shorter woman felt, she couldn't help but feel empathy towards Emma, as this had to be a lot to take in. Her voice almost broke with the confession, and as the blonde began to develop tears in her eyes Regina's heart somehow broke even further./p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""I was leaving town." Emma almost pleaded, as if it would take them back to a few hours earlier and change all of this. The blonde's fingers gripped tighter around both of Regina's arms and the physical pain it caused seemed to dampen the deep throbbing of emotional pain within her stomach. "Why couldn't you just leave things alone?" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Regina felt vulnerable, too vulnerable. She spoke one word of truth and now every truth she knew was ready to pour out of her. The words she said next came from somewhere deep within her, traveling from her chest, through her lips, and coloring the tense cloud of emotion that the two women were engulfed in./p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Because as long as you're alive Henry will never be mine!" It came across like a rebuttal, but Regina was not refuting her role in this./p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""He'll never be anyone's unless you fix this." Emma's dark tone was laced with a threat that both of them knew the taller woman wouldn't be able to stop herself from acting on if something were to happen to Henry. "You wake him up!" The other woman demanded and Regina felt her last truth coming forth like a train that couldn't be stopped./p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""I can't!" She screamed at the blonde before feeling herself begin to cry. She had no energy to fight Emma back and if she was honest she didn't want to./p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Don't you have magic?" Emma inquired, confused as to why Regina couldn't just undo what she did. The brunette knew there was no god, not one that would ever save her, but she found herself internally begging someone for a miracle. Her eyes met green orbs again and she wished she could soothe their wielders' pain./p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""That was the last of it." There was so much Emma didn't understand, but Regina hoped she knew if there was something she could've done she would've already done it. "It was supposed to put you to sleep!" She wasn't angry at Emma, but she did feel accusatory in this moment. Why couldn't she just have thrown it away? Or left it? Or EATEN it? Only Emma could find a way to resist the irresistible./p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"The blonde seemed to ponder feeling hurt for a fraction of a second, but her face grew long with worry./p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Well what's it gonna do to him?" The question was genuine. For this first time since Regina arrived at the hospital Emma let go of her and it finally felt like she could think again. The fog of the future, or visions, or whatever Gold put in her head dissipated at the lack of contact and the gravity of the situation fully settled onto her./p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""I don't know." Regina spoke as she stared at nothing. She couldn't look Emma in the eyes, but she forced herself to so that the blonde could feel her honesty. "Magic here is unpredictable."/p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Regina could feel Emma's eyes searching her soul, looking for a sign of hope…anything other than what the taller woman brought up next./p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""So, he could…" Anger was no longer entwined with Emma's words, all Regina could hear was pain. /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Yes." She figured it was best not to sugarcoat anything at this point. It was well known Emma was strong, but she had never seen the woman this way. It was almost as if her green eyes were those of a child, searching for someone to make sense of what was happening. Regina admired how Emma could be so strong, yet so vulnerable with what she felt. She was going to do everything she could to save Henry, but a new motivation arose within her chest…to protect Emma from any pain caused by the brunette's own doing./p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""So what do we do?" Emma begged softly, looking to Regina for answers. She wished she had answers to give./p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""We need help." She said moving past the blonde's body, careful not to touch the woman so she could stay focused. "There's one other person in this town who knows about this…who knows about magic." The last word came out as though it was poison and she heard the subject of her confession taunting her in her head em'All magic comes with a price.'/em/p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "Mr. Gold." Emma was on the same page without needing to hear Regina say anything else./p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "Actually, he goes by Rumplestiltskin." The brunette didn't want to overwhelm the woman, but she felt she was owed the truth. They would only be able to work together to save Henry if Emma trusted her. Which, she could tell Emma did by the incredulous look the blonde shot her. It was hard for Regina to imagine what all of this sounded like to someone who only ever knew this reality and was taught that magic and its likeness was all make believe./p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: center;"∞/p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Regina followed Emma into Rumple's shop. She had filled the blonde in on how she came to realize Henry was in danger, while leaving out the more…revealing details. She had no idea if Gold would help them, but she was optimistic since he let her borrow his vehicle./p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "Ah! You told her!" He quipped at Regina and Emma's brows furrowed while she looked him up and down./p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "Told me what?" The blonde asked while Regina's eyes widened, signaling for Rumple to be quiet. He caught on quickly and must have been feeling generous because he softly said:/p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "Nothing." His voice overlapped with Regina's, speaking the same word at the same time. His generosity continued as he quickly changed the subject. The brunette found herself twice in one night feeling grateful towards the man. This was a rare occurrence and if she had the time, she'd probably go out and buy a lottery ticket since there were apparently no more rules to this reality she had so carefully cast everyone into./p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "So!" The man began, "Do my eyes deceive me, or is that the look of a believer?"/p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "We need your help." Emma clearly did not want to waste anymore time and neither did Regina./p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "Indeed you do. It seems quite the tragic ailment has befallen our young friend." His eyes locked with Regina's, non-verbally telling her 'I told you so' before verbally telling her as well. "I told you magic comes with a price."/p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "Henry shouldn't have to pay it." There were still tears in Regina's eyes, and Rumple's accusatory tone was not helping. However, she couldn't refute his accusations, and she wouldn't try to./p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "No, you should." He cut her off, "But alas, we are where we are." The air grew tense between the man and the raven haired woman, but it was quickly dispersed by a welcome interruption:/p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "Can you help us?" Emma's question was pure, her request genuine./p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "Of course," the man began to oblige. "True love, Ms. Swan." He quipped and shot Regina a look. Her eyes widened again and he continued: "The only magic powerful enough to transcend realms and break any curse. Luckily for you, I happened to have bottled some."/p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "You did?" Regina questioned, wondering why he hadn't mentioned this before. She didn't understand why he worked so hard to deter her efforts if he could've just broken Emma's sleeping curse the moment it was put in place./p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "Oh yes…" He seemed very pleased with himself, having the body of Mr. Gold, but the tact of his true self. "From strands of your parents' hair I made the most powerful potion in all the realm. So powerful that when I created the Dark Curse, I placed a single drop on the parchment." He feigned a similar motion to putting a drop on the paper, animating his words in true Rumple fashion. "Just a little safety valve."/p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "That's why I'm the savior. That's why I can break the curse." Emma chimed in./p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "Now you're getting it." He seemed pleased he could coach the blonde through her realization./p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "I don't care about breaking the curse. All I care about is saving Henry." The blonde replied hurriedly, seemingly desperate to be done with this entire ordeal./p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "Which is why its your lucky day." the man answered. "I didn't use all the potion. I saved some for a rainy day." /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "Well it's storming like a bitch. Where is it?" Emma softly tried to coax the information out of him./p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "Where it is, isn't the problem." He began, "Getting it is what should worry you." It was clear to Regina that the blonde was nervous. The thick tension of worry filled the air around them, so she took charge to get what they needed out of the man./p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "Enough riddles." The brunette's tone was absolute, but she wasn't raising her voice. "What do we do?"/p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "You do nothing." Gold retaliated, "It has to be Ms. Swan." Regina felt guilt envelop her and she persisted./p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "He's my son, it should be me." Her intent was to take responsibility for the state Henry was in, but as it fell on her ears she knew it sounded territorial. /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "All due respect, but it's her son, and it has to be her." Gold bit back, barely above a whisper as if he was telling her a secret. "She's the product of the magic. She must be the one to find it." /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" Regina knew Emma would never deny a challenge, especially if it meant saving the day…especially if it meant saving Henry. She firmly believed the blonde was capable of whatever she set her mind to. The woman had proven it time and time again. She did feel, though, that dealing with Gold, with Rumple, was something Emma may find herself regretting. Before she could warn the taller woman a determined voice filled the air:/p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "I can do it." Emma said, matter-of-factly. Regina tensed her neck, biting her tongue at saying what she truly felt: that Emma was being a emfool/em. She only held back because the woman couldn't have known any better, not yet. Regina had no intention of letting her find out the hard way to be careful with alliances involving Rumple./p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "Don't trust him." Her tone ruled out 'trusting' Rumple as an option, as if they had another one to fall on. The blonde was quick to call her out:/p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "What choice do we have?" The woman was genuinely asking. If there was another option she would love to try it./p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "That's right, dearie." Gold chimed in, "What choice do you have?" Before Regina could ponder committing murder with a witness that she obviously couldn't successfully get rid of, Emma's voice brought her back to the matter at hand./p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "Where is this magic?" The blonde searched for an answer./p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "Tell me, Your Majesty, is our friend still in the basement?" Gold taunted, a perverted satisfaction in his voice. Regina felt a pair of green eyes fall on her and the last thing she wanted to do was try and explain what the man was talking about. /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "You twisted little imp." She began, disbelief growing within her. "You hid it with her?!"/p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "No, no, no, not with her." He rebutted, "In her." Regina felt her body get colder, if that was even possible. This was not going to be easy./p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: center;"∞/p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Regina sat within her cell. She wasn't entirely sure why Emma had stopped the town from killing her, but she assumed it must have been due to Henry. It warmed her heart that while he probably saw her as evil she still meant something to him. Something enough to keep her safe./p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" Unfortunately, 'safe' was relative. The blonde had saved the boy with true love's kiss, but only one of them got to celebrate. The kiss had also broken the curse and now she was locked up for her 'crimes'. Gold had paid her a visit and she knew what was coming for her. 'A fate worse than death' was surely true. Regina felt like she was a farm animal waiting for the slaughter. As the lights began to flicker on and off and the electricity crackled, she knew the show was about to begin, but prayed it was someone else coming for her…anything other than what Gold had brought her way./p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" Her hand was sizzling with pain. It was uncomfortable, but it did take part of the dull ache away from how she felt inside. It gave her something to focus on other than Henry's thoughts of her. As the air grew cold she called out:/p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "Hello, who's there?" She was praying for the angry mob at this point, but when she saw two red glowing eyes and a figure draped in torn cloth floating towards her she knew her prayers had been heard by no one. The being gestured towards the locked door of the cell before ripping it off its hinges without even touching it. Regina only felt consumed by fear for a moment before a sinking feeling settled within her body. She was coming to terms with her belief: this is what she deserved./p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" She began to feel her life force being pulled away from her. It started at the beginning, causing her to slowly lose sense of who she was. As her earliest memories onward started being drained from her mind, she saw snippets of each one. Visions of laughter played before her, she felt happiness. Then as the memories came from a later time her feelings became darker. Anguish and hatred filled the empty space being left by the life that was vacating her. She almost felt like she would overflow with these feelings until she saw her first memory of Henry./p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" It filled her with joy to see the boy. He was young in these memories, with a pure heart full of love for Regina. She felt a tear rolling down her cheek, still on her face as the feelings turned to pain watching Henry grow to resent her. She never wanted to hurt the boy…she would do anything to make him happy. If only she had the chance to, now…/p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" She was losing any sense of who she was now as her memories were pulled from her mind. She could feel she was not well liked, but wasn't sure why. She knew she had a son, whom she loved, but it didn't feel like they were in a good place. /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" emI hope I can make it up to him. /emShe thought, not recalling her current predicament. That is when she saw what felt like the last thing left of her. A blonde, with warm green eyes. She felt like an old friend. No, a lover. A soft smile spread across her face. She felt herself fading away, but she felt safe…she felt at home with the woman in her mind./p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" All of a sudden she was slammed with an overwhelming pain. Her brain was on fire, screaming at the sheer force of all of her memories coming back to her. The being had severed its connection, losing what it had taken from the raven haired woman. Breath re-entered her lungs and it burned like poison. Regina's brain went on overdrive trying to reabsorb her entire life all at once. She felt a pair of warm hands meet her cold skin, trying to pull her up. /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" The brunette could barely stand as her brain had to work even harder to cope with the visions Emma's touch was giving her. She wasn't sure what happened in the next few moments, she felt herself speaking but was unsure what was actually coming out of her. She stayed in this state until she heard her son's name./p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" "I made a promise to Henry." The woman next to her spoke, "She's not dying." Regina looked towards the other woman, trying to sort out the Emma from her visions and the Emma from reality. Could they really be the same person? Now, with the blonde saving her from Prince Charming's anger and need for vengeance, was the first time she believed they just might be./p
hr style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #000000;" /
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"emA/N/em: I cannot express to you all how much I am enjoying writing this adventure for Emma and Regina. There is so much more to come and I hope you all are enjoying so far. As always, let me know what you think! Just to give you a hint I'm already working on Chapter 5. ;)/p