AN: I have been reacquainted with the musical geniuses that are Snow Patrol. Listening to it with ears that have matured and experienced many of life's lessons hits a bit different. I soon found myself dissecting every lyric, and the images that came to mind were of Emma and Regina. So, this is what you get from me because of that. I hope you enjoy it.
New York
Her moans ebbed and flowed like the tide they recently abandoned.
She tried to hold back, bite her tongue to keep herself from being too vocal, but the fires that Emma ignited across her skin with the mere tips of her fingers made it nearly impossible.
Regina shot up in bed with a start. Her heart hammered beneath her ribcage, and she found herself shivering as beads of sweat ran down her neck. It took her little to no time to adjust to her surroundings, and that worried her.
They had been back in the Enchanted Forest for almost four months, and each time she woke from her Savior-filled dreams, she struggled a little bit less to realize she was no longer in Storybrooke, but in the confines of the cold stone that made up her bed chambers.
Her heart didn't feel any less heavy, however, and she feared that the feeling would never dissipate, no matter how much longer she would be destined to live in a place she no longer called home- a place where Emma and their son didn't exist.
A heavy sigh floated in the space and died against the grey walls as she settled back into her pillows. It was a routine she was accustomed to by now, and she allowed herself the time to recompose while she let her imagination run wild.
Every time was different, and yet the same. The scenarios were variations of morning breakfast, dinners, school conferences, but the setting was always the same- a cold and dreary New York City.
This time, it was Emma dropping their son off at school.
Dark clouds hid any traces of sunlight, and the crisp breeze that swam around her two favorite people made them retreat deeper into their scarves. Henry laughed as he nearly tripped over a raised edge on the dirty sidewalk as his view was partially obscured by the wool that protected him from the elements of the city. "Clumsy, Henry." Emma mouthed playfully as she managed to loop two fingers through the hook of his backpack to keep him upright. "Love you, ma." Their little man hugged her tightly before making his way to the school doors. "Love ya, Hen." Blonde tresses fluttered in the coldness as she made her way back towards her beloved yellow bug.
She looked beautiful, and Regina couldn't help but smile to herself.
Like an elusive cloud, the image dispersed from behind her mind's eye, and Regina laughed softly through the soft sob that bubbled up her throat. It pained her that she had to resort to such fantasies to make it through another day, and often, just to get out of bed and face everybody outside her door who was oblivious to her pain.
Not even Snow, who had caught her trying to bury her heart so she wouldn't feel the loss, could know the true weight of what she carried.
She didn't just miss a son and his mother. Her entire being ached for the only two people who had willingly gifted their hearts for safe keeping. Although not in the literal sense, Regina was the keeper of those two beating hearts, and they were the keepers of hers.
Thinking about them gave her the motivation she needed to go on about her day as much as it nearly brought her to her knees.
It was her double-edged sword to carry.
Her horses needed tending, and the stables were her favorite place to be when she wasn't in her vault pouring over books and manuscripts to keep her busy.
So, she willed herself to get lost in the tasks that someone as refined as her could have delegated to someone else. Truth be told, she hadn't realized just how much she missed the grimy dirty menial chores that she used to be a part of once, even if it had been in secrecy because her mother would surely not condone it.
The sounds and the smells were familiar, unpleasant maybe, but very much welcomed. It kept her focused and collected.
It was something that had nearly shocked Snow and Charming at first, but when they heard the authenticity of her eagerness to work the stables as her contribution to their new Enchanted Forest, the couple nodded with soft and knowing smiles. And they let her be. Thankfully.
A neighing called her away from where she raked at soiled hay, and she smiled when the horse bowed its head in acceptance of the hand that reached out. "Hey boy." Regina whispered. "You couldn't wait five more minutes while I picked up after the rest of your friends?" She rubbed soothing strokes between his eyes.
Minutes ticked by as the two basked in the shared tranquility.
Much to her dismay, Regina couldn't help the thoughts that suddenly crept up on her in the silence. Because they always did, and the pain in her chest was back, robbing her of the calm she had felt and the air in her lungs.
She moved closer to the horse then and rested her forehead on him to draw comfort from his strong frame and radiating warmth.
Her eyes closed and she ordered her mind to summon up something that would restore her inner peace.
Henry rushed towards the kitchen ahead of his ma. His hands fumbled through his backpack before he found the paper he was looking for and stuck it to the fridge. By the time Emma walked in, the boy sat nonchalantly at the island as he peeled a banana. His eyes moved from the woman to the fridge expectantly. The blonde looked suspiciously at him before catching his wandering gaze. She smiled when she caught sight of the report card that hung proudly in front of her. "Straight A's, Hen?" Her smile widened when she caught the small shrug of his shoulders. "Yeah!" He finally relented. "That's my kid." Emma rounded the counter and hugged him. "We're celebrating. Dinner. Anywhere you want. Go."
Their smiles warmed her heart and she found enough solace to hold the tears at bay.
Regina avoided the nagging question that drifted in and out of her mind- would she ever get past this?
The court was gathered in the meeting room as they discussed yet another grievance from a neighboring land, and Regina couldn't help but roll her eyes. Every mundane topic they touched on seemed meaningless, and she failed to understand how all these people could regress back to their old ways after having lived for so long in a land where such issues were obsolete.
It was times like these she considered slipping back into her old ways as well. What she wouldn't give to strangle the imbeciles that whined on about the quality of their manures. This time she couldn't fight off the groan of annoyance that escaped her mouth.
Snow cocked her head curiously at the woman who sat as regal as ever despite her obvious vexation. "Is there something wrong, Regina?" She prodded.
With a familiar eyeroll, the older brunette shook her head. "Please, proceed to bore me to death with these pointless meetings."
"Regina." Snow couldn't help the scolding tone with which she delivered the one-word response.
The former queen sighed apologetically. "I'm sorry. Don't mind me." Her eyes automatically closed against the headache that manifested behind her sockets.
She took the opportunity to let her mind wander while Snow played arbitrator to the room.
It was all Emma this time.
The blonde didn't miss a beat.
She was at a gym, breathing hard, sweating, and concentrating on her regimen as she listened to something Regina would surely tease her about. Noise. Not music. Then, she was sprinting out of her car, into the rain, as she made her way to the office where she worked with a pair of private investigators such as herself. Regina smiled as she realized she would likely be wearing that leather jacket that she used to hate before she didn't. But it was the image of Emma studying herself in the mirror before she jumped into the shower that made Regina almost gasp in real time. She donned the smallest of smiles, but deep in those eyes of hers, the brunette saw sadness.
Never in all the visions that her mind conjured for her, had she ever seen Henry or Emma upset, or hurt, and this sudden twist that her subconscious threw at her bothered her.
Believing that Henry and Emma lived happily in New York was the sole source of her strength. But if she so much as doubted that to be true, then she feared her days in the Enchanted Forest were sure to become even more excruciating.
"Regina?" A soft hand on her shoulder pulled her from the alternate universe in her head. "Are you alright?" Snow smiled sympathetically down at her. "You dosed off."
In fact, she had, and Regina nodded apologetically as she looked around to find nobody else in the room except her friend. "I felt a headache coming on, and the constant bickering was exacerbating it." She spared a glance up at the woman who looked skeptical. "What, Snow?" She sighed softly as she prepared herself for the onslaught of questions.
"I know you miss Henry, but you have to help yourself overcome the pain you keep feeling." She squeezed her shoulder before sitting so close to her that their knees brushed. Regina swallowed the sudden urge to flee. "It's been four months since we left Storybrooke, do you think you've made any progress?"
"Progress in what?" Regina's voice elevated as she looked incredulously at the pixie-haired woman.
"Maybe you should talk to Archie."
"The cricket is no longer a psychiatrist, thank you." She refrained from rolling her eyes, but boy did she want to. "The curse was undone, ergo, he lost his medical degree." She responded with the sass Snow was all too familiar with.
"OK." Snow raised her hands in defense. "I'm sorry, but believe it or not I care about you, and I hate to see you so broken up, still."
Regina scoffed. "You don't miss Emma anymore?" She questioned almost in challenge.
"Of course I do, Regina." She nodded sadly. "But if I let myself get lost in that, I'll never get anything done around here."
"Well, that's the difference between us, Snow." The brunette stood and looked down at her friend. "You always look on the bright side, it's what you're good at. I, on the other hand, thrive in the negative." She smiled sadly before turning to walk out of the meeting room.
"That's not true, Regina." Snow called out before she could move too far to miss it.
Regina wanted to let loose a witty comment as Emma draped the leather jacket around her shoulders, but the night had suddenly given way to colder temperatures, and she could feel the bite as they sat in the sand.
They could hear the waves, but the darkness didn't leave them much of a landscape to look at, so they reveled in the rhythmic sound instead.
Something had shifted between them, and Regina flipped through the catalogue of confrontations and conversations she had shared with the blonde since they met in an attempt to decipher when it happened. She only assumed Emma was doing the same as her features twisted in pensive thought.
The brunette lost her train of thought, her imaginary finger slipping from the memory she held onto, when she really looked at the woman next to her in the only source of light they had- a bright sign from the small restaurant behind them. Hues of pink and blue accentuated her lips and reflected off her nose and cheeks, and Regina was sure she had never looked more beautiful.
She was captivated by her.
Suddenly, it didn't really matter to her when things had changed, only that they had, and though she was deathly afraid of what it all meant, something inside her told her to embrace it and run with it.
"Emma." She spoke her name out loud and swallowed as she waited for the woman to acknowledge her.
"Hmmm?" Her gaze remained trained on the darkness before them.
"Thank you for sitting here with me." Regina exhaled as softly as she could because she feared startling the blonde, and she needed her to remain where she was. "I really needed to get away from everybody after everything that happened on that wretched island." She dug her toes into the cold sand.
Emma nodded in agreement. "Nobody will understand what that was like except us." She responded, and the brunette did not miss the way she hugged her knees closer to her chest.
"Exactly."
"I keep dreading going to sleep." Emma admitted which took Regina by surprise. "There's a lot from that place I don't want to relive even in nightmares."
"We made it out." Regina supplied. "Henry's safe and back home where he belongs. We must hold on to that."
Emma nodded, but no more words were spoken between them as they continued to listen to the heartbeat of the ocean.
It was sometime later when the blonde placed her chin atop her knees and exhaled that time resumed. That small sound pulled Regina's brown eyes towards her as she waited with bated breath for what Emma seemed to be holding back. Barely. "I'm sorry, Regina."
With furrowed brows she tilted her head in question. "What for?"
"Back in the cave." She began but was immediately cut off.
"Forget the cave." Regina deadpanned with a small headshake, trying very much not to recall those trying moments in that hell hole.
"No." Emma raised her head and turned to look seriously back at her. "I've been replaying everything that was said, and the thing that really nags me is what I didn't tell you."
"Emma." Regina cautioned with sad eyes.
"You're not alone." The blonde retorted. "Not anymore." She smiled her small smile, the one that told Regina everything, because she knew it as well as she knew her own. They were rare expressions for them. Come to think of it, those smiles were only really on display with one another. "Henry is not the only person you have that cares about you. I'm here. I'll always be here." Emma kept her gaze trained on her, and the brunette couldn't help the way her heart began to race.
Regina swallowed the sudden lump of emotion that lodged in her throat. Things had changed indeed. "You don't have to say that to pacify my insecurities." It was a lame attempt to remove the heaviness of Emma's confession and the reason for which she gave it, but she hoped it would stick.
"I mean it, Regina."
A million responses formed behind her lips, but Regina remained speechless as they stared heavily at each other.
Those colors from earlier seemed brighter as she studied the face before her. How long could she do it without scaring her off? In the end, it didn't matter because Emma was doing the very same thing, and then some.
Her fingers were warm as they caressed her cheek. Her palm a contrast to the bitter cold that had skimmed her skin for the past few minutes.
It was a wonder how neither one had fled yet, and Regina suspected they had no intention of doing so, and with that relief that washed over her, she closed her eyes to revel in Emma's soft touch.
Their sighs mingled with the salty breeze. Her heart begged her to calm down, but she couldn't imagine that being possible as she felt herself lean in willingly as the hand on her face beckoned her closer.
The cold she felt earlier was replaced by the life force that was Emma all around her. They were so close, she didn't need to open her eyes to know that, for Emma's breath was on her lips, and the hand that she planted on the sand for support heated the skin by her hip.
How it felt like an eternity before it happened, she would never know, but she was convinced that she would gladly volunteer to live in the moment on an infinite loop.
Emma's lips were dry at first, but that did little to dull the feeling they elicited. Especially since they were hesitant and intentional all at once with their mission.
It was so natural the way her own hand moved to cup Emma's face then, grazing but successfully avoiding the anchoring arm that allowed them the proper leverage for their motions.
Nothing had ever felt this natural.
This real.
This pure.
Regina sucked in a mouthful of air as she was torn from the comfort of Emma's touch.
The knocking was soft but incessant.
She was in hell.
She was destined to relive the most amazing night of her life in fleeting dreams that always ended too soon and left her empty and cold in the light of day.
Her throat burned and she forced herself to swallow so she could speak. "Enter." She smoothed her hair over and pulled the covers up to her neck for modesty as her neck burned red with the heat that dream Emma evoked.
"Sorry to wake you." It was her least favorite person turned supporter and friend turned back to her least favorite person. Regina sighed and allowed the guilt to rush over her as she realized Snow had unknowingly interrupted a momentous event that nobody but Emma and she were privy to.
She silently reinstated the woman as her friend.
"It's alright." She cleared her throat. "What is it, Snow?" Her eyes searched the younger woman's concerned expression. "Snow?"
Snow's eyes filled with tears and soon they fell silently down her face. "I had a dream about Emma and Henry. We were all at Granny's having dinner. You were there, too." She swallowed and shook her head as she swiped at her tears. "I hadn't felt that happy since before we left." She paused. "We all looked so happy." This time her voice reflected the sadness her tears conveyed, and she sat dejectedly on the edge of the bed.
Regina's heart sank. The pain and sadness Snow rarely submitted to was finally breaking through. Hope and optimism only lasted so long before the heartache and desperation took over.
It was instinctual, but the brunette soon found herself offering support in the form of a long hug. Snow stiffened momentarily, and Regina couldn't help but grin because she felt as out of place then as the other woman did. Eventually, they both let out a despondent sigh before they let the embrace feel normal, welcomed even.
"I miss them, Regina." Snow sniffled into her shoulder.
She nodded against her. "So do I." She admitted with hopes that their revelations would allow them to feel just a bit lighter. "Very much."
"Is there any way?" Snow stammered. "Can we ever go back to them?"
Regina found it difficult to keep her voice from cracking, but she managed it if only to keep the woman from breaking down again. "I don't know." She pulled away to look sincerely at her. "I haven't found a way, yet, but I won't give up." It was a silent promise that Snow accepted with a grateful nod.
Ten months.
Three hundred and four days had come and gone, and still she persisted. With great difficulty and hardly any joy she forced herself out from her chambers and with an empty heart she went to bed, but she was no less alive than she had been on day one.
Some days that thought alone provided her with a flicker of hope- that there would soon be a time where she would look back on this and be grateful that she refused to wither and die like a neglected flower.
And she wouldn't.
She was alone, sure, but she was strong because in her heart she carried the strength of two others. Even if they didn't remember her and time and space physically kept them from her.
Still, the emotional anguish that came with missing them was relentless, and she struggled away from watchful eyes even still.
Snow would smile sympathetically at her ever since she shared her emotional turmoil that early morning, but Regina could not find it in her to grant the woman the right to see just how much the pain brought her down.
So, she kept to herself when she wasn't needed or felt obligated to make appearances to stave off the interrogations that would come if she missed yet another dinner.
By now, Regina realized that sleeping was her favorite past-time, especially because there she could meet Emma whenever her heart felt the need for the interaction. That was why when she wasn't busy with the horses or in her vault, she gave herself up to the dreams that sustained her.
It had also been as many days since she first cracked open a book to search for clues as to how to return to the land without magic. Under the ruse that she needed to get back to Henry, though she really did wish to be by his side once again, she worked tirelessly to read through every spell book she could get her hands on.
She long suspected others besides Snow had caught on to the fact that the former Evil Queen was depressed without her baby boy, but that hardly bothered her. Even when her hunch was confirmed when she caught people wrinkling their eyes apologetically or they scoffed in satisfaction as they passed her by. As long as she successfully checked her emotions whenever Emma's name was mentioned, she was content. Because she didn't need any miscreants tainting the connection she shared with the blonde, especially not with their pity.
A particularly angry snarl made her flinch internally as she continued to walk through the garden. She had wronged so many, and she probably deserved the scowl directed at her, but she felt the stabs even more so when they came from those who walked hand in hand with their loved ones.
Their partners.
Their children.
Her pulse quickened as she felt the onset of what she had self-diagnosed as a panic attack. In the last seven months, she had experienced a fair share of them despite her best efforts to fend them off.
Regina's chest rose and fell as she evened out her breathing and perched herself on a bench to regroup.
The stinging behind her eyes was second nature by now, and she damned it all, silently.
Henry looked at his ma from the top of the slide. His eyes wrinkled with concern as he caught the faraway look in her expression. Regina felt the worry her son displayed on his face. The blonde's aloofness forewarned passersby, and Henry tilted his head at that. His ma was never unfriendly, not even to strangers. He watched her sit that way for several minutes, and he kept an eye trained on her while he managed to slide down a few times to keep the less mature kids from yelling at him. Regina saw her son breathe a sigh of relief when he saw his ma finally bring the coffee cup to her lips just as she locked gazes with him. He waved eagerly at her before moving on to the monkey bars, his young mind now free of concerns as he assumed his ma was alright. The sky darkened with clouds that threatened rain, and Regina shuddered in place at the cold that seeped into her bones.
The brunette shook her head against the images, and what they made her feel.
The made-up visions of happiness had become replaced with darker visions of a sorrowful Emma some time ago, and it made the woman even more desperate to find the answers to their dilemma.
"David." Regina approached the man as he concluded his sword fighting lessons.
His smile widened at her. "Regina. I'm relieved to see you out and about." He ventured to drop a supportive hand over her shoulder, and she fought the impulse to shake it off.
"I need your help." She bypassed his comment and headed straight to her objective when he nodded. "Can you find someone else to work the stables- I might be getting close to something in my books, but I need all the time I can get."
Regina could tell he wanted to deny her request then, likely out of some obligation to help keep her sane on Snow's insistence, but she stood resolutely to appear unphased. "Sure." He replied after some silent contemplation. "I'll get someone to do that while you work on getting back home."
The fact that he said 'home' wasn't missed by her, and she nodded gratefully at him before pushing the fuzzy feeling away and straightening her back regally. "Warn whoever it is that if anything happens to those horses, there will be hell to pay." She walked away without even waiting for a response.
Thank the gods for that leather jacket.
She heard the material as it wrinkled into the creases of sand under her while Emma curved her body more firmly into hers.
It was a feeling like nothing else, and Regina silently acknowledged that if it felt this good while they were fully clothed, she might never want to wear anything ever again if Emma was around.
The thought made her snicker to herself before she continued to devour the mouth above her.
A moan echoed between them and the sound was enough to damper the moment. It was like a rogue wave had crawled up the shore to soak her heated skin, and Regina pulled away, their lips making an audible sound when they parted. "Emma," she breathed heavily as she held the blonde's face extremely close still. "What are we doing?" Uncertainty had her drowning in a sea of need and confusion, but she couldn't fight the feeling that she would struggle in that turbulence for as long as she could.
Emma leaned in, fighting against the not-so restraining hands that held her close to place a chaste kiss on the brunette's lips. "I don't know." She admitted, her own breathing labored and hot against Regina's face. "Is this wrong?" She questioned, a hand suddenly flying to wrap around the brunette's wrist as she battled her own self-doubt.
"Probably." It was Regina's turn to reach forward to kiss her.
"Should we stop?" Emma moved in slightly but soon pulled back to look seriously into brown eyes. "Do you want to stop?"
They panted together, and suddenly everything seemed so much clear. The sound of the water, the whistling of the breeze, the light that bathed them in colors, and the thoughts in Regina's head. "No." She smiled as she allowed her fingers to untangle from Emma's hair to stroke her face. "I don't want to stop."
Regina's neck protested the awkward angle, and soon she was back in her vault rather than on the sandy shores back in Storybrooke.
She released an exasperated sigh as she realized she had fallen asleep in a book. Whatever verse she had been reading prior to that was long forgotten now, and she frowned at the fact that she would have to pick up from the beginning when she regained enough coherence.
For the moment, she indulged in recalling the adrenaline that coursed through her veins when Emma kissed her after she told her she never wanted to stop.
Dreams and ephemeral images behind her lids didn't do the moment justice, and that's what made her regain her senses before diving back into the book.
It was much later, maybe even days, she couldn't be sure as she failed to come out for air and read book after book, that she smirked in victory and nearly ran out in search of Snow and Charming.
"You found it." Snow's eyes watered after Regina was through explaining what needed to be done.
Regina nodded in affirmation. "But there is a steep price. As always."
"Anything." David interjected. "I'll pay it."
The once Evil Queen shook her head crestfallen. "Very gallant of you, but it won't be that simple, David." She spared glances at both people before continuing. "You know what I had to give up enacting the first curse."
Suddenly comprehending the gravity of Regina's words, Snow covered her gasp and shook her head. "One of us has to die?"
Regina nodded.
"No." Snow deadpanned much to David's dismay. His eyes searched her face for her reasoning. "I'm sorry, David, but no. I want to get back to Emma and Henry, but not at the expense of one of us. What kind of life would the surviving one lead?" She nearly sobbed.
"I'll do it." David rebutted. "You get back to Emma for the both of us."
"No!" The brunette started for the door before Regina interposed herself between the two.
"I might have an idea."
"Great." Snow rolled her eyes, and the older woman glared at her with her hands placed tenaciously on her hips.
"If you're done now..." she paused to allow for a challenging remark from the shorter woman. "Aside from coercing someone to give up the thing they love most for us, you two are the only ones that can do this." Her eyes begged Snow to let her continue before she argued. "But maybe neither of you has to die."
David's befuddled expression made her continue with her train of thought. "It must be one of you sacrificing the others' heart, but maybe I can use the surviving heart to revive the other."
"You want to try splitting one heart?" David inquired.
"Yes. "Regina nodded slowly.
"No." Snow shook her head steadfastly and Regina couldn't help the frustrated sigh that escaped her mouth. "It might not work, Regina. What if it doesn't work, David?"
The woman looked at both, but neither one had anything to say that could quell her worries.
"It's a gamble." Regina admitted. "But if we ever want to see Henry and Emma again, we have to do it." The gnawing feeling in the pit of her stomach upon seeing Snow's continued reluctance made her shake her head at the woman. "I know it's asking a lot, but I don't know how much longer I can go on like this."
It was a rare and honest moment of vulnerability for all involved, and collective sighs echoed in the room.
"Snow." David finally broke the silence to plead with his wife. "Regina's right. We've all been miserable without Henry and Emma. We need them. And they need us."
"How soon can we get back to them?" Snow finally gave in, something that had Regina blinking back tears of gratitude.
The older woman cleared her throat. "It will be some time before we can gather all of the ingredients for this spell." She calculated the amount of time they would spend traveling to collect the rarer items on the list before she shrugged. "Two months give or take."
"Let's get started then." David's tenacity carried and soon both women were straightening their backs to jump at the challenge.
Outside forces threatened their success.
Even if they could extrapolate all possible scenarios and established multiple contingency plans, something could go wrong. There was no room for error, and it irked Regina that she did not have absolute control.
She voiced it out loud to Snow and David on multiple occasions, but their ever-present and highly infuriating optimism always dismissed her concerns.
'It will all work out as it should, Regina.' Snow's voice echoed in her mind as she carefully added another ingredient to the boiling mixture before her.
All Regina could do was hope the woman was right, because she really could take no more of the separation. The silence just before sleep granted her peace was deafening, and it drove her mad every night.
Her mood lightened when the ingredient reacted as it should, moving her one step closer to completing the spell that would take them back home to Storybrooke.
To her son.
To Emma.
It was the thought of seeing their smiling faces once again that made everything less daunting and nerve-wracking.
With everything in her, she held on to that.
Emma moved effortlessly around the kitchen as she cooked the morning's breakfast. Their son sat patiently at the island while he picked berries from a small bowl in front of him. Good, Regina, thought, getting in some fruits before he scarfed down whatever starchy sugary food his other mother was making him. It made her smile thinking that after everything and all the turmoil, he was as much her son as he was Emma's. Her habits and the small list of kind-hearted things she taught him were mixed in with the blonde's. Her heart fluttered in her chest as she became a willing spectator to the moment her mind gifted her. "Ma, think we can go to the museum today?" He asked while he chewed on another berry. "The museum? Whose son are you? We have a free day, and you want to go to the museum? Not even an arcade or a movie theater?" She asked incredulously as she flipped one more pancake onto a growing stack that they would share. Henry shook his head with a smile. "But you can take me to get pizza and wings after." He suggested with a grin. "There you go. That's more like it." She smiled. "You had me worried for a minute." They shared equally wide grins before digging in.
Just a little longer, and she could insert herself back into their lives.
Regina craved the familiarity of Storybrooke and the warmth of her two favorite people.
In the time they had to ready their people and the spell, many had argued against it, but most had acquiesced to their laid-out plans as they were offered no guarantees that fleeing the Enchanted Forest would spare them from yet another curse.
"You get to go back to a world where surviving is easier." Snow had voiced to the jittery masses. "Don't you all miss the day to day away from the dangers and volatility of this world?"
"What if we lose our loved ones? What if we forget who we are again?"
The older brunette had stood quietly beside the woman as she pled their case, but it wasn't lost on her how many people she would be displacing, again. Except this time, she wouldn't be damning them to an eternal loop of empty lives and forgotten memories, so she offered Snow and her people some hope.
Much to her surprise, everyone listened and didn't interrupt. "This is not like the Dark Curse. We will be going back to Storybrooke on our terms, and it will be to the exact moment in time when we left. Your memories will be intact, I can assure you of that."
Snow and the crowd nodded silently, yet Regina could see the hesitation on their faces, still.
In the end, they had everyone go home, encouraging them to rest and forget about what was going to happen. It was better not to fixate on the inevitable.
When the three of them finally stood around the cauldron, you could hear a pin drop. With no people walking outside or in the gardens, Regina could hear her heart thunder frantically in her ears.
She spared a questioning glance at the couple that locked eyes. "Are you ready?"
Much of what happened after the pair nodded despite their obvious consternation was a blur of acting and reacting.
Wide eyes and shaky hands starred in the intense scene they partook in.
There was little time from when Snow offered Charming's heart up to the steaming cauldron to when Regina pulled the woman's heart from her chest to split it and keep both alive, but the woman worked obstinately and quickly. Even while her own heart betrayed her as it marched to an uneasy beat.
Making sure they survived the ordeal after what they had just done for Emma and Henry was the least she could do. So, she knelt loyally between them while she waited for magic to do its job.
She felt some consolation when she watched both chests rise and fall beneath her open palms.
A rolling thunder edged closer with every passing breath that broke free from her lips, and Regina had a little too much time to really miss the people that held her heart as she witnessed Snow and David in a loving embrace.
Her knees burned as they shook and dug deeper into the stone, but the pain was minimal compared to the pull she felt in her chest as the cloud swirled just outside the windows.
The roaring mass flashed menacingly before everything darkened around them. A coldness engulfed her just as she shut her eyes and clutched her chest.
She was on fire.
Emma was everywhere on her, and Regina still fought to get closer, to mold every inch of herself to every inch of the blonde.
Soft fingertips slipped under her camisole, and she felt a shiver just as it prickled her skin from neck to ankle.
Her ears registered Emma's soft moans as she kissed over her pulse point, sending Regina into a frenzy as she dug her nails into the woman's back to pull her closer.
Like much of what they had been doing so far, it felt natural to her when she secured a leg over Emma's hip. There was no protest, only another soft whimper from the younger woman's lips.
It was then that Regina knew Emma wanted as much as she did.
The thought made the blood rush in her ears to drown out every sound except for the ones they were making together.
And she got lost in it all until her body begged for more.
Even though the setting for their ardent kissing only served to amplify the emotions she felt, Regina was filled with the sudden urge be home. She couldn't wait to roll over the blonde but refrained from doing so in the sand, so she acted upon the only option that occurred to her.
With a quick flick of her wrist, she enveloped their bodies in purple mist and bid goodbye to the lull of the ocean.
She chastised herself as she immediately missed Emma's mouth on hers.
With a concerned look Regina cupped her face. They stared at each other as they breathed in each other's air. "Wow." Emma finally managed through her panting. "That was...exhilarating." She smiled softly down at the brunette.
"More so than what we're in the middle of?" Regina challenged playfully.
The woman shook her head. "Not even close."
They soon echoed each other's wanton exhales as they divested and became acquainted with skin that was once forbidden, trampling over a line that could never be uncrossed.
Regina was not concerned about the repercussions. Because for now, it was only them and what she felt was starting to surface and spark between them- the undeniable truth that their hearts harbored a deeper bond than they had previously cared to admit.
Her moans ebbed and flowed like the tide they recently abandoned.
She tried to hold back, bite her tongue to keep herself from being too vocal, but the fires that Emma ignited across her skin with the mere tips of her fingers made it nearly impossible.
"I never want to leave this room." Emma whispered into Regina's hair.
Her words should have frightened her, but Regina felt her heart soften instead. It was an uncertain future, and she couldn't think past that second, but she was never more sure about what she wanted. Emma was it. "Then don't." She offered without hesitation.
A hot light seared the memory that replayed behind her heavy lids, and Regina quickly reacted, reflexively opening her eyes to gauge the outcome of the spell she and the Charmings had just casted.
She was slightly discombobulated before her vision adjusted to the familiar surroundings- those she never thought she would miss so much. It was an asphalt road amid leafless trees after all. Nothing special.
Except it was.
It was home.
"It worked." Regina whispered as she looked down to study her outfit. Gone were the leather pants of a former Royal- replaced by her loose slacks and her dark peacoat. The scarf around her neck felt like a lifeline rather than a noose.
Somewhere behind her she could hear happy squeals from Snow as she surely engulfed David in a tight hug, but all Regina was interested in was the town line, and what lay past it.
"Please." She prayed as her gloves strained over the knuckles of her fisted hands.
Her thoughts raced while she waited in a panic for the two people she felt tethered to even through the magical wall that separated them.
She replayed every moment she shared with both her son and his mother.
The chaotic ones that even still made her blood boil at their intensity, as well as the warm memories that made her heart flutter with nostalgia. Every struggle was a lesson, no matter how painful, and she was grateful that she was moments away from adding more memories to her collection.
"Regina?"
Emma's hair moved in the wind as she cautiously stepped over the line. Her arm wrapped protectively over a red-eyed Henry as he spotted her.
"Mom?"
Regina released the breath she held captive in her lungs as her eyes filled with tears that cascaded down her cheeks. They carried with them the pain she had felt in the year they were apart.
Their voices filled her with a sentiment she had long ago become a stranger to, one she grew acclimated to rejecting, and she fought hard against the unsteadiness in her knees that threatened to bring her down as the pair rushed towards her. Tears of their own shining on their faces.
Love.
Regina could not deny it, and it was the only explanation for the warmth that swallowed her from head to toe as two pairs of arms wrapped strongly around her.
Finally.
"I missed you." She whispered.
.
There you have it. I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know what you thought and if my muse is working out for us. I hope to make this a thing and put out more pieces inspired by Snow Patrol's music. See you all next time.