AN: Hello all. This is my first attempt at a Swan Queen piece. I have been a fan of this never told romance for a few years now, but have never actually felt the need to write it out. Until now. This is the result. I hope you all enjoy it. All mistakes are mine, and I apologize in advance.


"Emma, no!" Regina hoped that her plea had been heard over the roar of wind that caged her in and separated her from her friends. "There has to be another way." She heard the struggle in her voice and wished she could sound more convincing.

"There isn't. You've worked too hard to have your happiness destroyed." The infuriating blonde carried on, and ignoring Regina's supplication, she charged tenaciously towards Evil.

Through the breaks in the swirling blackness, Regina could see Emma's eyes looking sadly back at her.

They both had worked too hard for this to be happening.

Regina is scared.

Very few memories she can recall evoke the same level of fear she feels taking over her right now.

She was the Evil Queen, after all. She had built an entire repertoire of instilling fear in others just because she could, and not many had managed to turn the tables on her.

Only facing certain death after being marked for a wretched wraith and dealing with the very real possibility of losing Henry had made her feel as helpless and desperate as she felt watching the scene unfolding before her.

What would become of Emma once the darkness was done with her. The brunette suspected she knew the answer but refused to let it creep up on her and settle there.

Still, the threatening feeling persisted.

It was as good as set in stone that Emma had initiated a chain of events that would lead to her unjust and untimely demise.

Regina gasped as she was forcibly rejected by the spinning essence of matter that had just a few seconds ago wrapped around her. Not only because her heart was breaking knowing that one of her only friends was about to be taken from her, but because it was happening in exchange for her own life.

She wasn't ready to think about what happened after that. What kind of life would they lead, would she lead, without the kind-hearted and passionate woman? This was bound to break her. This was bound to break Henry.

Their son.

What would he say when he found out his mom had willingly given up her heart and light magic for his once evil mother?

How was she to tell him?

Damn it, Emma.

She had been so quick to jump into the darkness that Regina doubted she thought about what this would do to Henry. The woman always acted first and dealt with repercussions later.

One too many times, Emma had sacrificed her own safety for someone else's. Foolishly fulfilling that cursed Savior Complex. Surely, this would be the last time.

It sent Regina on a rampage of internal rage. That title had been so naively bestowed upon this poor, unsuspecting woman, and she was only ever oh so ready to follow through. They were very alike in that way. Two sides of the same coin.

But Storybooke didn't need someone to save it. They didn't need someone to repeatedly place their life on the line for theirs. Regina didn't need someone to sacrifice themselves for her.

Yet it was happening.

This was indeed the steepest sacrifice ever made, especially in her honor. Death was swift and it granted peace in the end. Evil, true Evil was hell on the poor soul that denied it. And Emma would fight it, Regina was sure.

For as long as she could anyway.

It hurt to accept it while she watched Emma give up her happiness and her own heart to become the next Dark One.

Love, in whatever form, was weakness.

It was a weakness that the Evil that spun frantically around Emma took advantage of, and it was relentlessly doing so.

Its vortex obscured the blonde for a few seconds, only allowing glimpses of the woman when flashes of white-hot lightning struck and echoed around them in thunderous claps. It illuminated her menacingly in a contrast of light and dark.

Regina struggled to look away despite the pain she felt searing inside.

Because it was tragic, it was chaotic, but it was also beautiful.

And though it was frightening to see, Emma looked ethereal. Her beauty matching the grand gesture she had just thrust herself into. Her sacrifice, highlighted by flashes of light that accentuated her blonde waves and sea green eyes as she locked gazes with the brunette, was enthralling.

There was no look of pain or suffering, just quiet resilience. Ever Emma Swan.

For Regina, there was intense clarity.

As the lightning continued to dance around Emma, Regina realized the blonde's sacrifice is not the only precious thing this woman had offered a defunct Evil Queen. It's also her unequivocal belief and trust in her ability to be good and remain so. And her heart aches under her ribcage again, threatening to expose the deepest and most unknown emotions she has ever felt for anybody.

And suddenly, she wanted to reach out.

She wanted to hold out her hand to offer up her own strength. If only so Emma knew that she was there with her as the powerful darkness consumed her.

Tendrils of Evil continued to seep into each one of Emma's pores, and the dark sky brightened directly above her to illuminate her entirely.

Blonde hair tousled.

Cream sweater pristine and unblemished.

Porcelain fingers wrapped tightly around cold curved steel.

Bright eyes that appeared to be losing their light.

The blonde called to no one as she took the brute force of Evil quietly, but Regina felt the pull, and if not for Robin's arms tightening around her protectively, she was sure she would have walked right into the maelstrom then.

It was mayhem, and it pulled her in like a moth to a flame, and the fleeting thought frightened her. Was it because of Emma, or because of the Evil that swirled around her? Either way, the woman wanted to follow her in and that was a jarring and revealing notion.

Regina swallowed the tears that had begun to well up in her eyes and constrict her throat.

The intense clarity returned with another bolt of electricity. Her fear was back, too.

The threat of a darkened Emma Swan was very much happening, and it was inevitable.

There was no use in trying to stop it now. The force inside her would work hard to snuff out the lightest parts of her, the good memories, and all the love she felt for her family and friends. Power would become her priority, not love. Even a Savior could not entirely fend that off alone for too long.

All Regina could do was hope then.

Hope that Emma would wait for her- that she wouldn't let herself be completely extinguished before she could save her. So, she closed her eyes and sent out a prayer, something she never did, that Emma would stay as she was right now just a little longer. She needed the woman to hang on to the last shreds of Emma past tonight.

Because she was there still. She could tell amid the pandemonium and swirling strands that she was. Regina could see her. Her blonde locks moved in slow motion, appearing brighter than the sun, as she cast one final look at Regina.

That was their Emma.

Asking her silently to rescue her, as she had just saved her, because she trusted she would.

So, Regina would find a way, and she would bring Emma back. If she had to upend every world and travel to Hell and back to do so, she would.

This maddening woman, the mother of her son, deserved that and much more, and Regina appointed herself her caretaker from that moment on.

A strangled cry echoed somewhere off to the side, and as Regina managed to tear herself away from Emma, her brown eyes caught Snow's distress. She was collapsing, and probably would have hit asphalt had Charming relinquished his hold on her. There was no way she could be apathetic to the image, and for the first time in a long time, Regina Mills felt her heart break for Snow White.

She felt her pain, perhaps in different ways, but she understood that they were about lose someone very important, and it hurt just the same.

Regina swallowed the anger that wanted to manifest itself in a scream. She felt arms tightening around her as Robin offered up his strength, surely with hopes of getting her past the moment. She felt guilty when she heard him whisper encouraging words by her ear. He was worried for her, yet she couldn't feel anything past the sense of loss. Seeing Emma ripped away from them, from her, it was the only thing she was processing.

Regardless, she reciprocated the embrace and covered his hands with hers to thank him wordlessly. He was flawed, they all were, but he was caring and noble. She was grateful for that.

The restless spinning began to quiet down before them, and with it took Emma, leaving behind a hypnotizing dance of dried foliage as it floated back down to the earth. It was then that Regina came to an irrefutable conclusion.

She had wasted so much time.

Regina had hungered for vengeance. She had lived through years of self-loathing, had learned to live with it, and had eventually overcome it to seek out her happiness by fulfilling a fate long ago foretold in Robin, but had she been blinded by a false sense of comfort this entire time?

Had she turned away from an entirely different pursuit because she felt safer on her current one?

Should she have carved out a path right through that mountain of denial she had been scaling since perhaps the beginning of this tale?

So many questions clamored for answers she could not claim to have. Or perhaps she did but failed to accept them.

Until now.

As real as the Evil that had taken Emma with it, the truth consumed Regina then.

She loved Emma, more than she should be allowed to, but she did.

And though the timing couldn't be worse, she accepted it, and rejoiced in the flood that threatened to take her down to her knees.

It was only reaffirmed when her heart was ripped from her chest and taken into an invisible vice grip as she heard the clanking of the dagger that fell, abandoned by Emma's grip.

It was done.

Evil had succeeded.

Emma Swan, the new Dark One, was tethered to that frigid blade, and like a cruel joke, Regina was left standing distraught and essentially alone.

Seeing it glisten as a stray streak of lightning reflected off it made Regina come to life again.

With a renewed sense of purpose and determination, she unwound herself from the protective arms behind her, and walked to retrieve the dagger. She glared at it, willing it to sense her challenge as she promised once again to undo this mess and get her Emma back.

Breaking it to everyone, including the Dark One herself, that she had chosen her happy ending would be difficult.

Another battle for another time.

...

So, there you have it. Could you feel Regina's heartache, because I could. Hope you guys enjoyed it. I have another piece, the darker side of this one if you will, and it only awaits editing and publishing. Hopefully I can do it soon and share it with you all. Stick around, this could be the start of a beautiful friendship.