2 months ago:
"Your Highness?" the blonde asked as they sat down for dinner that evening. "May I ask you a question?"
"Go ahead." the queen insisted as she nibbled on her rabbit and potato soup. "If you must." Only looking at the emerald eyed beauty for a moment.
"Do you care about me?" the blonde wasn't all that hungry, she barley ate, but she looked down at her soup when she asked the question.
The brunette stared at the women. Of course I care…you're the love of my life Emma. "Yes, in a way. Why?"
"You don't seem like it." the blonde spit back, but calmed her tone. "It's been four months now and…I've been thinking…maybe we could…I don't know…expand our feelings for one another." she paused once more. "I have feelings for you."
The Evil Queen let a loud and dark laugh. "Oh, my. How on earth did that happen?" in the deep, depths of her mind, she was screaming in bliss. The queen leaned forward, placing her fingers under her own chin. "Indulge me, dear. How on earth would you ever love an Evil Queen?"
"You…you've given me so much. More than I could have ever wished for." You're beautiful too, but you will never see it the way I do. The queen's dark eyes went from dense, to soft. She was touched that Emma felt that way. All Regina had done to her over these past few months was use her. She felt too stained for love.
"I am a very wealthy queen. I told you that you could have all of your hearts desires as long as you stay with me. You have fulfilled your duty as my companion, therefore, it is an achievement. Much is to be rewarded here, my pet"
Emma winched. She hated being called pet. Absolutely hated it. "Can you please not call me that? I'm opening up to you."
"I shall call you whatever I want, pet. I will call you a slut for all I care, you will still be here. Doing as I say! Doing what pleases me!" the queen sipped her wine. "As for opening up, that's on you. I didn't ask you to elaborate on your feelings."
"Regina…" she whispered, biting back her tears.
"DO NOT. CALL. ME. THAT!" The queen's fist pounded into the table, which spilled her dinner onto the floor. "GUARDS!" she screamed. Three of them came running to her.
"Yes, your Majesty."
"Clean up this mess. And escort Miss. Swan here back to her room. I fear for her life if she stands in my presence any longer."
Emma shot the queen an evil look as two of the guards escorted her up to her room. I hate you.
The queen watched her servant clean up her mess and then walked over to her tall, Victorian window, looking out onto the horizon. She felt terrible for the way she had reacted to Emma. Just…the way her name fell out of those pink lips were too much for the queen. It held too much meaning to her. She continued to sip on her wine, deep in her thoughts until she had calmed down. I need to make this right, she thought to herself then proceeded to Emma's bedroom. The Evil Queen didn't want to lose her.
When she entered the room, she found to a sobbing blonde. It struck her heart with pain, knowing she acted like a monster. "Emma?" the queen whispered as she closed the door behind her. She sat down on the bed next to the crying woman, took a deep breath and began to stroke her hair.
"Don't…" Emma uttered. "Don't do it, if you don't mean it. I don't think I can bare it."
"Emma…" she wanted to apologize, but it wasn't like the Evil Queen. "The way I acted downstairs wasn't right. I-I shouldn't have acted that way, I should have let you finish your thoughts."
"Why do you care? It's apparent that I'm only a good fuck for you. My feelings are nothing."
The queen placed her hand on Emma's cheek and looked deep into her eyes. Spilling out every ounce of feeling with her eyes. "You are more to me than that. Please, know that." she paused once more, trying extremely hard to insinuate her feelings with her eyes. "I don't know how to love very well."
"I can love you…I see the good in you. I always have." a tear escaped her baby blue eyes, but the queen wiped it away with her thumb. "Regina please…"
"No one can love a monster Emma. Especially an Evil Queen." With a blink of an eye, Regina's demeanor completely changed. She stood to her feet, and ordered, "On your knees, slave. You need to pay for the consequences of your actions. You are way out of line Miss. Swan."
Present:
After Emma cleaned up the cottage and sobered up, she waited an extra day before she went to see Regina again. They were going to fix this mess they had created. Emma wasn't going to give up on Regina. Hell, she had come this far, she wasn't going to let her slip away from her. It was time for them to stop living in fear, and start living in hope.
Regina had waited two days, hearing nothing from Emma. She put her guards on extra watch command just incase and to guard the Woodlands incase anything happened to her. She leaned against the window that evening in her long cotton nightgown, looking down at the blondes animals and smiled to herself. The queen hadn't changed clothes in the past two days. She didn't have the strength or energy. The queen wanted to make things better, be a better person; but was it truly possible? Could she really love someone and let her be loved in return? Could she let all of her walls down? Suddenly, Rumplestilskin appeared. However, he didn't look like himself. He was…different…normal.
"Rumplestilskin? Is that you?" the queen inquired, walking towards the man.
"It is, dearie. I couldn't help but overhear your thoughts." the man retorted.
"What happened to you? You look…different."
"That's because I am, your Majesty. I still have my powers that the darkness possesses inside of me, however, I let it go. Does that make sense?"
"Somewhat. What do you mean Rumple?"
"I let myself be happy Regina. True love is what happened."
"Your servant?" she raised her eyebrow. "Belle?"
"Yes, dearie, Belle. She pulled the darkness out of me. I am still the dark one, but a more…" he pondered on his next words. "calmed down so to speak. When we exchanged true loves kiss, the monster was gone, hence the man standing in front of you. However, wrong me, and you will live to regret it. Understand?"
"I think so, but…why are you telling me this?"
"Because dearie, you're in love and you're fighting it." the queen's breath hitched. "Oh, come now, don't deny it. Don't forget, I know everything. You and I are more alike than you think. You see, dearie, I was afraid of it myself. Afraid of being loved, because I mean…who could ever love a green, scaly, evil imp?" the man wiggled his eyes and smirked. "Sound somewhat familiar?" the brunette glared. "Thought so."
"How? How did you conquer it and let love in?"
The man let out a breath. "It wasn't until that Belle told me there was a man behind the monster. That she had always loved me, and saw the best in me that I was able to finally peel back my dark layers and let her in." he scoffed. "Heaven knows I tried my damnest to fight it. I pushed her away, showed her the ugliest sides me of. Yet, her unconditional love and faith is what lurred me in. I thought I needed power to be happy, but to be honest, I don't need it. Once I lost Bae, that's when the darkness consumed me and I never wanted to be happy ever again. But here I am, eating my words as I am letting this woman love me. I have managed to tame the darkness of the beast inside me to be truly loved." he walked over and placed a sympathetic hand over Regina's. "Let go Regina. The light is so much better than the dark."
"But…love is weakness Rumple…" the queen whispered. The man scoffed and ran a hand over his face.
"Your mother was a piece of work. All she cared about was power. You are not her, dearie. It's time to let that thought go. Love is not weakness…" he paused, looking down and away, then back up at the queen. "it's strength. It took me a long time to realize that, dearie. Don't make the same mistakes I did."
The queen closed her eye, fighting the tears, breathing heavily. When she opened her eyes, as she was about to respond, he was gone. She looked around her bedroom, but was no where to be seen. She couldn't believe that Rumplestilskin, the dark one, was in love. He managed to have both power and love and was happy…Regina knew if he could master that, so could she.
There was a loud bang that came to her door before demanding the guard to come in. Her guard, Thomas, was escorting Emma on his arm, both of them had smiles on their faces. There was a comforting energy when she saw them, and when she looked into Emma's eyes, she knew it was going to be okay.
Once Thomas was gone, there was an awkward silence that filled the room. So much energy made the room hot, and difficult to breathe in. Emma was the one to break the silence. "He's happy to see me. Thomas, I mean. He was always really nice to me." the blonde smiled. Regina stepped closer, placing her hand on the blonde's pale face.
"I missed you." the queen whispered.
"Did you really? Or did you just miss my body?" the blonde inquired, half serious half joking.
"All of you." She pulled the blonde into a tight, loving hug.
"I missed you too, Regina." Emma looked into the queens eyes. Something in her had definitely changed, but she couldn't figure out what it was. She seemed…softer. "You seem…different."
"I feel different. I want to tell you something…"
"Alright?" Emma placed a hand on the queens cheek, caressing her skin, as Regina returned the gesture. "I promise, I won't runaway."
"I…I want to give you all of me. I've given you pieces of me throughout the months, but when I noticed, that's when I would push you away…I knew I could love you more than Daniel. I didn't want to believe being in love again was really possible." the brunette's breath hitched as Emma's eyes bared into her soul. "Oh, how I've longed for your touch…if you only knew." the queen took a deep breath. "I…I'm ready to be happy…I'm ready for you to love me…if you still want to work things out…"
"Regina…I have always loved you. I don't know how many times I have said it. But I will tell you everyday for the rest of my life, or…however long…in order for you to understand. When I look into those beautiful eyes, I see a hurt woman who doesn't know how to accept love or kindness because all you've ever received is pain and heartbreak." Emma ran her hands up and down the brunette's arms, as visible chills appeared. God, how I've longed for this, the queen thought. "I want to mend you…if you want me to. I can try to heal your pain, show you love."
"Oh, Emma…how I've longed for your touch for so long." she leaned into the blonde's caress. "I want to show you love Emma…you deserve it. I want to give you intimacy, not sex. You mean more to me than just sex." the blonde turned her head away, closing her eyes tightly. That's all I've ever wanted…all I ever needed. "Please…let me fix this."
The blonde leaned forward, kissing the queen's plump lips. As soon as their lips touched, the tears began falling down their faces. They needed this…they both needed this affection that was long overdue. The younger woman ran her fingers through the brunettes, lightly pulling on her hair as they deepened their kiss. Soft moans escaped their lips as they fell to the queens bed. The kiss became heated quickly. Tongues caressing, teeth gnashing slightly, their breaths becoming heavier and hands flying all over each other. The queen ripped herself away from the blonde, which confused Emma. "Emma…we need to stop…"
"Yes…yes, we should stop." the women looked into each others eyes once more, trying to control their breathing before lunging at one another once more. Not being able to help themselves, hands having minds of their own, began grabbing at one another with need. Emma was the one to rip herself away from the queen this time. "Regina…If we don't stop, we are going to end up somewhere we aren't ready for…not today anyway." she breathed heavily. The queen nodded in agreement, being at a loss for words. She knew sex wasn't the answer, but God did she want it. She wanted loving, passionate make up sex, but she knew they both weren't ready for that. They craved the affection they had longed for; the intimacy.
The queen lay on her back, trying to control her rapid heart rate, closing her eyes trying to relax. The blonde lay under her arm as she wrapped herself around her. Their first embrace. It felt so right. Emma intertwined their legs together as Regina began to stroke the blondes long locks through her fingers as she hummed in bliss. This was happiness. This was home.