Alright y'all, I know it's been a while but school is kicking my ass so give me a break. Here's chapter 2, per your request.
Disclaimer: I don't own OUAT, b/c if I did this ship would be canon.
Snow's Palace (still 9 years ago)
"What do you mean she took her? How could you let my daughter be taken by the Evil Queen?!" Snow screeched. The knight flinched at her tone.
"Your Highness, we were no match for her. She used her magic on us! And there was the matter of the princess. She was all but glued to the witch's side. We had no clear shots." His head lowered. He knew he was screwed.
"I don't care if she had magic, your duty is to keep the princess safe and you've failed!" Snow narrowed her eyes. "Your services are no longer required Huntsman. I banish you from the kingdom! If I ever see your face again you will be killed." With that, Snow left the war room. Graham's head hung as he went to collect his things. He had no idea where he was going but he was no longer welcomed in a place he called home for so many years.
Regina's Palace
When they reached the palace, Regina ordered the guards to prepare the guest chamber. She didn't dare let any of her knights touch the princess so she carried the blonde into the dining area. Careful not to wake her. She had the cook make an extravagant feast, knowing the woman would be hungry after her seemingly taxing journey.
When she heard Emma come to, Regina couldn't help but smile at the adorable look that crossed the younger girls face. It was a look between confusion and sleepiness and Regina felt her heart grow a little more in the presence of this young stranger. Emma rubbed her eyes, "R-Gina?" She said quietly.
"Yes, dear?" she said amused.
"Where are we?"
"We're in my castle, Emma." Emma's heart jumped at her name coming from the brunette's mouth.
"You… have a castle, because you're the, uh, Evil Queen." It sounded more like a question but Regina understood all the same. "Yes, this is my castle and I am the Evil Queen." Regina said, her mask slipping back into place. She wondered why the younger woman wasn't afraid of her, or her reputation.
Emma couldn't help but bark out a laugh causing the queen to stiffen and the guards in the room to become uneasy. Nobody dared laugh at the queen and get away with it. "I'm sorry! I'm not laughing at you, I promise!" She said between fits of laughter. Regina couldn't help the small twitch of her mouth.
"Then tell me, dear, what are you laughing at?"
"It's just… you're not evil. Well at least from what I can tell. I honestly just don't see it is all." Emma had sobered considerably, but still had a smile glued to her face. Regina and pretty much everyone in the room was taken aback by the blonde's words. She doesn't think I'm evil? Is she mental? Of course I am! Does she know of my reputation? The things I've done? Regina's thoughts were going through her head a mile a minute. Emma, oblivious to everyone else's surprise, started eating the second food was set in front of her.
Regina was pulled from her thoughts when she heard Emma speak. "I don't know if I've said it, but thank you for saving me. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been there." Her mouth was stuffed with food and her cheeks looked like they were about to burst. An action in which Regina should have been appalled by but instead found to be very… cute. She shook her head. No! You don't find her cute. You've only just meet her. You have no clue what kingdom she's from or why she's running.
"You are quite welcome. Though I think it would appropriate to ask why you were running in the first place, and from what kingdom." At this Emma ceased her eating and gulped, which didn't go unnoticed by the queen. "I will not send you back to your kingdom if you don't wish to go back but I need to know where it is you are from." She said gently, picking up on the princess' fear of going back. Emma nodded.
"You have every right to know where it is I'm from, but I'm only afraid of what it is you'll do when you find out where that is." Emma whispered just loud enough to be heard. Regina was now extremely intrigued but didn't want to scare the girl away. Since she was at the head of the table and Emma sat directly to her right she was able to grab her hand without knocking anything over. Regina waited for green eyes to meet hers. "Emma, I assure you, I will not be upset with you, nor will I do anything to you." Emma looked for any sign of dishonesty in the brown eyes that were now gazing into hers. "Promise?" she asked.
Regina nodded. "I promise." She said with so much conviction Emma couldn't do anything else but believe her. Regina watched as Emma bit her lip, a move she noticed the woman do several times since meeting her.
"IcamefromSnowWhite'scastle." Emma said so quickly and so quietly Regina barely caught a word she said.
"I didn't catch that, dear. What did you say?" Emma sighed.
"I said I came from Snow White's castle." Regina felt her whole body freeze at the name. No… it couldn't be. If she is from the castle and is the princess then that only means one thing. I am in possession of Snow White's daughter. Regina felt an evil smile come across her face. She looked at the blonde and wondered how she hadn't seen the similarities before. Oh yes, there is no doubt that this is her daughter. But Regina's smile faltered when the daughter of the woman she hated with every fiber of her being, looked into her eyes with such sadness, she could feel a piece of her blackened heat break. "So what are you gonna do to me?" She spoke softly, tears gathering in her beautiful green eyes but none falling.
"Whatever do you mean?" Regina feigned innocence to what Emma found obvious.
"Look I know how much you hate my parents, especially my mom. And now you have her daughter who is pretty much at your mercy. It's not hard to connect the dots." Regina's eyebrows rose in surprise at the girl's clever assumption. They both knew Emma was right. This would be the perfect moment to exact her revenge on Snow White and finally get her happy ever after. With that thought Emma flew across the room, colliding with the far wall, a groan tumbling from her lips. Regina stalked towards her slowly noticing how the girl slumped against the wall. Why isn't she struggling or running? She should be begging for mercy. Regina came to a stop, their faces centimeters apart. Emma was looking down, eyes not daring to meet Regina's. Submission? Regina thought. She grabbed the blonde's chin roughly, forcing the younger woman to look at her. "I should kill you. No, I should send your limbs back to Snow White one at a time for as long as she lives." Regina sneered onto Emma's face, her other hand grasping Emma's neck. The latter only looked back down in defeat, finally seeing the Evil Queen she heard about growing up. Emma looked back up into the brown eyes that were glaring at her.
"Okay. Then do it." Emma said. It wasn't a dare though. No, it was acceptance. Regina could hear it in the blonde woman's voice. And she didn't like it one bit.
"You would allow me to dismember you, body part by body part to send to your mother?" She truly did not understand the other woman's resolve. Emma just nodded, keeping her eyes cast down. "Why are you so willingly accepting of this fate?" Emma looked up then, a look Regina had never seen shining on the other girl's eyes.
"Would it make you happy? To cause my mother such misery?" she asked the queen.
"I would be happier than I have ever been in my entire life."
"That is why I would do it." Regina didn't understand. She was doing it for her happiness?
"You would be tortured your entire life and have your mother suffer the rest of hers for my happiness? Why is that?"
"Your happiness is very important to me, though I don't exactly know why. I just know that the mere idea of you happy makes me happy." Regina couldn't even hide the surprise on her face at the princess' confession. The grip on Emma's neck loosening, her eyes locking the green ones in front of her.
"How could you possibly feel like that? We've only just met." Regina's voice wavered, her fears finally being confirmed.
"You think I understand why in the hell I feel like this?! Why all I want to do is see you smile, or hear you laugh. I don't fucking know, Regina! I don't know why it is that every time I look into your eyes I feel like I'm drowning and I welcome it! I don't understand why every time you say my name, my heart does a fucking backflip! It makes no sense! According to you and my mother, I should hate and be deathly afraid of you, but I'm not! I feel so completely safe when I'm around you. So just kill me because I can't deal with these feelings or the look in your eyes when you tell me you don't feel the same way!" Emma screamed into Regina face until she was done and she voice was gone.
At first Regina was angry, because who dared speak to her that way, and at the last sentence she snapped. "You think you know me? You think you know what I'm feeling? Well you don't, so don't assume you do, princess. You don't think I feel that tug at my heart? Or feel the contentment I haven't felt in decades when I'm around you? Or how when you say my name it makes my knees weak! You think I like feeling so completely vulnerable around you? So weak? Well I don't. I want to hate you and you should be afraid of me, but I pray to all the gods that you're not. And I hate it. I hate how you make me feel," she took a deep breath. "But I can't bring myself to hurt you. The sheer thought of you being hurt makes my want to rip the heart out of anyone who does so. So, Emma, do not assume you know me, because I assure you, you do not!" When she finished, she was breathing heavily gazing at the woman you has brought such powerful emotions out of her in just hours prior to meeting her. Neither woman noticed how the guards were staring wide-eyed at the confession that they just heard come from their queen or the fact that during Regina's speech they had unconsciously moved closer to each other. Their bodies touching at every point, and their faces so close that their noses touched.
Emma was dumbfounded at the unexpected confession that was shouted into her face. She opened and closed her mouth several times but no words came out. Regina was getting impatient. "Spit it out!"
"You… you feel the same way?"
"Did you not hear a word I just said? Because I will not repeat myself."
"No! No, I heard you, I'm just... surprised is all. So what do we do?"
"What do you mean 'what do we do'? We do nothing. I will not be acting on these feelings."
"Like hell you won't! You can't just let both of us suffer! It's selfish, Regina!"
"Well that's why I'm sending you bac-" but before Regina could even finish her sentence, Emma grasped her upper arms.
"No! You can't send me back there! Please don't send me back there! I can't be around them anymore! You don't know what they are asking of me." Emma's eyes pleaded with the older woman. The queen's eyes softened at the blonde's broken voice and watery eyes.
"And what exactly are they wanting you to do." Eventually, after not having cried since she met Regina, the first tear fell and she could no longer hold back the rest. Regina felt her heart break and her anger rise at whatever was causing the princess so distress. Regina gently put her hands to the younger woman's face, using the pads of her thumbs to wipe away her tears. "Please tell me. What's the matter?" Regina said softer than she had to anyone since her love was ripped from her. Emma leaned into Regina's hand closing her eyes. She took a ragged breath before she spoke.
"They want me to marry a prince 8 years older than me. I do not love him but they don't seem to care. My mother says it's for the good of the kingdom." Hatred for her parents leaked onto her voice. Since Emma's eyes were closed she didn't see the rage that contorted every inch of the queen's face. Regina had never felt more angry than she did at that moment. Memories of her marriage to Leopold crashed into her. The thought of Emma sharing the same fate as she once did caused her hatered for Snow White to rocket to new levels she never even thought possible. How could she do this?! To her own daughter! After spewing all that shit she does about true love she's ripping her own daughter's chance away from her to find it? No, I won't kill her. At this point it would be too kind. She will suffer for making my Emma feel this way. Wait? Did I just say my Emma? She is not mine. I can't make that slip up again.
Emma felt Regina shaking, when she opened her eyes she gasped. Regina's beautiful brown eyes were now completely black with rage and hatred. She gulped. "Regina?" She grabbed the hands that were still on her face and held them tightly, trying to get the infuriated woman to look at her. "Regina!" She said more forcefully. When black eyes finally found hers they softened. "Yes, Emma?" The voice didn't belong to Regina but to the Evil Queen. It was low, husky, dangerous and kinda sexy, if Emma did say so herself.
"You're shaking. Are you alright?" She still gripped the queen's hands, hoping to calm her somehow.
"Oh I'm fine, dear. No need to worry about me. What you should worry about is you mother. Because when I get my hands on her, she will feel nothing but pain for the rest of her life." Her face was set, her voice neutral.
"So you're not sending me back?" She asked hopefully. Regina looked at Emma, a small smile gracing her lips. She shook her head. "No, Emma, I am most definitely not sending you back there." The smile that grew across Emma's face could have lit a room. "Thank you!" She screamed before looping her arms behind Regina's neck and pulling her in for a kiss.
Before Emma even realized it, her lips were on Regina's. Shit shit shit! She thought. She hadn't actually meant to kiss Regina but she was just so excited. Before she could move back, Emma felt arms at her waist pulling her closer. Regina's soft lips moved against hers. She felt shocks go throughout her body unaware that the other woman felt the exact same thing.
Regina couldn't think or breathe. All she could do was focus on the lips that were on hers. She felt like lightning was racing up her spine. She hummed in contentment when Emma's hands found their way into her hair, pushing their faces even closer. Neither woman stopped until air became an issue and they began to feel dizzy. When they pulled away, Emma noticed Regina's eyes were black but for a completely different reason now. She slowly unwound her hands from Regina's hair and dropped them to her sides with a thud. She cleared her throat. "Sorry." Was all she could muster. Regina's smirk grew at the obviously flustered woman. She moved one hand from the girl's waist and brought it to her chin, her thumb tracing across the, now bruised, bottom lip. She probed the girl to look at her.
"Never, apologize for doing something like that. Do you understand?" Emma looked up into Regina's eyes. She nodded. "Good." She smiled and leaned down kissing the blonde again. Loving the way Emma unconsciously moved closer to her. But before it could escalate Regina heard a voice from behind her, causing Emma to pull away abruptly.
Regina growled when she felt the blonde start to move away from her, so she just tightened her arms around Emma's hips and turned to the sound from which the voice came. This better be damn important. "What is it?" She seethed The knight gulped.
"I just wanted to inform you that the guest chamber is ready." He squeaked. She loved the way everyone feared her. Well everyone except for Emma that is. "You interrupted me, without knocking I might add, to inform me of something so insignificant?" She help out her arm and the man was soaring across the room landing feet away from her and Emma.
"I'm s-s sorry, your Majesty. I w-was unaware you h-had a guest." But before Regina could respond to the idiotic guard she heard Emma start chuckling. Regina shot her a look. That said 'respect me and shut up'. Emma just laughed harder.
"Sorry Regina he just looks kinda pathetic. I've never seen someone beg for such a stupid reason. People were never afraid of my parents like they are you. It's pretty fun to watch to be honest." A smile slowly made its way across the queen's face. "You find this funny, dear?" She asked amused. Emma just nodded. The knight was extremely confused but didn't dare speak. "You can go, knight. Consider this a warning."
"Thank you, your Majesty! You are too kind." And with that he ran out of the room like it was on fire. Which cause Emma to laugh even harder. "Are you ready to go to your room?" Regina asked when Emma finally stopped laughing. Emma frowned a bit when she heard this. "My own room?"
"Yes is there a problem with that?" Regina was a bit lost at the blonde's confusion. Emma bit her lip, and looked at Regina shyly.
"I was just hoping I could stay in your room." Regina's eye's raised and Emma realized what she had just said. "No, no! Not like that, I just want to sleep in the same bed as you. That's all I meant." She rushed, trying to rectify her mistake.
"And why would you want to stay with me?"
"Because you make me feel safe and I don't want to be away from you." Emma said quietly, looking down at her feet. Regina looked at the younger woman and smiled gently. "Emma." She said, waiting for the blonde to look up. "Yeah?" Regina took both cheeks in her hands and looked into the eyes of the woman that made her feel alive for the first time in years. "You may stay with me for as long as you wish."
And Emma did just that.
Okay this chapter was the end of the flashback. The next one will be 9 years later. Next update will probably be next weekend, maybe earlier if I can. I'll try for earlier I promise! Give prompts in my indox or tumblr or just tell me what you wanna see in this one.
My Tumblr: hipsters-watch-tv