Regina hated thunderstorms. With a passion. Mainly because whenever it stormed, she was reminded of Cora and how she would make Regina stand out in the rain, hoping that Regina would get sick. Enough times getting sick was supposed to strengthen your immune system, at least according to Cora.
It would have been fine if Regina had been given the freedom to walk around and play in puddles. But no, she was magically rooted to the spot. Hence, the bad memories connected with thunderstorms.
Regina usually could figure out when thunderstorms were on the way, and could safely lock herself up in her bedroom for the evening. After she had adopted Henry, they would cuddle together until the storm would pass or Henry fell asleep.
But when he got older, Henry grew out of his fear of thunderstorms, and left Regina alone. So Regina would lock herself in her room and hope that the storm would pass quickly without a panic attack behind it.
It had been easy to hide her fear from Henry since he wasn't really that concerned for her wellbeing. But Emma was a totally different story. She knew that something bothered Regina about thunderstorms, but had never been with her during one.
The day had started out nice enough, but soon Regina got the feeling that a thunderstorm would be rolling in at some point that day. Checking the radar, she was right. A storm was brewing, and it would hit Storybrooke in about an hour.
Regina began to work quickly, hoping to be done in time to go home and get to her room before the storm hit. Otherwise, a panic attack in public might not do so well for her reputation.
"I'm going to head out early," Regina told her secretary. "If anyone calls for me, tell them that I will get back to them tomorrow." Her secretary nodded, so Regina left the office.
Emma was getting off of work early as well, and was planning on surprising Regina at work before forcing her to also get off early. She hadn't cuddled with her girlfriend in a long time with all the craziness that the town seemed to attract.
Emma frowned as she saw the light in Regina's office off. "She headed home early," the secretary explained. Emma's frown deepened. She hoped everything was okay.
She thanked the secretary before heading back out to her car. Would poofing be necessary? Regina hardly ever left work early. So was that a reason to be concerned and poof to the house?
After several minutes of debating, Emma decided to poof herself home. If Regina had left work early, it had to have been for something important.
"Regina?" Emma called from the foyer. No answer. Henry wouldn't be home yet because school was still going on, so Emma decided to do some exploring.
Emma walked up the stairs to Regina's bedroom. The door was shut so Emma tried the handle. Locked. That was even more of a red flag. "Gina?" Emma called, knocking on the door. "Are you in there?"
No response again. "I'm coming in," Emma warned. She didn't hear anything again, so Emma poofed herself into the room. Regina sat on the bed, curled into the fetal position.
"Regina?" Emma asked, walking over to the bed. Regina didn't look up. As Emma got closer, she noticed that Regina was shaking. Sure signs of a panic attack.
"Regina, look at me," Emma commanded. She reached out and lightly squeezed Regina's arm. Regina gasped before shrinking away from Emma's touch.
"Please let me back in," Regina pleaded. "I think I got sick. Please just let me back in."
Emma looked at Regina in confusion. "Let you in from where?"
"Outside," Regina whimpered. "Please mother. Let me back in."
Regina's pleading hit Emma like a ton of bricks. This was Cora's doing. Again. Cora was the main source of a lot of Regina's pain, and Emma was trying as hard as she could to reverse everything that Cora had done.
"Regina, look at me. It's me, Emma. You're not in the Enchanted Forest anymore, and you're not with Cora. No one is going to make you stay outside in the rain. You're already inside, see?" Emma said.
Regina blinked a few times before focusing on Emma. "Emma?" she asked.
Emma smiled. "Hey there," she said. At that moment, lightning flashed and thunder boomed. Regina winced and whimpered before curling tighter into a ball.
"Hey, look at me," Emma said. Regina looked at her with wide eyes. "It's just a thunderstorm. Cora isn't here, and no one is going to make you go outside. I'm right here."
Thunder boomed again and Emma held her arms open for Regina to cuddle into. For the rest of the storm, Emma rubbed Regina's back soothingly and comforted her. As the storm slowly died away, Regina pulled away from Emma's embrace.
"I have a question for you," Emma said. Regina leaned back against the pillows on the bed and waited.
"Why did Cora make you stand outside during thunderstorms?" Emma asked.
Regina winced. "She wanted me to get sick so that I would build up my immune system. That way, when I was queen, I would never have to take sick days."
"That's awful!" Emma exclaimed. How could a mother do that to their own child?
Regina just nodded. "The worst part was that she would magically root me to the spot. I couldn't go anywhere. She would leave me out there until morning, so that even after the storm was done, I still had to stay outside in the cold."
Emma's fists clenched. "Why that little-"
"Language," Regina interrupted, knowing exactly what Emma was going to say. Emma smiled sheepishly.
"Well, from now on, whenever there is a thunderstorm, we'll do it together," Emma said. Regina smiled before leaning in to give Emma a kiss. Suddenly, thunderstorms didn't seem so scary with her Savior at her side.
I'm all caught up! Thank you sooooo much to everyone that reviewed. It was fantastic to come back from vacation and see the new reviews that everyone posted. Thank you all for accepting the challenge, and please continue to review!