A/N: Okay so I know there was a lot of OQ in the last chapter and the ending was a cliffhanger but fear not – I am definitively not an OQ shipper – Robin Hood's true love is Marian, they should have never introduced this storyline in the first place, as much as I want Regina to be happy, that was the wrong choice even if I didn't ship SQ with like every part of my being. Anyway, this fic is definitively SQ. Do not be disheartened by the last chapter and please keep reading and thanks as always to my lovely friend Hime no Kowai Shumi for putting up with me. :P
Chapter 8
It took her a moment to gather her composure once more, this morning had started off with implications that things were starting to look up, it was only 11 o'clock, it wasn't even afternoon, no where close to ending and it had spiraled so dramatically she wasn't entirely sure she was still standing.
When she didn't answer after a few moments, Emma and Henry were up and beside her in no more than a matter of moments that felt like they took an eternity, when the blonde placed a hand on her shoulder she simply stared at her dumbly, concern shone back from green orbs but that was all she could see. There were no declarations swimming in those depths, just worry, so shaking off her initial conclusions, a scowl masked itself across her face as she tried to avoid the trail her thoughts were so desperate to take her down.
Maybe it was Henry...
"Regina, are you okay?" Finally the words registered and she removed her gaze from the blonde and turned them to her son, he too looked genuinely concerned but she shook them both off and moved to the counter determined to reign back in some more control, she was not a weakling, she was not one to be coddled and resolutely reminded herself of the fact that she was a Queen, to start acting like it.
"I'm fine," She brushed off, taking a seat and glancing at the other two, while she regained her composure.
Henry didn't seem surprised when she had gotten the flower this morning, in fact almost delighted, but surely he was too young for such classical literature... surely that would be something he wouldn't have even learnt in school yet... but that didn't mean anything.
She stared at them disconcertingly for another few moments before drawing a deep breath, the more she stared at them the more fidgety they got... they're working together...
"I think we need to talk," She looked pointedly at The Saviour, her gaze growing cold and almost hard as the blonde interrupted her thought process.
"Regina, I..."
"No, not here," She held her palm up silencing the protests, "You will accompany us home where we will talk about this matter privately, the last thing I need right now is my private business being all around this busy body little town, do you hear me?"
"I..."
"Good," The brunette clipped, lifting her chin slightly and standing once again, "Come along," she muttered sharply as she slipped past them and back out the door.
"Oh shit..." The blonde murmured quietly once the chime of the door signified Regina's exit.
"Ma, language!" The boy hissed through his teeth as he turned to grasp the door knob and follow his other mother, "She doesn't know... she can't..."
"Oh Henry," Emma exhaled nervously, "Oh she knows alright... don't worry, I will fix it..."
"Just don't break it any more..." Henry whispered quietly, hazel eyes connecting with green and she nodded simply as they followed Regina quickly out the door.
The walk home was deathly silent, to which several times both had attempted conversations with the brunette, immediately it was cut short, with a sharp reminder that they were still not to their destination and she was not interested in hearing a word of it until they got to home.
They walked silently up the pathway that lead to the house, following demurely behind the woman who though her stoicism, both could sense the storm brewing beneath dark coals and gingerly came to stand quietly in the foyer of 108 Mifflin Street.
"Regina, before we start this..."
"Was it you, Miss Swan or was it our son?" Regina interrupted not allowing any control of the conversation to go anywhere, in this conversation, she was in charge, she was the only dealing out the cards, this would go how she wanted it to.
"Regina..." Emma whined softly before exhaling in frustration, "Fine, Henry had nothing to do with it..."
"But Ma!" Henry protested valiantly only to have pale hands cover his mouth, he followed with a glare to which she shook her head at him.
"No, you didn't," Emma said quietly but pointedly.
"I already know," The brunette husked and waited patiently for a moment before two sets of confused eyes turned her way.
"You already know what?" Emma asked hesitantly, she didn't want to fight, her whole point in all of this was to make it up to Regina not fight with her but inevitably that was always where they ended up.
"The flowers, the poems... though that's the part that confuses me..." The brunette paused, cleared her throat before walking calmly through to the living room, unused to having company other than Henry, unused to having anyone in this area before except for Robin, which now held entirely new meaning in and of itself, a new heart ache, a new reason to try and shut off the emotions, but she was better than that, she knew that.
They followed her tentatively just as Henry questioned the poem aspect of it while throwing his blonde mother an even more confused look.
"It's okay, Henry," Regina said softly, fingering the pristine white mantlepiece and tilted her head to look at her son, "You can go play a video game if you'd like, I won't argue on how long you wish to play either," She said gently.
"But I'm not done here, you can't just push me out..." Henry started angrily.
"Henry!" Emma cautioned, her tone harder than intended but he paused at the admonishment.
"I'm not," Regina said quietly, a soft smile gracing tanned features, "I just need to speak to Emma for a moment."
At the mention of her first name, instead of the obligatory use of name whenever the brunette was angry with her, caused her stomach to flip for a second, green eyes darting to take in the gentle expression that now resided across Regina's face, one that she had only just started to see the moment they had been sent away from Storybrooke to save the town and ever since their return.
"Okay..." Henry muttered with frustration, before pointing at the pair of them, "But I want an explanation after this is done," and with that followed heavy footfalls up the winding staircase and a loud thump as his bedroom door closed.
"What level of manners have you been teaching him in New York?" Regina sniped the moment her attention finally focused on The Saviour once again.
"I... what?" Emma replied, brow furrowing and a heat flooding her cheeks.
"The answering back? The running in the house?" Regina countered, listing off on her fingers the points she was making, only to find that as she looked up once more, the blonde had paced across the room several steps and was standing in front of her.
"Yeah, well, we both know I'm nowhere near as good of a mother as you were," She replied defiantly, her sentence in itself drawing the brunette to a halt as she realized exactly what the other woman had said.
"That's not entirely true," Regina said softly.
"Well that's what you were trying to say wasn't it?" Emma sniped, "I didn't raise him technically so I have just broken him in the process, right?"
"No," Regina replied firmly, "That is not what I'm saying."
"Shit, Regina," Emma started only to find her frustration at the situation unravel into bouts of laughter to which earned her an intense glare from the brunette.
"Language, Miss Swan, Henry might hear you!" She almost had a mind to reach out and throttle the blonde, "And really? Do you always find my suffering your greatest pleasure in life?"
It went on for another moment before Emma could get a hold of herself, she placed a pale hand on the white mantlepiece to steady herself just as she looked up at Regina, as she attempted a serious face, even though her eyes were twinkling and she finally spoke again.
"I'm sorry, I just... we're always on this merry go round... no matter what we talk about we always end up arguing and I don't know why but if I don't laugh about it, I may cry so..." She paused, her admission finally being the thing that returned her to seriousness.
"Yes, it does seem that we do, maybe it is surely the role of The Evil Queen and The Saviour," Regina replied bluntly.
"No, I don't think that is it especially since I have just seen The Evil Queen a few days ago and you are the farthest thing from her," Emma said softly, any hint of amusement or joking gone from her demeanour and tone and she simply stared at the other woman for a moment, when Regina didn't open her mouth or answer her in anyway continued, "You're a good woman, Regina," She exclaimed quietly.
"Some days I fear I am far from that," Husked tones greeted her ears and as green and chocolate orbs connected.
The blonde's face crumbled at the admission, the brunette's face morphing for a moment to a look of anguish before she watched an immediate transformation back to the hard lines she was used to seeing and Emma admitted to herself... her heart hurt at the sight.
"Anyway, that is not what we're here to discuss," The brunette surged on, turning on heel and gesturing with a brief flap of tanned fingers for The Saviour to follow her, Emma obliged immediately and then they were in the Mayor's study and she closed the door carefully behind them for privacy, after all, their son did have a lot of her own traits.
"Regina, before we start I really need to say something," Emma said softly with a sigh, she watched as the brunette practically glided across the floor to the decanter set that held her homemade apple cider and poured two glasses.
"And before you continue that sentence Miss Swan, I need you to know I'm very confused by your sentiments, part of me wishes to believe that they have been sent... in a ways... to make up to me for your sheer lack of wits in thinking about a situation in it's entirety but the other part of me... I guess if we wish to refer to it as the darker part... feels that you are trying to weaken me completely, to revel in my sadness, to revel in whatever it is you seem to garner from the sight of me depleted and for lack of better words..." She paused and just as she uttered the words, her voice matched it meaning, "Broken..."
"Oh, Regina, no..." Emma replied before she could stop herself, "No..." But for the umpteenth time that day, she was stalled with the sight of a dark palm and her speech stilled in an instant.
"Part of me wants to believe you, Miss Swan," The brunette answered honestly, "But from my experience in these matters, from my experience with dealing with people in general... the only positive influences I have ever had in my life have the same name."
Without saying another word, she drifted across the room, carefully placed the crystal beneath pale fingers finding herself lingering for a moment as she tries to interpret the emotions that travel across the blonde's face before adding quietly, "I'm hoping though that I'm not fooled into thinking that I may add another name to that small list."