Author's Note: Be a little forewarned that there is implied sexual situations in this chapter.
Chapter 13
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"We have to find them, David! We have to!" Snow was becoming hysterical.
No one had expected for the witch's army of flying monkeys to come bursting in through the apartment windows. There had been at least seven of them. David had been forced into a corner away from Emma in his efforts to keep the animals away from Snow, who was defenseless without her bow.
Hook and Ruby had been busy trying to keep several of the powerful beasts away from themselves, leaving Zelena enough time to attack and defeat Regina who had valiantly tried to get to the other side of the apartment to defend a fallen Emma.
Zelena, as Regina expected, was indeed after her heart. Zelena had tried to steal her heart, only to be disappointed to find Regina without it.
"I will get your heart, sister. And I have a good idea on where to start looking." Zelena promised, the threat in her voice leaving Regina cold with worry.
When Zelena left the monkeys retreated to the windows breaking through them to fly away, but not before two of them had picked up Emma's unconscious body and carried her out the window with them. Before anyone could do anything they were gone, and they had Emma. They'd escaped the apartment, knowing it was no longer safe to regroup. They'd gone to get Henry from the Inn to bring him to the convent which seemed to be the only safe place in town, only to find that he wasn't in his room, or anywhere to be found and Granny had been knocked out cold.
Which led them to where they were now: Snow was hysterical in her need to find Emma and Henry. Regina was doing her best not to simply break down. She couldn't afford to be panicking as fiercely as Snow was, although everything in her wanted to be able to release her unparalleled fear for both Henry and Emma.
Robin and David were trying their best to console the two women, but were coming up short. Very short when it came to Robin's ability to soothe Regina. All he could do was apologize. He had lost the heart that Regina had entrusted in him. He had been overrun by the same monkeys that kidnapped Emma and Henry right from under their noses.
"We will get them back, Snow. I promise." David swore. Knowing he would do whatever was necessary to get his daughter and grandson back.
"Don't be so quick to make promises you can't keep Charming." Regina hissed at the man as she pushed passed him. She was done waiting around doing nothing to find them. There were books in her house that she could use to cast a spell to do a locator spell. She just needed them and the ingredients.
Hook was quick to follow after Regina, knowing that if there was someone who would succeed in saving Emma and Henry, it was her.
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Emma didn't know where she was. She heard the agitated noises of monkeys all around her. So she figured she wasn't exactly someplace safe. Especially when the last thing she remembered was being attacked by a flying monkey and cold clocked with a foot and meeting the cold hardwood floor of her mother's apartment. Then there was the sound of Regina screaming her name before everything went black.
And now everything was still black, she couldn't move, and she was probably in the monkeys lair or den or whatever it would be called.
"Personally I don't know what she wants with you. You're nothing more than a glorified nothing. A useless pathetic excuse for a savoir. Sure you have magic. But you don't know how to use it when it matters. Just like you don't know how to stick around when things get tough. I know you get that from your parents' abandonment and the abuse you suffered at the hands of authority figures. And of course the fact that your boyfriend would have rather you save the world of fairytale characters and go to jail than save you from your fate." Emma pretended she was still unconscious. Hoping that if she was, then he'd shut up. Now, more than ever, Emma wished she had followed her instincts and refused to see this stupid fake psychologist.
"To be honest. I don't really care. I just find it entertaining. The woman certainly knows how to put on a good show. As a former carny at least that I can appreciate, even if she's mad as a hatter." Walsh sighed heavily as he sat down beside Emma's prone body. "I do wish she'd have left your son out of all of this though. I am kind of fond of the boy. It's not his fault he's the truest believer." Emma felt her heart clench. Henry. The witch was after Henry! "Ah well, at least she hasn't crushed his heart yet."
It was like being punched in the gut. Zelena had Henry's heart. That should be impossible. Regina had protected his heart with…blood magic. Regina had thought she was the only living heir of her family, she'd thought it was a sure fire way of protecting their son's heart. She had been wrong.
"I wish you luck, Emma. You're going to need it." Walsh offered the sentiment before he blew something against Emma's face. It tingled and she tried not to breathe it in but it was impossible. She sucked in a deep breath and suddenly everything changed.
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"Why exactly are you following me?" Regina asked for what felt like the tenth time since leaving the convent.
"To make sure you get the ingredients you need to cast your spell."
"What makes you think."
"Let's cut the crap, hmm? We both know that you are far more capable of saving Emma and Henry than those fairies. So let us pretend for a second that we can tolerate each other. I just want Emma and the boy to be safe. That means you have me as a partner whether you like it or not."
Regina sighed, knowing she wasn't going to scare him off. "Fine. But you stay five feet away from me at all times." She still did not trust the man who had so easily handed her off to Greg. She'd suffered the types of pain she'd thought she'd escaped after pushing her mother through the mirror at Greg's hands. She was not so easily appeased by his redemption.
"Deal." He promised as he waited two moments longer before following after Regina. Both vigilantly looking up at the night sky around them for any flying enemies as they made their way to Henry Mills senior's crypt. There were a few things there that she would need.
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Regina had come up empty handed on the location spell. What she had found in its place within her mother's things back in her crypt had kept her busy for the last hour in the kitchen. She was brewing what she knew would be a successful memory potion. She only had enough for five doses. She planned to give one to herself, Charming, Snow, and Henry. The last potion she was uncertain who she wished to give it to. Ruby had showed great loyalty in the last few weeks. But then there was Robin to consider and yet she hadn't truly thought of him since leaving the convent. She'd hardly spared him a glance after he'd said he'd lost her heart to the flying monkeys and thus Zelena.
Her concern could not be spared for Robin and his feelings. She needed to find Henry and Emma. She needed to ensure that her family was safe. Anything and everything else was unimportant.
Regina suspected that Snow and Charming would insist that Blue Fairy be given a dose of the potion so that she might help. But Regina knew that matron fairy wouldn't lift a finger to help them against Zelena. So she would make sure Hook knew, not to give Blue Fairy one of the four vials she was going to entrust to him to bring back to their allies.
"Are they almost finished?" Hook asked impatiently. The sooner the potions were finished the sooner her could leave and give them to Snow and Charming and come back so they could find Emma and Henry.
"Yes, now please. Shut up." Regina was already as tight as a bow string and Hook's constant barrage of questions had not aided in her relaxing.
Regina poured the potion into five vials. She waited and watched as slowly they turned from a green liquid to a shimmering silver that reflected all the colors it came close to. She'd done it!
Hook had to admit he was rather impressed. He was even more impressed when Regina didn't waist a second. She picked up the vial and downed the vile tasting liquid.
Regina coughed and choked on the potion as she grabbed tightly onto the counter top, her memories returning to her. How she had been willing to put herself into a sleeping curse until she could be reunited with Henry. How infuriating Robin Hood was. How she had made it her life's mission to get back to see Henry when it was clear that they had to return to this world. How she'd help kill Charming and broken apart Snow's heart to bring the man back to life. How she'd truly come to befriend Snow and David in the year they spent together in her castle.
"Well, do you remember?" Hook asked as he stood from his stool, maybe slightly concerned for the Queen.
"Yes. I remember everything." Regina smiled, she'd truly done it. "Quickly. Take these to the others." Regina pushed three of the potions forward. She was keeping one with her for Henry. Let the others do what they wanted in distributing the other three. "Then tell them I have a plan. I'll be by the convent as soon as I've finished making what I need. At all costs, keep Snow and the baby safe. She needs the baby to complete her spell. Without him or her, she'll fail. We just need to hold her off until tomorrow morning. If we can do that, she'll have missed her window of opportunity."
Hook nodded as he picked up the potions and ran from the house. The sound of the doors slamming closed behind him had Regina falling forward a bit in exhaustion. She hadn't the slightest idea what she was going to do. She only plan of action that would work against Zelena involved Emma. And it wasn't like Emma was going to come walking through her front door looking for her.
So she needed something plausible. She needed white magic. Something she just didn't have in abundance. And knowing Blue Fairy, they wouldn't have white magic without Emma. That left her back at square one: how to find Emma and Henry. Regina dropped her head onto the counter top.
"Regina!" Slowly Regina's head lifted up from the counter. Had she fallen asleep? Was she dreaming? Or was that really Ms. Swan's voice?
Regina quickly escaped the kitchen and went to the front foyer. She stood in front of the front door where she watched as it shook with the impact of Emma's knocks. "Regina! I know you're in there. Open the god damn door!"
Regina did, but she did so with her magic as she kept a large birth of space between her and the front door.
The moment the door was open, Emma burst through it. Her eyes ablaze and breath short. She appeared as angry as she had been the day before in Granny's office and for the life of Regina, she couldn't imagine why.
"Ms. Swan?" Regina asked wearily.
Emma slammed the door behind her and stepped towards Regina menacingly. "I should beat the shit out of you for the pain you caused. You know that!" Emma yelled as she advanced on Regina.
Regina had no intentions of meeting Emma head to head so she was forced to retreat into the living room.
"I'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about, Ms. Swan."
"Don't you, Ms. Swan me! Do you have any idea how long I've been looking for you? How much trouble I've gone through to make sure that you weren't kidnapped or prisoner somewhere? Huh? Do you!?"
Regina was lost. What in the world was Emma talking about? It was as if Emma was once again living under the impression of Regina's curse. The light bulb went off for Regina. It wasn't like Emma was living under the spell; Emma truly was living inside the spell again. Zelena must have cast the spell on her to keep them occupied on how to get Emma's memories back, not knowing that Regina had perfected the memory potion.
"No. I'm afraid I didn't know." Regina spoke softly, hoping that if she could calm Emma down a bit she could somehow get her to take the potion she still had in the kitchen.
"How could you leave us like that?" Regina was horrified as she saw the tears start to swell in Emma's eyes and the pure strength of will it was taking for them not to fall. "Just up and leave?! We love you. Does that mean nothing to you? Did we mean so little to you that you could just leave us and find someone else to shack up with?"
"Emma, please. I know that you're hurting." Regina walked slowly around the coffee table, afraid to be close enough for Emma to touch her. There was deadly intent in Emma's eyes, and to be honest, she couldn't blame the blonde. If she had actually left Emma the way that she was beginning to realize the spell made Emma and Henry think she did, she deserved the hostility. All of it. From both Emma and Henry.
"How could you know!? You're the one that left!" Emma screamed. "You didn't have to hear Henry crying at night. Hear him ask for you. Watch as he stopped himself from asking about you. Or saying your name. You weren't there. How could you know! You don't know anything!"
But Regina did know. She did know what it was like to lose Henry. She knew what it was like to go to bed crying herself to sleep. What she had never allowed herself to imagine was Henry crying himself to sleep thinking of her as she did every night thinking of him.
"God, I would never want that, Emma. Never." Regina vehemently shook her head from side to side, "I would never want to cause him that kind of pain. Or you. Please, you have to know that I'd never hurt you like that."
"I thought I did." Emma whispered, the tears she'd been fighting off finally falling. "I thought that we could trust you. That you weren't lying when you said you loved us. But you're just like everyone else."
"No." Regina didn't know why she was playing along with this scheme. It just seemed like it would be easier to convince Emma she was sorry and that she loved her, than to convince Emma that magic existed and she was under a spell. But then again, seeing how hurt Emma truly was, maybe it would have been easier to go for convincing the blonde that magic was real instead. "I'm not like the others. I would never hurt you. You can put your faith in me, Emma. You can put your faith in me. Just like I know I can put my faith in you. I can trust you with all of me. You could do that too. You could trust me."
"Lies. Your nothing but a lying bitch, Regina." Emma spat with disdain.
"I'm sorry that I hurt you, Emma. I am." Regina took a chance and stepped towards Emma. This time it was Emma who withdrew from her. "It wasn't my intentions. You have to know that. Dr. Hopper said I was suffering from something." She couldn't recall the excuse that Archie and Emma had concocted to help Henry believe what was happening was real. That he could remember her and she might remember him, but not the importance of him in her life.
"I don't care what he said you were suffering from. You weren't suffering from it that first night. You were just angry. And you left when you should have stayed. You should have let me explain!"
Ah, so it was Emma that had said something to cause the fake her to leave. "How could you explain away what you said, Emma?"
"I didn't mean to say you weren't Henry's family! You're the only family he's ever known! You're his mother and he was devastated when you left us."
"How could I stay though Emma?"
"Easy! You could have talked to me. You could have been angry and not talked to me. You didn't have to leave us."
"I can assure you Emma, that there was nothing more I wanted to do than to stay. I never want to lose Henry." Regina felt her word catch in her throat, "Or you. I've loved you…" Regina swallowed thickly. "I've loved you for what sometimes feels like an eternity. And yet, I've hated you for just as long. You and your freedom from responsibility. You and your lax discipline; how Henry loves you more than he loves me. And yet how you'd risk everything for him…and for me without a second thought. How you saved me over and over again without ever needing to." Regina stepped closer to Emma, glad to see that she stayed still and allowed Regina to approach her. "Without ever being asked."
"Then why…?" Emma asked, the hands at her sides grabbing desperately at the material of her shirt and tugging on it, just to give them something to do.
"Because I didn't have a choice, Emma." Regina cupped Emma's cheek and brushed away the tears that still fell from Emma's expressive blue eyes. "Because I was afraid you could never love me the way I loved you."
"That's such bull and you know it. I love you….with every part of me. I love you." Emma's hands found themselves on Regina's waist.
Regina wished, with every part of her heart that Emma would say this to her when she wasn't affected by a spell. That Emma would be brave enough for the both of them and say what they had never been able to before. "I wish I could be sure of that."
"You can be! You can be!" Emma repeated herself, shaking Regina a bit the second time around.
Regina bowed her head for a moment, unable to let Emma see the tears that filled her brown eyes.
"I love you, Regina. With all my heart and soul. Please, please just say you do to. That you'll come home. That you'll stay. Please. I need you. We need you."
Regina chocked on a sob as she hid her face against Emma's shoulder. She clutched at Emma's shirt as she felt the pain of Emma's words and the joy of them overcome her. It took her several minutes to calm herself enough to lift her head off of Emma's shoulder. She lifted both of her hands to Emma's cheeks. She cupped them both as she stared longingly into Emma's baby blue eyes. And for just this moment she let herself feel everything she'd ever felt for Emma. Just this one moment she allowed herself the freedom to love the woman in front of her.
"I love you too, Emma. More than you'll ever know." Regina took the chance now, knowing she might never have it again. She tilted her head to the side and leaned forward. As she kissed Emma she realized that she'd been wrong in her fantasies. Emma didn't taste anything like she'd ever imagined. She tasted so much better. The touch of Emma's soft wet lips against her own stoked something deep within Regina. A fire she hadn't felt in decades ignited within her stomach and spread like molten flame through her veins.
Her hand slipped to the back of Emma's neck and held the blonde against her lips as her other rested comfortably against Emma's waist. They fit so well together. It made the kiss feel perfect. The taste of salty tears left a bitter tang against Regina's tongue as she swiped her tongue against Emma's bottom lip seeking to deepen the kiss.
It was as her tongue touched Emma's and the blonde pulled them flush against each other, that Regina felt something brilliantly white and beautiful pass through her. It was like being encased in happiness and joy. And it was intoxicating.
Unknowingly to the two women, a stream of magic spread out from their joined lips. The effects of which every man, woman, child, and beast in Storybrooke felt to their cores as it broke through the curse Zelena had cursed.
The need to touch Regina was far too great to stop and talk about what they were about to do. Emma was fully aware of who she was. Of what life she had truly lived and she had every intention of spending the next hour or two exploring the body of the woman whom she'd desired for three years.
Emma dropped her hands to Regina's backside and lifted Regina into her arms. Regina gasped in surprise as she wrapped her legs around the back of Emma's legs. Emma carried the slender woman to the couch and slowly deposited her upon it. Emma perched herself just above Regina on the couch, ensuring that their lips hardly parted as she moved their positions.
"Emma…" Regina whispered, her hand caressing Emma's cheek. There was a clarity within Emma's eyes that Regina wished was truly there and not imagined.
Emma leaned into Regina's touch. She turned her head and kissed Regina's open palm. Emma said nothing at all of what she remembered, of what she knew to be her life. She needn't do so. Not when she could look into Regina's eyes and see everything she'd wanted to see since she drank that potion. The desire and love she'd craved to see within Regina's eyes was staring right back at her.
If they came away from this and it was only to be this one night, in this one moment for them to be together, Emma would take it with both hands and grasp onto it so tightly it would last her a lifetime.
Regina's hand slowly fell away from Emma's cheek. It drifted through Emma's hair and found the nape of her neck, where she grasped ahold of it tightly and pulled the blonde's lips back to her own.
Hands started to explore the contours of the other's body. Slipping at first beneath the fabric of clothes they wore. Before soon the clothing was quickly removed or torn off unheedingly. Their passion and desire for the each other was all encompassing. It was only as they touched and explored each other that the fire they each felt start within their heart was quelled.
They were both so enchanted with each other the taste of the other's skin and just how warm it could be underneath their hands. Soon the simple touch of their hands was not enough. They needed a detailed map of each other's body and using their hands, nails, palms wasn't enough. Their lips and tongues were needed to explore the areas of the body where the skin dipped and curved and grew wet with arousal. So they learned how delicious it was to swipe their tongues over large expanses of naked skin, to feel the skin bubble with Goosebumps and hear the pleasures their touches caused.
And they forgot for just a little while all the troubles surrounding them and the troubles yet to come. For now there was nothing but each other. And maybe just for now that could be okay.
End Chapter 13
