The Fragility of Losing Someone – Chapter 6
A/N: Okay, I've planned it out fully and it's going up to Chapter 9, so you get 2 more chapters than I originally intended. Watch the tension ramp up in this chapter! Enjoy.
Furthermore, check out my new story, Paint You Wings. It's a SwanQueen AU that I'm sure you'll love! ;)
"Dad!" Emma shouted, turning round to face the pair who were chasing her, "You can't stop me!"
The trio were unusually loud, not caring about the others around them setting up mock shelters in the forest. All the townspeople had moved out, now waiting on edge to see if their Mayor won the battle with her mother.
While everyone else was on edge, the blonde Sheriff could not help but step over that line of waiting. She, instead, was making her way over to the town again, out of the forest to help Regina, the one woman she knew she should hate.
"Emma," Snow's voice was desperate now, far different from the anger that Emma expected. She turned to her mother, seeing scared eyes beneath a fierce expression. She knew being in a forest bought back memories for them, memories of their home even though they knew they loved Storybrooke.
Emma finally stopped walking, knowing that she would get nowhere dragging her parents along with her, she'd probably get them hurt, something she really didn't want to do. She knew that it was highly unlikely that no-one would get hurt today, or injured, she just hoped those words weren't Regina's fate.
"You can't do this, Emma. We can't lose you again," Snow lightly touched the red leather of Emma's jacket, her eyes shining brightly with tears of fear, "We don't understand why you want to help her…"
"I-" Emma stalled, knowing that the words she knew to be true would not form in her mouth. She paused instead, gathering her breaking emotions and putting up the wall that had hidden her feelings for so long, "She's the mother of my son. I have to save her."
The blonde turned round and started walking over the uneven ground, knowing that her parents would not follow her. She had to do this for Henry. He could not lose another parent. She couldn't abandon him again.
"Emma."
A voice called out behind her. Snow was waiting, looking at her with a sad, but hopefully gleam in her eyes, "Do you love her?"
Emma's eyes connected with her, giving an silent exchange that showed her mother, but ultimately her best friend, that she was right.
Across the town, among the battered ruins of houses and shops, Regina walked solemnly along the middle of the street. She couldn't bear to look around, seeing the destruction caused by her son's absence that had broken the town she'd come to love so much.
Her house looked more destroyed than anything, with the right half crumpled in on itself, like there was a black hole at the centre sucking everything in. Her beloved apple tree lay crushed under a large piece of rubble, the twigs laying hazardously over a large crack in her back garden.
"Mom?" A small boy's voice called out. Regina turned quickly, hunting out the bluish green eyes that she'd remind her so much of another person, someone who she'd left behind.
"Henry!" Regina started running, but stalled herself as she realised the boy was being restrained by magic. He battled furiously at the black vines that wrapped around his arms and stomach. Regina's mind flashed back to when his grandfather was doing such a similar thing, trapped against the wall of her hallways by her own tendrils.
She ran over quickly to him, but was stopped around two metres away as an invisible wall stopped her from getting past. She was close enough to see the tears running down his cheeks, and eyes flushed red from clear previous upsets. One large gash ran along his cheek, seemingly dried with blood. She glanced over his body as quickly as she could, her eyes resting on a large blood stain on his knee. A small sob escaped her, thinking of her small son all alone out there, in a forest she hated so much.
"Hello, dear."
The brunette turned quickly, coming face to face with the woman she'd tried to escape from all this time. She looked older now, clearly worn from the years where her daughter had lived out a life so independent from her own.
"Mother," Regina's voice was cold, pushing her emotions back. She knew her mother wanted to get to her, push her back into the darkness that resided in her soul. The darkness she'd so desperately tried to cleanse.
"Aren't you going to introduce us?" Cora nodded towards the small boy being held by her magic, no longer struggling as he watched with fear as his own mother confronted her.
"I believe you've had enough introductions already."
Cora laughed, putting on a sweet smile as she tried to convince her daughter, "Not formally, of course. It was most unfortunate that we had to meet under such dire circumstances. He is my grandson after all."
Regina's face flooded with anger, her cheeks tingeing with red as she felt her emotions push into her again, "Henry will never be related of you. You are not worthy of his love!"
Cora didn't falter as Regina stepped closer to her, pushing out her shoulders to look threatening. She'd known her daughter for long enough. She'd always let love be a weakness for her.
"You called him Henry? How sentimental are you, naming him after his lousy grandfather?"
"My father was a great man!"
"Your father watched on as I moulded you, Regina," Cora shouted, "moulded you into a Queen that he never wanted. He may have loved you, but he was never great"
"What could he do, Mother? After all, you had him wound around your little finger so tight that he was well aware you would kill him without a moment's hesitation!"
Cora laughed again, her face brightened with pleasure as she knew her daughter was losing her nerve. She just had to wait, wait until she could flex her and bend her back into the mould she'd spent years trying to make for her.
"But we both know who killed him."
Regina growled, realising what her mother was trying to do. She knew she couldn't let her anger out through words. She would just twist them and cause her even more angst.
Instead she flicked her arm, sending a fireball flying towards her mother, a mother that should have loved her rather than forced her into a marriage just to gain power. What was power anyway, when all it brought you was hardship and anger?
Cora's arm flicked harsher, watching the fireball dissipate into the air. Clearly her daughter was trapped in her old ways, with memories keeping her latched on to past experiences and actions, keeping her in regret.
The older woman sent up her black tendrils at the other brunette, rising up from the cracks in her daughter's beloved town. They were cut deftly by an invisible knife, controlled by her daughter's magic, causing cracks in the air as the purple smoke sped around them. So she had learned some new tricks…
The fighting continued, as Henry watched helplessly as his mother slowly gave way to the woman who had kept him captive. He felt tears stream down his face. This wasn't how it was meant to be. They were meant to be happy now the curse has broken, happy in Storybrooke. But now the town was destroyed, the famous clock tower he loved so much now battered so much that it almost looked unrecognisable. His eyes glanced to the clock, now fallen inwards and resting precariously on a wooden beam.
It read 8:15.
Henry smiled. He knew there may be a chance everyone could survive this - a chance that someone else could come and help, like they always had, in times of need.
This smile faltered however, as he realised the dangerous position his mother was now in.
"Mom!" he called out, not realising what his actions would cause. Regina turned quickly, eyes bright with worry as she found him. Her foot slipped, causing her to fall unsteadily next to a large crack in the road.
Regina looked up, thankful that her turn stopped her from falling down directly into the crack. She looked up, seeing her mother standing over her, fireball hovering in her hand.
"You clearly won't conform to my ways, dear. It looks like I'll have to kill you instead."
A/N: Next chapter coming soon!