For the first time, the castle seemed cold. Empty, too, though only one of the dozens of residents was missing. And dark, though the daylight still shone through the windows, and there was an abundance of candles and torches to be lit as soon as night fell. Emma clutched the small, sleeping boy to her side and wondered if she would ever feel as she should.
You are his mother, Emma.
Her footsteps echoed in the desolate building. Regina would be approaching the border by now. Perhaps she had already reached it, perhaps the guards had already seized her. They would trap her in chains, they would restrain her, ripping at her soul as they kept her from her magic. Visions of torture, punishment, and terrible pain swirled in Emma's mind as she walked.
Walked, and walked. The boy liked movement. Henry. Henry, her Henry, her named and beautiful child.
"It's okay, kid," Emma whispered. "It's gonna be okay."
She did not believe the lie, but maybe he would. She rubbed circles on his back as she had seen Regina do, and wondered how often he needed to eat.
This was her fault. Emma's. It was her family, her PARENTS, that were causing this. She should never have left them, if she had stayed with them as a child she would have suffered but she would have grown into a queen, a good queen, and perhaps one day she would have met Regina...
Bullshit, her sanity reasoned. She would have gone crazy. There would have been nothing good left in her. She would have ended up more evil than Regina at her worst, with no love in her heart to save her.
But she should have gone back. Henry was safe, she'd had to bring him. But Regina had not had to leave. The queen was right, there could not be a war. Nothing good could be built upon the blood of innocents. But Emma could have gone to her parents.
"And then what? Do you truly believe they would stop? That they would leave me to rule my kingdom, that they would even allow me to see our son, let alone keep him? Emma, you are not a fool. I know you are brave, I know you are strong, and I know that you care for me, but it is me that they despise. It is me they want to keep you, and Henry, from. You going to them will only cause you more pain - and so help me, I would send my entire kingdom to their deaths to save you from that pain, Emma Swan. Every last man, woman, and child. I am not proud of that, but you must believe me, the only way to avoid war is for me to surrender myself."
Why did she always have to be right? So brutal and honest and full of the raw, vicious love that both terrified and thrilled Emma. The worst part was, they had been so CLOSE. So close to their happy ending, so close to perfection. Emma had fixed it, she'd figured it out, she'd solved everything with Rumple, she'd escaped with Henry, she'd gotten back to Regina and made things right with her and THEY WERE IN LOVE, goddammit, they were in love. She loved Regina, Regina loved her, they had the most amazing, hilarious, wonderful child, they were a fucking family. She, Emma Swan, had a family. Why couldn't it have ended there? Or started there, or just stayed there?
Emma kicked a door. This sucked. The lump in her throat swelled and ached and she began to cry, even louder than Henry did when he woke up. They cried together, for their idiotic queen, who had gone to save them.
Emma went into the bedroom, unsure what she was looking for. She found it on the balcony; the sun was setting. Birds screeched, wolves howled, and Henry stopped wailing to watch as blood slowly darkened and drained from the sky, leaving it a bruise like purple that faded to black.
"Where's Mama?"
"Gone."
"When's she coming back?"
"I dunno, kid."
"Is it soon?"
"Sure, soon."
"Before bedtime?"
"No, kid. Not before bedtime."
"For breakfast?"
"No, not for breakfast either."
His bottom lip trembled ominously. Emma began to hum. It was the song she'd heard through the door, when she'd known nothing, when it had all just been beginning and everything was glowing and fresh. She hummed as Regina had, somehow happy and sad at the same time. She hummed the lullaby over and over, carrying Henry to bed, changing him into his nightshirt, tucking him under the covers. He was exhausted. Finally she stopped, sure he was sleeping, but as she moved to leave he stirred.
"Stay," he mumbled.
Emma kicked off her boots and climbed into his bed, wrapping his tiny body in her arms. She didn't want to be alone either.
BREAK
EARLIER THAT DAY
"We don't even know that they're coming."
It was a stupid protest, and Emma didn't even voice it. Because they did know. Of course her parents were coming. They had restrained and tortured her already, they did not care that this was what she wanted. Oh, they were coming, and they were probably bringing an army.
Which was why Regina had to go now. Tonight. Immediately. But…
Regina thought about it. Everything. The last weeks - and it had just been weeks. She thought about Emma, coming back to her and bringing something Regina had not even thought possible.
Love.
And then it had happened so fast. The bath. The bed. Everything seemed to come back to the bed. And she should have been thinking then, she should have left, then, but then there had been Emma, Emma, everywhere, and Regina had needed her.
Regina still needed her.
"I love you."
It ached.
Emma stood up; she had been sitting on the end of the bed, picking her nails like a commoner.
"I know."
Regina was still, waiting. She had perfected the art of outer calm, no matter the turmoil she felt inside. Emma's eyes burned, they were so many colours and Regina was struck by the desire to memorise every single one. She wanted to picture those eyes as the arrow pierced her heart - that would be the way, she knew, somehow.
"Forgive me," Regina breathed, and she did not mean for what she was about to do.
Emma considered. She knew what Regina had done. She knew the pain she had caused, the violence, the suffering.
"I would have done worse," she said.
"Liar."
"No. Not to you."
"You should forgive them, too."
"Why? They are taking you from me."
"I am going willingly."
"To save your people."
"And because it is right."
Tears trickled down Emma's cheeks. "Now is not the time to get all romantic about your redemption. Who wants to love a hero, really?"
"Everyone?"
"Not me."
"Tough shit."
"Touche."
Their mouths were inches apart.
"Is this it?" Emma breathed. "Is this all we get?"
"It's already more than I ever thought possible," Regina said, and it was only then that she was sure she didn't wish they'd never met.
"I love you." Emma cried bitterly, for she was bitter. She despised her parents, her lineage, her entire kingdom.
Regina kissed her until she was sweet.
They tore at each other's clothes, using everything from magic to fingernails until every stitch was on the floor, and then they tore at each other with desperate, gentle hands.
The thing about fucking for the last time is that it can never be enough. Regina lay exhausted in the vice grip of Emma's embrace, resigning herself to this realisation. It interested her that the majority of their relationship had been formed in this bed. They had learned everything about each other, first physically, and then deeper. Emma kissed her hair. Regina shifted, reluctant to move but nearing uncomfortable from being held so tightly. Emma loosened her arms.
"Are you leaving?" she asked quietly.
Regina thought about a girl in a tattered pink dress.
"Not yet. But soon."
"Stay the night?"
It was early afternoon.
"If I stay the night, I will never leave."
Emma thought about everything she had struggled through. A palatial castle and an adorable child were heaven in comparison. Her future was bright.
But without Regina, it was empty.
"For Henry," Emma whispered. It seemed an awful weight for a three year old.
"There is no other way."
"I wish I could be the one to die for you," Emma said. She felt foolish, as if she couldn't understand, as if Regina ought to be insulted.
Regina wasn't. "I would wish it, too. I am sorry, Emma, that it is this way. I am so sorry that I must do this to you."
She slipped out of bed and into the bathroom. Emma cried openly, but it seemed the Queen remained unwilling to let her watch. She emerged minutes later, fully dressed in elaborate, evil black.
"Like when we met," Emma said, pulling on her pants and shirt from earlier.
"It seemed appropriate."
Emma threw her arms around Regina and her regalia.
"My heart is with you," Regina whispered, tangling her fingers in messy blonde hair.
"And mine with you," Emma replied.
"Close your eyes."
Emma was surprised, but did as commanded.
"I hear Henry. I'll catch him on my way out."
Emma opened her mouth to speak but she felt a finger on her lips.
"Quiet now, love."
A silent pause.
"Did you hear me?"
Emma shook her head.
"Do you smell me?"
Another shake, a tiny smile.
"Keep your eyes closed. Do you feel me with you?"
Emma nodded.
"Feel me, Emma. Whenever you close your eyes."
Regina ghosted a kiss to Emma's trembling lips. Emma didn't open her eyes. She forced herself to keep them closed as seconds dragged into minutes and she told herself over and over that Regina was still with her, right beside her-
"He wants you."
It was Mal. Emma opened her eyes and held out her arms for the panicked boy who seemed to know everything he hadn't been told.
BREAK
Regina rode. Her black cape billowed out behind her and she dreamed that she was flying. She rode too fast, through the castle gates and forests, past houses and hamlets and children playing, waving to her, the blur that was soon to cease to be their Queen.
The journey went by in a flash of green, sunshine, and nostalgia. Regina dismounted and smacked her stallion so he ran from her, back into the woods. It was not difficult to make him afraid.
There were wards on the border. Guards, too. Regina clenched her fists to stop herself from suffocating them. They were idiots, yes, but they did not deserve to die.
She stepped over the line, feeling "light" magic shimmer through her. She stood to her full height plus six inch heels and raised her hands in surrender.
Two guards watched her cross, and approached her warily, freezing when they recognised her. She could hear them muttering about their impending doom, and leaned forward a little.
"I'm not holding my hands here for the good of my health. I surrender," she called to them.
"You could be lying," the taller one called back.
"Yeah, how do we know you won't kill us?"
"I haven't yet," Regina pointed out.
They muttered some more.
"Why do you surrender?"
"I desire an audience with the Queen." Regina injected as much sarcasm as possible into the final word. Queen, indeed. Spoilt brat, more like. But that was a debate for another time.
"How do we know this isn't a trick to get close to her?"
Regina rolled her eyes, but remained calm.
"I believe she possesses a magical damper of some kind."
They stared on blankly.
"A leather cuff? She used it to torture her daughter?"
"Princess Emma! So it's true! You kidnapped the Princess!"
"Twice!"
"I did nothing of the sort. Will you take me to Snow?"
Another conference. Stupid and Stupider. And these were the best of Snow's army? Regina took some comfort in the fact that, had there been a war, she would definitely have won.
"You must be tied up," Stupid declared.
Regina chose not to mention she could easily escape with magic at any time, and allowed the guards to cautiously approach, admire her outfit, and tie her rather haphazardly with a rope they found at the side of the road.
Then there was the question of who she would ride with, which took even longer to answer because they took her suggestion (that they ride together and she ride alone) seriously for several minutes. In the end she rode with Stupider, because he was smaller so it was kinder to the horse.
The White Palace was on high alert. The wards had been triggered and all kinds of fairies, guards, and even a few werewolves, surrounded the place.
"It's okay, we captured her!" yelled Stupid.
"Yeah, we got the Evil Queen," grinned Stupider. "Tied her up and everything."
Blue surged forward, wand raised.
"Don't get yourself in such a flap," Regina said, sliding off the horse. "I want to see Snow. Whip out that damn cuff you're all so fond of and I'll put it on."
Blue was stunned, but produced the cuff. She gaped as Regina took it and snapped it onto her wrist.
Regina shuddered. It hurt. She sacrificed some of her composure to the pain. Not much, though. She couldn't let go yet.
"SNOW WHITE!"
For once, the girl came when she was called.
"Regina! Where is Emma?"
"Not here," Regina said, forcing herself not to spit. "Speaking of here, must we conduct this entire affair on your doorstep?"
Snow looked around. She had forgotten herself. She usually did, when Regina was around. She pointed to the guards.
"Bring her to the throne room. Blue, come with us. Everyone else, you may leave."
Regina walked smoothly up the stairs, ignoring her guards. She might be powerless, but she could still be incredibly imposing. She sat in what had been Leopold's chair (entirely to get at Snow, she hated the thing) and grinned as Charming jumped up from his seat beside her as if he'd been scalded. The royal couple stood before her, Blue buzzing beside them, and she relished the feeling of being entirely in control. She would not have it for much longer.
"I am here about Emma," she said, watching Snow seethe.
"Where is she?"
"Safe. And safe she will remain."
"What do you mean? You kidnapped her! You took her from us!"
"I did not. She is free, as she always should have been. Let us not waste time, Snow. I want to make a deal."
"Name your price," Snow growled.
"You cannot buy your daughter," Regina growled back. She took a deep breath. "My offer is this. Me, for her. You take me, do with me what you will, but Emma is free, as is her son. He is the heir to my kingdom, so in effect, your family will control all they ever had, but you must not force them into anything."
"Why? Why would you offer that?"
"You are preparing for war, yes?"
Snow nodded.
"I do not want war."
"Because your people will not fight for you? Because you will lose?"
It took enormous effort to hold back an eye roll. "Because even winning comes at a cost. No more blood should be spilled in our names, Snow."
"Since when do you care about spilling blood?"
Regina took another breath. "Since I fell in love with your daughter."
Charming's horrified waffle would have gone on forever if Snow hadn't shushed him.
"I do not think you are lying," Snow said, "but you cannot be telling the truth."
"I do not care what you think," Regina said, "but you must agree to my deal. Emma must be free. Henry too."
"But free to come to me, if she wishes."
"Freedom without conditions."
There was a pause. Blue was fidgeting. Regina prayed she was right to trust Snow with-
"Why should we agree to anything you say? You are already wearing the cuff, you have no magic, no means of escape. You are our prisoner," Charming said.
"I know." Regina looked right at Snow. "But I think you know that Emma deserves to be free. And with me out of the way, you have no excuses. I have no magic, I am not controlling her."
"You will pay for your crimes," Snow said, with far more than an edge of threat to her voice.
"As I should," Regina said wearily.
"Do you want me to think you've changed? Because it's too late. You know that. You know what I must do."
Regina did not even answer. Snow had always been exhausting, and here, wild, afraid, excited, she was at her worst. She turned to the fairy.
"Blue, will you witness the deal? Emma's freedom, for my execution."
Regina held out her hand. Snow grabbed it as if she expected the offer to be rescinded at any moment. Blue looked from one to the other, then waved her wand.
"It is done," she murmured, for once lost for further input.
Snow dropped Regina's hand as quickly as she had taken it and stepped back towards her husband. She looked anywhere but the dark eyes that cut into her soul.
"She dies at dawn." The crack in her voice echoed against the polished stone of the empty room.
Regina sighed with something like relief, and allowed Blue to escort her to the dungeons.
BREAK
Emma slid out of the bed and padded to Mal's room. She had felt Regina's magic scream, and now she felt it pulsing and tense. It was not long into the night when she found herself in the Queen's bedroom, standing before the magic mirror and watching as her mother sentenced her love to die.
The screams of agony were hardly conscious, though they were full and real in every other respect. Maleficent silenced the room, poured some whiskey in the girl, and reminded herself repeatedly that burning the White Kingdom to the ground would not be productive.
Emma cried all night, keeping the mirror with Regina as she lay peacefully in her cell.
"RUN!" she screamed, but Regina did not hear. Maleficent went to check on Henry; Emma gripped the frame of the mirror with both hands as Regina was scrubbed clean and changed into a thin grey dress. Her feet were bare, her hair was damp and loose. Without make-up, she looked painfully young.
Emma watched as Regina followed her guards, serenely beautiful as they led her outside. It seemed to be cold; Regina shivered a little as she was led to a post. She still wore the cuff. The guards bound her hands behind her back.
A small crowd assembled, just enough to witness. Snow and Charming sat on a platform beside a glass coffin. Regina smirked at Snow's clearly intentional poetry. Emma saw the smile, but could not pinpoint the cause.
"What's funny?" she demanded of the mirror, but there was no answer.
"What, what is it?" she asked again, slamming her hand into the glass.
Regina's expression sobered as the masked executioner appeared. He tied a black silk blindfold over her eyes.
Feel me, Emma. Whenever you close your eyes.
Regina flexed her fingers, remembering the feel of Emma's hands in hers. She heard the executioner pace away from her and remove the bow from his back.
I love you.
Emma read the words on Regina's lips, clearly meant for her.
Now close your eyes.
Emma wished she could obey, but it was as if she had lost all control of her body. She watched, transfixed, as the sun rose over the horizon and Snow gave the order and the executioner drew back an arrow and fired it perfectly into its target.
Regina's head flopped forward; Blue felt for a pulse, nodded once to Snow, then waved a preservation spell over the lifeless body and lifted it into the coffin, magicking away the arrow so the only evidence of ill health was a tiny red circle on the left of the chest.
BREAK
A/N: DON'T LEAVE. Seriously. You are going to want to read the next chapter(s). All may not be as it seems. (If you guess it, you get a present.) And please review. Even if it's just to get out your emotion.