Apologies for the delay! I've been having all sorts of internet problems, but I've been writing!
Emma caught Regina's hand with a laugh, easily deflecting her attack. "I know for a fact you can hit harder than that."
"I don't want to hurt you," Regina protested.
"You're not going to hurt me." Emma gave Regina's hand a squeeze before letting her go. "And you're not going to learn to defend yourself if you don't try."
"Here," Henry said, coming into the living room and dropping an armful of stuff on the couch. "Found these in the basement." He held up pads to Emma, who strapped them onto her hands. "I did karate for a little bit," he explained.
"Really?" Emma glanced back and forth between mother and son, not sure which surprised her more, that Regina would sign Henry up for anything remotely dangerous or that Henry would be interested in a sport.
Henry shrugged, making his way back to the couch and sifting through the books he'd brought upstairs with him.
Emma held up her now-protected hands and turned her attention back to Regina. "No excuses anymore. Hit me."
Regina kept her gaze on Henry for a moment, concerned. The books were big and heavy and, most likely, hers. She hadn't kept any spell books in the house, there was no need for that during the curse, but whatever Henry had found down there most likely had something to do with magic.
But why shield him, now that he knew everything? Maybe he'd find something useful, something to explain why Regina's magic wouldn't work right.
Regina turned and threw all her force into her swing, her fist connecting with the target on Emma's hand with a thud.
"Form," Emma reminded her, and Regina quickly adjusted before striking out again, two punches in fast succession. When there were no more corrections, the brunette kept going, harder and faster.
It felt good, this power, almost better than magic. Magic required holding onto anger, but this got rid of it. Regina hadn't had time to feel angry about all that had happened, but now it came surging out of her. Anger at her attackers, at those who had stood by and let it happen, at herself for being so weak. She could feel tears streaming down her face yet didn't stop. Not until she threw a punch that felt different, that missed the pad completely and caught Emma in the jaw.
Emma took a few steps backward, stunned by the sudden impact and the taste of blood. "Fuck," she hissed, immediately bracing for Regina to yell at her for using such language in front of Henry.
Instead, Regina stepped forward, holding up a hand to gently cup Emma's jaw. The healing spell came easily when it was for Emma, Regina's hand glowing lightly until the pain faded away. "I'm so sorry."
"Didn't I say you were stronger than you thought?" Emma poked at the formerly sore spot with her tongue.
Regina freed Emma's hands, letting the pads fall to the floor. "What if it's not enough?"
Emma took Regina's face in both hands, eyes locking with hers. "You have me."
"You guys are really weird," Henry said, looking up from his book and wrinkling his nose. "You were, like, cuddling this morning."
Regina pulled away from Emma and took a seat beside their son. She'd tried to conceal what was going on between them, but Henry was too smart to be left in the dark for long, and Regina needed Emma close. "Does that upset you?" she asked.
"You used to hate each other," Henry pointed out. "So it's weird." He set the open book in Regina's lap and got up, disappearing quietly upstairs.
"I'll talk to him," Emma offered, leaving Regina to look down at the pages Henry had been reading.
The section in front of her was on shared magic between true loves, and Regina couldn't imagine why Henry was there, of all places. It talked about a loss of magic similar to what Regina was feeling, true… A temporarily weakened partner transferring magic to the other, unable to access it herself without the other near. But Emma didn't have magic, and Regina had already missed her chance at true love not once but twice.
Regina shut the book and set it down on the table, considering. No, it simply wasn't possible. She'd been with Emma almost constantly and she'd seen no outbursts of magic as the book had described. There had to be something else going on. But the idea that Regina's feelings for Emma were part of the reason why she was so much stronger with the younger woman near – that made sense.
She was called out of her thoughts by the ringing phone, and she reluctantly picked it up. "Hello?" she asked quietly. There was no one she wanted to talk to who wasn't already in this house.
"Regina, it's Ruby." The mayor breathed a sigh of relief, barely even noticing the note of panic in the girl's voice. "Is Emma there? I need her down at the station now."
Regina sat up straighter. "The station? Has something happened?"
Silence for a moment. "There's a fire," Ruby finally said. "And I don't think it's an accident."
"Hey, kid." Emma stood in Henry's doorway, watching as her son flopped down onto his bed. "I know things are kind of messed up right now and all."
Henry gave her that look that, as far as Emma knew, was reserved just for her. It was simultaneously skeptical and a bit disappointed. "Are you dating Mom?"
Emma came in and hovered awkwardly near the bed. "Well, we haven't gone on any actual dates, unless sharing her hospital jello counts."
The look only intensified. "But there's something going on. Unless it's just because she got hurt."
"I've liked your mom for a long time," Emma promised. "But I think this is what it took for her to like me back."
"You like her?" Henry glanced towards his book.
Emma took a deep breath. "I love her, Henry. But don't with the book. It's not…" She paused, trying to figure out how to explain. Her heart had never been so certain about anyone before, but Henry wanted epic romance, and Emma wasn't sure that she and Regina had that. She wasn't even sure that such a thing existed. "True love is kind of impossible, I think."
Now Henry looked more irritated than anything else. "You broke the curse and fought a dragon and you still don't believe?"
Thankfully Regina called up and interrupted them. Emma didn't know how to respond. Yes, of course there was that little spark inside her that wanted to believe that true love was real and that it happened to people like her. But love took work, especially a love at a time like this.
"I love her," Emma repeated. "That's enough."
A crowd had built up around the sheriff's station, but Emma ignored them as she got out of the car and made her way to where Ruby and the fire chief were talking. "I'm sorry," he was saying as the blonde reached them. "There's no sign of foul play, Ruby."
The damage to the structure was minor, and as Emma stepped inside she could see exactly what had been destroyed. Her desk and the file cabinets had been shoved towards the middle of the room and were burnt almost beyond recognition. The evidence locker, too, was ruined, and a glance at the lock showed that someone had clearly forced their way in. "No foul play," the sheriff muttered to herself as she walked between the warped shelves that had once held evidence.
"Can I get a quote about that, Sheriff Swan?"
Emma turned to see Sidney behind her, camera in hand as he picked his way through the rubble. Her stomach twisted at the sight of him, the pieces instantly clicking into place. "You did this," she said in a low voice. He didn't even deny it, just shrugged as he kept coming towards her. The anger bubbled up inside again, Regina's expression when she'd learned Sidney had raped her all Emma could see. She held up a hand, not knowing what to do but yielding to the magic that surged through her.
Sidney suddenly grabbed at his throat as though someone was choking him, sputtering something Emma couldn't make out.
"This is what you did to her, isn't it?" Emma asked, advancing towards the reporter. Just inching her forefinger closer to her thumb had him choking even more desperately. "Put your hands around her throat until she blacked out, then took advantage of her?" She loosened her hold just a bit, wanting to keep him lucid. "You're disgusting."
"Please," Sidney wheezed, eyes wide.
"You forced yourself on her. You raped her." Emma's voice grew steadily louder. "And you may have destroyed the evidence, but Regina's still getting justice. You're still going to pay." She extended her free hand, both of them looking in shock as a ball of fire hovered over her palm.
"What are you doing?" Sidney asked desperately.
Emma studied the fire for a moment before looking back at the reporter, her lips curving into a small smile. "Destroying the evidence," she said before she lobbed it at him.