A/N - Short update! Little dialogue here. But sometimes, less is more.
When Emma returned home later that evening, the last thing she'd expected to find was Regina sitting alone at the dining room table. Worn out and unable to clear her head, the Savior wrestled with the desire to see Regina. A week ago, Regina would have been upset because Emma missed dinner. But now. Would Regina even care? Would she have been worried?
In the end, Emma knew that avoiding Regina would only make things worse. At some point, they were going to have to interact.
"Hey," Emma greeted after struggling to find her voice. She'd traveled through into the room quietly, careful not to startle Regina. Then again, this Regina didn't exactly startle easily.
Her gaze focused on the small glass before her, Regina hummed an earnest, "Hey." A stack of books piled around her, there was a sadness in her voice, a resignation of defeat almost. "You know," Regina half-chuckled, "I thought reading these would help somehow, that filling in the missing chapters of my life would make this less confusing. But… it only made it worse."
Leaning against the doorframe, Emma recognized the books immediately and let out a heavy sigh. "Regina, I—"
"Because, I'm sitting here and I'm learning about things I've done and the hero I've supposedly become, but it doesn't make sense," Regina said as she shook her head, "Because if I've really done so much good, if I've actually redeemed myself, then none of this should be happening, right? Heroes are meant to get happy endings, but this… this doesn't seem like much of a happy ending to me."
As Regina struggled to understand it all, Emma wanted nothing more than to be close to her partner. To hold her hand. To hug her. To promise her that everything was going to be OK.
"I'm sorry—"
"Please," Regina interjected. "I don't want to know how sorry you are or hear how hard you tried. That doesn't help me."
Nodding solemnly, Emma said, "I know."
Regina shot a piercing look at Emma, one of hurt mixed with anger. "No, you don't." She knew her tone was sharp, but she couldn't help it. Even when Emma winced, Regina couldn't stop herself. "You have no idea," Regina remarked.
She made note of the slight hunch in Emma's shoulders, the exhaustion that tinged her eyes, the pinkness in her cheeks. This wasn't the same Emma that left with Henry all those years ago, that much was abundantly clear. But it wasn't just the passage of time that Regina noticed; it was the way Emma looked at her, the line between friendship and something more clearly crossed.
When there was nothing she could think of to say, nothing that would satisfy Regina, Emma gestured to the staircase behind her. "It's been a long day," she offered. "And I've got a feeling things aren't going to slow down at all. If… if you need anything, I'm just across the hall." Turning to leave, Emma stopped and offered a small piece of advice. "If you can't sleep, try laying on your left side with a pillow between your knees."
Regina sat and listened to Emma's footsteps as they faded, listened to the slight creak in the floor and imagined Emma disappearing into the guest room.
The stories had ended with the Final Battle nearly two years ago, with the hope of a new beginning for all of them, a happy ending— the Happy Ending. That was all that was written. Beyond that, everything else remained a mystery. She'd read about her and Emma's story, the way they're family had evolved over the years, the way she herself had evolved. She read about the sacrifices they'd all made since Neverland, the enemies they'd faced, and the friends that had entered their lives.
Once again, Regina was left to read about her life from the outside. And once again, she had no control of over her own story, however good she was painted to be. This wasn't like the last time she'd lost her memories, it wasn't a few weeks or a few months she was missing, but an entire lifetime.
As if it could sense the stress weighing down on Regina, the baby nudged its mother from the inside, startling Regina out of her thoughts. For the third time that day, Regina peered down at her stomach, her once firm abdomen now soft and full of life; a life she had no recollection of creating, one she'd awoken to just 24 hours before, and one she already felt so desperately protective of— deep down, she knew Emma felt the same way.
That night, Emma lay awake with her hands behind her head, staring out at the stars through her window. After the day she'd had, she should've been in a deep sleep. She was more than drained; her limbs were, heavy enough to drag her back down to the Underworld. When she closed her eyes, she felt the familiar pull of drowsiness. But she was afraid to fall asleep. Convinced she had to be on guard.
She thought about what Cora had told her, wanted so desperately not to believe her, knew the woman's past of trickery and deception. She'd seen the effects of Cora's lessons on Regina over the years, the hurt she'd caused her daughter. It was in the way Regina struggled to say "I love you," the way she looked away when Emma repeated those same words to her, the years of convincing Regina that she wasn't weak.
Regina may not have hated Cora, but Emma sure did. She'd imagined a day like today many times, the chance to confront Regina's mother with the knowledge she had now. She knew Cora wasn't to be trusted back then, and no matter what she said, she was not to be trusted now. But God. What if she was right? What if she really didn't know who had her heart? What if Cora was actually innocent? Then who was to blame?
And then Emma thought about Regina, Henry, and the baby. Her family. The people she loved most in the entire world. The people who never left her side, who never gave up on her. As Emma's mind wandered to their unborn child, she stifled the scream that bubbled in her chest. She wanted to yell, to shout, to break something. It'd hadn't even been two full days and she was already fighting a feeling of defeat.
True Love's Kiss hadn't worked. Emma didn't understand why. The only person who could, well, she wasn't exactly thrilled to share a space with the blonde. Of course, there was the Blue Fairy, but even her power had its limits. Emma wanted answers. More than that, she wanted revenge. But she knew that if Cora wasn't in control of her actions, it wouldn't be right to seek vengeance on her. Still. Emma thirsted for it, wanted nothing more than to find the person responsible and to tear them to shreds. No matter what the cost.