A/N: Okay, so this chapter has taken *forever* to write, it's a little different to the other chapters and I found the ending a little tricky to write... but I do hope that you like it nevertheless.
There's a bit of language here, but nothing too bad. I'm still classy.
Hope I haven't edited it to death, but anywho...
This, I Find In You
Chapter 6: A Second Chance
She drifted in that tranquil place, between sleep and wakefulness.
Warmth.
…There was warmth there.
It wasn't the cloying heat of a fever.
It was… gentle. Like sunshine.
There was the vague awareness of a heart beating beneath her ear.
An arm wrapped around her waist.
She was dreaming, because of course she was dreaming.
Regina Mills didn't wake up to warm beds and warm bodies.
She never did. Never had. Never would.
She smiled to herself, and snuggled in closer, enjoying the moment while she could.
...This is what she had imagined being a stable boy's wife would have felt like.
The warm body began to stir beneath her, with a pained groan that culminated in a single word.
.
.
.
"Fuck."
.
.
.
She was awake. She was alive.
Green eyes blinked groggily – once, twice.
She felt like she'd been hit by a truck.
But then… everything was soft. And sweet.
…And salty.
Her body reacted automatically, even as her mind drifted through the haze.
She was being kissed.
Her lips responded in kind.
...She was being kissed by Regina Mills.
A surge of warmth flooded her system.
Then her mind caught up with her body.
She was being kissed by Regina Mills.
.
.
.
Holy Fuck.
.
.
.
She started, and Regina flew backwards, stammering an apology.
"I – I'm sorry… I just… I mean – I, uh…"
Emma gently reached to capture the hand that still rested on her chest, a weak smile gracing thin lips at the sight of the indomitable woman being so flustered.
She studied her face, taking in the tear-tracks, both old and new.
She'd been crying… was still crying.
Emma licked her lips, tasting the salt that still lingered there.
...Regina's tears.
"Hey…" she squeezed the hand gently, getting Regina's attention. Doe-eyes blinked in astonishment at the single syllable, the single touch. "Hey," she repeated again, "…don't apologize to me. You're here," the other woman nodded mutely, "…and I'm not dead. Things went better than expected."
And they had. Things had gone much better than expected.
She smiled, and her tired eyes were soft.
"…Though you did have me worried for a second there. I mean, you're no angel… but from where I'm sitting? You're pretty damn close." Emma closed her eyes, her thumbs moving in slow circles on Regina's palm, "…I don't know how you did it, but you saved me." She brought the captive hand up her cheek, and pressed her lips to olive skin. "…Thank-you."
Regina gasped at the contact, at the way her hand burned, at the flush of warmth in her chest. She slipped from Emma's grasp, and brushed a strand of blonde hair from her face.
"Emma, about what I… that… before… it's just I thought that-"
"I told you – don't apologize."
Brown eyes locked with green, and everything stilled. Regina gave a small nod, still not quite understanding the understanding that they'd seemed to have reached. Something had… changed between last night and this morning. She knew that they had. She'd felt… things.
Her throat burned with the memory of the night before.
She'd touched her.
Caressed her.
She'd thought that those would be her last moments with a living, breathing Emma Swan.
But now here she was – with a living, breathing, conscious Emma Swan – and she had no idea what to do. She'd never had any practice at this before.
Unanswered affections? She knew them well.
Love lost? She'd been there too.
…But second chances?
Not so much.
And that was what this was, was it not?
Her heart began to thunder in her chest, panic beginning to cloud her mind.
She was stalling.
She was being presented with a second chance, and she was stalling.
A gentle hand brushed her cheek, and a moistened thumb rubbed at the dried blood on her forehead.
"…You look like shit, Regina."
For once, she was grateful for Emma's way with words. They, in their abrasiveness, cut through her anxiety, and she could feel her heartbeat beginning to slow. They reminded her of one thing:
This was Emma.
Emma, who knew her.
Emma, who knew enough about second chances to know that a third, and a fourth, and a fifth chance were usually necessary before you got things right.
She leaned into the touch, a lump rising in her throat. The younger woman cracked a half-smile.
"Actually, I think you look like I feel."
Regina had to laugh at that.
"What? A bloody wreck?"
Emma paused for a moment, searching and surveying her face, drinking in the details of her expression. Regina bit her lip, feeling as though she was being read like an open book, and not entirely sure if she enjoyed the thought of Emma being able to see everything that was inscribed within.
"No… all shook up."
She placed a reassuring hand at Emma's elbow, unsteady breathing belying her motherly manner.
"Well, a near-death experience will do that to you."
Green eyes darkened, and the thumb that caressed her brow trailed down to trace her still-tingling lips.
"…That's not what I was talking about, 'Gina."
Regina's eyes widened, both at the words themselves and at the husky note of emotion in Emma's voice.
Her lungs burned with a breath she didn't realize she was holding.
The kiss.
It had been a spur of the moment thing. The realization Emma was alive – to see her blinking sleepily as though she'd only just woken up instead of having been miraculously pulled back from the brink of death – it had flooded her with such profound relief.
She'd felt so overjoyed that she could've kissed her.
…So she had.
With tears streaming down her face anew, she had kissed Emma Swan.
She hadn't anticipated the spark of electricity that she'd felt dance across her skin, or the fire that'd raced through her insides.
She certainly hadn't anticipated Emma's response.
Emma had kissed her back.
...At least she had until she'd realized who she was kissing. Emma had jumped then, as though she'd been burned, and through her own apologies she'd felt the sting of disappointment.
Of rejection.
…as though the Saviour would want to be kissed by the Evil Queen.
But now, with every passing second, with every word and touch and caress, Regina could feel herself crumbling.
It was bewildering.
It was frightening.
She cleared her throat gently, suddenly anxious to break out a moment that was becoming too intense for her liking.
"I – I think I should let you rest."
"Agreed."
Regina made to stand, but was stopped by a tug on her wrist.
"...The hell do you think you're going?"
"I was, uh–"
Emma tugged again, harder this time, and slipped her other hand around Regina's waist, easing the brunette back down into her waiting arms. She held the other woman tight and closed her eyes, relishing the warmth and scent that she had thought she'd never feel again.
"As if I could sleep without you."
Regina placed a tremulous hand over the Saviour's heart, and grasped at her shirt.
"I thought I'd lost you…"
Emma covered her hand with one of her own and, as sleep claimed her once more, pressed a kiss to her forehead.
"I'm not going anywhere."
A/N: So, how'd I do? Drop a line, give me your feedback, don't be shy...