Disclaimer: nothing's mine.
Emma laid in bed after a long day, her first day, living in the Mills Mansion. Emma let out a long breath and snuggled deeper into the blankets of her new bed. It was so soft and she was exhausted. After the whole vase incident, which she swore was an accident, the night had been pretty much uneventful. The vase. That was strange. She thought back to what happened as her and Regina started arguing.
"It was an accident!" Emma nearly shouted at Regina who was blowing this well out of proportions.
"I doubt that! You obviously don't care or respect me or my house!" Regina shouted back.
"Of course I don't! You don't respect me!" Emma turned toward the vase, "Can't you just zap it back together anyway? What's the big deal?"
"Z-zap it back together?!" Regina spluttered and Emma couldn't help but smile on the inside at shocking Regina. She never thought she would tire of catching her off guard even if it was only for a second. "In case Henry hasn't told you I don't do magic anymore."
Regina gritted her teeth because she really wished she could use magic right now and flay this insufferable woman in front of her. Just zap it she says. Unbelievable. After everything she's been trying to accomplish she wants her to just use her magic to fix an insignificant vase. It was very tempting just to flick her wrist and vanish this woman from her sight. Now that would be a good use of her magic. If only Henry wouldn't hate her for it. She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.
"I think Henry was thinking more along the lines of not ripping anyone's heart out. I don't think he would mind if you fixed an ugly vase." She felt more than heard Regina growl in response to what she said.
"It doesn't work that way Miss Swan. I don't do magic period." She reiterated and Emma seemed to get it then. Emma understood. She was cutting it off cold turkey. Like an addiction. "So no hand waving at all?" She asked as she waved her own hand in the direction of the vase. To both of their astonishment the vase came back together and righted itself on the table.
Emma stepped back while she looked at her hands. "Please tell me that was you." Regina looked at Emma with her mouth hanging open. She saw the terrified expression on the blondes face and felt a twinge of sympathy as she heard the desperation in Emma's voice. Brown eyes met green and Regina couldn't tear her eyes away. For once she saw behind that stubborn exterior that Emma always put up. That mask that was as good as her own slipped momentarily giving her a rare glimpse of the true Emma Swan.
"I'm sorry, dear, but I didn't do that." Emma closed her eyes and took a breath. When she opened them again Regina saw the mask back on again. For some reason she found herself wishing she could help the younger woman. To comfort her somehow. Who knew better than her what Emma was going through. She herself knew what it felt like to be scared about having magic. About not being able to control it. About its seductive power that made you feel invincible. Emma might not be feeling that power though. She looked like she didn't want anything to do with it.
"Well it looks like your vase is fixed now. No problem anymore. I'll be more careful." With that Emma had turned and walked towards the living room to finish her tour of the house. Regina watched her go and then turned to go back to finish making dinner.
Emma still couldn't believe she had done it. She stared down at her hands and couldn't see anything different than what they normally looked like. She still had her calloused fingers,her scar on her right pointer finger, they all looked the same to her. But then again they weren't. She could feel the difference. It was something that she could feel right underneath the surface. She hoped it went away. She didn't want it. She shook her hands out as if that would dispel the magic. She had enough problems as it was. One being the person that was roomed down the hallway.
Emma was surprised Regina didn't bring up the vase thing at dinner. Dinner had been a quiet affair. She had been lost in her thoughts most of the time not offering too much conversation. She had tried more towards the end because she noticed that Regina and Henry were still awkward together. They didn't really know how to navigate through their new relationship so Emma picked up on that and gave them some dumb jokes to get their mind off of trying so hard to be normal. That worked a little bit and they relaxed once she had gotten them onto some familiar territory. Emma saw that they both had the same eye roll too. By the time Henry was in bed and she was telling him a bedtime story everything seemed like old times. Emma was telling him about the giant and the beanstalk. Regina then came in and yelled at her for getting Henry more excited than sleepy. Just like old times. Henry was smiling as they both kissed him goodnight and Emma gave him a wink as she walked out the door followed closely by Regina.
Now she laid here just thinking. She couldn't stop her mind from racing and found it hard to fall asleep. Nothing unusual for her. But she was exhausted. She looked over at the clock and read that it was 2 am. Just great. She let out a sigh and that's when she heard it. The house had been so quiet you could hear a pin drop so it was hard to miss that sound. It sounded like a whimper and when she got up and opened the door to see what it was she found it was coming from Henry's room. She quickly ran to his room thinking the worst when she collided with something or rather someone.
She looked up to see Regina next to her on the hallway floor. They were both about to start talking when they heard the whimper again. "Henry." They both said at the same time as they got up and rushed to the door together. Once opened they both stopped as they took in the sight of Henry. He was tangled in his sheets and you could see the sheen of sweat on his forehead. Emma also noticed that his hand was a bright red.
"Mommy..." They heard him whimper and it snapped them both back to attention. They looked at each other. Both having the same question in their eyes. "He means you." Emma says to her and looks back at Henry. Regina nods and quickly takes the last remaining steps to Henry's side. She sits down beside him and gently shakes him awake. Henry doesn't wake up though and Emma can feel the panic rising in her chest.
"What's going on? What's happening to him?" Emma sat on the other side. She wanted to grab his hand but it was all red. Regina shot her a glance and she could see the panic that she was sure was in her own eyes.
"He's stuck in that place because of the sleeping spell. Haven't you seen him like this yet? He was having the nightmares every night." Regina was still trying to wake up Henry as she spoke. She looked helpless Emma noted.
"Actually I haven't seem him have any nightmares since I've been back. He slept through the whole night." Emma looked thoughtful, confused and like she was ready for action. She needed to be doing something not just sitting here watching Henry suffer.
"Are you sure?" Regina looked skeptical.
"Yes." Emma nodded. "He doesn't even move in his sleep. It's like he's knocked out." Regina suspected that Emma had actually watched Henry while he slept and she couldn't really blame her. She had done that on occasion.
"Well, what did you do? How come he didn't have nightmares when he was with you?" Regina's face scrunched up thinking and Emma thought about it too.
"I don't know. I was just with him. That's it."
"There must be something Miss Swan." Henry whimpered again and Regina doubled her efforts trying to wake him up but he seemed lost to them. Emma couldn't take it anymore and moved to scoop Henry up into her lap and pulled him close. She was surprised Regina didn't say anything. She just sat close and brushed Henry's hair out of his face. Emma looked at her little boy and started murmuring sweet nothing's into his ear just like she always wished someone had done to her when she had a nightmare. She rocked him gently and could feel a calmness overwhelm her like she always felt when Henry was in her arms. She closed her eyes and kissed his forehead.
"Come on Henry. Wake up, kid." She whispered. Regina watched in awe of how gentle and loving Emma was being. She had never really seen this side of the blonde and it caught her off guard. She watched first hand how Emma seemed to glow and she could feel the magic. The magic that was inexplicably Emma. She could feel it's peacefulness and let out a breath as she felt more than saw Henry calm as well. She watched as he slowly opened his eyes with a questioning look. His eyes met hers immediately and she cradled his face in her hands.
"You're all right now, Henry. Everything's okay now." She told him and he leaned his head into her shoulder seeking her comfort. She held him close and looked up meeting Emma's gaze. She hadn't realized how close she was to Emma now. She could see the exact shade of her green eyes and the little flecks of gold that she had never noticed before. Her gaze was amazingly soft in this moment and for once Regina was glad that she had someone else here. Someone else to share the responsibility. She knew she could do it on her own, but their was something about having someone to fall back on that made it easier. Made her breath easier knowing that if she didn't have the answers she could look to someone else to help. Someone who also had Henry's best interests at heart. It was something she had never had before and it wasn't easy for her to share that responsibility. To trust someone else to take care of Henry. But hasn't Emma already proved capable of that? Hadn't she proven that she would put Henry first and do whatever it took to protect him? She realized in that moment that she was going to have to do this. Trust someone else. It was going to be extremely hard.
"Regina, should we take him to the hospital?" Emma broke the silence and Regina looked down at Henry's hand or arm she should say since the burn was the length of his arm.
"No Miss Swan we can handle this. I have a first aid kit that'll do the trick." Henry sucked in a breath as she inspected his burn. She hated this. She hated seeing him in pain. What she hated most was knowing that she had caused this. It was her fault. Emma was watching closely and winced as she saw how bad it was.
"Are you sure?" Emma asked. "It looks pretty bad."
"Yes, it does. Maybe-" Henry cut her off.
"Couldn't you heal it? Like Mr. Gold did?" Henry looked up at Regina through his lashes and Regina's breath caught in her throat. He looked so little. So small. Just like when he was a little boy.
"Henry, I don't know if that's such a good idea..." Regina started.
"Why don't I give it a shot Henry?" Emma interrupted. She saw Regina hesitate and couldn't help herself from, well helping.
"You can do it?" He asked in surprise.
"Now I know that isn't a good idea Miss Swan." Regina did not want to think about all the ways that could go wrong.
"Fine, how about you show me how and then we can kinda do it together? That way I don't take out an eye or something." Emma grinned when they both rolled their eyes at her. A little bit of the tension was leaving the room just like she hoped.
"All right, Miss Swan." They all situated themselves so that Regina and Emma were on the side that Henry had been burned. "But if you do take out an eye or anything else important know that I will take yours to replace it."
"Got it." Emma held back a shiver at the threat. Emma took a deep breath and tried to focus on how she felt when she had used magic the couple of times that she did.
"Ok Miss Swan. Take deep breaths and just focus your mind on what you want to happen. You have to visualize Henry's skin as it was before, but not just visualize it. Feel it. Make sure to take away the pain as you replace the hurt skin with new skin." Regina's voice was low and soothing and Emma found herself following that voice. Following to where it lead her with no chance to even think about disobeying. She saw and felt what she wanted to happen. Everything down to the last freckle that she knew resided on Henry's wrist. She felt that calm, peacefulness overtake her again and then she felt someone take her hand. Her eyes shot open at the touch. It was like a shock to her system. She watched as Regina took her hand and moved it over Henry's burn carefully. Emma watched in amazement as Henry's arm slowly healed. She wouldn't be able to tell you who had done it. Was it her or Regina? She felt like it was both because she could feel her presence inside of her magic. Could feel the little jolt that wasn't exactly bad, but just different. She was surprised to see how easily Regina guided her magic. As if directing, but she also knew that Regina wasn't doing any magic herself. Weird. Before she knew it Henry's arm was as good as new.
"That was so cool! Thanks moms!" Henry pulled them both into a hug. Emma couldn't help a chuckle at Henry's enthusiasm. "Of course, Henry. Now why don't you try and get some sleep." Regina spoke softly and they both felt him tense.
"Will you stay with me?" He asked them in a small voice. They looked at each other over Henry's head. Emma was nodding as she answered without a second thought, "of course, kid."
"Why doesn't Emma take the first shift and I'll take the next one?" Regina really didn't feel like sharing a bed with Emma. Ever. Even if Henry was in between them. The thought sent a strange feeling through her that she didn't want to think about. Then Henry looked at her with those pleading eyes and she was going to stay strong. She was and then he spoke, "please mom."
"Ok fine. But I'm only staying until you fall asleep." She caught Emma's smirk over Henry's head and narrowed her eyes.
"Don't worry, Regina. I will stay on my side of the bed. I don't have cooties or anything either."
"Maybe not cooties but probably fleas. We're going to have to clean your sheets tomorrow Henry." They were all settling down into Henry's bed. It was small but with Henry snuggling into both of them they somehow fit.
"I don't have fleas." Emma argued back. "Yeah, mom. If she did then I would already have them since we were sharing her bed at grandmas house." Henry tried to defend her.
"Thanks for that great defense, kid." Emma continued before anyone else could get another shot at her. "Why don't we all just go to sleep?"
"Good idea, dear." Emma could hear her smirk even though she couldn't see it in the now dark room. Emma huffed.
"Good night." She kissed Henry's forehead and threw an arm over him. She could feel Regina's body on the other side of him, but decided to just ignore that.
"Good night, Henry." She heard Regina whisper and then a quiet, "night moms." As Henry was already drifting off to sleep again. Emma finally felt herself relax a bit as she felt his breathing even out. She stayed up for a while knowing Regina was still awake, but then couldn't help herself and let the exhaustion finally take her off to sleep.
Regina stayed awake as she felt first Henry and then Emma fall asleep. She could feel that calm, peaceful feeling settle around them again and she knew. She knew this was why Henry hadn't had his nightmares when he was with Emma. Her magic unconsciously protected him. It made Regina smile at how appropriate that was because if Emma did anything right, it was how she always tried to protect Henry from anything and everything.
She was a little jealous of how Emma was able to protect Henry when she couldn't. How it was one more thing the blonde was better than her at. She was learning to control that jealousy now with Dr. Hoppers help. She was also very used to life being unfair. How it was unfair that Emma was able to use magic. How her magic was pure light magic. When she felt it earlier when Emma healed Henry it was all too easy for her to reach out and guide that magic to where it needed to go. She had never felt magic like that. At least not in that way. She thought she felt a glimpse of it when she was with Daniel. True love. She sighed and then really thought about it. Emma's magic was stronger than anything she had ever felt with Daniel. Maybe if they had more time together it could have grown to that. Grown to be strong and good and empowering.
No. She shut her eyes tight. She couldn't think like that. What if's didn't help anything. They just made it harder. It turned her bitter and angry. She could already feel the pull to just release that anger right then. Then all of a sudden she felt that calm again. She opened her eyes and she could almost see it. See that soft glow that was moving to engulf her. At one time she would have fought this, but one touch of it earlier and she couldn't help but allow herself to succumb to it. To let that calmness just surround her and for the first time in a long time she felt herself relax and fall easily into a restful sleep.