The Savior

When Emma opened her eyes the electric light almost blinded her. She had to close them again, feeling fresh tears wet them. Too much light. Her head was painfully pulsing, especially a point somewhere behind her left ear. She rose one heavy hand to touch that spot, and found a rough gauze between her hair. She tried to move it, but she found out that she couldn't move her wrist.

She half-opened her eyes and watched it. It was plastered. Fuck.

" Emma!" Mary Margaret said with enthusiasm and a little of worrying, and, above all, she said it too loud. Emma moaned.

" Turn down the volume please..."

" Sorry, sorry..."

Emma saw her get closer to her. She was weeping. Her mother sat on a chair next to her bed, and began caressing her hair. At first time Emma found it weird, unusual, but then she could only find it reassuring.

" How do you feel?"

Emma smiled. " Thirsty."

" Oh, sure!"

It took her two seconds to fill a glass of water and hand it to her. She helped her to sit, setting the pillows behind her back, and then watched her drink. It was embarrassing. Emma took a look at the room. David was sleeping in an uncomfortable position on a chair so tiny that God only knew how could it hold his weight, and Henry had fallen asleep with his head and arms on her bed. She gently ruffled his hair. He moaned, but didn't woke up. " What time is it?"

" Five fifteen a.m."

Emma gazed at her mother. " Fuck. How long have I slept?"

Mary Margaret smiled. Snow White, Emma tried to convince herself. She still couldn't connect that name to the woman she had in front of her.

" Just yesterday afternoon and night. " Her smile disappeared though Emma's appeared. " Good." She exhaled in relief. " I was afraid I had lost a couple of years." she sneered, but

Snow's face paled, although she tried to smile.

" Oh please no, enough with lost years!"

Emma narrowed her eyes. " Are you okay?"

Snow nodded so furiously that it made her frown.

" I'm fine, mom. I just hit my head."

" And broke your wrist."

" It'll heal."

There was a pause. Snow's eyes were wet. " It could have been worst. She could have killed you."

A stream of sudden memories flowed in her mind. She remembered her fight with Regina, Regina's reaction after Henry's fear, and that she had tried to comfort her... Then she had felt like if a huge fist had hit all over her body, and everything had become black.

Emma watched Henry. He was fine. Ah, how could she think it? Regina would always protect him, even against herself.

" Where is she?"

Snow's eyebrows jumped up. " Home. She's been here till midnight, then went home. She said you'd rather have only your family here when you'd wake up." Snow was smiling. Emma, on the other hand, was shocked. " But she's part of the family, too!"

Snow's eyes impossibly widened. " Emma she almost killed you..."

" Mom, if she wanted me dead, I'd be. It was an accident..."

" She used magic!"

" I did too!"

Mary Margaret was speechless.

" It was my fault, I guess. My magic called hers. I... I don't know. I felt like if I could feel what she was feeling, and when I touched her... It was like an explosion. I felt her power flow towards me, but I... hum... I involuntarily tried to protect myself and it hit me. It's not her fault, really. I didn't want to do it. Guess I'm still unaware of my, hum, powers?" she snorted " Powers. I feel like freaking Spider-Man."

Emma gazed at Mary. She looked astonished, scared, angry and worried at the same time.

" Are you okay?" she once again asked to her mother.

Snow finally closed her mouth and cleared her voice. " Sure. Yes. Just... I don't like magic. It's..."

" Dangerous?"

" Corrupting."

Mother and daughter looked at each other for a while. Emma held her hand. " Only if you let it be

it."

Snow smiled sadly. " I know. I did."

" Mom, what you did with Cora was necessary..."

One single tear slid on her cheek. " I know, but I should have done it by myself. Make Regina kill her mother... Neither she has ever been so cruel."

Emma sighed. She wanted, she really wanted to find a way to comfort her, but she couldn't deny her words, even because she knew almost nothing about the "Evil Queen". So she tried to ease the situation smirking. " Well, let's say you were a little exasperated..."

Snow stifled a bitter laugh. " This could be true..." She then gazed at her so intensely that Emma almost felt the need to lower her eyes. " Thank you."

Emma shrugged. " Don't. Call Regina instead. I need to talk to her. "

Snow's face fell. " B-but it's five in the morning Emma..."

" Half past five now."

" Whatever, she'll be sleeping..."

" She'll forgive us for waking her up."

Snow arched one eyebrow. " She's not so good in forgiving, in case you didn't notice..."

Emma shrugged again. " I don't care. Call her."

Her mother sighed heavily. " Emma..."

" What?"

She sighed again. " Can't you wait? I don't want to see her before I didn't even eat breakfast..."

" Mom."

" Uh?"

Emma smiled sympathetically to her. But she had to realize the truth. " Me and Regina are connected. After what happened in the mine, when I helped her with the device... I don't know. I just feel it. And I know it's true, or this wouldn't have happened." she said, pointing at herself with a wave of her sane hand.

Snow sighed in resignation. She took her phone from her bag and stood up.

" I'll be here in a minute." she said with flat voice before slowly walking out of her room.

So white. Rapunzel was right, her house was so damn white. Her ceiling was it, particularly, or so it seemed to her in that moment. The early morning light was brightening it from too much time.

Regina was tired to stay there, watching the ceiling. She did it all night long.

She tried to sleep, but the memories of how many times she made her son suffer had kept her awake. He forgave her again. And only thanks to Rapunzel, she realized at 4:04 a.m..

Shaya had finally admitted it. She was talking to her son, but she was sure she was addressing to her. That speech... she wanted to convince Henry, true, but she was sure it was a memorandum for her, too. She wanted to remember her who she really was, Regina realized at 4:45 a.m.. And now, 5:27 a.m., she was waiting until 6:00 to get out of bed, take a shower and drive to the hospital. To see her son, mainly, but to see Emma, too.

All night long she recalled, repeatedly, those few minutes when everything had happened. And, still, something was wrong. She had never lost control of her magic. Never. Rapunzel said it right: magic was the only thing she had ever had control on in her life. She owned it. It was part of her.

It was impossible that she had lost control on it. If it was true... No, it couldn't be. So, what had happened? Could she have unconsciously wanted to wound Emma? Still, after all that they had passed? After all the times she had saved her life? No, impossible. If she did, they were righter than she thought, and she was eviler than she'd ever knew. No, jealousy couldn't be the right answer. Obviously. It was Snow's answer, after all.

She startled when her phone began to ring. A sudden anxiety assaulted her. Was Henry fine? And

Emma? She grabbed the phone.

" What happened?" she asked with harsh voice. She needed a coffee.

There were seconds of silence that killed her on the other side. Then came Snow's surprised and annoying voice. " Nothing bad. Emma is awake. She wants to talk to you. Now."

Snow hung up. Regina watched the phone as if it had began to splash hot water. She hung it and jumped out of her bed.

She washed and dressed in fifteen minutes. She flew out of her room. " Rapunzel I'm going to the hospital, close the door when you..." Rapunzel's room was empty. Regina ran downstairs, but there was no trace of the warrior there neither. Maybe she was at Granny's. She took the car's keys and quickly closed the door.

Regina almost irrupted into the hospital. Everyone let her pass without a word, even if it wasn't exactly the visiting hour yet. Having been the Evil Queen had its advantages, she had said with a smirk. Emma laughed hard, but then remembered that her parents were there, too, and smiled embarrassedly to them.

Henry watched his mothers. Regina was looking at him, now. She was still on the door, with an hoping gaze. He smiled to her, stood up and hugged her. " 'morning mom!" he said. She hugged him back so tightly that he almost suffocated. " Mom, I can't breathe!"

She laughed of her deep, true laughter. " Sorry sweetheart." She ruffled his hair. Her black eyes were glittering. He smiled again to her.

" No problem. "

" Henry, why don't you take a walk with your grandparents? You've been here all night!" Emma asked him. Snow came closer and put a hand on his shoulder.

" We could go to Granny's and then come back here. We could take some magazines for your mom on the way back, what do you think?"

Henry looked at Emma, then at Regina. " But I want to stay with you."

The brunette gently caressed his cheek, smiling. " I want you to stay, too, but me and your mother have to chat a little."

" About what happened?"

She nodded. " Yes."

" Also." Emma said instead, making him turn to watch her. She smiled to him. " Don't worry, kid.

It won't take long. "

He thought about it. Actually he was hungry, but he had that never lasting fear that bad things would have happened if he'd let them alone. " But... And if..." He glanced at his mother. Regina crouched in front of him, her hand still on his cheek. " I promise that everything will be fine, Henry. I swear it."

He nodded sighing. " Okay."

She smiled sadly, so he hugged her. He hid his face in her hair. She smelled good. She smelled home.

When he broke the hug Regina's eyes were wet. She winked to him, and let him go. She had never winked to him. He was so surprised that he didn't even notice that his grandpa had talked to him.

" Henry?"

" Uh?"

" Are you okay?"

" Oh, yes, yes. Were you saying...?"

He stifled a laughter. " I asked you if you have to go to the toilet before we go."

He suddenly realized that, yes, he had to. " Oh, yes! I'll just be a minute..." he yelled while

running toward the restroom.

Emma watched Regina looking at Henry while he was going out. The former Queen then gazed at her with worried eyes. " He's not fine." she said. Her eyes were wet. Emma nodded in a sigh.

" I know. It's from..." she swallowed, glancing down. " You know. Neal."

Emma heard Regina sigh, then her steps. She looked back at her while she was sitting on the chair previously occupied by David, next to her bed, at its right. " What about you?"

Emma shrugged. " I'm fine. It's not for this that I wanted you to come here." a tensed silence reigned for a while. Emma took a deep breath. " You know what happened yesterday, right?"

Regina glanced down, twisting her hands. " I guess. I... lost control."

Emma widened her eyes. She hadn't understood yet! " No! I did!"

Regina immediately looked at her with surprise. " What?"

Emma smiled. How couldn't she have noticed it? " I... I don't know if it is the right term, but I called your power with mine. It's my fault if it then hit me." She explained to the brunette what had happened. While she talked, her eyes grew wider, and her jaw dropped.

" Emma... What you did..." Regina had a low voice, lower than it'd ever been in her presence. When she eyed her, her eyes were two dark, glittering abysses. " It's one of the most powerful magic of all..."

Emma started. " But... I didn't even wanted to do it..."

" Imagine what you could do wanting to!" Regina snorted. " You could possibly even challenge Rumplestiltskin's power!"

Emma laughed nervously. " Wait, wait, I'm not going to do it. Don't wanna fight anymore, actually. Overall against my son's grandfather." she smirked. Regina stifled a dark laughter.

" I wasn't asking you to do it. Just saying..."

She said it so ironically that Emma burst into laughter. The throaty one of the former Queen followed hers.

" Okay, I'll ignore it. But, listen, you know I'm curious: why is that magic so powerful?" Regina looked at her as an old lady would look to a child: knowingly and with a little amused sense of superiority. " Calling other's magic? It's like... trying to make one breath only thinking it. Without magic, I mean."

" But it's impossible."

" Exactly." Regina sneered. " It should be. But certain people, powerful witches and wizards with an innate particular skill in feeling other's emotions, we call them empathic now, but we called them Sensitives at that time, can develop this capacity to "call", as you said, other's magic. And

"call" is the right term, dear, don't worry. "

" Oh." Emma thought about it. It was weird, but not as being Snow White and Prince Charming's daughter. She could believe it. Plus, Regina wasn't lying, she was sure. " So the fact that we blocked the curse together has nothing to do with this. "

" Perhaps it has. I can perceive this... connection, too. It's a slight sensation, barely perceptible, but it's real. I guess you can feel it stronger than me...?"

" Mh, maybe. But... Why didn't you tell me before?"

" Why didn't you?"

Emma goggled. " I realized it just yesterday while it was happening! You already knew it!" Regina sighed, then shrugged. " I... I was afraid that it was..." she glanced down, but then seemed to have found her strength again, and looked back at her with such a regal demeanor that Emma almost felt in awe. " I was afraid that it was just imagination. That I could want so much to have a friend in my life, someone who could understand me, that I simply autosuggested."

Emma's jaw dropped. She didn't see this coming. She was astonished. And Regina was about to become angry. She had to hurry up. " B-but you already had it! Rapunzel!"

Regina slightly blushed. " She's not my friend, she loves me." she said with a hint of voice. But

Emma could see that she didn't really believed that. There was a big flashing doubt in her eyes.

She smiled to her.

" What else are you asking for, Regina?"

" I told you! A friend!"

Emma pressed her lips together in a new smile. " Nope. You need love. That kind of love, not as Henry's, before you say it. You know it's true. Don't deny it, you don't have to do it with me. I am your friend. "

Regina's eyes were moist with tears, and full of gratefulness. She didn't need to say anything.

" We're family, Regina. This, at least, did you get it before now?"

Regina opened her mouth to talk, but then closed it again, and just nodded, glancing down. She laughed quite hysterically.

" What?" Emma asked after a while, but Regina went on laughing. " What's up?" she tried again, almost laughing, infected by the brunette's laughter.

" I have a connection with the Savior..." she went on laughing. Emma frowned.

" Sooo...?"

" It's way too ironic, dear! We'll almost be the same person..." Regina couldn't help herself and burst again into laughter.

Emma frowned. That was a weird thing." Really?"

" Yes, if you improve your capacities!" Regina had stopped laughing now. She was still smiling, though.

" And if I don't?"

Regina waved a hand towards her. " Do you want to lose control again?"

Emma was conflicted. " No! But I don't even wanna... Shit, Regina! What does it means the same-person shit?"

Regina laughed again. " It means that Snow will kill me!"

Regina slowly opened the door. She stayed in the threshold for a while, listening, but no sound reached her ears.

" Rapunzel?" she tried to call out, without getting any response. Maybe she was still taking a look around the town? Ah, if she had a phone... Regina promised herself to buy one for her. But by now... And if she was in danger? No, Rapunzel, in danger... Impossible! But still... She gave a start. She totally forgot it! " Stupid, stupid Regina! You're a mess..." she murmured to herself grabbing the phone and furiously dialing the number. Only one number was missing when the phone began to ring. Regina read the name on the display in astonishment. She pressed the green button.

" Emma?" she asked in disbelief.

" Hey, I... is something wrong?"

Regina swallowed and leaned against the door, her eyes locked on the staircase in front of her, although she wasn't really looking at it. Even at that distance...

" Regina?" the distorted voice made her blink.

" Y-yes, I'm here, sorry... Uhm... It's about Neverland."

She almost felt Emma shiver. " What happened?"

" Nothing, but..." Regina sighed passing a hand through her hair. " Don't you think it's been way too easy to save Henry?"

An artificial electric silence followed her words for a few seconds before Emma spoke again, in a lower voice. " Maybe. But it's just because Rapunzel..."

" I know, I know, but... They could attack us when we were on the Jolly Roger. When you and

Hook went to the cave, I mean... They had the time to do it!"

Another silence. " What's on your mind?"

" Perhaps..." Regina hesitated: it was an improbable possibility, but...

" What?"

" Perhaps the Lost Boys wanted to go out of Neverland, and they used the portal that we opened." Silence again. Emma was dubious. " Couldn't they find another way to do it? I mean, an easier one... And they had Tamara and Greg with the beans! Why take Henry if they just wanted to go out of there?"

Regina thought about it. " Well, Neverland isn't that easy to leave..."

" We did it easy."

" Indeed."

" If Greg had...wait. You said that Greg said that he was going to use the beans to go to a hospital and then go back to Neverland."

Regina smirked. " Exactly, dear."

" So... But why? Do you think he betrayed them?"

Regina frowned. " I think that they couldn't leave the island with just a bean. They needed some kind of ulterior magic. And maybe Henry has it inside himself. Or you. Perhaps you have it. You opened the portal, after all."

" Me? Then why take Henry?"

Regina rolled her eyes. " He's a bit easier than you to catch, don't you think?"

" But, Regina, this is so... twisting!"

" I know, I know." she sighed, leaning her head against the door. " But it's logical. They needed you, but they couldn't catch you, so they took your son, sure that you'd run and go to save him, taking him back home."

Regina heard Emma sigh. " Still think it's twisting."

Regina smiled. " I suppose it is. I'll ask Rapunzel, she knows them, maybe she can tell us something useful."

" I could ask Hook."

" Do it. And keep Henry safe."

" Yes, he's right here..." A pause, his voice on the background, incomprehensible. " He greets you."

Regina couldn't help but smile. " Kiss him for me. Now I have to find Rapunzel, I'll come and pick..."

" Wait, why "find"?"

Regina uselessly took a look around the hall. " I don't see her from yesterday night. She wasn't home this morning when I woke up. Thought she was working."

" Wait, Ruby told me that she works at Granny's after the closure. She cleans the place." Regina grimaced in disgust. She cleaned Granny's? She was a damned princess! " Maybe she went there sooner..."

" Have you checked?"

" I passed in front of it coming back home, but I didn't saw her. But maybe she was behind, in the magazine, or..."

" Regina, you have just said that maybe the Lost Boys are here, and they've already almost killed her..."

Regina swallowed. " I know, I thought it, but she knows how to defend herself and..."

" Yes, with the sword, but I don't think she has it with her, does she?"

Regina froze for a second. She was so used to see her with her sword at her hip that she didn't even thought that she wasn't wearing it in those days. The former Queen run upstairs and irrupted in the warrior's room. The bed was perfect, and Rapunzel's leather clothes were on it. Regina turned to see the sword, leaning on the wall, where the warrior left it the day before. She sighed. " No, she doesn't. She's unarmed, but... Shit, Emma, her body is a weapon itself!"

" Did you just say "shit"?"

Regina was running again downstairs, but found the time to roll her eyes. " Miss Swan!" " Okay, alright... I'll send mom to look for her, so call her if you find her. Dad will stay here, just in case that the Lost Motherfuckers Boys need my help again. "

" Good, but don't use this language in front of Henry!"

Regina closed the conversation and flew out of home. She jumped on the car, managing to engine it and to put the phone in her pocket at the same time. Snow White! Emma wanted to send that idiot to find Rapunzel. She had to look for more useful helpers.