Disclaimer: Once Upon a Time, Storybrooke and any recognizable characters are property of ABC Studios and the Walt Disney Co. No copyright infringement intended.

A/N: Hey you guys! This time I actually managed to publish this thing before the deadline that I gave myself! :D This is the part where the story starts to take a new direction, in a way. But don't worry, there's still plenty of SQ moments to go around! Hope you enjoy it and, as always, let me know if you approve of this, if you love it, hate it, think I should do something differently, anything! All input is appreciated. Thank you so much for everyone reading, reviewing, following and favouriting! You guys rock. And last but definitely not least, thanks to my beta, for being you and for knowing me so well and for the constant inspiration. You're the best and you better not forget that.

Chapter 6 - The Sorceress

Emma stormed inside the dungeons, startling the guards as she did so. "Your Highness, your father said you weren't allowed…" one of them tried, but the blonde all but pushed him out of her way.

"You let me inside right now, or so help me…" As soon as she spoke, a bright ball of light blue energy formed above her hand, making the man step back in fear. She took the chance and ran past him, throwing another glance that dared him to try and follow.

By the time she got to Regina's cell, she was blushing slightly from the quick run. "What happened?" The older woman tried to keep the worry from her voice, but it managed to seep through regardless.

"What happened? I'll tell you what happened," she paced back and forth, and, as her frustration grew stronger, the ball of energy appeared, once again. "Oh well, guess I'll show it instead." With a huff, she motioned her hand to the opposite wall, causing the energy to be thrown against it and dissipate it, leaving a scorching mark on the rocks.

Regina would have found Emma's reaction funny, but the woman was so distressed that she kept her expression serious and tried on a soothing tone instead. If Emma was indeed as powerful as she had always suspected, it would do no good to have her throwing magic around whenever she was upset. "It? You mean, your magic?"

Emma took a step back as soon as she heard it. "My magic?" she laughed, "What are you talking about? I don't have any magic! I don't know how this happened, but it is not mine. You can take it if you want it," uncharacteristically, she put both her hands through the bars, as if offering it to the other woman. "I don't. I can't. I just want it to go away. Please, you have to know a way to just take it," she pleaded, tears threatening to fall from her eyes as her hands fell on the sides of her body, and the same light blue colour appeared, only this time in the form of a mist.

Regina walked closer, placing both her hands on the bars. "Emma," she had never used such a soft tone with her before, so that got her attention, and their eyes locked. "Just look at me, and breathe, ok? If you fear it, if you hate it, it would be harder to control it."

"But I don't want to control it, I want to get rid of it."

"Close your eyes," the brunette whispered, and, hesitantly, Emma did as she was told. "I know it's hard right now, but you need to relax. Take a deep breath, stop thinking about it."

"But what if something happens…"

"I won't let it," her words were certain, leaving no room for doubt. She was hoping that Emma would not focus on the fact that the cell was magic proof and she wouldn't be able to do magic of her own. "Just breathe in, good, and now out. Think of something that makes you calm. Or happy. Think of Storybrooke. Granny's hot chocolate with cinnamon, or your desk full with paperwork," the older woman had no idea where this was coming from, but it became clear it was helping when she saw a tiny smile forming on the blonde's lips, "Or that stupid thing you insisted on calling a car."

"Hey, for your information, my bug was reliable and I happened to love that thing…" she had opened her eyes by now, and midway through her sentence she risked a glance at her hands to realize the mist had disappeared. She did not try to hide how relieved she was. "Is it gone?"

Regina looked away briefly, avoiding eye contact. How was she supposed to explain that it was her own magic, so it wouldn't just be gone that easily, without making the blonde nervous again?

"How did this start?" she asked carefully.

"I was… I was out on the grounds, and Henry was riding one of the horses. Then one of the guards came, yelling that it was his horse. The horse was starting to get nervous, and Henry didn't know what to do. Before I knew it, there was a fireball on my hand and I was aiming at the guard. Regina, I threw it at him. I was lucky he had a shield and an armour, because I could have killed someone."

There was no response, so Emma went on.

"David was there. He keeps saying you did something to me, but that's just stupid. Then he and Snow told me they didn't want me coming here anymore, so it happened again. That freaking fireball on my hand, and I had to throw it against the wall to make it stop. Just tell me, what's happening?"

She sounded so desperate and out of control that Regina almost reached to take her hands, in an attempt to calm the woman down. That was when the guards approached them. "I am sorry, Your Highness, but we have orders to keep you away from the prisoner."

Growing angrier by the second, Emma lifted her hand up, hoping to convey some authority and make the men back out. Instead, they went flying until they hit the floor. They moaned and were trying to get back on their feet when the blonde ran as fast as she could, managing to grab the prison keys from one of them and, without thinking, she opened Regina's cell.

"What do you think you're doing?" Regina looked, frantic, from the woman's face to the keys which now stood by the open door.

"I need your help. Please," the guards were starting to wake up, so Regina acted on instinct, reaching her hand to Emma's and, to the blonde's surprise, pulling her inside the cell and locking the door back.

"What are you doing?" Emma looked at her incredulously, trying to process what had just happened. The guards had just reached them, trying to get the keys, when Regina moved to the back. "I thought you wanted to get out of here, not to get more people in!"

She had her back turned to the guards, so she did not see as one of them took a very deadly looking bow and arrow, and pointed it straight to Regina's heart. "Release the princess now!" he yelled, the other one running up to get help.

At the menacing sound of his voice, Emma turned to see what exactly was going on. Seeing the scene, she backed out until she stood fully in front of Regina. "Are you serious?" she faced the man, not sure if she wanted to laugh or cry right now. Slowly, she reached behind until she found the other woman's trembling hand and, with a light touch, got her to open it so she could get the keys herself. Once she had them, without any resistance, she showed them to the guy, "She did not kidnap me, ok? She is just helping me."

"Emma! Emma!"

She immediately recognized their worried voices. "You have got to be kidding me!" she moaned. "I'm fine!" she yelled, right before no one other than Prince Charming and Snow White stopped dead, trying to understand the scene.

"What the hell happened here?"

The guards, the king and queen, everyone started talking at the same time, until Emma's scream silenced them all. "ENOUGH!" when she was sure she had their attention – and she even risked a glance at Regina, smirking when she saw the surprise on the woman's face. "Look, let's all calm down here, ok? I know, that includes me," she whispered the last part when she heard Regina scoff behind her. "Something's happening, and I can't control it. This… magic, I don't…" she focused on her parents, taking one step closer to them but making sure to not walk too far away from the brunette – the guard still had his weapon aimed at her. "I don't want to hurt anyone. I almost hurt you guys, and it's scaring the hell out of me. I just need to figure this out, ok?"

"But why come to her?" David's voice mirrored his wife's expression, "We have the fairies, they could've helped you deal with…"

"Have you ever seen fairies throwing fireballs at people?" Emma asked and, at the man's expression, nodded, "Yeah, me neither."

Regina, in that moment, understood Emma's fear. She could see it so well because she had been in that place. Knowing the power you hold, but unwilling to accept it, because you have seen, more than enough times, everything that comes with it. When all you see is dark magic all around you, it gets hard to believe any good can come of it.

"You think your magic is evil," Regina whispered with a sigh, moving to sit down on her bed and trying to suppress a smile when her guest instantly followed, always keeping an eye on the guard.

Seeing the glare coming from her daughter, Snow took her hand to the bow, gently ordering its owner to put it down, and noticed, confused, how Emma relaxed after that. The blonde mouthed a 'thank you' before turning back to Regina.

"Well, it is, isn't it?" she lowered her head, playing with her hands and not wanting to face anyone. "It started as a way for me to hurt people, how can it be any good?"

"Magic is magic," Regina explained, again, in the softest voice she could manage, trying to ignore their audience. To her own surprise, she took both Emma's hands on hers in an attempt to calm her down, "there are dark spells, there are the ones that are meant to hurt, but there are also a lot of good ones. How you turn out…" she hesitated then, trying to push the memories from her mind and avoiding Snow more than anyone else. "Well, that is up to you. And whoever is teaching you. It's up to them to show you both sides, to make you understand that you have a choice. And ultimately – and you know that, Emma – it's in the way you decide to use your magic, once you can control it."

"Will you teach me?" Emma's voice was so innocent, almost child-like. The brunette was rendered speechless by the unexpected request.

Unsurprisingly, Charming was the first one to speak. "No way! If you need to learn good magic, Emma, we will take you to Blue, to Nova, they can help you."

"No!" she raised her voice a little now and looked at her father, still keeping her hands locked with Regina's, to then look back down and speak more quietly, "They don't get it." The way she does.

Emma was stubborn, but so was her father. They couldn't help it, it was in their blood. So she was ready to argue with him until he got too tired to keep repeating the same things. When the voice she heard was not his, but Snow's, and it wasn't addressed to her, but to Regina, she held her breath, not sure of what to expect.

"Regina," it sounded like a request, or maybe a plea. There wasn't any demand on it. When they locked eyes, Snow continued, getting as close to them as she could, "Can you do this? Can you teach Emma to control her magic?"

"I can teach her all about magic," she then looked from Snow back to Emma, "but we all know I am not that good with control, or using it for good," she spoke apologetically.

"So you'll learn, too. You'll teach me, and I'll help you. Please, Regina," when she saw the woman was going to argue, she kept going before it happened, "When I had the fireball in my hands, everyone kept talking to me and trying to calm me down. Nothing worked. But just now, when it happened, you did it, and in a minute it just vanished."

"Emma, it's too much responsibility, to be someone's mentor. And why would you even want me? I learned from the two worst possible teachers."

"Good, you are the expert on what not to do, then. Just do the opposite of everything they did and you'll be great!" When she noticed no one else seemed to find that funny, she turned serious once more, "Look… you get it. I don't know how else to explain it, but you just understand me better. You see the world the same way I do. I know you know what I mean, Regina."

It wasn't so much the fact that she did know that bothered her. No, what troubled Regina the most was the fact that she felt exactly the same way.

She looked at everyone outside the cell, and suddenly felt uncomfortable under their attentive gazes. Emma noticed almost instantly.

"Guys, could you please give us a moment?" Emma asked, getting up to hand them the keys, "You can take those you if makes you feel better, but just… wait until I call you, if that's ok?"

No one looked entirely convinced, but Snow took the keys from her daughter's hand anyway, kissing her knuckles lightly. "We'll be by the door."

It was far enough that no one would hear them talking, but near enough for them to hear if she wanted them to. "Thank you," she smiled, and went back to her previous position, taking Regina's hand in her own again without even thinking about it.

They waited a few more minutes, until they were sure everyone else was far. They looked at their intertwined hands, the gesture suddenly seeming too intimate, but neither pulled away.

"Why did you lock us here, instead of escaping? When I said I wanted to join you, I was only joking, Regina!" Emma broke the silence with the first thing she could think of.

"I thought it was obvious," Regina moved to point out where they were, "Magic doesn't work inside, remember? You won't lose control in here."

"Then you should have locked me, and run away!" She couldn't understand why Regina had given up her freedom – without having to hurt or kill anyone – and chosen to remain there. "I can leave whenever I want, but you can't. That was your chance."

For the first time, the former Queen considered what had really happened. Emma had given her a chance at freedom. Emma didn't believe she would go and hurt her parents, or anyone, for that matter. Emma believed in her that much. "I wish I trusted myself as much as you trust me," she chuckled, one hand gently tapping Emma's, and got up, slowly walking from one side to the other.

"Why wouldn't I?" the blonde did not have a shadow of a doubt on her voice, "I mean… do you still want to hurt us?" she only asked this because she felt it was what Regina meant, even though she didn't believe this for a second.

With a deep breath, Regina shook her head. "Of course not," and then, because she had just realized how her reply could be understood, and she wasn't ready to forgive Snow White and her prince completely, she looked right into Emma's eyes and added, "Well, not all of you."

The blonde smiled. It was more than enough for now. "Even if you do want to hurt them sometimes," she was not about to pretend she didn't know exactly who the woman was referring to, "I still know you wouldn't. Not because of them, maybe, but because of Henry and me. And I think, in some ways, it means even more."

"I still can't teach you, Emma," she stopped and faced the woman, trying desperately to make her see her reasons, "If you end up like me, if you lose control that way, you will lose Henry, you will lose your family. Believe me when I say you will lose everything."

"I'm already losing control, Regina," her voice broke and she blinked back a few tears. "You saw it, and I have no reason to believe it will get any better unless I get some help. Regina, there is a darker side to me, one that Nova or Blue will never understand, and it is manifesting itself in my magic. I can't help it, I'm not all light and good like they seem to think I am. And I'm scared, and I felt it, when you were talking to me before. You get it. You don't give me this bullshit about focusing on good and remembering who I am. They don't accept that the person I am is not only who they want to see, and that she can be a bad person, too."

She had her head between her hands, arms resting on her knees, when she felt the woman sitting beside her again.

"I don't know what else to do," she whispered.

"Ok." Regina sighed.

Emma immediately looked up. "Really?" For the first time that day, she seemed hopeful.

"We will try, ok?" she had more to say, but the blonde was already nodding firmly, "We won't do any magic for now. You will come here, something we know you would do anyway," she managed to get a smile from Emma, and was relieved to see it again, "We will talk and I will tell you what you need to know for now. You need to know magic before you start using it. Then we will work on getting you under control, and get you to relax around magic. You need to be calm when you start practicing."

She was more than on board with the plan, and Regina truly seemed to know what she was talking about. But there was still something that bothered her. "What if it happens again? Tonight? Tomorrow? What if I lose control before I learn?"

Regina had a somewhat sad smile now. "You probably will, dear. But you need to remember to calm yourself and remind yourself that you're in control."

"Yeah, well, it's easy when you tell me. But when I'm surrounded by people who drive me insane everyday…" she started fidgeting with her fingers again, avoiding looking right at her new tutor. "I feel safer here," her voice was small and shy, she didn't really want to say the words but felt like she had to. "At least for now."

"Well, in that case," Regina smirked, "Good luck convincing your parents. And we will need another mattress and another blanket, because I am sure you don't want to sleep on the floor again, and I most certainly want to keep warm."

Emma's smile was contagious, "So you're ok with that?"

"On a trial basis. If I get sick of you after half an hour…"

"Feel free to kick me out to the cell next door, Your Majesty," she grinned, and kept looking at the woman sitting next to her, "Thank you. And I'm sorry I'm such a mess."

"I remember what it's like. It can be really scary, and, if you want your magic to be on the lighter side, first thing we need to make sure of is that you feel safe, so that you use it not when you're trapped or angry, but when you're calm and happy."

"I do," her words were slowly becoming stronger, "I do feel safe."