It was the moment she had waited for many suns and moons to see. Her feet carried true over fallen logs, branches and the like. Breath was a ghostly apparition when the light supported it. It was hard to pinpoint the last time she had been on the cusp of joy. The adrenaline raced through her veins, driving her forward. Ahead of her frightened and stumbling, was the dimwitted Snow White.
Queen Regina's attack on the caravan had taken place so swiftly the heir had bolted.
Odd, she was such a defiant young woman.
Sounds of ragged breath were a pleasure in the winter night.
What a fitting time for the little brat to die.
Then, she fell. All was still but for the sounds of air entering lungs. The Queen approached cautiously from the side. Using the full force of rage she delivered a crushing blow Snow White's fur covered knee. The howl of pain the emanated sweeter than a song.
Poor little Snow White.
She would be forced to endure what would be hours upon hours of torture at the hands of the Queen. Even that could not replace Daniel. Even that could not replace Riconate. Even that could not replace her father after a second failed casting of the curse. Snow White had taken everything indirectly or directly.
Everything but Regina's life.
Oh, how she had prayed to the God's to be relieved of that as well. Yet another silent prayer unanswered. How unselfish was it to ache for death? It would bring peace to the lands, hundreds of thousands would still have been alive. Children would have grown up with families. Nations would exist. The realm would have a Queen dedicated to creating "happiness" for all. It was just like the God's to remain silent. Allowing one to live where they should die and those to die who should have lived. They could not well be very just beings. No more just than an Evil Queen.
To be with Daniel and Father. Every day, every week, every month without them more tortuous. Turning her into something less and less human. The Princess was finally below her; air being cut off by two hands. She could rip her heart out but there was so much she wanted to feel the last bit of air would escape. Something so primal should feel this intense.
"Re….gina."
"Speak now or forever hold your peace dear." Regina gritted through a wide smile. "I can't hear you."
"Please, my baby."
One hand firmly held the battered Princess in place while the other felt through the furs. Oh dear God's. Regina scrambled backward until a tree pressed firmly into her back. Snow White did not dare to move so fast. Her cries quietly mixing with those of the forest. Yet another cruel twist of fate. From her new position, Regina could easily tell the difference between the current and previous memories of Snow. Her face was fuller; the snowsuit alone should have told her but she had been so blinded that all she saw was the capturing of the younger woman. Snow's abdomen was swollen with the creation of human life. Regina's mind raced still as Snow White leaned into the fallen log behind her.
Finally stepping back towards the fallen woman Regina produced a leather strap.
"This is going to hurt."
Sitting up, the Queen found her heart hammering away beneath her breast. The bed was empty but her young wife was staring into the fire from the chaise. Hooded jade eyes were unreadable when Regina came to her side. And then Emma, as she still did despite the unpleasantness with her parents, smiled at her wife. Taking her hand and placing a simple kiss, pulling the older woman to her.
"Another nightmare my love?" Emma asked.
"Yes."
"Another you wish not to speak of then?"
"You know me well."
"Though it would seem you do not wish to be known."
Regina held her by the chin "You do not understand the weight of what you asking."
"You are the one who doesn't trust me with the truth."
"I have been trying to protect you."
Closing both hands over one of her wife's hands, kissing her wholly "You know every part of me. You own every part of me. I don't need protecting. It doesn't matter what was, only what is and Regina, I'll take every part of you."
Tears sprang from a place where the Queen's heart had once been whole. A place that ached for her Father, for Daniel, and now for Emma. A living, breathing representation of hope. Regina's hope bursting to life. A part that had become her home.
"I…"
"The next words better be love you."
"love you." Regina swallowed hard against the impossible dryness of her mouth.
"Hey," Emma whispered, cupping her face. "do you remember what you said on our wedding night?"
"I said a lot of things."
"When you joined me in the bed behind us, you told me exactly what I needed to hear, that I deserved love. That you loved me."
Disbelief still colored the Queen. "It began in the most unexpected of ways… I saved your Mother's life…."
Allowing Regina to regale her tales, Emma listened patiently for one of the few times in her life. Rarely asking anything and never taking her eyes from her Queen. Throughout the tales Regina's voice had never waivered, not even once, though her vivid descriptions left Emma feeling she was in that moment with her.
"That is the monster you married." Regina stated, drawing Emma back to her.
Scoffing, Emma shook her head. "Maybe once, my love but you have since become so much more than a monster."
"Make no mistake, if anyone hurt you…that demon will shake off the dust and go to war like she was never locked in her cage."
"No one is going to hurt me Regina." She brushed some stray hair off her beloved's neck, placing a soft kiss at the base. "No one, is going to hurt either of us. Because as you once said to my Mother, we will destroy them."
"We?"
Linking five fingers, "We."
"My Gods, what did I ever do to deserve you?"
Tears were far and few for Regina but the knife of her past cut deeply. As had the reign of the Evil Queen. With the sacrifice of her Father taking the last bits of her sanity and chalking up another failure, it had become no holds bar in the hunt for Snow White.
"How do you kill someone without spilling a drop?" Regina asked, as Emma shrugged.
"How?"
"You take the thing they love most," a haunted smile painted the brunette's nude colored lips "and you raise it, just out of reach but for all the kingdom to see."
"I thought you said I was in mortal danger."
"Being a pawn in a war you couldn't possibly understand, what a wayword arrow meant had struck you? Or a plate of food intended for me, had someone fallen into your hands. What if my temper had snapped?"
Seemingly appeased Emma nodded. "But not having someone, that's the worst curse imaginable."
"Emma."
"You chose me Regina and now I am choosing you. Again," Emma's lips pressed a second kiss "and again," then a third, "and again. With the last breath I breathe, I will choose you."
A broken sound emanated from the brunette as she did just that and for the first time in thousands of sunrises and sunsets, allowed herself to shatter. To become the broken mess without the judgement of anyone else. "I just wanted to win."
"This feels a lot like winning to me." Chuckling into golden waves, the brunette knew the fight was over. Emma was as hard headed as any living person and she would not back down from this. Not when the stakes were her wife's happiness. "Regina?"
"Hm?" she hummed into the crook of Emma's neck. Her arm draped lovingly over the taunt, revealed tummy of the young Queen. Taking liberties that Emma had repeatedly bestowed upon her, and using one another as a complete distraction when the world became too much.
Trickling her fingertips over the lithe back of her lover, Emma finally posed her question, "One day I should like to create the thing we will love most of all."
Only the sounds of pleasure floating between them as they hungrily fed the lusting flares. Yanking the nightgowns off one another with a fierce hunger, before setting about their torturous pace. Regina wasted no time mounting her swan and locking eyes, willing Emma to feel all the love inside that was reserved only for her. It continued to build until they had become a shuddering, pleasured mess in one another's arms. Not bothering to move from being lost between Emma's legs , Regina remained above her.
"You want a child?"
"Don't you?" Emma breathed.
Stutering, "Yes."