A/N:
Hey guys!
Suuuuuuper long chapter here for you, the longest so far! I didn't intend it to be so big but I didn't want to split the last scenes up so I decided to keep them all together. The second half of the chapter was one of my favourite things to write yet, so I hope you enjoy it! Next chapter will address some of the things I've put on hold for a while… there will be some more Robin/Tink stuff so stay tuned! As always a girl loves reviews, if you like what's happening, or don't, I would love to hear from you!
Happy reading!
Rosie
(I do not own OUAT or any of the characters, no copyright intended).
7 o'clock the next evening rolled around quicker than anyone anticipated. Snow and Charming held a meeting with all the townspeople, explaining to them the situation; who this woman was that had cursed them all. There was the obligatory blaming of Regina but the number of people who distrusted her was getting lesser and lesser each time they met. It appeared that the Saviour's affiliation with the former Queen was helping her reputation tenfold. The townsfolk assumed, for the most part, that Regina couldn't be all that bad if Emma was spending time with her; even living in her house and allowing their son to see her too. Some of them expressed distaste at having to attend this "show", and Snow and David were concerned too, but they knew that even if they asked the people expressly not to be there, they would all turn up anyway. The Storybrooke residents were all suckers for even the slightest bit of gossip; none of them would miss this, even at risk to their own lives.
While the meeting went on Regina and Emma were preparing all they could. If the brunette's suspicions were true about her parentage then Zelena could well be more powerful than she and Emma combined. Emma's power was strong, even though she was a novice, but uncontrolled. They agreed that if they came out of this encounter alive they would commence magic lessons straight away. The blonde's power was strong because she was a product of true love, but the woman they were up against… If Cora was her mother and Rumple her father, the result could be disastrous. The brunette did all the research she could on the power of those born from dark magic. Speaking to Gold about this would have been preferable but Regina had decided to steer clear of him until this encounter was over; she didn't want him to know the truth, assuming that he hadn't already found out, and the general consensus from her and Emma's reading was that it was only light magic that could defeat dark, which Regina already knew already. In other words, it was only Emma's magic that could defeat Regina's sister, but the blonde's magic was nowhere near developed enough to defend herself against a woman whose magic was so powerful. This was how, on that evening at 7 o'clock they gathered in the town square with the rest of the residents, unprepared and terrified about what was going to happen.
They all looked up at the clock tower in apprehension as it finished its final ring, signalling that it was 7pm on the dot. Dark has swept over Storybrooke and David was uneasy, he and Snow still maintaining that it was a bad idea for their people to be exposed in the open with such danger looming over all their heads.
"I think we should get everyone to go home, this isn't safe," he whispered to his wife, just out of Emma and Regina's earshot.
The townspeople were starting to get scared and some had already returned to their houses in fear of the witch that was set to arrive any minute.
Rumple was standing silently outside his shop, watching from a distance. He could help them, but he wouldn't, they knew that. He had already told him that he was remaining unaligned and although that angered more than a few of the townspeople there wasn't anything they could do about it. In reality, Regina and Emma could really use his help fighting Zelena as they were more than sure that this was going to go disastrously. But as the brunette had pointed out to Emma earlier, no matter what happened it would give them some kind of an idea what they were really up against.
The blonde was standing in front of Regina with several other people standing around her so she was relatively hidden from her sister's view in the darkness. She had tried to discourage Emma from putting herself in the direct line of fire but had been ignored as usual, and the blonde did have a point. Regina's magic, though more powerful than Emma's, could potentially be ineffective, so it made sense for Emma to try first, even if it didn't work. The brunette was not best pleased with this plan and the idea of Emma putting herself in danger for her made her heart sink. If anything happened to her Regina wasn't entirely sure what she would do. The thing that baffled her most, however, was the fact that Emma was actually willing to do this for Regina. No one had ever offered to put themselves on the line for her before. Things between them were better, they were friends, but she was unsure when things had changed so drastically between them that Emma was willing to sacrifice herself for Regina, if it came down to that. To this town she had only ever been scorned or used for her magic and Emma was treating her as if she was worth so much more than her abilities. It was bizarre, but in a way, wonderful.
As the commotion continued and Regina's thoughts sped along at a thousand miles a minute, Zelena appeared. She felt Emma tense in front of her and reach her hand backwards to brush Regina's arm just slightly. It made the brunette focus and she stilled behind the blonde in front of her, obscuring herself from view.
Through a cloud of green smoke the witch emerged, dressed head to toe in black, looking like something Emma had seen in movies when she was younger. The woman was wearing heavy black boots and a long velvet dress with a sweeping train down the back and intricate beading across the bodice. On her chest was a large, shining green amulet on a gold chain. All of this was paired with a large hat, like the kind children wear on Halloween. It would have made Emma scared if it didn't look so funny.
"Well, well, well, I'm glad everyone could make it," she sneered in their general direction as the cloud dissipated, sinister emerald eyes meeting the blonde's more open ones as she appeared to have become the centre of the group. A hand brushed her back fleetingly and she knew this was the brunette's way of reassuring her without revealing herself.
"Now where is my sister?" Zelena asked Emma directly, "I have been ever-so excited to properly make her acquaintance." The woman looked round; not spotting Regina in the crowd immediately, she became aggravated.
"Is she too terrified of my power to come and face me like a woman?" she asked, a sly smile creeping upon her lips.
The magic Zelena was releasing into the air was filled with terror and power; it made Emma feel dirty, like just being near her was tarnishing her magic, something that had never happened with Regina. Emma reasoned that she actually could have been quite beautiful if it wasn't for this. The witch had a soft face, which Emma suspected had been hardened by years of grief and resentment and beautiful red hair that was pinned up tightly, just showing underneath her hat.
Emma bolstered herself, she knew her power would be more effective than Regina's would but she was still scared witless. She hardened her face and eyes, mimicking the mask that the brunette so carefully painted onto her face everyday.
"If you want to get to her, you're gonna have to go through me," Emma answered boldly, much to the shock of the townsfolk around them. Her reply prompted an ungodly cackle from the witch opposite her.
"Oh, and who do you think you are?" Zelena spat, literally, at Emma's feet, "her bodyguard?" She asked, advancing on Emma step by step as the blonde held her hands out to her sides, summoning all the power she could muster towards the threat in front of her.
"No," the blonde replied, gritting her teeth and narrowing her eyes in a struggle to get her power under control, "I'm the Saviour." The magic was bubbling inside her but it was weak, like a kettle before boiling; heating up but still powerless to hurt anyone.
Zelena looked her up and down with menacing eyes that were darkening by the second; she was barely a five meters away from Emma now.
"The Saviour, huh," the redhead smirked, moving her hand upwards in the motion she had seen the former Queen do hundreds of times.
"Get out of my way."
There was a gasp, and before Emma knew what was happening, before she had time to summon her magic to the surface enough to retaliate, she was thrown across she street with a level of strength she hadn't even known to exist. She landed painfully on the curb, the concrete under her back winding her. Some of the Storybrooke residents were running now; if their Saviour couldn't stand up to this woman then who could?
Charming detached himself from the group and began to run towards her but Emma jumped to her feet mere seconds later as she heard Zelena's silky smooth voice hit the airwaves again. Her feet were already moving underneath her as the redhead spoke.
"Ah, sis," she paused, "how wonderful to meet you again. Nice to see you brought your lapdog with you. Adorable."
Emma watched from the side as Regina moved at a measured pace out of the crowd. She held her hands up only slightly, signifying to Emma that she was ready to fight whenever, but not threatening her sister too much after the show she had just put on. Her heels clicked against the road slowly but surely as she looked into Zelena's eyes with nothing other than pure hatred.
"You obviously didn't get the memo dear…" Regina smirked her infamous smirk, her mouth rising at the corners as Emma watched, waiting to see what was going to happen next.
"…Black is my colour."
If it had been any other situation Regina's tone of voice probably would have turned Emma on, but she forced herself to focus on the situation at hand as she crept back around the large group so she was standing behind the majestic brunette, who was still advancing on her prey.
"You should be wearing something less chic…Green…Brown perhaps?" she mocked.
Zelena's face contorted in anger as she took another step towards her brunette sister, "Well, maybe Mother should have taught you share, Princess."
That made Regina angry, so she responded with a growl in the only way she had ever been taught.
"Our mother clearly didn't want me to share," she disparaged, "otherwise she would have allowed you to be part of our family in the first place. She was ashamed of you."
Zelena's eyes noticeably dropped at this statement, if only for a few seconds, and the Mayor internally rejoiced that she had found her enemy's weakness; their mother's love. The woman hardened her face considerably before she replied to her sister.
"So you admit we're sisters?"
"I admit nothing. Cora was my mother, and she was yours. I was and will forever be an only child. You are no sister of mine."
Emma stepped forward minutely, she was watching the altercation, waiting for the moment when Regina might need her help. Emma quickly thought how happy she was that Henry wasn't here tonight. The brunette's last comment awoke a new level of anger in the witch, so Emma held her hand up in defence, pulling her magic to the surface of her skin, but it was no use, nothing would come, and she wasn't strong enough anyway. She wished that there was some magical way she could help Regina, the blonde had always been overly protective of those she cared about and this was no exception, but Regina was on her own. There was nothing Emma could do.
"You bitch!" Zelena yelled, catching Regina off guard and sending her careering into the group of people stood to her left. Before she even rose from the ground Regina expelled a ball of fire from the centre of her palm that whooshed towards her sister, crackling, and there was a number of frightened screams from townsfolk. The fireball caught Zelena's hat where she ducked and knocked it clean off her head into a burning pile behind her.
Regina raised herself to her feet and began to walk calculatingly back towards the woman in front of her.
"So thats what this is all about?" The former Queen asked earnestly, "Mummy dearest abandoned you and you're here to exact your revenge on me because… why?" Regina asked angrily, "because I got to put up with years of her torture? You were lucky."
The witch walked up to her swiftly and stopped just in front of her face, her eyes boring into Regina's even though they had a significant height difference.
"You got everything I should have had. She chose you over me, they all did. You were the most powerful Queen that ever lived, second in power only to your mentor, Rumplestiltskin. And you threw it all away for this?" She gestured around her at the town and it's people, the majority of which had fled the scene at this point.
Regina was stunned and she let her mask slip ever so slightly for a laugh to expel from her mouth. "You're jealous of me? Really? You have no idea how hellish my life was," she answered with a sneer.
"See!" Zelena answered, her already green eyes clouding with effervescent emerald smoke, as if she was being over-taken by the green-eyed monster herself, "You take it all for granted! You had everything. Everything I ever wanted. So now, I'm going to take it all away. Your town, your family, even you. I'm going to make it so you were never born," she grinned with mirth, "and there's nothing you can do to stop me."
"Oh I think there is." Regina replied, summoning another fireball to her hand. But this time, before she could throw it at her target, it evaporated into green smoke.
"I'm more powerful than you can ever be, little sis, and that I know for sure," she gloated as she fingered the gem resting on her pale chest.
Zelena raised her hand and gained a magical chokehold around the brunette's neck. Emma looked on helplessly as her son's mother was raised into the air, battling for breath. She flailed under her grip, but there was nothing she could do to break free. No power she could wield which could overcome Zelena. Emma could almost feel Regina's struggle inside herself, feeling her own windpipe closing from the crushing hold. She could feel the panic, the fear, something which she had never even considered the brunette would feel in battle. But now she knew. She didn't know how, but she knew. Regina looked at Emma ever so quickly, so quick that the blonde almost didn't catch it, before she was thrown viciously to the ground.
Zelena cackled and raised her arm up as Regina pulled her body out of it slumped, slow moving form on the ground and back onto her feet. As soon as she was steady, the vice-like grip around her throat returned and she was pulled into the air then smashed onto the ground again like a rag doll. The witch repeated this over and over again, each time Regina's petite frame hit the concrete with more force. Emma's heart was beating like a drum inside her chest, her eyes watering from the strength it took to stand there and watch the woman she had come to yearn for be hurt repeatedly. All she wanted to do was run to Regina; pick her up and take her home and make sure no one ever hurt her again, but instead she glued her feet to the ground. If the worst was to happen, Henry losing both his mothers wasn't an option.
Charming and Snow held Emma's hands to stop her from running to Regina's aid. They could see from her shaking form that she needed help restraining herself.
As the brunette pulled herself off the ground one final time she attempted to fire the last remains of her magic at Zelena, but failed when she was yet again paralysed. This time however, instead of throwing her to the ground Regina's sister raised her higher and higher in the air until she was suspended above the remaining spectators watching.
Emma's heart was pounding in her chest as she watched her son's mother, limp and helpless in their enemy's grasp.
"See you soon, sis," the witch said maliciously as she used all the strength within her to propel Regina through the air. The witch disappeared in a huge fog of bright green smoke as the brunette sailed through the air, gaining altitude. The blonde watched as the brunette's body collided with the clock tower window. The shattering of glass could be heard halfway across the town on this otherwise silent night in Storybrooke. Emma went into overdrive.
She ran so fast that she could barely feel her legs moving underneath her. It was like those times in her foster homes, when her brain would just switch off and her body act of its own accord. All the background noise, crying townspeople, her parents yelling at her, it was all a haze, a blur of sound that all merged into one. All that maters is Regina, she said to herself.
The library door was yanked open and the Saviour took the steps three at a time. By the time she reached the top of the rickety wooden staircase Regina was coming to, lying in a heap on the ground, groaning. She was slumped against the bannister, which she had obviously been thrown against before sliding down it.
"Regina!" Emma yelled as she launched herself up the last few steps and landed on her knees beside the brunette.
The brunette through strained lungs.
"Emma", was the whispered sound.
"Its gonna be okay. Its all gonna be okay," Emma repeated like a mantra to Regina as she quickly checked the woman over, ascertaining that there was no broken bones, but huge purple bruises were beginning to form around her throat, as if Zelena's hands had really been on her.
"The amulet...around her neck...it was in my vault," Regina chocked out, but Emma ignored her in favour of making she that she wasn't too badly injured.
"Shhh...We can talk about that later. Right now lets concentrate on getting you out of here," Emma answered.
The Sheriff touched her head quickly, noticing that there was a small cut and a large bump to accompany it. She picked her up off the floor. The brunette winced as the blonde touched her back and Emma reasoned that there would be a fair amount of damage to treat where her back had hit the glass, as well as bruising all over her body from being thrown onto the concrete so many times. Emma carried her carefully down the stairs, attempting to move as little as possible so to make the ride more comfortable for the woman in her arms.
As she appeared through the library door, carrying Regina through the threshold marriage style, Snow and Charming ran towards her, stopping just short of the pair.
"Is she okay?" they asked quickly, "Are you?" Concern was etched on her mother's face.
"I'm… fine…" Regina replied groggily, opening her eyes narrowly to look up at the Charmings, then at her Saviour. "Put me down Emma. I can walk."
Emma almost laughed, "Regina, you have a concussion. You're not walking. We should get you to the hospital," she said and took off in the right direction, largely ignoring her parents as they rushed along behind her.
Regina moved her head in towards Emma's chest and winced slightly from the movement. In her barely conscious state she inadvertently rubbed her nose along Emma's collarbone. Her usual white tank top allowed the blonde to feel the breath against her chest, slightly ragged.
"I'm not…an invalid," she replied disjointedly, "don't you dare take me to the hospital." Regina looked up and met Emma's green eyes with her unfocussed ones, "take me home."
Emma suspected that Regina had a pretty serious concussion, but not one to disobey the mayor's orders, especially when said Mayor was pressed against her chest being carried like a baby, she walked towards the Mercedes and carefully laid the brunette out across the back seat, lying on her side so not to damage her back any further.
"Aren't you taking her to the hospital? Its right there?" Snow asked, concerned as she stood next to her husband by the Mayor's car.
"No, I'm taking her back to the mansion," Emma answered as she walked around the car to get in the drivers seat, looking up at her parents and switching on the ignition, she continued, "can you guys take Henry tonight please. He's at Hansel's right now?" There was a hint of worry on her features. She could tell her parents didn't like this idea, and that they also didn't understand why she was caring for Regina, but she didn't care. Emma knew what it was like to be physically hurt like this; it had happened too many times to count, and she understood that Regina didn't want anyone to see her like this so she listened to the woman's request.
"Of course we can," David replied before being interrupted by his wife.
Snow huffed and looked at her daughter in such a mothering way the blonde wanted to be sick. "But Emma, really, this is a bad-."
"Just take Henry for me. And no funny business. I don't want him walking home on his own at god knows what time again." Emma replied with finality, looking back at Regina's semi-conscious form in the back.
Her mother looked embarrassed at that and silenced.
"We'll look after him, you look after her."
David slammed the car door as he replied and tapped the car roof, signalling that the blonde was good to go.
"Thanks, see you later," she said, glancing round once more at Regina before she pushed her foot down on the gas in order to get home as quickly as possible.
The pair arrived at 108 Mifflin Street mere minutes later. Emma pulled Regina's car carefully into the drive. She knew the brunette was going to kill her for driving the Merc when she realised how they got home, but at this moment Emma didn't really acre about that. At least she hadn't scratched it. The car pulled to a stop and she immediately killed the engine and climbed out of the vehicle, swiftly opening Regina's door. The woman was awake and as Emma tried to extricate her from the car without hurting her she tried to manoeuvre herself, sliding gracefully along the leather even when in major pain. Emma carefully helped guide her out and the brunette tried to free herself of the blonde's grip and stand on her own two feet. She made it two steps, holding onto the car while Emma was shutting the door before she realised what the woman was doing.
"Uh uh," the Saviour protested, "no walking. You have a concussion."
Regina braced herself against the car, holding on either side of her body. She was wobbling; even if she could walk there was no way Emma would let her.
"Fine," Regina grumbled, her face dark as thunder, "you may carry me."
"Good", Emma responded victoriously while she scooped the former Queen up again, the woman's arms coming instinctively around her neck. She shut the Regina's door with her foot and locked the car with the key that was still clutched between two fingers. She made her way up the path and stepped onto the porch.
Emma fiddled as she tried to move the right key into her grasp. After finally succeeding, she opened the door and stepped into the lobby, closing the door behind her.
She paused for a second removing her shoes, and as if reading her mind Regina's low, pained voice drifted through the sound waves.
"To my room, please," the brunette voiced reluctantly as she closed her eyes. She really didn't like, nor was she used to being babied like this.
The floorboards creaked under their combined weight as Emma walked smoothly up the stairs. She turned a sharp right and stood in front of the second door on her left. Her firm grip on Regina didn't leave her much space to turn the door handle, but she managed to do it regardless, and soon they stepped onto the plush ivory carpet of the mayor's bedroom. They walked across the room in darkness as Emma headed for the bathroom, assuming that where the medical supplies would be. She flipped the switch with one finger of her left hand and the room was bathed in light. It was a big room, much larger than the bathroom in the guest bedroom that Emma currently occupied.
The brunette was sat gently onto the floor by Emma and leant against the tub with just the tops of her shoulders touching the porcelain. Regina opened her eyes, looking around and taking in Emma's face now that she was stationary and didn't feel so nauseous.
"First-Aid kit is in the right hand cupboard, painkillers in the left," she said, croaking as she spoke again, the product of her sister's magic clutching around her throat like steel. She coughed and continued in a slightly exposed yet stronger voice, "thank you Emma."
The younger woman rifled through the cabinets and paused to look at several bottles more closely.
Regina heard the pills rattle inside her foggy brain and looked up as Emma turned around to reply to her.
"You don't need to say thank you," Emma said, trying to say it in a tone that would make the brunette believe it. It sounded like one of Regina's courteous replies, but the blonde really meant it. She didn't want Regina to say thank you. Emma felt like it was the least she could do, and besides, she wanted to do it.
There was a minute of silence whilst Emma gathered the final things she needed from the vanity. She wet a facecloth with hot water and filled a glass which was sitting by the basin with cold water, then knelt down next to her son's mother.
"Okay," Emma settled the supplies down next to her, removing the antiseptic lotion and bandages and some cream for good measure. "I'm gonna have a look at your head first, then your back. Drink this," she said, handing Regina the glass. "Can you take your jacket off?" she asked politely, looking Regina in the eye.
"I'm not an invalid Miss Swan," she repeated, sassing Emma even in her current state before taking a sip of the water. The blonde let out a short but melodical laugh.
"I'm sorry Regina, but considering I had to carry you up here, I kinda did have to ask," she smirked cheekily, earning as much of an eyebrow roll as the brunette could produce at that moment in time.
"I could have walked," the Queen grumbled. She sat up slightly, moving her hands to undo the buttons on her coat.
"Oh yeah, really," Emma scoffed.
Once they were undone Regina reached up to pull the jacket off her shoulders. She struggled to get the arms down because it required bending her back, and not without a scathing look allowed Emma to assist her in removing the jacket, soon she was sitting in her tight black dress, heels still on, looking up at and waiting for the Saviour to move.
Emma jumped into action, embarrassed that she had been caught staring, especially in this situation.
"Sorry, uh, can you sit up for me?" Emma asked bashfully. She picked up the soaked washcloth and doused it in antiseptic. "And drink some more water."
Regina moved her body forward and raised her knee to rest her head on, which obviously still hurt, to expose the cut to Emma.
There was a lump formed on Regina's skull, not too big, but still noticeable underneath her hair as Emma parted it. The brunette winced from the pain caused by the Sheriff pulling her hair out of the way. The cut wasn't terribly deep and Emma didn't think it would need stitches, so she gently squeezed the cloth to release warm water, which trickled over the cut. She dabbed it several times, getting the blood off. The blonde continued in this manner, rose up on her knees, one hand resting on Regina's shoulder delicately.
"Gently, please," the brunette quipped at one particularly painful sting of the ointment.
The Mayor winced several times as the process continued, but the blonde was gentler now than before. The infamous Evil Queen was secretly a big baby, Emma thought to herself, not that she dared to voice that thought, ever. Maybe she was just complaining for Emma's sake. When she was satisfied that it was clean enough, she placed a medium-sized bandage over the top and sat back on her hocks.
"Now…" Emma said awkwardly, wondering what she was expected to do in this situation. She couldn't access Regina's back enough to clean her wounds, but she didn't want to just go and outright ask the mayor to undress. Not after… but then she remembered that Regina still didn't know what has transpired between them the other night.
"Oh, " Regina replied, as she looked up from her spot on her knees. When she realised what Emma was asking of her blurted out, "you know I can do this on my own Emma, really."
"Not that I want to ask you to undress or anything, " she laughed nervously, "but…you really can't Regina. I think you have glass in your back. I'll take care of it."
"If you insist," she span herself round ninety degrees so she was facing the wall in front of Emma and removed her dress from her shoulders, exposing her the expanse of skin and the back of a black lace bra as she did so.
Emma set to work in silence, partly because she knew this was awkward for Regina too and the woman would want to get this over with, and partly because after their kiss the view she had right now, and others much more revealing, had been crossing her mind more than several times a day. Again she braced her hand on the brunettes shoulder and dabbed gently at the cuts on the brunette's upper back. They were all mostly minor abrasions, Emma worked her way down and found a small piece of glass embedded in the previously perfect area of Regina's lower back.
"There's a bit of glass in your back, this is gonna hurt okay?" Emma asked Regina, who nodded her approval and lowered her head back down to her knees.
"Okay," the woman verbally responded.
Emma slowly and tenderly pulled the shard out of the woman's skin. A small amount of blood followed, and the blonde dabbed it up with the cloth that was still in her hand.
"Ouch," Regina moaned, sucking air in through her teeth as the woman fixed a small bandage and then attended to the remaining cuts.
Emma stood and put the blood-covered cloth in the bin, the first aid kit back in the cupboard, and spoke.
"Good as new," Emma said leaning back on the sink as the woman in front of her made herself decent again and pushed herself off the ground to sit on the toilet seat.
She smiled gently as the brunette, who smiled very minutely back. Emma knew the fight had taken its toll on Regina, but the woman looked drained; emotionally, and magically, as well as physically.
"Thank you Emma, truly," the former Queen said as tired chocolate eyes locked with bright green ones.
"Really, its no problem. I'm glad you're not too badly hurt," she replied nonchalantly. She handed Regina the bottle of painkillers, "you can take these now. They're gonna knock you out though if you have them on an empt stomach"
"I'll take one in a minute, and thank you all the same."
And awkward silence pervaded the air. Neither woman knew quite what to say.
Emma broke the stillness, "Uhhh… I guess you want your privacy to like, change or whatever. Do you feel up to something to eat? I can go grab you something?"
Regina's eyes sparkled slightly at Emma's thoughtfulness though her face remained stoic, "Yes, that would be great, thanks."
"I guess I'll just be going then," Emma moved towards the door. She stepped out into Regina's bedroom but slipped her head round the door once more before she left.
"You'll be alright, yeah?" She smiled.
"Yes, Emma, I'll be alright," Regina laughed, a small smile spreading across her face for the first time that evening.
Emma returned fifteen minutes later. She knocked politely on the door to the Mayor's room before she entered with grilled cheese and cocoa on a tray in hand; Henry's favourite things when he was ill or well, anytime really.
"Come in", she heard Regina say from behind the closed door. On entering, Emma saw that the brunette was now dressed in silk pyjamas, sitting in bed propped up against the headboard, reading a book.
"Thank you," Regina said as Emma sat the tray down next to her. She laughed. "Grilled cheese and Cocoa. You must think I'm Henry."
"No, I don't think you're Henry," Emma smirked, sat on the edge of the bed, "I just thought it would cheer you up…or something…plus its basically the only thing I can make" she stuttered.
The slightest hint of blush spread over Regina's face. She had never had anybody do something 'just to cheer her up' before. Other than her physical ailments, there didn't outwardly appear to be anything wrong with her, but she sensed that Emma knew better, knew that it wasn't just the bump on her head and the cuts on her back that were hurting. She didn't know what to say in response, so she simply picked up one half of the sandwich, biting it daintily, and offered the other half to the Saviour.
"You should eat it all," Emma said, not often one to turn down food.
"Really, I'm not all that hungry," she answered, "You have it."
Emma looked at her, raising her eyebrows as if to ask if Regina was sure before she picked it up and chowed down, the whole sandwich gone in five seconds flat. The former Queen shook her head at the blonde disbelievingly.
They continued in comfortable silence, Emma still sat on the opposite side of the bed. Her legs were now crossed as she sipped her cocoa slowly, savouring every mouthful. Regina finished her sandwich and politely took a sip of her cocoa too, allowing the taste to slide deliciously down her throat. She didn't often allow herself to indulge in her son's favourite treats.
"Did you take some painkillers?" Emma asked. She thought she should probably leave, that the brunette was getting sick of her just hanging around and being annoying, but something inside herself wouldn't let her be dragged away.
"Yes, I took one about ten minutes ago. I'm feeling rather drowsy now," she replied, placing her mug on the bedside table.
Emma realised that was probably her cue to go so she excused herself to clean up the dishes.
After changing into her pyjamas she tried to stop herself but couldn't. Before she went to bed she decided to check on Regina one more time. She padded silently up the stairs, the carpet soft on her now bare feet, and walked along the landing to Regina's chamber. The blonde pushed the door open lightly and noticed immediately that the other woman had fallen asleep before she could turn the light off. Her son's mother was now curled up in a ball on her side.
The blonde tiptoed carefully across the room, attempting not to wake the woman up. She made it silently to the other side and switched off the bedside lamp with a click. The room was plunged into darkness, the only light coming from the hallway downstairs. As Emma crossed back to the door a groggy voice made its way through the darkness.
"Emma?" the half-sleeping half-drugged brunette asked softly, her hand flopping off the side of the bed as if she was trying to get the blonde's attention.
"Regina," she replied, turning and walking towards the woman who was lying facing the door until she was only a foot away from the bed. "Are you okay? She said softly, "Do you need anything?"
Emma leant down, crouching slightly over the woman's body as she spoke.
The brunette's hand reached out blindly towards the source of the voice, until it knocked against the soft flesh of Emma's hand. The brunette gripped it limply, running her thumb over the blonde's palm.
"Emma…please…" she attempted, trying to push the words out through her drug induced haze, as she fingered the younger woman's hand in her own.
"Please what, Regina? What do you need?" Emma asked, slightly concerned now, her free hand subconsciously reaching out to rest on the edge of the mattress.
There was a tug at her fingers, hesitant but there as the brunette said her next words, words that sent both shock and a feeling of pure warmth through Emma.
"Stay…" She pulled softly at the blonde's hand again.
Emma didn't know what to say, but if she couldn't say no to Regina when she didn't want to go to hospital, she sure as hell couldn't say no to Regina when she was asking her to get in her bed.
"Okay…" Emma said warily, there will be hell to pay tomorrow but "Yeah I'll stay."
Almost immediately the blonde's hand dropped out of its warm counterpart, as if the woman knew her task had been achieved.
Emma walked silently to door and shut it before making her way to the other side of the bed and sliding in. It was the best bed she had experienced in well, ever. The pillows felt like clouds to rest her head on. The duvet felt like the snuggliest of jumpers on the coldest winter day. And if that wasn't enough, the fact that Regina was lying in it next to her topped it all off. She laid her head to the side, looking at the shadowy form of the other woman underneath the covers. She desperately wanted to glide over and wrap the woman in her embrace, but that would be too far, so instead she settled for reaching her hand slightly further out in front of her as if Regina would sense the comfort regardless.
Minutes later, when Emma was on the brink of sleep, she felt the mattress dip in front of her and heard the movement of the covers against silk as the older woman rolled in her sleep. The brunette stopped facing Emma, her hands moved up to grip the pillow and landed mere millimetres away from the blonde's own. Emma listened for several seconds to Regina's steady, even breath before she allowed herself to drift away again. She was so close to unconsciousness that she barely registered a warm, soft hand slip around her own and hold on for dear life.