I wish you all a Merry Christmas!
Thanks at this point to the review writers and all the silent readers!
Chapter 19
Since Regina finally had no choice but to fulfill her duties as mayor, Emma could only wait for her and mingle with the people in the meantime. Sitting on one of the beer benches, she sipped her herbal tea and watched the happy people around her.
"Swan, what a pleasure." Hook swung his legs over the bench beside her and set his beer mug down on the rickety folding table.
Grinning, she turned to him. "Pleasure, huh? How's the job?"
"You didn't tell me before that I'd have to spend most of my time on those awful computers," it came indignantly from him.
"Then you wouldn't have accepted?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.
"After all, you're well aware that I don't go much in for this newfangled technology. And besides, it borders on cheeky that you're making me use these tiny keys for my hook," he continued indignantly.
Now Emma did have to laugh. "I'm not sure if they make special keyboards for people with hook hands, but for you I'll be happy to inquire," she replied sarcastically, taking a sip of her tea.
Hook raised a brow and watched her for a moment. "Allow me to ask: what exactly are you drinking?"
"What does it look like?"
"Like little fun," he said dryly. "That's not what we're used to from you last year, if you know what I mean. You're not going to disappoint the dwarves and me, are you?"
"If by disappoint you mean that I won't get unrestrainedly drunk with you, then I'm honestly sorry. I'm actually not going to do that," it came back from her shaking her head.
"A year with her and you've already become as stuffy as she is," he sighed. But just a moment later, he winced in shock as Emma hit the table with the flat of her hand.
Angrily, she eyed him. "You still don't get it, do you? I don't love you, Killian. So you can stop acting like an asshole to Regina and get on with your life. It would save us all a lot of agitation."
"Don't begrudge me those little jokes," he said.
"Better save your energy for the sheriff station," she snapped back, briefly holding a hand to her temple in an automatic gesture as her headache got worse. "How's it going there, aside from the miserable keyboard?"
Hook shrugged. "Not much going on in this sleepy little town here. Not even Sidney Glass seems to be able to dig up any headlines anymore. There hasn't been anything interesting in the Daily Mirror for weeks."
"Hmm," was all Emma could say as she watched Ruby approach. Judging by her sympathetic face, she would ask her how she was doing as soon as she reached the table, which was why Emma couldn't get rid of Killian fast enough now. "Hey, unless you want to sit in on some boring girl talk, you and your beer should probably get the hell out of here now. I've got a meeting with Ruby now."
Hook turned in the direction Emma was staring, seeming to accept her statement with that. "Well then, I'll see you around. Enjoy your...tea, Swan. And if you might change your mind, we'll be back there." With a thumb, he pointed over his shoulder to a more secluded part of the fairgrounds, where there were booths that were less crowded.
Emma rolled her eyes and said goodbye to him as Ruby took a seat across from her.
"Hey, Emma!" the young woman greeted her. "How are you?"
Inwardly, Emma had to grin as exactly what she had expected before occurred. "Quite well, thank you for asking," she said, eyeing Ruby. "What do you think of the festival so far?"
"Quite nice, actually. I'd like it even better if I didn't have to sit in the stall the whole time, but could celebrate with everyone else. But I don't want to leave Granny alone for so long either," she explained honestly. "But seriously." Her smile disappeared and she looked at her searchingly. "How are you really doing? After all, when we were talking the other day, Regina's call interrupted our conversation."
Emma shrugged and finished her tea. "I've had better times. But since I've been back home, it's been a little uphill every day. I'm just tired, have a headache... Just general aches and pains like that," she brushed off her condition.
"Do you have to go back to the hospital soon, or can you stay home from now on?"
"I wish." Emma pursed her lips and took a deep breath. "I have to go back in soon. But until then, I won't let it dampen my spirits," she winked at her.
"Hey, Ruby!" Henry came running up and swung onto the bench next to Emma.
"Hi, Henry," the young woman greeted him back, giving him a smile before her gaze swung back and forth between him and Emma.
Questioningly, Henry eyed her. "Are you all right?"
Emma could guess what was going on inside Ruby and put an arm around Henry. "He's taking it better than anyone, believe me," she said, giving his hair a quick tousle.
"Hey!" it immediately came back indignantly from her son, who ducked out from under her hand. "I wanted to come and see what you were doing, because Zelena has already gone home with Robin, because it was too cold for the little one. But if that's the case, I might as well leave."
"You stay here!" Emma held him by the sleeve and pulled him close again so she could rest her head on his shoulder. "Your mom left half an eternity ago, too, I don't feel like sitting around here any longer."
"I have to get back to Granny anyway, you guys can take a lap around the square together," Ruby then suggested and stood up. "See you later then?"
Emma nodded. "Yeah, see you later." When she was alone with Henry again, she looked up at him. "Do you feel like it? We could see if there are any raffle tickets for sale somewhere and win a teddy bear for Regina," she grinned wryly at him.
"She'll be thrilled as hell." Smirking wryly, Henry returned her gaze.
With a half-hearted grin, she nodded and then twiddled her teacup, lost in thought.
Watching her intently for a while, Henry finally hesitantly placed a hand on her back. "Are you sure you're okay, Ma?" He spoke softly, sounding concerned.
Emma nodded and forced herself to look at him. "Yeah, I'm fine."
"Then what's wrong?" he persisted.
Emma took a deep breath and made sure no one was standing in close proximity to overhear their conversation. "It could have been such a beautiful day. Don't tell anyone I told you, especially your mom!" She paused and took another deep breath. "I was actually planning on asking her to marry me tonight."
Henry's mouth dropped open and he looked at her from wide eyes before a glow lit up his face. "But that's great, Ma! Then why are you pulling such a face?"
Emma gave a short mirthless laugh. "That was the plan before I found out I was sick."
"It doesn't change the fact that you love her," he said thoughtfully.
"Not this, but it changes everything else. I would never marry her now. Worst case, she'd be a widow in a few weeks. And even if she isn't: I'd never put a gun to her head like that. Right now, she can leave me anytime she wants to, and you know what? I could even understand it. There's nothing worse than watching someone you love slowly die and not being able to do anything. If she marries me, then she doesn't have that choice anymore, then she feels obligated to me and that's the last thing I want," she immediately made her point.
"Do you really think she'd leave you because it's too much for her? She'd rather bite off her tongue, believe me," Henry countered dryly. "Just think how she worries about you!"
"That's just it, kid. She cares more than is good for her. I don't want to drag her all the way down with me," she shared her fear with her son "That wouldn't be fair."
"None of this is fair," Henry agreed, putting his arm around her shoulders. "But I understand what you mean. Just promise me that you'll propose to her as soon as you're well again, okay?" He smiled at her and pressed a kiss to her cheek.
Emma returned the smile and enjoyed the moment her son gave her. "I promise. Now come on, let's win this teddy bear."
Smirking, Henry climbed over the bench and held out an outstretched hand to Emma to help her do the same.
She ignored him, however, and swung her legs around, then carefully stood up. "If you're going to help me up off the beer bench, you might as well get up on stage and announce that I'm sick, kid," she reminded him, intent on keeping her illness a secret for as long as possible.
Henry shrugged his shoulders. "Might be better than this secrecy... There's Mom!"
Emma was about to say something in reply to his first statement, but then searched for Regina with her gaze as well.
She was busy going over the final fire safety inspection with the firefighters who were taking care of the traditional fireworks. When she saw them approaching, she gave the three men a few final instructions before heading out to meet her family. "Are you guys having a good time?", Regina wanted to know, letting an appraising glance sweep over Emma.
"Whatever you say," it came back from her.
Regina raised an eyebrow.
"I'd rather you have time for us, that's all," Emma said with a shrug.
"Jealous of the citizens of Storybrooke?" Regina grinned, pulling her close to press a kiss to her lips.
Theatrically, Henry turned away from the two of them.
Emma shrugged and smirked at them. "What do you think? Do you have to work much longer?"
A deep sigh escaped Regina. "Emma..."
"I get it," she nodded, backing away from her as she raised her hands and the smirk left her face. "You're the mayor and you're insanely busy and needed here, I get it." With a richly unsuccessful smile, she walked away towards the stalls, from where she could still hear the loud exchange of words behind her.
"Mom!" it came indignantly from Henry.
"Henry, I can't help it. This is my job!", Regina defended her behavior.
But her son shook his head. "You really don't get it, do you? She's been looking forward to this day, even if it's just inconveniencing you. It's your anniversary, so to speak, and you don't take a moment for her. We don't even know if she'll live to see another one!" With that, he ran off and rejoined Emma.
"You didn't have to do that," she said immediately when he got to her, not even thinking about the people who had now overheard that Emma might die.
"But you're right to be mad at her," it came from Henry, who stood in front of her so she wouldn't keep running and had to look at him.
Emma nodded. "Maybe so, but she's doing what she can and just kind of trying to function like the rest of us. I have to go back and apologize."
"Wait!", Henry stopped her when she had already turned around.
Questioning, she turned back to her son.
"Let's get something from one of the booths and bring it to her. She likes the chocolate-covered apples so much. Maybe then she'll stop thinking about work for a moment," he suggested.
Emma hesitated, not wanting to let Regina think for an unnecessarily long time that both of them had now turned their backs on her, especially since Henry's last sentence must have deeply affected her girlfriend, knowing her. "All right," she finally relented. "As greedy as you are, I'm sure you know exactly where to buy it."
Henry grinned and led the way as they meandered through the crowds.
Emma was glad when they finally arrived at the booths selling candy. "Hey, here's some money," she said, handing him her wallet. "I'll sit over there in the meantime." She pointed to some benches arranged as a square. The line was long, and she didn't feel as if her circulation could stand minutes of standing on end.
For a moment Henry eyed her and then took her by the arm to escort her to the benches.
"What are you doing?" she hissed at him, looking to all sides to see if anyone had been watching her.
Wordlessly, Henry pushed her into a sitting position and took a seat next to her. "Now, can you stop worrying about the other people for a minute? You're all pale." He was afraid she would suddenly pass out again while he was buying the apple for his mom.
"If I sit here for a while, I'll be fine," she promised him, putting a hand to her forehead again.
"Do you have a headache?" he interpreted the gesture without elaborating on her previous statement.
Emma sighed and nodded. "Yes, I do. But it's not too bad. Now go on, kid. It's a good time right now." She nodded over to the booth where the rush had died down a bit.
"You stay here and I'll be right back," he instructed her, reluctantly walking the few feet to the line that had gotten shorter since they had sat down and talked.
Emma took a deep breath and propped her head in her hands as she rested her elbows on her knees. Until Henry had told her she looked pale, she hadn't noticed how she was threatening to feel sick at all, except for the headache. All this up and down that her body was doing to her without warning was really getting on her nerves.
It took a few minutes until Henry returned with the apple. He stepped up to her with a stony expression before his face relaxed. "Are you feeling better?" he wanted to know.
Emma nodded and gave him a smile. "I'm fine again."
"I should take you home. Actually, the festival isn't all that great," he said, putting his arm around her as they headed back to find Regina.
Astonished, Emma looked at him. "What's got you in such a bad mood?" It could hardly be explained by the fact that she had gotten sick; that had been much more likely to worry him.
He shrugged his shoulders and nodded toward the tent where Regina had put Emma in the beginning.
Regina stood in front of it and seemed a bit lost, scanning the crowd with her eyes.
"I'll leave you to it," it came from Henry before Emma could ask him and pressed the apple into her hand.
Slowly, Emma walked the few more meters to her girlfriend, who she spotted only when she was almost with her.
Relief lit Regina's face as she put her arms around Emma. "I'm sorry," she whispered.
But Emma shook her head. "I'm sorry. I know you're trying to carry on as normally as possible, and after all, that's what I asked you to do. Henry shouldn't have thrown that at you."
"He's right, though, Emma. No job in the world justifies leaving you two alone all day. I know you're not feeling well, and yet you wanted to be here with me, and it certainly wasn't to wait for me to finish getting everything organized," it came quietly from her.
At first without explanation, Emma held the apple out to her.
Regina took it and raised an eyebrow questioningly.
"Henry's apology," she then said curtly.
Smirking, Regina bit into it. "Good boy, he gets to yell at me more often when I get a chocolate apple after that."
"That's a new one," Emma laughed before once again feeling the blood rush to her legs. Taking a deep breath, she leaned against one of the tent poles and closed her eyes to fight down the dizziness.
"Emma?" Regina's hands immediately reached for her girlfriend.
"Circulation," she explained only briefly, leaning against Regina as she pulled her into her arm and led her inside the tent, where she adjusted a chair for her. She took a few deep breaths before looking up at Regina, who eyed her anxiously, and shook her head. "I'm so sick of this," she said angrily, "I can't take a step without expecting my body to do what it wants!"
Regina grabbed a second chair and positioned it so she could sit across from Emma. Looking compassionately into her eyes, she took her hands after placing the apple on the table. "I believe that. But I've never met anyone who fights as hard as you do."
She rolled her eyes and continued to breathe deeply and evenly. At the moment, even Regina's words, meant to cheer her up, were too much for her. "I've been fighting all my life. It's tiring."
"Hey, guys! Just a quick announcement, it won't take long."
Emma jerkily raised her head and met Regina's gaze, looking as puzzled as she was. "Regina, why is Henry talking into the microphone on stage?" Regina's expression told her that she had no more answer to that than she did.
A loud shrill sound caused by feedback sounded for a moment before Henry continued speaking. "You all know my moms. They've saved your asses several times, both of them. Sorry mom, I know you don't say 'ass'."
Scattered laughs could be heard from the crowd.
"What's he doing?" it came horrified from Regina, who had stood up and pulled aside the canvas to see the stage.
"And yet," Henry continued, "you whisper about them all the time, and you don't even mind when I'm standing right next to you. I've gotten used to the fact that you can't understand how the Savior can have anything to do with the Evil Queen. But what I've heard today, I just can't ignore."
"Regina, please stop him." Emma had lost even more color and her eyes were wide.
Regina turned to her briefly and shook her head. "If I rush up there now, I'll only make it worse, believe me."
"Some of you have noticed that Emma is not well," Henry's voice sounded again over the square.
"Regina! Turn off the power or cut the cable, I don't care, just do something!" Emma meanwhile yelled at her girlfriend.
But Regina just looked at her apologetically. She thought it was brave and great what her son just did.
"But instead of asking her what's wrong, I heard the worst things," Henry continued to speak, his voice filling the now dead silent fairground. "'If I had to live with the Evil Queen, my smile would be wiped off my face too,' or 'She's probably poisoning her and thinks it will go unnoticed.' I've heard things like that. And those were still the more innocuous utterances." He paused, and the microphone amplified the loud breath he took. "I'm going to tell you what's going on, so your imaginations don't continue to run wild. Emma is seriously ill, she has leukemia and it would be really nice if you wouldn't make her life even more hell by insulting my mom. Thanks for listening and have fun at the festival!"
Regina looked to Emma, her eyes two dark pieces of charcoal.
"He's grounded for the rest of his life," Emma's grumbling voice could be heard.
Slowly, Regina dropped the tarpaulin and returned to the tent. "That was very brave of him."
"That was absolutely stupid of him!" Emma shouted back. "How many times have I said I wanted to keep this a secret? No one will take me seriously anymore and I don't want their pitying looks!"
"How long do you think you could have kept this a secret? Two weeks? Maybe three? He just cut the inevitable short, and you should be proud of him for taking our side so much. Because it's anything but easy to stand up on that stage and tell everyone they're absolutely out of line," Regina now roared as well.
Emma gritted her teeth tightly and stared Regina in the eye before lowering her gaze and slumping her shoulders. "I'm just tired." And by that, she meant not only her physical state, but her mental one as well.
Regina nodded and stroked her head, whereupon Emma leaned her forehead against Regina's stomach. "We're going home now. Let them make their speech themselves. Henry has already said everything that needs to be said anyway."
As if on cue, the tent canvas rustled and Henry appeared in the doorway. His face was guilty, but he also looked relieved to be rid of all that. "Sorry, Moms. I just couldn't take it anymore." At that, he looked mostly at Emma, who had lifted her head when he entered.
She just glared at him for a while before extending her arm in his direction. As he hesitantly approached, Emma pulled Henry and Regina close to her. These two were what she needed. Everyone else could stay away from her.
