A/N: I am happy to be able to deliver another chapter on this story! I am trying for chapter 8 next, but no promises. However, if I manage to write it, I promise it will be a great one! :) Thank you all for the love on both here and FF. net. Happy reading, and stay tuned for more.
Don't forget to drop those reviews. And please don't ask to translate this story in other languages and/or for other fandoms. My answer is still no. Thanks!
She was barefoot. Pearls of sweat had taken over her bare chest, all up to her neck and parts of her face. There was an even darker puddle of sweat formed along the thin neckline of her tank top that if Regina looked closely, she could make it out. And her arms were… she could see road lines of pure muscle, and a faint scar along one of her arms that Regina wondered where it was from, what had happened.
Emma's cheeks were a little flushed. Her hair was pulled back into that messy ponytail with far more strands of blonde hair hanging loose along her face, which gave Regina the impression that Emma had been working out.
"Regina, is everything okay?"
What the hell type of body was this? How did a natural woman look this beautiful and yet could still pull off this natural muscled look? Lines fine and curved that seemed well lined out for a mouth to worship. Her mouth.
Emma's hands clasped Regina's shoulders, "Regina?"
Regina shook her head, her eyes blinking and her throat clearing slightly, an her eyes forcefully tore away from a light sight of bare skin along the hem of her tank top, shaped with delicate muscle features, all the way up to her bare chest, her long neck, up to that perfect jawline and eyes. Those eyes. Regina had determined at that moment that green had become her favorite color. She liked green. Green was an awesome color.
Green. Green. Green.
"Everything is fine. Sorry," she murmured, knowing she probably sounded like a babbling idiot. "I didn't expect… I wasn't expecting…" she motioned toward Emma's entire body.
"Did you think someone else would be in here?"
"No. I just thought maybe you'd have clothes on. Like a normal person." She eyed that road line of muscle underneath the exposed line of tank top that exposed torso skin.
Emma released Regina's shoulders, casually leaned along her door frame and grinned.
Ugh. She really was incredibly attractive and so beautiful. Annoyingly so. Regina hated that. She hated how her body was betraying her right now, feeling things she really should not be feeling. Things she never imagined she could feel again.
"My apologies. I will remember to check with you before I work out next time. Come on in. I'll grab some pants." She held open the door so that Regina could slide past her.
Regina slid past, tucking her arms into her chest, making sure no part of her brushed along Emma. A glorious whiff of… body wash? Brushed past her nostrils. And she smelled good working out? She rolled her eyes at that annoying fact. Because yes, she smelled good.
What kind of sorcery was this? No one could look that good, smell that good and be kind with kids. There had to be a flaw to this woman.
She's special ops. That, right there. That was a big enough flaw.
Of course, not that Regina could take any remotely romantic interest in a woman like her. She had eyes, of course. She could be the first to admit when a woman was annoyingly attractive, and Ms. Swan surpassed that red ending line. But, Regina didn't have time for anything romantic. She wasn't here for that. She didn't have the time nor the energy for romance. Although, she will admit, some kind of imaginary switch flipped in her when she saw Emma with Henry this afternoon.
"I'll be right back," Emma added after closing the door to her room. "Feel free to make yourself at home." She brushed past Regina as she stood in the entryway, gifting her with another whiff of… seriously what was that? Perfume?
Regina watched her stride into the bathroom, leaving the door ajar. She could hear her shuffling inside as she took small steps further into the room. Her eyes explored the room around her, and she couldn't pick up on anything different about it. Everything was as it should be, as it always had been. No dirty dishes left along the bed or night stand. No papers or books tossed along the desk stationed at the corner wall. No clothes thrown haphazardly on the back of the chair or along the floor. No unmade bed, indicating that she was possibly too lazy to make it every morning.
Even Nala was lying at the foot of the bed, her head popped up to attention, eyes focused on Regina as she slightly gave her a small head tilt. Her tail wagged slowly as Nala stood once Regina dropped down to see her.
"Hey, girl. Were you asleep? I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." Regina scratched behind that special spot behind her ears, and Nala leaned into her touch.
A minute later, Emma stood before Regina, legs now covered up with a pair of pajama bottoms, the same black tank top still sticking and outlining the muscle tone underneath. Yeah, that didn't help lessen her sex-appeal, unfortunately.
"So, you do like Nala."
Regina stood up, "I didn't say I didn't like her. I happen to think she's pretty sweet. Her handler, on the other hand…" she shrugged, glancing around the room to keep her eyes from betraying her. "Are you certain you're staying seven months? By the looks of it, it seems like you're not even here for the weekend."
Emma flashed another annoying grin, flashing perfectly straight white pearly teeth. God. "What, because I like my room neat? Clean? Uncomplicated?"
"Or sterile and impersonal, whatever you'd like to call it," Regina teased.
Emma scoffed, "So, what can I do for you, Regina?" She leaned up against one of the walls, her bare feet crossing over one another, casually.
"I was hoping that you might show me August's letter."
The mood in the room changed instantly.
"Oh." Emma quickly masked her expression, but Regina caught some of the surprise in it. "Yeah, of course. Give me a moment." She sprinted over to the night table, pulling out the small drawer where she pulled out a worn out book, followed by August's letter. "Here you go." She hands it over, an envelope that was once white but now had slightly yellowed due to dirt and repeated handling.
Regina's fingers trembled as she reached for it, paper coming into contact with the skin along her fingers. She flipped it over, seeing Emma's last name scrawled across the front in August's unmistakable handwriting. S-W-A-N. A single digit trace along the shape of the letters like a magnet. This was the same woman Regina had written to time and time again. The same woman who she had bared a little bit of her soul to. The same woman who was out there with her brother, even as he drew his last breath.
Tears burned, threatening her eyes for an escape, but Regina pushed back that emotion, locking them up tight just like August's belongings had been locked up tight, stored in a cardboard box, inside his room. She plans to eventually clean that room out, allowing Henry to pick out anything he would like to keep from his beloved uncle who would take him for ice cream and picnics at the park. But not yet.
"You can take it with you," Emma offered, her voice softening to a level that drew Regina's eyes directly to her own. "In case you want some privacy to read it."
As Regina looked into Emma's emerald green eyes, she could see a raw pain in them that stripped her bare. A pain that sucked the air right out of her lungs. Regina knew that feeling well. Regina was that feeling. And to see it reflected in someone else's eyes, before her, it gave her a sense of validation and it allowed her to feel maybe, just a little bit less lonely.
She had cried at August's funeral. Boy, did she cry. Everyone did. Granny, Ruby, Henry, a few soldiers from his unit. Some local girls that August dated off and on when he was home long enough. But none of that- none of them- had looked like she felt in this moment. Like she had been abandoned by the only person who ever truly knew her… not until the moment this moment. With someone she considered a stranger, and yet, knew her.
A stranger that was connected to Regina through the death of the one person they both loved more than anything in this world.
Given the state of the letter, and how many obvious times Emma has read it, Regina knew what it must be costing her to give this letter up to her. And that gesture alone meant more to Regina than any single time anyone has ever told her, 'let me know if there is anything I can do for you.'
"No, that's okay. I'd honestly rather read it here. With you." Where maybe, just once, Regina wouldn't feel so utterly alone with her grief for her dead brother. "If that's okay?"
"Of course. Do you want to sit down?" Emma motioned toward the desk chair, pushing herself off the wall with the heels of her bare feet. If Regina didn't know any better, she'd say she was almost nervous, but she didn't know the woman well enough to have learned all of her mannerisms quite yet.
"No, thank you. I'm okay." Regina knew herself well. If she sat, she would stay. And that was something she couldn't allow herself to do.
She opened the envelope, sliding the letter out, careful not to rip a single corner as she unfolded it before her. It was written in a lined notebook paper, the very same type Emma had used to write her letters to her. The paper was more worn out than the envelope itself. One of the corners had been creased, and the folded creases had softened and were no longer as sharp as before. August's handwriting, that Regina recognized immediately, had turned a little faded, but remained readable.
"How many times did you read this?" Regina asked, her voice coming out small.
"At least once a day…" Emma cleared her throat. "Sometimes more, in the beginning. Now I keep it in my pocket to remind me why I'm here. That even though you won't let me help you, I'm trying my best to do as he asked."
Regina's eyes turned back to August's handwritten letter. His last letter. A letter that was far more sacred to Emma than she ever imagined. Drawing in a breath to steady herself, she read the letter to its entirety.
Regina needs it- needs you, though she'll fight you tooth and nail before she ever admits it. Help her even when she swears she's fine.
Don't make her go through it alone.
There it was. August's firm and final request, and it had been for her. His sister. His request, pulling a woman out of her comfort zone, into a strange town for his sister, who had done absolutely everything to ignore her at any given turn.
Regina closed her eyes, fighting back those stubborn tears that she hadn't allowed to roam free, since her brother's funeral. She counted down from ten in her mind, steadying herself, and locking up any feeling that made her feel that she was even remotely worthy of crying. Upon opening her eyes, she could see Emma had backed up to lean against the wall again, as if somehow she had picked up on what Regina was feeling, giving her the space she needed. Her green eyes were still locked on Regina's, even from across the room. Watching her carefully as if ready to catch her in case she threatened to fall apart. Just like August.
"Thank you." Regina hands the letter back to Emma.
"I'm really sorry that I'm here and he's not." Said Emma.
"Why don't you think you're worthy of love? Of family? Everyone's worthy of family." Regina's eyes locked onto Emma's as if searching for the answer herself. What had happened to this woman that she felt she didn't deserve such a thing in her life?
"He wanted to be here you know," Emma pushed herself off the wall again, heading toward the mini refrigerator that came with the room and pulled out two bottles of water, handing one over to Regina and screwing the top off the other before taking a sip. "He had it all set up. We were going to come here together. He missed you, and Henry. He missed this town."
"Do you always make it a habit of dodging questions?" Regina asks.
A smile flashed across Emma's face, and it was gone just as fast as it had appeared. "I'm not here for me. I'm here for you."
Every time Emma said that, Regina felt a little piece of that wall she had built around her heart crack. Not enough to bring them down, or even weaken them, but it was there all the same. No one had ever stuck around for her before. No one had done what Emma has done.
"You shouldn't be. You have a life. No matter what August said in that letter, I'm not your responsibility. No matter how close you two were, you're very much a stranger. I appreciate every offer you've made, and what you've gone through to fulfill August's wishes… I can't imagine what you've gone through, but this is all too much." Regina didn't want to hurt her more than she knew she had already.
"I'm not leaving." Emma promised.
"You will. Like August did, and our father did. You still belong to the army, and once they order you back, you will go back. Tell me I'm wrong." Regina paused. "August talked about coming back so many times. He had the chance time and time again, and he never took it. So, you see, I don't expect you to do the same." Regina turned to march over to the door, her hand frozen along the door knob as she hears Emma's voice.
"Regina…" Emma calls out. "Just… promise me. That if there is ever something you need- anything… you'll call me."
Regina's eyes closed momentarily. August's written words in that letter appearing clear in her mind. Emma couldn't keep her promise to August, if she didn't let her. And although Regina was many things, cruel was never one of them. "I promise."
It wasn't a lie, of course. Because Regina didn't intend to need anything from Emma. And now that she had finally given herself the opportunity to read that letter, taking her brother's last wishes with her as she walked out of that room, shutting the door behind her, Regina could finally stop thinking so much about Private Swan and focus on what really mattered.
Her son.
Emma turned the key in the ignition of a yellow Volkswagen beetle, seeing Granny's brow lift up at the sound of its purring engine.
"Well, I'll be…" Granny crossed her arms over her chest. "I never thought I'd see the day this piece of junk would purr again." She walked along the car, turning the key to turn off its engine and pulled them out. "Thank you, Emma."
"You're welcome, ma'ma." Emma gave a small nod.
"Look, what do you say we knock off the formal encounters, alright? You're going to be my guest for seven whole months. If I call you Emma, I expect you to call me Eugenia or Granny. Take your pick. You've earned it, soldier." She extends her hand.
Emma smiles, "Very well." She shakes the woman's hand firmly.
"Nice jacket," Granny eyes the red leather jacket from behind her glasses. "That new?"
"It is."
"It suits you." Granny nods. She glances down at the car keys before looking back up at Emma. "You know, my late husband used to say… 'a car has a mind of its own. It chooses its owner before the owner even knows that's the one it wants.'" She tosses the keys over to Emma, who catches them mid-air, one handed.
"Are you sure?"
"As sure as I am, the sky is blue." She nods.
At Nala's growl, Emma looks straight ahead, seeing a man with broad shoulders, in a military uniform approaching them.
"Easy, girl. It's just Calloway." Emma approaches him. She didn't think he'd show up so soon.
"Swan." Calloway nods.
"Captain." She salutes, straightening her posture.
"At ease."
"Captain, this is Eugenia Lucas," Emma turns to Eugenia. "She's a good friend."
"Ma'am," Captain Calloway gives a curt nod.
"Hello." Granny turns to Emma. "I'll give you two a moment." She leaves, walking inside the diner.
"Nice town," Calloway nods, eyeing Emma's attire. "Neat jacket."
"Thank you, sir." Emma motions to one of the outdoor tables. She sits first, watching as Calloway removes his hat before taking a seat of his own.
"I have to say, I was surprised by your email. You can understand why I had to come all the way over here."
"Yes, sir, I do."
"Well… I'm here to ask you to reconsider." He leaned forward a little.
Emma shook her head, "There's nothing to reconsider, sir."
"Swan," He sighed, rubbing the middle of his forehead with a long finger. "We're a team."
"Not anymore." Her voice dropped.
Calloway eyed the distance of the town. "Have you gone to see him yet? His grave."
Emma's silence is the answer he seeks.
"I know his death did a real number on you. But there was nothing you could have done for him."
Emma's eyes locked on Calloway's, "That's where we see things differently, Captain."
"Do you think this is what Mills would have wanted? For you to leave the team? Leave your family? You and Nala are a part of us."
"I'm doing exactly what he asked of me, sir." Emma pulled August's letter out of her back pocket, handing it over to him.
Calloway read over the letter, cursing under his breath as he returned it. "I should have read the damn thing before handing it over to you."
"I have one more mission to get done, sir. You still get to have me for one more mission after my seven months are up, and I'll go- willingly. But after that… I want my terminal leave."
Calloway sighed, "What if there was another option?"
"Unless that option is August coming back from the dead, I don't care." Emma said truthfully.
"I get that. I do, I understand perfectly what you're doing here. Hell, I admire you for it. It's the ultimate sacrifice, and I have nothing but respect for you. But I know this… situation won't go on forever. I don't want you to wake up one morning and regret the choice you are now making."
Emma shoots him a glare across the table that tells Calloway that she's made up her mind.
Calloway sighed once again, "Alright. Alright, Swan, alright." His fingers tap along his cap, softly. He chuckles, "In all the years I've known you… in the ten years you've been in service, a part of me, of this family. You've never once cared to find a way out. And now…" He shakes his head.
Emma never imagined wanting out either. Until Regina.
"When you come back home for one more fight with us, I'm hoping you'll change your mind and want to stay. You know that, don't you?"
"I'm aware," Emma nods. "But, my decision is final. I serve one last rodeo and then I'm out."
"How come we couldn't invite Emma and Nala to come with us?" Henry asked, walking alongside his mother while licking on his chocolate ice cream.
"Henry, I've told you thousands of times," Regina sighed. "You can't keep bothering Ms. Swan whenever you feel like it. She has a life, just like I do."
"But she's my friend, mom," Henry protested. "She likes having me around."
"Well, we can't always get what we want, Henry. If we did, the world wouldn't be such a complicated place." Regina took her son's hand as they stopped to allow traffic pass in the busy city of New York.
"Why did we have to drive four hours to come to New York on a Sunday?" Asked Henry.
"Because I need to go to the bank," Regina crossed the street, hurrying as much as she was able. Her steps slowing once they landed along a sidewalk again. "We need money, remember?"
Regina had mulled it over in her head. The last thing she wanted was to ask for a loan, putting her parent's home. Her home in jeopardy. But how else was she supposed to come into some money for Henry's surgery?
"There are muggers in New York, you know," Henry looked up at his mother. "Emma could have protected us. She's a trained soldier, mom. No one would mess with her."
"We don't need saving, Henry, we'll be fine. Now, come on, we're gonna be late-" Regina whirled around, not feeling her son's hand in hers anymore. "Henry?" Her eyes grow wide upon finding Henry on his knees. "Henry!" She drops down to hers, grabbing hold of her son. "Henry, what's wrong? Henry?"
"Mom…" Henry wheezed, grabbing his small chest.
"What, baby? What is it?" Regina clasped his tiny hand in her own. "Someone call an ambulance!" She shouted at the people who stood around her, crowding her. "Henry, it's okay. You're going to be okay."
"M-Mom… it hurts…" Henry's eyes shut tight.
"Hey, soldier," Ruby grinned, her eyes shining bright at the sight of Emma entering the bed and breakfast. "I heard Gran gave you her old yellow bug."
"She did." Emma smiled a little, trying her best to be a little less serious. She knew Ruby was infatuated with her, she could tell a mile off, but she only belonged to Regina.
"Was there something I could do for you?"
"I was looking for Regina." Emma hadn't seen her all day.
"Oh, well she went to New York."
"New York?"
"Yeah. Something about going to the bank. She wants to be as prepared with money as much as she can with Henry's surgery approaching, you know. It's been tough on her. Oh, speaking of which! She's calling-" Ruby reaches for her cellphone, pressing the call button. "Gina, you were supposed to be back by now- what? Oh, no. Well, is he okay?"
Emma frowned, knowing in her gut something happened.
"Yeah, I can take it. No problem."
"What happened?" Emma asks in a whisper.
Ruby covers up her phone, pulling it away from her ear. "It's Henry. It looks like his heart is in worse shape than they thought. He's in the hospital, and Regina just realized that she forgot her driver's license at home. She needs it."
"Where did she leave it?" Emma asks.
"Where did you leave it?" Ruby asks, bringing her phone back up. She turns to Emma. "On top of the kitchen counter."
"Tell her I'm on my way." Emma runs out of the bed and breakfast.
"Emma is on her way, she's getting it for you. Yeah. Don't worry. He's going to be okay, Gina. You need anything though, call me. Okay. Please, take care of yourself." As Ruby hangs up, it takes five minutes for Emma to burst in through the doors of the bed and breakfast. "Did you find it?"
"I got it." Emma holds up the driver's license, tucking it safely in the breast pocket of her jacket. "Did she give you the name of the hospital?"
Ruby nods, giving Emma the name. "Would you like me to watch Nala for you?"
Emma shook her head, "No. She goes where I go."
"Emma, I know she's a service dog, but I assure you, they won't let her into the hospital. It's a four hour drive to New York. I think it would be best if she stayed here." Ruby locks eyes with Emma's. "I'll take good care of her. I promise."
Emma sighed, "Alright," she nods, dropping to her knees in front of Nala. "Nala. Stay. With. Ruby." She scratches the top of her head, feeling her lean into her touch. "I'll be back in a couple of days. Okay? Be. Nice. Good girl." She stands. "Thank you, Ruby."
"No problem. She'll be fine." Ruby nods. "She won't like, bite the guests, will she?"
"No. She will only bite if someone attacks me. If that happens, God help them, because she will only release the bite on my command. Are you sure you still want to watch her?"
Ruby nods, lifting her chin. "Absolutely. Don't worry about a thing, I got this. Just… promise me you'll take care of Regina for me?"
"Always." Emma promised, giving Ruby's arm a gentle squeeze. "Thank you, Ruby." She runs out of the B & B, hops in her yellow Volkswagen and drives on.