Greetings. I must honestly say that I'm not absolutely pleased with this chapter, but as much as I worked on it, this is the best as it could get.
if you have comments or questions, PM me or Review, I will reply.
Standard disclaimers stand.
Major spoilers for the season 2 episodes 'We Are Both' and 'The Doctor', with minor ones thrown in all around.
Hope you enjoy.
Chapter 3.
"I can't move my arms", Emma complained, leaning her head on the working surface in the galley. Snow just chuckled and continued making lunch. Several minutes before the Savior had stumbled in, groaning and moaning, drenched in sweat. Luckily, the heat of the cooker in the galley had dried the blonde woman, or the cold air of the drafty ship would only cause more grumbling from Emma.
Snow was proud of her daughter for managing to handle the sword so quickly. She was far from excellent, but she wouldn't be helpless when necessary. And Regina seemed pleased enough to let Emma rest a bit. "It'll pass. How long is your break?"
"The slave-driver did not say. But, knowing Madame Mayor, we're far from done for today." Emma lifted her head a bit and placed her arms beneath it. Leaning her forehead on forearms, she groaned feeling the muscles tensing painfully in her back and shoulders. She hadn't known swords were so heavy. The one time she had handled the sword before she had thrown it into the dragon (Maleficent was it?) and killed it. Of course, before she had even thought to use the damn sword she had emptied the whole clip of her pistol into the fire breathing beast. And, magic was so tiring. "My knots have knots. How do you deal with this?" Emma groused her voice muffled by her arms.
Snow placed a skillet on the heated cooker and turned to her daughter. Placing her hand on Emma's head she stroked the golden mop of hair. "With time and practice. When Red took me out for my first hunt, my legs hurt for more than two days, unused to that much squatting and running."
"I won't be of help if I cannot move." Emma raised her head, looking at Snow with worried look on her face. The pixie haired woman patted Emma's cheek comfortingly and turned to the cooker, placing meat on the skillet.
"That is why I am pushing you so hard, Miss Swan." Regina's voice came from the door. Emma twisted her head quickly, making her neck snap loudly. Wincing, she closed her eyes in pain, not noticing the advance of the other woman.
Regina threw a look at Snow and nodded in greeting, before she took her place beside Emma. "You need to accept the power you have as a part of you." She touched Emma's neck gently, feeling the knotted muscles. "You need to reach for it as instinctively as you breathe. Then, you will heal instantly." Feeling Emma using her magic on herself, Regina nodded in praise, her lips quivering in the beginnings of a smile.
"Is that how you never seemed to get tired?" Snow asked after a while, breaking the silence. She did not look at her former step mother but kept her eyes on lunch she had been preparing.
Regina narrowed her eyes and leaned forward on the counter. "Did I make an impression, dear?" The older woman's condescending voice had a sarcastic edge and made Snow bristle but before she could say anything, Regina shifted back and placed her hands in front of her, palms down. "Oh, I got tired. Sometimes, even beyond the point of passing out." Seeing Emma's perplexed frown, she continued, turning to her new pupil. "There is difference between healing one self and getting rest. Your magic will heal your wounds, ease the pain of your muscles and tendons, but you will grow wearier because of the expenditure. As you heard Mister Gold say many times, magic always has a price, dear. There must be a balance…" Regina pushed of strand of hair off her face, tucking it behind her ear. "So, it is upon you to decide whether you will bear the brunt of magic, or suffer soreness limiting your body."
"And, sometimes, having your mind set on your goal can provide the energy you need," Snow added quietly, sharing a look with the older woman. Emma tensed at the silent communication, ready to break the women up at the first sign of trouble. But, after an unnerving moment Regina nodded and the tension between the women dissipated without further mention. Snow placed plates before the others and gestured them to eat.
After another three hours spent on making Emma get used to her magic, Regina sat down heavily, pushing back her dark hair. Emma lowered herself next to Regina, looking into the dark tired eyes. She leaned against the railing, directly opposite to the other woman who had sat on the stairs, placing her elbows on the higher step, leaning against the inner balustrade of the stairs.
"Did Cora teach you?" Emma asked, after she had caught her breath. Regina had been an amazing teacher, she was reluctant to admit, and that had to come from somewhere. Yearning to know more about the woman before her, Emma waited for the answer patiently, withstanding the scrutiny the brunette inflicted on her.
"No, that would mean she would have lost her advantage over me." Regina brought her knees together and placed her intertwined fingers around one knee, leaning back and preparing for a long, heavy talk. She didn't begrudge Emma her thirst for knowledge – for Henry was much like her in that aspect – but it did not mean she liked the fact that she would share something of her past, to the Savior no less. "I found out that Rumplestiltskin had been my mother's teacher. I had seen him several times during my childhood and I had known he had had to do something with her powers, but only when I had grown I learned his name and who he was. I held on the information for a long while, thinking that things would never get that bad for me to learn magic." Regina glanced at Emma and smiled self-deprecatingly. "You see, I hated magic and what my mother used it for. It was a symbol of pain and control for me and learning it, using it would mean that I was just like my mother. I guess I was not wrong." Lowering her head, she looked at her hands, missing the movement from the other side of the stairs. Emma reached and placed her hand on Regina's, patting them gently.
"You are nothing like her, you know," Emma said softly. Before Regina could deny it, she pressed on. "You may have acted the same, but the reasons and the situations were different. And you never controlled your child like she did. It had come close, but you stopped before it got out of the hands."
"I tried to kill you, and Henry loves you." The end of that sentence – more than me, went unsaid but heard nonetheless. "That is the same what she did."
"Regina, we can sit here for years and rehash all the wrongdoings and mistakes, but hear me when I say, I will have to say something against every example you state." She took the older woman's chin in her free hand and forced her to look her in the eyes, trying to drive her point home. "She killed Daniel for her own advancement, coldly and purposely. You lashed out, endangered and cornered. It is different, believe me. OK?" Seeing the glare soften, Emma released the woman and sat back in her previous spot, not wanting to crowd the former queen.
After a moment spent on gathering herself, Regina decided to continue, acquiescing to Emma's demand of accepting that she was indeed different from Cora. "The life in the palace was unbearable. Snow was always around, cheery and pushy and it was hard to pretend that I was happy there all the time. I didn't have time even to grieve or adjust. Daniel had been gone for only a week, but it seemed like an eternity to me. Dealing with Leopold and my mother only made it harder. I was desperate to escape. From the Whites, Cora, even myself."
When the memories came, assaulting her with pictures and sounds of her past, she closed her eyes, not letting herself go, not immersing into them. Instead, she used them to set the back story for Emma, in order to make the younger woman understand her situation, although Regina had a nagging feeling that the Savior already understood a great deal about her, more than anyone else, except perhaps Henry Senior. She opened her eyes, taking a deep settling breath and started.
"You already know bits and pieces of the story. That damn book had most of it in it." Seeing Emma nod in confirmation, she went on. "I don't remember a time when my mother did not use magic in my up-bringing. Whenever I did something wrong, in her opinion, she would punish me." Unconsciously, Regina brought her hand up to her mouth and traced her upper lip, ending with the only scar marring her face. After she realized what she was doing she startled and glanced at Emma. The blonde's inquiring gaze asked the silent question. "It was an accident. She lost control and I got hurt. The damage was too severe to heal properly," came the explanation in a quiet voice. Regina shook away the lingering memories of the accident and despite of Emma's desire to follow up on it visible in her green eyes, the former Mayor was grateful she didn't ask. "After she killed Daniel, we moved to the Royal Palace and the preparations for the weeding started. The first three days passed in meeting the Court, moving in and honestly, I was still dazed by the earlier events. Two days before the wedding, I tried to run away, but my mother knew me better than I did myself. She stopped me…"
The powerful pounding of the hooves on the forest path pierced the air and the beautiful horse galloped into the trees, its rider urging him on and on, looking back in fear.
"Come on, Rocinante! Go!" the young woman astride shouted, directing her horse. "We're almost free." The hope was evident in the rider's voice and Regina pressed on, kicking the sides. Suddenly the vines surged into the air and grabbed Regina, pulling her out of the saddle, twisting around her limbs and middle, suspending her in air. She wriggled, trying to escape, until she heard the voice behind her, dousing her in the icy dread.
"And I thought we were done with all this nonsense." Cora said, watching her daughter struggle with calm. The soft smile belied the hard and dangerous edge hiding in the iciness of her voice.
"Hello Mother. What evil have you conjured?" Regina, having lost all hope of escape at the sound of her mother's voice, asked resigned.
With her condescending chuckle, Cora opened her book. "Not evil, darling. A barrier spell." Finding the page she wanted, Cora softly blew and a whiff of murky brown cloud rose off the pages and the vines released Regina, dropping her on the ground. Watching her daughter rise, she continued. "Designed to keep you where you belong."
Regina slowly turned toward her mother with astonishment and hidden anger in her voice she spoke. "I can't leave?" the soft question almost got broken off.
"Not alone. Not without the king." Cora spoke walking toward the young woman. "We've been through this," with a sigh she added. "In two days you will be married. You'll be queen. After that you're free to go whenever you are with him." Cora said with a false smile.
"Mama, I don't want to marry the king." Regina pleaded with the older woman. "I don't want this life", she added tears breaking her voice.
"You are just frightened of having all that power."
"I don't want power!" Exasperated with the situation and her mother, Regina sighed. "I want to be free" she whispered, hoping in vain her mother would let her go.
"Power IS freedom." Looking into Regina's stunned face, she smiled and lifted her hand, placing it on the girl's shoulder. "Don't worry. I am here to show you" Cora said leading her away.
"It wasn't long before I started having vivid thoughts and daydreams about making Snow pay for betraying me. They felt so real and the thought of harming another living being, even her made me sick. It did not help that I spent most of my free time with her." Regina looked up to see Emma siting very close to her, but not so close that their bodies would touch. The body heat the Savior was giving out was soothing to the brunette, the talk and memories bringing icy cold into her heart. Turning her head to look Emma in the eyes she came even closer, needing the comfort of the heat. "You may not know this, but your mother was very spoiled as a child. I guess being the only heir of the prosperous king would do that to a person. She had no boundaries, at least in regards to me. She would go through my things, picking the item she liked, wearing them. I know it was a sign of affection, but when she took the ring Daniel had proposed to me with…" The shudder passed through her and immediately after, it was quelled by the warmth spreading over her shoulders. Emma had thrown her arm around Regina, offering the only thing she could at the moment, the comfort. Regina closed her eyes, letting the scent of lavender, along with something spicy and enticing she associated with Emma, wash over her. Leaning her head on the offered shoulder, she continued relieved that Emma was still there.
"That is when I had the most terrifying daydream so far, and it made me boil inside. My father did not know how to make things better for me. I don't think he even understood that I was in pain, not having some teenager crisis."
Coming into the Royal Garden, to her apple tree, Regina rushed, talking to the old man following. "Daddy, you don't know what mother's doing to me." With her restless hands she tried to put her emotions into words, desperate for the man beside her to understand and help. "It's like she's turning me into her", her voice rose with panic. "I have to get away" she whispered softly, her eyes roaming the garden, idly looking for a way out.
"Get away? But, tomorrow's the wedding, child?" came the somewhat surprised answer. The man looked at his daughter, waiting for her to turn to him.
"I don't want to marry the King", Regina answered, the voice breaking with the tears. "I've told you that!" she said, hopeless.
"Are you certain it isn't just cold feet?" Henry tried to sooth his daughter, feeling out of his place.
With firm stature and overstated gestures, Regina came closer to the old man. "Daddy, this is not cold feet. This… This is…" She tried to find the way to describe what she wanted to say, and giving up, she spoke again. "This is insanity!" Trying to make him understand she pressed on. "I'm angry all the time. She's making me crazy."
"She wants to give you everything she never got for herself." The quiet reasoning voice came over Regina, breaking her further and the tears spilled on to her face.
"I don't want her life!" Turning away from him, Regina looked into the distance, her voice breaking. "I want a life of my own." After a moment, Regina's demeanor changed. "How did she get like this?"
Henry, powerless under his daughter's distress, fiddled with the gloves in his hands, deciding to tell her, knowing the consequences. "There was a man." Seeing Regina turned back to him with interest in her eyes, he continued. "Well, not quite a man. Someone Cora knew before I met her. He brought magic to her. Gave her that book of spells." With anguish filling his face he added, "He made her like she is".
"What was his name?" Regina asked, fascinated with the information, coming closer to her father.
"I don't know. Cora won't even say it."
"But the book is his," Regina concluded, her turmoil slightly eased with a solution looming over the horizon.
Regina fell silent, contemplating her past. So many mistakes. Bringing herself into the moment, she noticed a warm hand gliding up and down her upper arm in soothing motion. It was strange to be in this position. Her family was not physically affectionate although she knew without a doubt Henry had loved her. They had shared a rare hug and several fatherly kisses, but nothing like the affection Snow had poured on her during the first years of marriage. Just being this close to somebody else made the queen nervous, feeling the deeply ingrained need to step away and protect her space. As the Evil Queens she had established the rule that no one got close to the woman unless she wished it. And she rarely did, disregarding her personal air only when she had been intimidating other people or interrogating. You cannot rip a heart out if you cannot reach it, she had said once. Being this close to Emma confused her. Apart from the threat, she also felt safe and warm. Protected, even from her own memories.
I want to help you live as Regina
The words Emma had offered the day before floated into her consciousness. Maybe this was one of the ways, Regina thought and decided to embrace the warmth leaning into the Savior's body.
The younger woman shifted slightly bringing her other arm around the smaller woman in front of her. The silence that had fallen on them was comfortable and soothing, and for the first time Emma actually thought that Regina liked the contact. Deciding to test that theory, Emma moved a bit more, placing herself on the step behind Regina, leaning on the inner railing, as Regina had before and lead Regina into her arms. The brunette followed without a second thought, proving Emma right. But it left a question for Emma – what did it actually mean?
Before long, Regina started getting restless and feeling it, Emma elected to break the quiet, rather than to let the woman rise and walk away. "So you heard about the man from your father?"
Grateful for the distraction, Regina nodded, her cheek feeling the soft material of Emma's turtleneck. "I stole the book that night while my mother slept. I felt so thrilled, doing something forbidden. When I got to my room I searched through the pages for the name. It was written along the edge of one of the pages. I read it wrong." Regina chuckled at the memory and proceeded to tell Emma about it.
The future queen opened the book and searching through the pages, she found one with a small but clear writing on it. Trying to read it under the weak light of the night lanterns and the moon, Regina struggled with the unfamiliar name, breaking off in the middle of it.
"Rumplesh… Stilts." After several tries she closed the book, certain she would pronounce it properly. "Rumpleschtiltskin, I summon Thee," she spoke clearly, placing her hands on the hips defiantly, her voice ringing out in her room. Not a moment passed when a sound startled her, coming from behind.
"That's not how you say it, dearie!" A man, tinted in golden-bronze skin sat, almost laying down on one of the lounges in the room, having steepled his fingers and crossed his legs. "But then… YOU didn't have to say anything." He continued, amused at the woman's attempt. Allowing Regina to take a look at him, he angled his head toward her.
"What are you?" the youngster asked, childhood amazement streaking her voice.
"What? What? What? My, my, what a rude question." The imp uncrossed his legs and raised his upper body, shifting into a proper sitting pose, delight still evident in his voice. "I am not a what." The gentle rebuke came.
Regina cleared her throat and reaching for her apple tree pendant, she spoke. "Sorry. I don't really know what I'm doing". Her youth showed in insecure gestures and timbre of her voice.
"That much is clear.." the man spoke quietly, rising, with a sarcastic grimace upon his face. Moment later his voice grew stronger. "Allow me to introduce myself. Rumplestiltskin." He ceremoniously threw out his hands and bowed.
Regina followed his example and gathering her skirts, she curtsied. "And I'…"
But, the imp interrupted her. "Regina. I know."
"You do?" Speaking with wonder, Regina straightened up.
"But of course."
"Because of my mother, Cora," Regina continued, her countenance showing disappointment. "You taught her?"
"My legend precedes me." Rumplestiltskin placed his hand over his heart.
"People say I look like her when she was younger." The woman spoke, pride coloring her tone, and she lifted her chin in the air, allowing the other to look upon her.
"Really?" he spoke in high voice, sarcasm flowing out of him. At his question Regina frowned. "I don't see it." He had stepped closer and looked into her face, searching for something. Only many years later Regina would understand what the imp had meant with it. "That is not how I know you," he spoke, stepping aside.
"Oh? How then?" The soft voice betrayed the fear.
"I knew you long ago, dearie. It's been some time, but I knew this day would come. I've been waiting for it. And I am so happy we're back where we belong." Having stepped behind the woman he leaned back, waiting for her to ask the inevitable question.
"Where's that?"
Coming to the other side of the young woman, he whispered "Together."
Terror filled Regina, not knowing what she had gotten herself into, but also the promise of her mother's teacher helping her brought her hope. Looking at him with questions in her eyes, she watched him smile.
"Oh, yes, I know everything about you, my dear. I held you in my arms. You were younger, more…" Searching for the right word, his smile grew. "Portable. There is much history between your family and me…" He turned to Regina, having walked away. "History both in the past" he paused for the impact, "and in the future."
"Then, can you help me?" Regina walked to him, holding the book with both of her hands close to her midriff.
"Possibly, yes." He started walking to her, enjoying seeing her step back. "You seek power." Getting no reaction he went on. "The death of your enemies?" Intrigued, he added – "the death of your friends?"
"No!" Disgust filled Regina's face. "I don't want to hurt anyone."
"Hard to believe you're from the same family. So kind, so gentle, so…" Coming really close to the woman, he had placed the back of his fingers of his both hands on Regina's cheeks. "Ooh, Powerful!" Stepping back, he spoke quietly "you could do so much, if you just let yourself."
"But, I don't know how." Regina turned away with her shoulders slumped, her hope fading.
"Well… Let me show you the way." Rumplestiltskin placed his arm around her and turned her back, showing a tall covered present.
Regina gasped. "How did…"
"Magic. It can set you free."
"I don't want to do that." Shaking her head, she glanced up the man beside her. "Use magic… That's what she does. I don't want to end up like her."
The imp leaned in, superciliously. "No, no. Of course not, but that's the beauty of my gift. You don't have to. It will do it for you."
Regina saw the gleam in his eyes and turned to the gift, calculating look on her face. "What is it?"
"A portal. A passage between lands. This is a portal to a specific annoying little world. Useless to me, but for your purposes, a-perfect. You're unlikely to ever see her again. All she needs is a little push. The question is… can… you… do it?"
Regina stood before the object, the weight of decision heavy on her.
"I was in my room, knowing my mother would come, to impart a bit of her wisdom before the wedding. She saw the covered mirror and intrigued went right to unveiling it. She told me about what I should do once I was married. Leopold was old and frail, she said, and it wouldn't be long before I was the reigning Queen. I realized that somehow it was planned all along and the anger I felt at that moment gave me enough strength to fight my mother off and push her into the mirror. Standing up to Cora, coupled with the heady feel of magic… It felt wonderful. Powerful. Like the entire world was in the palm of my hand, to deal with as I pleased. It also frightened me terribly, so I decided to run, again. Almost in the same spot, where Cora had stopped me the first time, Rumple stood there barring the pass."
"Leaving, are we?" Rumplestiltskin smiled at the new Queen and watched her dismount.
"That was always the plan." Opening her leather bag, she took out the book. "Here. A gift. I don't want it."
Rumplestiltskin took the book and flippantly spoke. "Ah, it can't be a gift. It was mine to start with." As Regina turned to her fateful horse, he spoke again. "Before you go… Answer me this." When she looked at him, he grinned. "How did it feel?" he asked, his eyes knowing.
"I love my mother," Regina said, dodging the question.
"But, that's not what I asked, dearie. How did it feel to use magic?"
"It doesn't matter. I'll never use it again." Regina spoke, unnerved with the persistent imp.
"Why not?" The Dark One spoke, a bit of petulance giving a rise to his tone.
"Because I loved it," the young woman answered with self-doubt and fear in her voice, warring with confusion.
"You've discovered who you are. You could do so much now… If you let me show you how." He ended his speech in a sing song voice.
With understanding, Regina added – "Through magic."
"Through many things."
Leaning into his space, Regina smiled indulgingly. "And, what do you get out of it?"
"Someday, you'll do something for me." Offering the book back, he continued. "Let me guide you."
Regina sniffled, enticed by the offer, but knowing something would have to give. "And I won't become like her?"
"That, dearie, is entirely up… to you."
"The offer was so tempting. Magic is seductive, Emma, especially for the people who aren't born with it, but learn it. It brings such rush, power and focus in your life, that almost no one can resist."
"And, you being in the position of power and control for the first time in your life, were loath to give it up", came Emma's understanding whisper. "As he once told me, he knows how to recognize a desperate soul."
"That is when things started escalating…"
For a while, Rumplestiltskin was a marvelous teacher. Regina advanced quickly, and took a great pleasure in the fact. All was well until her teacher asked her to take a heart. It was a nice day and Rumplestiltskin brought them to a wonderful creature hiding in the shadow of the trees. The lesson started easy enough, by the man asking her to immobilize the magnificent specimen of magical beings. A unicorn, completely black, rose to his hind legs and tried to fight them off, before Regina froze him. Giggling with joy she turned to her mentor. When he told her she would have to take its heart her joy faded away replaced with disgust, reminded of her mother's action with Daniel. Rumplestiltskin, aware of her past, pushed to take it out, but when she couldn't he did it for her.
Throwing it to her, he demanded she killed the unicorn, explaining how it was all about power. With a final threat, he said that he wouldn't teach her anymore if she didn't do it. Her face contorting in grief and revulsion, she tried to crush the heart but at the animal's whining, she stopped with tears on her face.
"What's holding you back?" he spoke, shaking his head in the end of the lesson. There she was reminded of her love for Daniel and her promise she would not be like her mother. But as days passed, nothing changed except for the steady loss of rush and control.
Several days later she tried to interest Rumplestiltskin into teaching her again, but rebuffed she was left behind. Jefferson offered his help and reminding that she could give him the Royal passport, he promised his services. Soon after, he brought The Doctor to her.
After all that spectacle with Daniel and the spare heart, the knowledge that even the Doctor failed in bringing him back broke Regina's already suffering and fractured heart. The innocent good meaning girl was no more, twisted and shaped by the grief, helpless anger and hate, fueled by the most powerful black magic.
Dressed all in black, in mourning for her lost love and self, the first image of the Queen appeared. No more was there youthful exuberance and smile sparkling eyes. There was a smirk, so reminiscent of Cora's condescending one and the might in her posture and haughtiness in her countenance. Destroying Rumplestiltskin's new student right before his eyes, at his immeasurable pleasure, she came to him, demanding him to teach her once again.
Once more, the silence filled the air, only interrupted by the soft sniffles, muffled by the firm embrace Emma had bestowed on the suffering woman. Holding the brunette to her, Emma closed her eyes against the empathic tears. So much pain in her life, and Emma was certain she had been told only a fraction of the whole story. Understanding the notion, Emma placed one of her hands on Regina's back, gently rubbing the shaking woman. Some secrets were so hard to part with.
"When you were away", Regina mumbled into Emma's chest after a while. "I tried to force Henry to love me back. To imprison him in the house placing the same barrier spell Cora used on me. Later he said the same thing I once used to say, and at that moment it hit me so strongly. I had become my mother." Regina lifted her head and looked into Emma's gentle eyes. "I had to let him go."
"That's when Henry…" Emma started, not knowing what to say.
"That's when he went to live with David." Regina leaned back, tucking her head in Emma's neck. "When Daniel showed up at the stables…" A shuddering sob passed the smaller woman's frame. "Whale explained everything what had happened then. How Rumplestiltskin played me and asked him to fail the procedure on purpose to, as he said, create a monster out of me." The voice breaking, Regina clutched Emma's front in desperate need to hold on. "I was more terrible than Cora. I did things with my heart still beating in my chest."
"That is the only reason why," Emma spoke softly, wiping the errant tear of Regina's mostly dried cheek with her thumb. Guiding her eyes to her own gently, she looked into the brown windows into the tortured soul. "You felt thing deeply, and you reacted to them more powerfully than one ordinarily would." The blonde Sheriff searched the face before her, hoping for understanding and forgiveness to bring a shine to those eyes. "I once read somewhere – After the noblest light is extinguished only the wickedest darkness follows. And, it is often said that the most benevolent people, with a twist of fate, become the worst tyrants." Regina closed her eyes, trying to escape from the intense gaze filled with compassion that scorched her damaged spirit. But, the words Emma spoke pierced her and the remaining shields around her heart crumbled in shards, leaving her heart vulnerable.
Unused to such openness, Regina pushed herself away, moving out of the safety of Emma's arms and standing up, worrying her hands. "Sorry…" She whispered, unable to speak up, her throat closed off by many tears that started gliding down her face. "I, I need…" she shook her head, and stepped quickly back when Emma rose reaching for her. "I need time." Rising her arms in the air, placing them as a barrier, she implored Emma to stay where she was. "Please, I need to be alone." The pleading in her voice shook Emma's composure and putting her hands in her back pockets of her pants, she nodded reluctantly.
Regina turned and before she could walk away, Emma spoke softly. "I am here if you need me, or if you want anything. OK?" Regina stopped but never turning to Emma, she nodded, knowing that the other woman would catch the motion, and walked away hastily wiping away her eyes. Emma sat down heavily, looking at the hatch leading below deck long after the woman had stepped through it.
The time passed while the blonde woman still sat in her place, her gaze locked onto one spot on the deck, lost in thought. As Regina had said in the beginning, she had heard bits and pieces before, but she had never realized how right she had been about Regina's circumstances. The parts of the story she had just heard were much more devastating, especially seeing the flashes of the young Regina, every time the other woman remembered some pivotal part of her past. Emma was sure that she had been actually catching the memory readouts here and there for an infinitesimal part of a second, seeing Regina as she remembered – by magic.
And almost childlike need for comfort warring with unreachable entity of the Evil Queen, was heartbreaking to witness. Emma felt her eyes fill with tears once more at the memory of anguished face that Regina sported, reluctant to leave, yet in need of time and space to regroup, just before she had walked away.
Wiping her face with her hands, Emma noticed two figures approaching her in the dim of the twilight. Recognizing her parents almost instantly, she remained in place waiting for them to join her. They took their seats beside her, Snow on the higher step while David took the lower one, boxing Emma in. Any other time, she would feel threatened or annoyed with the arrangement, but at the moment she didn't mind. She smiled at their show of unity when they both placed their hands on her forearms that had been resting on her lap.
"What is wrong, honey?" Mary Margaret asked, worried about her daughter. She had gone to sleep after lunch, leaving Emma in Regina's care, and when she had got up, Emma had been holding crying Regina. When the older woman had seen the pixie haired one watching, she had made herself scares. Expecting to see Emma come to her, Snow had waited, but as the time had passed and Emma had been yet to move she had called out to David and walked to her daughter.
Emma just shrugged and leaned back, her head thumping lightly against the wood. She looked up and saw a falling star shoot across the sky. The streak of light sparked something in the blonde's memory and she leaned forward, turning to Snow, but having grasped David's hand, the newcomers knew that there was something Emma wanted to talk about to both of them.
"I made a wish on the blue star."
Mary Margaret and David looked each other at the utterance, not following.
Seeing the confusion on her parents' faces, she continued. "When Henry came for me, I made a wish and it came true." Emma said, bewildered by the memory and its significance. "In the Enchanted Forest, anyone can make a wish?"
"Yes, but mostly children are granted them. Something about the entire fairy lore resting on the innocence of the child," Snow answered after thinking for a moment.
"And, Sister Astrid once told me that a fairy will appear before the child even if the wish is not granted, to explain why." Emma added, deep in thought. "Can something prevent fairies from interfering?" she asked, feeling like something really important was about to be uncovered.
"If the wisher is obscured by a magical entity, or it is bound to one permanently as in magical contract. Also, the children of the magical beings aren't known to be granted wishes, but that may be because they did not ask upon them." This time it was David who answered, still not understanding the topic of their conversation.
"Emma, what is this about?" the smaller woman asked, but instead an answer Emma lifted herself in a crouch and looked around, her eyes searching for something. "Where are the others?" she asked, seeing that they were alone on the deck.
"Hook is in the galley, drinking and Gold is in the cabin, sleeping I presume," David answered, watching his daughter settle down. When the blonde just nodded, he started to speak but a hand on his shoulder stopped him.
"Give me a moment," Emma spoke, closing her eyes. Snow shared a worried look with her husband over Emma's head, before they turned to look at her. "You know, that is very annoying," the woman spoke still keeping her eyes closed. "That synchronized parent thing." Bringing her hands to her face and rubbing it in tired gesture, she went on. "Never mind that now." She opened her eyes. "Not one fairy came to Regina when she was a child. And, you cannot tell me that the ultimate food in your world would stand by and watch a young girl be tortured for no reason and do nothing about it." Aware that she was a bit brisker than necessary, Emma smiled in apology to her mother. "What if she was obscured? Or, better, what if she was connected to a magical entity and she didn't know about it." The woman looked first at her mother, then at her father watching them think over what she had said.
"Well, it makes sense. After all Cora was a witch." Snow spoke, thinking aloud.
"No, witches aren't magical beings, they are just users," the Savior spoke in explanation.
"Then, what are you saying?"
"In the Henry's book there is the story about the Miller's daughter…"
"Yes, about Cora and my mother," Snow added in confirmation.
"The version from my world says that the girl had to give the first born to the imp. What if the deal went slightly different in reality?" Emma shook her head at the sentence, there were so many things wrong in it, but disregarding the whole 'you are a fairy tale character' bit, Emma pushed on. "What if Rumplestiltskin asked the girl to bear him her first born?"
The stunned silence was grating on Emma's nerves. Had she jumped to a false conclusion? Or was she right, and many things got explained and much more convoluted, at the same time? She needed others to tell her if it made sense or she was just plain crazy, mad as a hatter, twisted with the worlds colliding in her head.
"Emma, are you saying what I think you are saying?" Snow asked softly, as if the loud spoken words would pollute the very air they breathed. But as seconds passed, Emma saw acceptance on her parents' faces.
"The Dark One would for sure fall under the category of the magical entity," Emma added, just as softly.
"I think this family just got more complicated, and I know we had similar conversation while you were in New York," David spoke sighing. "Emma, you really think that is true?"
"It makes sense. Perfect, actually, in a sick way."
"So, Regina's Henry's step great grandmother, adopted mother and fraternal aunt?" David said, his eyebrows hitting his hairline with astonishment.
"Let's not talk about that, it hurts my head." Emma mumbled, lowering her head on her knees.
"Well, I think the Fate was very insistent about Regina belonging to this family," Snow added flippantly, placing her gentle hand on Emma's shoulder, rubbing it tenderly, before she rose. Pulling her reluctant daughter up, she held her in her arms for a moment, before she passed her on to David. "You need to rest", she whispered into the blonde hair, while David held Emma to his chest. He kissed her forehead in silent goodbye and he, with his wife, climbed the stairs. Turning to the Helm, David took the wheel and following Hook's direction, watched the stars to guide him.
"Hey guys?" Emma spoke, before she turned to leave. Seeing she had their attention, she continued. "Not a word about this. To anyone." She smiled at the immediate simultaneous nods from her parents and with a wave of her hand, she walked away, climbing down the hatch. "How the hell am I going to explain this to her?" she mumbled to herself, before entering the Captain's Cabin.
Regina was lying in the bed, covered with the blanket and wearing something that looked a lot like a pajamas. Listening to her steady breathing, Emma smiled at the almost peaceful face on the pillow. Taking off her boots and upper layer of clothes, she slipped under the blanket and the sweet oblivion claimed her even before she settled down.