Chapter Ten
Just like when she was in the heated void, Regina had no idea how much time had passed. It wasn't because of the incessant thoughts swirling around her lethargic mind.
Lethargy was physically impossible as Rocinante reached his top speed and shot across the seemingly infinite fields. This was also helped by the periodic glances at the steed running beside her.
With Daniel Colter smiling at her like she was the lightest thing in the realm, she forgot about the years of pain, grief and failed attempts at revenge.
She'd never met King Leopold or his daughter and was about to embark upon a simple life that her mother so desperately wanted to keep her from.
This wistful thought was always fleeting because no Leopold meant that she would never meet his granddaughter or great-grandson.
No matter how often she'd dreamed about getting another chance with the stable boy, it no longer felt plausible with the new life that she was leading. The life that would be unrecognisable to the woman who thought she could be Regina Colter.
The impossibility of that woman ever existing subdued the rush of freedom and Regina pulled her steed to a stop and squinted as the first non-grass thing shimmered into existence.
Underneath it was a blanket and basket that Regina had seen before, it was where he had proposed.
Her vision blurred as the other horse galloped up behind her, but she didn't get the chance to ask what was going on as Daniel dismounted and approached the blanket.
"Come on, Regina," he urged, smiling youthfully.
Regina hesitated but eventually followed him, coming up short of the blanket that her first fiance was already sitting on.
"What is this?" Regina asked, expecting something to crash down on her any moment now.
"You must be hungry," Daniel replied.
Regina crossed her arms and said, "I don't believe that is a condition that inflicts the dead, Daniel."
Daniel put his hand out and replied, "I told you, Regina, you are not dead, please sit with me?"
Regina dragged her teeth over her bottom lip but did take his hand to lead her down to the picnic. The touch felt all too real so she retracted her hand to instead accept a sandwich that she nibbled at.
To her great surprise, she could taste the cheese and it even had the slightly different texture from the Enchanted Forest; she'd never thought that her mind would have a such keen attention to detail.
Daniel watched her carefully, taking larger bites of his own sandwich. At eighteen, Regina may have blushed and looked downward but things were no longer the same.
She loved Daniel but he would forever be a teenager.
"Could you tell me about Emma?" Daniel asked.
This incited a smattering of blush on her cheeks so Regina had to drop the sandwich onto her lap.
"If you are part of my subconscious, should you not already know everything that I know about her?" Regina shot back.
Daniel tilted his head and replied, "It is strange that you expect her to believe and yet you can't. I am not a hallucination or dream, I am here to keep you company and stay as long as you need me to. I would, however, very much like to hear about your True Love so that I know this has all been worth it."
Regina held her breath throughout his rant.
She had, of course, seen passion from him before but this was reaching new heights. Was this what she would have gotten if either of them had been brave enough to stand up to her mother and take what they wanted.
This thought made her reply, after a sigh, "She is irritating, stubborn, will never give up…exactly like her mother."
Daniel's frustration was replaced by amusement as he replied, "And?"
Regina shifted and threw the sandwich away, her own smile broadening as she said, "And when we kiss I feel as though everything will be okay. She's intelligent, beautiful and the only person who has challenged me in almost thirty years. She is the woman who gave me Henry. It would only seem to make sense that she would be my True Love, even if I'm sure that no one else will understand."
"And by 'no one else' you mean her parents, don't you?" Daniel ventured.
This wiped away Regina's smile as she went from seeing the other mother of her children to said children's grandparents who she would be linked to forever now.
Assuming that she ever woke up, of course.
"I do not concern myself with Snow White and Prince Charming's approval,"" she said in a curt voice that she never imagined having to use on her first love.
It didn't seem to affect him as he suggested, "But perhaps, in this matter, you should?"
A defensive and biting remark came to Regina's mind but she refused to let it out just encase he was actually here, so she instead wrung her hands and said, "Perhaps, though I highly doubt that they would ever accept the Evil Queen into their perfect little family."
"Oh, I don't know, Regina. I know from experience that you are easy to love when you allow people to, of course," he mused.
Regina shifted to stop herself from rolling her eyes. If this was Daniel, it wasn't his fault that he couldn't fathom just how much more complicated her life was now.
"How could I allow anyone to after you…after what my mother did to you," Regina replied, picking at the very real-feeling picnic blanket.
"Grief is hard," Daniel said, "But it is harder for me knowing that you are unhappy. Please make an effort? If not for yourself, then for me? For Emma, Henry and your next child?"
Regina wet her lips, he made it sound so simple but she knew that if she ever woke up, she would have some difficult time ahead.
In the most ideal version of events, she was set to have Snow White in her life for the foreseeable future.
"I…promise to make an effort," Regina assured, still scratching at the blanket and was caught off guard by a hand covering her own to stop her nervous picking.
Daniel waited for her to raise her eyes and meet his own before he asked, "May I make one request?"
Forgetting her conviction that this was all a hallucination, Regina replied, "Anything."
Daniel shifted over to her and said, softly, "Do not keep my body preserved anymore, allow it to rest as it should."
Shakingly, Regina turned her hand over to better feel his touch, taking in how tangible it was, "You are asking for a funeral?"
"If you would grant me one?"
Regina paused for a long time, practically an eternity as she realised what he was really talking about. He was asking her to give up on the past.
A few weeks ago, she would have refused outright but that was before she entertained that someone else could be her True Love.
With decades worth of reluctance, Regina said, "Of course, I will."
Daniel bowed his head gratefully and lifted her hand to punctuate this with a kiss to it.
"Thank you, Regina," he whispered.
Before Regina could parse out what would be the correct response to this surreal conversation, a wave of light rippled towards them, surrounding the tree.
She looked around bewildered but her companion apparently knew what was happening as the ground started shaking. This reality was rapidly disintegrating, giving in to her ultimate fate.
"It would appear that you have underestimated your saviour," Daniel said, almost smug.
Regina watched the apples of the tree disappear and whispered, "Emma…you did it…"
"Indeed she did."
Regina snapped her eyes to the stableboy who was also fading, unlike the last time he'd left her life, he was smiling.
As he became transparent, she surged forward to hug him hard, which was promptly returned and she said against her ear, "Enjoy your life, Regina. I will see you again, preferably not too soon?"
Regina released a wet laugh and scrunched her eyes closed, taking in everything about this moment that she could until his touch was gone along with whatever world they'd occupied.
It gave way with a jarring whoosh and all of her senses blasted with different, harsher sensations than would assault anyone in the Enchanted Forest.
The beeping of a heart monitor, the slightly too hot temperature of a hospital room, the light that only allowed her to slit her eyes open, but the most overwhelming of them all was the pressure in her throat.
Unable to open her eyes right now, she clawed at the bulge there and was distantly aware of a panicked squeak, "Wait! I'll get a doctor!"
Unable to wait, Regina tried to cough and grasped at the equipment causing the pressure and pulled until it disappeared.
She continued to cough until a hand dropped to her back and she ripped her eyes open to find a cup held in front of her.
She locked her gaze with the emerald shade that she was praying that it would somehow be possible for their second child to have despite her own brown ones. She wanted them to match their brother.
"You really should have waited for the doctor," Emma said nervously, pushing the cup in her face until she took long gulps.
Once it was removed, Regina found it was much easier to breathe.
Croaking, Regina asked, "You actually believed?"
Emma opened and closed her mouth but seemed to ultimately decide that there was only one course of action and then connected their lips.
The kiss was slow, filled with so much relief and perhaps of a touch of hope but Regina pulled back as her hand brushed her stomach, feeling something that definitely wasn't there when she'd impulsively bitten the poisoned apple.
The bump was small but undeniable.
She ran the pad of her thumb over it affectionately and asked, "How long has it been?"
Emma hesitated, suddenly awkward despite the freedom of the kiss, she may believe it now but there was a lot to adjust to so Regina tried not to take it too personally as the saviour stepped away to stop her touch.
"It's been a month," Emma admitted, scratching at the back of her head, her expression unreadable.
They may officially be True Loves but Regina didn't exactly know her well enough to figure out exactly what was going through her mind.
"A month?!" Regina repeated a rush of energy allowing her to sit up.
She'd left Henry for a month?! That was absolutely not her attention!
Before she could ask about his well-being the door slammed open to reveal an enraged doctor who stalked inside towards his patient.
Emma stood protectively and asked, flabbergasted, "What's wrong Whale?"
"What's wrong? Are you serious?" he scoffed, his voice a tone lower than in the last three decades.
"What are you talking about?!" Emma demanded but Whale only continued to narrow his eyes threateningly.
"It would appear that you have broken more than one curse, Emma," Regina explained, digging her nails into the blanket in spite of her conviction to break it, "Hello, Frankenstein."
"Seriously?" Emma squeaked but recovered when he took a forceful step and she touched her holstered gun.
"Stay away from her!"
The statement caused Regina's onslaught of anxiety to give way to an elation that she couldn't quite identify. Evidently, it would take some getting used to having the saviour as her True Love.
"I'm not the only one in this town who wants this, sheriff, you can't protect her forever," Whale grunted, but faltered as another person rushed into the room, this one a ball of excitement rather than revenge.
"Mom!" Henry shouted as Whale slinked away, seemingly decent enough not to threaten a woman in front of her son.
Regina caught him in a hard hug, no longer interested in what Frankenstein was doing.
Henry burrowed into her for about ten seconds before turning his head towards his birth mother as Regina ran her fingers through his hair, "You believed?"
Emma dropped onto the chair, clearly still on high alert as she kept glancing at the door periodically.
"Yeah…I err…kind of had no choice," Emma sighed.
Regina frowned, "And why would that be?"
Emma plucked up the piece of paper at her feet and handed it over. Henry let go so that they could both read the DNA results.
She never really needed it but it was still nice to see irrefutable proof.
"You probably should have started with this, you know?" Emma laughed nervously, "Mad Hatters and sleeping curses are sort of the nuclear option."
"You took a DNA sample from a comatose woman?" Regina asked.
"How is that any more creepy than kissing a comatose woman?" Emma shot back, Henry's grin growing as he looked between them.
"I believe that would be a question better posed to your father," Regina replied.
Emma blinked, no longer checking the door, "Father?"
"Prince Charming," Regina elaborated, which did nothing for Emma's pinched brow, "David Nolan? The guy with no memory? You know his surname?"
"Of course, I know his cursed name, Emma. I created it. I was waiting to see whether it would be necessary to introduce his wife into their annoying pining but then my goals changed," Regina explained, "He and Snow are likely trying to find you, it would be for the best if I am not with you when they do."
She didn't want to leave her family right now but she couldn't ruin the reunion when she was responsible for the parting in the first place.
It was for this reason that she began the process of searching for something less hideous to wear.
"Snow?" Emma asked.
"Miss Blanchard," Henry replied.
"Mary Margaret is Snow White and my…" Emma said slowly but clamped her mouth at the end, unable to form the word.
"Mother," Regina confirmed, "I was under the impression that you now believed?"
"I believed that you were my True Love because I didn't want you to die, I didn't really get past that," Emma mumbled with widened eyes as she slumped in the chair.
Regina exchanged a look with Henry to make sure that he felt as much sympathy for the overwhelmed woman as she did before she said, "I am afraid that your parents will waste no time in trying to reunite with you. I am so grateful that you woke me up but I think that it would be better for everyone right now if I return home while you see them?"
Emma sat up, also exchanging a look with Henry but theirs was of concern.
"Are you sure that's safe?" Emma asked.
Regina pulled Henry into another hug which was readily accepted as she assured, "These people are afraid of the Evil Queen, that should protect me for a while. I want you to take Henry with you to be sure though."
Emma swallowed, her knuckles turning white around the arms of the chair before she stood and slipped into her sheriff's persona, "Just call me if anything happens?"
"I will," Regina promised and Regina lightly pushed her son towards her, but not before dropping a kiss on his forehead.
"Be careful mom?" Henry asked insistently.
Regina nodded as Emma put her hand on his shoulder and hesitated, seemingly trying to decide how she should part from her True Love.
Ultimately she just led their son away.
Regina would have much preferred a kiss, it would have given her the courage that she would need to face her former subjects but she understood that the saviour had a lot to process until further notice.