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“You know, when I destroyed everything at least there was some passion to it,” Regina sniffed, at first with haughty disdain, then to suppress some sniffles.
“Yeah, well, apparently the world can end in ice, too,” Emma said.
“Thank you, Mr. Frost,” Regina said scathingly, rolling her eyes.
“You mean Jack Frost is real?” Emma asked, diverted by the thought. “I bet he’s happy right now.”
“Of course he is,” Regina said. “And that wasn’t at all what I was speaking of. Have you never heard of Robert Frost. Author of Fire and Ice?”
“Is that an album name?” Emma asked.
Regina groaned. “At least Henry didn’t inherit a full measure of the Charming idiocy.”
Emma rolled her eyes. “Look, your Majesty, can we figure a way out of this? I’d rather not spend the apocalypse hearing you insult my intelligence.”
“Fine,” Regina said. “Besides, it’s not the end of the world. It’s just the Snow Queen’s magic gone out of control.”
“Seems pretty apocalyptic to me,” Emma said, looking out of the window. It had started snowing the day the Snow Queen had shown up, and while she was powerful, she really didn’t have much control over her powers. When Regina beat her in their final battle she had thrown everything she had at them to try and get revenge and had ended up killing herself in the process. The snowfall had immediately transformed into a supernaturally powerful blizzard, and the temperature had dropped precipitously.
“Yes, well, as powerful as she was, it takes real skill to destroy an entire realm with magic,” Regina said. “This probably isn’t covering much more than Storybrooke. Maybe all of Maine, but I doubt it.”
“It’s enough,” Emma said bitterly. The snow had made driving difficult, and before long her beloved bug had gone out of control, skidding off of the road and into a tree. They were now huddled together for warmth, a process made more difficult by the small space and the broken leg Regina had sustained in the crash.
“But it won’t last for long,” Regina said. “A few more days and this storm will be over and everything will be back to normal.”
“Except Henry’ll be an orphan,” Emma pointed out, shivering.
Regina’s eyes flashed for a moment before she slumped against Emma. “Except for that.”
“There has to be a way out of this,” Emma said. “Are you sure you can’t figure out a way to teleport?”
Regina shook her head. “This storm is wild magic. If we tried our bodies would be scrambled when we came through. I’d rather not appear in front of our son as a shower of mangled viscera.”
Emma wrinkled her nose in disgust. “Fine. What about a way to keep warm? Sharing body heat isn’t going to work much longer.”
Regina bit her lip. “I’m too exhausted from the fight. Working as a magical space heater would actually be quite tiring to sustain for long. And unfortunately, you’ve never worked on your magical endurance. With luck you might be able to keep us warm for a few hours, but...”
“Not long enough,” Emma supplied. She noticed Regina was shivering more violently and wrapped an arm around her to pull her closer. Regina stiffened and acted like she was going to object, before finally slumping against Emma’s warmth.
“Not long enough,” Regina agreed quietly.
“No,” Emma said. “I’m not going to give up. Who knows what might happen in a few hours? Explain this to me.”
Regina pursed her lips for a moment before explaining. “Fine. First, you need to concentrate on calling forth your magic. Light magic would be best for this, so concentrate on what you love and what you want to protect.”
That was easy for Emma. While she had never admitted it to anyone, in this case they were one and the same. She was completely in love with Regina, and she had to protect her from freezing to death. She felt her magic rise swiftly to her command. “Okay,” she said.
“Now, first think of warm thoughts-” Regina began.
“Think warm thoughts?” Emma interrupted incredulously.
Regina rolled her eyes. “You need to think about what you want to accomplish. Then picture a protective barrier surrounding us. It needs to be a perfect sphere, but as tiny as possible while still all around us. The bigger you make it, or the more irregular the shape, and the more tiring maintaining it would be.”
“Gotcha,” Emma said, forming a mental image around them of the heat she remembered from Tallahassee.
“Then push out with your magic, and will it to work,” Regina finished through chattering teeth. “Not too hard – you don’t want to exhaust yourself. Just the bare minimum needed to create the effect.”
Slowly the air began to warm around them, and after a few minutes they stopped shaking. Despite that they remained huddled together, unable to move apart because of the tiny space the magic protected.
Like Regina had said, it was difficult. Even with their lives on the line, Emma doubted she could maintain it for more than few hours. “We need a way out,” Emma said quietly. “Maybe I could carry you.”
Regina shook her head. “We’re miles from any kind of shelter. With my leg I can’t walk, and you couldn’t carry me that far.”
“What about using magic to make me stronger?” Emma suggested.
“You don’t know how to do two things at once, and if you tried it would only exhaust you faster,” Regina said. “I doubt you could keep this warming spell up long enough to reach shelter even without further strain. No, there’s only one thing you can do.”
“What?” Emma asked.
Regina took a deep breath. “You have to leave me and save yourself.”
“No!” Emma shouted, wanting to recoil from Regina and pull her close and never let go at the same time. “I’m not leaving you!”
“You have to think about Henry,” Regina said stubbornly. “If you don’t go he will lose both of his mothers. He needs you.”
“He needs you,” Emma said.
“He was fine in New York without me,” Regina said. “I’m not really needed.”
“Stop trying to get yourself killed, damn it!” Emma shouted. “I need you!”
Regina stiffened. “I’m sure that you can find someone else to further your magical education-”
“No,” Emma interrupted. “I- I love you, Regina.”
“No,” Regina said wildly, looking into Emma’s eyes for something.
“You can make it kinda hard sometimes,” Emma said. “But I love you. I have for a long time now.”
Regina chuckled sadly. “I love you too Emma.”
“You do?” Emma asked. The too looked at each other for a moment, and then they pressed their chapped lips against each other in awkward kiss. Somehow, despite the terrible situation, it was the sweetest kiss either could ever remember.
Eventually Regina pulled back, tears in her eyes. “You have to live. I can’t let my love kill anyone else.”
“It won’t,” Emma said. “And it hasn’t. We’ll figure something out. There has to be some way I can carry you. Too bad you aren’t an animagus.”
“Animagus?” Regina asked.
“Yeah, like in Harry Potter,” Emma said. “Wait, can you do that? Turn into an animal?”
Regina was silent for a long moment. “I can.”
“Is it smallish?” Emma asked. “Like a cat or something? Or do you turn into a huge tiger?”
“Yes,” Regina said. “It is small. It was a trick I learned at a time when I wanted nothing more than to escape my life. No matter what I had to do to make my escape. No matter who I had to betray. And once you learn to become an animal, you have that animal form forever.”
“What are you saying?” Emma asked.
Regina huffed. “I’m saying you can carry me, but my form is somewhat embarrassing.”
“Better embarrassed than dead,” Emma said. “Besides, we just admitted to loving each other, and you’ve seen some of the embarrassing crap I’ve done and you still love me anyway.”
“Fine,” Regina huffed, and with a cloud of purple smoke a small black rat was left on her seat.
Emma carefully picked Regina up, taking care not to jostle the broken leg, and opened her coat, placing her inside. She let Regina adjust her position so that she got enough air and wouldn’t hurt her leg further while still keeping warm. The result left Emma giggling slightly as soft rat fur brushed against her chest.
“Not quite the way I thought you’d grope me for the first time,” Emma muttered, before yelping as a pointed claw poked her sharply in the breast. “Sorry.”
Once Regina was settled Emma climbed out of her car. The snow was almost waist deep, but Emma pushed through, reaching the road where it was knee deep and began to walk. Progress was slow, each trudging step taking more energy than she had to spare, and with every extra minute she maintained her warmth spell putting a greater strain on her magical reserves. By the end of the first mile, Emma knew that Regina had been correct. She would be lucky to make it to safety without the added burden of helping human Regina.
Emma’s world shrunk to a single step. Each step, one after another, was her entire existence. She didn’t look up. She didn’t think about the thousands of steps that came next, or the thousands that came before. Her entire focus was on the next step, and the burden riding between her breasts. She had to get Regina to shelter.
Eventually the warming spell faded away, and Emma began to stumble along, completely exhausted and shivering from the lethal cold. Only a combination of stubbornness and love for Regina kept her moving, both traits she had in spades. Her shivering became steadily more violent, and the cold became a physical pain.
Then it began to fade away. Her shivering stopped, and the pain was replaced by numbness, and then a feeling of warmth. A small smile appeared on Emma’s face, and then she tripped, falling to her knees. The snow was so warm and inviting, like a fluffy cloud. A perfect place for a nap...
“Ouch!” Emma shouted, staggering to her feet. Something... Regina. Regina had bitten her. On the breast. And not in a good way. “I’m awake,” she muttered.
Emma looked around. Sometime in the past hour she had arrived in town, and she suddenly realized how close to home she was. With stiff movements she pressed on, her eyes on her goal. Two blocks, then one, then even less distance, until finally she reached it. Leaning against the wall she fumbled for her keys for a moment before giving up and pounding on the door with her fist.
“Great,” Emma muttered slumping against the wall. “I’m about to pull a little matchstick girl at my own apartment.”
Then the door opened, and heat poured out of the entrance. “Emma?” Snow asked. “Emma!”
“Wait,” Emma slurred. “Don’t hug me. Regina’s in my shirt.”
“Huh?” Snow asked as she helped her daughter inside. “Charming! Help me. She’s ice cold!”
“Regina’s in my shirt,” Emma slurred. “She broke her leg. Don’t hurt her.”
Then David was there, and Henry, and she was being carried to somewhere soft and warm, with blankets and cocoa and people to fuss over her. Regina, despite her broken leg, was actually in better shape, her fur and Emma’s body having helped keep her warm, and before long both were ensconced on the couch, sniffling and weak but on the road to recovery.
It was hours later when everyone else went to bed that the two looked over at each other. Regina gave Emma tiny smile, which she returned. “I love you,” Regina whispered.
“I love you, too,” Emma said.
Then they kissed. No longer staring death in the face, warm and comfortable and in the home of the people they loved nothing stopped them until finally they fell asleep in each other’s arms.