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“I didn’t expect you to listen to me,” Emma said. “It’s not like you ever have before.”
“They why come after me?” Regina asked.
“Because I can’t let you go off wandering across Neverland alone.”
“Well, I am going to find Henry. And I will be doing it alone.”
When Regina walked away, again, Emma stomped her foot. “C’mon, Regina. We both want the same thing.”
“Do we?” she asked, turning back around. Emma hated the insinuation. “Know this, Miss Swan, there is more chance that I will make a friendship bracelet for Snow White than there is of me going back to your do-gooder parents and that drunken pirate.”
When Regina continued down the makeshift path in the forest, Emma wondered why she had thought that this would end any other way. She groaned, ducking under the same branch that Regina had managed to avoid, reminding herself of the way her heart had raced when she’d awoken that morning because Regina hadn’t been there, how she’d found foot prints and followed them without a second thought.
When Regina picked up her pace, Emma did the same. “I’m in good shape, Regina,” she said, but there was no response. It seemed as if they had walked the length of a marathon by the time Regina slowed down. Emma jogged the last bit of distance, ducking out of the way of brightly coloured leaves.
After taking a swig from her canteen, Regina glared. “You’re still here?” she asked, and Emma wanted to pull her hair out. As much as Regina was a pain in her ass and she had scary levels of magic, Neverland was just too dangerous. “I am not going back.”
Emma tried to make heads or tails of where they were. There was no way this part of the island had been on the map. Emma cringed. “I don’t think either of us have much choice with that.”
“You found your way here. You can find it back.”
“So you’ve been marking a trail for me?” Emma asked, because Regina had been moving so quickly that Emma hadn’t thought to keep track of her surroundings. “Because I’m one hundred percent sure we’re lost.”
“No, you’re lost. I’m—”
Regina glanced around the area, completing an entire 360 before she came to a stop. Her fingers were wiggling by her sides like she was preparing to set something on fire. A deep breath followed.
“I believe it is this way,” she said, walking away yet again, but this time, with her chin held high.
“And I believe you’re full of shit.”
“I think you need to look in the mirror, my dear.”
Emma rolled her eyes, after all, this had been her own stupid decision. When Regina disappeared through a small gap between the overgrown bushes, Emma took a breath before pushing through it. The leaves slapped back into Emma’s face, some landing on her mouth. She blew raspberries to push the damn things out again.
With one final shove, Emma stepped out into the open. Regina was waiting by the river, wearing a nice little smirk. “How the hell did you get out so fast?” Emma asked.
“Hmm, almost like magic.”
“But we agreed not to use—”
“I didn’t agree to a thing.”
Emma supposed she had a point, and she was the tiniest bit irritated that she hadn’t been able to do that. But at least they’d reached a river. It didn’t seem too deep. That was, until Emma squinted and realised the water was picking up pace before falling over the edge of a cliff.
“I suppose the only way is across,” Regina said. “I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to turn back. Nor would I be opposed.”
Emma accessed her options. There were rocks pocking out of the stream, ones that were small and staggered. The water could be poisonous or filled with jelly fish or they could slip and end up being carried over the cliff. Then there was Regina’s amused expression. “Worst case scenario we go down a waterfall,” she said, but she got as far as tapping the edge of her shoe onto a rock before pulling it back out.
“You see,” Regina said. “You have to put your entire foot on the rock to be able to cross.”
“I know that.” Emma was an idiot. She should have just stayed with the group where it was at least ten percent safer. “I was just checking it wasn’t poisonous.” Emma pointed to her intact shoe. “See? All good. You should be thanking me.”
Regina offered up a bemused smile. “You didn’t think to throw a stone perhaps?”
“And risk an infection? Who knows what those things are covered in.” Regina swallowed her laughter, and Emma felt a little lighter. Perhaps this entire affair wouldn’t be too disastrous. “Maybe there’s a way around?”
Regina sighed; the amused expression gone. “You really have no idea how magic works, do you?”
“Oh yeah, and I know how to run a kingdom and fight with a bow and arrow.”
“I’m tracking him…of a sort.”
“What? Since when?”
“Since we contacted him through the mirror. So no, Miss Swan, we will not find a way around. We cross. It’s the only way.”
Their eyes locked then, and for a moment, Emma only saw a mother scared to her wits end that she would lose her child. Then Emma was reminded of the second reason that she had gone after Regina. “Then I’m coming with you. If anything happened to you, Henry would never forgive me for leaving you alone.”
“I doubt that very much.”
“I don’t.” Emma let it hang for a moment, just to make sure Regina understood her thoughts. “He seemed okay, right?”
“At least he knows we’re here now.”
There was usually a world between Emma and Regina. One where Regina had been the Evil Queen and Emma the saviour. But Henry was what aligned them in the middle. And sometimes Emma wondered if there was a way for them to stay in that middle ground.
So when Regina said, “He seemed delighted to see you.”
Emma didn’t hesitate to add, “Both of us. He was happy to see both of us.” Regina only hummed, keeping her thoughts locked away. Emma figured this was as good a time as any for them to meet in the centre. “So, are we doing this?”
Nothing followed and Emma was sure that she was about to find out how lost they truly were. But then Regina caught Emma’s gaze and held it.
“Fine,” she said. “But you better not get in my way.”
Emma grinned. “Ah, but that’s my specialty.”
Regina’s eyes squinted in amusement. Emma gave herself a mental high five. Perhaps the mayor wasn’t completely inaccessible.
Pain shot through Regina’s side, shoulder, and ear. She groaned, cursing the day she had ever laid eyes on Emma Swan. Because all of this had been her fault.
“I told you not to walk on it,” Emma muttered.
Right. Emma had told her that. She just…hadn’t wanted Emma to be right. “Perhaps if you’d been a little clearer in your instructions,” Regina said. She rolled onto her back, clutching onto where her shoulder had impacted with the very solid ground.
“What more than ‘it’s a trap, don’t walk on it’ did you want?”
Regina peeped towards Emma, who was somehow already standing and wiping dust off her pants. “Perhaps a clearer explanation. I’m not psychic.”
“No, you’re just a pain in my ass.” Emma towered over her, frowning. “So…are you moving any time soon?”
“No.” She would, in a few moments. There were at least a dozen tiny stones digging into her back. Right then, however, she wanted to act a little petulant and only Emma was around to see it. “I am going to take a moment to remind myself how inadequate you are. Once I remember what I’ve gotten myself into, then I am less likely to throw you to kingdom come once I do get up.”
“Suit yourself,” Emma said on a shrug. God, she was annoying.
Eventually, Regina pulled herself up and dusted herself off. Emma had been walking around what appeared to be a cave.
Regina peered over Emma’s shoulder and said, “Discovered what hell you’ve gotten us into now?”
“Oh for the love of—” Emma flapped her arms, slapping them against her legs. “You were the one who stepped on the obvious trap. I’m just the one stupid enough to try and stop you from falling.”
There was also the fact that Emma had tried to grab her then fell herself. “No one made you, dear,” Regina said, because maybe, just maybe, Regina enjoyed watching Emma throw a tantrum.
“Yeah well, I’m not the type of person who sees someone falling and does nothing. And now I’m going to wake up tomorrow with a bruise the size of this island on my ass.”
Regina schooled her features. If Emma knew that her stupid comments amused her then she would never hear the end of it. “And whose fault is that?” she asked. Emma opened her mouth then snapped it shut. Regina had to bite back her smile.
“Let’s just figure a way out of here, alright?”
Regina nodded, but soon discovered that there really wasn’t all that much to look at. It was an oval. There was that hole that they’d fallen through and a door that would likely be extremely bolted. Within the centre, raised on a platform, there was a curious looking see-through ball that had something akin to electricity sparking inside of it. Magic, if Regina had to guess.
Emma put her hand on it before Regina could think to warn her not to. That woman was worse than a child. “That could have been anything, Emma!” She jumped, but after examining her uninjured hand, she just shrugged. “You’re infuriating.”
“I aim to please.”
Regina hated this woman. Emma had to be the most annoying person on the planet. “Remind me to get a restraining order when we get back to Storybrook.”
Emma twisted her head over her shoulder, throwing her a smile. Regina ignored the little spark that flickered in her stomach. “I think you’re forgetting who’s the sheriff,” she said.
Whilst Emma pushed and pulled on the door – at one point even going as far as to jump into it shoulder first, (which Regina did not find amusing), Regina examined the plastic ball. She couldn’t sense anything dangerous, but she took her time trying different spells before she simply placed her hand on it like Emma had done.
Nothing happened when her palm was flat against it. “It’s weirdly warm, right?” Emma asked. She put her hand on it too. The cave shook and the room faded to black.
There was a young girl skulking around the store aisles, blonde hair covered beneath her red beanie and hands in her jacket pockets. It took a moment for Regina to place those eyes, but she would know that determined look anywhere.
“Can you see this too?” Emma, the adult Emma, asked, though her eyes never left the child version of herself. The one who slipped a small candy bar into her pocket then carried on browsing the shelves.
“Where did you think we are?” Regina asked.
Only seconds ago, they had been in the cave. Now they were watching a child shoplift. “I’m guessing this is one of Pan’s games,” Emma said, and Regina hummed her agreement. There had been magic in the centre of the room, for that, Regina was sure.
“A memory, perhaps?” Regina said, and as she did, the scene disintegrated like pixels, rebuilding until they were stood in a room with three sets of bunk beds, shoved so closely together there was no room to walk between them.
The bedroom door opened and in came young Emma, glancing over her shoulder before scampering up the wooden steps, candy bar going straight into the pillow.
“Yeah,” was all Emma said. “Mine.”
Regina didn’t want to know how they had ended up in one of Emma’s memories, all she wanted was to get out of here and get back to their son. Somehow, she doubted it would be so simple. If this was a game, then they would have no other choice than to play along.
By the time the younger version had exited the room, Emma had drawn her arms against her chest, staring blankly into the distance. Regina reached out to touch Emma’s shoulder, pulling back when she remembered they weren’t those kinds of people.
“Is there anything significant about this memory?” Regina tried. “Something that could get us out of here and back to Henry?”
Emma shook her head. “It was my eighth birthday,” she said. “But I dunno.” She pulled open the bedroom door, but blackness was all that greeted them.
“Neverland magic,” Regina said.
As soon as she had, the daylight faded, the curtains had been drawn and a young Emma was climbing up those steps. A group of three teenagers sat huddled on another bed. Emma’s arm went into her pillow, all the way up to her shoulder. She looked inside it, shook it, then turned towards the stifled laughter.
A boy of around fourteen snapped off a piece of chocolate and placed it into his mouth. The young Emma’s eyes burned red and angry. “You’re just an ugly loser with no friends,” she spat, and spun herself around, burying herself beneath the covers.
When the bundle beneath the covers began to shake, Regina turned her attention on Emma. She was stood rigidly, eyes unmoving. “Emma,” Regina said, “We need to try and get out of here.”
But Emma didn’t seem to hear her. She took a step forwards. The room went dark, and the children were in their beds. By the side of the bunk, Emma placed her hand on the small lump. “Hey,” she whispered. The covers moved and Emma pulled her hand back. A small face poked out, holding the blanket against her chin, her eyes wide and hopeful.
Even within the dark, Regina could see the way Emma shook. “Happy birthday,” she whispered, then began to tuck the cover into the girl’s sides. “One day, you’re never going to see any of them again.”
“Promise?” she asked.
“I promise.”
The scene fell apart, the pixels breaking up like static on a television screen, until Regina was looking at Emma over the electric ball with the cave tight around them. Emma stumbled backwards, her face haunted. Regina had the urge to go to her, but she stayed put.
“Emma,” was all she could say, because what else was there?
Emma wished she could go back to a few hours ago and tell herself to stay put. Of course, Emma imagined she wouldn’t have listened, not when her gut was demanding that she find Regina. The woman who was currently pacing up and down the cave.
“This is just another of Pan’s games,” she said. “We figure out the rules then get the hell out of here.”
They’d already tried everything they could think of to re-activate the ball. It lay dormant and refused to spring back to life no matter what they did. “Or we could skip to the getting out of here part,” Emma muttered.
Regina turned to face her, offering a weak smile. “Just think of Henry,” she said, her tone soothing. It wasn’t something that Emma was used to, nice and Regina had never gone hand in hand before.
Emma nodded, focusing on the way Henry had smiled through the mirror. “Then what are we missing?”
Right on cue, Peter Pan’s head popped through the same hole that they’d fallen through. “Ah, ladies, I was wondering where you’d gotten to.” He did some sort of flip before landing between them. He indicated his head towards the ball, grinning. “You haven’t touched it, have you?”
They may not have responded, but the way their eyes found each other’s said everything he needed to know. “Ah, well, ‘bout time someone had a go at this thing. I do think this is some of my best work.”
“And what, pry tell, are we ‘having a go at?’” Regina gripped him by the shirt, dragging him until he was forced to his toes. “Or do I need to force it out of you?”
Pan just laughed. “No need for all that,” he said. “It’s just a little trip down memory lane.”
Regina glared for another moment before letting him go. He dusted himself off then spun around to face Emma. “It’s amazing, isn’t it?” he said, and Emma could feel his gaze assess the way she trembled. “How much a little memory can throw us off course. But what is it they say? Honesty will set you free.”
Emma took a step towards him. “If you hurt Henry whilst we’re stuck in here—”
“Easy,” he said. “No one’s hurting anyone. Well—” he looked between the pair, his obnoxious grin fading into a fake look of concern. “You never can tell what would happen when two people are trapped together.” With a giggle and a wave of his hands, he disappeared in a poof of smoke. Emma gritted her teeth; Regina had already tried to poof them out with no luck.
“One day, I’m going to wrap my hands around his throat,” Regina said, cupping her hands until her fingertips touched. “And I’m not letting go until I see the life drain out of his eyes.”
“We need to get out of here first.”
“What? You’re not going to tell me to stand in the naughty corner?”
He deserved everything that was coming to him. Usually Emma had endless stores of sympathy – she certainly had it for the lost boys who only wanted a home, but to steal a child away from his family? “Nope. Not this time,” she said, because Emma couldn’t find it in herself to forgive that.
“Perhaps you’re not quite as insufferable as the rest of them.”
“I think that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
When they returned to the game, Emma had to remind herself that Regina had initially chosen kindness. Because by the time Emma had flopped against the wall, exhausted from endless and completely futile attempts at accessing the magic in the cave, Regina’s patience had dried up and Emma was more than ready to throw a stone at Regina’s head.
“Try. It. A-gain.”
Regina placed both hands on the ball. After pushing herself from the wall, Emma flapped her arms just for emphasis then placed her palms on the thing as requested. They both stared at each other, trapped like rats in a cage.
“Think Emma. What was it about that memory? Does it connect to Henry somehow? There must be something.”
“I don’t have a crystal ball, Regina. I wish I did, but I don’t…I don’t know what that was.”
Emma pulled back and tried to think of anything that could change this situation. She slid her foot along the ground, grating the stones against the floor, but there was nothing that she hadn’t already suggested.
“It’s like you don’t even want us to get out of here!”
Emma’s head snapped up. Did she really think she wasn’t trying? “I don’t know, Regina. What do you want me to say?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Anything.”
“It was shitty. All the homes were, and they all had bullies and they all had stupid rules we had to follow. I never got any real presents for my birthday and it sucked, but oh look, nothing!” Emma pressed her hands to the ball just for show, but it lay dormant.
“Then dig deeper. C’mon, Emma, this is about Henry.”
“Deeper how? That presents were the last thing from my mind, that what I really wanted was a room, and a bed, and more than anything I just wanted someone to took me in at night?”
Whatever Regina had been about to say died when the floor flashed white. Next came black lines that split the room into segments like a pie chart. The segment Emma was standing on turned green, the one beside it white and the rest shifted to red. Regina moved around the circle, examining them. “Well, that worked.” After she’d looped around once she stopped in the white segment, frowning. Her gaze moved between the plastic ball and the ground.
“They’re connected. Almost like—”
“A puzzle,” Emma finished.
This was nothing like any game Emma had ever played. Though this was Neverland where the games always came with the added twist of childhood trauma. If that was the beginning then she didn’t want to find out what would follow.
Regina gestured her arm towards the center. “After you,” she said, and Emma took a place beside the stand, knowing she had little choice otherwise.
With Emma’s hand already on the ball, Regina stepped up to the stand and they locked eyes. It would work this time; they both knew it. Regina took a breath then placed her hand flat on the ball and the cave disintegrated around them.
There was nothing that could have prepared Emma for where they landed next. The floors were marble and a golden staircase stood at one end of the hall. With her chin tipped upwards, Emma took note of the intricate details on the ceiling, spinning around like a child. This was straight out of a fairy tale.
“This was your childhood?”
“Indeed.”
Emma spun, her arm hitting a stand in the process. The vase containing a bouquet of flowers almost toppled over, but Emma reached her hand out to stop it just in time. “Not a happy memory, then?” Emma asked, now that disaster had been averted.
“My past and happy don’t belong in the same sentence.” Regina was tense, more so than usual. Even as she walked, it appeared that she was expecting the floor to crumble beneath her feet at any moment. She took a rose petal between her fingers, snapping it off the branch. “Nor is it one I can yet place.”
The hall went from echoey quiet to bustling within seconds. People dressed in tuxes, silver dishes beneath raised palms, moved around the room as if in a circus act. Though not a one of them glanced their way. Neither did the guests who began arriving, even if Emma gawked at the huge hair and dresses some of the women were wearing.
The scene slowed and in came a young Regina wearing a purple dress, smiling softly as she entered the room. Half of her hair was tied up and the rest fell in ringlets around her shoulders. There was a little chub on her cheeks that Emma thought was adorable. As she came further inside, her eyes flickered around the room, and one of her hands remained clasped around a little charm hanging from her neck.
“Do you recognise this?” Emma asked.
“That charm was a gift for my twelfth birthday.” Regina lifted her hand towards her chest, attempting to clasp something that was no longer there. “Father gave it to me.”
The young Regina was doe-eyed and gentle. She seemed to float around the room, curtsying by way of greeting. If it wasn’t for the Regina stood beside her, mouth pressed in a tight line, her body stiffer than a plank of wood, then Emma would have had the distinct impression that this was exactly where Regina belonged.
That was until Emma spent some time following the young girl’s movements. The way she would glance over her shoulder, only proceeding to a certain guest after her mother’s nod of approval.
There was something about the young eyes, so wide and fearful, that caused Emma’s heart to ache. When there was a slight clash, the young Regina jumped, hand going straight to her necklace.
“Do you remember this?” Emma asked.
“Unfortunately.” Regina gave her a wonky smile. “I suppose there isn’t a way out of this?”
“Doubtful.”
Cora slipped her arm from around the man she was stood beside then slithered through the crowd. By her daughter’s side, she bent forwards to whisper in her ear.
“When I find that pubescent son of a bitch,” Regina said, then her arms slid around her waist, comforting herself.
With the necklace still clasped in her hand, the young Regina’s face whitened. “Mother, I’m—” tears welled in her eyes, but she blinked rapidly, no doubt to keep them contained.
“Now, Regina, we don’t need to make a scene.” A few people had turned towards them, very clearly as Cora had planned. Emma could see the anguish all over the young girl’s face. “Just know that I am extremely disappointed that you would let everyone down in this way.”
“But. I—”
“That is quite enough, dear.”
By now they had more onlookers. Cora glanced around at them, taking quick note of her audience. Redness bloomed on Regina’s cheeks. “I’m sorry, mother,” she said, “I can make it better, I promise.”
Her gaze slid from her mother to a man stood a few feet away. He looked sympathetically on at the young girl. “Cora,” he said. “Perhaps this isn’t the best place for this.” The young Regina’s eyes shone with hope, but when Cora waved him off, he practically bowed, taking a few steps backwards, and the light faded just as quickly as it had appeared.
“It’s not just me that you need to say sorry to,” Cora said. “You’re a disappointment to me, your father, you’ve really let yourself down.” The young girl’s chest heaved, no longer able to stop the flow of tears. “Now, go clean yourself up and have a think about how you’ll make this up to me.”
With a wobbling chin, the young Regina backed away. Her back hit a vase. It smashed on impact. Regina flinched. Cora sighed deeply almost as if she’d been expecting as much. Then Regina ran away, stepping onto the flowers, and all that remained were squashed petals and a twelve-year-old girl’s broken heart.
They were back in the cave and Regina’s mother was dead. Occasionally, Regina would find herself reminiscing over that final moment, wondering if her childhood would have been different if mother had found her heart sooner. Sometimes, doubts would creep in long enough for Regina to convince herself that mother’s games and words had been exaggerated after years of distance.
Then there was Emma, eyes like saucers. “I had no idea,” she whispered. “Was it always like that?”
Emma’s tone had been gentle, the question almost like a suggestion that Regina could refuse to answer. “Mostly,” she said instead. Then she laughed at herself mockingly. “All of the time. And you know, I don’t even remember what she said to me. Half the time I didn’t understand what I had done wrong.”
“I’m sorry, Regina,” Emma said. “I know it’s a stupid thing to say, but, no one deserves to go through that.”
“Thank you.”
The validation was oddly comforting. Perhaps she hadn’t distorted every memory of mother, perhaps what she had done had been cruel, and perhaps someone acknowledging that Regina had suffered made her want to let go of a little bit more. Regina glanced at the ground and took a breath.
There were six segments total, two were in green, the next four red. That meant three memories each, from what Regina could understand. Regina also knew that this game was one that Pan believed they would not win.
“I can’t say that didn’t happen dozens of other times, dozens of other ways,” Regina said. “I may need a moment to think about how to unlock the next memory.”
“We could always yell at each other until the colours change?”
Regina didn’t bother to suppress her smirk. “I’m not apologising for that.”
“I guess it worked. Now I suppose it’s your turn?” Emma slid down the wall, stretched her legs out then patted the space beside her. “Why don’t you tell therapist-Swan a little bit about your childhood?”
“You’re an idiot.” The floor was stone and could use a good clean. Regina sat down anyway. “Honestly, I wouldn’t even know where to start.”
“Anywhere you want.”
Regina sighed and reminded herself that this was for Henry. “I never knew what she wanted from me. No matter what I did it was never enough, or it was wrong. But she would never explain why. Most of the time I was confused. Father tried to do what he could, but mother was well…mother.”
Emma was watching her intently, not interrupting, just listening. “That must have been lonely,” she said, and Regina felt the sucker punch to her gut; the feelings that had always been there that she’d refused to acknowledge.
“It was,” she said, “and it made me crave my mother so much more. Because there were these moments where she would comfort me, say she was proud of me, and for a long time, I did whatever I could for those moments.”
The last thing Regina expected was for her throat to tighten. The things she’d done to get her mother’s approval came flooding back. The tutor who would let his hand wander and mother had praised her when she hadn’t made a fuss. Whenever she was a child and would refuse any sweet treats, her mother would cup her cheek and call her beautiful.
Regina had wanted her mother’s love so badly that she had let herself fall directly into her traps. When she relayed all of this to Emma, she only shook her head. “You were a child, Regina. It wasn’t your fault.”
“Mother always made it seem like it was my fault.”
“Sounds like she really did a number on you. Have you considered therapy for real?”
“My options are a cricket who got his license from a curse, or someone who would lock me away the instant I mentioned coming from a fairy tale.”
“The first one is kinda on you,” Emma said. “What exactly made you turn a cricket into a therapist anyway?”
“I have no idea what I’d been thinking.”
“Was it hard?” Emma asked. “Casting the curse.”
That was a good question and one that Regina didn’t know how to answer. “I was so far gone by that point,” was all she could say.
There had been doubts. And these little thoughts telling her it wouldn’t end well. But by then she’d lost so much and hurt so many people. If she had stopped then all the loss, the pain and anger, all of it would have amounted to nothing. She would have crumbled.
“And I couldn’t see another way out,” Regina said. “But, my father…”
Regina’s head fell back against the wall as images of him flooded her mind. That had been the most difficult decision she had ever made.
“It must have been hard,” Emma said. “When he didn’t do anything to stop your mother.”
“He didn’t do nothing, Emma. He would take care of me, especially after mother had messed with me in some way.”
He did his best. He tried to make things right, but then mother would always say how she didn’t need babying, she didn’t need comforting or a bedtime story, and every time he would leave. Sometimes a little treat would appear a few days later, some chocolates or a doll, but… “always after,” Regina whispered.
Her chest burned, because there it was, the one thing she had never allowed herself to admit. Father had loved her dearly, that she was sure of, but, “He let her hurt me.”
Regina’s breath was shaky. The segment turned from red to white, but she didn’t make any attempt to get up, to go to the next memory. All she wanted was to place her head on Emma’s shoulder, to feel a comforting arm around her body, but she couldn’t bring herself to move. Emma would surely push her away and she didn’t need anymore hurt.
With her head still against the wall, knees bent up, Regina closed her eyes, pushing the tears against her eyelids. They dribbled down her cheeks and she felt foolish. Mother had been the one to hurt her, but her father being nothing more than a bystander hurt just as much.
“It’s okay, Regina,” Emma said. “We can take a beat.”
Regina could only bring herself to nod. Soon, she would shove these thoughts away, pretend that she had never so much as entertained them, but right then she didn’t want to be alone with her pain.
Emma ran, through the forest, then onto the beach before swerving back through the trees. She collapsed against a tree, chest heaving with sweat dripping down her face. Emma took a swig from her bottle then dropped into a sitting position.
Regina didn’t know how to react when this Emma, from perhaps only a few months ago, place her head into her arms and sobbed. “When was this?” Regina asked, turning away from the past version of Emma to face the current one. “I thought you were happy here.”
“I didn’t know whether I was coming or going in the Enchanted Forest. When we got back I just lost it.”
Regina noticed how Emma had ignored her last comment, though she decided to keep that bit of information to herself, or at least until they were back in the cave.
The other Emma’s crying turned to sniffling. She pulled her head up, using the back of her hand to wipe against her cheeks. There was a ping. Emma pulled her phone from a little pouch inside of her jacket.
“Such an asshole,” Emma muttered, but she managed the tiniest of smiles.
Before Regina could ask who exactly Emma had been referring to, the pixels appeared, and they were back in the cave.
They were back and Emma wouldn’t look at her. They had only been tears, and although Regina knew what it was to feel shame over her feelings, she wished she had a way to tell Emma that it was okay. But she just stood there, completely useless.
“Not my finest moment,” Emma said, mock laughing at herself.
“It’s better than breaking things, which…I may have a little experience with.”
“I’m more of a ‘punch a tree’ kind of girl. Guess I got distracted that time,” she said, and pink blossomed on her cheeks. Regina cocked her eyebrows. “Your extremely formal and courteous reply to my invite.”
Emma had found her text funny? Regina’s limbs felt as if they were made from air. “Ah, so I was the asshole?” she said, but her tone was light hearted and Emma’s posture relaxed a little more.
“Who writes in full sentences in texts? You acted like it was a ball, not a welcome home party at Granny’s,” Emma said, but she was grinning and Regina thought that perhaps she liked seeing it.
“I’m glad I amuse you so much.”
“Oh, you definitely do.” Emma looked towards the ground and the amusement faded from her face. “I guess this one is easy,” she said. A deep breath followed, along with Emma starting to say something before stopping herself. Her eyes closed and she said, “Sometimes, I wish I’d never broken the curse.”
Regina’s ears mustn’t have been working properly. Yet, the segment flashed white. “Bullseye in one,” she said, and Emma smiled sadly from across the room. “So, you’re not happy in Storybrook?”
“Everything was so much simpler before, you know? I was an orphan. Mary Margaret was my friend. We both wanted Henry and fought over him like crazy. But now, I have parents, but what I feel hasn’t changed. I lost my friend and Mary Margaret has no idea how to be my mom. I don’t know how to be a daughter, either. Henry’s always in danger and we’re…”
“We’re a ‘we’.”
Regina wasn’t sure that she wanted to hope to be a ‘we’ with Emma. Henry had always been Regina’s and Regina’s alone, and was the only ‘we’ that they could ever be. “At least when it comes to Henry,” Regina added, and a little protective shield went around her heart. “But as much as I loathe to admit it, Henry would never forgive me if I ever attempted to keep you away from him.”
When Emma simply hummed, Regina asked, “Would you really prefer that everyone still be cursed?”
“No, I don’t know. It didn’t hurt like this does.”
Emma was picking away at her chipped nail polish. They had been yellow, but now it almost looked like her nails were moulding. Regina could imagine pointing it out playfully, telling Emma to stop painting her nails like a teenager with no fashion sense, adding on that Emma didn’t have any fashion sense, but she let the moment pass, because the intention behind her words would always get lost and she didn’t want to cause anymore unnecessary hurt.
Emma glanced up, catching Regina watching her. The segment had already changed; there was no need for Emma to continue. “I can’t imagine any of this has been easy for you,” Regina said, an olive branch. This talking thing was almost nice.
“I’m not wanted,” Emma said. “Like sure, the town wants a saviour, and my parents want their long-lost daughter but no one wants me.”
“I am certain Henry would have something to say about that,” Regina said, but even as she did, she was reminded of how much Henry had wanted the saviour too. Even to Regina, Emma had only ever been the woman who could take Henry away or break her curse, not a whole person.
“One day Henry will realise I’m no hero. I just so happened to be the woman who gave birth to him.”
Although Regina could understand what Emma felt, she also knew how much everyone fawned over her. “Your parents love you, Emma. Henry adores you, and as much as this infuriates me to admit, I even think I’m being won over.”
The way Emma’s face softened had been worth the confession. It hadn’t been enough to light up another segment, but it was enough between them.
“Guess that makes two of us,” Emma said, and that weightless feeling returned. Perhaps she had been wrong before. Pan didn’t think they could win, but maybe a game of trust was exactly what they needed.
The door flew open, a bell pinged, and Emma jogged down the stairs outside Granny’s. “Archie made a cake. Do you not want to stay for a piece?” The other version of Regina turned around, politely declining the invitation.
Stood watching them, Emma was having a strong case of déjà vu. The past Regina asked so nicely for time with her son, and it had been so obviously forced that Emma couldn’t believe she’d thought any different.
All she could see was the desperation on Regina’s face, the rigidity of her movements. She was barley holding herself together. “How hard was it not to set me on fire?” Emma asked, but the woman stood beside her didn’t respond. “You know I was just trying to do what was best for Henry?”
“And how would you know what was best? You weren’t there for ten years of his life.”
The other Regina said something along those lines and Emma went to end the conversation, forcing Regina to apologise when she had only been stating an uncomfortable truth. “But I was there when you tore down his playground,” Emma said, even if her stomach felt weighed down by rocks. “And when you manipulated the situation, so he heard me calling his ideas crazy.”
“I made mistakes,” Regina said.
Emma had expected a defence, but perhaps that’s what true change looked like. Not forced kindness after being backed into a corner with no other choice. “We both did,” Emma said, because maybe it was time to change too.
The pixels appeared then they ended up by the docks. The past version of Regina had taken a seat, her eyes on the waves. “What were you doing out here?” Emma asked, finding that her feet were moving towards the bench.
Regina’s head twisted over her shoulder, and she startled. Emma did the same; she had forgotten they could interact with the memory. “Must be a bad sign when someone leaves their own party,” Regina said, but Emma didn’t take her on, just took a seat on the adjacent bench.
Emma couldn’t find it within herself to apologise. Regina had tried to poison her and Henry had ended up in the hospital. But then there was the store closest where Emma had seen red, and Regina had been so, so scared. So although she couldn’t quite bring herself to say sorry, she could do the next best thing.
“Henry misses you,” Emma said. “Sometimes, when we were sneaking around to see each other, he would forget that he was supposed to be angry at you. He would talk about you, add a little anecdote, then he would remember, and he would get this look on his face. He would look so lost and so sad.” At the time Emma had ignored what she had always known. “I think that mostly he just wanted his mom back.”
“Fancy that,” Regina said.
Regina wasn’t inclined to extend her own olive branch. So much had changed since then; there was so much Emma understood that she hadn’t done. “We’ll let Henry decide from now on, okay?” she said.
The Regina sat beside her let out a humourless chuckle, but Emma turned around, because she hadn’t been talking to the memory. The other version was watching her intently. She managed a nod before pixels returned to bring them back to the present.
Regina was drained, and the exhaustion only increased when she thought about how much further they had to go. Two more segments to change. One more memory each. Regina only hoped that would be the end of this game.
“I could tell you how angry I felt,” Regina said. She took a seat because she wasn’t sure what exactly she could admit to. Emma followed suit. “You’d taken my son from me and I’m not even sure you understand how you never ever had the right to do that.”
“Regina, c’mon—”
“No. I know I made mistakes. I know I have a bleak past, but he’s my son, Emma. I was the one who named him. I fed him, I read him stories, I loved him the best way I knew how. And you what? Insert yourself into his life then think you can take over?”
“That’s not what happened.”
“Wasn’t it?”
Head leaning against the wall, Regina closed her eyes. The darkness was a welcome reprieve from this madness. They would never truly understand what they had done to Regina. Henry she could forgive, he was a child who was confused and hurt, but she supposed she shouldn’t have expected anything different from everyone else.
“Maybe I deserved it,” she said. A shaky laugh followed, because hadn’t she done enough to deserve this level of pain?
“It was never about who deserved what, but about what was best for Henry.”
Regina opened her eyes and tipped her head towards Emma. “And why did you get to decide that?”
Emma shrugged, “I didn’t. Henry did.”
“You’re right, he did. Initially. But why was I the only one on trial when you were gone for ten years?”
“Because I wasn’t his mom, Regina. When you want something badly enough, you don’t question when you get it. My guess? He knew he could push you away because he knew he would never lose you.”
There was a tightness inside Regina’s throat that was beyond irritating. Emma Swan shouldn’t be the person to recognise something that had never occurred to her, yet here she was, confirming the one thing even Regina had doubted.
“You really think that?” she asked.
“Yeah, I do.”
Regina looked back out at the game board. “Do you know why I left everyone?”
“You think we’re all a bunch of inadequate idiots?”
“That too.” Regina smiled. “When I was queen, we fought in wars. I had to strategize, come up with plans that meant losing the least number of men, figure out exit strategies, worst and best case scenarios. There were dozens upon dozens of variables that I had to manage. And I did. But if I would have so much as suggested an idea, it would have been shot down instantly, not because it wasn’t good—”
“But because it would be coming from you.”
Is this what it felt like to be listened to? To be understood? In any normal circumstance Regina would never dream of admitting any of this to Emma, but now she had done, and Emma was taking the time to understand her point of view. It might have been forced upon them, but Regina didn’t hate it.
“So what you’re saying is if we let you take the lead from the start we could all be back home by now?” Regina allowed herself a little victorious smirk. “You really led armies?”
“I did. I was surprisingly good at it. So was your mother, but don’t ever tell her I said that.”
Emma grinned. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”
“You’re insufferable, Miss Swan.” Emma winked. Regina felt…something that made her shuffle and clear her throat. “Still no bullseye, though. Haven’t you noticed that it’s only the secrets that hurt that open the segments. I could tell you all about the affair I had but I doubt that would make a dent.”
Emma just rolled her eyes. “Yeah, the affair that led to you killing a man?”
Regina did a double take. There was no way Emma could know about any of that. The affair had been between her and Maleficent. It had been short, a place she could hide away from her life, and as far as she had known, they were the only two people who held this secret. As for the King’s death, well, that was another question.
“You can’t believe I’m that dense, right? At the time sure, but hindsight being 20/20 and all that.”
“Did you read something in Henry’s book?”
“The book, what? No. Graham literally collapsed in front of me. Heart attack was the official cause of death.”
Regina let her head fall against the wall. “I always think you’re that dense,” she said, because this was salvageable – she wanted to get back to Henry, but this might not be the best way to do it. “I just presumed you hadn’t heard all the sordid details.”
“You were talking about Graham?” Sometimes, Regina was reminded that Emma wasn’t always a complete idiot and was capable of intuition. “Regina?”
A long sigh followed. Emma wasn’t going to let this go. “I cheated on the King.” If you could call it that. Technically it was cheating, and Regina didn’t care that much for arguing over the semantics of that situation. “With Maleficent.”
The next piece in the puzzle turned white. Regina was almost willing to accept she had been wrong about the set-up of painful memories, if this one didn’t come with a dozen landmines all on its own.
“That was the last thing I ever expected you to say,” Emma said. “Like cheated, cheated?”
Two little pink circles had grown on Emma’s cheeks. Regina felt the corner of her lip push up. “Lots of sex, Miss Swan.” It was more than that, but the way Emma ducked her head would have had Regina howling with laugher in any other circumstance.
“Right, yeah, I got that. Still wasn’t expecting it, though.”
“Which part?”
“What am I supposed to say to that?”
“Anything that could make that magic circle light up white.”
“Right. Erm. The cheating part, the Maleficent part. Wasn’t she locked under the library as a dragon for like…you know what, don’t answer that. The fact this happened whilst you were married to the King. Who was, you know, technically my Grandfather.”
Regina tied to suppress her shiver. It did her good to separate Henry’s mother from that family tree.
“That you’re attracted to women,” Emma said, not quite a whisper, but not with her usual gusto either. Regina had wondered once or twice about Emma, only passing thoughts, but she couldn’t deny her curiosity was peaked.
“Does that bother you?”
“What? No! I’m have more questions about the dragon part.”
“She is also human, dear. And a woman?” Regina pressed. “Does that really matter?”
Emma’s head shook. “Did Snow ever find out?”
“Everyone would have found out if she had.”
“S’uppose.”
“Emma?”
“I just don’t want her to have any reason to disown me.”
“Emma.”
Regina was certain she’d used Emma’s name more in the last few hours than she had since the night they’d met. It worked though, and Regina found that she kind of enjoyed being the one to get through to Emma.
“When did you realise?” Regina asked, and the way Emma’s head whipped around, her eyes wide and caught, Regina knew that this could be the final push they needed. “Em-ma?” she said, staring down the woman who was acting like a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar.
Emma stood up, eyes on that plastic ball. Her arms shook by her sides as if preparing for a fight. “This kid is gunna owe me. Big time.” Regina stood too, second guessing this big reveal. Why was Emma so concerned? Regina had figured it out thanks to a fire breathing dragon.
“You,” she said. “I mean, I think I sort of knew for a while, deep down. But…you’re stunning.”
Regina blinked. Then she did it again. Another segment lit up white and for an entire ten seconds, Regina didn’t hate Peter Pan quite so much. Her heart pounded so hard she thought her chest was about to collapse. All she could do was stare. Emma Swan thought she was attractive. That couldn’t be right, could it?
Of course, Emma was that effortless kind of beautiful that infuriated Regina because that woman was the personification of infuriating. And because there would never be a universe where Regina could think about in Emma that way.
“Before I have to bury myself in a hole, should we—”
Emma’s placed her hand on the plastic ball, unable to meet Regina’s gaze. “Emma,” she said, not sure if she was being brave or incredibly stupid. Emma’s gaze lifted and the fear almost floored Regina. “Would you have ever admitted that if it wasn’t for where we are?”
“What do you think?”
Regina placed her hand on the plastic, and as the pixels returned, their eyes locked, and Regina wanted to reply that she thought she had gotten Emma all wrong.
The apartment door flew open, banging so hard the room wobbled. “Keep it down in there!” a woman yelled. Most likely a next-door neighbour. Emma, box tucked beneath her arm, just let out a little whoops before flicking on the light switch. With her foot she kicked the door shut. “Hey!” the woman yelled. Emma giggled.
It took this younger Emma about five steps between the doorway and the kitchen. She placed the box down on what could potentially be considered a dining room table. Regina wasn’t even sure if that room could be considered a kitchen. The entire apartment was compiled of multiple rooms blending into one. Regina grimaced.
The young Emma left the room once more, banging the door behind her. “Were you trying to make enemies?” Regina asked. “Is that what gets you out of bed in the morning?”
Emma laughed, “Only when it comes to you.”
Could that be considered…flirting? Or was that Emma just being herself? Before Regina could allow herself to second guess every interaction she’d had with this woman, Emma moved to the middle of the living space, spreading her arms out on either side.
“Welcome to my first apartment!”
“I doubt this would be big enough for a family of mice.”
Regina cringed, but the comment flew right over Emma’s head. “Do you know how long I’d wanted my own space? I was lucky to get this.”
Regina couldn’t see it, but she supposed she had grown up in luxury. The other Emma re-appeared, zooming in and out a few times with as many boxes. “Did you give up unpacking after four?” she asked, fascinated by this barley legal adult sat cross legged on the floor, nose in one of her boxes.
“You learn not to hang onto a lot when you keep moving round.”
Regina hummed, unsure if she had anything useful to add. Instead she kept track of this girl, the one placing her meager possessions into their new homes. She still had a baby face, would easily get asked for an ID at an R rated movie, but she moved with self-assurance. Regina admired that.
“You were in prison before this?” she asked.
Emma hummed. “Neil left me some money for when I got out. It was enough for a deposit and to cover me for a couple months whist I found a job.”
“He gave you money?”
“And the bug. Guess he felt bad for letting me take the fall.”
An alarm bell went off inside Regina’s head. “So he had a job?” she asked, because surely he couldn’t have given Emma stolen money. Emma shrugged. “How long had he been in this land before he met you?”
“I dunno Regina. It wasn’t exactly the hot topic of conversation.”
The young Emma walked back into their line of sight, holding a small, squared piece of paper. It was only when Emma had it dangling from her fingers, directly over the trash can, did Regina catch sight of the sonogram.
It was as if the scene had frozen. The Emma from now didn’t move, and the young Emma had closed her eyes. “Ten,” she whispered, “Nine.”
At the count of zero, Emma’s eyes flew open, but the sonogram remained in her hand. Emma released her arm, the back of her hand landing against her upper thigh.
“The reminders just hurt,” Emma whispered.
This girl wrapped the picture of her baby inside of a cream blanket. The blanket went into a cupboard and the doors were firmly shut.
“And it wasn’t like I had anything to offer him.”
“I know,” Regina said, because that girl barley looked old enough to boil an egg. She thought of Neil again and it made her blood boil. But as Regina’s focus shifted to Emma, the feeling simmered, because Emma was looking at her so softly that Regina thought she might melt.
The pixels returned before Regina could understand what exactly it was that she was feeling, but it wasn’t the cave that they landed in.
The castle was back, albeit a different one, but any wonder Emma had felt the last the time was absent. Emma peeped over the edge of the balcony, taking note of how far they were from the glittering dew on the perfectly cut blades of grass. “Please tell me someone doesn’t jump off this thing?” she asked. Her gaze went to the decorations then to the servants cleaning up.
Regina moved to her side. “Mother used magic to make sure everything was perfect, but insisted the servants take it all down. It took days, as I recall.”
“Must have been some celebration,” she said, but Regina only hummed, gaze resting on the ground below. For a moment, Emma wondered what it would be like to wrap her arms around Regina from behind, to press her chin against Regina’s shoulder.
The idea alone caused Emma’s stomach to tighten. These thoughts were new and uncomfortable, and they scared her senseless, because for every time one would appear, it made her want to act on it that much more. Now she had admitted out loud that she thought Regina was attractive, it made it that much worse.
The squeaking door pulled Emma from her thoughts. They both turned around as a younger version of Regina popped her head through the gap before tiptoeing outside. Slowly, and with great care, she pushed on the door until it clicked. This Regina’s eyes were red and puffy, she wore only a night dress, and her hair had been pulled back into what could only be described as a messy bun.
“How old were you?” Emma asked.
“I’d just turned eighteen.”
The young woman took a seat then pulled her knees towards her chest. There was so much that Emma had never known or even thought to ask about what Regina had experienced. Emma had wanted to know how Regina had turned into the Mayor Emma had first encountered, but between the battle over their son, and the reveal that she had been The Evil Queen, Emma hadn’t had much time to think it over, nor the courage to ask.
“What do you remember?”
In the time Emma waited for a response, the sky went from a deep orange to clear blue. There was hardly a cloud in the sky. The young Regina hadn’t moved off the balcony. “That I hated it here,” Regina finally said. “And to answer your earlier question, no one jumps. But I can’t say I wasn’t considering it.”
“Regina.” Emma tried to ignore the burning inside her chest. The story that had been told included a ruthless woman with no heart. Then there was this girl, alone and trembling. “Things were that bad?”
Regina forced up a smile. “Worse,” she said, and her smile wobbled.
The young Regina stood, coming to stand beside Emma. Her body pressed up against the stone wall and she would go from staring straight ahead to looking at the ground below. Emma didn’t allow herself to breathe because she didn’t know what she was supposed to do. Then this young girl placed her elbows on the wall, causing the short sleeves to scrunch up, revealing bruising at the tops of her arms.
The pixels appeared seconds later, leaving Emma just enough time to lay a hand on Regina’s and squeeze.
They returned and Emma wanted to punch a wall. “What did he do to you?” Emma asked, voice barley above a whisper. Really, she didn’t need to ask. The bruises on Regina’s arm told their own story, and so did their previous conversation. During her embarrassing confession, Emma hadn’t been able to connect the dots. Regina never denied killing the man whom she’d cheated on.
The ball turned white and began to descend into the ground. The floor returned to its normal colour. Then a little circle on the door flickered white. Regina laughed at the sight of it. “I don’t know if I can do this,” she said, and Emma didn’t want her to either, wanted to spill her guts so Regina wouldn’t have to, but this wasn’t how this worked.
“You’re really going to let that teenage asshole win?”
Regina gave her a look; one Emma wasn’t entirely sure she understood. It seemed like gratitude. They weren’t good at the feelings and comforting parts, but maybe they didn’t need to be. “Look, whatever you say will stay between us, okay? You told me to think of Henry, remember?”
Regina’s breath was shaky, and her arms wrapped around her waist. Perhaps she needed a hug, and Emma could almost imagine Regina fitting against her chest, head resting against Emma’s shoulder.
Slowly, Regina made her way towards the door then pressed her hand flat against the light. “That morning,” she said, “was day number two of my married life.”
Emma followed behind her, wanting to at least place a hand on her shoulder, to offer some form of comfort, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. “I had no idea,” she said, because she really hadn’t known. “No one told me this part of the story.”
Emma decided on leaning against the door a few inches away from Regina. Her expression was pained, but Emma had no idea how to make it go away. “And you spent the day alone?” she asked, because what she could do was to keep Regina talking until they made it out of here.
“He took Snow horse riding. I wasn’t invited. They were gone for three days.”
“And day one?” she dared to ask.
Regina spent some time staring down at the floor, before she said, “He wanted to spend our first day as newly weds in the bedroom.” Her gaze lifted then, revealing the gleam in her eyes. “I tried to do what mother had told me. Pretend that it didn’t hurt, take my mind to some other place, but after a while I just wanted it to end.”
If he wasn’t already dead Emma would have killed him herself. “Did anyone else know?” Emma asked.
Regina shrugged halfheartedly. “Most likely.”
“I’m so sorry, Regina,” she said, even if the words were not nearly enough. “And my mother, didn’t she—”
“Snow adored him, she never did understand that he didn’t treat everyone the way he treated her.”
“She doesn’t know, even now, does she?” Regina shook her head and Emma wondered why her mother had been shielded from that information. There would be things easily missed by a child, but Emma couldn’t believe that all Regina had endured had been buried. “So on the balcony, you thought about—”
“I didn’t just think about it,” Regina admitted. “It wasn’t that day, but all I wanted was to escape. Tinkerbell was there and stopped me from hitting the ground. I said that I’d fallen.”
“Jesus, Regina.”
“She tried to find me my soulmate, thinking it would fix everything. I was led to a tavern, where there was this man who was supposed to be my perfect match. But after I’d walked in, I didn’t feel any better. My mother had pushed me into a marriage that I never wanted. What would be the difference by letting destiny decide?”
Emma didn’t know how to answer that, perhaps it would be different or maybe it wouldn’t have been, “But at least you had the choice to walk away?” Regina was giving her that look again, the one that was soft and grateful, and Emma could feel the way her own expression shifted, the gentle smile that followed.
“I wanted to be in control, but I was trapped, and I think…” Regina swallowed thickly. “It became easier to blame a child then to accept that everyone who was supposed to love me had hurt me. If I’d let myself acknowledge anything other than the part your mother had played, I would have crumbled, Emma. What I became isn’t excusable, but I didn’t know how else to survive.”
The light switched to green, but even if they were about to reach their freedom, Emma finally found the courage to squeeze Regina’s arm. “None of that was your fault, okay? What everyone did to you. And you know what? If you ever wanted to talk once we’re back…”
There was that look again. The one that caused Emma’s insides to melt. “I might need something strong to drink.”
“Apple cider?” Emma suggested. “I heard there’s a great apple tree in town.”
Regina’s shoulders relaxed a little. “So long as no one takes a chainsaw to it,” she said, and Emma managed a smile. “Did you just have that thing in your back seat of your car?”
“It was a three hour round trip to the nearest hardware store.”
“I hate you.”
Emma simply smirked because there had been no bite, only affection. “I would argue against that, Madame Mayor.”
Regina straightened before pushing on the door. It opened, revealing a long corridor and a further obstacle. Emma stepped through first then Regina followed. “You’re the one to talk, Miss Swan. Though I must say, you do have excellent taste in women.”
Emma continued looking towards the next door. She had hoped Regina would simply brush over it. “You’re never going to let me live this down, are you?” she asked, because of course she wouldn’t ignore it. She would likely use it to torture Mary-Margaret.
“Oh, I wouldn’t dream of it.”
Emma could only roll her eyes. “Fantastic,” she said, stopping short when a light appeared in the distance.
It grew in brightness. Emma squinted and Regina raised her arm to shield her eyes. The intensity increased so much that Emma squeezed her eyes shut. When she opened them, it was gone, replaced instead with a field where there were rows of chairs filled with people who were watching Emma.
“Any second now,” David said. He linked his arm through Emma’s and smiled so wide that it caused crinkles in the corner of his eyes. “If you would have told me a few years ago this was how things would have worked out, I never would have believed it.”
Emma managed a hum. It almost sounded like an agreement. Giving the area another glance almost caused her to faint. They were stood at the end of the aisle. There were five people waiting at the other end. In the centre was Archie, off to one side Ruby and a blonde woman with a plait falling over her shoulder. On the other side was a red haired woman and then—
“Henry?”
“He looks handsome, doesn’t he?”
Emma was thinking that he looked much older than the twelve year old she was used to, but now David had mentioned it, that suit looked great on him. He was also glowing, his face radiating so much joy it made Emma want to weep.
He caught her gaze and gave her a thumbs up. There was nothing preventing the way she grinned back. “This is my wedding,” Emma said, and wings spread inside her stomach, the butterflies taking flight.
It had to be, right? That was the only explanation. She was even wearing a suit. David chuckled, seeming to think it was all some hilarious joke. The music began before Emma could second guess what was happening. Her feet moved on instinct.
At the altar, David kissed her cheek and Ruby took her flowers. Emma scanned the room to find her mother. She wasn’t anywhere. The butterflies died as dread filled her stomach. Until Emma glanced up. At the end of the aisle was her mother, and stood beside her with their arms linked together, was Regina.
They moved down the aisle with ease. Emma couldn’t take her eyes off them. Regina was looking at her like she’d discovered the universe. By the time they reached Emma she couldn’t breathe. Her mother squeezed her arm then Regina placed a gentle kiss against her cheek. “I love you,” she whispered.
Emma’s eyes fluttered closed, and she held onto the sound of Regina’s voice and the feel of her lips as she was brought back to the cave.
Regina forgot how to breathe. Her arm was wrapped around Snow’s whilst they stood at the end of the aisle. This had to be her wedding and stood waiting for her was Emma.
Her hands were clasped together in front of her stomach, she wore the biggest grin and would occasionally bounce on her toes. When Regina walked down the aisle, almost on instinct, Emma’s face softened. Then there was Henry, handsome, much older, stood beside a red haired woman she didn’t recognise.
The closer Regina got, the more the surroundings came into focus. The guests were looking at her adoringly, without an ounce of fear or hatred, some even shed a tear. “Don’t look so nervous,” Snow whispered. “You’re exactly where you’re supposed to be.”
Regina didn’t know how to respond to that, so she gave a little hum. By the time she reached Emma, her eyes were shining bright, and with practised ease, Emma took hold of her hand. “You’re beautiful,” she whispered, then her lips found Regina’s cheek, soft and gentle.
In the confusion, Regina hadn’t took much notice of her dress. Regina traced the intricate patterns and Emma laughed fondly. “We can still run for the hills,” she said. “I always thought it would be funny if the person objecting to the marriage was the ones getting married.”
“You just want to yell ‘I object,’” Regina deadpanned.
Emma tangled their fingers together. “I mean it, if this is too much, we don’t need rings and a piece of paper.”
“This is what I want,” Regina said, the response coming from somewhere deep down.
Archie cleared his throat and stepped forwards. He addressed the crowd, and Regina allowed herself to get swept away in the ceremony.
There were vows that Regina couldn’t recall. It seemed like a dream come true when Emma slid the ring along her finger. They each said I do and with his arms raised to the side and a grin as wide as a Cheshire cat’s, Archie said, “Brides, you may kiss,” and Regina’s heart pounded so hard she thought it might explode.
Emma’s soft lips pressed against her own and it quieted. Her eyes fluttered closed, the panic disappearing long enough for Regina to press down a little firmer. This kiss was, god, she wanted to melt into Emma’s arms and kiss her until she couldn’t breathe.
It was when they parted that the pixels returned, and Regina was reminded that none of this was real. She was back in the corridor, left staring at this Emma who looked a little sheepish. Regina cleared her throat and attempted to push those images away.
The final door had opened. There was nothing left for them to do. “After you,” Regina said, gesturing towards their freedom, but Emma didn’t move. There was a twinkle in her eyes that Regina failed to ignore. Perhaps Pan had shown them their deepest fantasies and Regina’s just so happened to be marrying Emma Swan.
Emma opened her mouth then closed it again. “Ready to get our son back?” she asked, then she pushed on the door and stepped out into the forest. Regina followed behind, unable to shake the feeling of Emma’s hands on her waist.
Into the distance, Emma said, “Henry looks good in a suit,” then she twisted her head over her shoulder to gauge Regina’s reaction.
“Almost as good as you,” she settled on, and a tentative smile spread on Emma’s face.