OUAL Challenge: Cap Claim
Title: A Rose Remembered
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Belle/Regina
Word Count: 1800
Regina recognizes her immediately. It's been 28 years, and the last time she saw the lovesick fool was when she was locked away in her dungeon, but Regina barely needs to hear the thickly accented voice to know that Belle has found her way back to her true love.
Just thinking the phrase makes her cringe.
"Excuse me, I'm looking for a woman named Regina, could you help me?" Regina stiffens at the question, her back turned away from Belle as both women stand in the small pharmacy that sits in the middle of Storybrooke.
"Uh, why would you-" a sneeze, "wanna find her?"
"I'm not sure, exactly. I think she might be able to help me. Or, well, some version of me." Curiosity piqued, Regina picks up the bottle of asparin near her, and walks up to the counter.
Setting the item down with enough noise to gather both parties' attention, she gives Belle a too-big smile.
"Can I help you, dear?" Belle turns to her, blue eyes narrowed in confusion.
"Excuse me?" Regina slides her purchase toward Tom and Belle moves aside as she hands him the money. The three stand in near-silence as the transaction takes place, and Regina's mind races, trying to figure out how, exactly, it is that Belle is here, in Storybrooke, 28 years after she'd presumably left her behind in the Enchanted Forest.
Taking her bag, Regina turns to Belle. "My name is Regina Mills, I believe you've been looking for me?" Belle's eyes widen, and Regina looks her in the eye. Her reaction is interesting, but Regina can't pinpoint exactly what it means; does she have her original memories, or did entering this town erase her memories like the rest of the population?
"Oh! Well, yes," she smiles, her shoulders relax and she holds out her hand. Her mouth twitches into a smirk, and she grips Regina's hand warmly. "I'm so glad I've found you. By any chance could I speak with you for a moment?" Eyeing Tom, she adds in a lower voice, "In private?"
"I'm sorry, Miss..."
"French." Regina's smile widens, and she puts her hand on Belle's shoulder leading her towards the door.
"I'm sure I can spare a few minutes, Miss French."
***
As it turns out, her memories are as in-tact as the rest of the town. After their brief talk Regina has a better idea of what Belle (who believes her name to be Lacey) does and doesn't know.
Unfortunately, neither are sure how, exactly, it is that she made it from an entirely different world to Storybrooke. Nor does Belle seem to have any idea of family or friends that live outside of Storybrooke, or have any motivation to leave the town.
Which, of course, means that against Regina's protestations, she's been staying at the bed and breakfast for almost a week as she tries to figure out what to do.
What Regina does know, from Belle's too-frequent visits to her office, is that she ended up in the Storybrooke forest magically six days ago, she recognizes no one in the town, but had a vague sense that she needed to talk to Regina, and that she's nothing like her Enchanted Forest counterpart. Oh, and,
Regina's almost certain, she's been hitting on Regina at every turn.
At first it's a little grating; Regina needs to figure out what is happening and if her town is in jeapordy, and Belle, Lacey, and her constantly obvious advances are getting in the way. Except, at some point they become more flattering and less obnoxious.
After two weeks, Regina realizes that, more than stroking her ego, the comments and caresses and devouring looks are starting to do something more, starting to make her feel light and desirable and a myriad of things she hasn't felt in decades.
***
"I brought you something." Regina looks up from her desk, and Lacey is standing in front of her, looking more like the quiet girl that existed 28 years ago than she has in the three weeks she's been here.
"Oh?" Regina looks surprised for a moment, but soon her eyes fall to the form-fitting cocktail dress that Lacey wears fearlessly at 10 in the morning, and she smirks at the woman that's so fast become a staple in her day.
Lacey walks up to the desk separating them, and passes the chair that she usually takes and rounds the corner to stand beside Regina's chair. She's in Regina's space so quickly that she feels a jolt of fear run up her spine, terrified that this isn't Lacey, that Belle has returned, has suddenly remembered the Evil Queen that she was, the heart-crushing, leather-wearing soulless her that she had to become. She's terrified that Belle has come to lock her up as she'd done to her long ago.
Instead Lacey slides herself up onto Regina's desk, crossing one long, bare leg over the other before she pulls her hand from behind her back and thrusts her hand toward Regina as she bites her lip.
There, in her delicate fingers rests a single, thorny rose, deep red petals in full bloom. "A...rose?" Regina's voice is light, almost child-like as she looks up at Lacey in shock before taking the flower in her own hand and inhaling the earthy scent.
"I passed by Game of Thorns today, and just felt compelled to go inside. And when I saw it, I just," Lacey clears her throat, and shifts closer to Regina, her crossed leg brushing against the arm rest of Regina's chair. "I just thought that something's been happening between us, and I wouldn't be opposed to that something becoming something."
Lacey lays it all out and Regina's first instinct is to push back, to push away and send Lacey out into the world before she changes everything. But before she can do anything more than push her chair back an inch and stand, Lacey's captured her mouth with a swift kiss, lips pressing gently against Regina's.
It's sweet and soft and too much like Belle, not enough like Lacey, the safe regular woman of this world that Regina has grown to know. But then the pressure increases, Lacey's lips part and Regina's do, too, and suddenly this kiss is all them; teasing and hot and slick.
Of course, this is how their world ends.
***
Four long days after Belle breaks the curse with a too-right kiss that was every beginning and yet the worst kind of ending, and Regina sits alone in her house.
Henry has turned on her unsurprisingly, gone to be with the grandparents he never truly knew, revealed, of course, with a cryptic clue and smirk from the imp she should have killed long ago. She's lost her son to her deepest betrayer, free to mourn together over the mother and daughter they lost, sent to an unknown world all those years ago and never found again.
Belle, as she'd feared, returned to a man whose cruelness she'd never truly seen, and had shunned Regina in the same breath.
So, naturally, she's alone in her home when Rumplestiltskin finally comes for payback.
He's in her house without a sound, standing before her, and her reflexes are just delayed enough to let him get close, too close, and suddenly he's grabbing her wrist.
"Do you have any idea what you've cost me?!" His voice lowers dangerously and his eyes are black, bottomless, and the terror is familiar in its chill. Rumple is talking too fast, his words are bitten out and spewed and his cheeks are red with fury. He's more out of control than she's ever seen him, and that can only mean that he's realized why it was that Lacey stuck around for so long.
His grip on her wrist tightens, and there's something gold and glittering in his gloved hand. "There is something you can never escape, Regina," she can see the medallion now, can see the symbol engraved, and she recognizes but cannot place it.
"Rumple, no!" Belle is there, suddenly, her eyes are wide and she's out of breath like she ran here, and before Regina can process the way her heart still flutters at the sight of her, she's reaching out toward their joined hands.
But Rumple is already in motion, is bringing the medallion down and both he and Regina are terrified to hear Belle's shrill scream pierce the air.
She doesn't want to look down, doesn't want to see what her mind has finally sorted out; that the symbol seared into Belle's palm is the symbol of a wraith.
And she certainly doesn't want to accept the rising storm outside as what she knows it to signal.
***
It's been almost two days since the wraith has been released, and Regina has been pouring through the few books she and Rumple had brought over but has so far found nothing; the only way to stop a wraith is to let it consume the soul of its target.
A target that Regina has grown to care about, a fact that neither parties involved seems too thrilled about.
***
Finally, the answer comes to her. It's not pretty, and it hurts too, too much when she manages to get Henry alone long enough to say goodbye. But he seems happier with Snow than he has ever appeared to be with her (at least, in the last few years, that is), and if it weren't for the imminent danger presented to anyone in the wraith's path, she thinks she could suffer through life like this until she can win him back.
But there is a danger, to the person she loves most in the world, because Henry is too involved for his own good. And, on top of that, the only solution to save her son is to sacrifice a woman she thinks she may love.
It hurts too much, reminds her too much of Daniel, and so she takes the only option she sees left; to hit the reset button and return herself to a miserable life alone in the Enchanted Forest.
Henry will have been raised by a woman he doesn't fear, and Belle will go back to the lovesick girl that trails her captor. It hurts, so much, but she's out of time, and out of options.
The town is deserted as she leaves Henry with a distanced hug, and walks down the street to hit a button that she is certain will leave her lost. The scent of roses wafts on the windy air, and she stops in front of the flower shop, the bouquets locked safely behind the glass.
The fragrance of roses fills her mind and she gives a small smile, continuing on toward the end of the town.
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Belle/Regina
Word Count: 1800
Regina recognizes her immediately. It's been 28 years, and the last time she saw the lovesick fool was when she was locked away in her dungeon, but Regina barely needs to hear the thickly accented voice to know that Belle has found her way back to her true love.
Just thinking the phrase makes her cringe.
"Excuse me, I'm looking for a woman named Regina, could you help me?" Regina stiffens at the question, her back turned away from Belle as both women stand in the small pharmacy that sits in the middle of Storybrooke.
"Uh, why would you-" a sneeze, "wanna find her?"
"I'm not sure, exactly. I think she might be able to help me. Or, well, some version of me." Curiosity piqued, Regina picks up the bottle of asparin near her, and walks up to the counter.
Setting the item down with enough noise to gather both parties' attention, she gives Belle a too-big smile.
"Can I help you, dear?" Belle turns to her, blue eyes narrowed in confusion.
"Excuse me?" Regina slides her purchase toward Tom and Belle moves aside as she hands him the money. The three stand in near-silence as the transaction takes place, and Regina's mind races, trying to figure out how, exactly, it is that Belle is here, in Storybrooke, 28 years after she'd presumably left her behind in the Enchanted Forest.
Taking her bag, Regina turns to Belle. "My name is Regina Mills, I believe you've been looking for me?" Belle's eyes widen, and Regina looks her in the eye. Her reaction is interesting, but Regina can't pinpoint exactly what it means; does she have her original memories, or did entering this town erase her memories like the rest of the population?
"Oh! Well, yes," she smiles, her shoulders relax and she holds out her hand. Her mouth twitches into a smirk, and she grips Regina's hand warmly. "I'm so glad I've found you. By any chance could I speak with you for a moment?" Eyeing Tom, she adds in a lower voice, "In private?"
"I'm sorry, Miss..."
"French." Regina's smile widens, and she puts her hand on Belle's shoulder leading her towards the door.
"I'm sure I can spare a few minutes, Miss French."
***
As it turns out, her memories are as in-tact as the rest of the town. After their brief talk Regina has a better idea of what Belle (who believes her name to be Lacey) does and doesn't know.
Unfortunately, neither are sure how, exactly, it is that she made it from an entirely different world to Storybrooke. Nor does Belle seem to have any idea of family or friends that live outside of Storybrooke, or have any motivation to leave the town.
Which, of course, means that against Regina's protestations, she's been staying at the bed and breakfast for almost a week as she tries to figure out what to do.
What Regina does know, from Belle's too-frequent visits to her office, is that she ended up in the Storybrooke forest magically six days ago, she recognizes no one in the town, but had a vague sense that she needed to talk to Regina, and that she's nothing like her Enchanted Forest counterpart. Oh, and,
Regina's almost certain, she's been hitting on Regina at every turn.
At first it's a little grating; Regina needs to figure out what is happening and if her town is in jeapordy, and Belle, Lacey, and her constantly obvious advances are getting in the way. Except, at some point they become more flattering and less obnoxious.
After two weeks, Regina realizes that, more than stroking her ego, the comments and caresses and devouring looks are starting to do something more, starting to make her feel light and desirable and a myriad of things she hasn't felt in decades.
***
"I brought you something." Regina looks up from her desk, and Lacey is standing in front of her, looking more like the quiet girl that existed 28 years ago than she has in the three weeks she's been here.
"Oh?" Regina looks surprised for a moment, but soon her eyes fall to the form-fitting cocktail dress that Lacey wears fearlessly at 10 in the morning, and she smirks at the woman that's so fast become a staple in her day.
Lacey walks up to the desk separating them, and passes the chair that she usually takes and rounds the corner to stand beside Regina's chair. She's in Regina's space so quickly that she feels a jolt of fear run up her spine, terrified that this isn't Lacey, that Belle has returned, has suddenly remembered the Evil Queen that she was, the heart-crushing, leather-wearing soulless her that she had to become. She's terrified that Belle has come to lock her up as she'd done to her long ago.
Instead Lacey slides herself up onto Regina's desk, crossing one long, bare leg over the other before she pulls her hand from behind her back and thrusts her hand toward Regina as she bites her lip.
There, in her delicate fingers rests a single, thorny rose, deep red petals in full bloom. "A...rose?" Regina's voice is light, almost child-like as she looks up at Lacey in shock before taking the flower in her own hand and inhaling the earthy scent.
"I passed by Game of Thorns today, and just felt compelled to go inside. And when I saw it, I just," Lacey clears her throat, and shifts closer to Regina, her crossed leg brushing against the arm rest of Regina's chair. "I just thought that something's been happening between us, and I wouldn't be opposed to that something becoming something."
Lacey lays it all out and Regina's first instinct is to push back, to push away and send Lacey out into the world before she changes everything. But before she can do anything more than push her chair back an inch and stand, Lacey's captured her mouth with a swift kiss, lips pressing gently against Regina's.
It's sweet and soft and too much like Belle, not enough like Lacey, the safe regular woman of this world that Regina has grown to know. But then the pressure increases, Lacey's lips part and Regina's do, too, and suddenly this kiss is all them; teasing and hot and slick.
Of course, this is how their world ends.
***
Four long days after Belle breaks the curse with a too-right kiss that was every beginning and yet the worst kind of ending, and Regina sits alone in her house.
Henry has turned on her unsurprisingly, gone to be with the grandparents he never truly knew, revealed, of course, with a cryptic clue and smirk from the imp she should have killed long ago. She's lost her son to her deepest betrayer, free to mourn together over the mother and daughter they lost, sent to an unknown world all those years ago and never found again.
Belle, as she'd feared, returned to a man whose cruelness she'd never truly seen, and had shunned Regina in the same breath.
So, naturally, she's alone in her home when Rumplestiltskin finally comes for payback.
He's in her house without a sound, standing before her, and her reflexes are just delayed enough to let him get close, too close, and suddenly he's grabbing her wrist.
"Do you have any idea what you've cost me?!" His voice lowers dangerously and his eyes are black, bottomless, and the terror is familiar in its chill. Rumple is talking too fast, his words are bitten out and spewed and his cheeks are red with fury. He's more out of control than she's ever seen him, and that can only mean that he's realized why it was that Lacey stuck around for so long.
His grip on her wrist tightens, and there's something gold and glittering in his gloved hand. "There is something you can never escape, Regina," she can see the medallion now, can see the symbol engraved, and she recognizes but cannot place it.
"Rumple, no!" Belle is there, suddenly, her eyes are wide and she's out of breath like she ran here, and before Regina can process the way her heart still flutters at the sight of her, she's reaching out toward their joined hands.
But Rumple is already in motion, is bringing the medallion down and both he and Regina are terrified to hear Belle's shrill scream pierce the air.
She doesn't want to look down, doesn't want to see what her mind has finally sorted out; that the symbol seared into Belle's palm is the symbol of a wraith.
And she certainly doesn't want to accept the rising storm outside as what she knows it to signal.
***
It's been almost two days since the wraith has been released, and Regina has been pouring through the few books she and Rumple had brought over but has so far found nothing; the only way to stop a wraith is to let it consume the soul of its target.
A target that Regina has grown to care about, a fact that neither parties involved seems too thrilled about.
***
Finally, the answer comes to her. It's not pretty, and it hurts too, too much when she manages to get Henry alone long enough to say goodbye. But he seems happier with Snow than he has ever appeared to be with her (at least, in the last few years, that is), and if it weren't for the imminent danger presented to anyone in the wraith's path, she thinks she could suffer through life like this until she can win him back.
But there is a danger, to the person she loves most in the world, because Henry is too involved for his own good. And, on top of that, the only solution to save her son is to sacrifice a woman she thinks she may love.
It hurts too much, reminds her too much of Daniel, and so she takes the only option she sees left; to hit the reset button and return herself to a miserable life alone in the Enchanted Forest.
Henry will have been raised by a woman he doesn't fear, and Belle will go back to the lovesick girl that trails her captor. It hurts, so much, but she's out of time, and out of options.
The town is deserted as she leaves Henry with a distanced hug, and walks down the street to hit a button that she is certain will leave her lost. The scent of roses wafts on the windy air, and she stops in front of the flower shop, the bouquets locked safely behind the glass.
The fragrance of roses fills her mind and she gives a small smile, continuing on toward the end of the town.