A Queen Without Power (Once Upon a Time; Regina/Emma)
TITLE: A Queen Without Power
CHAPTER 4: Ignorance is Bliss
FANDOM: Once Upon a Time
PAIRING: Swan Queen (Regina/Emma)
SPOILERS: Season one (in its entirety)
RATING: PG
SUMMARY: "I may have enacted that curse, but it was made by his hand."
*****
Emma had been quick to head for the mayor’s house after her brief run-in with her parents, but not before Snow invited her to a town meeting, in which they were going to decide what to do about Regina.
She had accepted the invitation tentatively, explaining that she might need to keep an eye on Henry; then, after receiving another round of grateful hugs from the prince and princess, she made haste for the car.
She filled Regina in on the way back and was almost glad she couldn’t discern her expression in feline form. She didn’t want to know if she was plotting a counter-attack or not.
When they pulled up at the front of the house, both women were alarmed to see Henry sitting on the front stoop, clutching the walkie-talkie. “There you are!” he exclaimed.
“Henry, what the hell are you doing out here? It’s not safe.” Emma grabbed his arm, leading him in with the cat following behind them.
Once the door closed, a puff of black smoke concealed the cat and soon Regina had materialized in its place, alarmed eyes turned to Henry. “You could’ve been hurt! What were you doing?” She seized his other arm.
Henry looked between the two of them, clearly recognizing he’d made an unwise decision. “I just... you guys turned off the walkie-talkie.”
Regina huffed and spun away, running her hands through her hair. Emma watched her for a moment before turning to her son. “Henry, I’m sorry we did that, but that does not make it okay for you to leave the house when we specifically told you not to.”
“I’ll try not to do it again,” he promised.
“No...” Regina spun back around, a bit of maternal severity in her eyes. “You won’t do it again. Do you understand?”
Henry scowled and Emma could tell he was fighting with every bit of himself not to remind Regina that she wasn’t his real mother. But, keeping their peace treaty in mind, he just huffed, grumbling, “Okay.”
“Thank you,” Emma told him softly, and she watched the boy look between the two of them, her eyes then settling on Regina.
Calm and composed now, Regina made her way to the kitchen. Emma glimpsed curiously at her son while he shrugged, both of them following her. It was there they watched her take out pots and pans from the cupboard, searching the pantry and overhead cabinets for something to make for lunch.
“Did you guys find anything?” Henry asked. “For Operation Python?”
“We went to the well,” Emma told him. “We think that’s where Gold--” she corrected herself, “Rumplestiltskin, whatever... released the magic.” A thought struck her, and she glanced up at Regina. “Why did you make me leave so fast?”
“I was concerned about Henry,” Regina replied calmly, though there was a hint of a quaver in her tone.
Emma made a mental note to ask about it later.
“Are you going to that meeting?” Regina asked, raising her brows.
“I suppose I should,” she sighed, shoving her hands in her pockets.
Henry made a face, arms crossed on the countertop while he sat on the barstool. “What meeting?”
“It’s nothing,” she told him, meeting Regina’s gaze. “I’ll just need to leave for a little while tonight. You’ll stay here with Regina.”
“What? You can’t do that! You can’t leave me here with her!”
She spotted a flash in the mayor’s eyes and wasn’t certain if it was anger or hurt.
Either way, Emma chided the boy. “Henry, knock it off. She’s taken care of you for the last ten years of your life. Whether you wanna believe it or not, that time was important to her.” She glanced at Regina. “Still is, probably.”
“Yes,” she murmured, head bowed while she worked on a sandwich, but the tone was enough to convince her.
“So you’re gonna stay here with Regina,” she confirmed with a definitive nod. “And I’m gonna go find out what’s going on.”
**
Not long after lunch, Henry went up to his room to read his comic books, thus affording Emma a little time to get as much information as she could from Regina.
She was out in the backyard when she found her, sipping at a glass of iced tea while she sat on a bench facing her apple tree. Or... what used to be her apple tree.
Emma couldn’t help but cringe at the sight of it now. The apples were rotten and the branches sagged, the bark now an ashen, dead color. “Is that--”
“A result of the curse breaking? Yes,” Regina answered.
For reasons unknown, Emma found herself apologizing. “I’m sorry.”
“Whatever for? You should be proud, Miss Swan. You’ve restored the natural order of things. You did what you came here to do.”
A bit of that familiar tension had inserted itself between them and Emma couldn’t help but get her hackles up. “This was the last thing I came here to do. I just wanted to make sure Henry was being taken care of.”
“Yes, so you’ve said.” Slowly, Regina stood, gently setting her glass down as she made her way toward the apple tree. There was still a missing branch and Emma remembered vividly the mixture of adrenaline and rage that had caused her to saw it off.
Regina reached up and picked an apple, her lip curling in distaste as she held it up in the palm of her hand, turning it this way and that to examine it.
Emma took a few steps toward her. “Believe me, if I could go back to being totally clueless about all this curse stuff, I would.”
“Mm,” she hummed shortly, tossing the apple aside. “Ignorance is bliss, I suppose.” Her lips quirked just a bit.
Emma found herself smirking. “Yeah, and I’d give anything to be ignorant right now.”
Surprisingly, Regina cracked a smirk. She pulled another apple down and tossed it aside, then did so with another three... seemingly purging the dying tree of its rotten fruit. “You know, when you first came here I thought you were going to take Henry from me,” she commented.
Emma fought a reply, somehow knowing Regina just needed to walk through some thought process.
“I was upset. Jealous, I suppose... and angry.” She sighed. “I had spent ten years of his life doting on him, caring for him, and then there you are -- his real mother -- not the charity case I always imagined you would be.”
Unsure if that was a compliment or insult, Emma just accepted the thinly-veiled comment as it was, choosing not to question further.
“Up strolled this put-together, beautiful young woman, who already had a bond with my son after just a couple hours, and... I lost all common sense.”
Emma dipped her head. “If I ever gave you the impression that I was going to take him away from you, I--”
Regina dismissed it with a shake of her head, pulling another rotten apple off the tree. “It doesn’t matter anymore, does it?”
“Guess not.” She studied the queen.
A long silence passed in which Regina studiously cleaned up the apples and Emma watched her, before she spoke. “Regina, that well... out in the woods...”
She received no verbal response though Regina’s spine stiffened, back turned as she cleaned up the apples.
“August... he told me once that it had magical properties.”
“It can return that which has been lost,” Regina murmured, flicking her bangs out of her eyes as she stood.
“Which means... what?”
Regina shook her head. “Anything. I-I don’t know. Like I said yesterday, magic is unpredictable here." As an afterthought, she added, "He knows.”
Emma nodded knowingly. “And my guess is, he won’t be willing to share that information.”
“Not as long as I’m alive, no. As long as I’m alive, there’s still a threat against his power. So any knowledge he has, he’s going to play it close to the vest.” Shaking her head, Regina huffed, planting her hands on her hips as she looked down at the pile of rotten apples. “But maybe I’m not even a threat to him.”
“What do you mean?”
She met her eyes, taking a few steps toward her. “Think about it. It all goes back to him. The curse - I got it from him. He created the loophole in it, he’s the one that made you the savior." She shook her head. "I may have enacted that curse, but it was made by his hand.”
“So then I think I need you to be honest with me here, Regina. Now that I’ve broken this curse and he’s got his magic back... now that he’s no longer behind bars, what are we up against?”
Regina’s forehead creased with worry. Her teeth bit down softly on her bottom lip and Emma watched the motion ever so briefly before meeting the mayor's eyes again.
“Honestly?” She shrugged. “I have no idea. But whatever it is, it’s not just coming for me."
Emma's stomach dropped. "It's not?"
Regina shook her head. "It's coming for us all."
TBC
{x-posted to onceupon_fanfic and regina_emma}
CHAPTER 4: Ignorance is Bliss
FANDOM: Once Upon a Time
PAIRING: Swan Queen (Regina/Emma)
SPOILERS: Season one (in its entirety)
RATING: PG
SUMMARY: "I may have enacted that curse, but it was made by his hand."
*****
Emma had been quick to head for the mayor’s house after her brief run-in with her parents, but not before Snow invited her to a town meeting, in which they were going to decide what to do about Regina.
She had accepted the invitation tentatively, explaining that she might need to keep an eye on Henry; then, after receiving another round of grateful hugs from the prince and princess, she made haste for the car.
She filled Regina in on the way back and was almost glad she couldn’t discern her expression in feline form. She didn’t want to know if she was plotting a counter-attack or not.
When they pulled up at the front of the house, both women were alarmed to see Henry sitting on the front stoop, clutching the walkie-talkie. “There you are!” he exclaimed.
“Henry, what the hell are you doing out here? It’s not safe.” Emma grabbed his arm, leading him in with the cat following behind them.
Once the door closed, a puff of black smoke concealed the cat and soon Regina had materialized in its place, alarmed eyes turned to Henry. “You could’ve been hurt! What were you doing?” She seized his other arm.
Henry looked between the two of them, clearly recognizing he’d made an unwise decision. “I just... you guys turned off the walkie-talkie.”
Regina huffed and spun away, running her hands through her hair. Emma watched her for a moment before turning to her son. “Henry, I’m sorry we did that, but that does not make it okay for you to leave the house when we specifically told you not to.”
“I’ll try not to do it again,” he promised.
“No...” Regina spun back around, a bit of maternal severity in her eyes. “You won’t do it again. Do you understand?”
Henry scowled and Emma could tell he was fighting with every bit of himself not to remind Regina that she wasn’t his real mother. But, keeping their peace treaty in mind, he just huffed, grumbling, “Okay.”
“Thank you,” Emma told him softly, and she watched the boy look between the two of them, her eyes then settling on Regina.
Calm and composed now, Regina made her way to the kitchen. Emma glimpsed curiously at her son while he shrugged, both of them following her. It was there they watched her take out pots and pans from the cupboard, searching the pantry and overhead cabinets for something to make for lunch.
“Did you guys find anything?” Henry asked. “For Operation Python?”
“We went to the well,” Emma told him. “We think that’s where Gold--” she corrected herself, “Rumplestiltskin, whatever... released the magic.” A thought struck her, and she glanced up at Regina. “Why did you make me leave so fast?”
“I was concerned about Henry,” Regina replied calmly, though there was a hint of a quaver in her tone.
Emma made a mental note to ask about it later.
“Are you going to that meeting?” Regina asked, raising her brows.
“I suppose I should,” she sighed, shoving her hands in her pockets.
Henry made a face, arms crossed on the countertop while he sat on the barstool. “What meeting?”
“It’s nothing,” she told him, meeting Regina’s gaze. “I’ll just need to leave for a little while tonight. You’ll stay here with Regina.”
“What? You can’t do that! You can’t leave me here with her!”
She spotted a flash in the mayor’s eyes and wasn’t certain if it was anger or hurt.
Either way, Emma chided the boy. “Henry, knock it off. She’s taken care of you for the last ten years of your life. Whether you wanna believe it or not, that time was important to her.” She glanced at Regina. “Still is, probably.”
“Yes,” she murmured, head bowed while she worked on a sandwich, but the tone was enough to convince her.
“So you’re gonna stay here with Regina,” she confirmed with a definitive nod. “And I’m gonna go find out what’s going on.”
**
Not long after lunch, Henry went up to his room to read his comic books, thus affording Emma a little time to get as much information as she could from Regina.
She was out in the backyard when she found her, sipping at a glass of iced tea while she sat on a bench facing her apple tree. Or... what used to be her apple tree.
Emma couldn’t help but cringe at the sight of it now. The apples were rotten and the branches sagged, the bark now an ashen, dead color. “Is that--”
“A result of the curse breaking? Yes,” Regina answered.
For reasons unknown, Emma found herself apologizing. “I’m sorry.”
“Whatever for? You should be proud, Miss Swan. You’ve restored the natural order of things. You did what you came here to do.”
A bit of that familiar tension had inserted itself between them and Emma couldn’t help but get her hackles up. “This was the last thing I came here to do. I just wanted to make sure Henry was being taken care of.”
“Yes, so you’ve said.” Slowly, Regina stood, gently setting her glass down as she made her way toward the apple tree. There was still a missing branch and Emma remembered vividly the mixture of adrenaline and rage that had caused her to saw it off.
Regina reached up and picked an apple, her lip curling in distaste as she held it up in the palm of her hand, turning it this way and that to examine it.
Emma took a few steps toward her. “Believe me, if I could go back to being totally clueless about all this curse stuff, I would.”
“Mm,” she hummed shortly, tossing the apple aside. “Ignorance is bliss, I suppose.” Her lips quirked just a bit.
Emma found herself smirking. “Yeah, and I’d give anything to be ignorant right now.”
Surprisingly, Regina cracked a smirk. She pulled another apple down and tossed it aside, then did so with another three... seemingly purging the dying tree of its rotten fruit. “You know, when you first came here I thought you were going to take Henry from me,” she commented.
Emma fought a reply, somehow knowing Regina just needed to walk through some thought process.
“I was upset. Jealous, I suppose... and angry.” She sighed. “I had spent ten years of his life doting on him, caring for him, and then there you are -- his real mother -- not the charity case I always imagined you would be.”
Unsure if that was a compliment or insult, Emma just accepted the thinly-veiled comment as it was, choosing not to question further.
“Up strolled this put-together, beautiful young woman, who already had a bond with my son after just a couple hours, and... I lost all common sense.”
Emma dipped her head. “If I ever gave you the impression that I was going to take him away from you, I--”
Regina dismissed it with a shake of her head, pulling another rotten apple off the tree. “It doesn’t matter anymore, does it?”
“Guess not.” She studied the queen.
A long silence passed in which Regina studiously cleaned up the apples and Emma watched her, before she spoke. “Regina, that well... out in the woods...”
She received no verbal response though Regina’s spine stiffened, back turned as she cleaned up the apples.
“August... he told me once that it had magical properties.”
“It can return that which has been lost,” Regina murmured, flicking her bangs out of her eyes as she stood.
“Which means... what?”
Regina shook her head. “Anything. I-I don’t know. Like I said yesterday, magic is unpredictable here." As an afterthought, she added, "He knows.”
Emma nodded knowingly. “And my guess is, he won’t be willing to share that information.”
“Not as long as I’m alive, no. As long as I’m alive, there’s still a threat against his power. So any knowledge he has, he’s going to play it close to the vest.” Shaking her head, Regina huffed, planting her hands on her hips as she looked down at the pile of rotten apples. “But maybe I’m not even a threat to him.”
“What do you mean?”
She met her eyes, taking a few steps toward her. “Think about it. It all goes back to him. The curse - I got it from him. He created the loophole in it, he’s the one that made you the savior." She shook her head. "I may have enacted that curse, but it was made by his hand.”
“So then I think I need you to be honest with me here, Regina. Now that I’ve broken this curse and he’s got his magic back... now that he’s no longer behind bars, what are we up against?”
Regina’s forehead creased with worry. Her teeth bit down softly on her bottom lip and Emma watched the motion ever so briefly before meeting the mayor's eyes again.
“Honestly?” She shrugged. “I have no idea. But whatever it is, it’s not just coming for me."
Emma's stomach dropped. "It's not?"
Regina shook her head. "It's coming for us all."
TBC
{x-posted to onceupon_fanfic and regina_emma}