A Queen Without Power (Once Upon a Time; Regina/Emma)
TITLE: A Queen Without Power
CHAPTER 14: United
FANDOM: Once Upon a Time
PAIRING: Swan Queen (Regina/Emma)
SPOILERS: Season one (in its entirety)
RATING: PG
SUMMARY: Emma knew that later she would tell herself it was the wine.
*****
The prince and princess were seated stiffly at the dining room table, Snow White’s face set in a scowl while James looked anxious. Across from them sat Henry, smiling up at Regina and Emma, his feet swinging under the table.
Emma felt the tension in the room as thick and cloying as stepping through cobwebs. At her side stood Regina, and she swore she was hallucinating that she could feel Regina’s pulse racing in the movement of her own blood.
“Well,” she finally broke the silence, looking to her parents. “Thank you for coming inside to... attempt to resolve this.”
James looked over at Snow, who folded her arms across her chest and looked down at the surface of the table. It was neither a bad sign nor was it good, and Emma chose to push forward as if she’d received a verbal response, taking a seat at the table.
“Obviously I’m sure you guys have a lot of questions...”
Snow White slowly lifted her head, eyes glinting with disapproval as she asked, “Where did you get magic?”
“From me,” Regina spoke up, gathering the attention of the princess.
Emma watched as Snow pressed her palms into the table, as if to push herself up for a confrontation. Before she could, James clamped a hand around her wrist, stopping her. When she looked to him, he gave a barely-noticeable shake of the head and she sat back again.
Henry glanced at Emma, making a face. “Do I have to go upstairs again?”
Keeping her eyes trained on her mother, Emma shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. Because everybody is going to be civil.” She raised her eyebrows at the feisty brunette across the table. “Right?”
James nodded immediately and answered, “Right.”
She threw a glance at Regina, whose arms were folded across herself as she nodded and murmured, “Right.”
Snow was the last one, all eyes on her before she finally huffed and relented. “Fine.”
“Thank you.” Then, she tilted her head. “Now, to get back to your question... as Regina said, she was the one that gave me the ability to use magic.”
“Why?”
“In order to protect Henry.”
“What about your bubble?” Snow narrowed her eyes at the former queen.
Regina made her way to the table, releasing her elbows from the grip of her hands as she sat down beside Emma, explaining on a sigh, “It can be breached. By one person.”
Emma nodded, looking to her mother and adding, “The one person we were trying to keep out at all costs.”
James furrowed his brow. “Who?”
“Rumplestiltskin.”
That made them pause. Emma watched as they glimpsed sidelong at each other.
Before either one of them could say anything, Regina leaned on the table slightly, lowering her voice. “Whether you choose to believe it or not, Snow, Rumplestiltskin is the only threat here.”
“Really.” Skepticism laid heavy in the princess’ voice, and she leaned back in her chair, arms across her chest once more.
“Yes.”
Emma just watched the interplay, again exchanging a glance with her father, each silently wondering if another intervention would be needed shortly.
“So you’re just...” She made a face, waving one hand flippantly before tucking it under her elbow once more, “You’re just done with your crimes of vengeance, then. You’re done trying to get even with me for the unforgivable act I committed when I was too young to know any better. You’re done with all of that and you’re fighting the ‘good fight’ now, is that what you’re telling me?”
Emma looked over at the queen, studied her as she seemed to hesitate. She could practically see the wheels turning in Regina’s mind, those last threads of anger still desperately trying to keep her down.
She dipped her head slightly, calling to her cautiously, “Regina...?”
Then, she seemed to come back to herself. She looked up at the princess, blinking herself back to composure. Then, she replied stoically, but definitively, “Yes.”
And while James and Emma looked relieved at hearing her answer, Snow White’s brows just furrowed all the more deeply as she shook her head. “Why would you do that?”
“Henry,” she answered simply. “I love him more than anything and would do whatever it takes to protect him.”
Emma felt Henry glance over at her sharply, and she said nothing though she quirked an eyebrow at him as if to say, “See?”
Henry ducked his head and Emma glanced at her parents once more, noting James’ nod. “Well that’s noble of you, Regina,” he said, and Emma had to wonder just why he was so ready to forgive this woman that had done everything in her power to vanquish their happiness.
Snow White seemed to share her confusion as she threw a sharp look at her husband. “Charming, what are you talking about? It’s not noble! It’s a convenient excuse.” She glared at Regina. “A leopard can’t change her spots.”
Regina sat back in her chair, bristling and narrowing her eyes. Emma felt the tension whip through her and she immediately had her hackles up, the need to preserve the goodness starting to make its way out suddenly overwhelming. To her mother, she said, “She can if it’s her only means of survival.”
“And if she doesn’t care about surviving?”
Regina’s right hand slapped down onto the table, gathering the attention of everyone else in the dining room. Emma looked over to find her eyes closed and head bowed while she struggled for composure. After a moment, she looked up, her brown eyes heavy with repressed adrenaline.
“Can we please stop referring to me in mixed metaphors? I am not a leopard,” she looked to Snow White, “and while I no longer care much about my own survival, Henry’s is of the utmost importance.” Her voice lowered, tone grave as she told her former stepdaughter, “A war is brewing, Snow. Surely you feel it as much as we do,” she threw a glance at Emma, “and the only way of persevering will be through uniting the kingdom.”
Emma swallowed hard as she watched the exchange, her mind still stuck on Regina’s earlier comment: ‘I no longer care much about my own survival.’ It made her heart pound and sink all in the same split-second. If there was ever a doubt in her mind, it was gone now: Regina had no ambition to survive whatever was coming, and she was ready to die.
James lowered his head slightly, capturing the former queen’s gaze. “And you, Regina, are willing to put aside all differences in order to accomplish that union? No tricks?”
Regina nodded slowly. “No tricks.”
“Good. And Snow?” James prompted, raising a brow. “Can you also abide by those terms?”
Emma glanced at her mother, who had been studying Regina intensely through this entire exchange. Her brows were knit in confusion and skepticism, and it was clear those last threads of doubt over Regina’s change of heart still clung to her.
“Yes,” she replied lowly, after a long moment.
Emma let out the breath she’d been holding, a smile edging past, while James sat back in satisfaction. “Wonderful!” he exclaimed.
She glanced over at Regina, mouthing a “Thank you” at her and Regina nodded back. After a moment, Regina’s eyes drifted downward and Emma’s followed, her heart bumping into her throat when she saw their hands, clasped together between their chairs. Uncertain just how long they’d been sitting like that, she wiggled her fingers, starting to slide them away.
But her heart jumped once more when Regina held tight, lacing their fingers together tightly. Emma met her eyes once more and Regina gave her a smile. The silent exchange went unnoticed by the other three in the room, for which Emma was grateful, while they settled in to discuss specifics.
*****
Once a plan had been formulated, it was well past sundown. The prince and princess had stayed for both lunch and dinner by the time they had covered enough ground to call it a night. As a first step, it was decided that Emma and Regina would return to the library, with James’ accompaniment, to retrieve his sword from underground.
Then, Regina would spend the next day at the house with Henry while Emma and her parents sought out Rumplestiltskin, all three feigning a desire to find and kill the ‘evil queen’ once and for all. So Snow and James took their leave and returned to their loft, while Regina headed out back and Emma put Henry to bed.
“So you really think she’s changed, huh?” he asked, pulling at his sheet and blanket.
Emma took a seat on the edge of his bed, one brow quirked. “What, after today you’re still not convinced?”
“I dunno,” he shrugged. “I kinda agree with Snow White - it’s pretty convenient.”
She sighed. “Kid, I don’t know what it’s gonna take to show you that Regina really does love you. You should hear the way she talks about you when you’re not around.”
“But she is the evil queen. And you saw what she did when she was the mayor. She’s pretty good at fooling people.”
“Yeah, well,” Emma tilted her head, “this time, I think she’s being honest.”
“I still don’t trust her.”
“Do you trust me?”
Henry nodded. “Yeah, of course.”
She smiled. “Good. So then I want you to trust me when I say, the evil queen might not be so evil anymore.”
She paused when she heard music start to drift up from downstairs. Regina was clearly in another somber mood out on the swing.
Henry turned on his side, nestling into his pillow. “You should go sit with her.”
Emma studied the back of her son’s head, wondering just how perceptive and intuitive he was, before she nodded and murmured, “Yeah, I think I will. I’ll see how she’s doing with all of this.”
They said their goodnights then and she turned out the light, leaving Henry’s door open just a crack before she ventured downstairs.
Just like the last time, a record spun lazily on the turntable near the back door, soft guitar melodies flowing out.
You’ve had a hard time living with a hard heart
She pushed on the screen door, the soft creak alerting Regina of her presence. A full wine glass was extended to her before she even reached the swing.
You hardly feel a thing, and you don’t know where to start
Emma accepted the glass with a smile, watching as Regina made room for her this time and slid over. She took a seat and sent them rocking, while the Merlot flowed over her tastebuds. “You okay?”
The singer on tonight’s record lamented about wanting something and running away from it, but being unable to change a thing. Regina seemingly had a knack for choosing songs with rather applicable lyrics.
“I think so,” she murmured after a moment, holding her wine glass to her chest as she looked out at the apple tree. “For all intents and purposes I shouldn’t be. I should be grappling for another way out, another curse, but... I’m not.” She looked over at her, her dark eyes large with confusion and concern. “Is that a bad thing?”
Emma almost chuckled at the look on her face -- so worried at the lack of evil intent -- and shook her head, taking another sip of her wine. “It’s a good thing,” she told her as she covered her hand with her own, an echo of their earlier conversation in the master bathroom. “It’s definitely a good thing.”
Regina nodded, swallowing hard, and squeezed her hand before letting it go. Emma watched the motion as their hands separated... though not completely. The rested on the bench swing, pinky fingers lightly touching. After a few seconds passed, Regina’s twined itself around Emma’s.
Emma flicked her eyes up to her counterpart’s, who had been looking out at the apple tree again. “What?” she murmured, meeting her eyes.
Emma said nothing, just threw a glance down at their pinkies laced together. She heard Regina draw in a breath before she drew her hand back into her lap.
“Things are changing,” Regina murmured, taking another gulp of wine.
Emma followed her lead, practically draining the rest of her glass. “Yeah, they are.”
“I don’t understand what’s happening here,” the former queen confessed, and they met eyes once again.
She tried to interpret the comment -- did Regina mean she didn’t understand what was happening in Storybrooke, with this tentative ‘union’ struck between the prince and princess, or at the shifting paradigm between the two of them? Ultimately, it didn’t matter, she realized. She felt equal confusion about all those same things. So she swallowed her nerves and told Regina, “Good.”
Off her confused look, she smiled. “When all of this started, you were always a few steps ahead of me. I gotta say, it’s kinda nice to be on the same wavelength.”
“It is, isn’t it?” Regina glanced down into her now-empty wine glass, setting it aside. “Though I must say, I don’t know how long I can keep up.”
Emma watched as she tucked a slice of dark hair behind one ear, her eyes then drifting toward Regina’s lips. Once again she found herself almost hypnotized, her heart thudding in her chest. “I’ll help you,” she replied, surprised that her voice emerged nary louder than a whisper. “I want you to keep up.”
Regina held her gaze. “Why?”
Emma knew that later she would tell herself it was the wine. It was the stress of the day, coupled with the added adrenaline of having magical ability. But for now, all she knew was the overwhelming need that made her lean into Regina and capture her lips in a kiss.
TBC
{x-posted to onceupon_fanfic and regina_emma}
CHAPTER 14: United
FANDOM: Once Upon a Time
PAIRING: Swan Queen (Regina/Emma)
SPOILERS: Season one (in its entirety)
RATING: PG
SUMMARY: Emma knew that later she would tell herself it was the wine.
*****
The prince and princess were seated stiffly at the dining room table, Snow White’s face set in a scowl while James looked anxious. Across from them sat Henry, smiling up at Regina and Emma, his feet swinging under the table.
Emma felt the tension in the room as thick and cloying as stepping through cobwebs. At her side stood Regina, and she swore she was hallucinating that she could feel Regina’s pulse racing in the movement of her own blood.
“Well,” she finally broke the silence, looking to her parents. “Thank you for coming inside to... attempt to resolve this.”
James looked over at Snow, who folded her arms across her chest and looked down at the surface of the table. It was neither a bad sign nor was it good, and Emma chose to push forward as if she’d received a verbal response, taking a seat at the table.
“Obviously I’m sure you guys have a lot of questions...”
Snow White slowly lifted her head, eyes glinting with disapproval as she asked, “Where did you get magic?”
“From me,” Regina spoke up, gathering the attention of the princess.
Emma watched as Snow pressed her palms into the table, as if to push herself up for a confrontation. Before she could, James clamped a hand around her wrist, stopping her. When she looked to him, he gave a barely-noticeable shake of the head and she sat back again.
Henry glanced at Emma, making a face. “Do I have to go upstairs again?”
Keeping her eyes trained on her mother, Emma shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. Because everybody is going to be civil.” She raised her eyebrows at the feisty brunette across the table. “Right?”
James nodded immediately and answered, “Right.”
She threw a glance at Regina, whose arms were folded across herself as she nodded and murmured, “Right.”
Snow was the last one, all eyes on her before she finally huffed and relented. “Fine.”
“Thank you.” Then, she tilted her head. “Now, to get back to your question... as Regina said, she was the one that gave me the ability to use magic.”
“Why?”
“In order to protect Henry.”
“What about your bubble?” Snow narrowed her eyes at the former queen.
Regina made her way to the table, releasing her elbows from the grip of her hands as she sat down beside Emma, explaining on a sigh, “It can be breached. By one person.”
Emma nodded, looking to her mother and adding, “The one person we were trying to keep out at all costs.”
James furrowed his brow. “Who?”
“Rumplestiltskin.”
That made them pause. Emma watched as they glimpsed sidelong at each other.
Before either one of them could say anything, Regina leaned on the table slightly, lowering her voice. “Whether you choose to believe it or not, Snow, Rumplestiltskin is the only threat here.”
“Really.” Skepticism laid heavy in the princess’ voice, and she leaned back in her chair, arms across her chest once more.
“Yes.”
Emma just watched the interplay, again exchanging a glance with her father, each silently wondering if another intervention would be needed shortly.
“So you’re just...” She made a face, waving one hand flippantly before tucking it under her elbow once more, “You’re just done with your crimes of vengeance, then. You’re done trying to get even with me for the unforgivable act I committed when I was too young to know any better. You’re done with all of that and you’re fighting the ‘good fight’ now, is that what you’re telling me?”
Emma looked over at the queen, studied her as she seemed to hesitate. She could practically see the wheels turning in Regina’s mind, those last threads of anger still desperately trying to keep her down.
She dipped her head slightly, calling to her cautiously, “Regina...?”
Then, she seemed to come back to herself. She looked up at the princess, blinking herself back to composure. Then, she replied stoically, but definitively, “Yes.”
And while James and Emma looked relieved at hearing her answer, Snow White’s brows just furrowed all the more deeply as she shook her head. “Why would you do that?”
“Henry,” she answered simply. “I love him more than anything and would do whatever it takes to protect him.”
Emma felt Henry glance over at her sharply, and she said nothing though she quirked an eyebrow at him as if to say, “See?”
Henry ducked his head and Emma glanced at her parents once more, noting James’ nod. “Well that’s noble of you, Regina,” he said, and Emma had to wonder just why he was so ready to forgive this woman that had done everything in her power to vanquish their happiness.
Snow White seemed to share her confusion as she threw a sharp look at her husband. “Charming, what are you talking about? It’s not noble! It’s a convenient excuse.” She glared at Regina. “A leopard can’t change her spots.”
Regina sat back in her chair, bristling and narrowing her eyes. Emma felt the tension whip through her and she immediately had her hackles up, the need to preserve the goodness starting to make its way out suddenly overwhelming. To her mother, she said, “She can if it’s her only means of survival.”
“And if she doesn’t care about surviving?”
Regina’s right hand slapped down onto the table, gathering the attention of everyone else in the dining room. Emma looked over to find her eyes closed and head bowed while she struggled for composure. After a moment, she looked up, her brown eyes heavy with repressed adrenaline.
“Can we please stop referring to me in mixed metaphors? I am not a leopard,” she looked to Snow White, “and while I no longer care much about my own survival, Henry’s is of the utmost importance.” Her voice lowered, tone grave as she told her former stepdaughter, “A war is brewing, Snow. Surely you feel it as much as we do,” she threw a glance at Emma, “and the only way of persevering will be through uniting the kingdom.”
Emma swallowed hard as she watched the exchange, her mind still stuck on Regina’s earlier comment: ‘I no longer care much about my own survival.’ It made her heart pound and sink all in the same split-second. If there was ever a doubt in her mind, it was gone now: Regina had no ambition to survive whatever was coming, and she was ready to die.
James lowered his head slightly, capturing the former queen’s gaze. “And you, Regina, are willing to put aside all differences in order to accomplish that union? No tricks?”
Regina nodded slowly. “No tricks.”
“Good. And Snow?” James prompted, raising a brow. “Can you also abide by those terms?”
Emma glanced at her mother, who had been studying Regina intensely through this entire exchange. Her brows were knit in confusion and skepticism, and it was clear those last threads of doubt over Regina’s change of heart still clung to her.
“Yes,” she replied lowly, after a long moment.
Emma let out the breath she’d been holding, a smile edging past, while James sat back in satisfaction. “Wonderful!” he exclaimed.
She glanced over at Regina, mouthing a “Thank you” at her and Regina nodded back. After a moment, Regina’s eyes drifted downward and Emma’s followed, her heart bumping into her throat when she saw their hands, clasped together between their chairs. Uncertain just how long they’d been sitting like that, she wiggled her fingers, starting to slide them away.
But her heart jumped once more when Regina held tight, lacing their fingers together tightly. Emma met her eyes once more and Regina gave her a smile. The silent exchange went unnoticed by the other three in the room, for which Emma was grateful, while they settled in to discuss specifics.
*****
Once a plan had been formulated, it was well past sundown. The prince and princess had stayed for both lunch and dinner by the time they had covered enough ground to call it a night. As a first step, it was decided that Emma and Regina would return to the library, with James’ accompaniment, to retrieve his sword from underground.
Then, Regina would spend the next day at the house with Henry while Emma and her parents sought out Rumplestiltskin, all three feigning a desire to find and kill the ‘evil queen’ once and for all. So Snow and James took their leave and returned to their loft, while Regina headed out back and Emma put Henry to bed.
“So you really think she’s changed, huh?” he asked, pulling at his sheet and blanket.
Emma took a seat on the edge of his bed, one brow quirked. “What, after today you’re still not convinced?”
“I dunno,” he shrugged. “I kinda agree with Snow White - it’s pretty convenient.”
She sighed. “Kid, I don’t know what it’s gonna take to show you that Regina really does love you. You should hear the way she talks about you when you’re not around.”
“But she is the evil queen. And you saw what she did when she was the mayor. She’s pretty good at fooling people.”
“Yeah, well,” Emma tilted her head, “this time, I think she’s being honest.”
“I still don’t trust her.”
“Do you trust me?”
Henry nodded. “Yeah, of course.”
She smiled. “Good. So then I want you to trust me when I say, the evil queen might not be so evil anymore.”
She paused when she heard music start to drift up from downstairs. Regina was clearly in another somber mood out on the swing.
Henry turned on his side, nestling into his pillow. “You should go sit with her.”
Emma studied the back of her son’s head, wondering just how perceptive and intuitive he was, before she nodded and murmured, “Yeah, I think I will. I’ll see how she’s doing with all of this.”
They said their goodnights then and she turned out the light, leaving Henry’s door open just a crack before she ventured downstairs.
Just like the last time, a record spun lazily on the turntable near the back door, soft guitar melodies flowing out.
You’ve had a hard time living with a hard heart
She pushed on the screen door, the soft creak alerting Regina of her presence. A full wine glass was extended to her before she even reached the swing.
You hardly feel a thing, and you don’t know where to start
Emma accepted the glass with a smile, watching as Regina made room for her this time and slid over. She took a seat and sent them rocking, while the Merlot flowed over her tastebuds. “You okay?”
The singer on tonight’s record lamented about wanting something and running away from it, but being unable to change a thing. Regina seemingly had a knack for choosing songs with rather applicable lyrics.
“I think so,” she murmured after a moment, holding her wine glass to her chest as she looked out at the apple tree. “For all intents and purposes I shouldn’t be. I should be grappling for another way out, another curse, but... I’m not.” She looked over at her, her dark eyes large with confusion and concern. “Is that a bad thing?”
Emma almost chuckled at the look on her face -- so worried at the lack of evil intent -- and shook her head, taking another sip of her wine. “It’s a good thing,” she told her as she covered her hand with her own, an echo of their earlier conversation in the master bathroom. “It’s definitely a good thing.”
Regina nodded, swallowing hard, and squeezed her hand before letting it go. Emma watched the motion as their hands separated... though not completely. The rested on the bench swing, pinky fingers lightly touching. After a few seconds passed, Regina’s twined itself around Emma’s.
Emma flicked her eyes up to her counterpart’s, who had been looking out at the apple tree again. “What?” she murmured, meeting her eyes.
Emma said nothing, just threw a glance down at their pinkies laced together. She heard Regina draw in a breath before she drew her hand back into her lap.
“Things are changing,” Regina murmured, taking another gulp of wine.
Emma followed her lead, practically draining the rest of her glass. “Yeah, they are.”
“I don’t understand what’s happening here,” the former queen confessed, and they met eyes once again.
She tried to interpret the comment -- did Regina mean she didn’t understand what was happening in Storybrooke, with this tentative ‘union’ struck between the prince and princess, or at the shifting paradigm between the two of them? Ultimately, it didn’t matter, she realized. She felt equal confusion about all those same things. So she swallowed her nerves and told Regina, “Good.”
Off her confused look, she smiled. “When all of this started, you were always a few steps ahead of me. I gotta say, it’s kinda nice to be on the same wavelength.”
“It is, isn’t it?” Regina glanced down into her now-empty wine glass, setting it aside. “Though I must say, I don’t know how long I can keep up.”
Emma watched as she tucked a slice of dark hair behind one ear, her eyes then drifting toward Regina’s lips. Once again she found herself almost hypnotized, her heart thudding in her chest. “I’ll help you,” she replied, surprised that her voice emerged nary louder than a whisper. “I want you to keep up.”
Regina held her gaze. “Why?”
Emma knew that later she would tell herself it was the wine. It was the stress of the day, coupled with the added adrenaline of having magical ability. But for now, all she knew was the overwhelming need that made her lean into Regina and capture her lips in a kiss.
TBC
{x-posted to onceupon_fanfic and regina_emma}