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The Hurt Behind Her Anger
By Ros Sawyer
Regina had hated hurting Maleficent, yes, she had hated it, a lot, but she had to do it. She had been surprised by the half-sob in Maleficent's voice when she spoke, hating that she could still feel so hopelessly desperate for her oldest and only friend. She had released the woman as she left, not saying a word. She had known that Maleficent would never forgive her and as it was she had lost her only friend in the world.
She had been so determined to see Snow pay and yet now she found herself asking if the hole in her heart was going to be worth it at all. She had finished the curse well enough but now, alone in her home in Storybrooke she wondered if Maleficent had been right, was she making a huge mistake?
She had been to see Henry's birth mother again. The memory of the woman's kiss still remained in her memory and yet she didn't know if she dared hope for more. Henry seemed sure this girl, woman, whatever she was… and she seemed, somehow, different from most people here, was the one person who could undo the curse.
She had hated the woman at first and tried to chase the woman away, the kiss had, supposedly, been a one off, something Emma did to keep Henry happy and to get him to go home and stay with Regina. Now Regina found herself hating how drawn she was to the woman.
Emma had been silent as they stood glaring at each other under the apple tree, the one last remainder of a long-lasting friendship. She had done all she could to chase Emma away and yet the girl, woman, kept coming back for more. Regina didn't know why and, if she was honest, she didn't care why.
The next time she saw Emma was when the woman took her chainsaw to the tree, killing it instantly. Regina had snarled as she watched Emma leave, dropping to her knees and gathering the apples from the fallen tree before they could go rotten. She had stayed on her knees, silently crying.
Emma had hated the way she used Henry to get back at her and when Regina finally saw him, and her, again he was glowering darkly at her, the intense hatred of his look hurting more than she had expected.
Emma had seen the boy to his room, then returned to the same place they had last met, the felled tree. She had hidden a little way down the path and seen Regina's silent sobs, now she found herself wondering why she had felt so much pity for such a monster.
Regina had not followed and, eventually Emma had returned to the room they had first talked in. She had looked deeply into Regina's eyes, her own watering just a little at the wealth of pain in those deep brown eyes that normally glittered with anger.
She had spoken, softly.
"I'm sorry… about the tree."
A pause, Regina was still silent and still looked painfully hurt. Emma had spoken again, taking another step closer.
"Look… I… I'm not used to this, okay? Your son thinks I'm some… some sort of saviour and…"
"He thinks I'm an evil queen."
The words held so much emotion that Emma found herself stepping closer to Regina yet again, stroking her cheek gently free of tears.
"He's wrong… you're not evil, just hurting."
"How the hell do you know that?"
Emma had smirked, the angry retort held little fear for her now and she spoke forcefully.
"Even the most evil of queens generally had a rough childhood… or some kind of trauma that forced them to hide hurt behind anger…"
She had paused then added quietly.
"Maybe Henry's right, except this fairytale has more to do with his mother needing someone who won't go running the second she tries to bite them and warn them off…."
Emma paused, her touch lingering on Regina's cheek again now, the cold wetness of tears trickling between her fingers.
"I think I could be that person."
Another pause and this time she gave no warning of her plan, drawing a startled yelp from Regina as she slid her hand down, curling it through Regina's hair, and pulled her closer, her lips covering Regina's again slowly.
"I definitely plan to try."
The End