DISCLAIMER: The characters herein are used without permission. No infringement intended.
SPOILERS: Not many, a few for Season One, Episode Two.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
FEEDBACK: To rosalindesawyer[at]hotmail.com
Beautiful Disaster
By Ros Sawyer
Regina Mills had grown used to Henry's ranting about how she was an 'evil queen' and that the characters from his, by now very old and tattered, fairytale book, were alive and living here in Storybrooke. Well, most of them anyway. She had learnt to ignore his addiction to decorating trees in her garden with dress-shaped lights and miscellaneous other strange things.
She had been glad when Henry finally brought home a girl, Susan. She had been in his class for years, since he was 10 anyway, and she seemed to be able to put up with his particular brand of crazy. The two had ended up together more often than not lately and, despite missing him, Regina was glad he was getting out of the house and beginning to let go of the fairytales.
She had been surprised when Lily and Jessica returned to Storybrooke and yet there was something oddly reassuring about the two women being here, together and unafraid of anything that may happen to them, it gave her some hope for the future.
Of course, Henry had claimed that the other sister, Calleigh, who she rarely saw, was a pony-shifter, and more bizarrely, that her oldest friend here in Storybrooke was actually Maleficent from the Sleeping Beauty tale. Of course, the poor woman's deluded mother had actually named her Maleficent which wasn't exactly helpful. She had been surprised when Henry had brought home his birth mother yet again, seemingly determined that she and Emma should talk.
She had been surprised by how used to Emma she was by now and how warmly the other woman treated her after what had been so many years of rudeness, both on her part and on Emma's. She had also, eventually, accepted that she was far more attracted to Emma than to Maleficent and she had been quick to admit the same to Maleficent, wanting to let the woman move on.
Maleficent had been surprisingly quick about it, choosing to move out of the house she had shared with Regina for so long and move in with Calleigh. Calleigh seemed better suited to Maleficent's needs and she seemed able to cope with Maleficent's temper tantrums.
Emma had found Regina alone later that week, seemingly hiding from the world. She had been surprised to find Regina was crying, cradling the somewhat shredded book of fairytales. She had knelt, silently, and moved to take the book from Regina, setting it aside and gathering the woman closer as she sobbed, not needing to ask what had happened, she had seen Henry on her way here, he had been angry, violently so, and he had been covered in blood. She had seen the wounds on Regina's hands and face and yet all she could do was cradle the woman and wait until she calmed, hoping she would be able to save Regina from hurting anymore than she had to.
She had been looking up at the apple-tree, covered in the fairy-dress lights and finally she spoke softly.
"We used to believe in fairytales, when the world seemed a nicer place… now all we have is each other."
Her last words were followed by a gentle brush of her lips against Regina's hairline, her touch gentle as she finally gathered the fairytale book into her bag, shouldering it before she moved to scoop Regina into her arms, hating the cry of pain it elicited.
She had carried Regina indoors, quietly settling her onto the bed before calling the town's doctor, quietly reminding him that he owed her a favour before asking him to come at once.
The pain Regina was feeling was only going to get worse and Emma hesitated to strip away the remains of Regina's clothing, moving carefully when she did, her touch gentle on Regina's tear-stained cheek.
"It's okay, I'm here now."
She had moved to take Regina's hand as the doctor began the examination, each press of his hand to a wound had caused a pained noise to pass Regina's lips and Emma found herself wishing that he'd hurry and fix what he could.
He had called her away from Regina's side to catalogue Regina's injuries, old and new. Emma had growled low in her throat as he mentioned the years of abuse Regina had clearly suffered before coming here and when he explained that all Henry had done, if all was indeed the right word, was to bruise Regina's face, cut her hand with a shard of mirrored-glass and beat her ribs somewhat painfully. The rest was old injuries flaring up again.
He had left a few bottles of medicine and prescribed bed rest and as much TLC as Emma could bare to give. After seeing him from the house she had returned to Regina's side, silently fuming over the older injuries. She wished she knew who Regina's family were, if only so she could give them some of the same sort of pain as they had Regina.
It explained why Regina was unable to have children of her own and, much as she knew she should be annoyed that Regina had tried to ban her from seeing Henry all those years ago, it helped her understand why Regina had tried so hard to chase her from her life.
She had watched as Regina slipped into sleep, clearly exhausted and yet still in pain. The wounds to Regina's hands had been left for her to bandage and she did so now, with absolute caution, not wanting to wake Regina from her healing sleep. The bruise, although livid, would pale in time and worried her only a little. She knew how much Regina liked to look absolutely perfect for the world and yet, she still seemed just as beautiful now, if a little more fragile. The cut had been only slight and, despite the blood, was healing even now.
The wounds that worried Emma the most were the bruised ribs that would, no doubt be awkward to live with for a while and those caused to Regina's psyche by the renewed abuse and agony. She would do all she could to ease those pains for Regina, this much she already knew, but she had hated hearing the sounds of pain as she carried Regina inside, now she was prepared to handle them as long as she needed to, she wanted only to be there when Regina woke.
She had been startled from her thoughts by the sounds of pained sobs and Regina's desperate thrashing, a thrashing motion that would no doubt hurt her already sore ribs if she wasn't awoken from the nightmare. All the same Emma hesitated, allowing herself to ease closer but still not touching Regina, she knew how dangerous it could be to wake people from their dreams.
Regina had soon woken herself, bolting upright, the flash of pain and fear in her eyes more than Emma could bear to see anymore. She had slid into the bed without thinking, gathering Regina close as she cried, her touch gentle on Regina's back, stroking in softly soothing circles.
"It's okay, it's okay now, I'm here… you're safe."
The feeling of Regina's body curled into hers was enough to relax the woman, Emma's gentle words soon soothing her into a restful state, although she was still fearful of sleep. She had not said a word, only brushed her lips over Emma's neck, seeking something more. Something real and something to prove she wasn't just someone's plaything.
Emma had hesitated to react to Regina's lips against her neck and yet when Regina pulled away a little, deep brown eyes full of need and hurt, she had given in, kissing Regina tenderly at first, the passion between them brewing into something far more carnal than she had ever expected.
She had allowed her hand to ghost over Regina's naked waist and up, slowly moving to cup, caress and tease first one breast, then the other, each small noise of pleasure convincing her to go on. She had been slow to kiss her way over Regina's neck, her hand ghosting slowly down over Regina's stomach, lower still until it slipped comfortably between Regina's thighs.
She had paused then, her eyes meeting Regina's before she kissed her again, her words quiet but honest.
"You're safe now."
She ghosted her fingers over Regina's clit, once, twice then a third time before she allowed her fingers to slide into Regina fully, her lips claiming Regina's own even as Regina arched to her touch. She had taken her time to build a pace, slow at first then faster, gentle at first then firmer, claiming Regina fully as hers, only hers, to love.
She had smiled gently as Regina cried out, the climax had been fierce indeed, and relaxed back against the bed. Her touch was gentle as she brushed hair from Regina's face, kissing her again gently.
"I love you."
She had not meant to speak the words so quickly and yet, she knew they were true, she did love this woman, much as she had tried so hard not to fall in love with her, it was impossible not to love this fierce if slightly broken woman she now held cradled in her arms.
The End