The Evil Queen's Chambers

Chapter Ten

Unbeknownst to Emma, sitting across from Regina at Granny's Cafe finding a way to explain her outburst, Hook was still at the barn where the portal had opened. He was sitting on the floor, leaning against the door of the barn with his right leg leaning on his left knee. He was getting pretty cold, but was too busy reflecting on the events that had unfolded back in the Enchanted Forest.

A loud and sudden bang emerged from behind him. Hook leapt up and opened the door to the barn, adrenaline coursing through his body.

"What... The hell?" Hook hissed. A woman with messy, brown hair and a red robe was walking towards him. "Who are you?" Hook stammered, completely startled.

"My name is Marian," declared the woman, stepping further towards him, "I was told by Snow White to see if Prince Charles had escaped with a Princess Leia. She released me from the Evil Queen's dungeons, you see. She said she had been following a Prince Charles to see if he was a spy of the Queen's."

Hook took a step back. He realised this was a perfectly reasonable story, but was sure Snow would never have followed him after his repeated contact with Rumplestiltskin back in the Enchanted Forest.

"I'm Prince Charles," declared Hook, "but I'm actually Killian Jones. Captain Hook, the captain of the Jolly Roger. I'm not a spy - but I'm confused as to how you managed to come through the portal, I was sure it had closed..."

Marian shook her head, "I was looking for you for Snow White... She did save me after all. And then the Dark One, the one with the green skin, he disappeared from the room you were in and the portal sucked me in as it closed. Where am I?" she was staring around the barn with a lost expression plastered across her face.

Hook wasn't sure how true this story was, but was far too exhausted to try and battle with an seemingly innocent woman.

"Well, love," Hook began, exiting the barn with Marian at his side, "I'm afraid you're not in the Enchanted Forest anymore. You're in Storybrooke, Maine."

*

Emma had been sat for a fair few minutes, tapping the table and the book and looking anywhere but at Regina. After she had mentioned the Evil Queen's Chambers, she realised she hadn't thought this through.

"Emma, I haven't got all evening, are you going to tell me why you needed to talk to me so badly?" Regina enquired, her brown eyes shimmering in the yellow outdoor lights of the Cafe.

Emma finally turned to look at her. She was wearing a tight black dress with a red scarf wrapped around her neck and a leather jacket. Emma couldn't help notice how gorgeous she looked. It didn't help that Regina was looking deep into Emma, like she does when she is genuinely worried about her. Her lips were a deep, alluring red, and her lipstick had slightly smudged into the scar on her top lip.

"From kissing Robin, I suppose." Emma pointed at Regina's lip, obviously avoiding the actual topic she needed to bring up. Regina blushed slightly, but was accustomed to Emma speaking to her in this way when they were alone. She raised her right eyebrow, and dipped into her pocket for her mirror. Smirking, she replied, "what do you think Miss Swan?" Emma squirmed at the Miss Swan. She hated how detached from Regina this made her feel.

"Regina," Emma drew out, "come on you know I don't like that..." Regina laughed, "okay then, Emma." She put her hands up, and then declared, "maybe I won't call you it if you actually tell me what you wanted to tell me in the first place. The suspense is really putting a dampener on my evening..."

Emma sighed. "Okay, I just don't know how to word it. We, me and Hook that is," Regina cut in at the mentioning of Hook, "thanks for clarifying that detail." Emma sighed again, but couldn't help smirking.

"We fell through the portal, and well, I ended up meeting the Evil version of you. I know you probably gathered that. I'm just working towards telling you the main part. You know... before other people find out. I feel like it's only right."

Regina leant in, "I'm thinking I did something bad, then? Don't feel bad for telling me, I was evil back then, I don't think anything you tell me will really surprise me..."

Emma scoffed, "oh, you think..." she started to panic. The voice in her head was overbearing, "this could possibly ruin the relationship we've built," it said. She knew this. She would have to tell her about all her pent up feelings, because otherwise making love to the Evil Queen would seem pretty unrealistic. I mean, you have to have deep feelings for a person to want them at their very worse, you know?

Emma leant in, putting her hand on Regina's arm.

"I'm going to be honest, Regina. There's a lot about this that you're probably not going to like. I know you won't. Even if you feel the same as I," she said, looking down away from the eye contact she had been holding, "this changes things. If not for you or even for me, it changes things for Henry. Because this is his book." She declared, holding it up. "He is going to read it. So we need to be, well I need to be, prepared for questions. And I know you aren't going to like the questions. The likelihood is, is that you're going to feel uncomfortable about this."

Regina was staring intently into Emma's blue eyes. Her heart beat was slowly increasing in rate, she had started to panic. As she does, with these feelings, she boxed it away, and leant back against the chair.

"But, as you know," Emma continued, "I'm not the best with words. I can't say it in words. I just can't. So..."

Emma opened the book to the section. It was there. Already written in, with drawn images of Hook and Emma's time in the Enchanted Forest. She flipped the pages until she found the occurrences in Regina's chambers. She sighed. She slid the book over to Regina's side.

Regina took a deep breath, and looked down into the book.

*

It had been about 10 minutes. Emma was staring down at Regina, trying to decipher what she was thinking. She had read all of the entries with herself, as the Queen, and kept flipping back and forth. Reading and re-reading certain sections.

Emma couldn't sit in silence for any longer. Tears had begun to pool in her eyes because she couldn't read Regina. Regina can pull an excellent unreadable face. She does it when she needs to, this time most definitely not being an exception.

"Regin," she began, only to be distracted by Hook emerging from behind Regina, with a brown haired lady standing by his side who looked as though she had just come out of the Enchanted Forest.

Hook looked awkward. He could probably tell what was happening. On realising what he had interrupted, he spoke, "Swan, I know this isn't the best of times, but this woman came through the portal behind us. I thought it was only right I introduced her to everyone."

Emma dried the tears that had escaped down her cheek, and nodded. "Yeah, go through Killian."

Marian and Hook were walking towards the door when Marian turned around at the woman sitting opposite Emma. "Is that the Evil Queen?" she shouted, visibly shaken. "Aye," nodded Hook, "but remember what I said, she's different here, isn't that right Swan?"

Emma looked up at Killian once again, then turned to Regina, who hadn't moved a muscle and who was staring blankly at the storybook with both of her hands buried into her hair, on either side of her head.

"Yeah, she's Regina here."

Killian and Marian disappeared into the Cafe.

Emma turned back to Regina. She could see that tears had started to escape from her eyes. She looked up at Emma. They sat like that. Staring at each other, with tears running down their faces. Emma wasn't sure why Regina was crying. If this was a good or a bad thing.

"Regina," Emma began, shaking her head and throwing her hands up. "Don't." Regina replied, tilting her head and trying to feign a smile.

The intimate silence growing between them was broken by the shout of Robinhood from inside Granny's Cafe. "Marian," he shouted, and then Roland's voice, slightly quieter, enquiring, "mama?"

Regina's eyes shot from Emma to the door, and her face twisted as anger started to bubble through her veins. "No." Regina croaked, her voice broken. Emma was confused, but when Regina and her had been alone one time, she had mentioned Robin's past lover and realised that this was her name. "Oh my, Regina, I..."

Regina stood up. She shuffled her dress down. She took the book in one hand and started to walk away, fast.

"Regina, please don't walk away!" shouted Emma. She didn't expect a reply. She wanted to chase after her. But not only did she have to read...that... In the book, she had to overhear Robin be reunited with Roland's mother. She knew it was best to leave her alone.

"I can't," spoke Emma, out loud. She looked up into the sky and there was a constellation of stars right above her head. "I'm going after her."

Emma checked in on Snow, Charming and Henry before she ran for Regina. They announced that they were naming her new brother Neal. She was far too distressed to fully appreciate the gesture, but hugged them all close nevertheless.

After that, she ran out and headed for Regina. She had a pretty good idea of where she had gone.