276Emma felt exuberant. Between the rush she always felt when she used her magic and the kiss she'd laid on Regina before skipping out of the room, she felt high. It was a unique feeling, which quickly dissipated as she skipped down the stairs and came face-to-face with the reminder of Regina's kidnapping.
The destruction left behind by Hades was in the first stages of repair. Thanks to a simple spell, Emma had managed to construct a barrier to prevent wind, water, and unwanted critters from entering the house, and a tarp covered the front to allow for privacy. Marco had promised to begin repairs as soon as all the needed supplies were gathered, but that didn't make Emma feel better at seeing how shattered and utterly destroyed the usually picture perfect face of the mansion was.
In all the time she'd been in Storybrooke, she'd never once seen the mansion's façade anything but pristine. Now it was in tatters, a visible reminder of everything that had happened to the owner of the house.
She frowned deeply. She should be happy Regina was alive, safe, and still wanted to be around her now that her memories had returned. Instead, Emma was suddenly struck with fear. Good things never lasted very long in her life, and, when they seemed to, there were always strings attached.
It would only be a matter of time before something else happened to test both of them, and then what? Would Regina revert to pushing everyone away? Would Emma decide to run again? Would one of them die? They'd both come close many times before.
Slowly, the sheriff turned to walk down the stairs and away from her change of clothes. Her eyes ran over the damage once again, taking in all in and feeling both angry and frustrated. It bubbled up within her. This house, despite the fact it had never been very welcoming to her up until recently, was her son's home, and it was Regina's home.
It was supposed to be a place in which both of them felt safe and secure, not another reminder of all the bad things that have happened to them. This should be sanctuary. It should be their place to rest and know they're safe. It should be their home.
As the emotions bubbled and churned within her, Emma pictured the perfectly kept house as it had been. The austere lines, the perfectly kept front… all of it. She pictured it all as it had been, and, in a sweep of wind and a swoosh of magic, the house seemed to mend itself.
Walls reconstructed, the floors healed, and the front came back together in the picture perfectness Emma had come to expect of the Mayoral Mansion, leaving Marco's tarp neatly folded just outside the front door and the sheriff standing stunned just inside.
She stared, doe eyed, at what had just happened. Twice now she'd unintentionally created magic and fixed something, and both times it had been when thinking about protecting or creating protection for Regina. She swallowed down the lump in her throat and took a few steps back to take in the full extent of her repairs. Everything was exactly as she remember it always being.
It was perfect and all because of her magic, which she hadn't intended to use nor even knew she could use in that way.
It was unsettling. Her emotions ran so high regarding Regina that it was almost a reflex action to fix whatever was hurting her in any way Emma could. The young blonde had never experienced anything like it, and it terrified her.
What else might her magic do of its own accord in order to protect Regina? Would she destroy something? Hurt someone? Could she possibly hurt Mary Margaret or David?
Whatever was happening was dangerous. It needed to be controlled as quickly as possible. No doubt there was a connection between the kiss she'd shared with Regina that had broken the older woman's curse and what was happening now, but the whys and hows of such a thing she couldn't even begin to guess.
She needed to talk to someone about this before something bad happened, but the question was who. If she spoke with Regina, it might upset her, which Emma didn't want to do right now. If she talked to Gold, he could use it as leverage for who knows what later on, and Blue might know something, but it was hard to tell.
Wiping at her face, Emma closed her eyes and tried to calm herself down. Getting worked up wasn't going to help her. What she needed to do was think about this in a calm, rational way. She needed to take inventory and really consider what she knew.
She rolled her eyes at herself. What she needed was some chocolate and a break from reality.
Turning on her heels, she headed for the kitchen and dug around in the cabinets until she found a bag of dark chocolate stashed behind a few cans of vegetables. She smirked. It was a clever hiding spot. Henry wouldn't touch canned beets if his life depended on it. She made a stop to grab the decanter of apple cider and two glasses and then headed up stairs again, studiously ignoring her repair work.
She changed into a pair of running shorts and debated what top to wear. She normally slept in a tank top but that felt too revealing for some reason. She finally settled on an old band t-shirt she kept with her on the off chance she had to do something manual, like painting or fixing her bug. It was clean, but it was tattered, torn, and stained. The Guns 'n' Roses logo printed across the front was cracked almost to the point of being unrecognizable, but she didn't care. It was oversized and comfortable, which was all that mattered at the moment.
With her hands full, she carefully knocked on the bedroom door and waited until the muffled voice behind it told her to come in.
She smiled sheepishly when she stepped inside, noting Regina was dressed in matching satin short sleeved pajama set. This time, it was black with a bit of white touches here and there, including what looked like some kind of crest on the front pocket. She looked pristine, and Emma felt under dressed.
"Hey," she held up the chocolate and cider, "I thought we could use these."
"I don't normally eat and drink in bed, Miss Swan," the older woman chastised, though she gave a very small smile. "However, I think I'll make an exception."
"Yeah, as if you were going to turn down chocolates and booze," Emma replied with a smirk. She handed over the items and then stood awkwardly to the side of the bed. "Sooooo…"
"The side closest to the bathroom," Regina answered the unspoken question, scooting over closer to that side. "I always prefer the side closest to the bathroom."
"That works for me." The younger woman climbed into bed and awkwardly settled against the headboard. "I prefer to be closer to the door anyway." She frowned, looking down at her lap. "Speaking of doors, I checked on the front door when I was down there."
Regina sighed heavily. "You mean the gigantic gaping hole in my house?"
"Yeah, no. I mean the door." Emma grunted and shifted uncomfortably. "I… I fixed it."
"What do you mean you fixed it? It was a two story tall hole." The brunette physically turned to look at the other woman. "What did you do? Nail up a couple of boards in the hopes it'd help Marco's repair work?"
The blonde turned to give Regina a hard look. "No." She wrapped her arms around herself and took in a deep breath. "I fixed it using my magic, but," her body shrunk in on itself as she cut into whatever the older woman was going to say, "I didn't mean to. One moment I was thinking about how much it sucks that your house was damaged and the next moment my magic just… fixed it."
"Just as you unintentionally healed my wounds?" At the affirmative head nod she received, Regina's face went from slightly agitated to thoughtful. "Do you think this has something to do with tr… our kiss earlier?"
Emma let it slide. She wasn't ready to say the words, either. "Maybe? I don't know. If… that is the 'most powerful magic of all' and I'm the product of that, then maybe, because I finally found that, then it's messing with my magic?"
"Amplifying it." Regina wasn't questioning. She was stating. "That could be dangerous if you don't control it."
"I know. Believe me, the thought has already crossed my mind, but I how do I control it when I don't know what's setting it off?" Reaching for the chocolate, she pulled out a piece, unwrapped it, and handed it to the other woman before unwrapping one for herself. "What if I hurt someone?"
"I don't think that's likely. Light magic doesn't work that way." Sighing, the brunette popped the chocolate into her mouth and let it slowly melt as she thought over the situation. "You know," she let her voice settle into a light tone, "I'd rather you not use that phrase when referring to us."
Emma tilted her head in confusion. "What phrase?"
"Anything remotely close to, 'I will always find you," Regina replied with a smirk. "Unless you want me to start calling you Charming Jr.?"
"What?" Fully turning around, the younger woman shot her best glare. "You wouldn't."
"Wouldn't I?" Lifting her chin a bit, Regina presented her best regal gaze. "I see that as a personal challenge."
"Oh come on, Regina." Emma winced at the whine in her voice. "You owe me. I saved your ass. The least you can do is not call me that. Why can't you just call me by my name?"
The brunette raised her eyebrows and her smirk turned into a greasy smile. "Savior?"
Emma glared harder. "No."
"Oh?" Tilting her head, Regina cocked an eyebrow. "How about White Knight?"
"Really?" The blonde shook her head in the negative.
Regina leveled her gaze, a tease in her voice. "Hmmm… alright. What about Idiot Number 3?"
"I hate you sometime," Emma grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest. "Do you know that?"
"I've suspected from time-to-time, yes." Chuckling, the older woman reached forward and pulled the other woman's right hand into her own. "How about you promise never to use that God awful phrase or anything close to it, and I promise to never call you Charming Jr.?"
"Fine." Rolling her eyes, Emma resettled so she could both look at Regina and be comfortable with her hand still in the brunette's grasp. "Seriously, don't call me that," she added with a growl. "And I hate that phrase, too. It gets annoying after a while. You can't know how often they tell each other that. I mean, I get it. It's their thing, and, in the story, it's really romantic and attractive, but, in real life, it gets old. Besides, if I were talking to my True Love and trying to assure them of whatever, that's not at all what I would say."
"Oh?" Regina relaxed, allowing her face to fall into a calm but open and slightly curious expression. "And what would it be, exactly?"
"Given all the crap that goes on around here, especially to me?" The blonde huffed. "I think it's be more fitting to tell my True Love that I would always come back to their side. Like, you know, no matter what happens, there's nothing and no one that would keep me from returning back to them because, let's be real here, I get sucked into portals and forced into other realms a lot. It's not a question of finding me or me finding them. It's a question of me getting back to them, and…" She stopped rattling off her thoughts, eyes widening just a touch. "I just realized how weird this hypothetical conversation is considering who I'm having it with."
"If it's any consolation, if we had to have a phrase, I would much prefer that to the other." Giving the hand in hers a squeeze, Regina withdrew, clasping her hands together and letting them fall in her lap. "I think we should talk to the Blue Fairy about your magical issue."
"Why her?" Emma pursed her lips in thought, narrowing her eyes.
"Because she understands light magic far better than any other magic users in this town and because we do need to get this under control before something happens." Giving her best reassuring smile, Regina leaned forward to place a gentle kiss on the younger woman's cheek. "Thank you for healing me and for repairing my home."
The blonde blinked a few times, trying to shift gears and catch up with Regina. "You're… welcome?" She raised an eyebrow in question. "So what now?"
"There was a conversation of you needing to cuddle." Leaning back with a shrug, Regina pushed down into the bed and rolled over to face away from the other woman. "And I'm still very tired."
Taking the queue, Emma moved the candy and scooted down, wrapping one arm around the older woman's waist to pull her closer and laying her other arm over the brunette's head. She smiled as she felt Regina's hands link with her own to form a bubble all of their own making.
They lay in the peace and comfort of the queen sized bed, in among the fluffy comforter and high thread count sheets, and settled against each other. Emma was almost asleep when Regina's voice broke the silence. In a lightly amused, hushed tone, she said, "Princess."
Emma snorted. "I hate you."
"I hate you, too, dear," came the tickled response, and then they were quiet again, both gently falling asleep.
I'm ending this one here. The thing about Emma's magic? Yeah, I'm going to do a follow up story on that, so I hope you guys and gals like that one as much as you've seemed to like this one. I want to thank EVERYONE who followed along with this story. Really, it's been amazing. I never expected to be so well received, and the reviews have just been stellar and wonderfully helpful, so thank you so much for those as well.
If you enjoyed this story, please favorite it, and, if you're wondering about my follow up story, it'll be titled "Two of a Kind, Working on a Full House." Sounds fluffy, doesn't it? ;-)
Thank you again, and I would really love a final review if you have the chance and feel inspired to leave one. :-)