I Carry Your Heart (I Carry it in My Heart)

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Mary Margaret managed to help Regina back into the apartment, the smell of burnt food wafting through the open door.

"I'm afraid your birthday dinner is ruined," she said, encouraging Regina to take a seat on the couch.

"She's gone..." Regina cried. "It hurts so much. It feels like my heart is being ripped from my chest."

"I know how you feel," Mary Margaret said, sitting on the couch next to Regina, handing her a bottle of water. "My Soulmate is in the army. He's been overseas for the last two years. When he left, it felt like I was going to die."

"When does it stop hurting?" Regina asked, tears dripping onto her lap.

"It never does, unfortunately," Mary Margaret explained. "It gets easier though, being away from them."

"Really?" Regina asked, hope in her voice.

"Yes," Mary Margaret said, before they fell into a comfortable silence. "I knew, you know."

"You did?" Regina asked, shocked. "I thought we were so careful."

"I didn't know for certain, but I had a feeling. The way you looked at each other, and the amount of time you guys were suddenly spending together. Emma was always so happy when you were around. Plus, I once saw her Soulmate initials. 'R.M.' I figured that wasn't a coincidence."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Regina asked.

"I figured you guys would say something when you were ready."

"We were going to mate next week. We were going to mate and mark next week, and now she's gone," Regina cried, falling into Mary Margaret's arms. Mary Margaret reached around behind her, looking for a blanket to wrap around the distraught teenager, instead finding Emma's hoodie, clearly forgotten when she left. She wrapped the familiar green hoodie around Regina's body.

"She forgot her hoodie!" Regina exclaimed, screaming and crying at the same time when she realized she was now wearing Emma's favorite sweatshirt.

"Keep it for her. Give it back to her when you see her again," Mary Margaret said, silent tears running down her face, as she pulled the hood over Regina's head, rubbing Regina's back for comfort. "We're going to get her back. I'm not giving up without a fight."

<~**~>

One week later...

Everything hurt. Every inch of her body was on fire, and she felt like she was dying. But no matter how much it hurt, she refused to touch herself. She refused to allow herself to release. All she could do was cry. All she had done for the past week was cry.

There had been no news from Emma since she left a week ago. No phone calls, no emails. Nothing. And every time she called Emma's phone, it went straight to voicemail, and every text message was sent back undelivered. She continued to leave messages, until the automated voice informed her that Emma's voice mailbox was completely full, filled with Regina's messages, no doubt. She wasn't surprised though. When she returned home after what should have been a happy birthday celebration, she was informed that Cora had already changed her cell phone number, as well as locked her out of all her email accounts. She was making sure Emma Swan could never contact Regina again. Regina left Mary Margaret her new phone number, hoping that if Emma contacted her, Mary Margaret would pass her new number along to Emma. But not even Mary Margaret had heard from her.

"Regina, please. You need to eat something," she heard as her father knocked on her bedroom door. It was the second night of her rut, and she hadn't moved from where she laid.