The Way

Chapter Four

"How come you haven't been by the house lately Emma?" Henry asked his birth mother from across the table at Granny's, and then shoved a forkful of waffle into his mouth. "It's like you're hiding out or something."

Emma smiled as she looked down at her plate. It had been almost a week since Regina had thrown her out of the mansion, and despite the strange, repetitive urge to check up on the woman, Emma had thought it best to leave things be. After all, Regina was a private woman, and the fact that she had told Emma anything of significance was probably more than enough to stress the former mayor out. She didn't need the Sheriff there to interrogate her any further than she already had.

"Your mom and I kind of got into a bit of an...unhappy discussion...the other night," she told her son, looking up at him to gauge his reaction. As expected, he frowned.

"About what?"

"About why I saw her meeting up with Gold at 3 in the morning. She explained, but I upset her somehow." The twenty-eight-year-old sighed.

"Must've upset you too," the boy observed, and Emma's gaze snapped upward in confusion.

"Why do you say that?" she inquired, genuinely curious but strangely apprehensive at the same time. Henry only shrugged and took another mouthful of waffle before he explained.

"Because you're sad. Usually you're just grumpy."

Emma threw a cornflake at him.

"I'm not sad. And I'm not grumpy."

"Are too. You ate cereal when you were planning to leave Storybrooke. And when you thought Archie was dead. You've been eating cereal all week." The boy shrugged again, picked the cornflake off his hoodie, and then went back to his own food.

"Trust me kid," Emma said with a roll of her eyes, "I'm not sad. Maybe a little bothered, but not sad."

"Well, even if you aren't, she is."

"Huh?" That one Emma had not expected. She felt an odd twist in her gut.

Henry offered her a strange grin, as if he knew something Emma didn't.

"I guess some of it could be that she's tired. I hear her waking up at least twice every night, and she's taken to pacing the hallway afterwards. It's getting really annoying. She always tells me everything's okay, but I think it's getting worse. Last night I don't think she slept at all."

The blonde woman studied him from across the table, wondering briefly why her son was telling her this. She knew Henry had never been very good at keeping secrets, particularly when it came to Regina, but this was...unusual. She also knew he had an innate desire to help anyone he thought might be in trouble. Is that was this was about?

"Will you come over for dinner tonight Emma?" he asked suddenly, and his mother balked.

"You better ask your mom first..." she warned, shaking her head. "Look where my last visit got me."

The boy nodded and then stood before politely taking both Emma's and his own plates to the front counter. Breakfast may have been over, but the blonde had a feeling this was going to be a long day.

The wind whipped at her face as she sat astride the great galloping beast, dark hair flung behind her to meld into the darkness of the forest. Daniel was waiting for her. She had to get to him.

Sweet Daniel. Sweet, innocent Daniel.

But when she reached the clearing, it wasn't Daniel who stood at the center.

Regina sat back and her horse stopped in an instant, and she had swung down from his back in the next. She gathered the reins in her hand and approached the strange blonde woman who stood silently observing her.

"...Emma?"

"Gina. I didn't think you would come."

Russet eyes studied her, worried.

"Where's Daniel?"

Emma cocked her head.

"Daniel? Who's Daniel?"

"My fiancé!"

Regina was startled into silence when the younger woman stepped forward and reached for her. Her lower lip trembled slightly as Emma's calloused palms enfolded her hands. Blue eyes raised slightly to meet chestnut.

"Your fiancé, Gina? Have you lost your mind? I'm your fiancé!"

And then, out of nowhere, Emma clutched at her abdomen. Regina looked down in horror as blood soaked through the layers of clothing Emma wore, and she collapsed to the ground alongside her counterpart.

"No, Emma," she whispered, tears finding their ways from her eyes. "Emma, please don't leave me!"

The blonde woman said nothing, her breath coming in short, shallow gasps until the hand at the wound grew lax. A final breath sighed out, and then, all was still.

It was the middle of the day when Regina suddenly found herself upright on the couch, her heart racing and her lungs striving for oxygen. This time though, there was something else.

Her hands reached up and wiped tears from her cheeks.

As she stared at the moist droplets on her index finger, the fallen queen's frustration took over.

"Enough."