The Way

Chapter Twenty-One

Rumplestiltskin studied the two clear glass bottles on his work table. Each one bore a small amount of water, and as he expertly placed two drops of a different blue liquid into them both, a smile split across his features. Next, he reached to the side and retrieved the vial containing the dust of Emma Swan's heart, and poured it into the first bottle. He reached back and retrieved a second vial then, this one containing dust that was only a faint shade lighter than Emma's. He poured it into the second bottle, and then waved his hand lazily over them both. His smile grew larger as a puff of smoke emerged from each of the glasses.

Behind him, a deep, rattling gasp broke through the otherwise silent air of the room. Rumple turned around, holding two hearts, one in each of his hands. His eyes fell to the man who sat upright on another table with his own hand pressed against the place where his heart would have been. Rumple grinned yet again.

"Welcome back, Mister Colter. It's been a very long time."

Emma Swan had never been one for long walks, but her meeting with Regina that morning had not been something she'd wanted her parents privy to, and so, she had left the Bug back at the loft. Regina too, it seemed, had walked to the pier that morning, even in her impossible black stilettos. They were nearly a mile from the shoreline now, and the walk had been remarkably silent. Truth be told, Emma was rather surprised to find that Regina had kept pace with her—she'd half expected the woman to flee following her admission about their hearts. But she hadn't, and Emma found she was oddly comfortable with the woman's quiet presence there beside her.

Subconsciously, the blonde moved her hand to her chest and concentrated on feeling the steady, if slightly painful, beat of her heart—Regina's heart—and in her concentration she felt the faintest of smiles slip onto her lips. If there had once been any doubt of the fallen queen's intentions for her when she'd saved her and Snow at the well, it was gone now. Regina had proven herself this time, and in a way that would tie Emma to her indefinitely. In a manner of speaking that prospect was almost frightening. Did she really want to be tethered to a woman who had done so much evil as Regina Mills? Could she actually handle that?

"Emma?"

Startled, Emma looked up to see Regina standing a few strides ahead of her. She had been so caught up in her thoughts that she had failed to notice she'd stopped moving. Quickly, she dropped her hand from her chest and jogged a few steps to catch up. When she was beside the brunette once more, the woman's baritone voice broke the silence for the second time.

"What were you thinking about?" Regina asked, her voice quieter than it usually was, and though Emma's past history with the woman tried to convince her Regina was just making small talk, her instincts told her otherwise. She glanced at her out of the corner of her eye, noticing how nervous she appeared, how tense, and she knew then that the woman actually did give a damn.

"Just processing stuff," she muttered in response, and in her peripheral vision she saw one of the dark eyebrows lift in suspicion. Regina might not have Emma's superpower for lie detection on everyone, but she definitely had it for Emma herself. The blonde sighed and stopped as they reached the walkway that lead to the Mills Manion's front door.

"Nothing you say will bother me right now, Miss Swan," Regina pushed gently, turning to face her. "Not any more so than how what I've shared is obviously bothering you." There was another pause, and then Regina added one more sentence, still appearing quite nervous and by this point, borderline shy. "It's okay if you don't want to do this."

Emma's gaze snapped upward and her lips parted in surprise.

"No, Regina!" she insisted, shaking her head for effect. "Please don't think that's what this is about!"