15.

"Emma!" she called out, coughing as she attempted to see something through the cloud of dust obscuring her view. "Emma, are you okay?!"

She got no answer however and Regina could feel a sense of dread curl around her heart and squeeze it in a death grip.

"Emma?!" she yelled out, not caring how frantic she sounded.

One of her feet struck against a pebble and she watched as it skidded across the ground before toppling across what remained of the mountain side. As she approached it, more of the mountain crumbled away and her heart thudded away wildly in her chest.

After a few more seconds she managed to maneuver herself towards a spot that seemed safer and her eyes skimmed across the rocks and rubble lying along the mountain slope just below her position.

"Emma?" she tried once more, her eyes tearing up when no answer came.

But then she spied the glimpse of fur sticking out between the white-grey mass of sand and stone. Without giving it any conscious thought she teleported herself downwards, using more magic to clear away the debris that covered Emma's form.

Blood ran down Emma's face in small rivulets and her hair was matted and covered in sand, sticky at one side of it with more of the spilled blood. Large scratches marred her face, and one of her eyes was swollen shut. A fine layer of dust was clinging to the blood smeared across her cheeks and forehead.

"Emma.." she whispered, cradling Emma's head against her chest as she cried out. She was still breathing, but shallowly and Regina swallowed and used more magic to free one of Emma's arms.

Regina cleared the rest of her body carefully and let out a gasp of shock when she noticed the mangled state of one of Emma's legs. It was covered in blood and she could clearly see one of the bones protruding at an odd angle.

Sucking in a breath, Regina looked up and then to the side, calculating. Calculating over and over as hot tears ran down her cheeks unchecked.

Then she looked at Emma's body once more and made a decision.

"It wasn't your fault you know?"

Snow. Of course, Regina thought as she sighed deeply, it couldn't have been anyone else but Snow that would track her down before she left. When she stopped in front of Regina, she noticed her eyes were red, puffy and she looked as tired and drained as Regina felt.

"In a way it was," she muttered out.

Her mind flashed images of Emma standing in front of her, with her back towards Regina. One moment she had been there, the next she was gone and Regina couldn't remember anything in between. She had replayed the situation a thousand times and she couldn't think of anything she might've been able to do differently. But it still haunted her and the guilt still sat heavily in her chest like a stone, making it feel sometimes as if she wasn't able to breathe. As if she might never be able to breathe properly again.

"Is that why you're leaving? Because…"

"Snow," she interrupted. She was tired and she mused she likely looked like death warmed over. And she really, really, could do without this woman in particular attempting to convince her to stay. "I can't.."

Not even for Henry, though at least their reunion had been bittersweet to her. But afterwards… Afterwards when she had explained it to him, he had been angry. Angry and hurt, his eyes shooting accusatory glances her way as he poked with his finger into her chest and accused her of being a coward. It stung when it happened, when she left his room and slumped against the wall outside of it, covering her face with her hands as she willed back the tears.

It still stung when she thought about it now.

"She would've wanted you to…"

The words actually brought tears to her eyes and she had to hold onto one of the stables' walls for support. "I can't...Snow. If there's anything you need, you'll know where to find me…"

"Will you at least come back sometimes?"

"I…" she hesitated, her eyes flicking to the saddle, working her mind to think of something she could say to that question. "I'll try," she finally said as she swung herself onto the horse's back.

It was a lie and the look Snow gave her as she spurred her horse onwards, proved she aware of this fact as well.

"I feel like we've been here before."

She instantly bolted upright from the stone by the pond she had been sitting on, the book she had been holding falling onto the ground with a soft thump. Her heart raced as she froze up for a moment, before her eyes flicked towards the woman standing a few paces away.

"Emma?"

"I don't look that different, do I?" Emma joked, though it came out slightly awkward and strained. She was leaning heavily on the cane she held in one of her hands and Regina felt an invisible band tighten around her chest as Emma winced as she took another step forward and closer to Regina.

She was rendered speechless, watching almost fearfully as Emma approached her slowly, her face contorting in pain with every step she took. A small scar now ran across one of her cheeks another one across her forehead, disappearing into her hairline. But otherwise she didn't look at all like the pale, ghostly image of a woman she had left behind at the castle, months ago.

"Not going to say anything else? No lengthy explanations detailing all the reasons why you couldn't stay with me? No excuses given to undo how hurt I felt when I woke up and heard you weren't there?"

"I'm.."

"I know, okay? I know," Emma sighed, having finally reached the rock on which Regina had been sitting. She hopped a few times, muffling a cry of pain as she sat down on the other side of it and faced Regina. "Just tell me why, Regina, because I don't get it. Because all I know is that you nearly killed yourself in an attempt save me."

She had in fact, collapsed as soon as she had removed the stasis spell on Emma's body. Though only after Snow and David had convinced her to let the healers do their work. And she remembered it so well. She remembered every moment of that journey. Every minute she had spent riding along on that horse and carrying Emma's body along with her on an improvised sled she had tied behind it.

"You saved my life, but then you left. And all these weeks, every minute I spent trying to learn to walk again, I couldn't stop wondering why you left."

"Emma…" she whispered, her hands balled at her sides to prevent herself from reaching out. Even though it was killing her when she was so close to Emma once more.

"Henry really misses you, you know? Every time he returned from this place he was sad for days. And he kept saying he would figure out a way to convince you to come see me. And I…" Emma sighed and Regina watched one of her fingers draw circles on the rock they were sitting on.

She watched as the myriad of emotions played out on Emmas features and she wished she was able to suppress the memories which assaulted her with the mention of Henry's name. Because there was a pang of regret when she thought of all those times he had stopped by. Even though they had talked about it. Had in fact talked though all night when he first visited her. Talked and talked until they heard the birds waking up and the first beams of light came through her windows. He had told her stories about everything that had happened at the castle and she had told him about the time they had spent away from the Kingdom in turn. And each time he had prepared to leave again, he had tried to talk her into coming with him. And just as many times she had declined.

She had been conflicted about it though. Torn between wanting to see Emma again and the guilt that haunted her with the thought of how she hadn't been able to protect her during that fateful day. Even though she knew for a fact that neither of them would've been able to predict the Tarrasque would collapse right there and then and become inert once more.

"Did you know my parents were vehemently trying to convince me to clap you in irons and forcefully move you back to the castle so you could talk to me?"

She actually did have an inkling about that. Since she knew Snow had visited her cottage one day, a few weeks ago. But she had been at Sanlow then, helping with providing shelter for some of the survivors that had escaped from Stonegate. When she had returned there had been a note left behind, tucked beneath a stone, in front of her door. It only had one line written on it, pleading her to return to the castle.

Emma had stopped drawing circles and was looking straight at her. Fire burned in emerald depths as they caught her own and Regina felt captivated, unable to look away.

"I love you."

It was the one thing she hadn't expected and her mouth fell open in surprise.

"I love you and everything I said before I got injured was the truth. I want to do more things with you, travel to places, take Henry along with us and just...get away from it all. A normal life…"

"You were.." her voice hitched as the words finally spilled across her lips and she couldn't stop the tears from falling. "You were dying. When you were lying there, in that bed, pale, barely even breathing and they said…" Emma moved closer and Regina stopped breathing for a moment when a hand reached out to cover one of her own.

"They said you might not make it through the night and I just.. I'm sorry, but I couldn't. I couldn't stay. I've seen people I love die before my eyes without being able to do anything about it. I couldn't do that again, Emma, I coul.." Her words get cut off by a finger settling across her lips.

Soft lips pressed a kiss against her forehead and Regina squeezed her eyes shut, all of the welled up emotions making her throat constrict as a few more tears escaped and ran down her cheeks.

"I'm still here. You likely saved my life that day, you know that?"

A beatific smile greeted her when she opened her eyes again. "What about..your leg," she questioned after a few seconds of hesitation.

"I'll eventually be able to walk again without the help of this damned cane, if that is what you're asking. But I guess there aren't going to be any marathons in my future."

"I'm sor.."

This time there aren't fingers that prevent her finishing her apology, but Emma's lips. They brushed slowly and gently along her own, the contact light and fleeting, before Emma's tongue flicked against her lips a few times and she opened her mouth to deepen the kiss.

"Don't," Emma fumbled out shakily, as they broke apart. Fingers slide along her cheeks to envelop them between Emma's hands and she leaned in to rest her forehead against Regina's own, taking a few shuddering breaths. "Just stop apologizing, okay?" A smile curved her lips upwards then and Regina rose an eyebrow when Emma grinned at her. "Though I can think of a few ways in which you can make it up to me."

"Do you want to talk about that?" Regina inquired, feigning innocence and smiling slightly at the throwback to the night they had spend in the abandoned farmhouse.

"I think we've talked enough for the moment actually," Emma shot back, returning the smile so easily it almost felt as if the past few months could just fall away like that. Though they didn't, not entirely, since a moment later Emma's expression became more serious again. "We can talk more later, since I have questions, hell my questions have questions and.." she sighed, but then pressed another gentle kiss against Regina's lips that she gladly returned for a moment, before they pulled apart again.

"And afterwards," Emma continued on a breathless tone, "well, I recall you did promise me a trip to the coast after all."

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The End (but possibly TBC! thanks for the responses for those who didn't read it on AO3 yet..and those who did ;) )