The crow huffed on Emma's hand, ruffling its feathers in the process as it tilted its head, its eyes gleaming black under Emma's stare. The dark pupils of the bird created the perfect glass in where the Dark One stared at herself, her green eyes standing even more so on her face thanks to the paleness that had been accentuated ever since Camelot. Shadows seemed to move just on the edges of her face, blurry lines that run and curled as she smirked into the animal's eyes until a dirty white swirl of magic enveloped the crow's talon, a simple message appearing on a newly conjured paper.

The crow cackled and jumped, its wings extending as it fled away from the black-clothed woman who stared at her, her silhouette formed by angles and lines that seemed to tremble and dilute into the settling sun's light. A raise of an eyebrow, a slight tremble and the crow was gone, its figure a dot on the sky outside the tightly closed windows and doors of the Victorian house the now almost albino woman had taken as her own after she had landed on Storybrooke once again.

That, she thought with one brow still cocked, a satisfied smirk curving the deep red shade that covered her lips, will suffice. She could see the contour and hear the cackle and doubts of Rumplestiskin, curled up in one of the chairs on the further corner of the room, his smirk as unnatural as the one of the Cheshire cat. That, however, didn't deter her and so she approached the tightly closed window, the trembling shadow of deals unheard that followed her pouring out of her hands and drawing ghost-like fingertips on the suddenly cold surface of the glass.

She won't come.

She will.

She didn't breathe while waiting, she almost didn't move as she pried into the night, the platinum blonde her locks had transformed into framing her face as she waited, the black of her long jacket eating away the remaining dots of light that danced on her house's porch.

She could feel it after all, her brain offered as she felt yet again the stabbing pain of Rumplestiskin's memories emerging, whispering truths and lies on her ears. She shook her head and shot to the maddeningly giggling man a dirty look until he winked and disappeared into a puff of maroon-hued cloud. She could feel Regina's magic like a flickering flame close to her; its warmth painting purple on dirty white sheets. She only needed to wait. She knew that. Wait and see.

She came with strides that left painted shadows on the path that led to the main door of the mansion, her brown eyes raising to the sky in where the crow cheeped before falling into a cloud of feathers as black as ink. The touch was overdramatic, Emma knew that, but she still waited silent, perched at the window's shelf as the moon appeared, navy blue replacing the almost tired gold that had brushed flecks of color on the planks of her house.

She is here.

She is not.

She could sense Regina's taste on the back of her mouth, swirling on her lungs as she breathed, memories of her potential murmured from Rumplestiskin's voice, his profile a drawing on her walls, an embroidery on her couch, a whistle of the wind. It was a memory that wasn't hers and yet it was; a decision done hurriedly.

Regina had been her decision, hers and yet not. -Me, whispered Rumple yet she didn't listen to him- Magic had been reached, offered, gifted, pushed until the ultimate decision had been robbed.

It wasn't you.

It was.

The cracking of the door opening slowly woke her up, a smile and a hum and yet another shudder erasing Rumplestiskin's shadow from her own, her white teeth glinting as she parted her lips, letting the whispers on her ears and the visions from her eyes to disappear enough for her magic to spill and scatter on the floor, its scent strong and equal to Regina's. Without a doubt, she rose her voice, much hoarser than the other Emma, the one she had -No. Yes- had.

"In here."

She half wondered what Regina saw when she turned to look at her, her profile illuminated in silvers and blues, her blazer cutting her figure in straight, broad lines. Did she saw Emma Swan? The woman who had jumped in a vortex in order to save her three weeks ago? Did she saw a reflection of the man that had taught her, indoctrinate her? Did she saw someone else? Something else? Something more?

She crossed her arms and waited for Regina to nod or answer, her green eyes narrowing, widening, smirking, as Rumplestiskin appeared and disappeared, the static sound of his apparition cutting the air as Regina swallowed once, then twice before pursing her lips and taking a step towards her, her shoulders and back as straight as a rod. She, Emma thought, uncovering the dagger from the magic pocket she had created prior sending the crow, looked beautiful.

Useful.

No.

"What do you want Emma?"

That was Regina, the blonde thought, grazing the dagger's handle and feigning to be entranced by its blade; always cutting to the chase. A trait she had always admired. -No, not you, I.- Smirking and motioning to the couch, Emma walked near to Regina, stopping a few steps in front of her as the brunette refused to sit. She didn't look afraid and that made Emma nod, reflections of a man disappearing from the brunette's shadow as she did so.

"Did you like the crow? I wasn't sure if you would have preferred another bird."

Regina's hum barely broke free from her vocal chords before the brunette arced a brow, not amused, apparently, with Emma's inside joke. Which, the blonde decided, wasn't important. Her offering was.

Raising the dagger until the silver light hit the name of the blade, the blonde thought again on her words, on her own wants.

"I want to propose you something."

The voice was too soft, her manners too dainty and Emma growled inwardly at that, at the woman she saw and felt, at the woman she could see beneath. Rumplestiskin bit the air and shook his head and as they both stared at Regina Emma could feel the magic scorching her insides, prying her open.

"What?"

Happiness.

Choice.

She was gorgeous and Emma needed to blink and look away, her eyes lost as the creacking of the settling house protested as Regina waited, never looking away, never moving an inch except for a blink, a doubt, a shadow, to her lips. Lips that curved as Emma rose her hand and stopped just enough, the blade disappearing into a gust of wind.

Rumplestiskin winked and offered her a copy of the dagger, one that would disappear the second Emma reached for it.

"I want for you to come with me."

She saw the shudder, felt in the way Regina blinked and bite her bottom lip. She saw and felt and tasted and she could distinguish the drumming expectation of want and will on her head, the whispers and wars that brought as she let her gaze drop. A second too long, two seconds too long.

"Why bothering with the charade? This could be a trap."

It was a whisper, a weak, feeble protest. One that didn't bear any sting, any heat with it and they both knew it. They both could feel it on the magic that slowly circled them both, raising like dust, tickling like feathers.

"Yes, I could very much come near you and reach into your chest." Emma rose her hand again, this time prying appart the lapels of Regina's blazer, looking directly at the red blouse she had underneath, at the straining buttons that awaited, at the black lace that could even be seen. She didn't reach for them, she just kept talking. A deep whisper, a secret beyond Rumplestiskin's reach. "Pluck your heart from it and whisper instructions and desires so you don't know what you truly want." A pause, a gaze. ". I could let you leave this place with your heart on my hands or with your heart on your chest but with a string of words floating around it, burning offerings and power until nothing but your magic remained. I could do that but I'm not interested."

Sweat glimmered on Regina's upper lip but her voice was steady as she spoke. Emma could feel her own perspiration as Rumplestiskin turned, unhappily.

She won't take it.

That's not the point.

"Then what do you want?"

Emma felt herself tremble.

"For you to make the decision. Don't you want the power? The magic? You can walk away now and you know that. But you are still here. I want you to choose it. We both have been robbed of that, of deciding, of being able to want and wish. What do you want, Regina?"

She could see the faint pulse beating faster on Regina's neck, the way her eyes darkened before they changed colors, a face long gone peeking between the cracks. She could see the way her hands flinched and trembled, muscles and tendons fighting against the sparks of magic Emma could feel drumming on her own skin as she stood barely inches apart from the brunette. She could even taste her words as she ran her tongue through her teeth, Rumplestiskin's smirk all but disappearing as she breathed in and out, her right hand tantalizingly close to the other woman's chest.

The light was almost gone and only a glow came from them, creating dots of lights that ran away from the darkness as Regina surged forward, her mouth curving. From her lips a rumbling laugh escaped, one that only stopped once the brunette slid her right hand through Emma's tresses, pulling and pushing herself against her.

"You."

Free, she is free.

She is.