Part One
Emma leaned against the outside of the house, carving away at a block of wood in her hand. It was meant to be a wolf, but she was out of practice and the edges were already wrong. Sighing, she reached into the leather bag beside her, searching for another block of wood. There was nothing there.
Maybe I can fix this one, she thought, tongue between her teeth.
She looked up at the sky, wondering how long they had been there. As part of the conditions for Regina's release, Snow White and Prince Charming had forced Regina to return all the hearts she had stolen while she was Queen. The hearts from the chamber in the Castle had all been returned, but the truly important hearts had been squirrelled away inside Regina's abandoned childhood home.
Just as Emma was about to get up and go inside, Regina emerged from the house, pale and with glassy eyes fixed on a hill in the distance, clutching a dusty wooden box.
"Regina?" Emma asked. She pushed herself to her feet. "What wrong?"
Regina ignored her. She started for the hill. Emma hesitated and then stuffed her things in her leather bag and hurried after Regina.
"Regina!" Emma called. "What's going on?"
Regina didn't answer. As they approached the top of the hill, Emma saw a headstone come into sight. Her eyes widened. The look on Regina's face, the dusty wooden box, Daniel's grave. It couldn't be true, but as they approached the grave, Regina pulled a heart from the box, and the ground in front of the headstone began to glow. Before Emma could call out to Regina again, a wooden coffin rose from the earth.
With a flick of Regina's wrist, the lid flew off. Inside lay a young man who looked as though he were sleeping - not as though he had been supposedly dead for decades. Regina pushed the heart into his chest, her hand sliding through his flesh like it wasn't there, and deposited the heart inside.
The man gasped, eyes shooting open. Emma jumped back in shock, and Regina stood stock still.
"Regina?" Daniel asked, dazed.
"Daniel," Regina said. Tears spilled down her cheeks, and she threw her arms around him, burying her face in his neck. "You're alive."
"Of course I am, but... What happened?"
Emma's heart sank when Regina pulled back, and she saw the adoration and love with which Regina was gazing at Daniel. It sank further when Daniel saw her and said, "Who is she?"
Regina turned to look at her and couldn't seem to find her voice. And then she did, and Emma wished she hadn't.
"She's my friend."
+
"I thought you were dead," Regina said, helping Daniel out of the coffin. "I saw my mother crush your heart into dust."
Daniel stepped out of the coffin, a little wobbly on his legs, and blinked around at their surroundings. His eyes fell on the abandoned house. "What happened?"
Regina stroked his cheek. "Don't worry about that now. How do you feel?"
"Like I've been asleep for far too long," Daniel said.
"I'll say," Emma muttered. Regina shot her a glare. Emma crossed her arms over her chest, hunching her shoulders. She knew she should be happy for Regina, but she just felt jealous and defensive. "What?"
"Ignore her," Regina said. She wrapped her hand around Daniel's. There was an ease with which she touched him, an ease with which she spoke to him, and an openness with him that she had never had with Emma. Emma's heart clenched. "We need to get you back to the castle. You need to be examined by a doctor."
Regina lead Daniel toward her horse. As she passed Emma, Emma muttered, "Be careful. Wouldn't want anyone to think you're robbing the cradle."
Regina glared at Emma, but Emma caught a glimpse of her expression turning troubled as she looked away. Emma figured it must finally be sinking in for her that Daniel didn't appear to have aged at all.
+
Daniel sat behind Regina on her horse. Emma bit the inside of her cheek, wrestling with her jealousy. Whatever she had hoped for once Regina realized that Daniel had not aged clearly hadn't manifested. Every time he rested his cheek against Regina's shoulder, each time Regina touched his arm as if to reassure herself that he was still there, it became harder not to say anything, to not snap at him to keep his hands off her girlfriend, to not run away.
"How long has it been?" Daniel asked. Emma had been wondering how much longer it would take him to ask. With an anticipation that made her sick, she waited for Regina's answer.
Regina paused a moment longer than Emma expected before; she must be subtracting the time spent in Storybrooke. Too many questions, I suppose, Emma thought bitterly. Wouldn't want that, would we?
"It's been almost twenty years," Regina said, and Emma could hear the tears in her voice as Regina placed a hand on Daniel's arm and squeezed.
"Twenty years?" The shock and pain seemed to sink in slowly. Emma felt like she might throw up. After a moment, Daniel asked, "Did you marry the King?"
"Yes," Regina said slowly, "but he's dead now." Emma waited for Regina to mention that she was in a new relationship. She didn't. Regina turned to smile at Daniel, and the open and happy expression on her face was more than Emma could take.
Without a word, she nudged her horse into a canter and ignored Regina calling her name.
+
Emma ignored the looks and whispers of the servants as she stormed toward her rooms. She had to get out of here. She had to get away. Whoever said it was better to have loved and lost is a fucking moron, Emma thought not for the first time.
She reached her rooms in record time, slammed the door and tossed her bag on the bed. She yanked open doors and closets, snatched up some leather jackets, pants and plain shirts and began stuffing them into the bag. Half way through packing, Emma heard the bedroom door open behind her. She spun around. James stared blankly at her bag.
There was silence for a minute.
"Daniel's back," Emma said. She owed him an explanation. He couldn't stop her from leaving, but she could give him this much. "Regina's true love. Turns out he wasn't dead after all." James raised his gaze, shock etched across his face. "She still loves him," Emma continued in a strained voice. "I can't compete with that." Emma turned away, back to her half-packed bag. "I promise I'll be back. I just need to get away from here. I can't..." She stuffed another shirt into her bag and then buckled the straps.
"Emma," James said, "promise me you'll be careful." And he looked at her so serious and concerned and accepting that Emma thought she might break all over again. Of all the reactions she had predicted, she never expected he would understand and support her need to get away.
"I promise." Emma crossed the room, grabbed her sword, and strapped it to her side. "See? I'll carry it everywhere." She paused, faltering. "Tell Henry not to blame Regina. I'm going to say goodbye to him, but, please, don't let him hate her. I know that's asking a lot but..."
"You're my daughter, Emma," James said, placing his hands on her shoulders and smiling at her through tears. He cupped her cheek. "Of course I'll do this for you."
He reached inside his vest and pulled out a small black bag. He shook a ring out of it and handed it to her. "My mother gave me this ring. She said true love follows it." Emma tried to slide the ring on her finger, but it was too tight. She grabbed a thin piece of leather from her bag, hooked it through the ring and tied it around her neck. James kissed Emma's forehead. "I hope you find true love on your travels."
"Thank you." Emma longed so hard for a life where he had been her father from the start that her chest ached.
+
As Emma left the castle, she caught sight of Regina and Daniel. She stopped her horse, ignoring the irritated swishing of its tail. Daniel walked alongside Regina then, staring at the gleaming castle with wide eyes. Regina seemed to be searching for something. Emma realized Regina was looking for her, and for a moment she thought about calling out to Regina who wouldn't think to look down the path that led along the lake. But she stopped herself.
To her surprise, Regina did tear her gaze from the bridge and the castle gates beyond to check the other paths. Her eyes met Emma's. Emma tried to keep her face blank. She had never been as good as Regina when it came to her poker face, though, and she saw Regina's head tilt downward slightly. She thought Regina might have caught sight of the bags tied to the sides of the saddle. If she did, though, Regina did nothing more than stare at them for a moment before continuing her way over the bridge.
Emma knew she shouldn't torture herself by watching Regina keep riding. Periodically, Regina would look over her shoulder as though to check that Emma was still there. But she never stopped moving forward. If Regina had any concern for her, it was outweighed by her concern for Daniel. A part of a Emma knew that was fair: after all, Daniel had just come out of an enchanted sleep that had kept him suspended in time. But it wouldn't stop. Regina would always choose Daniel over her.
Emma knew she should leave, but she couldn't bring herself to leave just yet, and so she watched Regina until she disappeared behind the castle gates.
+
"Take him to a doctor," Regina ordered the nearest servant the second they entered the castle gates. She caught sight of James and Snow White standing nearby, looking as though they had been waiting. Emma must have told them what happened. If that was the case, then where was Emma going? Why had she ridden off like that earlier? Regina noticed Daniel hesitate beside her, reluctant to be led away by the servants tugging at his arms. "I'll be along in a minute, Daniel. I need to check on Emma first."
Looking uncertain, Daniel allowed himself to be led away. Regina studied Snow White's expression of shock and wonderment as Daniel walked past them.
Regina waited until Daniel entered the castle before turning on her horse to face Snow White and James. "Where is Emma headed?"
They shared a look that set Regina on edge. Her fears were confirmed when Snow said, "Emma's leaving, Regina."
Regina gripped a fist full of her horse's mane, feeling light-headed. "Why?"
"She knows that Daniel is your true love," James said gently. "You won't pick her over him, and she decided to give you both some space."
"She's gone?" Regina said. Her voice sounded strange, as if it wasn't her own, and her mind shot back to seeing Emma riding along the edge of the cliff that encircled the lake. She saw bags tied to the saddle, but she had been too consumed with ensuring Daniel's safety and health to think about what it meant. "Where is she going?"
"She didn't say," James said.
"When is she coming back?" Regina asked despite the heaviness that settled on her chest. No matter what she suspected, she had to know.
"We don't know," Snow said, looking at her oddly. "She refused to tell me." She shot a glare at James. "She refused to say goodbye to me properly, too. Impulsive like her father."
Regina clenched her fist tighter around the clump of her horse's mane. It tossed its head irritably at the tugging on its neck. "So she's just gone?" Regina asked, forcing her hand to loosen and allow the horse to pull most of the strains of its mane from her between her fingers. "With no way to contact her?"
James appeared to study her for a moment before he breathed in sharply, eyes widening. Regina hated the way that he seemed to understand parts of her without trying. "I'm sorry, Regina," he said. From the look Snow gave him, Regina knew Snow didn't understand and for that small mercy, she was thankful.
Without a word, Regina tightened her hold on the reins. She turned her around to face the bridge and set off at a gallop. The guards scattered as she flew past. The sound of hoofs clattering on the bridge filled her head, and then the sound turned to pounding when the hoofs hit dirt. Regina guided her horse down the side path where she had seen Emma.
She wasn't sure how long she rode like this down the path before she brought her horse down to a canter and then slowed to a walk. Emma couldn't have been more than ten or twenty minutes ahead of her. I should have caught up with her by now...
She scanned the road ahead which curved around the lake, giving her a clear view of what lay ahead. In her haste, she hadn't thought to do this before running off, but now that she did, she couldn't seen Emma anywhere. Regina's heart sank. She must have taken a side path off of the road. If Emma had done that, Regina would never find her. Most of the paths weren't even paths, per se, but areas through the woods where the ground was flat and clear of fallen branches.
Regina listened to her horse's heavy breaths for a long minute. Emma was nowhere to be seen. Daniel was in the castle waiting for her. She should go back. Emma would return soon enough. She wouldn't leave Henry for long, or Snow or James, and she wouldn't leave Regina. Emma had told her that one night after they had had too much wine and lay curled together on Regina's bed with Henry sound asleep just down the hall. Emma said she wouldn't leave even if Henry was right. She wouldn't leave even if Regina was the Evil Queen, and Emma hadn't. Emma had said she would be there for as long as Regina wanted her.
A hard lump lodge itself in Regina's throat. She remembered what James had said: Emma knew Daniel was her true love, and Emma knew Regina wouldn't pick her. Emma said she would be there for as long as Regina wanted her, and Emma didn't think Regina wanted her anymore.
Regina clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle a cry. There's no one around, she thought. It's okay to cry now. But old habits died hard, and this one refused to die.
Emma was nowhere to found.
No one knew where she was going or when she would return.
Emma was gone.
Regina dismounted her horse, sat on a nearby log and buried her face in her hands. She felt her horse nudge her shoulder with its nose, its hot breath washing over the side of her face. And Regina finally cried.
Emma was gone.