AN: I apologise for the lateness. I've been having a rough time of it lately and I'm a little screwed up because of it. I apologise in advance for any resulting errors. I think this chapter will answer a few of your questions, however.

Chapter Sixteen: Closer to You

Silence fell, thick and suffocating. Regina's heart stuttered in her chest and tears gathered in her eyes, falling unnoticed. She moved over to the bed, lowering herself gently and reaching a hand out towards Elphaba. The green woman stared uncomprehendingly at the proffered limb, her eyes flicking between it and Regina's face as if assessing the other woman's intentions.

Emma let out a long breath and took her place on Regina's other side with far less elegance, the mattress bouncing under her added weight. Elphaba tensed, holding her legs more closely to her chest as the stability of her position was threatened.

"I understand," Regina whispered. Emma squeezed her right hand, having held onto it for the entirety of the conversation. "There was a time when I would have torn the world apart to get Daniel back, but I suppose you knew that already." Elphaba merely inclined her head in agreement, her gaze drifting away and losing focus.

"But you can't ask us to kill you. We won't do that," Emma chimed in, her voice firm but her hand trembling around Regina's. "There has to be another way."

Regina pursed her lips in thought. "You're certain they're dead?"

Elphaba looked up, frown already forming between narrowed eyes. "They died right in front of me. Of course I'm sure," she spat, shudders running through her body at the memory. She jerked her head, averting her gaze and locking her jaw. Her knuckles whitened as her hands tightened their grip around her knees.

Emma caught Regina's stare, her eyes widening with understanding. "Ah. Well, I guess you could say we know a guy…"

"Absolutely not," Gold hissed, hand tight around his cane as he stood in the kitchen, leaning slightly into the support. Belle stood with him, her hand on his arm and her expression thoughtful.

"You want to make a trade with Hades. Cora for Glinda and Fiyero?" She helped Gold over to a stool at the breakfast bar as she spoke. It was early afternoon and most of the mansion's inhabitants were occupied with other things: the Lost Boys were conducting a massive Mario Kart marathon in the family room with Henry, while the other adults were either patrolling the town or visiting with Granny and Ruby or the werewolves. Hook and Tinkerbell had apparently been welcomed with open arms into the pack, and Ruby was finally being trained to shift at will with proper supervision, much to everyone's relief.

"Hades will not accept that deal. Cora is his, just like all the others who escaped the Underworld when that idiotic girl ripped it wide open." His mouth twisted in distaste.

"Don't talk about her like that," Belle rebuked him sternly before Emma or Regina could open their mouths. The ex-librarian glared at Gold, making her feelings clear on the subject of his disregard for Elphaba's situation.

"Precisely. Need I remind you of the original purpose for the Dark Curse? It certainly had nothing to do with me." Regina bit the words out through clenched teeth, old wounds aching anew as she stared at the man before her, the trickster who had manipulated her into sacrificing her father for his own gain. She took responsibility for her own actions, but she hated that he could act as if he had any moral high ground in this matter.

Gold glanced at each woman in turn, grimly acknowledging their hardened eyes and tight expressions. He shifted uncomfortably, letting out an irritated breath.

"Fine. Hades will not have any sympathy for her, however. He will claim retribution for her acts against him and I'm afraid there is nothing I can do to help her there." He smirked, sure of his victory. Belle couldn't expect him to help the woman when there was clearly nothing he could do, after all.

Emma's head tilted as she assessed the man, considering. She didn't trust his smug expression and something truly irked her about the situation, something Snow had said the night before…her eyes widened. "What about Lamia? Why does your magic work on her when ours doesn't?"

Gold shifted, caught. Belle's eyes cut into him, accusing. He couldn't lie with her here. He sighed. "Fine. I made a deal with her after the death of her children. I made her immune to magic and gave her the ability to teleport in return for a favour at a later date."

"You must have had some idea of what favour you wanted to ask for," Regina stated, voice dark. Belle continued to glare at Gold, her presence demanding honest answers. Emma simply watched, lips pressed tightly together as she waited.

Gold held Regina's stare, refusing to be cowed. His teeth gritted. "I wanted her lover's gift of resurrection. With it, Hades cannot touch me."

"Her lover. The phoenix? The one who's been cursed to burn for an eternity?" Regina's voice was dark and low, barely a whisper but lashing out like a slap. "He would die. You'd do that to a woman who's already lost everything?"

"She made a deal," he hissed in return, eyes hard and back straight.

Belle stepped away, her hand jerking back as if burned. Gold's eyes immediately softened, reaching out to the young brunette with an apology at the tip of his tongue. She just held up her hand, shaking her head and looking away. Her fingers trembled and a shudder of disgust wracked her frame.

"Don't even speak to me right now. I have spent the last two days with that woman. I can't believe you'd even think of doing that to her." She shook her head once more, backing away and leaving the room. Once she reached the door, she started running. Emma and Regina glanced at each other before following, unwilling to let any more people rush out of the house unprotected.

Emma spared a venomous glare for Gold as she left.

Belle hadn't gone far. She'd curled up into ball on her bed, leaving the door open for the two women she knew would find her soon enough.

As predicted, she heard the soft knock on her door as Emma peaked in. Regina didn't waste time on such pleasantries and headed straight for the other brunette, gathering her up in her arms and drawing her close. Belle allowed the embrace, resting her head on the other woman's shoulder and letting out a choked sob.

Regina sighed, meeting Emma's gaze over the other woman's head. The blonde hung back, awkwardly shifting by the doorway but responding to Regina's commanding stare by shutting the door behind her.

"Ward it, Emma, please. We don't want any interruptions." Regina calmly met Emma's slightly widened eyes as the blonde panicked, her hands flailing slightly. The brunette simply nodded and smiled, her confidence in the blonde's abilities communicated through her gentle encouragement.

"Right," Emma muttered, glaring at the door that was currently offending her with its lack of warding. Regina watched, unconcerned as she held onto Belle, rubbing circles against the woman's back as she sobbed quietly. Emma lifted her arms and thought back to how she'd helped build the invisible walls for the werewolves. Building magical barriers is just like building any other kind of wall: you start with the foundations, Regina's voice echoed in her memories. She nodded to herself and turned her focus inwards, closing her eyes and grabbing at the crackling energy at her centre and drawing it out, channelling it through her arms and towards the doorway. She unconsciously tugged at the connection between herself and Regina, also, eliciting a tiny gasp from the other woman. The blonde whispered an apology, not realising that she was speaking directly into the other woman's mind instead of uttering the words out loud.

The spell took root, wrapping around itself like tangled vines and climbing up to seal off the entryway, blocking off the tiny gaps between the doorframe and the door itself. Sighing, Emma let the spell stabilise, tying off the strands of magic like a piece of intricate embroidery.

The blonde's eyes snapped open, taking in a gasp of breath. Her protective barrier was completely invisible to the naked eye, but she could feel the echoes of her casting bouncing around the room. Turning to Regina, she raised a single eyebrow and received a pleased, if slightly surprised smile in return. The two women then turned their attention to Belle, who had quietened and was merely watching their interactions with curious eyes, tear tracks still visible on her pretty face.

"I thought that it would be different when he came back. I thought he'd really changed for good this time, but every time I see you two working together, I know that what I have with him isn't working." She sat up, rubbing her eyes and grimacing. "He only cares about doing the right thing when he thinks I'll find out if he doesn't. I don't want to be the person he just hides his bad deeds from: I need him to start doing the right thing for its own sake, or for his own." She sighed, pushing herself into a standing position. "Look, I'm going to stay with Lamia. At least my presence will protect her from anything he tries to do when you guys aren't looking."

Regina folded her hands together in her lap, her back straight and her eyes clear, assessing the woman before her. Emma approached, taking her place at Regina's side and placing a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Belle. I know you'd hoped for better, but I'm afraid it may take some time for him to see your way. The Dark One still lives inside of him, after all. I doubt I could resist that kind of temptation." Her dark brown eyes were warm but Belle still turned away, her fists clenched in frustration as a single tear made its way down her cheek.

"I know that, I do. I'm just so sick of waiting for him to become the man I know he can be." She forced herself to relax, fingers uncurling and breath rushing out. "They say the course of true love never did run smooth, but I can't make this work on my own. It has to work both ways." She nodded firmly to herself, smoothing out her dark blue skirt and heading for the door.

She paused before exiting. "Remember that, won't you? True love works both ways."

The door didn't resist her touch, allowing her to leave with no argument. Regina and Emma were left staring at each other in silence once more.

"I suppose we should talk," Regina murmured, unwilling as of yet to take her eyes off the blonde.

Emma's heart stopped, stuttering, and then picking up again at a rapid pace. She was a rabbit in the headlights, stunned and trembling, eyes far too wide and body not responding normally to her panic. Regina noticed this, her own eyes widening momentarily and her hand reaching out blindly to comfort the other woman.

"Emma, it's alright. I'm right here. I'm staying with you, too." Emma jerked away at the words, and Regina pulled back her arm, brows furrowed as the blonde retreated.

"Do you really mean that? Or is that just the true love destiny crap talking?" Emma's voice trembled, the delicate whisper barely disturbing the air between them but the meaning hit Regina in the stomach. Hard. She gasped out a breath.

"You really think that?" she asked, soft words drifting across Emma's consciousness. "That's what all this has been about, hasn't it? You don't think this is real, so you've been pushing me away." Her eyes hardened, face turning away and jaw clenching. "That was rather selfish of you, Emma. You should have told me."

"Yeah? Like you told me about Robin Hood? What even happened there?" The blonde was lashing out defensively and she knew it, but outside of life-or-death situations the crackling electricity between them felt too real. Last night had been the best sleep she'd had in months and she was terrified, this was all moving too fast.

Regina glared at the accusation, hissing out a breath through her teeth. "I will tell you about Hood, since it's clearly so important to you. However, I would like to make one thing clear: I may have been fated to love you, but that does not mean I will accept your continued abuse. You said our best chance is together, but once all this is over I still have a choice about whether to stay."

Emma froze once more, ice sliding through her veins as she was confronted with the idea of the other woman leaving. She could see Henry's sad eyes as he was passed between them, just another issue for them to fight over. She saw their interactions turn sour, until their son couldn't bear to have both of them in the same room. She saw herself, ageing ahead of her time as everything inside her became embittered and regretful; she saw the lines around her eyes deepening as her skin sagged under the weight of her sorrow.

Her hand reached forward with no conscious instruction from her brain, clutching onto Regina's like a lifeline. "No," she whispered, eyes wide and desperate. "No, I want…I need you to stay. I don't want to do this without you. I want every morning to be like today, with you and me and our son together. I'm so sorry, Regina. Please don't leave." The air got stuck in her throat and her eyes stung. Her mouth opened and closed, but she couldn't get out any more words. She stared at the other woman, eyes wide and pleading.

Regina lifted her free hand to the blonde's face, stroking her cheek gently and sighing with relief. "It's alright, Emma. I'm with you." She put the discussion on hold for a later date, knowing that both she and the other woman had decades of issues to work through before they could build anything permanent.

"Here, sit." Regina led Emma back over to Belle's bed, arranging herself so she sat against the headboard with the blonde curled around her. Idly, she wondered when she'd become such a comfort to distressed women. She'd certainly never been before, but she supposed that parenting so many young boys had made her rather soft. Huffing in resignation, she began to speak. "Tinkerbell told me to speak with Robin through the mirrors…"

At first, it was just wonderful to have someone to talk to. Robin didn't judge her, he just maintained his belief that one could only move forward from whatever fate had befallen them. On some nights, however, his impassive expression infuriated her and she found herself telling him of her worst transgressions, just to see whether he would react. She spoke of slaughtering villages, of burning down houses in her search for Snow White, but he just continued to talk about forgiveness. He never condemned her actions, but instead accepted her decision to atone as if it were entirely enough for him.

During the day, she visited every person she'd wronged and apologised. Since this included every person who had ever set foot in Storybrooke, the task took an incredibly long time. Many of the people she wished to see had been transported to the Enchanted Forest the previous December, so she was forced to ask visitors from that realm to bring others back. Some people outright refused to help her, eyes narrowed and posture tensed, waiting for her attack. Others met her apologies with screaming accusations, speaking of their mothers, their sisters, their fathers, brothers, children. All she could do was bow her head and accept the anger, trying to hold her shoulders firmly against the shudders of horror that wracked through her every time she was confronted with the damage she had wrought.

She refused to allow anyone to hurt her physically, however, and left swiftly if the situation grew violent. Some amends could not be made, it seemed. Red and her grandmother had presented such a situation. The old woman had set a crossbow on her as soon as she crossed the threshold into the empty diner, having sent word ahead of her desire to visit the woman once business had finished for the day. She'd already made a spectacle of herself by apologising to Snow in front of a room full of witnesses, but she had thought it necessary to make that particular scene publically.

Now, however, the crossbow bolt was pointed straight at her heart and her body stilled in response, her eyes fixed upon the deadly point, unable to look away. Granny's lips stretched into a grim smile and Red chose that moment to walk out of the kitchen, her footsteps echoing in the mostly empty room as her heeled boots clacked against the linoleum flooring.

"So, the great Evil Queen has come to beg for forgiveness, huh?" Red laughed, but it was short-lived and her eyes darkened with intent. "Snow may be soft-hearted enough to accept your apologies, but we won't be so quick to fall into your trap." Red lifted her chin, her long brown hair falling away from her face and her lips pressed together. She stood proudly in her territory, her animalistic power pouring off her in waves of warning.

Granny snorted, adjusting her grip on the crossbow and making Regina's heart clench in fear. She wasn't sure she'd be able to build a shield quickly enough to deflect a bolt, especially since she really didn't have much experience in the area of magical protection. Eyeing the hard expressions of the two women before her, she decided that she needed to learn, and quickly.

"Of all the people in this town, I believe I harmed the two of you the least. You know of my laws regarding werewolves, so please could you explain…?" Regina trailed off, arms unconsciously raised as she tried to present herself as unthreatening.

"Why I've got a crossbow aimed at your chest right now? I guess I shouldn't expect someone like you to understand the bonds of pack or of family." Granny spat the last word and Regina took in a tiny breath, a heavy weight slamming down on her chest. "Snow became family the instant we found her. Every time you came after her, you attacked us. We won't allow you to hurt her anymore. You murdered a young girl's father, forced her out of her home and then hunted her down like a dog. Your acts against her and the kingdom are unforgiveable. I may have to work with you, but beyond that I want nothing from you. Take your worthless drivel elsewhere." Granny gestured towards the door with her weapon, her finger worryingly close to the trigger.

Regina backed away, eyes still on the weapon as she carefully slid her feet towards the door, unwilling to risk falling over and shocking the old woman into releasing a bolt. Reaching the door, she slowly lowered her right arm and blindly felt for the handle, turning it with relief when she found it and shuffling awkwardly out of the diner.

Outside, she took a deep breath and allowed herself to feel the absolute terror she'd experienced during the confrontation. She closed her eyes, moving through the emotion and her physical reaction but trying not to let either dwell for too long. After a few moments, she let out a breath, straightening her spine and brushing imaginary dirt off her light summer skirt. The late evening chill curled around her, sinking into her bones and causing goosebumps to break out across her exposed skin. She shivered, wrapping her arms around herself as she headed swiftly home.

She called Robin that night, catching him during his vigil over the campfire. He and his men were concerned about wild animals attacking the camp, so they kept a fire burning through the night. This, of course, had to be supervised, so they all took shifts in order to make sure that every man got adequate sleep. Hood's son was the only person who was allowed to sleep through the entire night.

After explaining what had happened, she waited for his reaction.

"I'm sure you could have handled it if they'd tried anything," he assured her, blithely. "It's not the first time someone has tried to kill you, is it?"

Her stomach dropped. The utter lack of concern in his voice was incredibly off-putting, but it was more than that, somehow. She kept looking for something in him, that spark that had terrified her so completely when she'd first seen him, but it was completely gone. When they spoke, she felt…nothing. It was worse than nothing; in fact, it felt like an absence of something. A candle extinguished just as you'd gotten used to the light.

It took several weeks for her to accept the truth: whatever potential she'd once had with Robin Hood has long since disintegrated. Her dreams were filled with someone else's face, bright green eyes and a smile that could light all the dark spaces in her heart.

That night, she found herself wandering through the town, certain that she'd missed something. Her heels made no sound as she picked her way across the fields that now lay between the diner and the shoreline. The docks no longer existed, so the grasslands simply ended abruptly with a sharp drop to the ocean. Gazing across the water, she allowed the wind to scrape salty fingers across her face and through her hair. Hugging her thin summer coat around herself, she shivered but remained standing still on the edge of the cliff face. Her weight drifted forwards as she thought, causing her to jerk back as she began to lose her balance.

She stared in shock at the ground beneath her feet, the points of her shoes poking over the water and her raised heels tilting her centre of gravity forward. It would be so easy, she thought, so easy to just fall…

Her thoughts were interrupted by hushed whispers moving closer to her, muffled giggles growing louder as the source of the noise approached. Hook and Tinkerbell appeared from behind the treeline on the near side of the field, their arms wrapped around each other and goofy grins on both of their faces.

Tinkerbell cast a quick glance towards the ocean, sighing at the beauty of it for a moment before noticing the woman standing precariously at the edge. Her heart caught in her throat and she tore herself from Hook's embrace, running towards her one-time friend. "Regina!" she called frantically. "Regina, don't!" It would not have been the first time the brunette had fallen, after all, and Tinkerbell wasn't sure she was powerful enough to save her a second time.

Finally reaching the other woman, Tinkerbell wrapped her arms around her waist and dragged her backwards. Unfortunately, she'd miscalculated the force necessary and fell to the ground, only to have the wind knocked out of her in the next second as Regina followed her down, landing on her chest. Moments passed while Tink attempted to catch her breath, during which time Hook caught up to them and knelt beside the blonde, delicately pushing her hair behind her ears and entreating her to breathe with him. His eyes glanced curiously from Tinkerbell to Regina, who was blinking dazedly up at the sky and seemed disinclined to move from her prone position on the grass.

"Regina, what the hell were you doing?" Tink gasped out once she'd gathered enough oxygen to speak. Her limbs trembled with delayed reaction.

"Hm?" Regina murmured distantly.

"What is wrong with you?" the blonde demanded, her eyes narrowed at the other woman as she forced herself into a standing position, allowing Hook to take some of her weight. Regina's eyes took a while to focus, but then they blinked up at Tink and glanced around rapidly, assessing the situation. She pushed herself into a seated position, staring out to sea once more before returning her gaze to the blonde woman, who was tapping her foot and raising an eyebrow at her.

"I…Robin Hood is not my true love, Tinkerbell. Not anymore. Can that even happen?" Her tone was slow, wondering, like a child asking for confirmation. The blonde stilled, muscles frozen in shock as she considered the meaning behind the words Regina had just uttered. Hook just held onto Tink, allowing the whole conversation to go over his head. True love and relationships were definitely not topics he was going to speak about willingly.

"What do you mean?" Tink questioned carefully, her words soft and gentle as she tried not to shock the other woman into any more foolish acts.

"I don't feel anything for him. When I first saw him in that pub, I could feel everything at once. It was like being struck with pure magic. Now, however…I dream about somebody else every night." She looked away, her eyes drawn across the ocean as her heart ached with longing. More and more, she found herself tracing the outermost borders of the town, not just at the visible town line but also along the invisible barriers in the woods on all sides. The ocean was yet another dead end, another tortuous picture of freedom. "I keep looking at him and expecting to see someone else. I need someone who'll challenge me, who'll fight back and hold me accountable. I want someone who constantly pushes me to do better, to be better, but never allows anyone else to hurt me. I want someone who'll stand with me against anything, my absolute equal."

As Regina spoke, an image formed in Tinkerbell's mind. She gasped, her heart aching for the other woman. She thought of Neverland, of Regina's sacrifice the previous December, the way the light in her eyes had extinguished that day…

"Emma," she whispered. "Your true love is Emma."