The Way

Chapter Sixteen

Cora looked surprised.

"Forgiven me for what, exactly, dear?"

Regina's blood boiled.

"Daniel."

"Oh!" Cora laughed now, rolling her eyes somewhat, "That...well, I did you a favor, Regina. And...let's face it...he was but a lowly stable hand...What kind of life would he have had? Certainly not one befitting of my daughter. Why, you and I both know I put that poor boy right out of his misery."

The vein in Regina's forehead began to protrude as her voice dropped to a low, menacing whisper.

"I...loved...him."

Cora tsk-ed and shook her head, looking at her daughter like she was a confused child.

"Sweetie, you were young...you only thought you loved him! But I will say, he clearly loved you, since his soul managed to find its way into Miss Swan, over there."

Regina glanced over to see Emma hanging limp against the wall, but at the mention of her name, the blonde's head lifted and her voice crackled to life.

"...Go to hell, bitch!"

Cora rotated now, raising her hand into a threatening posture.

"Why, you..."

"Mother that's enough!" Regina cried, using her own magic to momentarily subdue Cora and drag her hand back to her side. "What have you done with the Savior's heart?"

"What makes you think I have her heart?"

"I'm not stupid, mother, nor are you. I can tell by looking at her that you've taken it. Now...where is it?"

Cora frowned for a moment and then a suspicious expression crossed her features.

"Why the sudden interest, Regina? You don't really think you can bring Daniel back, do you?"

"Of course not!" the fallen queen snarled, advancing on her mother. "Victor already tried that once, and look what happened to the Sheriff!" She gestured to the wound on Emma's midsection in exhasperation. "It might have taken some time to appear, but I suppose this is exactly what happens when one tries to rip a soul from a new body and force it into the one it has left. I need her heart so I can make sure he is properly buried this time. We owe him that much."

Okay, so she had pulled that one out of her ass, but it fit quite nicely.

Cora considered her for a moment while Regina glared at her, and then she waved her hand. The chest into which she had placed Emma's heart appeared in her open palm, but she quickly gripped it tight.

"Give it here, mother. This was my idea, not yours."

"What's in the bag sweetie?"

Cora's question caught Regina off guard and for a telling moment she faltered. In an instant, she knew her mother suspected something was off, and she cursed repeatedly in her mind.

I've given us away. That's it. We're finished!

Grudgingly, Regina decided it was best to play the satchel off as no big deal. She pulled back the cover and revealed the apply. Cora smiled and continued talking.

"Surely you don't think something as simple as a poisoned apple would do me in? Honestly, Regina, I thought you were more creative than this! After everything I've—"

"It's not for you, mother!" Regina snapped, cutting her off and jerking the bag back to her side. "It's for the Savior...but this new world poison is useless if it doesnt touch her heart."

In the background, Regina heard Henry begin to grunt and struggle again, and in her peripheral vision she saw that Emma was more awake now, and holding her weight on her own two feet again. She even thought there was a faint white glow forming around the blonde, but she didn't dare shift her gaze completely lest Cora be made aware of that fact as well. Regina held out her hand.

Cora seemed to have taken the bait, because she relented after only another moment of consideration. At last, she reached out and set the heavy iron chest in Regina's gloved palm.

A wave of relief washed over her. Emma's heart was in her possession. Safe. At last.

Regina's eyes locked with Cora's for another moment before she turned and strode the rest of the way to stand before Emma. The air around the weakened Sheriff was indeed glowing faintly as Regina stopped and looked at her. It was the first time that Regina could recall they had ever really looked at one another. She longed Emma to know that she meant her no harm in doing what she was about to do, that her actions were noble and just...but she could tell her nothing, for doing so would reveal her ambitions, at which point Cora would likely kill them all. And so she merely stood there, feet from the woman who had invaded her dreams and taken the place of Daniel in her subconscious mind...the woman who had held her in her arms just hours before...the woman who knew nothing of the whirlwind of emotions rampaging through her cluttered mind.

"Regina..." Emma whispered, seeming confused and so obviously in pain.

The dark eyes pleaded with the blue to understand, but their connection was not so robust as to allow telepathy, meaning Regina could only hope that Emma would believe her when she explained herself at a later time. She opened the chest, taking the Savior's heart in her palm and letting the chest clatter to the stone floor. Her lips parted and a barely audible gasp slipped through as she took note of the tri-color organ, recognizing that the red portion pulsed differently than the white as would two different hearts, and the black point merely swirled in the center. It was beautiful and saddening and frightening all in the same instant.

Then her hand moved to the satchel, and she carefully picked up the apple, the black leather the only thing between her and the curse of two different worlds. She looked up at Emma again, noting that the woman's bloodied lips had parted in a gasp much like Regina's only a moment earlier, but hers was emitted out of fear.

Henry slammed against his restraints to no avail, shouting at his adoptive mother to stop.

Snow White tugged weakly but was silent aside from the wracking sobs that came from the very deepest portions of her motherly soul.

Tensing and sucking in a breath through her teeth, Regina pressed the apple against the Savior's heart and watched as Emma's body fell limp and lifeless against her bonds.

But something was wrong.

The heart in her hands trembled for a moment and then the colors faded and the pulsing ceased. Emma's heart disintegrated and trickled through her fingers. Regina felt her own chest twist and she let fly a scream that could reach across worlds.

And then, she too, collapsed into darkness.