The most powerful sorcerer in all the realms is stuck inside of a tree.

A fucking tree.

The prophecy, or so they're told, is that the Savior is the only one who can free Merlin.

Regina looks over at Emma, who she knows is unsure of herself at this moment. She knows Emma is scared. She recognizes the look on the blonde's face like she recognizes the back of her own hand.

So she steps forward and says, "I'm the savior." Beating Emma to the punch. "I'm the one who's going to free Merlin from that tree, and then we can take care of the Dark One." She looks at Emma, as if to reassure her. "And all go home."

Though she stands tall, her chin up, her bottom lip still trembles slightly as she looks at Emma.

-

"Never do that to me, again." Emma deadpans the second they're both alone.

They're in an old room full of books and possible ingredients for potions of all sorts. "Oh, now you're talking to me."

"I don't know. Am I allowed to?" Emma asks. "I gave you that dagger to protect me. Not to use against me. You may pretended to be me, but-"

"Oh, shut up," Regina says, dagger now in hand. And Emma does. She tries to speak, but no words come out. Regina smiles and thinks about how she can use this to her advantage, or how maybe she can't make Emma- No. "Look," she steps closer, her voice gentle. "If you had told Arthur you were the Savior, he would have asked you to free Merlin. You would have had to use magic."

Emma stared at her, with her usual pissed off at the world look.

"Dark magic, Ms. Swan. Do you remember what happened last time?" Regina asks, her eyebrows raised.

Emma sighs and looks anywhere but at Regina and mumbles, "I lost control."

"Yes. And you gave me this dagger so that it wouldn't happen again." She didn't care what Merlin's prophecy said. She was going to work her ass off to get that ancient wizard out of that damn tree. For everyone's sake. "I don't ever want you to have to use dark magic again."

Regina didn't even think about what she said as she held onto the dagger, but she wasn't sure if that would keep Emma from using dark magic or not. Not when it's the only magic she had. This conversation didn't seem to be going anywhere, and they still hadn't talked about what had happened before Camelot. She's not sure they ever would. So turned around to-

"Regina. Thank you."

Regina gave her a small smile and a nod, when what she really wanted to do was hug Emma, maybe even ki- No, she shouldn't be thinking about that. She has Robin. Sweet, gentle Robin.

-

A knight met her and Robin at the tree and gave her a necklace for the ball that night. She wasn't quite sure what to think of it, but it was beautiful.

"He's not the only one looking forward to a dance with the savior," Robin said with a twinkle in his eye and a smile on his face.

He was so sweet and kind, but... No, he wasn't the only one who wanted to dance with the Savior. Regina did, too.

-

Regina paced in the castle hallway just outside the room she was sharing with Robin. He was currently getting ready for the ball, and she was sure he would be the most handsome man there, but she found herself not wanting to dance at all. She loved balls as a young woman, and as a queen. She even remembered dancing with Snow at a few of them, before everything went to hell.

Finally, after a few people passed her in the hall, she had made up her mind.

"I'll watch him. I'm not going," she told Snow. And really, she would skip out on anything to babysit an adorable baby, even if she sometimes despised their parents.

Snow's brows furrowed and she chased after Regina, "But you have to. Everyone's expecting you."

"I need to figure out how to free Merlin," she explained. "Not fox-trotting my way across Club Medieval."

Snow gave her a knowing look and said, "The truth, Regina." And this was definitely one of those times where they seemed to take turns mothering eachother - she hated when that happened.

"I just can't go," she shrugged. Snow raised her eyebrows, waiting. Regina sighed. She couldn't tell them that she had passed by Emma and Hook in the hall. Had seen how beautiful Emma had looked in her dress, or how much better she would have looked in a suit. So she lied. "I don't know how to dance." And of course, this confused Snow even more.

"I doubt Robin would care if you stepped on a few of his toes," David smiled.

"Wait," Snow said. "This isn't about Robin, is it?" God, she was nosey. She probably knew about the kiss, somehow. Snow is always around, getting into everyone's business.

But then another thought occurred to Regina. The simplest explanation. "People are expecting a Savior tonight. Not an ex-Evil queen. I can't convince them I can free Merlin if I don't know how to dance."

Apparently, Snow didn't like her sensible pantsuit and suggested she wear a dress. She magiced herself into one, getting another look from Snow. That woman was never pleased.

"What?" Regina barked.

"Maybe something a little less evil," David suggested. "You're supposed to be the Savior."

She waved her hands again, now appearing in a light lavender dress that hung off her shoulders. It was quite beautiful, if she did say so herself. It shined in the light, making her appear to be the Savior she's supposed to be. Even her hair and makeup were softer. Her eyeshadow had a smokey look to it and her hair was up in a loose ponytail, something she knew Emma liked. And as that thought crossed her mind, she wondered-

And so David taught her how to dance while Snow left to check on her daughter.

-

Regina stood at the stop of the staircase as the Savior was announced. Her eyes moved to Emma, who had just walked down before her. She looked more beautiful in the light than she had in the hallway. The dress wasn't Emma's style at all, though. It was white and dainty, and soft. Emma wasn't dainty; she was hell on wheels.

And then she thought of the outfit Emma was in when they kissed. The pants and vest were better suited for her.

She danced around the room with Robin, always catching Emma's eye, and she wondered what Emma was thinking as she danced with the pirate. She wondered if Emma would rather be dancing with her, instead.

And then Robin kissed her. It was soft and gentle, just like he was. But it wasn't Emma.

"May I cut in?"

Robin bowed, stepping away. Regina took in a deep breath, a smile appearing on her face. "I'd be honored," she whispered. A soft hand moved to her waist, while the other met her own hand. Emma gave her a shy, tentative smile and Regina realized that it happened often when they were together.

"We should talk," Emma whispered as they moved across the dance floor.

"About?"

Emma didn't meet her eyes. "What happened in the Enchanted Forest..."

"And when you absorbed the darkness." She thought about it often. Thought about those three words, and the fact that Emma had a lion tattoo. Maybe Tink was sort-of-wrong, sort-of-right this entire time.

"Yeah...that, too."

Emma spun her. "We probably shouldn't talk here, though."

"No, maybe to-"

There was a commotion behind them and suddenly Robin was on the floor with the knight from earlier on top of him. Robin was bleeding from his stomach, gasping for breath. Emma's hand flew up, but Regina grabbed her wrist. "You can't use dark magic."

Regina was frozen with her hand now in Emma's, not knowing what to do, what to think. The knight was still on Robin, strangling him. Until David put his own sword through the knight's stomach and he toppled to the floor.

Hook pulled Emma against him, wrapping his arms around her, holding her wrists. And Regina finally came to her senses and rushed over to the man she loved. "Robin! Robin." He wasn't responding, just moaning in pain.

David and Hook carried Robin to the room she and Emma had been in just hours before, and laid Robin on a table. Regina spread out her hands over Robin's torso, purple magic moving from her hands and into Robin.

"Can you heal him?!" Snow asked, always worried. Quite frankly, she sounded more worried than Regina felt.

Robin's head fell back, hitting the table with a thud. A whimper fell from Regina's lips as she closed her hands into fists. It wasn't working. Why wasn't it working?

She looked at the sword still in Snow's hand. Saw the amulet in the hilt and realized, "The sword was enchanted to kill me. I can't heal him. I can't lose love - not again."

"Maybe my magic will work," Emma whispered.

"Swan," Hook grabbed her arm. "You can't use dark magic. I won't let you."

Emma pulled her arm from his grasp and her eyes met Regina's, "I have to try."

Regina stood back, watching as Emma tried to save the man that she was destined to love. Emma lifted a hand over Robin's torso, shining white magic into him. But then she stopped, and she grabbed her head with both hands, struggling to stand.

"No," Emma said through gritted teeth. "Not again. What are you doing here?!"

"This is too much for her," Hook exclaimed. "She's going bloody crazy, talking to people that aren't there." He gestured toward the woman in white.

"I'm fine," Emma gasped. "I just... I don't need one to save somebody... Fine, I'll pay it... It'll be different. I'm a Savior."

Now it was Regina's turn to express her worries. "Emma, who are you talking to? What's going on?"

Emma fell to the floor, onto her knees, and Regina was beside her in an instant. She wasn't sure if it was instinct, or that the fact that Emma was trying save Robin, or-

"I'm fine," Emma said. "It's okay." She sounded out of breath, still holding onto her head. "I can do this." She tried to pull herself up, using the table, and Regina grabbed onto Emma's hand, her other moving to Emma's waist of its own accord. Emma nodded at her and moved her free hand over Robin's body once again.

Their hands were still together, and this time it was yellow magic coming from Emma's hand. Something Regina didn't recognize.

In an instant, Robin was gasping for breath and Emma stepped back, removing her hand from Regina's. Hook pulled Emma into his side.

"Robin?!" Regina gasped, moving closer to the man. Making sure he was really alive. That this was real.

"Regina," he smiled. And Regina bent down to kiss him. It wasn't as long lasting as Robin may have liked, but Regina was distracted by a noise.

She lifted her head, straightened her back and found Emma practically shoving her tongue down the pirate's throat.

"I think I need to lie down for a bit," Emma told Hook. Regina watched the couple, watched as Emma walked away and stopped in the door. She looked back to meet Regina's gaze one more time before finally leaving the room and shutting the door.

-

It was just a few minutes later when Arthur came up to the room. He apologized profusely for putting his guests in danger.

Regina saw Emma standing in the doorway behind him. She mustn't have laid down at all. Emma wasn't gone long enough to go to her bed chambers and back.

"And if you were able to save him with your magic, then you really are the Savior Merlin prophesied."

Now she met Emma's eyes and recognized a look of regret in them. She looked at the floor and then back at Arthur. "Thank you."

Arthur bowed and left the group to continue whatever it was they were doing when he arrived.

Regina immediately moved towards Emma, shutting the door behind her. They were alone in the stairwell and Regina whispered, "We have to talk, Emma."

Emma's hand slowly moved to Regina's arm and slid down to her wrist, erupting goosebumps. The touch was light, even over her dress, and more gentle than Regina had ever felt. Emma's hand was now in hers and Emma rubbed her thumb along Regina's knuckles.

"We will." Emma promised, dropping Regina's hand. "But not now."

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