Sleepwalking

Dream A Little Dream With Me

Emma walked through the darkness. No matter which direction she walked, there was nothing but darkness. She had no idea if her eyes were open or closed. Either way, there was nothing but darkness. She ran haphazardly for what felt like forever, until the slightest dot of light showed up on the horizon, the only light in an eternity of darkness. She raced towards it, not knowing where it led, hoping to find answers at the end. It didn't move, only got bigger the more she ran towards it, until eventually the light began to engulf the darkness, turning the world around her grey. Eventually, the greyness turned white, and she was surrounded by light. Emma stopped for a moment to survey her new soundings, when she spotted a dark figure laying in a heap on the floor.

"Regina!" She yelled, rushing over to the woman on the ground. "Regina, get up. We need to go." Emma said, squatting down to help Regina up.

"I can't..." Regina whispered, not even lifting her head off the floor.

"What? Are you hurt? Do you need help?" Emma asked, panic in her voice.

"No. It's no use though. I can't move." Regina said again. "You should leave."

"What? No! I'm not leaving here without you, Regina." Emma whispered. "Regina, what's the matter? What's going on?" Emma asked, kneeling down in front of Regina, reaching to touch her shoulder.

"I can't go back." Regina whispered. "It hurts too much."

"What hurts? Regina?" Emma whispered. That's when she noticed the dark pieces next to Regina. "Regina? Is that..."

"My heart..." Regina whispered,

"It's broken..." Emma said, a tear falling from her eye. Regina took a deep breath and looked up at Emma for the first time.

"It broke the moment I sent you and Henry away." Regina said. She shifted slightly, subconsciously shifting slightly closer to Emma.

That's when Emma noticed one more thing. The large needle clutched in Regina's right hand.

"The sleeping curse. You did it to yourself, didn't you. You put yourself to sleep." Emma said. Regina just nodded in response. "Why did you put yourself under a sleeping curse?"

"Because it hurts too much to live in a world where the only people I have ever truly loved either died, went away or didn't love me back." Regina cried, her body shaking slightly.

"Daniel?" Emma asked, knowing full well Regina was talking about her first love.

"Daniel died in front of me, Emma. He died because he loved me." She said.

"No, Regina. Daniel died because your mother was a psycho, who was trying to project her dreams of grandeur on you. Loving you had nothing to do with how or why he died." Emma explained.

"Henry left because of me." Regina whispered.

"Henry left because you had to send him away. Because it wasn't safe for him anymore. He had to leave or he would be alone." Emma answered.

"No, Henry left because of my curse." Regina retorted.

"Henry is alive because of your curse." Emma answered, not missing a beat. "If you had never cast that curse, and if my parents had never sent me through that wardrobe when I was only minutes old, I would never have met Neal, and Henry would never have been born."

"You speak like you have a clue how I feel. You speak like you know what it feels like to watch your child walk away. To know they won't remember who you are." Regina said, anger raising in her voice.

"You think I don't know how you feel?" Emma asked, anger raising in her voice as well. "I am the only one who DOES know how you feel, Regina. Don't you think it crushed me to give Henry up when he was born? Don't you think my heart broke as they walked him out of the room, and away from me forever? Don't you think I knew he would never know who I was, never know my name? I never even held him, Regina. I gave birth to him and they took him away. I knew I was giving him up to give him his best chance, because I knew that wasn't with me. But that didn't make the whole process any easier. I do know how you feel, Regina. I know better than anyone how it feels to watch your child leave your life forever."