A Hard Choice

Chapter 14: Monster and the Heart

"HENRY!" Regina and David yelled.

"Daniel?" Regina looked at the man strangling and holding up Henry.

Daniel looked over with a psychotic look on his face.

"Put him down!" Regina shouted. Daniel dropped Henry who crashed into the hay covered ground.

"You okay? Okay go kid, get out!" David said checking on Henry. Daniel was inside of a stable. Regina stood in the doorway looking at her first love in shock.

David looked over at Daniel who was about to charge and probably try to strangle Regina. "Regina get out of the way!" David pushed her away from the door and pulled the giant door shut and held onto it with his life.

"Can you use your magic to subdue him?" David said holding onto the door while it was shaking from Daniel ramming it.

"I don't have control over my magic!" Regina yelled.

David sighed and grabbed his gun and was about to open the door.

"What are you doing?!" Regina grabbed his gun and pulled it down.

"Regina, he's a monster, you don't have your magic, I can't let you get hurt! Now get out of the way!" David pushed her again and swung the door open.

"DAVID PLEASE!" She pleaded from the ground.

"Just look away!" David aimed his gun and looked back at Regina who was very distressed. He looked back at Daniel charging at him he didn't have enough time to react. Daniel tackled him to the ground. David was being pinned to the ground, gun in hand. Daniel took David's arm without the gun and started twisting it. He groaned in pain.

"Daniel stop." Regina took in a deep breath and grabbed David's gun as he continued to groan in pain and tried fighting Daniel. She pushed Daniel off of David. She held her breath. Her finger laced around the trigger. She closed her eyes and sighed, reopening them she shot Daniel in the heart. She was weak right now and the recoil from the gun caused her fall backwards, also from what she just did.

"I'm sorry Daniel." She held Daniel's lifeless hand and looked over to David who was rolling on the ground from the pain in his arm. "I'm so sorry!" She looked over at David with tear tracks all on her face and fresh tears forming.

"David? Are you okay?" She crawled over to him with a shaky voice.

She tried placing her hand on his shoulder, but he winced and hissed in pain. "Sorry."

"Don't be sorry, Regina come here." He said with open arms. Regina buried her face in his chest, she squeezed him a little to tight and it caused him groan in pain.

They sat there for a while, Daniel's body still lifeless.

Henry, he'll never forgive me. David is probably faking it, and I just killed my fiancé. And the fact that I have to see his lifeless body again, pains me so much.

"Do you forgive me?" She said in a beaten voice.

"Of course I do, you had to put him out of his misery. He wouldn't want be seen as a monster."

...

Regina had gotten her magic back.

"Do you promise you won't use your magic for evil?" Henry asked, still a little upset about what Regina had done. David told him.

"I promise." She hugged her son.

"Mom, why did you kill Daniel?" Henry knew he hit a nerve.

"I...didn't want to obviously, but he was going to kill David, I couldn't let that happen. He wasn't the Daniel I knew. He was a monster. I had to put him out of misery Henry."

"He was going to kill him?"

"Very likely, but I wouldn't let that happen, I couldn't lose another person I love."

"So, you really love him, David I mean?" Henry tried to change the subject.

"Yes, yes I do Henry." She admitted and placed a hand under his chin and hugged him again.

"So, if you both love each other does that mean you're each other's true loves?" Regina was shocked by this question. She didn't believe she could ever have a true love again.

"I...I don't know Henry."

"Hey I brought some dinner from Granny's." David said walking in and placed the take-put bag in the table.

...

"Can we go for a walk?" Regina asked David who was in sweat pants and and a tank top.

"Sure. Let me just put on a jacket."

Regina grabbed his the straps of his tank top and pulled him into a heated kiss. She pulled back. "I needed that, go ahead go get your jacket." He smiled at her and disappeared into the closet.

"Ow!" David shouted putting his jacket.

"It's your arm again isn't it?"

"I'm sure I just pulled a ligament or a muscle. I'm fine."

...

Henry was alright by himself for a while. David took his good arm and wrapped around Regina as they walked down the sidewalk.

He reached for her hand and their fingers intertwined. Regina laid her head between his neck.

"Do you think... We're each other's true loves." Regina asked reluctantly and they paused in the middle of the sidewalk. David smiled and embraced her.

"I do." He whispered and moved his head so he could see her face, he leaned in and gave her long and sweet kiss.

  "How could you know?" She asked.

  "Because, I love you Regina, and I know you love me to, and that makes true love."

   "But, Snow, she's your true love.  Proven by waking her from the sleeping curse."

   "I believe you can have more than one true love, I just don't love Snow the same anymore.  I'm madly in love with you, Regina."  A tear fell from Regina's eye, she smiled and hugged David nearly to death.

   "I'm madly in love with you to."  Regina kissed him.

...

The Enchanted Forest

   They were at camp,  Aurora, Mulan, and Emma were asleep.  Snow couldn't sleep, she felt a sharp pain in her heart.  Snow got up and walked past Emma,  she crunched some leaves, causing Emma to stir.  Her eyes opened and kept blinking. 

   "Mom?  Where are you going?" 

   "Huh, I...I, just need to get up and walk a bit." 

   "You alright?" Emma groaned trying to stand up.

   "Yeah, I'm fine Emma, just go back to sleep."  Snow walked off into the forest clearing.  Emma furrowed her brow, and grunted, falling back on the ground and trying to sleep.

   Snow walked into the clearing and found a tree trunk and slumped down on it.  She put her hand over her heart.  The pain was quite intense, nothing unbearable, but it was not comfortable.