Emma found Regina at the docks.
Clothed all in black, she stood on the pier at the edge of the water with her gloved hands tucked deep into her coat pockets. Her nose was buried in a thick red scarf, and her gaze wandered off out to sea. The sun dipped low at the edge of the horizon beyond, burnishing the ocean in swaths of orange and gold and silhouetting the Queen against its brilliance.
Although the sunset was stunning, the breeze off the waves was stiff and cold, and Emma hunched her shoulders against the biting wind as she strode rapidly out to join Regina. She appraised the brunette intently as she drew closer, and was relieved to see that she looked back to her usual self. Self-assured and disdainful, she cut a foreboding figure standing statuesque at the edge of the sea. Emma had to fight down a wry smile at the distinct aloofness in her stance.
"You're late, Miss Swan," Regina remarked frostily when she was near enough.
"Sorry," Emma said, insincerely. She tried and failed to keep a tremor of amusement out of her voice as the Queen's greeting met her expectations.
"What's so funny?" Regina demanded, tossing her head irritably against the wind to resettle a wayward strand of hair that teased at her cheek.
"Nothing," Emma replied lightly, liberating her smile as she came to a halt beside her. She followed Regina's gaze out over the waves. "It's good to see you so... you. That's all."
Regina glanced at her sideways, the ghost of a smile quirking at her own lips. They stood together silently for a time, relaxed and easy in each other's company as they watched the sun sink down into the painted sea. As the dying day dimmed to twilight, Emma nudged Regina with her shoulder, an impish expression on her face, and Regina's smile finally broke free in all its dazzling glory.
The Evil Queen was pleased to be alive and well and in the safe company of one of her dearest friends, even if she'd never admit it out loud. Emma knew it, and was content to see Regina pretending not to like her again.
Things might go back to normal after all.
"So," the Sheriff prompted, scuffing at the wooden planks underfoot with one booted toe, "Are you going to catch me up?"
"No," Regina replied, "I called you to meet me here because I enjoy standing out in the freezing wind being drenched by sea spray."
Emma laughed, and Regina fixed her with a rare, roguish grin. She linked an arm through Emma's, and they began to walk slowly towards the furthest end of the pier as the evening gathered around them. The lights along the pier winked on, and on the horizon, the sliver of the waning moon raised itself sleepily into the sky.
"I had an encounter with the Red Queen," Regina mentioned as they meandered.
"I gathered," Emma said, "You said she tried to kill you."
"Something certainly did," Regina replied thoughtfully. A delicate frown puckered her brow. "The woman really is a mystery to me."
"A dangerous one, by the sounds of things." Emma stopped and used the leverage of their linked arms to turn Regina to face her. "I'm really glad you're looking better, Regina."
"I am better, actually," Regina commented with an inward smile.
Before she could stop them, her thoughts stole far away with a different woman than the one standing beside her.
Emma mistook her wayward expression for self-reflection, and smiled as she suspected that her earlier thoughts about Regina's Good/Evil dilemma might be right. She resolved not to say anything about her revelation regarding Regina's problem, however, and switched to the matter of more pressing concern.
"We have to do something about this witch," she said darkly, "She's already proven to be a danger to you, and you're one of the most powerful people in town. Everybody else doesn't stand a chance."
"What?" Regina's thoughts crashed back down from her daydream about the Red Queen as she made sense of what Emma had just said. "Wait, I don't think-"
But she didn't get the chance to tell Emma what she didn't think. A bolt of black lightning hit her unexpectedly from behind, knocking her reeling onto the pier. She slid dangerously close to the edge of the hungry sea, and Emma cried out her name in alarm, leaping to her side to pull her back from the covetous waves. She cradled Regina's dazed head onto her lap, shaking her shoulders desperately to stop her slipping into unconsciousness. When her attempt proved fruitless, she let her gaze dart fitfully about in search of their attacker. Her hands turned to ice as she picked out a dark shadow at the town-end of the pier, crouched menacingly in a hunting pose. She leaned over Regina in protective terror, unable to tear her eyes away from the monster.
The creature of darkness was massive, terrifying, and its slowly undulating form put Emma starkly in mind of a cat. A monstrously large, horrifyingly deformed cat - spawned straight out of the bowels of Hell. The shadowy fiend poised as though recharging, and then unleashed a second bolt of darkness. With a cry, Emma hunched low over Regina's unconscious form and threw up a shield of light magic around them.
The bolt bounced off the bubble of light with an angry hiss, and the creature let out an unearthly scream of infuriation as its attack was thwarted. Emma looked up at the ghastly sound and watched with horror as the beast began to advance with measured strides, stalking its quarry.
Them.
It paused at each step to howl its displeasure and fire another bolt. The barrage continued with every shadowy tread, and Emma tried frantically to keep her shield intact. The effort was debilitating. Emma felt the force of every bolt that hit its mark reverberate right through her. The light shield began to crack imperceptibly, and still the beast kept coming. In desperation, she lifted a hand away from Regina's shoulders and fired her own bolt of light energy back at the hulking shadow.
The creature dodged and the light bolt went wide. Emma caught sight of a flash of red behind the beast, but it advanced again without breaking stride before she could make out what she'd seen. Steeling herself against the drain on her power, Emma fired another bolt of light, crying out with the effort of holding the shield up at the same time. The creature dodged again, effortlessly, and this time Emma caught a fleeting full view of the Red Queen behind it. The beast obscured her vision almost immediately as it prowled forward undaunted, and it bared its spectral teeth with a roar as it closed the distance.
With renewed effort, it launched another bolt of darkness, and Emma heard her shield crack around her like glass. One more hit like that, and she and Regina were doomed.
Where in the hell was Gold? Emma wondered desperately.
With the Red Queen at large, Emma had covertly asked him to keep watch over her meeting with Regina in case of just such a possibility as this attack. Clearly, however, he was doing so from farther away than she'd intended.
He'd better hurry up, or they were done for.
"Emma!" Gold's voice peeled out powerfully over the dreadful howls of the beast.
Finally! Emma could have wept with relief. She turned her head in the direction of his voice, and he appeared at the edge of the dock in a small boat. As a wave lifted the tiny vessel upward, he sprang onto the pier, holding aloft a long white staff that Emma didn't recognise. The rod ignited with blinding white light as he snarled a clipped phrase, and Emma shielded her eyes against the burning brightness. She squinted down the pier at the beast as it stopped in its tracks, seeming to diminish in size, if not in malice, by the instant.
"Get Regina into the boat!" Gold commanded.
Emma hurried to obey, gripping Regina bodily under her arms and half lifting, half dragging her to the very edge of the wharf. The little boat dipped and plunged violently on the waves, but Emma measured the upswings and flung herself over the side as best she could when it was next almost level, hauling Regina's limp body with her. They made it, and she shouted out over the waves to Gold. He looked back over his shoulder to hear her better over the crash of the sea, and she put the last of her effort into voicing her words as she pointed.
"The Red Queen!" she cried, gesturing wildly beyond the savagely growling beast.
Gold squinted through the dazzling light, and caught a glimpse of a lithe figure in a red dress fleeing behind the creature as it paused in hesitation. He lifted the staff higher, flooding the entire area with dazzling light, and at last, the beast turned tail with a howl and raced away after the bolting woman.
"I'll find the witch! Get Regina out of here!" Gold thundered in Emma's direction. His expression was black and terrible, and Emma quailed before the face of the Dark One.
She numbly nodded her assent, tears of exertion mingling with sea spray on her face, and threw herself across the boat to start the motor. With Regina lying motionless in the bottom of the small craft, Emma powered them towards the far end of the harbour to where she could see car-lights shining through the gathering night.