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bellatrixobsessed1 · 1 year

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First Moon

I did it! I managed to get the Regina/Ruby one done too.

Summary: Red helps the Evil Queen through her first full moon.

“First time, huh?”

Her vision is fuzzy, she can only barely make out the hand that has been extended to her.

She reaches for the hand.

Tries to grab it.

She misses, swatting clumsily and limply at the air until that hand catches hers.

She is dizzy and confused. She can’t quite remember exactly what has happened. She is shivering. Late winter air, rich with pine sap and distant chimney smoke smothers her bare skin with brutal, stinging kisses. Even without the extra fragrances the winter has its own smell, sharp and pure.

Somehow the moonrays are colder.

Colder than the iciest snowflakes.

There is a generous spattering of snow on the ground, freshly fallen from the looks of it. Not enough to hide the forest floor, but enough of it has amassed for footprints to be left within it. She can see her breath as it makes its way up to the night sky. Up to cold blue stars. Her body trembles twice as violently.

She looks up the length of her arm, it is covered in cuts and scrapes, some of which are infested with pine needles and dirt. This time the shudder is born of knowing that her body is probably rippling and rife with infection.

From somewhere deep in the forest she can hear grunts and groans.

And howls.

Her body stiffens.

Howls.

Even she knows that it is a horrible idea to be out during the wolf moon. The wolves don’t care for frivolous titles. They’ll slaughter her all the same. And yet she is out and about. Out in an open clearing no less, with moonlight washing over her.

Over her bloody skin.

“Can you stand?” The woman asks.

Regina isn’t sure. “I–” She gives it an attempt. Her legs feels so weak and sore. All of her feels sore. Sore and tight. She can hold herself upright but just barely. “Did they bite me?” She looks her body up and down. It is just cuts, scrapes and bruises as far as she can tell. But perhaps they have bitten her back or on the shoulder. She grazes her fingers down her neck and over her shoulders. The skin there is smooth and had been free of blood until she dragged her fingers down it.

She exhales. She wasn’t bitten.

“They didn’t bite me.” She says aloud.

“You don’t remember, do you?” Her expression is sympathetic. “I didn’t either the first few times. I had no clue.”

Regina swallows. “What are you trying to imply.” She takes a step towards the woman. One step is all that it takes, her legs can handle no more and they buckle beneath her. The other woman catches her and lowers the both of them carefully back to the forest floor.

She pulls the cloak off of her shoulders and drapes it around Regina’s. Red, vivid, blinding red. “The first moon is always the worst.”

“First moon?” She says quietly.

And Red nods. “Usually people don’t remember the first two or three. Which is probably a good thing, the first transformation is agonizing.”

Regina furrows her brows.

Pain.

She thinks that she remembers pain. The all encompassing sort that licked and seared its way over her body until not a limb, hair, and patch of skin had been left untouched. In and out she had felt stretched and torn.

“I’m cold.” Her voice is hoarse.

“Yeah, I’d say. Now that the fur is gone…”

She swallows again, a chill icier than the frigid air around her blossoms in the pit of her stomach. “But there are no bite marks. They didn’t get me…”

“Maybe not tonight but you were definitely bitten at some point.” Red frowns. “That’s kind of how this whole werewolf thing works.”

“I think that I would know if I was bitten.”

Red hums. “Not necessarily. A werewolf in human form can also turn you with a bite if it's close enough to the wolf moon.” She helps tie secure the cloak around Regina’s body. “Do you remember anything like that?”

Her stomach lurches.

She remembers the boy.

The little boy at the side of the road.

The one for whom she’d stalled her carriage for.

He had looked so lonely and so very forlorn…

The ungrateful whelp took a chunk out of her hand.

She stares at her palm. At the faint scars–human teeth marks, crooked and small. She glances up at Red. At the friend of her enemy.

“You do, don’t you?” Red sweeps Regina’s bangs out of her face.

Regina can feel herself deflating in her resignation. Has she not been through enough already? “I’m not…I can’t be…”

“It isn’t so bad.” Red shrugs. “It just takes some getting used to.”

Regina rubs her hands over her face.

“Why don’t we get you inside?”

She furrows her brows. “Why?”

“Because you don’t have fur and you aren’t wearing clothes. And it’s freezing out here, your skin is turning bright red.”

“I mean why do you care what happens to me? You’re close with Snow White, are you not? You could just leave me here and I can’t imagine that anyone would have a problem with it.” She pauses. “They might thank you for it.”

Red helps her to her feet once more. “Here, you can lean on me.” She holds Regina steady. “I’m helping you because I’m friends with Snow White and I know that she wouldn’t leave you to freeze to death…or deal with your first full moon alone.”

She feels queasy all over again.

“An evil queen and a wolf. That’s quite a terrifying combination, wouldn’t you say?”

“Yes, I suppose that it is.” She could do quite some damage if she can learn how to control her transformations.

“My place isn’t too far

“Is it a cave in the middle of the woods?”

“Why would you think that?”

“Because you’re a werewolf.”

“Do you live in a cave in the middle of the woods?”

“I–! Well you have been a werewolf for a long time now.”

“Are you planning on moving into the woods anytime soon?”

Regina gives an indignant sniff.

“Exactly.” Red.

She is awfully smug right now.

.oOo.

It isn’t an awful place, this little hovel. It is cozy enough with a very enticingly roaring fire. Red wraps her in a very heavy quilt. The wool is scratchy against her neck, but God does she crave the warmth of it.

“Granny made that for me when I was a kid.”

Regina nods.

“So have you thought it over? I’ll help you deal with this whole werewolf thing if you agree to let Snow be.”

“I can deal with this affliction on my own. I have plenty of people who can help me should I need it.”

“Yeah. People. You need another werewolf. Or you might just find yourself slaughtering your own men.”

The Queen shrugs. “I already do that. I just don’t use claws.” She holds her hand up and gives her fingers a flex. She frows at her chipped and broken nails. To think, she had just gotten them done.

“It's a very vulnerable position to be in. The transformation is. Do you trust any of them to take care of you when you go through it? Do you trust them to help take you through it when you are coming back to your human form again?”

“I managed just fine tonight.”

“I can’t speak for your werewolf transformation but I can tell you that you were screaming and bawling on the way back.” Red shrugs.

“I certainly wasn’t.”

“You certainly don’t remember doing it. But you did. If you need proof you can go to the mirror and see your running makeup. There are plenty of werewolf hunters that would have used that as an opening, you could have been killed mid-transformation. Does that sound fun to you? It only takes one ‘trusted’ guard losing enough composure to decide to just kill you and be done with it.” She pauses. “I had Granny to make sure that, that didn’t happen to me.”

“Let’s say that I did cry. Why should I trust you?”

“Because I know what it’s like to be that vulnerable and however I feel about you, I couldn’t bring myself to attack you while you’re in between, it’s a cowardly move. But fearful men do cowardly things.” She hands Regina a cup of ale. “Aren’t you tired of being alone?”

Regina’s breath hitches.

Truthfully she is exhausted.

“All you have to do is put this whole revenge thing to the side.”

All she has to do is give up everything she knows, her only purpose in life. And what will she become if she does.

“Let me help you, Regina.”

“That’s your majesty to you.”

Red cups her hand against her cheek. “Not tonight it isn’t. You aren’t even wearing your crown.”

Regina sniffs. “And you’re not wearing your red riding hood. Are you no longer Red?”

Red chuckles. “Okay, that’s fair.” She strokes Regina’s cheek.

Regina closes her free hand around the woman’s wrist. It has been so long since someone has given her such a tender touch. So long since anyone has tried to care for her, let alone successfully wrapped a draped a blanket over her shoulders. She grips the ale mug.

“Now that you’re warmed up I can wash those cuts for you. Granny gave me a whole bunch of herbs that will prevent infection.”

Regina clears her throat. “I suppose that, that sounds well enough.”

“Great.”

Regina watches her shuffle about the in the adjacent room. She comes back with several cloths, a bowl of water, and a creamy herb mixture. Regina hisses when the woman first brings the cloth to the gash on her arm. But the woman is gentle. She dabs the cloth as lightly as she can while still cleansing thoroughly.

Regina finds herself shaking her head. Her cheeks are getting damp again. Red withdraws the cloth. “I’m not hurting you am I?”

“No.” Regina responds quietly. Quite the opposite.

“Then what’s wrong?”

“I just…” She misses Daniel so much. He used to do this for her after falls from horses or misadventures in the woods. “I’m not used to…”

“Having someone help you?” Red guesses.

Regina nods.

“Well you will be if you take me up on my offer.”

Regina finds herself averting her gaze to the ceiling. She takes a deep breath. But how can she? How can she just let all of her ambitions go? How can she let that anger go? It is the only thing that holds her aloft these days.

Red squeezes her hand. “You don’t have to be afraid…”

“I’m not!” She snaps.

She’s not afraid.

She is terrified.

The prospect alone is horrifying.

“You can still be happy. You can still have love…”

She really is Snow’s friend. Regina shakes her head. “You said it yourself, I’m an evil queen and a werewolf. I can’t imagine that there will be suitors lining up for that.”

Red quirks a brow. “I’d line up for that.”

“You’d be the only one.”

“Great, I don’t like waiting in lines anyhow.” She continues with the cleansing.

“And how would Granny feel about that?”

“Probably the way she felt about me dating Peter when I was sixteen.” Red shrugs. “She couldn’t stop me then and, hypothetically speaking, if I were to fall for an evil werewolf queen while helping her deal with full moons, she couldn’t stop me now.”

“Your hypotheticals are oddly specific.”

“Maybe they’re a bit more than just hypothetical. They could be anyhow.”

Regina takes another deep breath and a sip of ale. It warms her belly as Red’s offer warms her cheeks. “I, yes, I suppose that they could be.”

“So that’s a yes then?” Red asks. “You’re going to take me up on my offer?”

Regina spares a glance at the widow. At the full moon that is slowly disappearing as dawn works its way in. The last rays of the moon fall upon her face. “I suppose I can.” But only because she would rather not face another full moon alone.

Red grins. “Great! You won’t regret it. I promise.”

#Once Upon A Time #Regina Mills #Ruby Lucas #Red Queen #Wolf Queen #Regina/Ruby #One Shot #Fanfiction #Werewolf

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