The shift in the air was palpable, at least to her when her hand met the hot and clammy skin of Maleficent’s hand. She was so warm. Regina still found it baffling how it could be normal. Yet, many of her thoughts were cut short when Maleficent moved, the water receding as she stretched, revealing more of her nakedness to Regina’s gaze. For but a moment she found herself staring, but it was only that. Barely a moment before her cheeks tinged pink and she quickly snapped it back up to meet Maleficent’s and focus on her instruction. Try to, at any rate. She didn’t understand what it was about this woman. She’d seen other women in such states of undress, and never cared at all. Yet the mere glimpse of Maleficent’s bare form and she felt as if she’d just committed some truly forbidden sin, and only wanted to do it again.
Words. She reminded herself in a scold, focus on her words. And focus she did, enough that her expression fell, fingers twitching with the desire to pull back to the safety of her own clutch. “More burns?” She repeated, sounding almost saddened that this was to be her solution. “What if I —- what if I can’t do it? Won’t I be hurt further?”
She did still trust Maleficent, but the knotting in her stomach made it difficult to trust herself. She could barely summon a fireball of her own, how was she supposed to be the one responsible for this? “Can’t you just…” she scrunched her face, using her good hand to mimic what she’d seen Rumpelstiltskin do countless times to heal with his magic. “ —- Make it better?” Looking to the woman earnestly, with pain and trepidation clear in her eyes, Regina held onto the last shred of hope she had that it might be different. That everything might not, for once, boil down to her inadequacy with magic. After all, what good was she really if she couldn’t even heal her own self?
“No, it won’t —” It was difficult not to become frustrated, but she knew that now was one of the times she shouldn’t. That she should try to have patience, understanding, things she otherwise wholly lacked. Drawing in a breath to calm herself, both her anger and frankly her nerves over facing the potential for inadequacies to all come rearing forward. That despite having her power back she didn’t truly have it. Not like she had.
“I won’t hurt you.” Her words were certain, a forcefulness in their assurance. And she hoped that it was enough to allay the fear that rose in those large brown eyes that threatened to bore through her were she not successful. “It won’t be actual fire, this spell it, it takes what was used to harm you and it counteracts it. You repell the heat and you heal.” It was difficult to explain when even she couldn’t recall exactly what circumstance had led her to creating the spell in the first place. But she trusted her words, that it was in the book at all meant it had worked on someone. And it would work again. She would make it work again.
“I can’t heal the way Rumpelstiltskin does, I’ve never needed to. I found my own ways and this is what I can offer you. You don’t have to be afraid.” It sounded so foreign to hear in her own voice. Even more to feel that it was true. Nothing in this castle was to be feared, not by her. Not now and likely not ever again.
The water she sat in began to cool as she focused her energy on bringing heat to her hand, just barely at first, and with only Regina’s fingertips and heel of her palm rested atop her own it would likely not be felt at all. “Don’t look at your hand, just look at me.” She told her, her own gaze staying locked forward.