hunnyfresh - Letters from War

She imagined it a lot actually. Wondered what was going through their heads, what they were talking about. Did they even know their fate when the first mine went off or was it too fast for them to comprehend? Too many questions ran through her head when she thought about it too much.

Looking down at her letter, she scratched out the last bit and calculated when Regina would probably get it. Most likely a week from now. Less than two if the postal office wasn't busy. So for three weeks until that letter would come, Regina would be in a panic.

She didn't want to wait to hear from Regina. She didn't want to keep Regina waiting any longer. Make it the right time , August had once said. Regina had said it too, and it led to the best thing that could have ever happened to Emma.

Fuck it, she thought as she got out of bed, book and letter discarded on the nightstand, to creep three cots over to where Neal was sleeping, flat on his back, his head tilted to the right as he snored softly. If she pulled this off, this would be one for the history books as she crouched by his bed and slid his folded pair of cargos he kept under there toward her. Emma used to silently make fun of the guy for keeping his phone on him all the time, calling his girlfriend turned wife whenever he got a free minute, but now she knew why and sympathized.

Making a mental note to get a cell phone when she went back home, Emma found Neal's easily, tucked in his pocket, turned off for the night. She replaced his pants back under the bed and tip toed back to her own, wonderfully making no noise as she lay with her back to the rest of the team and kept her pillow over her head for extra privacy and a little muffling.

She flipped open the phone, pleased that it hadn't made a sound when she turned it on. Regina's number came easily to her fingers as she pressed on the number pad and put the phone to her ear. The message warning her about long-distance charges only halted her for a second when she realized her plan wasn't entirely flawless. She had done this much, anyway. Might as well go all the way. But really, she just needed to hear Regina's voice and damn the consequences.

The phone rang quietly in the dead of the night and Emma realized that maybe Regina wouldn't even answer. Her efforts would be wasted and she wouldn't hear from Regina until sometime this week if she had the time.

"Hello?" Regina's husky, sleep-ridden voice broke through the line, and Emma swore it was the best sound in the world.

"Hey," Emma whispered watery, a soft bristle she wasn't even sure she heard herself.

"Emma?" From the rustling on the phone, Emma could tell Regina had sat up frantically, most likely clutching the phone to her as she reached over to turn on her nightstand lamp, no doubt catching the time on her alarm clock to see the late hour. "Emma, what's wrong? Are you okay?"

The habitual I'm fine was on the tip of her tongue, wanting to reassure the older woman, but she shook her head. "I'm kinda going crazy missing you."

A sad yet pleased chuckle sounded throatily from Regina as the brunette sighed, the tension leaving her from that one exhale. "Yes, well, I'm sure you can tell I've gone a little frantic myself."

"Just a little bit," the blonde joked before taking a breath and levelling the steadiness in her voice. "But I'm okay. Just long days."

"Good," Regina said so definitively that god help anyone if Emma wasn't okay.

"You and the kid?"

"We're doing well. We miss you."

"Good," the blonde said softly but just as intently.

They let the silence surround them, content to pretend that Emma was in Boston for the weekend, visiting August and that she'd be back soon, or that Regina had to go out of town for some political business and Emma was watching Henry waiting for her to come home. It was only a minute, a minute of blessed imagination before the air turned and both women knew. Their time was up.

"I. . ."

"I know."

"I'll call you as soon as I can," Emma promised.

"I'll send you another jar of cocoa."

The blonde groaned in want. "You're a godsend."

Regina chuckled then sighed. "Good night, Emma."

"Night."

September 13, 2004 - Fort Benning, Georgia

Emma squinted at the small box in her lap filled with styrofoam peanuts and a VHS tape. On the inside of the box was August's writing, nothing more than what Emma could only possibly describe as a smug You're Welcome . There was no card or any other form of instruction, and for some reason Emma was a little frightened. Though August was serious when he had to be, Emma knew him better than that and knew if he could get away with being foolish he would.

Luckily for Emma, she had commandeered the smaller common room that had the working VCR player for herself and sat in a metal folding chair in front of the ancient box television. Pulling out the tape and slipping it into the player, Emma sat back in her chair and hit play on the remote.

The screen came to life, black at first before a flash of green appeared so quickly Emma almost blinked at the suddenness. Digital orange numbers were permanently etched in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen, boasting the date of 08/31/04, as the camera blurred from the green of the grass to a mass of meshed colour before it finally settled on August as the man had the camera turned on himself. He winked with a smirk, and Emma squinted wondering what the hell he had gotten into now.

The video blurred again until it settled on the outside of a building. Almost instantly Emma recognized it as Henry's daycare. August was in the back where the kids went out to play. What the hell was he doing there? Oh shit, what the hell was he doing in Storybrooke?

If she wasn't holding her breath then, she was now when at the left side of the camera she caught just the outline of a familiar brunette, cropped locks and made up face. Regina . Then a horde of kids came out in the brightest shade of yellow Emma had ever seen, and as the camera zoomed in, blurry at first before focusing steadily on a yellow little thing with a mop of brown hair, Emma realized. It was Henry's summer concert.

Her eyes watered as she leaned forward in her seat where Henry beamed at her from the TV.

The familiar thick New Zealand accent that was Tina Bell sounded off camera before August panned out again to show the entire class and their teacher.

"Our toddler class would like to welcome you to our summer concert this year," Tina said excitedly as a string of clapping sounded from the audience. She turned toward the toddlers and nodded.

"Good mor-ning par-ents and friends!" They yelled at the top of their lungs, earning them laughter as they beamed at their job well done. Most of the kids had proceeded to find their parents, waving at them or taking steps toward them before other teachers helped them remember to stay still.

"We've got a couple of songs for you today, so we hope you enjoy them." Tina walked to the edge of the grass, a few feet from where the audience began and sat cross-legged on the ground. Motioning to a teacher in the back, music began playing as the camera zoomed back closer to Henry.

" Well the sun comes up and the rooster crows! I get out of bed and put on my clothes! Today's gonna be a most spectacular day! " He belted out 'My Little Yellow Bus' as he danced along to the choreography Tina had shown the class.

Emma was grinning from ear to ear as she watched him sing and thought back to their phone conversations where he had performed it for her. No doubt the kid was doing the moves he could while on the phone – pretending to drive a bus, waving for friends to hop on board, and his adorable attempt at whistling as they were " whistling along in my little yellow bus. "