Fic
Title - Home Again
Fandom - Once Upon a Time
Pairing - Emma/Regina
Rating - NC17
AN - Set during The New Neverland and follows my drabbles, Mirror Mirror, This Provincial Life, Viviane or Nimue, Dreams and Wishes, All the Better to…., Magic Keys, Curiouser and Curiouser, Snow Blind, Spinning Straw , Wooden Hearts , Poisoned , True Love and Other Curses, Spellbound, Over the Rainbow, Facades, Lost Girls, Monstrosities, Love and Lies, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Dreamscapes, Homecomings, Test Match, Wishful Thinking, Absent Friends, Small Mercies, State of Mind, Good Intentions, Sins of Mothers, Affairs of the Heart, Power Plays, Crying Wolf, The Eye of the Storm, Doomsday Devices, Attachments, Pain and Pixie Dust, Absences, Fighting Fires, Poor Unfortunate Souls, Balancing Acts , Dogs and Their Bones and Not Today
The glass ripples yet again and she prays that this is the time it will actually work. The surface shimmers with promise but then goes dark and it takes almost more self-control than she has not to smash her traitorous reflection. She huffs and tries to blow the hair out of her eyes but even this simple task proves beyond her. Emma uses her hands to yank the errant strands back behind her ears and focuses her energy back on the glass.
She tries to slow her breathing and draw on the thing that usually fuels her magic - her love. Apparently her love is lacking tonight because the mirror doesn't respond. She curses her Saviour magic and its refusal to bend to her will. What good is power that is only reliable when the situation is truly dire? In fairness, in Storybrooke pretty much every day is life and death but that does her no good tonight. Her only crisis at present is that she has been jilted by her son and the strange feeling she has that something is not quite right with Henry. It prickles at the back of her mind that something is off but she can’t put her finger on what it is.
Whatever Henry is going through she can’t fix it right now. She can’t do anything right now she thinks as she looks at the dull surface of the hand mirror. Emma closes her eyes and concentrates on the things she wants, the things she needs, and she feels the handle vibrate in her palm. She risks opening her eyes and there is a surge of triumph as Regina’s darkened bedroom comes into view but it vanishes as quickly as it appeared.
Emma growls in frustration and bangs the infuriating object on the bed. For a second she believes that brute force has achieved what finesse could not because the mirror comes to life. A stream of light bursts out of it and when Emma looks directly at the glass that beam fades and is replaced by the unimpressed face of Regina.
“Miss Swan, if you are going to invade my privacy you should at least have the decency to be good at it.”
“I don’t understand why I couldn’t make it work.”
“You are untrained and undisciplined,” Regina answers dismissively.
“But I really wanted to talk to you,” she whines and leaves out the bit where really wanting something is usually more than enough to make her magic work.
“There is such a thing as a telephone,” Regina continues to scowl at her.
“Anyone could have used a telephone.”
“Yes, even you,” the words are clipped but a smile dances at the edge of Regina’s mouth.
“See, I knew the phone wouldn’t impress you.”
“What you’ve been doing with the mirror has been you trying to impress me?” Regina asks with the doubtful raise of an eyebrow.
“It might have if it had have worked,” she grumbles.
“I taught you how to use the mirror, dear, I expect you to be proficient.”
“Well maybe if I’d had time to practise more I would be.”
“Are you criticising my teaching methods?” Regina’s voice is more playful than it had been but her eyes flash with something distant and dangerous.
Shit. This is not at all how she planned this. “Well I’m not exactly known for being a great student.” Regina lips are pressed into a line and she doesn’t bother to answer Emma but at least her eyes are calm and as non-threatening as Regina is capable of being. “I really should have practised more,” she confesses, “there are way too many people relying on my magic, I need to be better at it.”
It would be the perfect opportunity for Regina to tell her how irresponsible she is but instead the brunette sighs and says, “Changing worlds can make things confusing, magic work differently here.”
“I’m not confused about how much I want to talk to you though and my magic is usually more responsive when it relates to things that I want, when it relates to you.”
Regina rewards her with the tiniest of smiles but to Emma the blessing is monumental, “It’s nice to have it acknowledged that I am a positive influence on you.”
“We are good for one another,” she says without thinking.
“Yes we are,” Regina agrees but there is a sadness to her delivery that sets off alarm bells for Emma.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?” Emma challenges gently.
“Nothing and everything,” Regina admits. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m pleased to be done with Neverland and I don’t ever want Henry to be in danger again but there were some things that were more convenient there. For a start it was a lot easier to sleep near you.”
“I miss you too,” she says a little too wistfully for someone who last saw Regina a few hours ago. “That’s one of the reasons I was trying to get the mirror to work.”
“I thought you weren’t such a fan of the mirror.”
“Yeah, well, that was before a bastard tried to take my son’s heart. The mirror suddenly doesn’t seem so bad.”
“Careful, dear, it’s a slippery slope,” the words are said in jest but there’s no denying that they come from a place of concern.
“I have you to keep to me on the straight and narrow.”
“I don’t imagine that anyone else would remotely think that that is a sensible plan.”
“What good would it do me to be taught by the so called heroes? What do they know of struggles or temptation? I’d rather be taught by someone who has faced the darkness and won.”
“I didn’t win Emma, don’t ever think that. I crossed lines that I can never uncross and it will always be frighteningly tempting for me to do it again.”
“And that’s why I know that you will do your best to protect me. You want better for me than that.”
“You’re quite sure of yourself there aren’t you, Miss Swan?”
“I know what I want,” she replies, “which is why it’s unacceptable that I couldn’t make the mirror work. I want to see you.”
“You’re seeing me now,” Regina points out.
“I want to see you, see you,” she complains, “do that poofing thing you do and come and get me.”
“You are perfectly capable of driving yourself over here.”
“So you think it’s appropriate for me to be showing up at your house at all hours?”
“There is very little appropriate about you, dear. I can only imagine that if you were to create a scene on my doorstep in the middle of the night that it would be put down to your pejorative upbringing. It’s not as though the leap from thief to disturber of the peace is a big one.”
“So there’s no other way that I can see you in person tonight?”
“I would think not Miss Swan.”
“Okay but you should know that I very much plan to disturb the peace, I am going to stand on your doorstep banging on your door and hollering at the top of my lungs, and I hope you have a good explanation for that when it wakes Henry up.”
Regina doesn’t reply and more worrying than her silence is the fact that mirror goes dark. Emma is busy contemplating where she stepped over the line and what kind of apology is going to be required when she finds herself engulfed in purple smoke. She feels the weight of Regina lying on top of her before she is able to see her.
“I thought you weren’t going to do this.”
The brunette quirks an eyebrow as she looks down at her, “Our son needs his rest.”
“Is that so?” Emma asks.
“Definitely,” Regina says and she pins Emma’s arms above her head.
“Regina, we shouldn’t be doing this here,” her protest is weak and it dies a quick death when she surrenders to Regina’s kiss. She basks in the rightness of this, of them, but when Regina moves to attack the blonde’s neck with her teeth Emma finds her voice again, “I really would prefer that we go to your place.”
“Why?” Regina purrs.
Everything about Regina screams sex and Emma is having trouble recalling why she had any reservations at all but a small frightened voice manages to break through, “Because if we do this here I can’t be sure that it’s about me.”
Regina stills and then strokes Emma’s hair back, “You think I think so little of you?”
“I worry you might hate my mother more than you like me,” she says softly.
The other woman bites her lip and lets out a sigh, “I’m not as good at hating her as I want to be,” she admits.
“Don’t put herself down, you’re a destroyer of worlds.”
“But I’ve never been able to kill her and I will kill you if you tell her this but for your sake, and for Henry’s, I’m glad she’s alive.”
“We have a complicated family,” Emily says by way of thank you, “and right now I’d rather not feel like I’m nothing more than a rebellious teen.”
“Fine,” Regina says grudgingly and the world turns purple as Regina’s arms envelope her. When feeling returns she is standing in Regina’s bedroom.
Emma is about to ask why they are wasting time when she sees Regina flick out her hand and attend to the unmade bed. She smiles at Regina’s strange perfectionism, the covers could have bunched painfully under Emma’s back and she wouldn’t have cared. Regina appears to be hesitating and Emma grabs her hand and pulls her to the bed. She falls back when her legs hit the mattress and uses her momentum to bring Regina down with her.
Regina hovers above her like a dangerous and deadly panther. “So Miss Swan, tell me why you are more comfortable doing this with our son down the hall than under the same roof as your parents?”
“This,” Emma tries to scoot herself up the bed, “at least seems more age appropriate.”
“It does?” Regina looks at her with genuine curiosity.
“Sure. Lots of parents have sex with their kids down the hall,”
“And that is how you see this, is it?” Regina’s voice is strange, somehow it’s both cold and vulnerable.
“Of course it is.” She reaches up and traces her fingers along Regina’s collarbone. “What’s going on Regina?”
“This is a small town, Emma,” Regina non-answers.
“I’m aware of that. I eagerly await the day it reaches the giddying heights of being worthy of a Denny’s or maybe an IHOP.”
“In small, fast-foodless towns news travels quickly.”
“So you still have some of your spy network intact?”
“It’s not what it once was, people don’t fear me as much as they used to, as much as they should, but even I still hear gossip once Snow opens her loose lips."
"And there is some sort of gossip that has upset you?"
"I know, Emma," is all that Regina says.
"Know what?" she asks, racking her brain to try and work out what it is that has Regina unsettled.
"About your date."
"Of course you do. You are going to be paying for it, remember?"
"Not that date. Your date with Neal."
"Oh," everything is suddenly a whole lot clearer, "that isn't a date."
"Are you sure?" Regina sounds calm but anger burns in her eyes.
"Of course I'm sure. It's just a lunch. One that I may not even attend by the way."
"You're mother thinks it's a date."
"My mother thinks a lot of things. She seems to believe that because I accidently conceived a child with Neal that I have sold my future to him. My mother also let Dr Whale put his slimy hands all over her so I think it's safe to say that her judgment in these matters is completely flawed."
“You’re mother does have a tendency to see what she wants to see and a history of grievous falsifications when it comes to me.”
Emma looks at Regina and feels a wave of fondness, “You know, it's not completely unreasonable to think that someone who is plotting your demise is evil.”
“Good and evil are just a matter of perspective, dear, but I wasn't referring to that I was thinking about what she claimed was my motive for wanting her head on a plate.”
“And what was that?”
“She told people I was envious of beauty,” Regina says with scorn.
“Wow. Really? I mean I knew about that shit from the stories but I didn't think it could be true.”
“Your mother is not above reproach, Emma.”
“I know that. I just don't understand why she would claim such a thing. Why would anyone believe that? Was everyone in the Enchanted Forest blind?”
“I don't want to sound vain, I know I'm attractive, but there are few people who would think I'm more attractive than Snow.”
Emma slowly shakes her head, “This is kinda gross to be talking about now that she's my mother and all but she is in no way more attractive than you.”
She finds herself rewarded with a peck to the cheek, “I'm glad you think so but I'm not sure that you're able to be objective on this matter.”
“Hey! I'll have you know that I'm waaaay more objective than these fairy tale people. They loved her, they resented you, and clearly that effected the way they saw you.”
“And I think you are doing that exact same thing now is happening to you now,” Regina tells her but she doesn't seem displeased.
“Nope. I made my judgements about your superficial appearance when I arrived here. Mary Margaret was lovely to me and I hated your guts but that doesn't mean that I didn't think you were drop dead gorgeous. I thought you were beautiful from the moment I saw you, terrifying but beautiful.”
“I think that's a combination I can live with.”
“Let’s agree not to worry about the things Snow claims about either of us.”
"So it's definitely not a date?"
"No way. I have a much more important date that I need to be planning."
"I will not be letting you plan it."
"So you still want to go with me?” The idea alone sets off a spark of joy in Emma’s heart.
“Evidently I do, Miss Swan,” the admission appears to make Regina uncomfortable.
“Even though you don’t trust that I wouldn’t throw you over for the first guy who comes along?” She’s aiming for flippant but there’s nothing flippant about the thought that Regina doesn’t trust her.
“He’s not just anyone though, is he? He’s Henry’s father. You have a past. People want you to be with him. He’s the obvious choice.”
“But he’s not my choice,” she says as she twirls Regina’s hair around her fingers. “How is it that you had the confidence to rule a kingdom but you doubt that someone could want you.”
“I ruled by force and I ruled by fear, that’s the only way I know how to make sure I get what I want but it didn’t make me the ruler they desired.”
“Well I do want you. There’s no need for fear of force, there’s no need for anything but to be you. Those people didn’t deserve you. They would support my parents’ right to rule. How can people who can’t even keep track of one another rule anything? Oh and for the record you are so much prettier than Neal. He looks terrible in a pencil skirt.”
Regina smiles at her and then bites her lip, “Don’t make me happy when I’m busy losing my mind about you meeting up with Neal.”
“Sweatheart,” she wraps her arms firmly around Regina’s waist, “I could have a thousand lunches with Neal and it wouldn’t change anything. My parents’ could find a million future husbands for me and I would still pick you.”
Regina closes her eyes and lets out a large breath and then attacks Emma with a fierce kiss. Emma returns the kiss, matching fire with fire, as her hands slide under Regina’s shirt and her fingers find homes in the valleys between Regina’s ribs. The women engage in kiss after punishing kiss until she pulls back and drags Regina’s lower lip through her teeth. Emma had planned to continue her assault but other woman shifts in her arms and sits bolt upright. For a fleeting moment Emma fears that Regina is having second thoughts but Regina arms cross at her torso and she removes her own top.
Emma studies the silhouette before her and wishes she could make Regina understand what she sees when she looks at her. Her vision might be a little distorted by lust at present but she knows she is looking at her person she loves and she is certain that she is looking at her future. She props herself up onto her elbows as Regina shimmies down her body. Emma gives Regina a questioning look and even in the low lighting she can see Regina smirk in response. The brunette grabs the hem of Emma’s T-shirt with her teeth and then slowly drags it up until it pools around her neck.
Technically she has as many clothes on as Regina, possibly more, but she feels incredibly naked. She pushes Regina onto her back and makes a point of removing Regina’s pants before she divests herself of her T-shirt. With the balance of power returned she settles herself between Regina’s legs and trails kisses along the brunette’s jawline. Regina’s head falls back as Emma’s lips move to her neck and thumbs hook into the sides Emma’s underwear. She had expected Regina to remove her last remaining piece of clothing but apparently this was little more than a distraction technique because somehow, while she was busy anticipating Regina’s next move, Regina has managed to reverse their positions once again.
She looks up at Regina who smiles wickedly before pushing soaked cotton panties aside and entering her. Emma gasps in response but her hips rock forward in approval of Regina’s actions. Regina’s fingers move in and out and the edge of Emma’s under garment rubs uncomfortably against flesh that should be treated more sensitively. Emma bends up a leg, planting her foot on the bed, and she grunts in approval when Regina moves to straddle her thigh. Emma is grateful that the satin gliding down her leg is wet because otherwise she would have found herself victim to a friction burn.
Regina’s eyes close and her breathing becomes uneven but her fingers do not falter. Emma closes her own eyes and tries to distance herself from the situation. She wants to be the one to hold on, the one who is in control, but it seems her body doesn’t give a shit what she wants. It starts to shudder, without her permission, and she knows this is the beginning of the end. Part of her is disappointed not to be the victor but there are definitely worse battles to lose.
Slick fingers link through hers as Regina continues to thrust against her. She uses her free hand to palm Regina’s breast before tracing a pert nipple with her fingers.
“Kiss me,” Regina commands and Emma is more than happy to comply.
The kissing continues as Emma’s fingers squeeze Regina’s nipple and then with a final twist Regina is undone. She screams into Emma’s mouth and collapses against her. Emma holds Regina gently until Regina rolls off her and onto her side. Emma moves to spoon Regina from behind and wraps a possessive arm around her.
“I didn’t think it mattered,” Regina tells her.
"Didn't think what mattered?"
"The date."
Emma places kisses along the bones of Regina’s spine, “I told you, it’s not a date.”
“No not that date, our date. I only agreed to that to humour you. I needed you to focus on saving Henry.”
“I know that,” Emma says as she kisses her way back up Regina’s neck.
“You do?”
“I’m not as dumb as you think I am.”
“You’ve met your parents. You can understand why I might have my doubts.”
“Very funny,” she replies sarcastically.
“It seems I need to stop worrying about your lack of intelligence and start worrying about mine because I think I really want this date.”
“That’s not a bad thing,” Emma smiles against Regina’s skin.
“It’s a ridiculous thing.”
“Why it’s it ridiculous?”
“It’s not of my world, Emma, it’s not of my life. It makes no sense for me to want it.”
“It could be nice,” Emma tells her, “what am I saying - you are paying for and planning it - it will be nice. What would be so bad about that?”
“It’s such a silly thing to want.”
“But not so silly that the thought of me going on a date with Neal didn’t hurt you?”
“That does appear to be about the extent of it. I’m sorry I was jealous. I don’t want to you to feel that I don’t trust you. I guess I still have a lot of work to do when it comes to trusting me.”
“It’s okay. It’s kinda flattering and I can’t be critical of you when I’ve been jealous too.”
“You don’t have anything to be jealous about.”
“I was jealous of Henry.” Emma can feel Regina’s entire body go tense.
“Jealous isn’t the word you are looking for.”
“Yes it is,” Emma insists.
“I know you think that something is wrong with him because he asked to come with me.”
“You’re right,” the tension in Regina’s body increases, “I’m worried that what he’s been through has had an impact on him, and he doesn’t seem quite himself, but I’m not worried that he wanted to go home with you. I’m envious that he gets to do that. I resent our son because he just gets to declare that he wants to be with you and everyone accepts that.”
“They don’t exactly accept it Emma.”
“Well they don’t try to stop it, that would a nice start. Actually that would be enough.”
“I don’t think it would. I think you are looking for something better than just enough.”
“Not if it means I’m with you, I’m not. I could just tell everyone that it’s fine for Henry to want to be with you and I want to be with you too.”
“And you think that would make you happy.”
“I know it would,” her heart is certain that it’s the only thing she wants.
“For how long?”
“Forever if that’s what we have.”
Regina grabs her hand and brings it up to her lips to kiss it, “Those are nice thoughts, Emma.”
“They’re not just thoughts, it’s the way I feel.”
“But you can’t be sure you’ll continue to feel that way in the face of judgement and rejection.”
“I don’t care what anyone thinks.”
“That’s easy to say but they won’t make it easy. Ultimately they’ll will make you choose between them and me and I don’t want you to be in the position.”
Emma knows that that sentiment isn’t entirely noble, that part of Regina is frightened of what Emma’s choice would be, but it still feels good to have someone put her first. “I don’t want it to be like this. I don’t want my parents to be making dates for me with people they want to marry me off to. I want to be able to have lunch with you every day and for everyone to understand what that means.”
“Maybe one day.”
“When?’ Emma asks impatiently.
“When things are more settled I guess.”
“That’s never going to happen.”
“You really think that?”
“I don’t know, it’s seems like someone is always trying to kill us.”
“That does indeed seem to be the case and then there’s Henry to think of. Do you really think he’s traumatised?”
“I’d be worried if he wasn’t.”
“Fair enough but I don’t think the way to deal with that trauma is to tell everyone that you are fine that he wanted to spend the night with me.”
“But I am fine with that, more than fine.”
“I would hope so,” there is an edge to Regina’s voice that is chilling, “but if we want to help him then things need to be as normal possible.”
“So I shouldn’t show up at breakfast in the morning wearing your robe and demanding pancakes?”
“If you keep making suggestions like that I will send you home immediately.”
“I don’t want to go at all,” she surprises herself by how quickly she has managed to move from playful to earnest and surprises herself even more when she realises that she doesn’t see her parents' place as home. Regina might send her back there but she will not be sending her home because home is right here. Home is wherever Regina and Henry are.
“And I want you to stay but you can’t be here when Henry wakes up.”
“We have a good few hours yet.”
Regina turns in her arms and then runs her fingers over Emma’s face, “If I don’t make you go now I may not be able to.”
“Sounds good to me,” she says smugly and finds herself choking on her words. Her world has become purple and when the purple is gone so has everything else. She is alone in her own bed but the mirror is alive with images.
Emma picks it up and Regina begins speaking immediately, “Now if you’d been more willing to do things under your parents’ roof I might have stayed around a little longer, dear.”
“You’re evil,” she complains.
“So everybody tells me.”
“I didn’t mean it like that, I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. Goodnight Emma, see you soon.”
“Wait,’ Emma cries, “promise me something.”
“What?” It’s just one word but Emma can feel Regina’s caution.
“Promise me that it won’t always be this way.”
“I promise,” Regina says with a sad smile but they both know that she doesn’t really believe it.
Fandom - Once Upon a Time
Pairing - Emma/Regina
Rating - NC17
AN - Set during The New Neverland and follows my drabbles, Mirror Mirror, This Provincial Life, Viviane or Nimue, Dreams and Wishes, All the Better to…., Magic Keys, Curiouser and Curiouser, Snow Blind, Spinning Straw , Wooden Hearts , Poisoned , True Love and Other Curses, Spellbound, Over the Rainbow, Facades, Lost Girls, Monstrosities, Love and Lies, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Dreamscapes, Homecomings, Test Match, Wishful Thinking, Absent Friends, Small Mercies, State of Mind, Good Intentions, Sins of Mothers, Affairs of the Heart, Power Plays, Crying Wolf, The Eye of the Storm, Doomsday Devices, Attachments, Pain and Pixie Dust, Absences, Fighting Fires, Poor Unfortunate Souls, Balancing Acts , Dogs and Their Bones and Not Today
The glass ripples yet again and she prays that this is the time it will actually work. The surface shimmers with promise but then goes dark and it takes almost more self-control than she has not to smash her traitorous reflection. She huffs and tries to blow the hair out of her eyes but even this simple task proves beyond her. Emma uses her hands to yank the errant strands back behind her ears and focuses her energy back on the glass.
She tries to slow her breathing and draw on the thing that usually fuels her magic - her love. Apparently her love is lacking tonight because the mirror doesn't respond. She curses her Saviour magic and its refusal to bend to her will. What good is power that is only reliable when the situation is truly dire? In fairness, in Storybrooke pretty much every day is life and death but that does her no good tonight. Her only crisis at present is that she has been jilted by her son and the strange feeling she has that something is not quite right with Henry. It prickles at the back of her mind that something is off but she can’t put her finger on what it is.
Whatever Henry is going through she can’t fix it right now. She can’t do anything right now she thinks as she looks at the dull surface of the hand mirror. Emma closes her eyes and concentrates on the things she wants, the things she needs, and she feels the handle vibrate in her palm. She risks opening her eyes and there is a surge of triumph as Regina’s darkened bedroom comes into view but it vanishes as quickly as it appeared.
Emma growls in frustration and bangs the infuriating object on the bed. For a second she believes that brute force has achieved what finesse could not because the mirror comes to life. A stream of light bursts out of it and when Emma looks directly at the glass that beam fades and is replaced by the unimpressed face of Regina.
“Miss Swan, if you are going to invade my privacy you should at least have the decency to be good at it.”
“I don’t understand why I couldn’t make it work.”
“You are untrained and undisciplined,” Regina answers dismissively.
“But I really wanted to talk to you,” she whines and leaves out the bit where really wanting something is usually more than enough to make her magic work.
“There is such a thing as a telephone,” Regina continues to scowl at her.
“Anyone could have used a telephone.”
“Yes, even you,” the words are clipped but a smile dances at the edge of Regina’s mouth.
“See, I knew the phone wouldn’t impress you.”
“What you’ve been doing with the mirror has been you trying to impress me?” Regina asks with the doubtful raise of an eyebrow.
“It might have if it had have worked,” she grumbles.
“I taught you how to use the mirror, dear, I expect you to be proficient.”
“Well maybe if I’d had time to practise more I would be.”
“Are you criticising my teaching methods?” Regina’s voice is more playful than it had been but her eyes flash with something distant and dangerous.
Shit. This is not at all how she planned this. “Well I’m not exactly known for being a great student.” Regina lips are pressed into a line and she doesn’t bother to answer Emma but at least her eyes are calm and as non-threatening as Regina is capable of being. “I really should have practised more,” she confesses, “there are way too many people relying on my magic, I need to be better at it.”
It would be the perfect opportunity for Regina to tell her how irresponsible she is but instead the brunette sighs and says, “Changing worlds can make things confusing, magic work differently here.”
“I’m not confused about how much I want to talk to you though and my magic is usually more responsive when it relates to things that I want, when it relates to you.”
Regina rewards her with the tiniest of smiles but to Emma the blessing is monumental, “It’s nice to have it acknowledged that I am a positive influence on you.”
“We are good for one another,” she says without thinking.
“Yes we are,” Regina agrees but there is a sadness to her delivery that sets off alarm bells for Emma.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?” Emma challenges gently.
“Nothing and everything,” Regina admits. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m pleased to be done with Neverland and I don’t ever want Henry to be in danger again but there were some things that were more convenient there. For a start it was a lot easier to sleep near you.”
“I miss you too,” she says a little too wistfully for someone who last saw Regina a few hours ago. “That’s one of the reasons I was trying to get the mirror to work.”
“I thought you weren’t such a fan of the mirror.”
“Yeah, well, that was before a bastard tried to take my son’s heart. The mirror suddenly doesn’t seem so bad.”
“Careful, dear, it’s a slippery slope,” the words are said in jest but there’s no denying that they come from a place of concern.
“I have you to keep to me on the straight and narrow.”
“I don’t imagine that anyone else would remotely think that that is a sensible plan.”
“What good would it do me to be taught by the so called heroes? What do they know of struggles or temptation? I’d rather be taught by someone who has faced the darkness and won.”
“I didn’t win Emma, don’t ever think that. I crossed lines that I can never uncross and it will always be frighteningly tempting for me to do it again.”
“And that’s why I know that you will do your best to protect me. You want better for me than that.”
“You’re quite sure of yourself there aren’t you, Miss Swan?”
“I know what I want,” she replies, “which is why it’s unacceptable that I couldn’t make the mirror work. I want to see you.”
“You’re seeing me now,” Regina points out.
“I want to see you, see you,” she complains, “do that poofing thing you do and come and get me.”
“You are perfectly capable of driving yourself over here.”
“So you think it’s appropriate for me to be showing up at your house at all hours?”
“There is very little appropriate about you, dear. I can only imagine that if you were to create a scene on my doorstep in the middle of the night that it would be put down to your pejorative upbringing. It’s not as though the leap from thief to disturber of the peace is a big one.”
“So there’s no other way that I can see you in person tonight?”
“I would think not Miss Swan.”
“Okay but you should know that I very much plan to disturb the peace, I am going to stand on your doorstep banging on your door and hollering at the top of my lungs, and I hope you have a good explanation for that when it wakes Henry up.”
Regina doesn’t reply and more worrying than her silence is the fact that mirror goes dark. Emma is busy contemplating where she stepped over the line and what kind of apology is going to be required when she finds herself engulfed in purple smoke. She feels the weight of Regina lying on top of her before she is able to see her.
“I thought you weren’t going to do this.”
The brunette quirks an eyebrow as she looks down at her, “Our son needs his rest.”
“Is that so?” Emma asks.
“Definitely,” Regina says and she pins Emma’s arms above her head.
“Regina, we shouldn’t be doing this here,” her protest is weak and it dies a quick death when she surrenders to Regina’s kiss. She basks in the rightness of this, of them, but when Regina moves to attack the blonde’s neck with her teeth Emma finds her voice again, “I really would prefer that we go to your place.”
“Why?” Regina purrs.
Everything about Regina screams sex and Emma is having trouble recalling why she had any reservations at all but a small frightened voice manages to break through, “Because if we do this here I can’t be sure that it’s about me.”
Regina stills and then strokes Emma’s hair back, “You think I think so little of you?”
“I worry you might hate my mother more than you like me,” she says softly.
The other woman bites her lip and lets out a sigh, “I’m not as good at hating her as I want to be,” she admits.
“Don’t put herself down, you’re a destroyer of worlds.”
“But I’ve never been able to kill her and I will kill you if you tell her this but for your sake, and for Henry’s, I’m glad she’s alive.”
“We have a complicated family,” Emily says by way of thank you, “and right now I’d rather not feel like I’m nothing more than a rebellious teen.”
“Fine,” Regina says grudgingly and the world turns purple as Regina’s arms envelope her. When feeling returns she is standing in Regina’s bedroom.
Emma is about to ask why they are wasting time when she sees Regina flick out her hand and attend to the unmade bed. She smiles at Regina’s strange perfectionism, the covers could have bunched painfully under Emma’s back and she wouldn’t have cared. Regina appears to be hesitating and Emma grabs her hand and pulls her to the bed. She falls back when her legs hit the mattress and uses her momentum to bring Regina down with her.
Regina hovers above her like a dangerous and deadly panther. “So Miss Swan, tell me why you are more comfortable doing this with our son down the hall than under the same roof as your parents?”
“This,” Emma tries to scoot herself up the bed, “at least seems more age appropriate.”
“It does?” Regina looks at her with genuine curiosity.
“Sure. Lots of parents have sex with their kids down the hall,”
“And that is how you see this, is it?” Regina’s voice is strange, somehow it’s both cold and vulnerable.
“Of course it is.” She reaches up and traces her fingers along Regina’s collarbone. “What’s going on Regina?”
“This is a small town, Emma,” Regina non-answers.
“I’m aware of that. I eagerly await the day it reaches the giddying heights of being worthy of a Denny’s or maybe an IHOP.”
“In small, fast-foodless towns news travels quickly.”
“So you still have some of your spy network intact?”
“It’s not what it once was, people don’t fear me as much as they used to, as much as they should, but even I still hear gossip once Snow opens her loose lips."
"And there is some sort of gossip that has upset you?"
"I know, Emma," is all that Regina says.
"Know what?" she asks, racking her brain to try and work out what it is that has Regina unsettled.
"About your date."
"Of course you do. You are going to be paying for it, remember?"
"Not that date. Your date with Neal."
"Oh," everything is suddenly a whole lot clearer, "that isn't a date."
"Are you sure?" Regina sounds calm but anger burns in her eyes.
"Of course I'm sure. It's just a lunch. One that I may not even attend by the way."
"You're mother thinks it's a date."
"My mother thinks a lot of things. She seems to believe that because I accidently conceived a child with Neal that I have sold my future to him. My mother also let Dr Whale put his slimy hands all over her so I think it's safe to say that her judgment in these matters is completely flawed."
“You’re mother does have a tendency to see what she wants to see and a history of grievous falsifications when it comes to me.”
Emma looks at Regina and feels a wave of fondness, “You know, it's not completely unreasonable to think that someone who is plotting your demise is evil.”
“Good and evil are just a matter of perspective, dear, but I wasn't referring to that I was thinking about what she claimed was my motive for wanting her head on a plate.”
“And what was that?”
“She told people I was envious of beauty,” Regina says with scorn.
“Wow. Really? I mean I knew about that shit from the stories but I didn't think it could be true.”
“Your mother is not above reproach, Emma.”
“I know that. I just don't understand why she would claim such a thing. Why would anyone believe that? Was everyone in the Enchanted Forest blind?”
“I don't want to sound vain, I know I'm attractive, but there are few people who would think I'm more attractive than Snow.”
Emma slowly shakes her head, “This is kinda gross to be talking about now that she's my mother and all but she is in no way more attractive than you.”
She finds herself rewarded with a peck to the cheek, “I'm glad you think so but I'm not sure that you're able to be objective on this matter.”
“Hey! I'll have you know that I'm waaaay more objective than these fairy tale people. They loved her, they resented you, and clearly that effected the way they saw you.”
“And I think you are doing that exact same thing now is happening to you now,” Regina tells her but she doesn't seem displeased.
“Nope. I made my judgements about your superficial appearance when I arrived here. Mary Margaret was lovely to me and I hated your guts but that doesn't mean that I didn't think you were drop dead gorgeous. I thought you were beautiful from the moment I saw you, terrifying but beautiful.”
“I think that's a combination I can live with.”
“Let’s agree not to worry about the things Snow claims about either of us.”
"So it's definitely not a date?"
"No way. I have a much more important date that I need to be planning."
"I will not be letting you plan it."
"So you still want to go with me?” The idea alone sets off a spark of joy in Emma’s heart.
“Evidently I do, Miss Swan,” the admission appears to make Regina uncomfortable.
“Even though you don’t trust that I wouldn’t throw you over for the first guy who comes along?” She’s aiming for flippant but there’s nothing flippant about the thought that Regina doesn’t trust her.
“He’s not just anyone though, is he? He’s Henry’s father. You have a past. People want you to be with him. He’s the obvious choice.”
“But he’s not my choice,” she says as she twirls Regina’s hair around her fingers. “How is it that you had the confidence to rule a kingdom but you doubt that someone could want you.”
“I ruled by force and I ruled by fear, that’s the only way I know how to make sure I get what I want but it didn’t make me the ruler they desired.”
“Well I do want you. There’s no need for fear of force, there’s no need for anything but to be you. Those people didn’t deserve you. They would support my parents’ right to rule. How can people who can’t even keep track of one another rule anything? Oh and for the record you are so much prettier than Neal. He looks terrible in a pencil skirt.”
Regina smiles at her and then bites her lip, “Don’t make me happy when I’m busy losing my mind about you meeting up with Neal.”
“Sweatheart,” she wraps her arms firmly around Regina’s waist, “I could have a thousand lunches with Neal and it wouldn’t change anything. My parents’ could find a million future husbands for me and I would still pick you.”
Regina closes her eyes and lets out a large breath and then attacks Emma with a fierce kiss. Emma returns the kiss, matching fire with fire, as her hands slide under Regina’s shirt and her fingers find homes in the valleys between Regina’s ribs. The women engage in kiss after punishing kiss until she pulls back and drags Regina’s lower lip through her teeth. Emma had planned to continue her assault but other woman shifts in her arms and sits bolt upright. For a fleeting moment Emma fears that Regina is having second thoughts but Regina arms cross at her torso and she removes her own top.
Emma studies the silhouette before her and wishes she could make Regina understand what she sees when she looks at her. Her vision might be a little distorted by lust at present but she knows she is looking at her person she loves and she is certain that she is looking at her future. She props herself up onto her elbows as Regina shimmies down her body. Emma gives Regina a questioning look and even in the low lighting she can see Regina smirk in response. The brunette grabs the hem of Emma’s T-shirt with her teeth and then slowly drags it up until it pools around her neck.
Technically she has as many clothes on as Regina, possibly more, but she feels incredibly naked. She pushes Regina onto her back and makes a point of removing Regina’s pants before she divests herself of her T-shirt. With the balance of power returned she settles herself between Regina’s legs and trails kisses along the brunette’s jawline. Regina’s head falls back as Emma’s lips move to her neck and thumbs hook into the sides Emma’s underwear. She had expected Regina to remove her last remaining piece of clothing but apparently this was little more than a distraction technique because somehow, while she was busy anticipating Regina’s next move, Regina has managed to reverse their positions once again.
She looks up at Regina who smiles wickedly before pushing soaked cotton panties aside and entering her. Emma gasps in response but her hips rock forward in approval of Regina’s actions. Regina’s fingers move in and out and the edge of Emma’s under garment rubs uncomfortably against flesh that should be treated more sensitively. Emma bends up a leg, planting her foot on the bed, and she grunts in approval when Regina moves to straddle her thigh. Emma is grateful that the satin gliding down her leg is wet because otherwise she would have found herself victim to a friction burn.
Regina’s eyes close and her breathing becomes uneven but her fingers do not falter. Emma closes her own eyes and tries to distance herself from the situation. She wants to be the one to hold on, the one who is in control, but it seems her body doesn’t give a shit what she wants. It starts to shudder, without her permission, and she knows this is the beginning of the end. Part of her is disappointed not to be the victor but there are definitely worse battles to lose.
Slick fingers link through hers as Regina continues to thrust against her. She uses her free hand to palm Regina’s breast before tracing a pert nipple with her fingers.
“Kiss me,” Regina commands and Emma is more than happy to comply.
The kissing continues as Emma’s fingers squeeze Regina’s nipple and then with a final twist Regina is undone. She screams into Emma’s mouth and collapses against her. Emma holds Regina gently until Regina rolls off her and onto her side. Emma moves to spoon Regina from behind and wraps a possessive arm around her.
“I didn’t think it mattered,” Regina tells her.
"Didn't think what mattered?"
"The date."
Emma places kisses along the bones of Regina’s spine, “I told you, it’s not a date.”
“No not that date, our date. I only agreed to that to humour you. I needed you to focus on saving Henry.”
“I know that,” Emma says as she kisses her way back up Regina’s neck.
“You do?”
“I’m not as dumb as you think I am.”
“You’ve met your parents. You can understand why I might have my doubts.”
“Very funny,” she replies sarcastically.
“It seems I need to stop worrying about your lack of intelligence and start worrying about mine because I think I really want this date.”
“That’s not a bad thing,” Emma smiles against Regina’s skin.
“It’s a ridiculous thing.”
“Why it’s it ridiculous?”
“It’s not of my world, Emma, it’s not of my life. It makes no sense for me to want it.”
“It could be nice,” Emma tells her, “what am I saying - you are paying for and planning it - it will be nice. What would be so bad about that?”
“It’s such a silly thing to want.”
“But not so silly that the thought of me going on a date with Neal didn’t hurt you?”
“That does appear to be about the extent of it. I’m sorry I was jealous. I don’t want to you to feel that I don’t trust you. I guess I still have a lot of work to do when it comes to trusting me.”
“It’s okay. It’s kinda flattering and I can’t be critical of you when I’ve been jealous too.”
“You don’t have anything to be jealous about.”
“I was jealous of Henry.” Emma can feel Regina’s entire body go tense.
“Jealous isn’t the word you are looking for.”
“Yes it is,” Emma insists.
“I know you think that something is wrong with him because he asked to come with me.”
“You’re right,” the tension in Regina’s body increases, “I’m worried that what he’s been through has had an impact on him, and he doesn’t seem quite himself, but I’m not worried that he wanted to go home with you. I’m envious that he gets to do that. I resent our son because he just gets to declare that he wants to be with you and everyone accepts that.”
“They don’t exactly accept it Emma.”
“Well they don’t try to stop it, that would a nice start. Actually that would be enough.”
“I don’t think it would. I think you are looking for something better than just enough.”
“Not if it means I’m with you, I’m not. I could just tell everyone that it’s fine for Henry to want to be with you and I want to be with you too.”
“And you think that would make you happy.”
“I know it would,” her heart is certain that it’s the only thing she wants.
“For how long?”
“Forever if that’s what we have.”
Regina grabs her hand and brings it up to her lips to kiss it, “Those are nice thoughts, Emma.”
“They’re not just thoughts, it’s the way I feel.”
“But you can’t be sure you’ll continue to feel that way in the face of judgement and rejection.”
“I don’t care what anyone thinks.”
“That’s easy to say but they won’t make it easy. Ultimately they’ll will make you choose between them and me and I don’t want you to be in the position.”
Emma knows that that sentiment isn’t entirely noble, that part of Regina is frightened of what Emma’s choice would be, but it still feels good to have someone put her first. “I don’t want it to be like this. I don’t want my parents to be making dates for me with people they want to marry me off to. I want to be able to have lunch with you every day and for everyone to understand what that means.”
“Maybe one day.”
“When?’ Emma asks impatiently.
“When things are more settled I guess.”
“That’s never going to happen.”
“You really think that?”
“I don’t know, it’s seems like someone is always trying to kill us.”
“That does indeed seem to be the case and then there’s Henry to think of. Do you really think he’s traumatised?”
“I’d be worried if he wasn’t.”
“Fair enough but I don’t think the way to deal with that trauma is to tell everyone that you are fine that he wanted to spend the night with me.”
“But I am fine with that, more than fine.”
“I would hope so,” there is an edge to Regina’s voice that is chilling, “but if we want to help him then things need to be as normal possible.”
“So I shouldn’t show up at breakfast in the morning wearing your robe and demanding pancakes?”
“If you keep making suggestions like that I will send you home immediately.”
“I don’t want to go at all,” she surprises herself by how quickly she has managed to move from playful to earnest and surprises herself even more when she realises that she doesn’t see her parents' place as home. Regina might send her back there but she will not be sending her home because home is right here. Home is wherever Regina and Henry are.
“And I want you to stay but you can’t be here when Henry wakes up.”
“We have a good few hours yet.”
Regina turns in her arms and then runs her fingers over Emma’s face, “If I don’t make you go now I may not be able to.”
“Sounds good to me,” she says smugly and finds herself choking on her words. Her world has become purple and when the purple is gone so has everything else. She is alone in her own bed but the mirror is alive with images.
Emma picks it up and Regina begins speaking immediately, “Now if you’d been more willing to do things under your parents’ roof I might have stayed around a little longer, dear.”
“You’re evil,” she complains.
“So everybody tells me.”
“I didn’t mean it like that, I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. Goodnight Emma, see you soon.”
“Wait,’ Emma cries, “promise me something.”
“What?” It’s just one word but Emma can feel Regina’s caution.
“Promise me that it won’t always be this way.”
“I promise,” Regina says with a sad smile but they both know that she doesn’t really believe it.