They meet in the bathroom of Storybrooke Junior High during fourth period as they have every day for the last two weeks. Today is different though as it is cloaked in the official air of exchanging tokens of friendship. Today, Emma and Regina plan to give each other the ultimate gift, handmade bracelets that they have worked tirelessly on. You cannot be best friends until you have crafted and traded physical confirmation. As twelve year old girls, they are intimately aware of this and have decided that it is time to take their friendship to the next level.
Regina's work is careful and calculated. Not a single thread appears to be out of place or knotted in any fashion but deliberate. She has selected a deep, regal purple as the main colour which is interlaced with notes of blood red from the secondary embroidery thread. She is very proud of her work and will never admit to Emma just how late she stayed up perfecting it. Her craft is fit for a queen and she will have her name tied to nothing less than perfection. She knows that it is silly to get worked up over little things, but this matters.
Emma's art is sloppier and shows passion in its own right. The messier loops are not for lack of concern or care for her craft. Artistic endeavours have never come entirely easy to Emma and she is more likely to get bored of a project rather than invest time in something that she might fail at. This was different though. She refuses to let Regina down, her clumsy hands be damned. She wove together six colours in a rainbow pattern. Her babysitter, Mulan, told her that these colours together are the best to convey love between girl friends. Regina is Emma's best friend, so the choice to align the rainbow thread was only natural.
Emma shyly holds out her offering of friendship to the raven-haired girl. Eyes wide, she is hyperaware of the significance of this exchange.
Regina accepts the multi-coloured bracelet as Emma affixes it to her wrist. She holds her breath as it happens, feeling a slight flutter in her chest. The entire thing is exhilarating. she does not know why her and Emma have not done this sooner. She feels an unmistakable bond at this moment in time. The bracelets are woven together with care as they serve to weave the two young women together.
"Now do me!" Emma exclaims excitedly.
Regina follows through on this and fastens the handcrafted cord around her friend's small pale wrists. For such a tomboy, Emma has surprisingly soft skin. Her eyes betray her calm they light up with anticipation. Suddenly, Regina cannot help but realize how lovely her friend is. Blonde hair hanging like a sheet of spun gold, ruby red lips, and skin like the first snow kissed by the warmth of the sun. She smiles in spite of herself. How could her sister have been so cruel to such a radiant creature?
"Now we're official." Emma states. "Official best friends."
"I just wish it didn't have to be a secret."
"Same..." Emma trails off sadly.
They stand there for a second. Emma twists her new bracelet around her wrist as she thinks about it.
"Your parents will never let us hang out outside of school." Regina states coolly. "They hate me."
"Well, not you."
"They might as well." Regina's eyes are wild with fury. "It's all Zelena's fault."
"I know you aren't like her... I just wish my parents did too." Emma looks away sadly. "It's not like your mom is thrilled about me either."
Regina does not reply to this. They both know that it is true. Cora and the Charmings had been brought into the principal's office several years ago when Emma had been a new student and accidentally stolen Zelena's role in the school play. Her sister had been green with envy and swore that she would destroy the little blonde. Cora had supported this endeavour wholeheartedly, though she did not care to take the time to see any play that Zelena had even been in. Her parenting philosophy was that strong children grow when made to fight for themselves. Being called in to moderate a fight between children was below her. Emma was a tattletale and, quite frankly, weak, in her books.
"I don't care what my mom or my sister think." Regina whispers with conviction. "I'm not evil like they are."
"I know, Regina. That's why we're friends."
"Promise me that we always will be?"
"Obviously."
Emma slides off the bathroom counter as the bell rings toward her math class. Regina glances down at her bracelet and smiles quietly to herself. She has never had a best friend before, much less one like Emma. She is so shiny and new. Regina takes her time heading to English class, she wants to savour this feeling of belonging somewhere.