Disclaimer: I don't own Once upon a Time.
Warning: English is not my first language. Sorry for any mistakes. Pairing for this fic is SwanQueen. You have been warned!
AN: This takes place during the Ice-Queen arc.
Summary: "I don't hate you." It wasn't much, but it was a start.
Admission
"I don't hate you."
The admission was reluctant, a little forced, and it was said in a condescending tone. Emma personally thought that Regina looked as if she swallowed a particularly sour lemon, but on the bright side, the truthfulness was there. Emma's innate lie detector never pinged. Regina (even in that familiar acidic tone that she only seem to get when she was speaking to Emma) had meant what she said. She didn't hate Emma. Or at least there was a 'as much as I did before' that was left unsaid.
It was really a step up from where they had previously been (with Regina trying to murder her with an apple turnover and Emma as a short-tempered lumber jack who cuts down apple trees in a fit of rage). Three years of trying to co-parent a kid and fighting the forces of evil had bonded them.
They were civil. Civil enough, at least, to have lunch together, but apparently not civil enough to stop their squabbling. They bickered like an old married couple over a hamburger quarter pound deluxe for Emma and the smallest, most unappetizing (in Emma's opinion) salad known to mankind for Regina. Their argument came to a halt after Regina's confession.
"I don't hate you."
Those words were uttered across the table and it echoed between them.
"Okay then," Emma replied.
They sat there awkwardly in a booth in Granny's diner.
Emma absentmindedly noted how Regina's lips seem to tighten in displeasure. That expression of distaste was so purely a Regina thing that Emma wanted to grin. Knowing Regina, though, Regina would have taken it as a mocking smirk than a genuine smile. Emma could already see how narrow and flinty Regina's eyes would become. It wasn't hard to imagine how coldly Regina would react when she thought she was being mocked. Regina couldn't tell a sincere gesture even if it were to smack her dead in the face.
Emma sighed inwardly and ran a hand through her hair.
Henry joined them. He scooted into the space next to Emma. He sat his backpack on the ground next to the table leg and his brown eyes looked from one mother to the other, uneasy.
"Everything okay?" he asked.
"Just fine, kiddo," Emma ruffled his hair.
"Honestly, Ms. Swan." Regina reached across to smooth it back into place while Emma rolled her eyes and Henry tried to dodge the embarrassing and very public grooming.
"Mom," he whined.
There was a slight smile tugging on Regina's lips.
Regina looked less stress, less vindictive, and more relax now that Henry was there. He was her healing balm, the one thing in her life that she loved unconditionally. Regina glowed whenever Henry was around and Emma mournfully noticed just how beautiful Regina actually was. It was almost unfair. Seriously.
Sitting back, Emma allowed Henry and Regina's voice to wash over her. Once or twice, the other patrons of Granny's diner would give them a weird look. (The Evil Queen and Snow White's daughter peacefully sitting together made their eyes bulged). After the numerous times Emma and Regina almost strangled each other and how public and often their blows were, Emma couldn't blame them for staring. They were waiting to see if the serenity would last. A moment or two later, when it was a safe bet that Emma and Regina wouldn't be starting a magical fight with their powers, the stares went away and they were left alone.
Emma's eyes unconsciously went to idly stare at Regina, whose attention was lavished on Henry. It took Emma a moment to realize that Regina's voice had trailed off and that Regina was looking past Henry's shoulder.
Looking to the door where Regina was staring, Emma saw Robin Hood and his family standing there at the entrance. The bell at the top of the door annoyingly rang happily as the door closed.
Robin stared at Regina. His green eyes were filled with longing and regret. Marion touched his arm and his son tugged at his shirt. Robin reluctantly turned away to guide his family to a booth on the other side of the room.
Regina compose herself, shuttering off all the emotions on her face.
Emma studied Regina carefully.
As good as her mask was, behind those dark eyes Emma saw the hurt and the vulnerability. Without thinking, Emma reached out and grabbed Regina's hand, linking their fingers together on the tabletop.
Regina pulled her glaze away from Robin to look at their joined hand.
A thin, regal eyebrow arched.
Realizing how it must have looked, Emma cringed inwardly. Only her pride kept her from snatching her hand back.
Regina doesn't say anything about the impromptu hand holding. Emma honestly expected Regina to set her clothes on fire (she wouldn't put it pass Regina to do something like that), but instead Regina gave a quick squeeze before she tried to pull away. It was a quick and quiet 'Thank you for the concern, Ms. Swan, but I don't need your pity.'
Emma stubbornly held on.
She latched onto Regina's hand with the resilience of a leech and she refused to let go.
Regina just arched another eyebrow.
"Mom?" Henry's voice broke through their staring match. Both Emma and Regina turned to him, startled.
"Which mom?" Emma asked.
"Err...both, I guess," Henry shook his head. "Why are you guys holding hands?"
"Err..." Emma looked to Regina for help.
'You're on your own, Ms. Swan,' said the look that was shot back.
"Thanks," Emma muttered. Out loud, she answered. "Because it's cold?"
It was such a lame answer that Henry and Regina balked together. Identical looks of disbelief (Henry had definitely inherited that expression from Regina) was shot her way. Emma almost squirmed in her seat as they stared at her.
Emma doesn't know if she should laugh or cry as Henry figured it out. A light goes off somewhere behind his eyes and he turned to Emma with a knowing look.
'He knows,' she thought. 'He knows that I know that he knows.'
The long nights that she spent in bed thinking about Regina...
How she semi-stalked the woman around town (partly to make sure Regina wasn't causing trouble and the other part because she genuinely wanted to know how Regina was doing)...
How her gut twisted when she realized that she had inadvertently hurt Regina again by bringing back Marion...
Henry had figured it all out.
Henry, the compassion and kind kid that he was, took the news with good faith and with an understanding expression.
'Good luck, Mom,' he silently communicated. 'I'm rooting for you.'
He accepted with ease that Emma's feelings for his other mother might run deeper than anyone would have expected and Emma, who had never had anyone just accept her totally without conditions or constraint, got emotional. With one hand still holding onto Regina's hand, Emma's other arm wrapped itself around Henry's shoulder. She pulled him in for a tight hug.
Across the table, Regina frowned slightly.
"Am I missing something?" Regina asked warily.
"Nothing," Emma and Henry chorused together.
Henry excused himself to go to the counter to talk to Ruby.
Taking advantage of the privacy, Emma finally admitted something to Regina that she had wanted to admit to for the longest time.
"I don't hate you either," Emma said.
It was the best she could do with the timing. Right now, Regina wasn't ready for another relationship. Not so soon after Robin. And besides, somewhere in town there was a ice-queen that was gunning for them.
With one last squeeze, Emma released Regina's hand as Henry came back with a basket full of fries. This time he scooted next to a pleased Regina.
Regina locked eyes with Emma.
There was history between them. History that included decades of hostility between Emma's family and Regina's. History that was dark and hurtful and full of anger. History that Regina has a hard time letting go, but she was trying.
"I don't hate you."
It wasn't much, but it was a start.