Sail

Oh, how she loved the feeling of being out on the open sea. Being free, independent, and reckless enough to go wherever the winds might take her, or, sometimes, wherever she pleased. She stood on the quarterdeck, hands loosely on the wheel, 'ten and two, as her grandfather had taught her before he passed away, and gazed lazily at the horizon. Emma could see land far away, to the east, where the sun was bound to set any moment now, and pondered whether she should take the ship there. They weren't really in need of provision, having stocked up just a couple of weeks earlier, but the land seemed enticing. Different. It was as if it was calling to her, luring her in, which was weird, for she hadn't felt a need to be on shore since she had been a child. Which she most certainly wasn't anymore, being twenty-four years old, with her body shapely and filled out. Although it had been hard to get the respect from her crew when she'd just been a teenager with untamed, blonde curls and a personality to match them, with a need to get out, it was almost harder now, when she sometimes caught them staring at her as if she was meat. Thankfully for her, though, she kept a tight ship. No one stepped out of line, because although they didn't exactly know what the punishment would be if that happened, they certainly didn't want to find out.

She stepped on land as the last rays of sun touched the bay. Emma always liked to row into unknown places alone, so her men wouldn't be in any danger. Made mutiny easy, if her crew had wanted that, but she trusted them. From afar, it had seemed as the ground had been a tiny, tiny island, but now Emma could vindicate that it was an island as large as a small country, if it even was an island. One could never know. The bay was like any other bay, utterly beautiful, with water clear as a looking glass, a beach with white sand which glittered in the sun, and trees that glistened with the drops of a recent downpour. For a moment, she just stood there, watching, taking it in. Although it looked like any other bay, something felt different. The purplish light from the sunset was somehow more mesmerizing than usual, even more enchanting than how it looked when out on sea. But suddenly, from a path she hadn't paid any notice to, out stepped a woman different from anything she'd ever seen, so different that Emma completely forgot about the bay and its magic. The woman was around her age, perhaps a couple of years older, with black curls in some elaborate, lacy hairdo, but still long enough to flow down to her hips. She was dressed in black and white, with a flowing skirt with a split down the side, so Emma was able to see her skin-tight pants and, high black leather boots, a white shirt, and a leather jacket that looked so soft Emma couldn't help but want to feel it. She gulped.

Regina had felt it when a ship sailed into the vicinity of her island, as she always did. She had made her servants begin to prepare her outfit, as she always did. She had dismissed every one of them, and sent them away from her castle, as she always did. She had walked down to the bay, as she always did, feeling the pull just a little stronger than usual; maybe her senses had become more finely tuned. She had stood in the woods, waiting while the sailor rowed into the bay, and marveled over it, as they always did, while she surveyed him from afar. Thankfully, he was alone, it was easier then. He had long, blonde hair, which wasn't unusual for a pirate, but his posture was somehow different. His back was straight, as it should be, but there was just something that seemed… off. Perhaps in a good way. Maybe this one would turn out to be wild and exciting, someone she wouldn't get tired of too quickly, but she wouldn't get her hopes up. He was just another sailor. And then Regina stepped out of the underbrush, and the sailor turned. She gasped, and the pull got even stronger. This stranger looked exactly like the pictures of the one prophesized to defeat her, down to the shining blue eyes and the set jaw.

Emma reckoned the two of them had stood staring at each other for a while. She ought to do something, she surmised. She stepped up to the lady, almost unconsciously, took her hand, bowed, and kissed it. It felt as if her lips were being electrocuted, but almost in a good way. The woman stared at her incredulously, as if she, Emma, was the curiosity, the cause of wonder around here.

"Pleased to meet you there, milady, I'm Emma Swan, of the Great Swan Queen ship. May I ask for your name, miss?"
The woman kept on staring at her, but after a while, a tiny smile lit up her face.

"Pleased to meet you, too, Emma Swan," she said breezily, before continuing coyly: "You may ask for my name, but I'm not sure I'll give it to you."
Emma grinned, and after a small pause, where the lady seemed to be sizing her up, yet again, she continued again.

"Very well," she murmured breathily, "My name is Regina Mills, Queen of the Enchanted Forest."
Emma stepped back slightly, somehow surprised. She'd heard of this exact queen. This was the Evil Queen, the one who seduced sailors before she ripped their hearts out of their chests and lured them to join her army of heartless soldiers. Well, explained the black. Emma herself wore colors, purple woolen pants, brown boots, a brown shirt and a red leather jacket so strong of color it hadn't worn out after a decade out on the sea. Emma had to admit she was slightly scared, maybe even frightened, but it did not lessen the pull towards the other woman. She wondered what it meant, she'd never felt something like that before. It almost reminded her of how it had felt when she'd lain with people previously, but somehow, it felt different, just like the beauty of the bay had felt different from any other bay she'd ever seen.

Regina knew that this woman standing before her, for it was a woman, not just any sailor, was the Savior, the one supposed to defeat her, rip her heart out like she had ripped the hearts of thousands of men out before. Yet, the drawing the prophets had made for her didn't do her justice, whatsoever. Her hair was longer, more bouncy, and even more glowing. Her cheeks were slightly flushed, and she had dimples. Her smile was open and her eyes seemed deep, wise, and joyful, as she'd seen all the beauty in the world, but was still happily looking at her now. Which was probably true. Although they'd only exchanged a few words, all of them pleasantries, Regina knew she wouldn't be able to kill this sailor as she'd done the others, no matter how much it was foretold that this sailor would kill her if she wasn't careful. Right at this moment, Regina didn't really care. And somehow she knew: neither did Emma.

They started talking, and didn't stop until midnight, when Regina suddenly got silent, and did nothing but stare at Emma. Emma, who was in the middle of a sentence, went silent too, but wasn't really able to close her mouth, staring back at Regina with wonder. The moonlight made her skin glow, and her dark brown eyes seem like pools of ink. Her lips were so full, and so red, even in the dark. Then they moved, shakily.

"Do you know something, Emma? I think you are the most amazing person I have ever met," Regina whispered.

"Right back at you, milady," Emma grinned.

"But you don't know what I've done! What I'm supposed to do to you!"

"Oh believe me, I know who you are and what you have done," Emma reassured.

"But then how can you sit there speaking so calmly with me? Probably the only reason I haven't done anything to you yet is…" This was where Regina was cut off by Emma's lips on hers. They stayed that way for a while. When they broke apart, they were both smiling, quite stupidly.

"Regina, sail with me. Come out on the sea. With me. You feel the pull too, right?" At this, Regina, the queen, nodded solemnly. Of course she felt the pull, stronger than she'd ever felt before.

"Maybe we are meant to be together. I've heard the prophecy too, but maybe I'm not supposed to kill you, just… make you stop doing bad things. Maybe you'll be saving me, too, from the loneliness and emptiness that comes from being out on the sea alone with my crew. Maybe I'm not the Savior, maybe we both are. Each other's, I mean."
Regina simply nodded again, before she drew Emma closer to her.

The night after, they were still in each other's arms, gazing at the stars, except now the waves weren't lapping gently at their feet like when they'd been on the beach in the magical bay of the Evil Queen Regina of the Enchanted Forest. Now, the waves were gently rocking them from side to side, and the fresh breeze that only exists out on the open sea was washing over their faces and bodies. The sun was almost rising on the horizon, and that is where they sailed. Together.