Regina hated flying. Not that she had done much of it before now, besides the few times she was travelling the realm with Mal and dragon form moved quicker than horseback, and even then it had made her stomach turn and her hands clammy. The height bothered her, or rather the potential for plummeting to a quick death, and she was certainly no fonder of it now that she was sitting in a metal death trap on the runway of a large Boston airport.
The plane had slid back from its place at the terminal, and Regina inhaled slowly as she closed her eyes. I'm fine, she told herself, I'm safe, I'm with my family, I'm not going to fall to a fiery death the minute this monstrosity gets off the ground.
"Regina?" Robin's voice came from her left side, and his hand slide along the back of hers gently. "You've got quite the death grip on that arm rest."
Regina opened her eyes and relaxed her clenched hand, finding Robin's blue eyes filled with concern for her. She smiled softly at him and looked around the cabin of the large plane.
Each of the 3 aisles had 4 seats, a larger plane than any had expected, and it was packed full. Robin sat at the window beside Regina, followed by Killian on her right, and Emma after him. In front of her she could see the top of Henry's head, and she could only assume that Roland was sitting more on his brother's lap than in his own seat beside Snow and Charming, who were taking turns bouncing Neal on their laps. She knew Zelena was behind her, also bouncing her own baby, though she didn't bother to turn around and check.
"Are you alright?"
Regina looked at Robin and squeezed his hand as she nodded.
"You're white as a ghost," Emma piped in, "You know there are bags in front of you in case you have to yack."
"I'm not going to yack," Regina rolled her eyes, squeezing them tight after the motion made her slightly dizzy, "I'm fine."
The three in her row stared at her, disbelief clear as they all raised their eyebrows.
"Okay the only ones here who have been on a plane are you," Regina nodded to Emma, "and Henry. How are you all so calm?"
Those in front turned around, and Charming peered over the seats. "It's kind of exciting, and better than any flying we could do in our world."
"It's fine, Mom," Henry smiled, "It's like a roller coaster!"
"You've never been on a roller coaster," Regina pointed out.
Henry shrugged, "Well, I can assume." Roland laughed on his lap and exclaimed how he wanted to go on a roller coaster, whatever that was.
"Maybe the next vacation when you're a bit taller," Henry assured him, "I don't think Paris is the right place for extreme rides."
"There's a Disneyland in Paris." Emma added, drawing a huge grin from Roland. "And I'm sure there's lots of suitable rides for Ro there."
"No way," Regina cut in, "We're going to Paris to relax and sight see. I'm not getting off of one flying death trap to get onto another." Regina swallowed heavily as the plane bumped on its slow path down the runway, and she groaned as she leaned back in the uncomfortable seat, rubbing her sweaty hands on her pants.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Snow asked quietly, and Regina inhaled slowly before nodding.
"I am a queen, I have conquered entire realms, I am one of the strongest purveyors of magic, I am not – Ah!" another bump startled her, and everyone laughed quietly as she gather herself, "I am not afraid of a plane."
"If it makes you feel any better, love," Killian said softly, enough that Henry and Roland couldn't hear him as they pulled out one of Henry's portable games, "In the centuries I've been alive, I've never seen a contraption as strange and menacing as this."
"Surprisingly no, that doesn't make me feel better."
Killian grimaced, and Regina mirrored him as she looked over at him. She realized he too looked afraid, he shifted in his seat and fiddled with the fake hand he wore instead of his hook, though he wasn't as green as Regina, and he didn't have the beads of sweat on his forehead that she did, curling the hairs at her temple.
The flight attendants stood along the aisles giving their rehearsed speech about safety and using your seat cushion as a floatation device – Oh god, they'd be flying over water, why had she forgotten about the water? Was drowning worse than a fiery explosion? Regina groaned again and pressed her forehead into Robin's shoulder.
As the plane slowed, lining up for take off, Robin leaned into her ear to whisper that she was okay, that nothing was going to happen, and that he loved her. She nodded against him and leaned back in her seat, pressing her back firmly against the pathetic excuse for cushions.
Suddenly the plane started moving quickly and Regina felt like she left her stomach behind as they flew down the runway. She gasped and firmly grabbed onto Robin and Killian's forearms, digging her nails into their thick jackets. Robin wrapped his free hand around her bicep and rubbed her arm soothingly, and Killian quickly looked over to Emma, who nodded and let go of his hand so he could take Regina's.
The plane lifted off the ground and Regina pushed her eyes shut, squeezing Killian's hand as he squeezed hers, and breathing deeply while wondering exactly where that puke bag was tucked in the seat in front of her.
"Look at the clouds."
"What?" Regina didn't open her eyes, but turned her head towards Killian as he repeated himself.
"When I was on my ship and we had particularly bumpy seas, we'd look to the sky to try to ground ourselves, it helps you forget what's going on beneath you."
Regina furrowed her brow, and slowly opened her eyes, looking past Robin, leaning forward to see out the window beside him. First she saw the ground, so far away she could have sworn she felt her stomach drop towards it, but she forced her eyes to the sky, and focused on the soft blues and greys bleeding into each other there.
It looked the same as it did from the ground, and if she didn't look down, it was like she was sitting in her car in Storybrooke. Killian was right – damn, when did she think she'd ever admit that?
Robin ran his hand up and down her back in slow circles, pressing kisses into her hair now and then, and Killian held her hand tight with his own, absently rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb.
As the plane soared higher, first into the clouds and then above them, the air seemed to calm and the turbulence stopped, leaving the ride smooth and bump free. This high up the clouds covered the ground, and somehow it wasn't as frightening. It was like she was in another realm, driving on a road of cotton candy – as Roland called it – rather than soaring through the sky.
Robin smiled beside her as she leaned back, and Killian let her hand go, returning it to its place tucked in Emma's. Regina smiled at both of them softly, thanking them wordlessly as they all relaxed. Emma pulled out a deck of cards from the backpack tucked under her seat and distributed them evenly between the two couples, the first attempt of many to fill the 8 hours stuck in their seats that they had ahead of them.
Though the landing had brought as much panic as the take off, Regina eventually freed herself from the plane with the pride that she had finally concurred the skies too.