It's the final night of their honeymoon trip to the summer palace, and Emma finds herself in the hallway in front of their suite, not yet knocking. She's been staying in her childhood bedroom down the hall, allowing Regina her space.
They won't have this luxury once they're back in court, but at least they aren't strangers now.
She knocks, and after a moment Regina opens the door. She's fresh-faced, with her hair in a braid, wearing a rather flimsy silk nightgown – white, so obviously one of the garments her mother chose for the honeymoon. "Emma," she says, and actually smiles.
"May I?"
Regina steps back to allow Emma to enter and closes the door behind her. "Why are you here?" she asks, but it's curious rather than hostile.
Emma blushes. "I wanted to tell you how much I've enjoyed getting to know you." They were strangers when they married, and a few weeks isn't quite enough to change that. But Emma knows now about Regina's habit of waking to see the sun rise, her talent for riding, how she hates roses but loves wildflowers, how she puts way too much milk in her tea. How boldly she speaks when her mother isn't around to silence her. What her smile looks like when it's unforced.
They were strangers, and now Emma is pretty sure she loves her.
"I know that this isn't what either of us wanted," Emma continues. "But I'm starting to hope we'll be happy together."
There's still so much of Regina that's inscrutable, especially the way she's looking at Emma now. She's still smiling, but with that ever-present hint of sadness in her dark eyes. And she's really, really looking, not shyly glancing away like she used to. "I always knew I wouldn't marry for love," Regina says, "but I never thought it could be like this. No one has ever shown me as much kindness as you do, and I've never felt so lucky."
Emma smiles back. The words mean even more because of Regina's stony silence those first few days, because of how hard it was to get this far. To become something like friends. "Regina…"
Regina holds up a hand and Emma goes silent. But the brunette has nothing more to say, and after a long moment of simply looking at Emma she closes the space between them and kisses her.
They've only kissed once before, and that was a brief peck during the wedding itself. Nothing like this. Because this time they don't stop, just hold onto each other and kiss again and again.
"I love you," Emma whispers raggedly when they finally do part. Regina doesn't say it, but she looks it.
"Stay here tonight" is what Regina finally does say.
They kiss again when they slip into bed. Regina's hands begin to wander Emma's body, and the blonde catches them in hers. "Are you sure?" Technically they were supposed to have consummated the marriage on that first night, but their first act together as a married couple had been a decision not to do so.
"I see no reason not to." Regina kisses Emma again.
"That's hardly an answer."
"Maybe I love you, too." The way Regina smiles erases the "maybe."
Emma responds by pulling Regina's nightgown up over her head and discarding it somewhere near the foot of the bed. The brunette is even more perfect than Emma could ever have expected, moonlight highlighting every dip and curve of her and lending a soft glow to her skin. Emma wants to kiss every inch of Regina, but she doesn't make it far before her wife tugs at her nightgown, wanting equal access. And then they're pressed together, skin to skin, and Emma wishes they could take a second honeymoon right then, a few more weeks devoted to being together just like this.
This isn't what either girl wanted or expected, but as they rock against each other, fingers working and lips meeting desperately, they're both happy with the outcome.