I know the Pair Skating regulations describe pair teams as consisting of "one lady and one man," but fuck that. The scores are based on the 2015 US Figure Skating Championship.
For those following my other stories, the updates are almost done, I hope to update before next weekend.
Thank you, Chris for being my beta.
Happy birthday, sea-ess-eye, thank you for writing all those beautiful SQ stories!
- little redhead beasts -
Regina Mills entered the rink as if she owned the place – which, technically, she did. She had a training session this morning and nothing would detract her from it, not even today's headlines.
"Miss Mills, we weren't expecting you," said Julio in a trembling way as he trailed behind her, hiding something behind his back. He was one of the men who worked for her father.
"There's a competition that's calling for my name, Julio," she replied and snatched the object Julio was hiding from her; it was a newspaper with her picture on the front page. He looked apologetically at her but remained silent. Regina didn't comment on the news either, she turned around and walked towards the locker room.
The first thing she did was to throw away the newspaper she had taken from Julio. She didn't care if her husband had slept with that redhead bimbo from Kansas and now she was pregnant. Well, she did. But there were other more pressing things to worry about now, things she could change.
"Regina, darling. Julio told me you were here."
"Why wouldn't I be, mother?" Regina asked in a calm tone.
"I just thought that with all the rumors involving Robin and Zelena, you'd want a day off," her mother pointed out. Regina could swear she almost saw her shrug, but Cora Mills never shrugged.
"Well, you thought wrong. I'm over Robin, he can have a hundred little redhead beasts with Zelena for all I care." It was a lie, of course. She was not over Robin, and she was hurt that Zelena could give him something she couldn't. But denial was one of Regina's favorite protection methods.
"If you say so. You father has already found someone who could replace Robin in your doubles routine."
"And who might that be?"
"Emma Swan."
- broken sticks -
"Emma Swan, Daddy, really?" Regina asked as she walked into her father's office without knocking, because how could he even consider pairing her with Emma Swan, of all people?
Not only Emma Swan was a womanizing hockey player, she was also unpredictable, a mess and was suspended from the hockey season after breaking a player's arm with her stick.
"Regina, please give her a try," her father said, "She's agile and has strength, and she's more elegant than any other hockey player, so it will be easier to shape her into an ice skater. Besides, there's no other choice, no one wants to partner up with you and there's no time to train someone else."
Regina rolls her eyes, because, of course, everyone in the ice skating world would take Robin's side. After all, she was called the Evil Queen and he was nicknamed Robin Hood. "What makes you so sure that the Swan girl will agree to be my partner?"
"The club owns her. I own the club."
"You can't own a person, father."
"I know that. But Swan is suspended for the season. Right now, she's not producing a single penny, which means she's a loss to the club. She knows that if she wants her contract to be renewed, she'll have to work."
Regina turned her face to look at the TV screen. The recording of the Maine Knight's last game was on, the game in which Swan was suspended.
"Player number 7," her father says, to let her know what number was written on the back of Emma's jersey.
As her father spoke, the player with the number 7 skated against a player from the opposing team and they both crashed against the plexiglass. Then, Emma struck the guy with her stick, breaking both the stick and the arm in the process.
Following the violent act, the guy launches against her, trying to hit her with his remaining good arm. And, they both start throwing punches until the referees separated both players and sent Emma to the penalty box and the opponent to the doctors.
Subsequently, one of the referees started arguing with Swan and the team's coach. After few minutes of throwing hands up in the air, Emma Swan picked up her things and left the rink.
Regina doesn't know a lot about hockey, but she knows enough to be aware that hitting with a stick is forbidden. She also knows as a professional, Emma Swan must have been aware that her actions would have consequences, and now she had left her team, the Knights, without a captain.
One cameraman followed Emma as she walked to the changing rooms, the public jeering as a sign of protest. The blonde stopped and looked at her fans, even though one of the trainers was motioning her to leave. She raised both of her arms and the jeering became a chant, one side of the rink yelling 'Emma!' and the other answering 'Swan!' Emma was definitely loved by the Knights' supporters.
Regina had never seen a crowed cheering so loudly and proudly, not even at nationals.
- the Ice Princess and Maine's Knight -
"Alright, kids!" Emma yelled at the group of six year olds she was teaching how to ice skate, "I want to see your legs moving! You're not gliding on ice, you are skating."
Emma loved teaching to kids. It always reminded her of the snow days, when her father would take her to the frozen lake which was a couple of minutes away from their house. She looked at her students as they managed to take their first slides, her eyes moving from one to the next one, until they stopped to a woman in the stands, scrutinizing her.
It was not hard to recognize her, even, if Emma had never seen her. It was impossible not to know who she was; Regina Mills has a public figure.
Emma knew everything there was to know about Regina Mills. She was obsessive-compulsive about everything: manners, schedules, ice-skating. You name it, Regina Mills had to keep it under her control. There was no room for fun in the Ice Princess's life. It came to Emma, as no surprise when Robin cheated on her. The only thing that had surprised her was that the man had waited so long to find someone else.
"Alright class, free time!" the kids cheered at the news, "There's some hockey sticks in the penalty bench. They are not swords. If I see anyone pretending to be Luke Skywalker, none of you will see another stick until the end of the year," she warned the class before skating towards Regina.
Of course, Emma had agreed on being Regina's partner for doubles. It's not like she had a choice. She knew her last stunt had her walking on thin ice and she needed to make the Knights' executive board happy - even if that meant being a suck-up to the club's owner and helping Daughter Dearest to win the nationals.
"Miss Swan." the brunette, who was even more beautiful in real life than in TV, greeted her.
"Please, Regina, call me Emma."
"Very well, Emma." the brunette nodded, "You may me Miss Mills. Since we're behind schedule, I suggest we double the training time, not that you have anything else to do since you were suspended."
Emma made a scoffing sound. No wonder people called her 'The Evil Queen,' the woman was cooler than ice.
"We start tomorrow at six in the morning with stretching exercises and cardio. Be here on time. We'll eat lunch at midday and go through the theory of ice-skating while our bodies take in the nutritious lunch. We'll practice some techniques in the gym before we try them out on the ice since I don't trust you in blades just yet."
Emma rolled her eyes, "Anything else, your Highness?"
Regina must have understood that Emma had made an allusion to her nickname, because her eyes turned even harder and Emma swore that the room temperature dropped at least 5 degrees.
"That will be all, Miss Swan. See you tomorrow."
- it's not good for the soul -
Training with Regina was exhausting. Not physically, but mentally.
There was not one day where Regina wouldn't make an insulting remark about Emma's form. 'Hockey players are so gauche,' and 'How can that be considered skating?' and 'You're like a bull in a china shop.' Even Cora and Henry had told Regina to stop criticizing Emma so much, but that would be like trying to get blood from a stone: impossible.
And Emma couldn't take it anymore.
"No wonder Robin cheated on you," she exploded one day, "I mean, who in their right minds would want to put up with you all the fucking time!"
"You know nothing about my life!"
"I know you're a controlling bitch and no one will ever live up to your fucking impossible standards!"
Around them, the rink workers had stopped doing their duties and were now watching the fight. Emma found out she didn't care about the show she was putting on. After all, she broke her hockey stick when she struck Killian 'Hook' Jones on national TV.
"If you're so perfect, why don't you compete in singles?" Emma threw her arms in the air, "I am so done with you, Regina Mills. I don't even care anymore if your father doesn't renew my contract for next season," she added before skating away.
Emma took her figure skates without care. She hated them as much as she hated Regina. She just wanted her hockey skates and her team back. Tears started to roll down her cheeks as she realized that she had just thrown the last chance of returning to her team out of the window.
"I want to apologize," Emma heard, and she had to raise her head to confirm that Regina had muttered these words because she sounded so broken and small and so unlike the Evil Queen. "I'm very competitive, and sometimes I let it get in my head. I understand you don't want to do this anymore, but I wanted to apologize."
Emma had to lean against the wall for support, because it was the first time she had seen Regina acting like a human and not like a robot and it was refreshing and scary at the same time.
"It's alright," Emma muttered and closed her eyes.
"No, it's not," Regina said as she sat next to Emma. "My marriage didn't fail because I was controlling. It was because I can't have children," the brunette confessed. She hadn't told anyone the real reason of the marriage's fallout, and she didn't know what had pushed her to tell Emma. Though, she was glad she did. "We tried all the possible methods, and they all failed. We were trying to adopt, but I guess that's out of the window now."
Emma opened her eyes and looked at Regina. "What an asshole," she exclaimed, because who would cheat on their wife just because she was infertile?
Regina hummed in agreement and leaned against the wall, just as Emma had been resting a while ago.
"I attacked Killian because he has been hassling me for a while," Emma explained, she figured since they were bonding over mutual failures, and it was good for their partnership. "It started few months ago, when I refused to sleep with him. He started calling me a dyke," her fists curled up into balls "At first I didn't mind, figured that if I wouldn't pay attention, he'd eventually stop. It didn't work, instead, it got worse."
Emma stayed quiet for a while, and it was not until Regina placed a hand over hers that Emma was encouraged to keep on going.
"That day, he had been bothering me since the first period. Telling how he'd fix my lesbian problem or how would I like it if I played with his stick," she looked at their hands, they had held hands during their training sessions, but this felt different - it felt right, "My team knew about my problems with him, Graham tried to keep him away from me, but in a sport like hockey, it's hard. And then, Killian said something that sounded a lot like rape," Emma cleared her throat to keep it from breaking, "And well, you know the rest."
Regina squeezed her hand. "Did you tell the referees about it?"
Emma nodded, "But Killian is Seattle's golden boy, so he just got a warning and they kept it under wraps."
"That's unfair!"
"Life is unfair," Emma shrugged, "How about we take the day off? I'm too exhausted to train today and you know what they say: all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."
"You still want to work with me?" Regina asked. Her eyes wide open as saucers.
"Yeah... It's not like I have anything else to do since I got suspended," she parroted the words Regina spoke the first time they met. "Just, tone down the insults."
"I'll try."
"Good," Emma nodded, "You're so persistent that everything you try you succeed." she added. It was the first time Emma had complimented Regina and it took them both by surprise. They didn't comment on it, they simply put their shoes on and walked out of the sports venue.
- figures, skating -
After their conversation in the locker room, Emma and Regina had started to grow together. Regina had stopped scrutinizing Emma, and Emma had started to work harder. Regina had also allowed them to have more fun, so twice per week she'd go with Emma to be part of some activity that the blonde had planned for them.
Some of the activities were related to ice skating, like teaching easy pirouettes to the children in Emma's class, which she loved, or going to the Maine Knights' games. Others were contrary to ice skating, like when Emma had tried to teach her how to ride a chopper or had taken her to an amusement park.
The tabloids seemed to love gossiping about them; their blossoming relationship shadowed the news about Regina's divorce and the brunette was thankful for that. Emma's fans had also expressed their support towards them, naming their team 'Swan Queen'. When asked about her relationship with Regina, Emma smirked and said she couldn't confirm nor deny the nature of their partnership, making it sound as if they were romantically tangled. Regina found out, but, she didn't care that Emma hadn't confirmed nor denied it.
"So, tonight, we'll do something that the press will never find out about." Emma announced as she walked into Henry's office, where Regina was waiting with their lunch.
Regina arched an eyebrow, her mind automatically filling up with images of things she'd do with Emma and wouldn't want the press finding out. She shook her head as Emma sat next to her.
"The team's mascots are sick, so in between periods, we'll put on a show."
"Absolutely not."
"Regina!"
"No, Emma," said Regina as she opened her food container, "I won't dress up in that ridiculous knight costume and skate around."
"I'll wear the knight costume, you'll have a different costume that I picked for you."
"And what would that be, Miss Swan?"
"You'll dress up as a queen."
"Emma," Regina said in a warning tone, because even though, they never talked about it, Emma knew Regina hated being called the Evil Queen.
"Just listen to me, alright?" Emma raised her hands, "I talked to the kids, they'll dress up as monsters, and I'll save you from them. It's a show. It has nothing to do with ... that. Besides, the costume is a full on costume, your face will be hidden behind a mask."
"Fine."
"Fine?"
"Yes. But, I'm only doing it for the children," Regina clarified. Emma rolled her eyes, because she knew better. But, she couldn't help but smile.
That night, between the second and third periods, a knight saved the Queen from the little monsters, and they spun together performing some simple moves. It was then that Emma realized that she got everything she ever wanted.
She was utterly and completely in love with Regina Mills.
- Swan Queen -
Nationals came in a blink of an eye. It felt as if it was yesterday that Henry Mills had approached to Emma and talked to her about partnering up with Regina. And today, they were already wearing their matching burgundy dresses, waiting to be called up to the ice to perform their free program routine.
They had already done with their short program routine and had scored 62.42 in the short program, which was not bad but it didn't place them on the top three either.
Emma was fiddling with her hands, trying to keep herself busy. She wished she could be easily distracted with anything, but all her thoughts kept on going back to Regina and the Nationals. Would they see each other after this competition?
"Do you fidget this much before all your games?" Regina asked, linking their hands.
"No." But it was not the same. Because this was Regina's dream, and she didn't want to fuck it up. She wanted it to be perfect, because Regina didn't deserve less than that.
"We'll be fine."
It was now or never, Emma reasoned with herself. "Regina, I -"
"Well, look who managed to make it to the nationals after all," A stranger interrupted Emma.
The blonde turned around to see two familiar faces: Robin and Zelena. Robin was wearing a skating outfit, but Zelena, who was now very pregnant, was dressed in normal clothes.
"Emma, these are Robin and Zelena," Regina let go of Emma's hand.
"I'm sure you've heard about us," Zelena grinned, as if she expected Regina to talk about them.
"I've read about you and your fucked-up lives in some gossip magazines, but Regina and I hardly have time to discuss about meaningless drivel like you. We've been busy doing much more important things."
"Yes, we all know how important schedules and planning are for Regina," Robin commented, and it took all of Emma's willpower to not punch him in the face.
"We've done more than planning," Emma replied, snaking one hand around Regina's waist and pulling Regina towards against her body. She didn't know if Regina would be angry at Emma implying that they were a couple, but so far, she had never complained when Emma taunted the press with it.
Robin laughed. Loudly. "Please, Swan, you may trick the press with that act, but I was married to Regina," he said, "I know she's not a lesbian."
"And I thought I knew that you were not a cheater," Regina pointed out calmly and placed her hand over the one that Emma had placed on her hip, "I guess we don't really know each other." And with that, she dragged Emma away from the couple.
They walked towards the edge of the rink, where the pair from Louisiana had finished performing their routine, scoring a decent score. Their names being called through the speakers announcing that they were next.
"Emma - " Regina's voice trailed off as they walked towards the entrance to the rink.
"I know." Emma nodded, because she knew. She just did.
They skated to the center of the rink, holding hands. Emma's fans had bought half of the seats and were cheering, some screamed 'Swan!' and others replied 'Queen!' in a similar manner they cheered for Emma when she played hockey. It accelerated Regina's heart, to have people cheering for her.
When the song begun, they started with their routine. They skated as they had never skated before. Every lift, twist lifts, throw jumps and death spirals; everything was perfectly in-sync. It was as if they were the same body, and, as if they shared one brain.
The crowed watched in awe how the pair skated as one. And when the song was over, and Emma and Regina bowed in front of the judges. The crowd erupted with cheers and claps.
Regina and Emma skated out of the rink and sat on the bench with their fingers laced as they waited for their results. Emma looked at Regina while the brunette studied the screen, waiting the numbers that would mark their future.
"We did it!" Regina squealed as soon as she saw the score. She turned around to face Emma, who still hadn't seen their score. "Thank you!" she said, as she leaned in and placed her lips against Emma's.
Emma smiled into the kiss, not really caring about the score anymore, and even deepened it and snaked her arms around Regina's waist and pulled the brunette onto her lap.
It was not until Cora cleared her throat and suggested them to take their affection to the changing rooms that Emma saw they had scored 150.01 in the free program, placing them indisputably to first place with a total of 212.43 points.
Emma might have won the gold and qualified for the Olympics tonight, but, she realized as she walked away, her arms wrapped around the brunette's body, that the most valuable thing she had won was Regina's heart.
FIN