Author's Note: Hi everyone! I wrote this sappy little Christmas story over the summer and finally decided to continue it now. If you haven't read An Evergreen Carol, found here: s/12000103/1/An-Evergreen-Carol , then this isn't going to make much sense to you. I suggest starting there. Feedback is incredibly appreciated. Please feed the bards. Thanks so much for reading.
What Are You Doing New Year's?
There were many things that could be said about Regina Mills. She was cold, calculated, unrelenting and, sometimes, even evil. But, no matter how many negative adjectives one might try to use to describe her, ill-prepared certainly could not be added to that list. After all that had transpired on that monumental Christmas Eve, the Mayor of Storybrooke started hatching her plan to bring back all of the happy endings on her own and planning was something in which Regina had a wealth of experience.
She'd scoured her vault for every book she had referencing the magic, history and geography of the other worlds. Multiple notebooks, journals and maps littered her desk at times throughout the day when she wasn't expecting any meetings; which was often given that she'd all but given up any of the Mayoral duties she used to relish due to how much power she was able to exercise over the citizens of the town.
Everything had to play out in the right order if she was going to get out of this little predicament unscathed. Yes, the major missions involved saving both Tinkerbell and Maleficent but those required magic. Magic that Regina wouldn't have until the curse was broken. She couldn't just break the curse without returning loved ones and family members to each other. She needed some sense of goodwill and forgiveness instilled in the minds of the townspeople before she allowed them to remember all of the hardship she'd caused.
So, she'd resigned herself to starting with the little things like reuniting Ava and Nicholas with their father. The only problem was she couldn't remember what she'd done with him. Obviously she knew where she'd kept him in the Enchanted Forest but Storybrooke was a big place when it came to knowing every single person living within her boundaries. The only other person in town who might have the slightest clue where the Woodcutter lived was Gold and Regina wasn't even remotely interested in tipping her hand to him regarding her newfound hobby. If he knew she was trying to alter the curse before Emma had a chance to do it herself, he might become a threat to her plans.
A knock at the door pulled the Mayor from her musings and she immediately started closing her books and hiding her notes. It was one in the afternoon and she had no idea who would be visiting her unannounced so close to lunchtime.
"Come in," she finally called out after she was satisfied that there were enough town documents covering her secrets.
A well-toned mass of red, white and blonde entered her office with that incredibly stupid grin Emma had been wearing ever since Christmas and Regina couldn't help rolling her eyes out of habit; though she secretly felt a modicum of excitement start to build within her at the sight.
"Sheriff Swan," she addressed, leaning back in her chair and settling her arms on the rests. "Remind me to teach you the virtues of appointment scheduling. While you may find your job works naturally on a 'spur of the moment' basis, mine requires a touch more planning."
"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Emma shook her head and smirked as she came closer to the desk with a bag heralding Granny's name. "But I just got back from Granny's and they said they hadn't seen you in there all day. Not for breakfast or lunch. I thought I'd see if you were hungry but too busy to step out."
Standing, Regina pulled out her regular lunch order of a side salad and half turkey sandwich. She was, in fact hungry; she simply didn't realize it until the food was placed in front of her by the thoughtful Sheriff.
"Has Granny made it her business to not only divulge my dietary customs but to also advertise my absence to anyone who might listen?" she asked, before sitting back down and dressing the salad.
"No, I asked," Emma stated plainly before taking the seat opposite Regina; one that she certainly wasn't offered.
"What do you mean you asked? Why would you do that?" Regina inquired as she gracefully speared a tomato and started to dine without a spare look to the blonde.
"I mean I asked," Emma answered with a huff of amusement at the question. "I haven't seen you in the last few days and I wanted to know how you were doing without bugging you."
"Well, you obviously succeeded in one of those endeavors; you now know I'm fine," the Mayor fired back before standing from her desk to pour a glass of water at the bar and returning to sit. "Why would you be bothered about something like that?"
"I… because I care about you, Regina."
The statement was made just as plain as day but it caused a shock to course through Regina's body that instigated a pause halfway through bringing the sandwich to her mouth for about thirty seconds. She was finally able to correct the interruption and take the bite that would serve as her reason for thoughtful silence. How could Emma Swan possibly care for her after all she'd done to try to ruin her life? Surely her gestures on Christmas day hadn't gone that far with the Sheriff and, if they had, then she was even more daft than the Mayor had originally thought.
"Well, I can assure you that I am safe and sound, Miss Swan," she retorted after swallowing the food in her mouth and wiping at her lips with one of the napkins. "I've just had a few side projects that have been taking up quite a bit of my time. Nothing to be concerned about."
"What kind of side projects?" the blonde asked immediately, leaning forward and resting her elbows on her knees.
Regina sometimes couldn't believe the self-control she'd been able to manage when it came to the inquisitive, persistent and somewhat infuriating nature of Emma Swan. There she sat, granted everything she'd ever asked for from Regina and still she couldn't manage to leave her be for more than a day or so.
"Personal projects, Sheriff," she clarified with a slow and deliberate cadence to her speech. "Nothing to be concerned with, I assure you. I'm not trying to find some legal loophole to revoke your privileges with Henry."
"Oh, I'm not concerned about that, Regina," Emma assured, standing and placing her hands in her back pockets. "I just… maybe I can help you. Granny said that you seem distracted and a little sad whenever she does see you and Henry told me that you've been saying things recently about working on some documents that ensured his guardian would be me if anything ever happened to you. I think he's starting to worry that… well, are you sick or something?"
True and obvious concern filled the worried green eyes as blonde brows furrowed on a face that had, no doubt, won the blonde a great many battles. Deep and lilting laughter subtly filled the room as Regina shook her head and made a mental note to ease her son's newfound fears regarding her health. It touched her to know that they were repairing their relationship to the point where he was so concerned but she didn't ever wish him worry or fear.
"No, Miss Swan, I am not sick or 'something," she reassured the Sheriff before meeting her gaze once more. "If you must know, one of the projects I'm working on involves the two children we dined with over Christmas."
"Nicholas and Ava," Emma confirmed with a nod. "What's going on with them?"
"They've been living, on their own, in an abandoned house for quite a while," Regina explained, pushing the forgotten food to the side and showing Emma the birth records she'd pulled from Storybrooke General Hospital. "The mother is dead and the father didn't sign the birth certificate. Technically they're orphans and it wouldn't exactly look very mayoral if people in the town, specifically the Sheriff, found out that I was harboring them instead of handing them over to the state. I just wanted to see if I could fix this myself before putting them in a system that might separate them."
"And worse," Emma said offhandedly as she looked over the records.
The words weren't' accusatory. They couldn't be. Emma Swan had no idea that the horrors of her childhood were visited upon her because she'd been sent through that wardrobe to save her life from the Evil Queen. But Regina felt the weight of them all the same and her countenance changed instantly with regard to the resilient blonde that had been through so much yet still held such a kind heart.
"Yes, and worse," she mimicked before taking a deep breath and shaking off the raging guilt that she'd silence later with a glass of cider. "Anyway, I'd appreciate your discretion in this matter. I don't think either of us want to see the children sent to an orphanage if there's a way to prevent it."
"You'll appreciate my detective skills a lot more," Emma corrected, dropping the papers back on the desk and resting her hands on her hips. "Let me work with you on this. Finding people is my job and, if you'll remember, I'm pretty damned good at it."
"You want us to work together?" Regina asked, pointing between the two of them. "Miss Swan, I just gave up on keeping you from my son and trying to destroy your life. Why in the world would you gamble that progress by subjecting me to spending time with you?"
"Because I don't think you hate me as much as you like to pretend you do," Emma answered with a smile and a quirk of her head. "Plus this one hits close to home for me. You'd actually be doing me a favor if you let me help save these kids from the life I had growing up."
She couldn't say no, not after that. As much as she might have hated the Charming line, they did earn their moniker honestly.
"What makes you think you know this town better than I do, Sheriff?" Regina asked with a resigned sigh; one that told Emma she was caving. "You've only been here a few months. I've lived here for years."
Emma nearly answered with a laundry list of skills she'd attained over the years but decided instead to make Regina an offer she couldn't refuse.
"How about this," she started, crossing her arms over her midsection. "If my help doesn't end up aiding you in keeping those kids out of the orphanage, I'll leave you alone for an entire month outside of my duties as Sheriff. But, if I do help you find the father and save Nicholas and Ava, you have to invite me over to your house for New Years to watch the ball drop with you and Henry."
Dark eyes regarded the brazen blonde for a few seconds as Regina tried to come up with a response. Finally, she settled on a question.
"Why do you want me to be your friend, Miss Swan?"
"That's easy," Emma stated with a cocky grin. "You're pretty amazing when you're not trying to destroy my life and drive me out of town. Contrary to what you might think, Regina, I've always wanted you to be my friend. I just gave up trying after it seemed so obvious that you hated me."
"Hmm," Regina nodded slightly, looking down at her stack of records. "You're on the case, Sheriff. I'd start with speaking to the children. They might know more than they're letting on to me. I think… Well, I think they might be afraid of me and you have the advantage of a much kinder looking face. We'll reconvene tomorrow."
"You got it, Madam Mayor," the blonde acknowledged happily before backing away from the desk and reaching for the door.
"And Emma," she finally said the woman's first name for the first time in their conversation; causing green eyes to look back. "I was wrong to hate you. I don't anymore."
It wasn't an apology but it was the closest the Mayor could manage at that moment and Emma was not going to screw it up with her mouth. With a bright smile and a nod she exited the office and left the Mayor to the rest of her day.