A/N: I actually consider Snow a Swan Queen shipper but I couldn`t resist going with Porn-Snow instead so it ended up being kinda cracky with a serious start. I hope you like it anyways ;) (Kinda post 4B but ignoring the finale, pretty much everyone`s just happy and OQ and CS are not existent :D)
Regina sat at the corner booth at Granny`s playing with her bottle of root beer and starring out the window. She was done watching Storybrooke`s citizens perform traditional dances to the soft tones of 90s music accompanied by back-to-adulthood August who was playing a wooden flute.
"He probably carved it out of his own nose", she thought bitterly.
Granny`s diner had turned into a place that showed hardly any similarities to the daylight restaurant it actually was. The fairest of them all herself had been planning the ball for weeks and put her heart into creating the atmosphere of a typical ball in the Enchanted Forest. She had arranged for the floor to be scrubbed until it could almost be used as a mirror and hundreds of different coloured candles had been put up around the room. When Regina had entered the diner half an hour ago Mary Margaret had just been about to place the last rainbow coloured magic light beaming proudly. Now Regina just wished Emma would show up already and save her from the humiliating situation she had brought her into.
"That Swan and her charms will get me into an early grave", she thought thinking back to what had happened four hours ago in her office.
Regina was filing her tax work, sitting behind her desk dressed in her favourite suit and wearing glasses to avoid confusing the numbers. She was just about to consider whether Archie`s new therapy project involving some sort of cricket game was worth the sum he had asked for when a soft knock startled her.
"Come in", she called not expecting to see Emma enter the room.
"Hey Regina, am I interrupting?", the blonde asked still standing in the doorframe, a bag of takeout in her left hand.
"Yes dear, you are but I have to admit I am quite glad for an excuse to take a break"
Emma smiled and closed the door behind her aware of the contrast between this situation and the moment a month ago when she had stood outside of Regina`s door, the other woman shutting her out. They had come far since that day.
"I brought you lunch, thought you could use a little energy boost." She set the bag with food from Regina`s favourite diner on the desk. "I gotta leave again right away, there has been some sort of vandalizing in the convent."
"Leroy?" Regina asked, remembering that it had taken a whole month to get his graffiti painted broken heart off the entry door.
"I guess so but you never know with Blue. She hardly makes clear announcements."
Regina nodded in agreement. Even now that she and the fairy should be working for the same side she could not find it in herself to trust her. Maybe it was because of how unfair she had treated Tinkerbell or maybe it was because she was always there suspiciously fast when anything bad was about to happen but something was certainly shady about her.
"Well you better head out then, it is going to rain soon."
Emma nodded and with a "See you later" she was out of the door again. Regina furrowed her brow. She could not recall why she would be seeing the blonde later. With a shrug she forgot her confusion and opened the bag retrieving a small box of kale salad and a tiny package with dressing and set it on the desk. She was about to put the bag into the trash can when she noticed a tiny yellow sticky note still left at the bottom of it. She reached into the bag to get it out and unfolded the paper.
"Go to the ball with me if I`m wrong but your name is Queen SmartAssSweetyPie right?"
Regina stared at the note in disbelief. A smile tucked at her lips but she ignored it and picked up the phone to tell Emma she was the biggest idiot she ever had the misfortune of meeting. After it rang five times Regina hung up.
"Invites me to the ball and is unreachable for my rejection", she muttered to herself as she poured the dressing over her salad. She took the small plastic fork that had come along with it and started eating.
Slowly a thought crept into her mind. She had to admit to herself at least some part of her was flattered she had been invited to the ball. In the curse years no one could ever stop her from attending any event but as soon as it had broken she had always been left out. What was even worse was that she understood it. Who would want to have her at their party, the woman who had thrown them in her dungeon, murdered their family and destroyed their lives.
Emma was the one who had made the first exception. The welcome back party for her and Mary Margaret. She remembered it quite clearly how Emma had called her and invited her to it asking her to bring some of her lasagna because Henry had apparently praised it quite often. She remembered that she had felt lonely that evening, not fitting in with the rest. It was all so very different now. And she had Emma to thank for it. Regina had made all the effort to change, to learn, to redeem herself but it was Emma who had given her a second chance and Emma who had believed in her when no one else would. Her and Henry. She smiled thinking of the two and decided she was ready to give "fitting in" a second try. Determined she picked up the phone again and dialed Emma`s number. She picked up almost right away.
"Sorry about earlier. I was still in the car. What`s up Queen SmartAssSweetyPie?"
Regina could hear Emma`s teasing grin through the phone and rolled her eyes smiling.
"My name is Regina. Meet me at Granny`s at 7:30."
It was almost 8 pm by now. Regina was about to call Emma when a familiar voice pulled her out of her thoughts.
"Hey, Madame Mayor, will you hold this while I head for the dance floor?"
Regina looked up, her head a little dizzy from the beer she had gulped down rather quickly but still sober enough to recognize the person who was standing in front of her holding out her hand.
"Miss Swan. This was the worst pick up line I have ever heard and I am telling you Dr. Whale did try a few."
She didn`t even have to say anything else, her raised eyebrows told a whole story. "Also where the hell have you been?"
Emma ducked her head a little looking like a lost puppy. "Well my explanation includes a runaway nun and a dwarf who almost drowned in a puddle so I would suggest I tell you on the dancefloor."
Regina reached for her forehead and groaned but nodded anyway. Emma`s face lit up in an instant.
"Alright Emma but if you step on my feet only once I will not hesitate to poof you right into the river under the Troll bridge."
"Got it" Emma smiled reassuringly still holding out her hand.
Regina hesitated for a moment. What was it that made this all seem like such a big deal to her? It was merely a dance. Or was it? She decided to let the thought go and let her hand slide into Emma`s, feeling her soft, warm skin beneath hers. Emma was still grinning foolishly and it seemed like she was about to burst into a song and turn the situation into a musical. Regina shook her head lightly to get rid of the thought and got up from her seat to follow Emma to the rather small dance floor.
Archie who had for some unexplainable reason gotten the job to moderate the evening was just announcing the next song as they chose a place in the corner not wanting to draw all the attention to them. "And now the uhm world famous Taylor Swift with `I know places`. I suggest you all try out some Rumba to it." He smiled shyly, relieved he hadn`t made any major mistakes in his announcement.
"Are we seriously going to dance Rumba to some cheesy new age song now, Miss Swan?"
"It`s Emma. And yes we are", the blonde replied with a grin. She gently laid her free right hand on Regina`s back and started moving, taking the other woman along with her.
You stand with your hand on my waistline
It's a scene and we're out here in plain sight
The song didn`t perfectly fit the dance so it took them a while to adjust but as the chorus started they fell perfectly into the rhythm as if it were the most natural thing in the world, just the two of them dancing like nothing else mattered for a moment.
Baby I know places we won't be found and
They'll be chasing their tails trying to track us down
Regina couldn`t stop herself from talking for long.
"So are you going to tell me about the drowning dwarf or am I just here to quietly follow your lead?", she asked arching her brow but unable to hide a soft smile.
Just grab my hand and don't ever drop it
My love
"You did tell me to lead once don`t you remember?" Emma winked, raising her arm for Regina to turn. The brunette obeyed rolling her eyes. "That was when we were stuck on a mystery island with Henry`s evil grandpa."
"Alright alright" Emma gave in, leaning closer to Regina so she didn`t have to shout. "So I was right about Leroy. Apparently it was the anniversary of his and sister Astrid`s meeting at the top hill tonight. You ever heard that story?"
"Yes" Regina answered smiling as a memory came back to her. "Henry told me all about it when he got the fairytale book from Mary Margaret. That was before-", she stopped considering whether to share the sadder part of the memory with Emma as well. She looked into the emerald green eyes of the other woman and saw such sincere interest in them she realized that if there was anyone she could truly trust it was the very woman she was looking at in this moment. "It was before I told him it all wasn`t real. Before I broke his heart." She swallowed and looked away from the blonde suddenly both ashamed for what she did and for exposing her emotions. It made her feel naked and vulnerable.
"Hey", Emma said softly, "Regina. You thought it was what you had to do back then. You were in a dark place. I might not know what it felt like but I do know what it is like to be tempted into darkness. I almost shot the one best friend of my childhood because of it if it weren`t for you. You had no one there to stop you Regina. You made it out of the dark place anyway. You fought so damn hard and you know that you are not this person anymore right?"
Regina looked up seeing the concern in Emma`s eyes. The person who understood her so well.
"I know" she whispered suddenly not daring to speak any louder. "But sometimes I am scared Henry will always blame me for it."
A single tear slipped down Regina`s face-
"No." Emma simply answered not a single doubt in her voice. "Henry loves you so much and he understands what you have been through, you know he read it all."
She did. "Sometimes I wish he hadn`t", she whispered again now too ashamed to look Emma in the eyes.
"I get that but it also gave him a chance to understand why you did what you did. And he has seen you redeem yourself. Every step of the way. From your sacrifice at the well to your sacrifice at the border to going friggin undercover with the Queens-of-darkness-squad. He might not say it because he is a cool teen now but Regina he is so proud of you."
The brunette had tears streaming down her face by now but she was smiling.
"Thank you Emma" she merely whispered out with a broken voice feeling the sincerity she saw in Emma`s eyes warm her whole soul.
In the dead of night, your eyes so green
(I know places)
And I know for you it's always me
The music was just fading out and so they stopped moving just looking at each other. Regina huffed out a breath and decided to give in to what she realized had been due for quite some time. She leaned closer to rest her head on Emma`s shoulder and gently laid her arms around the blonde hugging her tightly. Emma seemed startled for a second but closed her arms around Regina`s waist holding her and breathing in a scent of soft, sweet perfume.
"It`s been about damn time", she whispered knowing that whatever it was she and Regina had, they were coming closer to finally accepting its existence.