Regina sat quietly by herself in a booth all the way in the corner of Granny's when Emma came waltzing in, a smug look plastered to her face.
She made her way over to where the brunette sat. Her smugness was not deterred by the annoyed eye roll Regina gave her. She slid into the booth opposite her.
"Hey, Regina, did you know that many ancient cultures and religions believe that the soul is contained in the blood?"
Warily, Regina nodded her head. "Yes. I do know that. Tell me, have you been... reading?"
"Actually, yes I have been reading. Would you say that the whole "spirit in the blood" thing is something you believe?"
"I guess I can see how it makes sense."
"So theoretically, two people who are say, Type A, might be compatible and therefore soul mates?"
"Well, if the soul is contained in the blood and they share the same blood type, then I suppose, in a sense, they would be soul mates. What is your point, Emma?"
The blonde's smile grew cheeky with the next question. "What's your blood type?"
"A..." Regina replied. She had a sneaking suspicion she would regret the truthful answer later.
With a devious smirk Emma replies, "Me too..."
"Miss Swan, what point are you trying to make?! That because we share a blood type, we're soul mates? That is asinine and non-sensible! If that were the case, pretty much anyone with Type A blood could be my soul mate."
"Exactly. And that brings me to my next point. Robin is also Type A -"
"How do you know that?" Regina interrupts.
"I broke into the hospital to look at the records from his most recent visit to a doctor. But my point is exactly what you said: if anyone with Type A blood could be your soul mate, how do you know your real soul mate was meant to be him?"
"Pixie dust is never wrong?!" the older woman yells. "It's old, reliable magic, not capable of lying."
"But it can be tricked, right?" Emma dismisses Regina's questioning stare. "Yes, I did some research. Don't look so shocked. What if the pixie dust wasn't wrong, but just not quite right either?"
"And what, you think the pixie dust was meant to lead me to you?" she mocks.
"Think about it: you believe that by running away from the man in the tavern that night, that you missed out on your destined path. What if by running away, you actually guided yourself to your rightful destiny?"
"You and I are not meant to be together! If anything, we were never meant to be in each other's lives and the fact that we are, is a result of Rumplestiltskin's manipulations."
"Or... we are meant to be together and all Rumple did was what destiny told him to do?"
Regina was still skeptical but Emma could tell she was slowly breaking through the other woman's sensibilities.
"Think about it," Emma starts, "what if, because I hadn't been born yet, the pixie dust led you to the closest possible match?"
That supposition seemed to jolt Regina from her stupor and she leaned forward. "How do you mean?"
"First, same blood type. Second, blonde. Third, lion tattoo on the wrist." Emma holds up her wrist to show Regina her flower tattoo."Granted, it's not a lion, but it's still a wrist tattoo. And think about it, the lion on Robin's tattoo looks exactly like the lion on my dad's crest - which, coincidentally, also has my flower on it."
Regina appeared to be putting the pieces together and Emma continued.
"Then you throw in the fact that Robin was a thief. So was I," she admits shamefully. "He's got a son by a woman who was his True Love until she died. I've got a son by a man who was my True Love until he died..."
The brunette holds up her hand for Emma to stop, "That's still a whole lot of what ifs, Emma. It doesn't prove that we're soul mates -"
"Yes it does! Regina, seriously, it all makes total sense if you just let it! You spent the last year trying to create this family for yourself, which is fine because you deserve that. But you already have one. You have a blonde thief with a propensity toward big coats and plaid who so happens to have a son right in front of you. It makes perfect sense! I'm your soul mate and Robin was just the decoy!" she announces proudly.
Regina sat silent for a moment, chin rested in her hand, propped up by her elbow on the table. She had that look she gets when she's plotting her enemy's next move.
The next thing Emma says completely interrupts her thought process, "Not to mention you're completely my type. Dark hair, medium complexion... The first girl I loved looked exactly like you."
"What?"
A slight blushed tickles at the blonde's skin, "Lily. I told you about her, remember?"
"Emma, this is all -" she began to protest, but Emma quickly cut off that sentence.
"Just why is it that you were the only one in the worlds who could cast the Dark Curse and I was the only one in the worlds who could break it? Personally I think it's kind of cute how fate made it so that I would be 28 years old when we met. That way we wouldn't too far apart in age because technically you were still 32. But think about it: what is so special about specifically me and you that we were the only ones capable of doing all...magic together?"
A few emotions danced across Regina's features. For a second she thought to ask Emma what exactly the blonde felt for her. But then she thought better of that and decided to file it away for later. The most forefront emotion she was feeling at the moment was rage. And with that rage, she bolted out of the booth and swept through the diner and straight out of the front doors screaming, "Where is hell is that fairy?!"