Chapter One
The curse was broken, magic was back, and Emma needed Regina. Regardless of what everyone had said, Emma had her own opinions of the woman. Yes, she was the Evil Queen, but Regina knew her way around everything that was going to unfold now that the curse had been broken, and Emma wanted that knowledge. And besides, Emma only knew Regina Mills, not the Evil Queen.
She hopped out of bed and threw her curled blonde hair into a high pony tail, trying to keep her unruly morning hair in check. She threw on a white tank top and some jeans and wandered into the kitchen where she saw Mary Margaret and David making breakfast. She sighed, knowing they were trying really hard to make this place feel like the home she never had. Emma wished she could make them believe she saw them as her parents, but for Christ's sake she was twenty-eight. She had spent her entire life so far without them, making it hard to get into the mom and dad routine.
She pulled out a barstool and sat down, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "Morning guys," she said, her voice a bit scratchy. Mary Margaret turned around quickly, her face plastered with a smile as she handed Emma a plate piled high with sausage, fruit, and pancakes. Emma couldn't help but roll her eyes at the chocolate chips creating a smiley face on her top pancake. "Mary Margaret, that really isn't necessary," Emma said, laughing as Mary Margaret's face dropped into confusion. "Well Emma I just thought you would want breakfast before you left for the day I know there's a lot going on around you and it's hard to get used to and..." Emma stopped listening as Mary Margaret rambled on. Maybe being an unruly daughter wouldn't be so hard to do. Emma chuckled at the thought of her mom trying to ground her for not listening. "What's so funny, Emma?" David asked as he turned around with a second, but smaller plate and set it down next to Emma. The top pancake bore the same chocolate chip face. "Oh nothing. I just got lost in my thoughts," Emma lied, not wanting to get their hopes up about the whole parent thing. Emma dug into her breakfast, knowing that refusing it would be harder than just accepting the pancakes made for a toddler.
Not long after Emma had started eating, Henry walked into the kitchen and sat next to her. "Hey Mom," he said in the same scratchy voice Emma bore earlier. Emma reached over and tangled his morning hair into even more of a mess. "Hey bud, how'd you sleep?" Henry had already shoved his mouth full of pancakes and turned towards Emma to answer. "Don't you dare open that mouth, bud. I'll be covered in pancake," Emma laughed as she put her hand up to Henry's mouth, feeling his smile form against her palm. "Hey I'm gonna go see your mom today kiddo, alright?" Emma kept her hand over Henry's mouth as he nodded. "You spend the day with Mary Margaret and David," Emma said as the two turned around from the stove, both of their faces shining bright. Mary Margaret already started making plans as Emma walked to put some boots on.
Emma's yellow bug rolled up in front of Regina's mansion. She took a deep breath before getting out, knowing that asking this woman for help would be anything but simple. She smoothed out her white tank top and threw on her red jacket as she walked up the pathway to the front door. She took a second deep breath and knocked on the door.
Regina had woken up early that morning, and without Henry in her home she really didn't have much to do. She had stayed up late going through papers and was exhausted when she woke, but she had had trouble sleeping since the curse broke. Regina didn't know how long they had in Storybrooke, so doing things to govern the town didn't seem to make much sense. This morning she decided to go through her wardrobe. It offered a distraction, and she always loved looking at her clothes.
Regina showered and put on light makeup, just to put together an appearance as she went through endless blazers and pencil skirts, putting her favorites back in the closet and throwing the others onto her bed. She wondered if she could pack up some of her favorite outfits and bring them back to the Enchanted Forest. She laughed, thinking of herself parading around the castle in a pencil skirt. Once she had gone through her business attire, Regina retreated to the back of her closet to the date night clothes that hadn't seen the light of day since she rid herself of Graham. She ran her hand along the beautiful dresses as a sense of nostalgia overcame her, causing her eyes to water. It had been some time since anyone cared enough to take her out to dinner. Everyone just resented her, even before they remembered that she was the Evil Queen.
Regina pulled the hanging dresses apart, revealing her favorite one. It was short and black: simple. The neck scooped down, low. Regina never thought it to be appropriate for a mayor, so she saved it for one day when she hoped to go on a date. The tag was still on it. She took it off of the hanger and slipped it over her body. She couldn't reach far back enough to zip the entire thing up, leaving the dress to hang slightly off of her shoulder as she put on her black pumps. Her hair was a bit frazzled from changing so much, and right as she went to fix it, there was a knock on the door. Regina's stomach dropped.
A few seconds passed and Emma could hear heels clacking against the tile as Regina made her way to the front door. The door swung open to reveal the dark-haired woman in a disheveled little black dress. Emma's eyes widened as she took in the entirety of the woman before her. Regina's calves were chiseled perfectly, her black pumps adding more detail to her leg muscles. The black dress started two inches above the knee, hugging her perfectly curved hips and flat stomach. The neckline of the dress dipped low, revealing quite a bit of cleavage. It didn't take long for Emma's eyes to rake up the brunette's entire body, straight up to the loose top of the dress, and the exposed, black bra strap on the woman's shoulder. Emma took a deep breath as she felt her face become warmer. Finally she collected herself and looked into the set of dark brown eyes in front of her.
"Uh. Hey," she said awkwardly, feeling as if she caught Regina in the middle of something she shouldn't have. The woman's dark hair was a bit tangled, as if she had barely had enough time to throw the dress on. "Am I... Am I interrupting something?"
Regina glared at Emma, not understanding why the blonde-haired woman was on her doorstep without Regina's son. She tried not to hate Emma, after all she had saved Henry, but she was still a spawn of the two idiots, and Regina had trouble getting past that. Regina put her hand on her hip, eyeing the woman in front of her. She wore tall black boots over her jeans, big surprise there. Her eyes continued up to the woman's torso, as she caught a glimpse of Emma's red bra under her white tank top. Regina's eyebrow raised with curiosity, until she forced herself to look away. She was wearing that damn red jacket again. Regina rolled her eyes and couldn't help but return back to the sight of Emma's bra again. She quickly composed herself, making her features hard again as she hissed at the woman, "No. I was simply trying outfits on. What do you want?"
Emma cringed at the harsh tone of Regina's voice. This was going to take some convincing. "I uh. I was wondering," Emma awkwardly shifted from side to side, "Well I uh. I need your help," she said, looking down at her feet as she spoke.
She slowly looked up after there was a lack of response from the brunette. Her blueish green eyes locked onto Regina's brown eyes, as she spotted a change in the brunette woman. For some reason, Regina's eyes softened through her confusion. She slightly smiled as she responded "You need my help?" Emma shook her head yes, saying "Yeah, you know I mean I have my par... Mary Margaret and David, but I kind of want some other kind of help and I think you could be the person to help me. I mean if you don't want to I understand but I kind of think it would be dumb if you turned me away because you and I clearly work well together and I'm not really sure where I'm going with this but I want your help, I want you to teach me magic." Regina simply stood in front of the rambling woman, chuckling slightly as Emma became passive for one of the first times since they had met. She took her hand from her hip and grabbed Emma's. "Emma, shut up and come inside. We can talk." Emma stopped talking as her stomach jolted with the shock that flew through her body when Regina grabbed her hand. She looked up into her brown eyes, which had lightened from almost black to a beautiful light brown, almost amber. Something in Regina had changed right when Emma requested her help. Maybe she had been lonely all morning, trying on clothes that offered her no company. Maybe she was delirious from the lack of sleep and was acting weird. Whatever the reason, Regina softened to Emma much easier than Emma could have expected. She smiled as she pulled Emma into her house, closing the door behind the blonde woman. "Let's go, we have work to do," she said to Emma, walking her down the hallway, not letting go of Emma's hand.