"Regina."
The brunette froze at the sound of the blonde woman's voice behind her. Her hands froze above the book mid-page turn.
"Ms. Swan." The former Mayor turned slowly as her gaze came to rest on the blonde. She felt a crackle of energy spark across her skin with the presence of the other woman.
"Come now, Regina. Aren't we past all the formalities?" Caramel eyes took in the easy stance and the grace that the other woman used as she glided over from the doorway, still clad in the leather jacket and jeans she was wearing the night the wraith attacked.
Wane sunlight filtered into the study from the open window and glinted off pale gold strands. The former Mayor's brow twitched as an uneasiness rose in the pit of her stomach.
"It seems our land has treated you well." Standing her ground, the brunette set her forgotten book onto an end table as she gathered tattered dignity around herself and looked at her son's birth mother dead in the eye.
A delicate laugh came from the blonde's throat as she came to a stop dangerously close to the slightly shorter woman. Leaning forward, long strands of soft hair brushed softly against Regina's arm where tiny hairs raised at the sensation.
"I suppose you could say something along those lines." A tiny smirk had bloomed on pink lips as slightly cold green eyes raked over Regina. Something in that stare caused the normally in control woman to minutely shiver and take a step back. She restrained herself from bringing her arms up to hold herself.
"What do you want?" It came out a bit harsher than expected as the muted feeling of alarm rose in the back of her head. Taking in a subtle breath she hadn't been as discrete as she'd hoped as the smirk on the blonde's face had grown.
The smirk still firmly planted on the blonde's face, she took measured steps to the mantle. Idly, she toyed with a trinket she found there.
"Can't I just come over, see the woman who is the mother of my son?" Spinning lightly she turned to see the battle of conflicting emotions take over the brunette.
Stepping quickly into Regina's personal space before the brunette could utter a word of protest, Emma closed in on her. The brunette let out a small gasp as a tanned hand gathered her hair at the back of her head and pulled. She could feel the muscles of her neck strain.
She rose a hand as a faint purple haze formed around it, but an equally glowing hand grasped hers and stopped the spell she was about to cast. Regina's eyes widened at the display of magic.
It was the gaze of a shark that met her own slightly panicked one as she looked into green eyes.
"Now, now Regina. Let's play nice." Her brow rose slightly as she clenched her hand tighter around Regina's entrapped one. The blonde's face drew closer as she lightly licked the strained tendons in the arched neck before her.
"Who the hell are you?!" Regina asked, her voice frantic as she tried to struggle but was hindered by the hand in her hair and the slight pulse of magic she felt that shot through her. That energy she had felt earlier...it wasn't the same as the blonde's. Feeling the energy swirl inside her now, it made her a bit nauseous. She turned accusing eyes at the intruder. "You're not Emma!"
That cloying laugh rang from the imposter's throat again. Purple smoke enveloped her and as it cleared, caramel eyes widened in shock and horror at the woman who held her captive still.
"Finally. My dear, I wondered if you would ever figure out that I wasn't your dear, dear Emma." Cora chastised her daughter, the hand she had in brunette locks pulled just that much tighter.
"Mother...how-" The younger woman struggled just a bit more but stopped at the shock of magic that was distinctly more painful.
"Displeased? I'm sure you are seeing as how I'm not your Princess." At her daughter's eminent protest, she clicked her tongue lightly. "Don't try to deny it, I saw how your eyes raked over me when I appeared. Not to mention how you seemed to let me do anything I wanted. It seems your tastes have gotten worse, amazingly enough."
Jaw clenched and a light blush on her cheeks, Regina locked her gaze against the woman who constantly tormented her from memories and dreams. "What have you done with her?"
"Don't fret, I had to keep her alive to cast that spell. In fact..." Disengaging their clenched hands, there was a spark that ran from Cora to Regina that left her entire arm numb.
The older woman angled them to face the doorway with a hand clenched in her daughter's hair. Murmuring slightly and waving a hand, a column of thick purple smoke rolled and writhed before falling away to reveal Emma. Regina couldn't contain the relief until she noticed the peculiar expression on the blonde's face and slightly blank stare.
Throwing the younger brunette towards the newcomer, an expression of disdain came over Cora's face.
"Greet your...lover." The sneer apparent in her voice.
Regina looked over at her mother in shock as the word that was spat at her seemed to pull all the conflicting emotions she felt towards Henry's mother into one tight ball. Understanding flowed as she finally understood.
Looking determinedly at the unresponsive woman, Regina stepped lightly to her side. Gingerly taking hold of a callused hand, she felt the spark of magic between them that she had been craving. Glancing at her mother who watched with an arrogant tilt to her head, the brunette decided to go through with something she'd longed for...who knows how long.
Brushing back long, blonde hair, Regina stretched upward and quickly pressed her lips against warm, dry lips. Nothing happened and the brunette could feel a tear about to fall as she desperately willed a response out of Emma.
A wave of feeling started somewhere deep in her chest, just a little bit to the left. It exploded outward and pushed Cora to her knees as she was left stunned for a moment. The previously still lips moved under Regina's own, for the first time tasting the other. Breathlessly they separated and bright green locked onto stunned brown.
"Look at that. You found me." Emma smiled down at the brunette as she brought her hands to rest lightly on skirted hips.
A smile quirked up on Regina's red lips, as she was comforted by the warmth in the other woman's eyes. "If I recall, isn't that supposed to be your job? It runs in your family after all."
Laughter, true and real bubbled out of Emma at that. She had heard the stories after all, of her parents' tendency for that particular line. Hearing a rustle of fabric Emma reflexively got in between Regina and Cora. Coiling herself for a fight, she was emboldened by the hand that held hers.
She glanced behind over her shoulder, looking every inch the White Knight. "Together?" She asked her newfound love.
"Together."