Anonymous asked you: Red Swan. anything Red Swan.

AN: Hope you like, Anon.

Emma walked into the diner, "Hey, hey, beautiful." She said as she sashayed over to her favorite waitress and kissed her.

"Hi." Ruby smiled and leaned into her girlfriend before she kissed her again, "How's our town Sheriff today?"

Emma grinned, "I'm fine. And everyone's favorite waitress?"

Ruby shrugged with that winning smile on her face, "I'm alright." She heard her name across the diner and nodded to the customer, "I have to get back to work." She patted the blonde's shoulder until Emma took a seat at the diner counter.

Emma took a mug from the stack and waited for her girlfriend to finish with the other customers. The brunette walked back over and poured coffee in her mug then, "What do you want?" She asked in that flirty tone of hers. Emma gave her a wicked grin but was cut off before she could start, "What do you want to eat for breakfast—That is actually food and not dirty talk?"

Emma put her head in her hands and stared at the brunette a moment, "I want a big waffle."

"And bacon?"

The blonde nodded, "And hashbrowns and no to go to the thing today. I will go into the office when I am good and ready."

Ruby ignored the last part, "Okay, bacon, hashbrowns and a waffle." She turned and hung the ticket on the wire in the window to the kitchen. She poured Emma some apple juice, which she knew she was going to want and set it down, "And you'll pick me up at 8:15 for the thing tonight."

Emma pouted, "But I think I'm coming down with something—I think I've got the black lung, Rubes. Cough, cough."

Ruby raised her brows, "Really?"

Emma eyed her girlfriend, "If I say yes do I get out of going?"

"If you say yes, you don't get out of going and you don't get sex."

The blonde slumped forward, "No, I don't have the black lung."

"Mhmm…" The waitress was unimpressed, "You're gonna have to work extra hard for sex tonight now."

"Wha—I said 'no'!"

"Yeah, and you still tried to get out of it even though it's all I've been talking about for a month." The blonde slumped forward as the door chimed, "It's the price you pay, woman!" She winked.

Regina walked in and sat next to the blonde, "What price are you paying?"

Emma looked over to her ex and back to Ruby, "Just uh… nothing." She took a sip of her coffee.

Regina smirked as her ex looked down and Ruby set a mug in front of her, "Are you threatening no sex?" Ruby only smiled a not-so-innocent smile, "It's a good threat. It works well. But use it lightly. She will get frustrated and angry and throw a tantrum if it goes on too long."

"Oh Jesus H. Christ hanging on the cross." Emma mumbled as she took a deep gulp of her coffee.

Ruby looked to the blonde, "You okay there, baby?"

"What? Me? Yeah. It's perfectly normal for your lover and your ex to share insights on your person in a pubic place like it's the weather… So…" She gave a very uncomfortable smile and refused to look at either of them, "I'm swell."

Regina looked at Emma as well after she finished her coffee, "Oh, relax, Sheriff; I'm not giving her the sordid details of our sex life. Just giving her a tip on how to deal with you."

"Yes because I am just a thing that needs to be dealt with and nothing more."

"Now, now, I didn't say that." Regina said, "Why are you so sensitive today?"

Emma looked over to her ex, "If you don't know then… that's your bad."

Ruby narrowed her eyes in contemplation as she studied her lover who refused to look to either brunette again. She knew that Emma had officially shut down for the mid-morning and turned back to Regina, "What can I get you, Madam Mayor?"

"Oh, I think this will be all for now. I'm meeting Kathryn, but she won't be here for a bit more."

"And how is our favorite legal secretary?"

Regina smiled and nodded, "She's good. She's been helping a lot on a case and it's been both frustrating and amazing for her. But she's doing very well."

Ruby smiled, "Will she be at the thing tonight?"

"Yes, she will be at the Annual Winterfest Gala tonight."

Emma looked over to Ruby, "You have to call it what it is!" When she felt Regina's glare on her, she turned back to sulking.

A bell chimed and an "Order up!" was heard in the kitchen.

Ruby turned to find her girlfriend's breakfast and set it in front of her. She put her hand over the food and made the blonde look at her, "Seriously, what bugs?"

"Nothing." She started picking around Ruby's hand.

The brunette gave up and turned to Regina who only shrugged not knowing. The diner was quiet for the seven minutes it took Emma to scarf her food. She got up and walked around the counter to the back where Ruby went to restock. She only walked in and kissed her goodbye before leaving. Kathryn still hadn't shown up but was on her way—at least that's what Emma got by the conversation Regina was having on the phone as she walked to the exit.

She got outside and made her way down the patio before she was stopped by the Mayor who ran out of the diner after her, "Emma."

She turned around, crossed her arms and gave the woman an expectant look, "Yeah?"

"What is wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with you?"

Regina gave her a look, "Well, my ex won't tell her girlfriend or me what's going on with her even though we can both tell something is the matter…"

Emma stared at her a moment longer, "You know what today is?"

"Today is the Winterfest Gala."

"No. Today is the fifth anniversary the day that you and I decided to start looking for a sperm donor. It's the fourth anniversary of us giving up on giving you injections. It's the third anniversary of our horrible, horrible end, and it's the second anniversary of that wreck Henry was in that put him in the hospital for a month…"

The blonde took a deep breath after she felt the hot tears on her face, "I hate this day. I can't stand this day. I don't want to be here, I don't want to go tonight…. I don't want to do anything. I was able to get away last year, but this year the Winterfest Gala is scheduled and it's all Ruby's been talking about for like… three months even though she'll only admit to one. So I have to pick myself up and go even though horrible, horrible, bad, horrible things happen on this day."

Regina stared at her, "Those things did not all happen on this date…"

"Yeah! Actually, they did!"

Regina's gaze was soft as she stared at her ex. Her eyes shone with extra water, and she almost stepped forward to hug her. But just as the thought entered her mind, Kathryn's voice was heard from a few yards away.

"Regina!" She jogged over to her girlfriend, passing Emma to get to her. She kissed her cheek then actually looked at her, "Is everything alright?"

Regina shook from staring at her ex and looked at her lover, "I'm fine, yes." She turned back to Emma, but she was gone.

~0~0~0~0~0~

Ruby came by the station a while later to find it empty. She bit her lip before going to the apartment that was now solely Emma's. She found the blonde asleep on her bed with a bottle of scotch a third of the way gone. She took the bottle and put it in the kitchen. Before she went back upstairs, she took off her coat and shoes.

She laid down next to Emma and pulled her into her arms before trying to wake her up, "Emma…? Sweets, come on, wake up.."

The blonde grunted and unconsciously delved into Ruby's body deeper before deciding to wake up. "Hm?" She grunted.

"Why are you drinking in the middle of the afternoon?"

"Because I can."

"Babe…"

"Because I hate this day. I tried real hard to shrug it off this morning for you, but then Regina came in and she didn't even have the decency…" Emma shook her head and turned away from the brunette but held onto her body tighter.

Ruby ran her fingers through Emma's hair, "Babe, it's okay… I'm not going anywhere…"

Emma sighed and kissed her sternum, "I already talked about it today… If I do it again, I won't be able to handle it, alright?"

"Okay…" Ruby held the blonde almost as tight as she was being held and she pulled Emma up, "Baby, we don't have to go tonight."

"What? Yes we do. We RSVP'd and everything. And you've been so happy about this for forever… We're going."

"But, Honey, we don't have to. You're sad… It's your dark day…"

"My dark day?"

"Yeah… I tried to get Regina to tell me what she got out of you because I saw her talking to you before you left the diner, but all she said was that this date didn't really agree with you… So I dubbed it your dark day." Ruby kissed Emma's cheek.

"It is my dark day…" Emma agreed as she rolled on her back and Ruby on her side. She watched the brunette put her head in her hand and reach her free hand down to rub her, stomach, "Mm.." She found herself enjoying the contact, "It's starting to shape up this year though… I mean, you're here with me…"

Ruby grinned and leaned into Emma, "You have no idea how cute you really are, do you?"

Emma only blushed and pushed Ruby back onto her back while she rested her head on the brunette's sternum, "Can we just lay here until we have to get ready?"

"Yeah, baby, we can." Ruby nodded and kissed Emma's hair.

~0~0~0~0~0~

Ruby was all kinds of sexy in her little red dress and stilettos. From the back it looked like something Belle would wear, but the front—oh the front—was sexy as hell. At least those were Emma's words exactly when Ruby came back to the apartment after they woke up from their nap. Emma was drinking some of her coffee/hot cocoa blend from her Keurig when the brunette walked through the door dress in hand. When she ran over to show her the dress she'd hidden for a month, coffee came right out of Emma's then open mouth and the words, 'sexy as hell' were all she managed to say.

The front of the dress was not like something you would find in Belle's closet. There was a six-inch strip of red lace that went down to the belt line in the middle of the dress; it made her boobs look amazing and she was very pleased with it. She was especially pleased with Emma's reaction to the dress every time she saw it.

Emma had let Ruby dress her up like a doll because she knew the brunette was way more into it than she was. She was put in new black nice skinny jeans and a black lace cap-sleeve blouse. She was also put in some black sequin pumps and given a red belt to accent her lover, who by the way was wearing the same belt in black on her dress to accent her.

They walked in the ballroom and everyone turned to watch. Emma noticed and got out of the walkway as fast as possible, Ruby hadn't noticed because she had been too concerned with her lover.

"Baby?" She asked as Emma took two flutes of champagne off a waiter's tray.

"Hm?" Emma gave her one and downed the other.

"Are you sure you were alright to come tonight?"

"Yeah." She grabbed another glass before the waiter walked off.

~0~0~0~0~0~

The evening came to a close eventually and Emma did rather well. She joked with David and Mary Margaret. She was nice and civil with everyone, but Ruby could tell that it was all an act. For the last hour or so, she got Emma to put her drink down and come out to the dance floor.

They stayed there a while and eventually they danced their way outside. Emma gave sweet kisses to the brunette's neck as she leaned her against the patio railing. She pulled back and looked at Ruby.

"You don't need to be so concerned about me, okay? I'm fine."

Ruby stared at her, "I know that you say that, but I can tell that you aren't. And it makes me worry."

The blonde stared at her a bit longer then looked down, "Why?"

"Why does it make me worry?"

"Yeah."

Ruby took her girlfriend's face and didn't answer until she looked at her, "It makes me worry because I love you."

"You love me? We haven't even been together that long…"

Ruby smiled, "But we've known each other for forever… I mean, you've been here almost a decade…" She kissed her girlfriend, "And I mean, I know Regina is your great love and everything, but that doesn't mean that I can't and won't and don't love you… Because I mean… we're together now and you're the only person that has ever treated me like I deserve to be treated…"

Emma pushed into the brunette and kissed her hard, "Regina isn't my great love. She's my first love…" She kissed her again, "I love you too."

Ruby smiled, "You do?"

"Of course I do… I mean… Ruby, you saved me."

"I did?"

"Yeah… You saved me from everything… You save me all the time. You saved me from my dark day."

This only made Ruby smile wider before leaning in for another kiss.

"I love you." Emma whispered again as they pulled away.

Ruby pressed her forehead against Emma's and kissed her again, "I love you, too." Her words had no sound, but Emma knew what she was saying.

They stayed there until the lights went out inside before they decided it was time to go home. Emma eventually told her what the dark day was about, and all Ruby did was hold her and love her.

Emma wasn't lying that night when she told Ruby that Regina was not her great love. And she proved that statement everyday by showing Ruby how much she loved her from then on out.